The five of them quickened their pace and headed back toward the outpost.
The journey there had taken nearly an hour, but the return trip took less than half that ti.
After arriving at the main outpost, He Shou went straight to find the person in charge.
Before long, He Shou ca out, his expression even grimr than when they had set out.
It wasn’t until they were back at their station that He Shou spoke.
"It wasn’t just our group." He Shou leaned against the doorfra, his hand resting on the hilt of his saber, his voice low.
"The other patrol groups ran into similar situations today. One group ran straight into three Tier One Middle Grade beasts. They fought for a while before managing to retreat. Two were injured, and one died."
Liu Ping’s voice was panicked, "Soone died?"
"Yes. The main problem was that the fighting attracted other Demon Beasts, so they had no choice but to run."
He Shou stretched his neck. "It’s already been reported to the Wang family. Captain Wang of the guard team has decided to send out a squad tonight to investigate, to figure out exactly how many of these Demon Beasts have gathered and where they are."
"Tonight?" Chen Qi frowned.
"People from the Wang family are leading them." He Shou glanced at the others.
"It has nothing to do with us. Our mission remains the sa—we continue patrolling tomorrow."
After speaking, He Shou waved his hand, dismissing everyone to get so rest.
As night fell, the station quieted down.
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed and first circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill for several cycles. The Spiritual Qi entering his body was as pure as water, and it circulated rapidly.
After finishing his cultivation, with a thought from Li Yuan, the panel materialized.
His gaze swept over the lines for Realm, Cultivation Technique, and Equipnt Slot, finally landing on the Magic section.
[Magic: Fireball Technique - Proficient (589/800), Divine Movent Step - Adept (123/400), Spirit Shield Skill - Adept (39/400), Ice Cone Skill - Novice (189/200)]
Li Yuan was taken aback for a mont.
The proficiency of his Fireball Technique had jumped from less than one hundred to nearly six hundred.
The upper limit for the Proficient stage was eight hundred; he was almost three-quarters of the way there.
The increases for his other Magic skills weren’t as dramatic, but they were all a good deal higher than the last ti he’d checked.
Li Yuan thought for a mont and understood why.
He had already practiced the Fireball Technique for several years, building a very solid foundation. The only thing he lacked was practical combat experience.
These past few days of patrolling had shored up that weakness.
The foundation he’d built through daily practice was fully activated in real combat, like adding the last piece of firewood to a pot of water about to boil.
Putting away the panel, Li Yuan closed his eyes to rest.
At the crack of dawn the next day, the five of them left the station.
He Shou led the team south. They followed the sa general direction as yesterday but didn’t push deep into the southwest. Instead, they first followed the regular southern route for a while to observe the situation.
Just over two li from the station, Li Yuan noticed sothing was wrong.
It was quiet.
Yesterday, on this sa stretch of road, the Spirit Detecting Disc had picked up at least two or three fluctuations of Spiritual Qi. Today, when he poured Spiritual Power into the bronze disc and spread his perception, the thirty-zhang radius around them was completely clean. Even the faint auras of mortal beasts were much scarcer.
He Shou had obviously noticed as well, and he slowed his pace.
"There are fewer Demon Beasts. It’s possible the Wang family’s team cleared them out." He Shou breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn’t lower his guard.
They continued forward for so ti, and the situation remained the sa. The Spirit Detecting Disc occasionally picked up one or two extrely faint Spiritual Qi fluctuations, very far away and fleeting, as if sothing had flashed past in the distance.
"Yesterday, there were at least five or six beasts active in this area. Today, they’re all gone." He Shou stopped on a patch of high ground, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding rolling scrubland.
The five of them continued to press southwest along their route.
Because there were so few Demon Beasts nearby, He Shou decided to extend their route outward, farther than they had gone yesterday.
After walking for nearly an hour, the terrain beca more desolate. There wasn’t even a ga trail underfoot, just broken stones and thorns. The scrub grew sparse, replaced by large patches of wild grass and exposed rock.
Along the way, they encountered three different groups of Loose Cultivators.
The first group consisted of two lone Loose Cultivators. Carrying large and small bundles, they walked quickly. Seeing the five of them in their patrol and guard uniforms, they gave a cupped-fist salute from a distance and left without a word.
The second was a small team of three, their auras sowhere between the second and third levels of Qi Refining. They looked like Loose Cultivators from a beast-hunting or herb-gathering team. He Shou went up and asked a few questions, but they waved him off, saying they hadn’t encountered anything unusual. They just ntioned that the dicinal herbs in the area were becoming scarcer, and they didn’t want to stay.
The third group of Loose Cultivators they t was the largest, with four people. The leader was a burly man in his forties with high cheekbones and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He wore worn leather armor and carried a long-handled axe slung across his back. His aura was around the Qi Refining Third Level.
He Shou stopped them to ask a few questions.
The burly man was quite talkative, and his voice wasn’t quiet.
"You’re asking, too? Soone from the Wang family ca by to ask earlier. I told them, I’ve co into the mountains half as much this month as last month. The Demon Beasts are sotis running this way, sotis that way. There’s no telling."
He Shou asked, "What do you think is going on?"
The burly man scratched the back of his head.
"How should I know? The Yuanheng Mountain Range has never been peaceful anyway. It’d be no fun if a beast tide broke out one day."
"A beast tide?" Liu Ping piped up.
"Hah, I’m just saying." The burly man waved his hand, but the look on his face wasn’t one of joking. "If there really were a beast tide, which of these market towns could withstand it? But from the looks of it, this doesn’t seem like a precursor to a beast tide. It’s more like sothing is stirring things up deeper in the mountains."
The burly man paused here, looked from side to side, and lowered his voice.
"To be honest with you, I don’t want to stay here anymore. I heard the Li family’s market town to the south is planning to expand, and they’ll let us set up stalls. The roads are better than here, too. I’m thinking of heading over to check it out."
He Shou didn’t ask any more questions. He just nodded, signaling that they could leave.
The burly man left with his people. He Shou stood there, watching them disappear into the distance, not moving for a long ti.
After pushing southwest for a while longer, the Spirit Detecting Disc captured a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
Ahead and to the left, a little over twenty zhang away, was a lone Demon Beast.
Its Spiritual Qi intensity wasn’t high, roughly at the level of a Tier One Low Grade beast.
He Shou glanced at Li Yuan, who gave a slight nod.
The five of them spread out, closing in with the coordination they had honed over the past few days.
Even though it was only a Tier One Low Grade beast, He Shou still insisted they follow their coordinated tactics.
Li Yuan circled around to the side. Once his view was clear, he saw the target—a grayish-brown Iron-Spine Hyena. It wasn’t large, less than two chi tall at the shoulder, and was currently squatting next to an exposed rock, gnawing on sothing.
The five of them completed their encirclent from within the bushes.
At He Shou’s command, Li Yuan’s Fireball Technique led the attack.
A crimson ball of light shot from his hand, heading straight for the Iron-Spine Hyena’s flank. The hyena’s reaction wasn’t slow, but the Fireball Technique was faster. In an instant, it left a scorched mark on the hyena’s body.
Liu Ping and Chen Qi cut in from the flanks, one with a saber and one with a sword, and slew the wounded, howling hyena.
The entire encounter took only a few breaths.
While they were dismantling the Demon Beast, He Shou’s movents suddenly paused.
He Shou knelt by the hyena’s abdon. After using his blade’s tip to peel back a layer of skin and flesh, he didn’t cut deeper. Instead, he turned the blade sideways and carefully poked around inside the abdominal cavity.
"Look at this."
Li Yuan moved closer, his gaze falling into the hyena’s dissected abdominal cavity.
The tip of the blade had pierced a hole in the stomach pouch. Inside, aside from semi-digested chunks of at and bone fragnts, there was a dark red lump mixed in with the other food scraps, its color distinctly different.
He Shou used the tip of his blade to pick out the dark red lump and placed it on a nearby rock.
Half a dicinal pill.
To be precise, it was half a pill, pitted and corroded by stomach acid. Most of the outer coating had peeled off, revealing the dark red core inside, which still carried a faint dicinal fragrance.
"Either it killed a Loose Cultivator and ate sothing off the body, or soone fed it."
Just as He Shou was about to continue, Chen Qi picked up the thread.
"Demon Beasts don’t usually eat pills. At least, I’ve never seen one that does. Many pills are made specifically for human use. Perhaps more intelligent ones might pick and choose what they eat."
"And the probability of a Tier One Low Grade Demon Beast killing a Loose Cultivator isn’t high. The Loose Cultivators who can survive out here all have a few tricks up their sleeves."
"And I don’t see any human flesh in its stomach."
He Shou wrapped the half-pill in a piece of cloth, tucked it into his robes, and said no more.
"We’re heading back to report this."
On the way back, the five of them walked at a brisk pace.
Li Yuan followed behind He Shou, his fingers resting on the Spirit Detecting Disc hidden in his sleeve.
He slowly channeled Spiritual Power into it, keeping his senses extended, but his mind was on other things.
’Entries.’
’Since I transmigrated, I’ve made four entries permanent, and I have two equipped in the equipnt slots. Six entries sounds like a lot, but it’s still not enough when I really need them.’
’I don’t have any empty equipnt slots at the mont; both are occupied—the organ enhancent from the Iron Bull Skill and the self-generating Qi Blood from the Nourishing Essence Skill.’
’The Iron Bull Skill is at Proficient, while the Nourishing Essence Skill is still at Adept. I have to master both mortal Cultivation Techniques to their peak to make the organ enhancent permanent. The self-generating Qi Blood also requires mastering the Nourishing Essence Skill to its peak, plus a cumulative twenty-four hours of cultivation. Neither can be completed any ti soon.’
’So I need to scout out the next batch of good entries to make permanent.’
’So far, I’ve co across many items that can provide entries, but not many are truly worth the investnt.’
’The Spirit Detecting Disc has a green entry, "Spiritual Sense Expansion," a passive perception of thirty zhang. The effect is powerful, but the condition for making it permanent is to possess Divine Sense, which is basically impossible before Foundation Establishnt.’
’That complete shed skin from an Iron-Scaled Serpent had a white entry. I saw it on East Street last ti for twelve Spirit Stones. I don’t know the entry’s effect since I haven’t equipped it to see the details, but the shed skin itself is a good material for Artifact Refining and talisman making. The entry is most likely related to defense or body enhancent.’
’A Gathering Spirit Ring has a white entry, costs fifteen Spirit Stones, and the na itself suggests it aids in cultivation.’
’A storage pouch can provide a green entry, but the cheapest ones start at fifty or sixty Spirit Stones.’
’Besides these, during my inspections and patrols, I’ve also co across so miscellaneous items that triggered a reaction from the panel. So Spirit Grain, a few mortal Cultivation Techniques, the occasional ore I’ve stumbled upon... Most had gray entries, a few were white, but nothing outstanding.’
’And now, I have a decent amount of Contribution Points saved up.’
’I’ve been accumulating them for a while now from my monthly stipend and mission rewards. The Magic and Cultivation Techniques in the Hidden Skills Pavilion can be exchanged with Contribution Points. And the fact that Magic-related items can be equipped has already been proven by the Cleaning Skill booklet.’
’The Iron Bull Skill can be equipped, the Nourishing Essence Skill can be equipped, and Magic booklets can be equipped.’
’So, would a booklet for an immortal cultivation Magic skill also have an entry?’
’The Magic skills I have on hand—Fireball Technique, Divine Movent Step, Spirit Shield Skill, Ice Cone Skill—were all basic skills issued by the Wang family. My original self had already learned them long ago, and who knows where the booklets went.’
’But there should be other Magic skills in the Hidden Skills Pavilion that I can exchange for.’
Li Yuan ntally listed the possibilities: ’First, I’ll exclude the Magic I’ve already learned. Second, the price can’t be too ridiculous. And finally, it should ideally be a practical skill—one I can learn, use, and also get an entry from.’
’Whether I have enough Contribution Points is another question. I’ll have to go to the Hidden Skills Pavilion in the market town to find out.’
Thinking of this, Li Yuan pulled his thoughts back to the present.
The patrol station ahead had already appeared in their line of sight, the silhouettes of the wooden huts looking hazy in the twilight.
He Shou quickened his pace for the last few steps, heading straight for the main outpost, the cloth-wrapped half-pill tucked away in his robes.
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