Mythical Cultivation

When Mei Lingshuang asked this, he realized that he had been careless and had said too much. He guessed that the others also had doubts, so he had to find a good reason.

After thinking for a while, Huang Hao said, "When I was in the village, I went out for more training. I was more familiar with the village guards and listened to their stories."

Mei Lingshuang no longer had any questions after hearing Huang Hao's explanation. After all, she wasn't a very curious person. She was just straightforward and said whatever she thought.

Huang Hao asked Mei Lingshuang to be on guard for a while, then he began to meditate. "Old Ding, did I say too much and make them suspicious?" Huang Hao asked himself.

"It's not a big problem, as long as you don't say something you shouldn't know. But this is a reminder for you, so you should be careful with your words in the future," an old voice sounded in Huang Hao's heart.

After hearing what Old Ding said, Huang Hao felt relieved. He opened his eyes and began to keep watch with Mei Lingshuang.

Soon it was the second half of the night, and it was Wu Ming and Zhao Xiaohai's turn to keep watch. They added some fuel to the fire and started chatting.

"Huang Hao knows much more than me. I have too little experience and too little information. I will have to ask you more for advice in the future," Wu Ming said to Zhao Xiaohai.

"Huang Hao does know a lot, so it's okay to ask him for advice. As for me, forget it. What you know is almost the same as mine. It's useless to ask me for advice. I need to ask more people for advice." Zhao Xiaohai said.

The wilderness in the second half of the night was much busier than during the day. The two listened to the roars of various monsters coming from the dark forest around them, unlike during the day when no monsters could be seen.

"Be careful, there's a demon beast coming." The two were on night watch when Huang Hao's voice suddenly rang out. They were instantly alert, but remained calm. A hundred meters to the south, they could vaguely see an iron-backed ape sneaking up on them, concealing its presence. They signaled to wait for it to get closer before attacking.

When the Ironback Ape was within a hundred meters of the others, they patted their storage bags and summoned flying swords to stab the Ironback Ape. The Ironback Ape was about to strike when it got closer, but it was discovered. Since it had been discovered, it decided not to pretend. Seeing the four flying swords flying towards it, the Ironback Ape turned around and held them on its back. There were four clangs, sparks flew, but the Ironback Ape was completely unharmed. Then, it patted its chest and instantly accelerated towards the four people. Seeing that the flying swords couldn't break the Ironback Ape's defense, Wu Ming and the others knew that the Ironback Ape was quite powerful.

"The Ironback Ape's back is its most defensive area. This Ironback Ape probably hasn't reached the late stage of Qi Refining yet. If the four of us attack the Ironback Ape separately, it won't be able to take care of its entire body," Huang Hao warned. Upon hearing this, the others immediately dispersed, stabbing the Ironback Ape with their flying swords from different locations. Seeing the four separate, the Ironback Ape swung its fist at Zhao Xiaohai, the one closest to it. Zhao Xiaohai immediately distanced himself, and the other three also controlled their flying swords to attack the Ironback Ape.

Mei Lingshuang and Wu Ming's flying swords struck its back, while Huang Hao's struck the Ironback Ape's arm, leaving a wound several inches deep. The ape cried out in agony, its eyes reddening as it sped towards Huang Hao. Huang Hao immediately drew a haste talisman and applied it to himself, gaining some distance. Wu Ming and the other two controlled their flying swords to strike the Ironback Ape from all directions, but the ape ignored them and continued chasing Huang Hao.

Seeing that the Ironback Ape was out of breath, with more and more wounds on its body, bleeding profusely, and its speed was getting slower and slower, the few people felt relieved and continued to attack the Ironback Ape. Seeing that the Ironback Ape was about to die, everyone worked harder. After Zhao Xiaohai stabbed the Ironback Ape with a sword, the Ironback Ape stood still. Zhao Xiaohai thought the Ironback Ape was dead, so he retracted his flying sword and prepared to go forward to collect the spoils. Just after taking a few steps forward, Huang Hao suddenly shouted, "Be careful, he's not dead, get out of the way." At the same time, he raised his flying sword and slashed at the Ironback Ape's neck.

The moment Huang Hao's voice rang in the ears of several people, the Iron-backed Ape, which had been standing still, suddenly accelerated and crashed into Zhao Xiaohai. Zhao Xiaohai only had time to use the Qingyun Sword to block in front of him. With a loud "bang", Zhao Xiaohai was knocked several meters away with his sword. Blood gushed out of his mouth like water. Huang Hao's flying sword also beheaded the Iron-backed Ape with one sword.

Several people quickly helped Zhao Xiaohai up and fed him some healing medicine. Soon, Zhao Xiaohai regained consciousness, though his face was still pale. "Don't assume that monsters have low IQs; they're also quite cunning. You must be completely certain before you can rest assured," Huang Hao warned them.

"I was careless. I didn't expect the Ironback Ape, though it looked simple, to be so cunning," Zhao Xiaohai said in a low voice. "I'll keep the spoils for now, and then sell them and we'll split the spirit stones, okay?" Huang Hao asked, and no one else objected.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Huang Hao began to collect the spoils. The Ironback Ape was not among the mission items that had been collected, so now Huang Hao's mission was completed only by the spine of a monster.

After a battle, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and the few people were no longer sleepy, so they stopped resting. Only Zhao Xiaohai was injured and lay down to rest. After a while, the sky became bright, and after breakfast, the few people began to divide the work and prepare to continue searching for the traces of the monster.

However, they saw several sword lights flying towards them in the distance. It seemed that they were the target. The four of them were alert. A few moments later, two sword lights landed in front of the four of them, and they saw a man and a woman appear. They were two young men and women.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked the monk.

"Who are you and what is your purpose?" Huang Hao asked directly without answering.

"We are cultivators from the Liu family of Taohua Mountain. This area belongs to our sphere of influence. The four of you don't look like cultivators from the vicinity of Taohua Mountain. Explain your origins quickly, otherwise don't blame us for being rude." The male cultivator said sternly.

"So you are the cultivators from the Liu family of Taohua Mountain. The four of us are outer disciples of the Qingyun Sect. We are here to complete a mission. This is our first time in your place." Zhao Xiaohai said.

The two young cultivators immediately warmed up when Zhao Xiaohai revealed his origins as the Qingyun Sect. After all, the Peach Blossom Mountain Liu Clan was a power backed by the Qingyun Sect. A moment later, Wu Ming and the other three learned the two's names: the male cultivator was Liu Jiaming, and the female, Liu Jiali. They were disciples of the Liu family's Jia generation. Clan cultivators weren't divided by strength like sect cultivators, but by generation. They were all related by blood, and dividing them by strength would easily confuse the generations.

When the two learned that Wu Ming and his four companions were on a mission, they immediately asked if they needed help. Zhao Xiaohai thought that as the local leaders, they should be more familiar with the distribution of the surrounding monsters than they were. It would be better to have their help than to wander around like headless flies.

So he asked, "Do you know the distribution of monsters nearby? We need to hunt monsters to complete the mission."

When Liu Jiaming heard that Zhao Xiaohai really needed his help, and that he only needed information about the distribution of nearby monsters, he said bluntly, "There's nothing around here that our Liu family doesn't know about. I know the distribution of monsters very well."

Hearing Liu Jiaming's words, the four of them perked up and started asking questions. Liu Jiaming listed the locations of several monsters, but they were all duplicates of those they had already completed in their missions. Or they were Foundation Establishment monsters, which they couldn't afford to offend. Going there would just be food for them. They were a little disappointed, feeling like they couldn't get any more information out of him.