Chapter 24

Rice was out of the question, but luckily, senior martial brother Mu Chongxi was somewhat reliable. He had investigated early and learned of the restless activity of monster in the Manster Forest. Generally speaking, such agitation among Manster Forests indicated the emergence of some treasure. So, the two immediately decided to head into the Manster Forest to take a look.

Ye Qiao couldn’t recall whether the original work mentioned any opportunities in the Manster Forest. After all, major opportunities always belonged to the female lead. With Yun Que absent, that could only mean it wasn’t anything good.

However, this didn’t stop the two senior martial siblings from going there out of boredom.

In fact, it wasn’t just them who thought there might be a great opportunity. Many independent cultivators had also come. In the cultivation world, independent cultivators belonged to those without sects, individuals who fought alone without backgrounds or masters. This meant that if they died outside, no one would care, making them generally the easiest to bully.

Knowing there wasn’t much opportunity, Ye Qiao strolled leisurely with her senior martial brother, occasionally admiring the scenery along the way. The periphery of the Manster Forest was basically safe; the deeper they went, the quieter it became.

Occasionally, they passed by some low-level Manster Forests, which Ye Qiao effortlessly dealt with as they came her way.

With the first experience, Ye Qiao became much more adept at killing Manster Forests.

“It doesn’t feel difficult at all.”

Mu Chongxi was somewhat lackluster.

Sword cultivators were generally hot-headed, except for Ye Qiao, who fought when necessary and ran when she couldn’t win.

Apart from the eldest senior martial brother in Changming Sect, everyone else either had lower cultivation levels or were weak artisans like alchemists or talisman makers, incapable of taking care of themselves. There were simply no opponents who could match him, leaving Mu Chongxi feeling the loneliness of being a master.

“Ah ah ah ah—!!”

After a leisurely half-hour walk, they gradually reached the central area, suddenly hearing a mournful cry like that of a donkey.

Ye Qiao saw a young man in a panic, running clumsily ahead with a large bird chasing behind him.

Yes, a large bird.

About three feet long, with fiery red feathers resembling a phoenix, its cold golden eyes emitted a cruel beast’s hunting gaze. Its long, slender beak could pierce straight through a person in an instant.

Although the young man looked disheveled, he seemed to have suffered no serious injuries, evidently possessing some skills.

When the young man saw Ye Qiao and Mu Chongxi’s cultivation levels, his eyes lit up upon seeing them, but dimmed upon closer inspection. He shouted, “Run, brothers!!”

“This thing pecks people!!”

Ye Qiao didn’t expect him to be so kind-hearted.

Even though they were being chased, he still took the time to warn others, even after losing a shoe.

The large bird noticed two more prey items and visibly became excited, emitting a piercing cry as it dove towards them.

Mu Chongxi drew his sword first, cold light shimmering with a chill as it clashed with the sharp beak of the large bird. The ear-piercing collision rang out, momentarily numbing his arm as he stepped back half a step, his expression slightly tense. “Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.”

In the cultivation world, even a single realm difference was like heaven and earth.

Ye Qiao was also slightly surprised.

Mu Chongxi was only at the early stage of Golden Core cultivation up to now.

It was not an exaggeration to say that someone at mid-stage Golden Core could handle two at the early stage.

Perhaps sensing that Mu Chongxi was more troublesome, the large bird turned its attention to the young man.

The young man, on the verge of tears, shouted, “Help!!”

“Save me!!”

The best solution would have been for the two to tear up a teleportation talisman and escape. But if they didn’t help now, the young man would soon be pecked through by the bird.

In a flash, Ye Qiao instinctively picked up a stone and hurled it at the bird’s head with infused spiritual power.

She threw with great force, causing the bird’s head to veer off momentarily, instantly enraging it.

The lower the realm, the lower the intelligence; at the mid-stage Golden Core level, their intelligence was probably comparable to that of a seven or eight-year-old child. Moreover, birds were easily angered and explosive by nature, exactly as she had expected—the stone had successfully enraged the bird.

It turned and charged towards Ye Qiao.

Ye Qiao didn’t engage with it; she just ran.

In a race between a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a Golden Core cultivator, the outcome was almost predetermined.

“Watch out!” Duan Hengdao shouted sharply as they were about to be caught.

Mu Chongxi reacted the fastest. He swiftly drew his sword and slashed a sword qi towards the large bird’s rear.

It took quite a hit, the sword qi slicing off half of its long, elegant feathers.

The young man: “…How did it end up getting a haircut?”

He stared blankly as the enraged bird turned to chase Mu Chongxi. As it chased, Ye Qiao picked up another stone and threw it at the bird from behind.

The bird turned again to chase Ye Qiao, and Mu Chongxi drew his sword again to sneak attack it.

Back and forth they went, playing with the not-so-smart bird.

It cracked.

These two despicable humans!

The young man stared dumbfounded, gradually beginning to question life.

Wait, can things really go like this?

While the two distracted the bird, the young man below seized the opportunity to throw a golden rope in Ye Qiao’s direction, calling out loudly, “Brother, catch!”

Ye Qiao caught the bundle of golden rope and almost instantly knew how to use it. This was probably the expensive mythical beast binding rope she had heard of. Without hesitation, she swiftly used it, snatching it towards the bird.

The bird angrily grabbed the rope with its slender beak, and Ye Qiao couldn’t help but smile. She quickly tightened the rope around its beak.

The red bird realized too late that its mouth had been tied up.

It was furious and wanted to make a piercing noise, but with its mouth bound, all it could do was thrash about wildly in place, consumed by impotent rage.

“This demon beast is essentially useless now that its mouth is disabled.”

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, the young man struggled to control his trembling legs and tried to maintain the appearance of a calm expert.

Ye Qiao glanced at him. “Straighten your legs before you speak.”

The young man: “…”

He awkwardly looked at his trembling legs and stubbornly replied, “I’m just an artifact cultivator. Isn’t fighting supposed to be something for you sword cultivators?”

“I used to be protected within the sect. Even when I went out, there was always a group of people guarding me…”

He rambled on, but when he turned his head, he found that the two of them had already crouched down curiously to inspect the red bird.

“Ah, so this is the legendary red bird.” Mu Chongxi curiously kicked it.

In response, the red bird shot him a furious look with its big green eyes.

Ye Qiao reached out and grabbed its feathers, saying with satisfaction, “I heard its feathers can be used for defensive artifacts.”

“Many artifact cultivators use this material when making defensive robes.”

“How do you know that?”

“I read it in books,” Ye Qiao replied. It turned out reading books was still useful.

Mu Chongxi’s eyes lit up. “Then selling it to the Chengfeng Sect should fetch us quite a sum of money, right?”

Ye Qiao grabbed the struggling bird and thought for a moment before shaking her head. “Let’s not sell it for now.”

“We can pluck it bare first, and when its feathers grow back, we can pluck again. That’s called sustainable development. We shouldn’t let this opportunity slip by; we must learn to view things with a developmental perspective.”

Mu Chongxi gave her a thumbs up. “Litte sister, you’re truly something.”

Impressive!

The red bird: “… Damn humans.”

The young man listened dumbfoundedly. “… How did I not think of that?”

As a direct disciple of the Chengfeng Sect, Duan Hengdao had always used whatever he caught. He had never considered raising a demon beast and continuing to harvest its feathers after they grew back.

So, it could be used for sustainable development?

“Should we tie it up first?” Although he suggested it, bringing this red bird back to the sect was still a challenge, especially since the rope wasn’t theirs but belonged to that kid from earlier.

The young man hesitated for a moment and then generously said, “Then consider this Binding Demon Rope a gift to you.”

“I don’t lack artifacts.” Facing their gazes, he smiled somewhat shyly. “I’m an artifact cultivator. I came to the demon beast forest to find materials for refining artifacts. Who knew I’d run into something like this.”

“Generally, demon beasts of this level only appear in the innermost areas.” Scratching his head, he couldn’t figure it out. “It’s strange today, unexpectedly running into one.”

Actually, Mu Chongxi and the others could have let it escape without getting involved. At most, it would have destroyed some spiritual artifacts. In any case, the young man was grateful to them. “Did you also hear about the rumored treasures in the demon beast forest and intend to investigate?”

Ye Qiao nodded.

Seeing this, he asked, “Shall we go together? My name is Duan Hengdao.”

“Sure.” Ye Qiao immediately smiled friendly at him. “I’m Ye Qiao.”

“Mu Chongxi.”

And so, the temporary trio was formed.

“We should come up with a name.” Mu Chongxi rubbed his chin. “After all, it’s our first time teaming up with others.”

“How about calling ourselves the Three Musketeers?”

Ye Qiao: “…”

Duan Hengdao: “This name…” Just when Ye Qiao thought he was going to say something more, the young man’s eyes lit up and he exclaimed excitedly, “This name is great!”

Ye Qiao: “… Okay.”

So, they became the Three Musketeers. Unless something unexpected happened, this makeshift team would soon disband.

The visible reduction in inner areas of demon beasts meant they encountered no danger along the way. Many cultivators were likely guarding the inner areas to see what treasures the disturbance in the demon beast forest had stirred up.

When they arrived, the situation was still somewhat tense. The scene was divided into two groups: one led by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the other…

“Song Hansheng…?”

Wasn’t he an old acquaintance?

“Yeah, they’re the bunch from the Yueqing Sect.” Ye Qiao couldn’t be bothered to recall their names.

Let’s just call them the Yueqing Army for now.

One had to admit, Ye Qiao had a knack for provoking people.

Song Hansheng had been impatiently confronting those dirty independent cultivators. Suddenly hearing Ye Qiao’s voice, his expression turned dark and he looked over with a cold gaze.

He had come on his master’s orders to assess the situation. Without a doubt, the disturbance in the demon beast forest this time heralded the manifestation of spiritual artifacts.

But the appearance of spiritual artifacts invariably meant there were powerful demon beasts guarding them, at least at the Foundation Establishment level.

Song Hansheng immediately chose a cunning approach, setting up a formation to trap these independent cultivators with the large demon beast, intending to use them as bait to distract the demon beast while he led his senior brothers and sisters to claim the artifacts.

This was originally a foolproof plan, but unexpectedly, disciples from the Chengming Sect had shown up.

“Ye Qiao,” Song Hansheng narrowed his eyes, “Are you here to die together?”

“Coincidentally,” he smiled slightly, “I also need you useless lot to pave the way for me.”

The more, the better; they could help distract the demon beast for a while longer. As for whether they would die? That wasn’t his concern.

The world of cultivation was always survival of the fittest.

Duan Hengdao trembled and leaned close to Ye Qiao’s ear, whispering, “They’re direct disciples of the Yueqing Sect.”

“How do you know him?”

As Duan Hengdao knew, Song Hansheng was extremely petty.

“I’ve tricked him before.”

Many independent cultivators were injured, and many chose not to venture further in. Those with discerning eyes could see that the Yueqing Sect’s direct disciples were clearly using them as bait to pave the way.

But perhaps due to the earlier commotion from the sounds of battle, the ground began to tremble slightly. Soon after, a roar echoed out, and a pitch-black demon beast charged out, powerful enough to cause discomfort among many.

Mu Chongxi furrowed his brow. Late Golden Core stage.

Are they crazy?

A demon beast at the Late Golden Core stage.

And this isn’t even the innermost area yet.

Song Hansheng saw the demon beast, his gaze sharpened, and without hesitation, he slapped a talisman towards the beast, clearly choosing to enrage it to block Ye Qiao and the others.

This time, he was determined to secure the spiritual artifact.

Song Hansheng was a complete schemer; the talisman he used was an enchantment talisman. Generally, the higher the cultivation, the higher the intelligence. This talisman could cause intelligent demon beasts to lose their rationality, indiscriminately attacking whoever was closest.

After affixing it, he deployed a defensive formation and chose to retreat.

Ye Qiao and the others became the first targets of the enraged demon beast.

She couldn’t dodge in time and was struck by the beast’s long, spiked tail, sending her flying.

The sharp spikes pierced into her flesh. Ye Qiao rolled to her feet, but the next moment, her vision darkened. She saw the beast opening its abyssal maw, lunging towards her to swallow her whole.

Mu Chongxi tried to rush in to grab her, but they both ended up falling in together.

“…” Damn it.

The mouth was as large as a hippopotamus’s, and fortunately, this thing didn’t chew its food. Otherwise, they might have been finished the moment they fell in.

Ye Qiao didn’t know what it felt like to fall into a whale’s belly, but falling into a demon beast’s belly was definitely not pleasant. The inside smelled extremely foul, with a pungent, rotten odor assaulting her nostrils. She adjusted her posture as she fell to avoid landing in a messy way.

Mu Chongxi, after falling down, was nauseated by the smell.

Suddenly, he thought,

Even that shit-like pill from Little sister doesn’t taste so bad now.

Happiness indeed comes from comparison.

Mu Chongxi pinched his nose, muttering, “That demon beast is at least at the Late Golden Core stage.”

“Golden Core Late stage demon beasts like this usually only appear in the deepest realms or the most inner areas. How could it be here?”

The two exchanged glances inside the belly.

Just as they were both at a loss facing this situation,

Another person fell from the sky.

She looked up and saw it was Duan Hengdao, that idiot.

“…” Well then.

Another member of the suicide squad joined.

“Who do you think will be the next to fall?”

Since there was no immediate danger, the three began to bet.

Ye Qiao clasped her hands together, looking earnest. “I hope it’s Song Hansheng.”

Mu Chongxi imitated her and also clasped his hands together, equally beginning to curse, “Hope he’s alright.”

Duan Hengdao: “…” You two are really vicious.

But truth be told, he also hoped it was Song Hansheng.

Perhaps their combined strong beliefs were too much; a few minutes later, upon hearing a commotion, Ye Qiao and the others swiftly dodged aside. They watched as Song Hansheng, still struggling from the stench, fell right into the mouth of the demon beast.

His face twisted momentarily from the stench, his complexion pale, looking like he was on the verge of death.

What’s more, before he could recover, he looked up and saw that damned Ye Qiao waving at him friendly. “Hi.”

Song Hansheng: “…” Fuck.