"Senior brother, the two of us feel our talent has reached its limit. If we don't have more resources piled up from now on, we're afraid we'll never achieve Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."
"So, senior brother, the two of us want to take our leave today and join the Demon Slaying Division to forge a future."
Before Li Qi, his other two junior brothers stood respectfully.
He was slightly taken aback when he heard the intentions of these two junior brothers.
It seemed that when the Demon Slaying Division had sent people before, they had not only extended an invitation to him but also to his three junior brothers.
After more than ten years of teaching, although Li Qi was the senior brother, he had been more like a master. It was impossible not to have some feelings for them.
However, he did not stop the two junior brothers from leaving.
Everyone has their own aspirations.
The two junior brothers left just like that.
The Feishamen sect seemed even more tranquil. Perhaps it had always been this quiet, and it was simply Li Qi's state of mind that had changed.
At this moment, Li Qi was like a lonely old man.
He sighed, and Li Qi seemed to understand the feelings of his master when he watched his disciples leave Feishamen one by one in the past.
The next morning, Wang Cheng came to Li Qi's room alone.
"Senior brother."
"Aren't you planning to join your two junior brothers at the Demon Slaying Division to forge a future?"
Li Qi suddenly asked.
Wang Cheng was stunned, then smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I'm used to comfort. I feel that my current life is quite good, and I also want to continue to receive senior brother's teachings."
Upon hearing this, Li Qi patted Wang Cheng heavily on the shoulder. "Alright, continue cultivating."
...
Time passed quickly, another year went by.
In this year, more reports of demons wreaking havoc emerged from the Great Jing Dynasty.
The lives of the common people became not only more arduous but also filled with constant fear.
However, this had little impact on the new Xiaohe Village, which was protected by Feishamen at the foot of the mountain.
This was because Li Qi had saved their entire village before.
After Xiaohe Village was established stably at the foot of Feishamen Mountain,
From time to time, led by the village chief, the villagers from downstairs would send all sorts of food, vegetables, and other provisions as a token of their gratitude.
Although these were not expensive items, they were the best that these villagers could offer.
A small gift with profound meaning.
In this year, a few demons had occasionally headed towards Xiaohe Village.
However, those demons were pitifully weak, with the strongest not even reaching the third level of Body Tempering.
After the villagers from downstairs came to seek help, Wang Cheng alone easily resolved those demons.
As a result, the villagers of Xiaohe Village at the foot of the mountain increasingly revered Feishamen.
...
One day, feeling bored, Li Qi moved back to his old room, which was near the back of the mountain.
There was nothing much happening at Feishamen. Occasionally, when villagers came up the mountain seeking help, Li Qi would completely hand it over to Wang Cheng.
Only a few days each month, Wang Cheng would return to the back of the mountain to receive Li Qi's teachings.
At this moment, in the simple courtyard of Li Qi's room in the back mountain.
Li Qi was lazily basking in the sun, gently playing with a newly hatched chick in his hand.
This was originally an egg brought by the villagers from downstairs.
They had intended for Li Qi and Wang Cheng to eat it.
But Li Qi suddenly had a whim, he didn't want to eat eggs, and wanted to raise some chickens for fun.
The chick could barely open its eyes.
Li Qi looked at the chick with a slight smile on his lips.
"You were the first to hatch, so I should give you a name."
"Let's call you... 'Zhi Yin'."
Li Qi was playing with 'Zhi Yin'.
And at this moment.
Not far away, Wang Cheng's figure rushed over in a hurry.
"Senior brother, senior brother! Something terrible has happened!"
"What is it? Speak slowly."
Wang Cheng said quickly.
It turned out that recently, some villagers from Xiaohe Village at the foot of the mountain had gone to other villages to trade for supplies.
As a result, some villagers went to several villages dozens of miles away.
They were so scared that their souls almost flew out of their bodies.
Those villages had no living people left.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere, and the villagers' corpses had all their blood sucked dry, turning them into mummified corpses.
The villagers were so terrified that they immediately fled back and reported to Wang Cheng, fearing that Xiaohe Village would be the next to be invaded by demons.
One village after another was slaughtered, and no news had reached them yet.
When Xiaohe Village was chased by those three demons at the fourth level of Body Tempering, even with their numbers, quite a few managed to escape.
With this incident, Wang Cheng's strength alone might not be enough to handle it.
"I know."
Li Qi couldn't help but stretch.
"It seems it's time to stretch my muscles."
...
Night fell.
Xiaohe Village at the foot of Feishamen Mountain was quiet.
However, beneath the tranquility, there was a strange sense of oppression.
Because the villagers now knew that a terrifying demon seemed to have appeared nearby.
And at this moment, from the direction of the village entrance, a terrified scream instantly echoed throughout the entire village.
"Demon! The demon is here!"
The originally quiet Xiaohe Village was instantly thrown into chaos. Countless disheveled villagers ran out, their eyes fixed on the direction of the village entrance.
"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish..."
Under the moonlight.
Dense black shadows, covering the sky, flapped their wings and rapidly approached Xiaohe Village.
And in Xiaohe Village, Wang Cheng and Li Qi stood side by side.
Their gazes were like lightning. Even at this distance in the darkness, they could vaguely discern the true form of those black shadows.
They resembled rats but weren't, had wings, fangs, and revealed a pair of scarlet eyes.
And their numbers, a hundred? Two hundred? Or three hundred? Impossible to count?
"So many demons, are those... bats? No wonder those villages couldn't even escape with a single person."
When Wang Cheng saw so many bats, his scalp tingled.
Although the individual strength of those bats seemed to be only at the first level of Body Tempering,
Their sheer numbers...
If he, at the third level of Body Tempering, were surrounded, he would be sucked dry in an instant.
"Senior brother, make your move quickly, otherwise, if those blood-sucking bats enter the village, the villagers will likely suffer casualties."
"I know."
When Li Qi saw that the so-called demons were these bats,
He lost interest.
He had thought it was some powerful demon, but it turned out to be just this.
Li Qi's figure instantly floated away, standing high above the entrance of Xiaohe Village.
"The immortal, the immortal is here!"
The villagers, who were terrified moments ago, instantly became excited.
And the targets of the blood-sucking bats flying towards the village were instantly fixed on Li Qi at the village entrance.
Piercing screeches sounded in the darkness.
The blood-sucking bats bared their fangs, preparing to surround Li Qi first and drain all his blood.
But the next moment, a surge of powerful spiritual energy emanated from Li Qi.
He threw out a punch lightly.
"Boom!"
The air itself seemed to vibrate. A terrifying pressure emerged from Li Qi's fist.
"Peng, peng, peng, peng!"
The hundreds of blood-sucking bats that had filled the sky instantly exploded, turning into mist of blood, without even emitting a sound.
Li Qi yawned, feeling a bit bored, and was about to let Wang Cheng handle the rest.
And at that moment.
An extremely furious voice resounded from the darkness.
"Who killed my offspring! I will make you all pay with your lives!"
A giant blood-sucking bat, several meters tall, flew over at extreme speed.
A terrifying aura was released. Wang Cheng felt his breath instantly cease. His face was filled with terror.
This aura had surpassed the Body Tempering stage.
This was a great demon at the Foundation Establishment stage!
And at this moment, at the entrance of Xiaohe Village, a giant blood-sucking bat hovered in the air. Its wings, spread several meters wide, even obscured the moon.
Its scarlet eyes were fixed on Li Qi.
"Brat, you killed my many offspring! You dare to meddle in affairs at the third level of Foundation Establishment? Then today I will suck your essence and blood to help me, Blood Bat Old Demon, break through to the sixth level of Foundation Establishment!"
With that said, the Blood Bat Old Demon flapped its wings, turning into a black shadow in the night, and instantly pounced towards Li Qi.
If its incredibly thick fangs were to bite down, they would likely pierce through Li Qi's chest.
But the next moment.
Li Qi extended one hand and gently grasped one of the Blood Bat Old Demon's thick fangs.
With a slight twist.
With a "crack" sound.
The fang broke off.
Li Qi was a bit surprised. He hadn't even used much strength.
"Younger brother, why are you a bit weak? Are you really at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment?"