37: Chapter 37 Unable to Withstand a Powerful Enemy
Qingyi stopped the Spirit Deer and, suppressing the dissatisfaction in her heart, said, "Senior, we sisters are the wives of Ancestor Bai of the Mountain and River Sect. I hope there is no misunderstanding!"
Upon hearing this, Luan Xiong and the others were somewhat surprised. The wives of Ancestor Bai of the Mountain and River Sect?
Luan Xiong carefully searched his memory, but he had never heard of this name, so he asked, "Brother Fan, have you ever heard of this Mountain and River Sect?"
Fan Zhan thought for two or three seconds, frowned slightly, and said, "Never."
After receiving the reply, Luan Xiong felt relieved. He looked at Qingyi and the others with an unkind expression and scolded, "What made-up, nameless little sect are you using to threaten me!"
With a wave of his sleeve, the Green Feather Eagle beside him shrieked and soared into the air, swooping toward the camp.
Qingyi took out the formation disk that Bai Cang had entrusted to her and hurriedly activated it.
This formation was a common first-tier minor formation called the "Three Palaces Formation," which only had simple defensive functions.
Although it could not block the attacks of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it could barely hold on for one or two hits!
The light of the formation rose from the four corners of the camp, converging at the center to form a semicircular white light shield.
The Green Feather Eagle shrieked several times, its sharp talons hooking toward the light shield.
The white light shield vanished instantly, then struggled to light up again, appearing much dimmer than before. Two medium-grade spirit stones in the formation disk shattered directly, leaving only one remaining.
"I must find a way to stall for time!"
Qingyi took two medium-grade spirit stones from her pocket and placed them into the formation disk; the dimmed defensive light shield quickly returned to its original state.
Luan Xiong snorted coldly and said, "Let's see how many spirit stones you have!" He then commanded the Green Feather Eagle to attack again.
Bang! One strike, then another.
Qingyi took out two medium-grade spirit stones and inserted them again; at her feet were already six dimmed medium-grade spirit stones. These were all left by Bai Cang for their daily cultivation, telling them not to hesitate to consume them.
This made Zhong Yi and the others behind Luan Xiong incredibly greedy. One medium-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for a hundred low-grade spirit stones; their total assets after more than a decade of cultivation amounted to only about three spirit stones. Yet, the half-demon fox girl had pulled out eight in just a few seconds! And it looked like she still had more...
A trace of greed flashed in Luan Xiong's aged eyes, and he thought, "My monthly stipend is only six medium-grade spirit stones; I didn't expect this wretched demon to be so wealthy..."
He could not continue wasting time; soon, all of this would be part of his assets!
With this thought in mind, Luan Xiong said to Fan Zhan, "Brother Fan, have your Green Feather Eagle attack as well, and let's break this formation quickly!"
"Hmm. Go, Qing!" Fan Zhan ordered the Green Feather Eagle beside him to attack.
The two eagles swooped to the sky above the formation and attacked together. The entire light screen instantly shattered and exploded, like white snow falling from the sky, scattering onto the ground and disappearing into mid-air. The formation disk in Qingyi's hand exploded directly, and the spirit stones inside turned to powder.
"Now there are no obstacles!"
Luan Xiong did not let the Green Feather Eagle continue attacking; instead, he walked forward himself. The Green Feather Eagle's attacks were heavy and careless; it wouldn't be good if it injured this group of half-demon women. They could still be sold for a good price, or trained to be slaves...
When he was about ten meters away from Qingyi and the others, Luan Xiong flicked his sleeve, whipping up a gust of bewitching wind that blew toward them.
Gu Qiu and Xi Chun behind them looked at each other, flapped their wings, and stirred up a golden whirlwind that collided with the bewitching wind. Bai Miaomiao held her long sword, and a wave of green ripples swept out. The Spirit Deer slapped out a burst of green light that surged forward. Qingyi, Qingqing, and Qing Yu joined forces to unleash a pink mist. Only Feixue, who was only good at close combat, stared blankly from behind, whimpering softly.
Several attacks struck the bewitching wind one after another, but they had little effect. The girls were all at the Qi Refining stage, and under the absolute crushing power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they could not block anything at all.
A look of disdain appeared on Luan Xiong's face. He pointed at the group and said, "Gather!" The bewitching wind immediately expanded to twice its size, sweeping toward Qingyi and the others.
Pfft. Suddenly, two illusory figures flew out, exhaling a gust of wild wind from their mouths that dispersed the bewitching wind. These were exactly the two Foundation Establishment Chang Ghosts controlled by Bai Cang!
"Chang Ghosts?!" Luan Xiong raised an eyebrow, realizing something was wrong, and a strong sense of unease rose in his heart!
Chang Ghosts were the souls of those eaten by tigers who became the tiger's servants; they were cruel in nature and akin to the Demon Ghosts refined by demonic cultivators. This was the origin of the saying "to act as a cat's paw for a tiger." The two Chang Ghosts before him were clearly formed from the deaths of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and one of them had been at a cultivation level similar to his own while alive! Around the fourth or fifth layer!!
Fan Zhan arrived from behind and said, "Brother Luan, you should kill when it is time to kill; they are just two Foundation Establishment Chang Ghosts. If I have guessed correctly, the eleven tiger cubs are all the offspring of these two Chang Ghosts' master, and this group of women are the slaves specially serving them. We should kill them all, take the tiger cubs, and hide in our sect gate! Even if that Platinum Fierce Tiger discovers the truth, there is nothing it can do about the Hundred Beasts Sect! We could even contact people from our sect to set a trap and use a Spirit-Trapping Ring to capture that Platinum Fierce Tiger as well!!"
Fan Zhan finished speaking in one breath, murderous intent appearing in his eyes. Luan Xiong gasped, looking at Fan Zhan beside him with admiration. This fellow daoist of his was not actually someone who didn't like to talk, but rather someone who disdained speaking meaningless nonsense. But once he spoke, he always had extraordinary insight!
Luan Xiong praised, "Brother Fan, your words have cleared the clouds to reveal the sun, sweeping away the fog and making me clear-headed! Before that big tiger appears, we must quickly eliminate these two Chang Ghosts!"
Fan Zhan glanced sideways at Luan Xiong and said coldly, "Let the Green Feather Eagles hold off the two Chang Ghosts, and we will seize the people directly!"
Luan Xiong quickly realized his own stupidity and awkwardly stroked his beard frantically. The two Green Feather Eagles arrived from the rear, swooping to kill the two Foundation Establishment Chang Ghosts and engaging them in battle. Now, there was no one left to deal with Luan Xiong and Fan Zhan!
If the second-ranked sect of the Ming Kingdom was the Luanjian Sect, famous for its 'sword cultivation,' then the third was the Hundred Beasts Sect... This was where the strength of the Hundred Beasts Sect lay. When fighting cultivators of the same realm, it was often two against one, three against one, or even four against one!! As long as you had spirit stone resources and sufficient soul strength to control the spirit beasts!!
...After leaving the Yang Crystal mine, Bai Cang, Yang Xiao, and the Giant-Armed Red Ape rested in a nearby cave for the night, and at daybreak, they headed toward the outer perimeter of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range.
Halfway there, the Chang Ghost he had sent back to report safety the previous night suddenly appeared before him.
"Qingyi and the others have run into trouble..." Bai Cang understood immediately.
Because the Yang Crystal mine had suddenly appeared last night, it had attracted many cultivators from the vicinity, including those with powerful Foundation Establishment cultivation. If even two Foundation Establishment Chang Ghosts couldn't protect them, the enemy's strength must not be weak! Bai Cang narrowed his tiger eyes.
The next second, he whipped up a gale to lift Yang Xiao and simultaneously took out a piece of Red Yang Crystal and tossed it to the Giant-Armed Red Ape, saying, "Eat it and keep up with my speed!"
The Red Yang Crystal was a fire-attributed spiritual object, which was a great tonic for a fire-type spirit beast like the Giant-Armed Red Ape. After the Giant-Armed Red Ape ate it, the injuries on its body from last night began to heal rapidly.
"Woo woo!" It excitedly patted its sturdy and strong chest and chased closely behind Bai Cang, splitting rocks it encountered and crashing through trees in its path.