Just then, Shen Lang turned around. Seeing their strange looks, he gave a wry smile and said, "Don’t look at like that. I don’t have a hobby of collecting corpses."
"It’s just that the deceased was a disciple of the Profound Dao Sect and was being controlled by soone using an Insect Technique. This is a serious matter. We have to take the body back for those old geezers at the Profound Dao Sect to examine."
"Yes, yes, Junior Brother is right! This could be a conspiracy against us from a Sect like the Beast Emperor Palace!" Kou Xiaotian agreed, nodding repeatedly.
"So where are we going next?" Shen Lang suddenly asked.
Kou Xiaotian said cautiously, "Our next destination is Wuling Creek. It’s over sixty li from here. Junior Brother, what do you think... should we still go?"
The others imdiately turned to look at Shen Lang, their expressions a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.
By now, everyone had co to see Shen Lang as their backbone. With him around, it was nearly impossible for them to run into any danger. If he said they should go, no one would object.
And if he said they shouldn’t, everyone would have happily headed back.
Shen Lang nodded. "Of course we’re going. We’re already out here, and it’s still early. Besides, I’m not familiar with the Profound Dao Sect or its surroundings. I might as well take in the sights."
’Shuiyun Stream has incredible scenery, but it’s also teeming with Demon Beasts. He’s probably the only person who would dare co here just to see the sights,’ Kou Xiaotian thought, secretly wiping sweat from his brow.
However, the so-called danger was only relevant to Martial Artists at the Qi Martial Realm and the Spirit Martial Realm Early Stage. Now that their group included soone as powerful as Shen Lang, they would dare to venture deep into the heart of Shuiyun Stream, let alone its outer edges.
Kou Xiaotian announced cheerfully, "Wuling Creek isn’t far from Xuanying Cave. It’s an excellent hunting ground. Not only are there plenty of dicinal herbs, but the Demon Beasts there aren’t very high-level either."
"I heard a few Senior Brothers say they saw a Night Blade Leopard in Wuling Creek before. Let’s go try our luck!"
"A Night Blade Leopard? I’ve never heard of them being there before," Xia Xiaoting said, puzzled.
Kou Xiaotian chuckled. "Yeah, I don’t know when they started appearing either. Aside from being fast and having sharp claws, this Demon Beast isn’t particularly formidable in other areas. Getting its Demon Crystal is a bit easier."
"And if we get lucky and find a few cubs, even better. They’re easy to ta into Spirit Beasts to use as mounts, and they’re more than twice as fast as a Fiery Demon Wolf."
The five of them walked and talked, their spirits lifting as the atmosphere grew relaxed and friendly.
...
Wuling Creek was actually a valley surrounded by mountains, with strange peaks jutting out, giant boulders piled high, and a hazy, lingering mist.
Entering it felt surreal and dreamlike, as if stepping into a celestial paradise.
Led by Kou Xiaotian, the five of them soon arrived at Wuling Creek.
However, along the entire way, they hadn’t seen so much as a trace of any other Demon Beast, let alone a Night Blade Leopard.
"This is bizarre. Wuling Creek is eerily quiet today. It’s like all the Demon Beasts have gone into hiding."
Kou Xiaotian dismounted from his Fiery Demon Wolf, surveying his surroundings as he spoke.
"It is strange. I’ve been to Wuling Creek many tis, and sotis you’d get attacked by Demon Beasts just walking along the path. This ti, not only have we not been attacked, we haven’t even seen a single Demon Beast. This is highly unusual. Everyone, be careful," Xia Xiaoting said, drawing her longsword.
Shen Lang sniffed the air, then suddenly walked to the side of the road and crouched down.
"Junior Brother, did you find sothing?" Xia Xiaoting, who had been watching him closely, imdiately asked.
"The nearby Demon Beasts were likely driven away by soone," Shen Lang said softly.
He broke off a twig, poked around in the grass with it, and then pulled it back.
A tiny bit of green powder clung to the end of the twig, so faint it would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it.
"What’s this?" Xia Xiaoting and the others gathered around Shen Lang.
Shen Lang tossed the twig into the air and shot a small fireball at its tip.
FWOOSH!
The green twig, which shouldn’t have burned easily, instantly burst into a blazing fire, releasing a plu of acrid smoke!
Startled, Kou Xiaotian and the others instinctively covered their noses, their faces filled with alarm.
"Don’t worry. It’s a special powder made by the Beast Emperor Palace. It’s not poisonous, but its scent is repulsive to most Demon Beasts. If you sprinkle it around, ordinary Demon Beasts will steer clear of the area once they catch the scent."
Shen Lang said with a smile, waving his hand dismissively.
"Junior Brother, you an... there are really people from the Beast Emperor Palace here in Wuling Creek? Should we head back imdiately and report it to the Sect?" Kou Xiaotian asked cautiously.
The sudden appearance of the Beast Emperor Palace on the outskirts of the Profound Dao Sect’s territory was not good news, especially after they had discovered its mbers using the Insect Technique to control a Profound Dao Sect disciple.
The fact that these people were here and had used this strange powder to drive away all the Demon Beasts ant they were obviously up to sothing.
Perhaps they were carrying out so plot, or perhaps they were searching for sothing...
Although they had witnessed Shen Lang’s power and knew he was formidable, they still estimated his cultivation to be within the Spirit Martial Realm Ninth Heaven.
A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old at the Spirit Martial Realm Ninth Heaven was indeed terrifying; he would be considered a peerless and astonishing talent anywhere.
The problem was, the Beast Emperor Palace was from the distant Yunfeng Country. It was unlikely they would appear here in the Purple Chu Country having sent only a few Spirit Martial Realm and Qi Martial Realm disciples, right?
If they had a Xuanwu Realm expert leading them...
At this thought, Kou Xiaotian and the others began to have second thoughts about staying.
Just then...
BOOM!
A loud explosion suddenly rang out from the distance, reverberating through the valley.
"Senior Brother, it sounds like people are fighting over there," Shu Lan said, hurrying to Shen Lang’s side. "Many of our fellow disciples from the Sect co to Wuling Creek to train."
Shen Lang nodded. "Judging by the sound, it’s less than three li away. The fighting sounds intense. Let’s go take a look!"
The five of them imdiately mounted their Fiery Demon Wolves and charged over like a flash of lightning.
...
By the stream in Wuling Creek, four n and one woman had been forced to the edge of a cliff by several strange figures, completely trapped.
The surroundings were a ss of shattered trees and toppled boulders.
Two ters behind the three young n and the young woman was a sloping cliff face, leaving them with no path of retreat.
A short distance behind them, another person sat cross-legged on the ground, cultivating to heal his injuries—it was none other than Zhan Wuji, an acquaintance of Shen Lang’s!
A black aura swirled around Zhan Wuji’s face, and his eyelashes trembled ceaselessly, as if he were enduring inhuman pain.
They were all covered in blood, their dark hair matted with sweat and gore, clinging to their bodies in sticky strands. Each of them was panting heavily.
There were only three people surrounding them in a fan-like formation.
But in the eyes of the four defenders, these three were more terrifying than an army of thirty.
The one in the center was shirtless, standing atop the head of a massive Six-winged Frost Centipede. With his arms crossed, he looked down on the four by the cliff, his expression blank.
This Six-winged Frost Centipede was pure white and over ten ters long. Its head hovered more than two ters off the ground, radiating a vicious aura.
Within a three-ter radius of its body, all the grass and trees had withered and died, covered in a thick layer of frost.
The man to his right had an effeminate face, with a Wind Serpent about six inches in diater coiled around his body. The Wind Serpent was covered in azure scales and had two large wings on its back. It stared at the four defenders, its forked tongue flicking in and out.
The man on the far left wore a loose black robe, his face completely hidden within its hood, and seed unremarkable.
But a closer look would reveal tiny insects constantly crawling over his arms, hidden within the loose sleeves of his robe—a skin-crawling sight.
"The Profound Dao Sect and your Beast Emperor Palace have always minded our own business. Not only did you viciously attack our junior brother, but now you want to kill all of us here? Do you really think the Profound Dao Sect is a pushover?"
As he spoke, two of the trapped disciples began to crackle with electricity, unleashing their formidable Thunder Power.
The man on the Six-winged Frost Centipede’s head watched them, a flicker in his eyes. "Oh, the Profound Dao Sect’s Thunder Control Divine Technique. If you’d used it from the start, you might not have been defeated so miserably."
The man with the giant Wind Serpent let out a sinister laugh. "Senior Brother, what’s the point of talking to them? These little fledglings are still at the Basic Level with their Thunder Control Divine Technique. What threat could they possibly pose to us? Let’s just kill them all."
The last man slowly raised his head and held out his arms. Dense swarms of white insects began to crawl out from his sleeves.
He let out a dry, cold laugh. "My White Jade Insects fear Thunder Power most, and I despise Martial Artists who cultivate Thunder Elent Techniques. It’s a pity, really. I’ve already killed several Profound Dao Sect disciples who practice the Thunder Control Divine Technique these past few days. This so-called technique is worse than dogshit. The strongest Sect below the Spirit Copper Level? Nothing special..."
Suddenly, the man’s words caught in his throat. He snapped his head up to look at the opposite cliff face.
On the cliff face, a black-clad figure was streaking down the steep rock wall with lightning speed!
The figure moved across the steep cliff as if it were level ground, so fast that he left a trail of afterimages, making it impossible to see his face clearly.
"A few little bugs, and you dare act so arrogant? Then why don’t you try and take a taste of my ’nothing special’!"
Shen Lang’s calm voice echoed from high on the cliff, causing the faces of the Profound Dao Sect disciples to light up with excitent.
"Reinforcents are here!"
The next mont, Shen Lang’s figure shot forward like an arrow. He dove headfirst, blasting a palm strike down toward the cloaked man!
Surging Thunder Power coiled in his palm, flashing with a light so brilliant that no one dared to look at it directly.
"How can he possibly be this fast!"
The man in the black cloak was stunned.
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