215: Wherever I go, trouble follows!

Looking at the unfamiliar environment before him, Shen Yuan instinctively took a breath of the surrounding Spiritual Qi, his brows furrowing deeply.

"Senior Brother Mu, the Spiritual Qi here is far too impure!"

Hearing this, Mu Han also sensed it briefly, a trace of irritation flashing in his eyes as he said in a low voice: "Mm, indeed, it doesn't even reach the second rank!"

Both men were dressed in black robes, one tall and one short. The tall one was Shen Yuan, with a scar on his face and a sinister look in his eyes; the short one was Mu Han, with a pale, bloodless face and fingers as thin and claw-like as a skeleton's.

A faint scent of blood lingered around them; standing there, they made the surrounding air turn several degrees colder.

Clearly, neither of these two were orthodox Cultivators!

"Let's go, leave this place first, and capture a few to perform Soul Searching to understand the situation."

Mu Han did not hesitate for long, making a prompt decision. He then silently pinched a spell, shrinking the Flying Boat to three inches and putting it into his sleeve. The two then swept away and vanished.

— —

Baishi Marketplace.

Located at the edge of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, it was a sizable trading marketplace under the jurisdiction of the Immortal Dynasty.

The marketplace was occupied year-round by a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, assisted by several Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, maintaining order and prosperity in the area.

On this day, the marketplace was as bustling as ever, with Cultivators weaving through the streets, the sounds of hawking and shouting endless, a scene of immortal prosperity.

However, beneath this clamor, an unknown terror was spreading.

The Qi Refining Cultivators outside still looked with awe toward the pavilion in the center of the marketplace that symbolized supreme authority.

But they would never have imagined that the Foundation Establishment Cultivator they viewed as unreachable was currently sprawled on the cold floor like a dead dog.

A palm was gripping his crown tightly, and an overbearing Divine Thought was violently tearing open his Sea of Consciousness, seizing all his memories and secrets.

The surviving Foundation Establishment Cultivators were all kneeling on the ground, their bodies trembling slightly from fear.

They stared fixedly at the scene before them, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

This had originally been an ordinary day; how could two Golden Core True Persons appear out of thin air?

What they couldn't fathom even more was that the two looked so unfamiliar; they were definitely not any Golden Core Senior from the Southern Wilderness Region.

At first, they could still maintain their composure by relying on the background of the Immortal Dynasty.

But the other party hadn't even bothered to say a word, directly attacking and suppressing the strongest Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator among them, and performing the soul-searching secret technique on the spot!

Such an overbearing and tyrannical style of action, treating rules as nothing—how was it any different from the Demonic Path?

However, faced with such atrocities, they dared not harbor the slightest dissatisfaction in their hearts, only bone-chilling coldness spreading throughout their bodies.

They lowered their bodies even further, desperately restraining their auras, like insects curled up in the shadows, praying only that those two adults would not notice their existence.

After a while.

Mu Han threw the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator aside like trash.

And this Foundation Establishment Cultivator had already lost his intelligence, and his aura was fading rapidly; clearly, his life was nearing its end.

"Qingxuan Sect, Cloud Thunder Pavilion, Ji Clan Immortal Dynasty, Heavenly Star Immortal City."

Mu Han muttered to himself as he browsed through the memories he had seen, then showed an expression of excitement.

"I didn't expect that this barren land would actually give birth to four Golden Core True Persons!"

He turned to look at Shen Yuan, his gaze becoming fiery: "Junior Brother, do you know what this means!"

Without waiting for an answer, Mu Han continued on his own: "It means there are at least four Third-rank Spiritual Veins here! It means there are hundreds of millions of Cultivators... no, hundreds of millions of blood-food!"

"But Senior Brother." Seeing Mu Han becoming more and more excited, Shen Yuan couldn't help but interrupt: "You also said there are four Golden Core True Persons here, and there are only the two of us."

"Stupid!" Mu Han scolded his foolish Junior Brother, then stood with his hands behind his back, looking toward the Southern Wilderness Region, his tone faint.

"Golden Cores that ascended in such a backwater place have already exhausted their potential; how could they be opponents of Cultivators like us who come from a Nascent Soul Sect? As long as we deal with them, the Southern Wilderness Region will be a treasure trove for us brothers to take as we please!"

"You have to know, although the Sect will provide resources, how can it be as satisfying as occupying a territory! All the Cultivators here, all the resources, belong entirely to us!"

"With an entire territory to support the two of us, we might just have a chance to peek into the Nascent Soul Dao!"

He turned to look at Shen Yuan, who was already breathing heavily, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Junior Brother, do you understand now?"

— —

"What? Beast Tide!"

In the pavilion in the backyard of Ink Talisman Pavilion, Lu Ming and Yuan Hong sat opposite each other, with a crisscrossing chessboard in the middle and the curling fragrance of spiritual tea by their hands.

It had been over ten years since he was invited by Yuan Hong to join the Immortal City.

Although they didn't meet often during this time, they would still make time for a small gathering every year.

And Yuan Hong's cultivation had now broken through the Foundation Establishment Stage, reaching the second level of Foundation Establishment.

As the Commander of the Immortal City's direct troops, Yuan Hong naturally did not lack resources; this cultivation speed could be considered fast.

Of course, that depends on who one compares him with, but Lu Ming had always maintained the aura of a third-level Foundation Establishment Cultivator to the outside world, which might also be the key to the two maintaining their friendship.

It's just that Lu Ming never expected that today, when he was cultivating well, Yuan Hong would suddenly come to visit and bring him such big news.

A Beast Tide was about to erupt, and the scope of the impact would sweep through Heavenly Star Immortal City.

"Mm." Yuan Hong took a light sip of the spiritual tea and looked toward the outside of the city, his eyes worried.

"According to Commander Sikong's investigation, in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range a hundred miles away, there have been signs of Yao Beast groups gathering recently.

And Yao Beasts are fierce and brutal by nature; if there is no unified will, those hostile Yao Beasts could beat each other's brains out.

This might be the precursor to a Beast Tide!"

Hearing this, Lu Ming's hand holding the white piece paused, his expression moving slightly as he asked: "How long has it been since the last Beast Tide?"

As for the Beast Tide, he didn't have much worry; it wasn't like he hadn't experienced it before; at worst, he would flee this place and run again.

But he just felt weird; he had only just settled down, how could there be another Beast Tide? Wasn't this chasing him to kill him?

It couldn't be that he really had some kind of bad luck Physique, where trouble follows wherever he goes!

"Beast Tides usually erupt once every hundred years, and the vast majority of reasons are because a new Third-rank Demonic King is about to be born in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. The Beast Tide is either a cover for its Breakthrough or a show of force after the Breakthrough.

But it has been less than thirty years since the last Beast Tide erupted; the possibility of a new Third-rank Demonic King being born during this period is not high!"

Yuan Hong put down his teacup and said in a deep voice.

"You mean, someone is playing tricks?" Lu Ming keenly grasped the key point in Yuan Hong's words.

"Oh? It seems Fellow Daoist Han also has some intuition." Yuan Hong was a little surprised, not expecting Fellow Daoist Han to be so insightful, so he nodded.

"Yes, this Beast Tide is likely deliberately guided by someone."