Early in the morning, Li Yuan sat cross-legged in his wooden cabin at the outpost and popped the second ridian Opening Pill into his mouth.
The pill dissolved the mont it entered his stomach. Its warm dicinal power spread slowly along his ridians. It was far gentler than the Evil Essence Pill, lacking that searing heat, and instead seeped densely and continuously into the walls of his ridians.
The Spiritual Qi filtration effect activated simultaneously, automatically eliminating the trace impurities mixed within the dicinal power, leaving only the pure essence to circulate through his body.
Li Yuan closed his eyes and circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill, using it in tandem with the dicinal power to clear his ridians.
Roughly half an hour later, the dicinal power was completely digested, and his ridians had been temporarily widened.
[ridian Opening Pill Permanence Progress: 9/10]
Only one more to go.
Li Yuan closed the panel and got up, pushing open the wooden door.
Outside, the sky was already bright. He Shou was leaning against the doorfra of the cabin next door. Seeing Li Yuan erge, he jutted his chin toward the main encampnt.
"Co on, let’s go check out the encampnt. I heard a lot of people arrived last night."
The two of them walked north along the dirt path for less than a mile, and the outline of the main encampnt ca into view.
Even from a distance, they could tell sothing was off.
Two unfamiliar faces stood at the encampnt’s entrance. Their auras were steady and reserved. They wore matching bluish-gray robes with swords at their waists, their gazes sweeping alertly over anyone who ca or went.
The number of people inside the encampnt had nearly doubled since yesterday. Besides the original guards, a dozen or so Cultivators in bluish-gray robes were scattered about. So were inspecting equipnt, so were gathered around a table looking at a map, and others were talking quietly in small groups of two or three.
He Shou’s pace faltered for a beat. "People from the Wang family," he said in a low voice.
Li Yuan saw them too.
Their auras were generally around the Mid-stage of Qi Refining, but a few were clearly stronger—at least the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining, if not higher.
He Shou led Li Yuan into the encampnt and found the person in charge of the southern line to ask a few questions.
The man was so busy he was practically running around. He gave them a brief summary—the Wang family had brought over a group from their main residence last night. Including those who had arrived earlier, there were now over twenty Wang family mbers around Qinghe Marketplace. All of them had been integrated into the guard patrols, under the unified command of a family mber at the Qi Refining Ninth Level.
"Over twenty?" He Shou raised an eyebrow. "Looks like the Wang family is taking this seriously."
After leaving the supervisor, He Shou went to the supply tent to pick up so items.
As they passed an open area in the center of the encampnt, Li Yuan noticed the few Wang family mbers gathered around the table discussing sothing. A large map was spread out before them, covered in dense markings made with red cinnabar.
One of them glanced up at Li Yuan before looking away and continuing the conversation.
After returning to their patrol outpost, He Shou distributed the supplies he’d collected.
"Your squad’s getting two new people." He Shou handed a transfer order to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan took it and glanced at it. ’Strictly speaking, I’m the captain of this small squad.’
One was nad Liu Ping, from the patrol division, at the Qi Refining Third Level. It was the sa guy he’d t in the marketplace before, the one in charge of patrolling the south gate and West Street. He didn’t talk much but was a hard worker.
The other was Chen Qi, a Loose Cultivator, also at the Qi Refining Third Level. He was a short-term contractor recently recruited by the Wang family.
"Liu Ping will arrive this afternoon. Chen Qi has already reported in at the main encampnt and will be over in a bit."
He Shou put away the transfer order and glanced at Li Yuan.
"Lin Xiaowu isn’t healed yet, so these two will fill in. A five-man team is a bit more comfortable than before."
「In the afternoon, the two newcors arrived one after another.」
Liu Ping carried a small cloth bag on his back. He clasped his hands in a salute to Li Yuan but didn’t say much, simply finding an empty cabin to drop off his things before coming back out.
Chen Qi arrived about fifteen minutes after Liu Ping.
He was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, not tall, with a lean, sharp face and quick, darting eyes. His coarse, gray-brown tunic, common among Loose Cultivators, was washed clean. A short blade and a cloth pouch were tucked into his belt.
"Chen Qi, I pay my respects to Deputy Li and Captain He." Chen Qi clasped his hands in a salute, his attitude respectful but neither servile nor arrogant.
He Shou looked him up and down and asked a few questions.
Chen Qi’s answers were crisp and articulate.
He’d spent two or three years roaming the outskirts of the Yuanheng Mountain Range, mostly gathering herbs, but he had also hunted Demon Beasts. He usually worked alone but occasionally tead up with other Loose Cultivator squads.
He Shou nodded, not asking any more questions.
After a brief eting, He Shou led the five-man team out.
The afternoon patrol route was similar to the previous days: follow the southern line, curve west, and then loop back.
Just as he had the past few days, He Shou taught them as they walked, explaining whatever they ca across.
"Look here. Five toes, narrow spacing, short stride, and the claw marks aren’t deep—a small beast. Most likely a Gray Raccoon Dog, a mundane animal. Nothing to worry about."
"This kind of break ans sothing tunneled under the bush. Low height, flat body—a lizard or snake-type creature." He Shou used his scabbard to asure the height of the broken branches. "Less than a foot high. Not a large body. Below Tier One Low Grade."
Liu Ping silently took note, while Chen Qi listened and nodded, occasionally interjecting with practical questions—like how to determine the age of tracks, or how to distinguish the footprints of different individuals of the sa Demon Beast species.
He Shou answered every question, his explanations concise and clear.
Halfway through the patrol, Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc picked up a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Qi, about twenty zhang ahead and to the right.
"Sothing’s here. Front right, twenty zhang," Li Yuan said in a hushed voice.
All five of them slowed their steps at once.
He Shou listened intently for a few breaths, then shook his head.
"It’s gone."
Li Yuan channeled his Spiritual Power into the disc to sense it again. The fluctuation was indeed moving away, heading southwest at a slow pace.
"If it’s not coming after us, we leave it be." He Shou straightened up and continued walking. "Our mission is to patrol, not hunt Demon Beasts. We deal with them if we run into them, but we don’t give chase."
Along the rest of their route, they discovered several more signs of Demon Beasts.
One was a set of claw marks at the edge of a thicket. Another was a small, dried pool of dark-brown blood by the dirt path, with a few gray scales scattered nearby.
They found many tracks along the way, but they never ca face-to-face with a Demon Beast.
He Shou’s brow, however, furrowed deeper and deeper.
"The tracks are too dense."
He Shou stopped on a small hill, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding rolling shrubs and barren grasslands.
"When I walked this route last month, finding two or three sets of tracks in a whole day was a lot. Today, we’ve found seven or eight in half a day, and they’re all fresh."
Li Yuan had noticed it too.
The tracks pointed in different directions—so northeast, so due north, and others with no clear direction at all. But the density was undeniably on a whole other level compared to before.
’The Demon Beasts’ range of activity is still expanding.’
As evening fell, the five of them returned to the outpost.
He Shou went to the main encampnt to turn in the patrol log. When he returned, he didn’t look happy.
"There’s a eting tonight. Don’t go to sleep too early."
After nightfall, a ssenger from the main encampnt delivered a notice.
He Shou finished reading the notice, folded it, and tucked it into his robes. He leaned against the doorfra, silent for a long mont.
"The higher-ups want to expand the search periter."
He Shou’s voice was low, his tone flat.
"Starting tomorrow, all patrol squads are to push their routes further out. We’re to stay as far from the marketplace as possible and search deep into the outskirts for any sign of Demon Beasts. If we find any gathering points or abnormal migration routes, we mark the location and report it. We’re also to keep an eye out for clues about rogue cultivators, but Demon Beasts are the priority."
Li Yuan leaned against the wall, saying nothing.
Xu Mao and Liu Ping exchanged a glance but also remained silent. Chen Qi, on the other hand, looked unfazed; coming from a Loose Cultivator background, he was used to this sort of thing.
He Shou leaned his longsword against the corner of the wall, sat on the edge of his bed, and cursed under his breath.
"The Wang family brought so many people, and for what? To send us out to search the periphery."
He Shou kept his voice very low, but the room was quiet, and every word was audible.
"The Wang family’s Foundation Establishnt cultivator is also just sitting at ho..."
He Shou stopped himself right there, clamping his mouth shut.
No one responded.
He Shou was just venting a little. After his complaint, he didn’t bring it up again and simply waved his hand, dismissing everyone to rest.
The n dispersed, each returning to their own cabin.
Li Yuan went back to his cabin and closed the door.
Xu Mao was already lying down, his eyes closed. It was hard to tell if he was asleep.
Li Yuan sat on the edge of his own bed and took the last ridian Opening Pill from his sleeve.
The dark-red pill glowed faintly in his palm, emitting a light, dicinal fragrance.
He popped it into his mouth.
The pill dissolved the mont it entered his stomach. A warm dicinal power rose from his gut and spread slowly through his ridians. It felt just like the previous ones—gentle and dense, clearing every minor blockage in the walls of his ridians.
Li Yuan closed his eyes and circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill, coordinating it with the dicinal power moving through his body.
Roughly half an hour later, the dicinal power was completely digested.
A notification popped up on his panel.
[Permanence conditions for ridian Opening Pill have been t]
[Make permanent?]
A thought flashed through Li Yuan’s mind.
’Yes.’
[Permanence successful]
[Circulatory Acceleration (White) has beco a permanent entry]
[Equipnt consud]
The panel updated accordingly.
[Current Equipnt Slots: 1/2]
[Equipped Item: Iron Bull Skill]
[Equipnt Entry: Organ Enhancent (White)]
[Permanent Entries: Cleansing Physique (Gray), Spiritual Qi Filtration (White), Five Grains Qi Nourishing (White), Circulatory Acceleration (White)]
Four permanent entries, three of them white.
He was only two away from the five white entries required to unlock the third equipnt slot.
Reviews
All reviews (0)