Reversing the Milky Way

Bai Cheng was also shocked. He knew that one hundred silver coins would be almost a year's income for an ordinary family.

Just then, Chen Ping looked at the silent crowd and spoke again: "Very good, it seems you have no other opinions. Next, I will divide the team into five groups, and each group will be led by two guards from the Bai family. Then, you will go into the mountains to hunt along five different routes, and then return here to gather at sunset."

As he finished speaking, Chen Ping and the rest of the Bai family guards nodded to each other, then each pair led ten men to form a group. Following Chen Ping's orders, these five groups entered the back mountain of the Bai family compound.

Bai Cheng's team was led by Chen Ping, whose cultivation level was also in the late stage of Qi Condensation. Among the guards of the Bai family, his cultivation level was among the higher.

As the group stepped into the dense forest, they were instantly enveloped in a deep and mysterious green, and the low growls of various wild beasts echoed in their ears. This scene reminded Bai Cheng of his own past wanderings in the forest. Since arriving in this world, the forest had been his most familiar place, so the ease and composure on his face was largely thanks to Bai Chuanhai's constant hunting trips deep into the forest.

As the group ventured deeper into the dense forest, sunlight could not even penetrate the intertwined canopy to reach the ground. It was early spring, so the trees were growing extremely lushly, which was also the season when various mythical beasts began to appear.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ping, who was walking at the front of the group, suddenly seemed to become alert. He then drew his long sword from behind and casually unleashed a sword aura composed of spiritual energy towards the upper right of the group.

Immediately after a roar from an unknown animal, a very long, unidentified creature suddenly fell from the dense forest. This action immediately startled the group, throwing them into disarray. When they saw the creature on the ground, they realized it was a giant snake over ten meters long.

The giant snake's mouth was wide open, and its two sharp fangs were dripping a clear liquid. At this moment, a middle-aged man in the group, who looked to be in his forties, exclaimed, "This, this is actually a Shadowweaver! I've encountered this kind of snake when I was hunting in the mountains. Its venom is extremely poisonous, but it usually doesn't exceed five meters in length. Why is this Shadowweaver so huge?"

Hearing this, Bai Cheng pondered and said, "Perhaps it's because the spiritual energy here is more concentrated than in ordinary areas. I remember that areas with concentrated spiritual energy cause the animals here to mutate, after all, even these trees are much more lush than in other areas."

Chen Ping then approached the giant snake and said, "That's right, it seems this young brother does have some knowledge. It's because the spiritual energy in this area far exceeds that of the search area that this Shadow Weaver Snake has become so huge. Alright, now it's time for you to get to work."

Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly startled. At this moment, another person in the group suddenly spoke up: "What? Aren't we here to deal with spirit beasts? Does that mean we have to deal with this poisonous snake too?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping looked sharply at the man.

"Remember, you're here to work at the Bai residence. If it weren't for this opportunity, you probably wouldn't even be able to get through the gates! Every plant and tree here is far more precious than anything you'd see in ordinary areas. You should cherish this opportunity. This Shadow Weaver is naturally inedible, but its venom has some uses."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng was also puzzled. "Could it be used to make poison or something?"

"You know quite a lot, kid. However, the venom of ordinary snakes can't be made into anything very poisonous unless it's from a spirit snake or a demonic beast. Only then can the venom have unexpected effects. This Shadow Weaver Snake is affected by the spiritual energy of this place, so its venom is much stronger than ordinary venom. Besides, this venom has other uses. When you came here, you should have seen many strangely colored flowers in the Bai Mansion. Some of these flowers have very demanding growing conditions and need to be watered with special things, such as highly toxic liquids. This snake venom is one of them."

At this point, Chen Ping conjured a small throwing knife, which, under his control, moved back and forth within the mouth of the Shadow Weaver Serpent. A few seconds later, the knife dissipated, and a snapping sound came from the serpent's mouth.

Immediately afterwards, everyone saw the two venomous fangs, each half a meter long, fall from the mouth of the Shadow Serpent.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Ping took out a storage bag, then waved it forcefully, and several porcelain bottles flew out of the storage bag and floated in front of each person. In addition, each person also had an exquisitely crafted dagger floating in front of them, the daggers being of the low-grade treasure level.

"Keep these things safe. You'll need them when you're dissecting or collecting them. I'll take them back when we leave the back mountain. You should collect the snake venom first."

After everyone received the porcelain bottle and dagger, they began to collect the venom. Bai Cheng carefully collected the liquid from the fang holes into the porcelain bottle. The transparent liquid emitted a raw, green smell. He had never seen this snake's venom before, so he didn't know anything about it. He was very careful when collecting it, making sure the venom didn't come into contact with his skin.

Ten minutes later, after everyone had collected the venom, Chen Ping was scanning the surrounding area with his divine sense. As a late-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, his divine sense could detect a distance of up to two thousand meters without interference.

As his expression suddenly hardened, he immediately addressed everyone present: "About a mile ahead, I've detected a second-grade spirit beast, probably a wild boar. I'll go and kill it first. Sen Lei, you lead the team and follow behind, just in case anything goes wrong."

After saying that, he leaped up gracefully, and his long sword was drawn from its sheath. He then flew forward on his sword, the whole action was done in one smooth motion, without any unnecessary movements.

The man named Sen Lei was another member of the Bai family who led Bai Cheng's team alongside Chen Ping, and his cultivation level was at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. He then led Bai Cheng and the others quickly towards the direction Chen Ping had just flown on his sword.

As he moved forward, Bai Cheng looked up at the dark and dense forest. The lush foliage was like the sky above the forest. As someone who had not yet entered the Qi Condensation Realm, he always felt that it was inconvenient to move around in this kind of forest. Bai Cheng had also imagined what it would be like if he could fly on a sword. Although moving around in this forest would be hindered, it would still be much faster than the group of people in front of him.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him.

"Fellow Daoist Senlei, surely the guards at the Bai residence are more than just these few? Why not let other cultivators capture the spirit beasts? Wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?"

Sen Lei looked dejected after hearing this.

"Young friend, you may not know this, but last year the city lord led all the guards of the Bai family out of the city. That expedition caused great losses to the guards, including the deaths of several members of my level. Even now, more than half of the Bai family guards are still seriously injured and recuperating in their respective cultivation residences. Therefore, we had no choice but to hire workers from outside to prepare for the Tonghai Banquet."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng suddenly remembered something, and his expression gradually became serious, even slowing down his movements.

After noticing Bai Cheng's unusual behavior, Sen Lei came to his side and said, "You don't need to worry about this. In fact, among your group of fifty people, there are at least five cultivators who have reached the early stage of Qi Condensation. However, those few are in other groups. But Chen Ping, who leads you, is the highest-level among our team members. When the old city lord of the Bai family's back mountain was in power, he constantly searched and killed most of the high-level demonic beasts. So you don't need to worry."

In fact, Bai Cheng had already discovered that among the people participating in the hunt, there were several cultivators who had already entered the Qi Condensation Realm. However, what Bai Cheng was thinking at this moment was different from what Sen Lei was thinking.

As the group continued forward, they saw Chen Ping waiting ahead. In front of him lay a spirit beast over five meters long. Bai Cheng recognized it as the Ruiling Wild Boar, a second-grade spirit beast, which was larger and had more succulent meat than the commonly seen first-grade spirit beast, the Lingbao Pig.

At this moment, Sen Lei quickly came to Chen Ping's side and said, "As expected of Brother Chen, you've captured this Ruiling Wild Boar in just a short time."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping nodded thoughtfully.

"Hmm... it's just a second-grade spirit beast. I certainly won't let it escape once I make a move. You guys quickly divide up all the meat from this wild boar."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's team immediately moved forward and surrounded the wild boar. Then, the group used their knives to cut up the huge boar.

Just then, Bai Cheng, who was dismembering the wild boar, also noticed the wound on its body. There was a sharp wound all over the wild boar's body, a straight line across its entire body. Bai Cheng guessed that this must have been done by Chen Ping.

Besides, there were several intermittent wounds, some deep and some shallow, on the wild boar's body, and these wounds were also bleeding. However, they seemed to be claw marks caused by some animal, and they did not look like they had been injured recently, which made Bai Cheng a little puzzled.

However, he didn't think much of it. After everyone had finished cutting and arranging the meat, Chen Ping took out a storage bag and put the cut meat into it.

“Let’s continue. To meet the quota for the Tonghai Banquet, we need to hunt more than a hundred spirit beasts of this size.”

As the words fell, the entire group continued moving forward.

In just one afternoon, Bai Cheng's team hunted nearly twenty edible spirit beasts. However, most of these spirit beasts were much smaller than the Ruiling Wild Boar, and some of the edible spirit beasts were less than a meter long.

Meanwhile, the group had reached the top of the mountain. However, what caught Bai Cheng's attention was that most of the spirit beasts had some kind of injury on their bodies, as if some animal had done it intentionally. Only some of the smaller spirit beasts had marks left by Chen Ping.

As darkness gradually fell, Chen Ping descended from the sky and landed in front of everyone.

"It's about time, let's go back the way we came."

At this moment, Chen Ping suddenly saw Bai Cheng squatting on the ground as if collecting something and stepped forward to ask, "Hey kid, what are you doing?"

Bai Cheng slowly stood up after hearing this.

"It's nothing, Fellow Daoist Chen. I'm just collecting some spices."

Chen Ping was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

"Hmm? Spices? Are they used for cooking?"

Bai Cheng nodded.

"That's right, they are indeed spices that can be used in cooking. Fellow Daoist Chen, you won't mind if I gather some, will you?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping burst into laughter.

"Haha, it's alright. This back mountain is so big, even if you clear this place bare, you won't be able to tell anything. As long as it's not some rare spiritual plant, we can turn a blind eye."

Upon hearing this, some people in the group began to get restless.

"However, it's getting late now, and we need to hurry back. After all, even though this is the back mountain of the Bai family, there's no guarantee that something might happen at night."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions showed disappointment. Seeing this, Chen Ping spoke again, "Don't worry, today's hunt is just the beginning. There's still a whole day tomorrow, so you don't need to be discouraged."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of everyone in the group immediately became excited again. Although it was forbidden to pick the spiritual plants in this area, there were many herbs from ordinary areas. These herbs, influenced by spiritual energy, generally grew much larger and could be sold to clinics in the mortal world. After all, many ordinary herbs were not of the spiritual plant grade.

Then, led by Chen Ping, the team gradually began to descend the mountain.

Meanwhile, in the distance, between the cliffs, a pair of sharp eyes were staring at the direction where Bai Cheng and his group were descending the mountain. The golden beast eyes could vaguely see the shadows of Bai Cheng and his team.

Half an hour later, the sun had set below the horizon, and the sky was beginning to darken. At the entrance to the back mountain of the Bai family, all the teams had regrouped.

At this moment, Bai Cheng suddenly noticed that everyone's clothes had some bloodstains left on them, and even his own clothes were not spared.

At this moment, Chen Ping came to the front of everyone and said, "You have all worked hard today. After you return to the front yard, someone will take you to your temporary accommodations. As for dinner, we will also provide one."

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in excitement.

"My God, as expected of the Bai family, not only are the wages so high, but even the workers receive such treatment."

"Yes, if I could work at the Bai family's residence, I wouldn't have to worry about the rest of my life."

"Oh, you wish! Can't you see that the entire Bai family is full of cultivators?"

"Yes, I'm afraid that if you come in and sweep the floor, no one will want you."

Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, the entire group began to retrace their steps and return.