Novel Full Chapter 67 - 66: A Few Days
Chapter 67: Chapter 66: A Few Days
After eating, Li Yuan went to the guard post’s trading area.
There were quite a few items for trade, but not much variety. Most of it was Demon Beast materials.
Trading within the market square was inconvenient for the guards. Plus, the team had frequent missions outside. This led to the emergence of two trading methods: purchase requests and consignment sales.
The prices were not much different from those inside the market square, but the transactions would take a little longer.
Li Yuan looked around but didn’t find anything he needed among the consigned goods. So, he explained his needs to a guard, who then wrote down Li Yuan’s request and posted it on the wall.
Afterwards, Li Yuan returned to his residence, unequipped the Fire Escape Skill, equipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, and began to cultivate.
The next morning, after finishing his cultivation, Li Yuan unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.
He then equipped the Flame Snake Tube.
’There should be a lot of Demon Beasts on the road,’ he thought. ’Perfect for grinding some progress.’
He Shou was still standing in the courtyard. When he saw Li Yuan enter, he simply jutted his chin.
"Today, we’re pushing out further. We’ll take the southeast route, past that Chaotic Stone Slope up ahead."
Li Yuan grunted in acknowledgment and hung the Spirit Detecting Disc back at his waist.
The other team members had also arrived. Li Yuan had gotten to know them over the course of the previous day.
The tall, sturdy man at the very front was named Han Shi. He carried a round shield of black iron and cultivated earth-elemental Magic. In a real fight, he would most likely be the one to hold the front line.
Next to him was a tall, thin young man named Zhou Qing. Three Willow Leaf Shuttles hung from his waist, and he carried a short blade in his hand. His habit was to suppress enemies with his Magical Artifact first, then look for an opportunity to close in for the finishing blow.
Behind him was Liu Cheng, who had deep-set eyes. A Demon-Binding Rope hung from his waist, and he had a few Talismans tucked away, but he spent most of his time fighting enemies with Magic.
The last one was Xu Shun. He was the quietest of the group, carried a short ebony staff, and was skilled in both the Water Arrow Skill and the Ice Mist Skill. He was also responsible for looking after the wounded.
The four team members all had a Cultivation at the Qi Refining Third Level.
Once all six were assembled, they headed out directly.
Li Yuan walked near the front, the Spirit Detecting Disc held tightly in his hand.
After walking about twenty zhang, Li Yuan stopped in his tracks and raised his hand as a signal.
"There’s movement ahead."
He Shou stopped immediately. The others crouched down and slowly peered in the direction Li Yuan was pointing.
Ahead was a partially collapsed earthen slope. At the bottom of the slope was a black stone, and next to it lay the half-eaten carcass of a beast.
A few breaths later, two Demon Beasts emerged from behind the black stone.
The larger one was bluish-gray all over. The mane on its shoulders and back was flattened slightly by the wind. It had long, slender claws and a sharp, pointed snout. It was an Azure-Maned Wind Wolf.
The smaller one next to it had a crimson tail and slender, pointed ears. It hid its body behind the stone, but its eyes darted around. It was clearly a Crimson-Tailed Fire Marten.
Both were close to Tier One Middle Grade.
He Shou glanced over, his voice hushed.
"A Wind Wolf and a Fire Marten. Both can use Magic."
The words had barely left his lips when the Fire Marten behind the stone lifted its head. A red light flashed in its mouth, and two fist-sized Fireballs shot out, heading straight for Han Shi.
Han Shi raised his arm. A layer of earthy-yellow Spiritual Light instantly swelled up from his black iron round shield, blocking both Fireballs completely.
At almost the same instant, the Azure-Maned Wind Wolf opened its mouth and spat.
A pale azure Wind Blade skimmed across the ground. It was incredibly fast; as it shot through the grass, the blades were sliced cleanly in two.
But Li Yuan’s side had the advantage in numbers.
With a shift of his feet, Zhou Qing had already sent a Willow Leaf Shuttle flying from his waist.
An azure light streaked diagonally, knocking the Wind Blade down.
Li Yuan aimed his Fire Arrow Skill directly at the Wind Wolf’s forehead.
Empowered by Precision, the shot was dead-on. The Azure-Maned Wind Wolf had just finished casting its own magic and couldn’t dodge in time. A charred black hole appeared on its forehead, and it immediately collapsed.
He Shou had already closed in from the side. With a flick of his body, a blade of light, thin as wind, slashed diagonally across the ground and struck the Fire Marten’s right leg, causing it to tumble over.
Liu Cheng raised his hand and threw out the Demon-Binding Rope.
The rope swelled as it flew through the air, WHIP, and looped around the Fire Marten’s neck.
The throw was accurate. One more attack, and the Fire Marten would have been down for good.
But Liu Cheng hesitated for a moment, not dealing the fatal blow immediately.
In that single moment of hesitation, the Fire Marten’s body suddenly arched.
The next instant, a line of fire shot directly from its mouth.
Liu Cheng’s expression changed. He raised his arm to block, and his sleeve was instantly scorched through, the outside of his arm turning black.
His footing faltered, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his grip on the Demon-Binding Rope loosened.
The Fire Marten seized the opportunity and lunged, nearly escaping.
He Shou’s face darkened.
"Kill it! What are you hesitating for!"
Li Yuan didn’t wait any longer. A Fireball Technique instantly blasted half of the Fire Marten’s body to a blackened crisp.
When the battle was over, Liu Cheng was still standing to the side, clutching his arm. His sleeve was burned through, revealing a charred wound, but fortunately, the bone was not injured.
Xu Shun took a pouch of medicinal powder from his robes and tossed it over.
"Press it on."
Liu Cheng caught it, gritted his teeth, and patted the powder onto the wound. His arm muscles immediately tensed, and his face turned a little pale.
He Shou crouched down to look at the wound. After confirming it wasn’t serious, he stood up.
"Can you still walk?"
"I can," Liu Cheng breathed out.
"Then remember this."
After saying this, He Shou turned and began to skin the Fire Marten.
He Shou flipped the Fire Marten over, made a quick incision on its flank with the tip of his knife, and began to speak.
"Pelts, beast fangs, bones—of course these things are worth Spirit Stones. If you really have the strength to spare, keeping them intact is naturally better than ruining them."
As he spoke, he gestured with his knife toward the Fire Marten on the ground.
"But in a situation like that just now, wanting a whole pelt before you even had it under control... wasn’t that a bit too greedy?"
"I know you’re short on Spirit Stones and want to buy a Realm-Breaking Pill to reach the Qi Refining Fourth Level, but you can’t go throwing your life away for it, can you?"
Liu Cheng said nothing, just looked down and tugged at his ruined sleeve.
After He Shou finished speaking, no one else chimed in.
The two Demon Beasts were quickly processed.
The Azure-Maned Wind Wolf’s pelt was more valuable than the Fire Marten’s, and its meat was edible. The Fire Marten’s pelt was burnt on one side, so it would likely sell at a discount, but its tailbone, teeth, and claws could still be salvaged.
By the time they returned to the guard post, it was already past noon.
The courtyard was as busy as ever: some were dividing up meat, some were recording accounts, and others were carrying Demon Beast carcasses.
After telling He Shou, who was busy dividing the meat, that he needed the Demon Beast pelts, Li Yuan went to the trading area and found that the items he had requested had arrived.
They were in a bag that contained quite a few things: a stack of Cyan Pattern Paper, some talisman-crafting materials, a large amount of basic talisman paper, and some materials for making beast-hide talisman paper.
Li Yuan paid the remaining Spirit Stones on the spot, picked up the bag, and headed back.
It wasn’t completely dark when Li Yuan returned to his residence.
Li Yuan first set aside his share of the meat, then laid out the bag and the Demon Beast pelts on the table.
He had already tried the steps Fang He taught him once before. This time, with more complete materials, the process went much more smoothly.
First, soak the hide; then, scrape the fat; finally, press, stretch, and separate the layers.
After working for several hours, Li Yuan picked up a thin piece of hide and held it up to the light.
[Skill: Beast Hide Talisman Paper Crafting - Uninitiated (56/100)]
Li Yuan didn’t rest. He took out some talisman paper, mixed the ink, and started drawing, beginning with a Cleaning Talisman.
He had made these many times before, so he was quite practiced. He hesitated slightly on the first stroke of the first talisman, but the second one went smoothly.
[Cleaning Talisman - Novice (0/200)]
Li Yuan switched to a new sheet of paper and began drawing an Exorcism Talisman.
[Exorcism Talisman - Novice (0/200)]
By the time he finished drawing the talismans, it was late at night. Instead of cultivating, Li Yuan went straight to sleep.
The next few days were packed.
He patrolled during the day, then returned at night to process hides, draw talismans, and cultivate. There was barely any downtime.
The patrol route extended further out each day. After He Shou led them past the Chaotic Stone Slope, they slowly began to explore the path on the other side of the mountain ridge. Fewer people went there, the Demon Beast tracks were more varied, and the Spirit Detecting Disc lit up noticeably more often than before.
He also reached the Novice level for the Warning Talisman during these few days.
Over these days, the "Precision" trait had accumulated a lot of progress and was close to becoming permanent.
[Precision (White)]
[Permanence Progress: 90/100]
He sold the completed Cleaning Talismans and Exorcism Talismans to Fang He.
With this sale, he recouped some of the Spirit Stones he had sunk into buying materials.
As for the batch of beast-hide talisman paper he made, not many were of good quality. Most were uneven in thickness, and some had damaged edges. If he tried to sell them to a large shop, they probably wouldn’t even take them, and if they did, the price would be terrible.
So, Li Yuan simply sold them to a Loose Cultivator Talisman Master who frequently drew Low-Tier Talismans.
The price wasn’t high, but at least he recovered a little more of his investment.
On the morning of the fifth day, when Li Yuan opened his eyes from his cultivation, his aura was much more substantial than when he had first joined the guard team.
He tucked the few new Warning Talismans he had made into his sleeve and then headed out.
In the guard post’s grounds, people were already starting to head out.
He Shou was standing by the gate. Seeing him approach, he said just one thing.
"Today, we cross the mountain ridge and head towards the West Gully."
Li Yuan acknowledged him and followed them out the gate.