What made the purple-tusked boar valuable was not just its flesh and blood but also that pair of sharp purple tusks.
Warriors at the Divine Execution Realm possessed internal energy protection; ordinary blades couldn’t even pierce their skin. To break through such defense, one needed divine weapons.
Thus, the true worth of those purple tusks lay far beyond the boar’s flesh.
Shen Xiaotian wanted to plan something for his younger brother. This was Li Pingfu’s peak moment of prestige, the perfect alignment of timing, place, and people to neutralize the Zhao family’s threat.
“I have no objections.”
Lei Zhenshan was the first to speak up, genuinely impressed with Li Pingfu this time.
Both looked toward the silent Lin Fengwu.
At this point, it was three votes against one.
“Mom, just agree, please. Brother Pingfu deserves it.”
Lin Xiaowu coquettishly clung to Lin Fengwu’s arm and said to Li Pingfu, “Brother Pingfu, don’t worry. I’ll definitely convince my mother.”Lin Fengwu had been planning to agree all along. Though she felt reluctant and missed out on benefits, she couldn’t oppose everyone, right?
Hearing Lin Xiaowu’s words now, she was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Not only was her arm being pulled away, but she was also made to lose face.
Her face darkened; she could only swallow her pride and forced a smile, saying, “You’re so impatient, child. Your mother never said no.”
“See! I told you Mom would agree, right?” Lin Xiaowu beamed proudly, as if all credit was hers.
Li Pingcan secretly shook his head, staring at Lin Fengwu’s stiff expression. As the head of the Lin Martial Arts School, a woman accomplishing such a feat was weaker than many young women, so how did she give birth to such a relentless troublemaker like Li Pingcan?
Lin Fengwu showed no reaction. I never took Li Pingcan to heart. She addressed the eight others, “Thank you, young ones, but this junior must decline the honor.”
I asked Li Yuan to bring the spoiled autumn hunt. Secretly thinking of Li Rongzhou, that soft and sharp Fei Jia was perfect to be crafted into a short spear. I planned to take it home as a surprise for my father.
The next eight days.
The martial arts school heads of Flat Peach Town continued hunting in the Spirit Mountain’s ley line area.
Luck was poor; they trapped two spirit beasts again but obtained two rare treasures.
The blue ox’s belly didn’t contain a special treasure but a small medicine formed by spiritual energy soaking through the veins. After Zhao Yunbo’s identification, combined with eight hundred years’ worth of cold marrow grass refining, it could be ingested to make Divine Execution Realm warriors’ internal energy flow like a river!
The other item was a pangolin’s back scale, useful for making soft armor.
They ate as much spirit beast flesh as possible, curing and salting what they could to prolong preservation.
With the small amount of spirit beast meat nourishing them, the entire team’s Blood Qi was steadily climbing. For example, Fei Jia Shu, at a higher martial cultivation level, surged directly into the seventh transformation of Blood Qi, while Li Yuan reached the peak of the seventh transformation, his mood elated.
“Give me another eighty pounds—seventy pounds of spirit beast meat—and I can reach the eighth transformation of Blood Qi.”
The martial arts school heads also felt their long-stalled bottleneck loosen. Even Lin Fengwu couldn’t hide her joy, sensing her internal energy changing rapidly.
When Fei Jia returned home to enter seclusion, her realm would undoubtedly advance.
Everyone united with one heart, knowing the hunting deadline approached, they pushed themselves harder.
Unfortunately, the treasure plants were all very concealed. Without using the Treasure-Locating Technique, Li Pingcan couldn’t find a single one.
“Brother Li, haven’t you broken through the Blood Qi Realm yet?” Lei Yunyun looked at Li Pingcan sympathetically. This younger brother’s talent must be poor—after eating so much meat, he still hadn’t advanced.
Li Pingcan shook his head, “Breaking through the Blood Qi barrier in the Bone Realm is too difficult.”
His current cultivation was peak Bone Realm, already a major breakthrough.
“I can teach you some of my experience. Hopefully, it’ll help you.”
Lei Yunyun carefully shared her insights from her breakthrough. Li Pingcan was both amused and exasperated but accepted her kindness.
Occasionally, they met other hunting teams, usually exchanging greetings from afar, and only sharing simple information when acquaintances were present.
For example, Lei Zhenshan encountered people from the White Tiger Martial Arts School’s main hall. They learned that the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer had appeared in the eastern mountain of Spirit Mountain. The Zhao family and others had already allied and gone ahead.
“Then we shouldn’t head toward the eastern mountain.” Li Pingfu said. The upcoming battle would undoubtedly be fierce.
As neutral parties, they had no reason to intervene in the county’s upper-level conflicts.
...........
“Report, Clan Leader! Young Master Zhao Yunbo has killed several ill-intentioned scattered sect experts who dared to ambush us, all slain under his horse. A complete victory.”
“Report! Young Master Zhao Yunbo has confirmed the exact location of the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer! He is now gathering with the Wang and Zhou families!”
“Report! Young Master Zhao Yunbo has captured the Zhou family’s traitor and executed him on the spot!”
Hearing the constant good news, the Zhao clan leader’s face lit up with a joyful smile. Yunbo had been outstanding since childhood and truly hadn’t disappointed him!
Liang the celestial official’s tactics of “recruitment,” “defection,” and “ambush” were all countered by Yunbo. The opponents had run out of tricks.
No one in Spirit Mountain obeyed Liang County Magistrate anymore.
“County Magistrate Liang, you have no trump cards left. Defeat is inevitable. It’s better to concede now and save face.”
The Zhao clan leader offered his “kind” advice with an openly joyful expression.
“Good tea.” Liang the celestial official remained expressionless, rubbing his tea cup. Inside was clear green snow bud tea, with several silver needle leaves floating and sinking.
As if he had never tasted such exquisite tea, he praised, “Steamed to perfection in plain porcelain, truly excellent tea.”
Seeing Liang’s performance, the Zhao clan leader scowled in contempt. At this point, still pretending elegance? Let’s see how long you can keep it up!
He was about to order the hunting team to slaughter the spirit deer and settle the matter decisively.
“Clan Leader Zhao, don’t be impatient.”
County Magistrate Liang said quietly, “If the tea isn’t steeped long enough, no one knows which leaf will float or sink.”
His gaze was distant, the rising tea mist obscuring his face, making it faint and mysterious.
In the deep mountains, Zhao Yunbo was surrounded and revered by the crowd.
Slaying traitors, countering ambushes, finding the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer—his achievements had him riding high, regarded as an invisible leader.
“Luckily I have the soul-locking plate Father gave me.”
Feeling the cold plate on his chest, Zhao Yunbo radiated confident light. This was a treasured family artifact, one of the few left by a Zhao immortal cultivator from the sect. It could lock onto spirit beasts’ auras.
This was also why he could repeatedly find rare beasts.
“I won’t just kill the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer. I’ll claim all resources of this Spirit Mountain for the Zhao family.”
His ambition and desire grew, and Zhao Yunbo even felt a thrilling sense of unchecked freedom.
Of course, the top priority was still the spirit deer.
The Nine-Colored Spirit Deer was only a low-tier spirit beast. Though strong, it could not escape the tightly woven net of Divine Execution Realm warriors!
Spirit mist drifted through the green pine forest, rainbow light shimmering beneath its fur. As its hooves lifted, the nine-colored radiance blossomed in its eyes like a worldly spirit, scattering fractured light across the mountain.
What a beautiful spirit beast.
“Charge! Kill the spirit deer, drink its blood!”
“Whoever takes the antlers, the Zhao family will reward a thousand taels of silver and bestow the Zhao family’s legitimate daughter!”
Fueled by Zhao Yunbo’s encouragement, both family scions and guests seemed injected with adrenaline, excitedly rushing forward.
The Nine-Colored Spirit Deer was intelligent and knew when life was cut off. It glanced at the sky one last time, a shadow of black light tinting the rainbow in its pupils.
Then, like pollution, it quickly dispersed!
...............
“Ah!”
Lin Xiaowu’s startled scream rang out again.
Yet the Flat Peach Town hunting team showed no reaction.
After several days, everyone had grown used to Lin Xiaowu’s habit of screaming for attention. Even Lin Fengwu showed disdain, perfunctorily saying to the forest, “Xiaowu, when you have to relieve yourself in the wild, you just endure it.”
No one else paid attention to her.
Suddenly, Li Pingcan sat up sharply, looking toward where Lin Xiaowu had screamed.
“That’s not right!”
This really was the wolf coming!
A sinister feeling rose in his heart. He felt sick all over, as if the deathly spiritual energy that Druids most hated was continuously churning and spreading in this Spirit Mountain!
Along with it, Lin Xiaowu’s screams became even more piercing, almost shattering everyone’s eardrums.
Everyone realized the problem, leaping up in an instant to look toward the dense forest.
The next moment, everyone was terrified beyond measure.
Behind Lin Xiaowu, several treasure beasts were driving away a horde of ordinary beasts, forming a chaotic sea of animals flooding from all directions.
“Beast tide uprising?”
Shen Xiaotian was shocked. How could there be a beast tide on Spirit Mountain? Who had blown up the treasure beasts’ nest?
“No, no, this isn’t a beast tide uprising. It’s a demonic disaster!”
Li Pingcan’s expression changed. The disgusting aura was getting closer and closer.
The surging beast tide carried a stench of rotten corpses.
Everyone’s pupils constricted sharply. The iron-backed gray wolves leading the charge had eerie green glowing eyes, their sharp claws and teeth rotting and oozing pus. This was a sign of demonic contamination frenzy!
Lin Xiaowu’s figure was ragged. She looked toward Li Pingfu and others as if seeing saviors and ran toward them—but she brought a large number of ferocious beasts with her.
“Run!” Shen Xiaotian shouted anxiously.
Li Pingfu commanded, “We can’t escape. Head to the western cliff, retreat there. There’s still a chance!”
That was where they had rested yesterday, with a deep ravine in the middle and a narrow exit, easy to defend and hard to attack!
He waved the purple tusks, knocking three black mountain martens aside. The spear tips sparked dark purple flames against the beasts’ bones. These demons had greatly increased strength!
No need to say more, everyone desperately ran downhill toward the cave’s narrow entrance. Lin Xiaowu suddenly pushed Lei Yunyun, who was running ahead of her. A vicious look flashed in her eyes. “Don’t block my way!”
Lei Yunyun was caught off guard and fell to her knees, nearly tumbling down the ravine. Li Pingcan behind her grabbed her firmly.
“Thank you!” Lei Yunyun looked at the empty air beneath her feet and said with lingering fear.
Lin Xiaowu was about to leap into the air but inexplicably slipped. Before she could scream, she lost her footing and fell into the ravine.
The sudden change shocked everyone.
“Don’t freeze up! The demonic disaster is coming!”
Li Pingcan said to Lei Yunyun, who looked pale and jumped forward.
“Younger brother, you jump first!” Li Pingfu planned to cover the rear, but Li Pingcan suddenly said, “Big brother, you first!”
“Alright!” Li Pingfu didn’t hesitate and entered the cave first. Li Pingcan waited a moment, then jumped in as well.
The beast tide howled past, rolling over the scattered remains of human arms and legs in the vast flood.
“Whew!”
Everyone gasped for breath, faces full of lingering fear.
Who would have thought that an ordinary autumn hunt would trigger a demonic disaster?
“Immortals fight for power with the three clans, and don’t care if we live or die?”
After a long time, Shen Xiaotian angrily pounded the stone wall, his light nearly extinguished.
Autumn hunt, beast tide, demonic disaster... where did so many coincidences come from?
Smart people never believe in coincidences!
Without a doubt, it was either Liang the celestial official’s doing or the three major clans’.
Lei Zhenshan said nothing, tightly holding Lei Yunyun’s hand. He had cherished this only daughter since childhood, and now she almost suffered at the hands of “our own people!”
More chilling than the demonic disaster was what Lin Xiaowu had done.
Lin Fengwu stared at the mountain ravine for a long time before saying, “Brother Lei, I’m sorry to you for giving birth to such a beast that nearly harmed your daughter. Now that she has fallen off the cliff and her fate is unknown, it’s a form of atonement.”
She was usually proud but rarely showed such sincere remorse, bowing her head regretfully.
Lei Zhenshan sighed and helped Lin Fengwu up, sincerely saying, “Sister Lin, don’t say that. You devoted yourself to cultivation and couldn’t know some people are born evil by nature, unrelated to upbringing.
Our many years of friendship shouldn’t be ruined by this.”
The two reconciled as if it were a trivial matter, casually brushing it aside.
But Li Pingcan sensed two strong waves of hatred through Animal Affinity and was speechless.
To Lin Fengwu, no matter how bad Lin Xiaowu was, she was still her daughter. She could discipline her, and no one could question that.
In some ways, mother and daughter shared the same prideful, arrogant temper and ignored others’ thoughts.
To Lei Zhenshan, though, you harmed my daughter—this couldn’t be so easily forgiven! Now that Lin Xiaowu was dead, the debt had to be paid by her mother!
These old folks, no matter how much they hated inside, showed no trace on their faces.
Or rather, only deep hatred made them more composed.
“Thanks, kid from the Li family. If you hadn’t held Yunyun back, I would have lost my beloved daughter.” Lei Zhenshan’s gratitude was genuine this time. “If you ever need anything, the White Tiger Martial Arts School will help.”
“Then I want the White Tiger Divine Charm Chart...”
Lei Zhenshan’s expression changed slightly, then he smiled bitterly. That was a treasure passed down by the school’s founder. This kid was really not polite!
Li Pingcan suddenly changed his tone, “...just one look.”
“You sly little devil.” Lei Zhenshan breathed a sigh of relief, almost feeling guilty toward the founder!
After this episode, the atmosphere lightened somewhat, no longer so gloomy.
“This isn’t truly a demonic disaster.”
Shen Xiaotian suddenly said, “If it were a great demon, the entire Spirit Mountain would wither and lose vitality. But in fact, only the beasts were affected.”
“We just don’t know how many people will die.”
Li Pingfu was heavy-hearted, feeling the pain of foxes and hares.
As for the end of the demonic disaster, everyone guessed it would end within three days at most, as that was when the celestial officials had set the autumn hunt’s end.
“Report! All eighteen direct descendants of the Zhao family died in the demonic disaster!”
“Clan Leader, Young Master Zhao Yunbo was the first to fall, also dead in Spirit Mountain!”
The Zhao clan leader spat a mouthful of old blood upon hearing the news.
Zhao Yunbo, the Zhao family’s most outstanding scion in this generation, had no immortal cultivation roots but was brilliant in martial arts and destined to be a congenital grandmaster!
Yet he died in the Spirit Mountain autumn hunt at only twenty-six years old.
“There’s no such thing as a demonic disaster! Yunshui County is not the abandoned Phoenix County!”
The Zhao clan leader spoke with certainty, glaring at the calm and confident Liang the celestial official. “You old bastard, such cruel intentions! You want to destroy the Zhao family’s foundation!”
The Zhao family’s best disciples died in Spirit Mountain. Their century-old foundation was destroyed overnight. The future was bleak, maintaining only the former immortal clan’s dignity.
Liang the celestial official’s so-called “recruitment,” “defection,” and “ambush” were all smokescreens to make them believe this was a proper, first-time “probe.”
It wasn’t a snake bite; it was a dragon’s bite!
The real killer was probably on that spirit deer.
At this moment, the Zhao clan leader was filled with regret and anger and feared Liang’s deep scheming.
He questioned, “Aren’t you afraid of offending the Zhao family’s immortals?”
“No immortal officials hold the dynasty’s destiny. A mere sect immortal is a toothless tiger. Why should I fear?”
Liang smiled faintly, casually as if swatting mosquitoes.
What were these people? Just stronger ants and insects? Nothing to him.
The Spirit Mountain autumn hunt was meant to teach these so-called “families” a lesson.
In this world, only dynasty immortals had the right to set the rules!
A bird swiftly darted through the forest, heading east with clear purpose.
Li Pingcan had little time. His big brother could only cover for him for a while. There was something that truly concerned him.
The farther east he went, the hotter his “Evil-Repelling Talisman” became.
During the day, he jumped a step behind his brother into the cave, using the talisman to measure the source of the “demonic disaster.”
That faint, wavering sobbing still echoed in Spirit Mountain.
After taking the Dao Spirit Pill, Li Pingcan’s spiritual perception soared. At least, Liang the celestial official could not detect his special state.
After confirming he was not being “watched,” he transformed into a bird and tried to find the source of the sound.
After a moment, he landed on a tree and saw a tiger, crane, ape, and bear helplessly watching the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer’s pitiful screams.
A strong sorrow spread from their hearts, flowing through their affinity into the bird’s heart.
Tears streamed from Li Pingcan’s eyes—not because he wanted to cry, but because he was infected by the sadness.
Without a doubt, these four beasts were highly intelligent spirit beasts of Spirit Mountain with rich emotions.
“You came to find me. What’s the matter?” he asked.
Noticing the bird’s stop, the four beasts looked at each other, surprised that the pure natural spirit sensed by the old mulberry tree—the existence they saw as their savior—was just a small bird.
Incredible as it was, they dared not doubt and clumsily bowed and knelt, saying:
“This request is excessive. We are willing to trade precious treasures in exchange.”
“We earnestly beg you to save our friend, the Nine-Colored Spirit Deer!”