Mythical Cultivation

After the others dispersed, Wu Ming thought about it and realized that since he had decided to go on the mission, he needed to improve his combat power. So he decided to buy some supplies to increase his combat power. He went to the Alchemy Hall and bought a bottle of Qi Rejuvenation Pill for fifty spirit stones and a bottle of Hemostasis Pill for twenty spirit stones. He then went to the Talisman Hall and bought two low-level second-level talismans, a Fire Bird Talisman for forty-five spirit stones, and a Diamond Talisman for fifty-five spirit stones. In total, he had spent one hundred and seventy spirit stones. Now he had less than a hundred spirit stones in his pocket. If he didn't gain anything from this mission, he would have to make talismans every day.

Adding to that the more than 40 talismans I made during this period, it should at least not be a burden.

Early in the morning, several people gathered. According to Huang Hao, most of the monsters within a few hundred miles of the sect had already been killed, and they now needed to go further. So several people flew on flying swords and flew further away, stopping and starting along the way. After a day of traveling, they arrived at a deserted area. It was over a thousand miles away from the sect and no longer within the Qingyun Sect's radiation range. After comparing it with the map, they found that this was near a cultivation family, less than a hundred miles away. This cultivation family also had the support of the Qingyun Sect, so they didn't need to worry too much.

So, they exchanged sound transmission notes, agreeing to use them to call the others to hunt monsters together if they encountered danger. Sound transmission notes could be sent to anyone within a hundred miles. They cost ten spirit stones each and had been purchased long ago. He had only exchanged with Zhao Xiaohai before. Regardless of whether they found their target or not, they were to meet here in an hour to avoid losing contact if they ventured too far.

After discussing it, the four of them each chose a direction and set off. Wu Ming headed south. They didn't fly with their swords, but instead explored as they went, to avoid being alerted by any monsters and to conserve their energy. Wu Ming explored the south for a cup of tea, encountering only a few wild animals and no monsters.

Just when Wu Ming was feeling a little disappointed, he saw a spiritual herb. After careful identification, it seemed to be Qingling Grass, one of the materials for the Qi Gathering Pill. It was not valuable, only worth a spiritual stone, but even a little bit was still meat. Wu Ming observed carefully and found no signs of monsters around. It seemed that there were no monsters guarding it.

Indeed, it was only a Qingling grass, less than ten years old, so most monsters wouldn't be interested. Wu Ming stepped forward and carefully dug it out with a medicine shovel, placing it in his storage bag. Feeling a little better, he continued his exploration; unexpected gains always bring joy. After walking a little further, the surrounding vital energy began to intensify, and Wu Ming perked up. The more abundant the vital energy, the more likely monsters would appear. Finally, he spotted a monster crouched on a slope ahead, absorbing the vital energy. It was a mountain-dwelling beast. Judging by the energy fluctuations around it, it was likely a monster in the early stages of Qi training, with tough skin and skilled earth escape. Although this was a duplicate mission, he still had to kill any monster he could, especially since these were all spiritual stones. So Wu Ming decided to hunt the mountain-dwelling beast.

Wu Ming moved a little closer and found that the mole beast had suddenly finished its training. It sniffed around with its nose. Wu Ming knew that he could not get any closer, so he slapped his storage bag and summoned the Qingyun Sword to shoot at the mole beast. The mole beast was still searching for the scent of a stranger, but saw a flying sword rushing towards it. It had no intention of resisting and immediately used earth escape. The Qingyun Sword pierced the mole beast's tail when half of its body was submerged in the ground. Only a section of its tail fell to the spot, and the mole beast disappeared.

He'd been careless, letting the mole escape. He hadn't expected it to be so cowardly, not even putting up a fight, but simply burrowing into the earth. He'd probably gotten hundreds of meters away. With Wu Ming's fourth-level Qi training, his spiritual sense could only detect a radius of less than ten meters. As long as the mole was hiding, it would take him ages to detect a range of several hundred meters. That was why Wu Ming was so disappointed to have let the mole escape. He had no choice but to pick up the mole's tail, skin it, and drain its blood. The rest wasn't much use, so Wu Ming passed on it. It was better to have nothing than nothing.

After gathering his spoils, Wu Ming set off again. More than half an hour had already passed. He had explored dozens of miles to the south but hadn't found any monsters. He had dug up a few spiritual herbs along the way and was about to return to the gathering place. Wu Ming produced a haste talisman, slapped it on himself, and sped back to the place the four had agreed upon. Mei Lingshuang had already returned. The two of them checked with each other, but hadn't encountered any suitable monsters. After waiting a while, Zhao Xiaohai and Huang Hao also returned.

As it was getting dark, they lit a bonfire and sat around it. Huang Hao took out some unknown monster meat and roasted it on top. The aroma of the meat filled the air. Wu Ming then remembered that he had just thrown the monster meat away. It was still his lack of experience.

"Have you encountered a suitable monster?" Huang Hao asked.

"No, I encountered a bald eagle and a red snake a few dozen miles to the east. I couldn't catch one, and the other was a duplicate." Mei Lingshuang replied.

"You won't believe it, but I walked dozens of miles to the west and didn't encounter a single monster. Are monsters so rare in the wild?" Zhao Xiaohai asked.

"I only encountered a mole beast. I feel that there are indeed not many monsters in this area. I don't know what's going on." Wu Ming said.

"I don't have any here either. Low-level monsters are actually similar to wild beasts. They prefer to appear at night and sleep in their nests during the day. Let's explore again tomorrow. If there are still no monsters, we will try another place. The lack of monsters is either because they are hunted too many by monks, or because there are high-level monsters around. I hope it is the former. In addition, the wild is the most dangerous at night. A campfire is a danger to wild beasts, so they will stay away from it. But for monsters, a campfire is a signal that there are prey here, so we will be on duty in two shifts at night. Mei Lingshuang and I will be on guard in the first half of the night, and Wu Ming and Zhao Xiaohai will be on guard in the second half of the night." Huang Hao arranged.

No one had any objection and felt that what Huang Hao said was very reasonable. Wu Ming also had no objection, but he felt that Huang Hao's experience was too rich. He didn't seem like a novice cultivator. Compared to the three of them, he knew much more. However, it might also be that others had rich experience. However, it is not bad to have an experienced person in the team.

After finishing their barbecue, they sat down and practiced for a while. This was Huang Hao's suggestion, not to meditate deeply outdoors, as it would prevent them from reacting to danger in time. They followed his advice and didn't practice for too long. Huang Hao wasn't idle either, pulling out a few jade bottles from his storage bag and walking a few dozen meters before scattering them on the trees and the ground before returning.

After asking, Huang Hao learned that this was a medicinal powder made from the feces of a second-level monster. It was used to deter monsters and was usually used in the wild at night. Of course, cultivators with strong cultivation used formation flags for vigilance and defense. Monster feces powder was usually only used by poor people and casual cultivators. Everyone said that they had learned something new and gained a lot.

It was late at night, Wu Ming and Zhao Xiaohai fell asleep with their clothes on, leaving Huang Hao and Mei Lingshuang to keep watch.

Seeing Mei Lingshuang looking like she wanted to say something, Huang Hao knew what she wanted to ask him, but couldn't open her mouth, so he said, "Why, do you have any questions? If so, please speak up. If not, please be alert. I need to practice for a while first."

Hearing Huang Hao speak first, Mei Lingshuang took the opportunity to raise the question, "How do you know so many things that we don't know? You don't even seem like a new disciple of Qingyun Sect."