Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Huh?”
Qin Feng was a little surprised, he did not think that he would find such a thing. Could this be some sort of magical tool? His heart started to get a little excited. As a newbie in the world of cultivation, he was curious and excited about everything related to the world of cultivation.
The low-grade storage sack that his father gave him had made him extremely happy, if he could get another magic tool, he would be even happier.
Of course, if this copper kettle was a spiritual tool, he would have hit the jackpot. After all, even among the entire Qin family, there were barely any spiritual tools.
Even though there were a couple of Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators within the family, as the Qin family was a vassal of the Beastmaster Sect, all of their strongest moves were based on using their nascent spirit beast. It did not matter if it was the old family patriarch or his father.
As for spiritual tools, it was great if they had it, but if they did not, they would not be overly upset. That was because they placed a majority of their energy and money into nurturing their spirit beasts. Of course, they would not have any leftover resources to exchange spiritual tools.
Hence, the entire Qin Family inheritance up to this day consisted of only a few pitiful spiritual tools. Qin Feng was full of excitement as he picked up that quaint copper kettle. He carefully assessed it and was immediately disappointed.
This copper kettle had a special design as it was carved with many unique patterns of demon beasts. However, its entire body did not even carry a shred of spiritual aura. It was even a little damaged as the kettle’s body had a few tiny crack lines. Looking at its current state, even if it was a spiritual tool, it was extremely unlikely that it could still be used.
However, he still held onto a slim hope and he tried to transfer spiritual energy from within him into the copper kettle. Perhaps the kettle might still have some remnant power? In the end, that tiny amount of spiritual energy that he sent in seemed to disappear into thin air, there was no reaction at all.
Qin Feng did not take his defeat lying down as he once again used his divine sense to examine the kettle. Yet, all he felt was a black empty void, there was nothing that could be seen.
Despite all that, he still felt that this copper kettle was extraordinary. If it was just an ordinary kettle, he should be able to tell with one look and it would not give him that strange feeling. Furthermore, when he used his divine sense to investigate it, it felt like he had entered a space of darkness and deathly stillness, where the borders could not be felt.
Oh well, he would keep it for now and decide on what to do about it once he was back.
Qin Feng placed the copper kettle into his storage sack with the flip of his hand and then he went back to searching happily among the rubble of the altar. Altogether, he managed to find at least 10 to 20 different kinds of spiritual items containing Yin energy.
This made him very happy because all of those things were good items that could be exchanged for spirit stones.
It was at that moment that the sound of fighting in the distances stopped. Qin Feng and Qin Yang were both a little anxious. Even though Li Tianchou could be considered to have the upper hand as he was the one chasing that black-robed evil cultivator, the most dangerous thing about spell battles was that a small slip in concentration could turn the tables around very quickly.
It was uncertain if that evil cultivator had any other life-preserving tricks or techniques. If he did manage to kill Li Tianchou, they would be in deep trouble. Thankfully, Qin Long quickly said, “Don’t worry, Li Tianchou won the battle.”
He was clearly a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator as the Jade-eyed Spirit Snake was not his only spirit beast. His other spirit beasts had not achieved the Foundation Establishment Stage, which was why he did not let them participate in the battle.
Initially, Li Tianchou and the evil cultivator moved further and further away as they fought. Qin Long was worried that if something unwanted happened, there would not be enough time to make an escape. Hence he also released another spiritual beast—a skylark, so that it could help him keep an eye on the battle between the two.
Even though the skylark only possessed the ability of an early stage Qi Refinement cultivator, it could fly at extremely high speeds and was the perfect spiritual beast to conduct surveillance on the battle situation.
As soon as Qin Feng and his cousin heard those words, they let out a sigh of relief. It only took a moment before Li Tianchou flew over from afar. However, he was not unharmed. His face was white as snow and there were two areas on his body with large gashes. It appeared that even in death, that evil cultivator did not go down easy.
Despite that, the look in his eyes carried not even a trace of worry. Instead, he looked quite jubilant. That was because after he had killed that evil cultivator, he not only gained all the treasures on the evil cultivator but he also saved Zhao Jinglei and the others. Once he returned to the county city, he would be sure to receive plenty of other benefits.
“Congratulations Master Li for defeating that despicable evil cultivator who has harmed many.” Qin Long cupped his hands together towards Li Tianchou and continued, “I thank you on behalf of all the women in Kun City who had been harmed by the evil cultivator, Master Li.”
“Brother Qin, there’s no need to be so courteous,” Li Tianchou coughed lightly. It appeared that his internal organs and meridians had sustained severe injuries or he would not be this way.
“Those evil cultivators. Each and every one of them are condemned. Moreover, killing this fiend was my original mission, the reason I was sent to Kun City.” As he spoke, he walked forward and knelt down to examine Zhao Jinglei. Once he did, he could not help but frown as he looked towards Qin Long.
Qin Long shook his head and said, “if it’s an injury caused by evil beasts, I would be able to help. However, I am not adept in this type of Yin ghosts.”
Li Tianchou was truly helpless. He was a sword cultivator and killing people was not a problem for him. However, to heal people was something that was far beyond the parameters of his abilities.
Furthermore, even though the Yin type ghostly creatures within Zhao Jinglei and the others were suppressed by the spell cast by Qin Long for the moment. It was not a long term solution.
If the energy of the Yin intent was not eliminated, the evil ghosts would be entangled in their bodies. The ghosts would constantly be absorbing their Yang energy, corroding away their life force. If they did not drive out these ghosts swiftly, they would suffer great harm to their essence as time went on.
The only problem remaining was how to get the Zhao family members out of here?
Furrowing his brow as he thought, Li Tianchou appeared to be slightly hesitant as he turned to Qin Long and asked, “It seems like I still need help. Brother Qin, would you help me with your spirit beast to transport these young men with me to the county city?”
“Of course.” Qin Long nodded his head and agreed right away. He did not refuse. There was nothing to refuse since it was not anything bad. Even though the trip to the county city would take up a lot of his time, yet because they had saved Zhao Jinglei and the others, the Zhao family would have to show their thanks one way or another. It was only appropriate.
If not, who would want to help if the Zhao family encountered any more trouble in the future?
To be honest, if Li Tianchou had some sort of large flying magical tool, he would not have been willing to let Qin Long tag along with him. Bringing him along to the Zhao family house meant that he would share in the glory and rewards.
Even though Li Tianchou’s Flying Sword allowed him to travel at high speed, it could only carry one person. There was no way that he could leave the rest of the Zhao family members there. Only in this helpless situation did he reluctantly invite Qin Long to go along with him.
Yin intent energy and the evil ghosts remaining within living people’s bodies will cause a huge amount of damage. Furthermore, the ghost inside Zhou Jinglei’s body was an evil ghost of the early Foundation Establishment Stage, hence they could not afford to waste any more time. That was the reason Li Tianchou did not try to find another way to return slowly.
Qin Long also did not delay and immediately summoned his Jade-eyed Spirit Snake. He placed Zhao Jinglei and the others on the back of his snake, securing them with a spell to prevent them from falling off halfway through.
Once he had completed all that, Qin Long turned to Qin Yang and Qin Feng to instruct them, “You both should gather everyone quickly and leave this area.
“It’s already deep into the night and the previous battle stirred up a huge commotion in the area. What if this causes evil beasts to attack? Without me here, you both might be unable to withstand the attack.”
Qin Yang hurried to answer, “Seventh Uncle, you can relax. I will gather everyone here and we’ll return to the city together.” Even without the instructions from Qin Long, he would not dare to remain here any longer than he needed to.
His power was at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refinement Stage. Out of all the officers in the patrol office, there were only three members who were Innate Stage martial artists. All the rest were Acquired Stage martial artists. If any powerful evil beasts appeared, they would easily fall into harm.
Qin Long saw that they were obedient and nodded his head without further instructions. He leaped into the air and landed on the back of the Jade-eyed Spirit Snake and rode off towards the county city with Li Tianchou.
Qin Yang watched their disappearing figures afar in the night sky until they could no longer be seen. After that, he reached directly into his waist to pull out a whistle which he placed in his mouth and blew to create a high-pitched sound.
He was currently calling all the officers from the patrol office to convene here. With the support of his spiritual energy, the whistle sound spread across great distances. Very quickly, the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard from afar as the scattered groups of officers scurried to convene.
Qin Yang counted the arriving troops and once he discovered that everyone was here, he breathed a little easier.
“Brother Yang, what happened to Tiger and the others?” asked one of the officers who stood close. He saw Chen Hu and the others lying on the ground and got a big shock. They were his subordinates which was why he was so worried about their safety.
“There’s no problem. Some Yin intent has entered their bodies, their minds have been clouded,” Qin Yang then ordered, “Get some of our brothers here. Put your hands together and carry them back. Once we’re back, we can then help them eliminate the Yin intent.”
Once the men heard Qin Yang’s words, everyone started to relax. As long as Chen Hu and the others were alright, that was all that mattered.
Several people got to work at once, cutting down some tree branches to craft a few simple stretchers. With those stretchers, they carried Chen Hu and the others.
“That’s right, where is Master Qin? I think I saw Master Qin fly across the sky on his spirit snake,” asked another middle-aged man with a strong physique. He was called Zhao Meng and he was the strongest one out of the three innate martial artists of the patrol office.
“Seventh Uncle had to go to the county city with Master Li,” Qin Yang said as he briefly explained the situation. “That evil cultivator has been killed by Master Li and Kun City will soon become peaceful again. This forest is unsafe and we should not stay here too long. It’s best if we left quickly.”
“Alright, let’s rush back.” Zhao Meng and the others came to their senses, the place was not safe. The disturbances from the battle earlier had spread quite far out and they feared that they would have to face a bitter fight ahead if it attracted any demonic beasts.
A group of men dashed off in the direction of the road. Only when they have left the forest and arrived at the road of the mass grave did they start to feel more at ease.
Each twist and turn in the deep forest was not a proper path and there was no lack of poisonous bugs and critters lurking in the dark. It was not possible to predict when one would rush forward and bite one of them, things would be problematic if they were poisoned.
The group kept moving forwards as they walked along the small path in the mass grave. As soon as they left the gravesite and kept walking, they would reach a flat main road ahead.
It was at this moment that the few officers who were at the front exclaimed suddenly, “That large Pagoda Tree that guarded the mass graveyard! How did it end up falling down?”
Qin Feng heard the voices and raised his head to take a look at the scene before him. He saw that hollow Ghost Pagoda Tree, so large that multiple people were needed to fully encircle it, had toppled to the ground and lay there blocking the direction that everyone was heading in.