Volume 1, Chapter 98 – A Great Opportunity

The tent frame was blown apart by the gale stirred up by the fist aura, and the snow on the ground was flung up several feet high.

The man had never expected Shi Lan to react so quickly, nor to strike so decisively. He couldn’t dodge in time and had his left shoulder grazed by the fist aura.

“Crack!”

A clear sound of bones breaking rang out. The shadowy figure flew backward, the punch sending him hurtling dozens of zhang, straight out of the camp.

By the time he hit the ground, half his body was already numb. Shocked to the core, he didn’t dare dawdle. In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished into the night.

Shi Lan stepped into the air and swept her gaze around. When she found nothing out of the ordinary, she couldn’t help but frown.

“Who was that just now?”

Wu Lingkong came to Shi Lan’s side. She had also sensed the disturbance a moment ago, but hadn’t reacted as fast as Shi Lan.

Shi Lan shook her head. “I didn’t see clearly. But to take a punch from me head-on and still run that fast—he’s no weakling.”

The Vajra Divine Fist might only be a Body Tempering cultivation art, but driven by Innate true qi, it was still a top-tier offensive fist technique.

And Shi Lan’s true qi was so dense it didn’t lose out to an ordinary martial artist at the eighth stage of the Innate Realm, far surpassing those at the same level. With that driving the Vajra Divine Fist, it was like a tiger growing wings.

Even though she had struck in a rush just now, she’d still used nearly eighty percent of her strength. To take that blow and then disappear from her senses in an instant—the prowler’s strength was nothing to scoff at.

With such a commotion, the others were long since awake and had gathered around.

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Glancing at the sky, Shi Lan turned to Wang Ning and the others. “Dawn isn’t far. Pack up—we’re leaving this place.”

Whoever had been spying on them, getting away from here as soon as possible could only be right.

……

The shadow staggered into the Firecloud Escort Agency, slipped along in stealth, and arrived at You Hong’s room, where he knocked on the door.

Inside, the lamps were all lit, bright as day.

You Hong was seated cross-legged on a wooden bed, eyes closed in cultivation. A strand of visible crimson airflow circled in and out of his mouth and nose.

When he swallowed that wisp of red qi down, You Hong slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the door.

“Who is it?”

“Xu Sheng.”

You Hong lifted his hand in a beckoning gesture, and the door swung open.

A figure stumbled into the room.

Seeing the state the man was in, You Hong’s expression changed slightly. He rose from the bed and helped the man sit down.

“How did you end up this badly hurt? Did you fight them?”

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Xu Sheng shook his head. “No. I only went to scout them out and got spotted by accident.”

After checking over Xu Sheng’s injuries, You Hong’s brows knit tight. The left shoulder blade and arm bones were completely shattered, and the muscles and tendons had been shaken into paste. It was a serious wound.

And You Hong could tell Xu Sheng had only taken a single punch, likely not even a solid hit, yet had been beaten into this state. The attacker’s strength was vicious.

“Someone among them can actually spot your trail?” After stabilizing Xu Sheng’s injuries for the moment, You Hong’s expression grew grave.

Even he couldn’t detect Xu Sheng’s stealth techniques. If someone in that group could notice Xu Sheng, didn’t that mean they were stronger than he was?

At the thought, You Hong’s heart tightened. Stronger than him… would that not mean an Earth Fiend Realm martial artist?

Xu Sheng shook his head. “It was my own carelessness that exposed me. They didn’t discover me on their own.”

Hearing that, You Hong relaxed a little. “Then what exactly happened?”

Xu Sheng coughed twice. A touch of color returned to his pale face as he grew a bit excited. “Chief, that group is carrying a huge opportunity!”

You Hong froze. “What kind of ‘huge opportunity’?”

“Spirit crystals. A massive pile of spirit crystals!” Xu Sheng wanted to raise his hand to gesture, but the entire left side of his body was numb, so he had to give up.

“That’s all?” You Hong shook his head slightly.

“This group has at least tens of thousands of spirit crystals on them, maybe even more!” Seeing You Hong’s calm face, Xu Sheng forced his right hand up and made a small motion.

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“I saw an open cloth bag. Inside were at least a few thousand spirit crystals, and there were over a dozen such bags.”

You Hong’s expression didn’t change much.

He shook his head again. “That doesn’t mean every bag is full of spirit crystals.”

“Chief, I wouldn’t say this if I wasn’t sure. Those bags all had formations carved on them. The array patterns were a bit unfamiliar, but they should be the same type as a spirit-sealing formation!”

At that, You Hong shot to his feet, pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind him, fists clenched tight, clearly torn inside.

A few thousand spirit crystals wasn’t enough to make him risk everything. But tens of thousands or more… that was plenty tempting.

“Besides the spirit crystals, I also sensed the aura of a third-grade fire-attribute spiritual material in that tent,” Xu Sheng added more fuel to the fire.

You Hong’s heart pounded like a drum. He stepped back to Xu Sheng in two strides. “You’re sure you sensed a third-grade fire-attribute spiritual material?!”

Xu Sheng thought for a moment, then said, a bit hesitant, “I’m not completely certain, but that aura definitely wasn’t something a second-grade spiritual material could have.”

You Hong’s breathing grew slightly rushed. If there really was a third-grade fire-attribute spiritual material and he could get his hands on it, this might be the greatest opportunity of his life.

He was still under fifty. If he could use that third-grade material to step into the Earth Fiend Realm before fifty, he might one day have a chance to brush against the legendary Heavenly Astral Realm.

You Hong gradually calmed down. The other side’s strength was unknown, their identity and background unclear. Even if he meant to move against them, he couldn’t just attack head-on. At the very least, he had to make sure no one could pin anything on him.

“How much did you manage to gauge of their strength?”

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After thinking it over, Xu Sheng replied, “There aren’t many experts in the Innate Realm among them. From what I saw as I looked around, I only identified two. I was beaten like this by one of them.”

After a long moment of thought, You Hong took out a healing pill and fed it to Xu Sheng. “Rest well for the next while. I’ll personally keep an eye on that group.”

Not long after Xu Sheng left, You Hong walked out of his room with a few letters in hand, called over several trusted men, and sent the letters out.

……

At first light, Shi Lan and her group left the city, continuing along their planned route.

You Hong took a few Innate Realm martial artists with him and circled around the group, waiting for replies while closely watching their every move.

Not long after they exited the city, Shi Lan and the others ran into a small beast horde of some three to four hundred, mixed with many ordinary wild beasts.

When You Hong saw this horde, he didn’t think much of it. He’d long heard that demonic beasts had suddenly appeared in this area and had even personally scouted the surroundings.

A little beast horde like this could hardly threaten even a martial artist at the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm. He alone would be enough to slaughter the lot.

But this small horde might at least show him a bit of that group’s methods.

However, in the eyes of the Demon-Suppressing Army, this many demonic beasts were no different from merit being handed to them for free.