Chapter 75: Chapter 75: News of Death

After Bai Lin departed with the Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Bai family who had come seeking aid, Li Ping finally began to feel the tense atmosphere of the approaching beast tide.

Gumu Sheng and Zhang Tie would occasionally visit Immortal Peach Mountain to report the latest news about the beast tide.

It was said that Qi Refining Stage Cultivators no longer dared to leave the city at all. Tier Two Demon Beasts would occasionally appear near the Immortal City, and some Low Level Demon Beasts had even crept right up to the city’s edge.

For Cultivators, killing Demon Beasts was a way to obtain various materials from their bodies to exchange for Spirit Stones, which was why they were so keen on hunting them.

Demon Beasts, in turn, regarded Cultivators—whose bodies were improved by refining Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi—as gourmet delicacies. Upon encountering a Cultivator, a Demon Beast would be satisfied only after devouring them.

If a Low-tier Cultivator encountered a Tier Two Demon Beast, death was all but certain.

So now, all the Low-tier Cultivators prudently stayed inside the Immortal City. Even Foundation Establishment Cultivators no longer dared to act alone, instead forming teams to hunt Tier Two Demon Beasts.

...

Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

Miaorou watched as large, bean-sized characters appeared on the Celestial Secret Mirror. She quickly took the Fierce Arrowhead Eagle egg Guardian Yan had given her from her Storage Bag and peeled the blood-colored Spirit Talisman from its surface.

Then, she waited in silence.

The very instant Miaorou removed the Spirit Talisman—

Far away, deep within the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, two majestic Spirit Birds that had been circling endlessly in the sky suddenly fixed their gazes in the direction of the Immortal City. They had sensed the location of their offspring’s bloodline.

"CAW!"

"CAW!"

A glint of hatred flashed in their eyes. The two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles let out a piercing shriek, simultaneously changing direction and flying toward the Immortal City. As they flew, they sent out signals with their sharp cries.

Upon hearing the signal, the Tier One and Tier Two Demon Beasts—which the eagles had driven out to search for their offspring—shook their heads and began to converge on the Immortal City!

...

Immortal Peach Mountain Cave Residence.

Gumu Sheng walked in, saying gleefully, "Big Brother, wonderful news! A Tier Three Demon Beast has appeared—two of them, in fact! I already took advantage of today’s panic to sell off all our hoarded goods."

"Mm," Li Ping nodded, though he didn’t seem very enthusiastic.

Gumu Sheng handed a Storage Bag of Spirit Stones to Li Ping, his voice filled with irrepressible excitement. "Big Brother, your 2,000 Spirit Stones earned a profit of about 1,600! We agreed on a seventy-thirty split, so your net profit is 1,200 Spirit Stones. It’s all in here."

"Not bad." Hearing the numbers, Li Ping finally allowed a smile. A return of about 60% in such a short time was an incredible profit.

’Gumu Sheng probably didn’t even make as much as I did,’ he thought. ’After all, his own initial investment was smaller than mine.’

Putting the Spirit Stones away, Li Ping changed the subject back to the beasts. "You said there were Tier Three Demon Beasts—two of them? What kind were they?"

Gumu Sheng chuckled and described the two Tier Three Demon Beasts. From his account, Li Ping immediately recognized them as a type of avian Demon Beast called the Fierce Arrowhead Eagle.

"Those two Tier Three Demon Beasts even tried to attack the Array, but the Master personally took action with Little Qinglong and drove them back!" Gumu Sheng’s expression was quite animated, describing the battle scene with vivid detail.

It was as if he himself, not Fenglan Master, had been the one to repel the Fierce Arrowhead Eagles.

From the description, however, Li Ping could faintly sense Fenglan Master’s apprehension when facing the two Tier Three Fierce Arrowhead Eagles. From start to finish, Fenglan Master never dared to stray too far from the Array, always ready to retreat back into the city at a moment’s notice.

But this wasn’t surprising. Fenglan Master’s so-called Tier Three "Little Qinglong" was actually a Cyan Python, which was naturally countered by eagle-type Demon Beasts. Its strength would be greatly diminished when facing Fierce Arrowhead Eagles.

Besides, with the Immortal City’s Array for backup, there was no need for Fenglan Master to take any unnecessary risks!

...

When the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles appeared a few times and were driven off by Fenglan Master, people’s moods remained relatively stable.

Everyone believed that after failing to gain any advantage against the Immortal City, the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles would soon leave.

But to everyone’s surprise, for a full half-month, the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles continued to attack the Grand Array daily, and the number of Tier One and Tier Two Demon Beasts gathering around the Immortal City grew ever larger.

Driven by curiosity, Li Ping had gone to watch one of Fenglan Master’s battles against the Fierce Arrowhead Eagles.

Fenglan Master was a tall Female Cultivator dressed in white palace-style robes, her face obscured by a veil. Her Magical Treasure was a long, narrow, jade-colored cone.

Under Fenglan Master’s control, the jade-colored cone emitted a hazy glow as it shot through the sky at a terrifying speed.

Little Qinglong was a massive cyan python, nearly forty zhang long. Its body was covered in bowl-sized scales that shimmered like translucent jade in the sunlight. Faintly visible on its head were two large bulges, giving it an exceptionally mystical appearance.

And battling them were two enormous crimson birds of prey, circling in the air like massive bomber planes.

The battle was a breathtaking spectacle. The two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles attempted to attack the city’s defensive Array, while Fenglan Master and Little Qinglong relentlessly thwarted them.

The sky constantly rang with terrifying booms and the sound of impacts!

However, Little Qinglong seemed somewhat timid when facing its natural predator; the main fighting force still relied on Fenglan Master.

It was unclear what the origin of Fenglan Master’s jade-colored cone Magical Treasure was, but the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles dared not make contact with it, merely avoiding it from a great distance.

Seeing that Fenglan Master’s interference prevented the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles from attacking the city’s defensive Array, Li Ping was finally able to rest easy. He calmly returned to Immortal Peach Mountain to continue his secluded cultivation.

But a few days later, Zhang Tie came knocking again to report on the recent state of the battle.

It turned out the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles hadn’t left because they were actually waiting for the Low-tier Demon Beasts to arrive.

After massive numbers of Tier One and Tier Two Demon Beasts arrived at Fenglan Immortal City, the first great battle finally erupted yesterday!

In the sky, Fenglan Master and Little Qinglong relied on the city’s defensive Array to hold off the two Fierce Arrowhead Eagles.

On the ground, numerous Qi Refining Cultivators, aided by the Immortal City’s Array, fought against hordes of Low-tier Demon Beasts. The Foundation Establishment Cultivators, meanwhile, acted as a mobile force on the ground, responsible for eliminating the Tier Two Demon Beasts mixed in among the lesser beasts.

The battle lasted until this morning. The Demon Beasts suffered countless casualties against the city’s defensive Array, but many Cultivators also died in the fighting.

Among the dead were even two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Li Ping was shocked to hear that Foundation Establishment Cultivators had died. However, when Zhang Tie told him the identities of the two who had fallen, his surprise was mixed with a touch of malicious glee.

Because one of the two fallen Foundation Establishment Cultivators was none other than the old ancestor of the Wang family—the very same man who had once scammed him out of 100 Spirit Stones.

Li Ping could only say, "Good riddance."

After reporting the relevant intelligence, Zhang Tie departed in a hurry.

Not long after Zhang Tie left, he received another uninvited guest.

The visitor was a sweet and lovely woman in a cyan dress. It was none other than Fairy Meng Qingyi, the one who had once gifted Li Ping a Talisman Brush.

As soon as she saw Li Ping, Meng Qingyi spoke in a rush, "Fellow Daoist Li, I have come to ask a favor of you."

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