txolops Chapter 38 Returning to Qinghu
Chapter 38 Returning to Qinghu
Looking at the devastated cave, with the lingering warmth of the burning golden flames still lingering among the broken walls, Luo Ming showed no anger whatsoever; instead, his eyes shone with undisguised joy.
The Fat Sun Bird stood beside him, much larger than before, resembling a giant swallow. Although it looked somewhat clumsy, its glassy eyes had a golden hue at the bottom, and upon closer inspection, golden flames would occasionally flow. Having personally experienced that domineering power, Luo Ming dared not show the slightest disrespect to this spirit pet.
He understood that a demon beast's strength was ultimately not necessarily related to its size. Take the Xuan Turtle sleeping in the spirit beast pouch, for example. Although it had a massive body measuring ten feet square, with a shell as hard as refined iron and a remarkable ability to conceal its aura, its combat power was mediocre. At most, it could only rely on its strong defense to hold its own against ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, which was of little help to him at his current level.
The next day, as dawn broke, the morning light pierced through the clouds and shone on the cave dwelling that Luo Ming had just tidied up the day before. In high spirits, Luo Ming composed himself, summoned his magical flying sword, and transformed into a streak of light, speeding straight towards Qinghu Market.
Unlike his cautious approach when he first entered the world of cultivation, Luo Ming, now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, possesses a thick and solid spiritual energy. He can control his flying sword at more than twice the speed of before. If his previous speed was equivalent to that of an ordinary car in his previous life, then now it is equivalent to that of a sports car, and with a longer range.
He now even secretly hopes to encounter a few ignorant cultivators, so he can test his skills and experience the meaning of "slaying demons and protecting the righteous path".
The flying sword weaved through the clouds and mist, below which stretched a vast, misty river, its white sails scattered like stars, merchant ships cutting through the waves with the help of the river winds, coming and going in an endless stream. Luo Ming's gaze swept across the river surface, his divine sense quietly spreading out to probe for any traces of demonic beasts lurking beneath the water.
Just then, a lavishly decorated three-story ship came into view. On the deck, a middle-aged manager in a blue cotton jacket stood with his hands on his hips, sternly reprimanding his subordinates: "Er Mazi, get up and get to work right now! If you dare to slack off again, I'll throw you into the river to feed the monsters!"
"A monster?" Upon hearing this, the young man named Er Mazi instantly perked up, rubbing his sleepy eyes and asking, "Boss Ma, is there really a monster in this river?"
Several young men who were busy around also stopped what they were doing and gathered around, listening intently. They had grown up listening to stories of gods and demons, but had never seen them with their own eyes. Now, upon hearing the word "demons," their eyes were filled with curiosity and awe.
Seeing his men gathered, the middle-aged manager grinned smugly. He cleared his throat and began to speak, spittle flying everywhere: "This is a true story from last year! Our ship was sailing along the river when we suddenly encountered a giant blue-scaled dragon causing chaos. The river was churning violently, and we were about to become its prey when a golden light suddenly descended from the sky—"
Hearing this from a hundred feet away in the mist, Luo Ming couldn't help but smile. He recognized the ship as the one he had boarded last year; this reunion was indeed fate. Even more interestingly, the storyteller, Steward Qin, had been portrayed as a peerless sword immortal, said to have unleashed a sword beam a hundred feet long, cleaving a river hundreds of meters deep in two, terrifying the Azure Dragon into a hasty retreat.
"Indeed, boasting is human nature." Luo Ming chuckled. He knew in his heart that a sword light of a hundred feet could cleave through a river surface hundreds of meters deep. Only a sword cultivator at the Golden Core stage could do such a thing. A Foundation Establishment cultivator's sword light would be considered impressive if it reached a dozen feet, and it was still a long way from a hundred feet.
His divine sense had already extended to a depth of a hundred meters below the river, and apart from a few large ordinary fish, he did not detect any trace of demonic beasts.
Luo Ming couldn't forget the azure dragon he encountered last year. The dragon's bloodline fluctuations were extremely pure, far surpassing those of ordinary demonic beasts. If he could tame it as a spirit pet, it would not only be incredibly cool, but it would also make up for his weakness in water-attribute combat power—the Fat Sun Bird was skilled in fire attacks, and he had the Wind Fox Beast of the wind attribute to assist him on land, but his underwater combat power was weak; as for the Black Tortoise, he had already kept it as a pet and couldn't rely on it at all.
Flying along the river until the outline of Qinghu Market came into view, Luo Ming found no trace of any demonic beasts, let alone the azure dragon. He wondered to himself: Are demonic beasts hiding so well these days? Have they been scared off by human cultivators?
Although demonic beasts are not as intelligent as humans, they still know how to seek advantage and avoid harm. This continent is primarily the domain of human cultivators, so those demonic beasts that have suffered losses naturally dare not show themselves easily, mostly hiding in deep waters hundreds of meters below—after all, human cultivators' spiritual senses are hindered underwater, greatly reducing their combat power. As for that azure dragon, Luo Ming guessed that it was most likely a newly advanced level two demonic beast, its temperament not yet stable, which is why it dared to rashly cause trouble on the river surface.
After a long period of struggle, a delicate balance has been formed in this cultivation world: the land is dominated by human cultivators, and once a demon beast shows its face, it may face the risk of being captured by the cultivators, after all, demon beasts are treasures from head to toe.
Looking at the boundless Qinghu Lake ahead, Luo Ming couldn't help but sigh. The area of this Qinghu Lake was comparable to the Pacific Ocean in his previous life, yet in the cultivation world it was only worthy of being called a "lake," which showed how vast this world was. He even couldn't help but wonder if a terrifying existence like a level five great demon was hidden beneath the unfathomable depths of Qinghu Lake?
Composing himself, Luo Ming suppressed his spiritual energy, disguising himself as an ordinary rogue cultivator, and slowly walked into Qinghu Market. The market was bustling with activity, filled with shouts of vendors and the sounds of bargaining, and various spiritual herbs, magical artifacts, and pills were on display. However, he had only been in the market for a short time when he sensed a hidden divine sense sweeping over him.
Luo Ming frowned slightly. There's an unwritten rule in the cultivation world: casually using divine sense to probe each other among cultivators of the same level can easily lead to conflict. Just as he was preparing to use his divine sense to retaliate and find the person probing him, a gentle divine sense voice entered his ears: "Brother Luo, how have you been? I am Duan Chen, please come over for a gathering."
Luo Ming's heart stirred. Following the direction guided by his divine sense, he passed through two bustling streets and arrived in front of a magnificent stone building. Looking up, the five seal characters "Hall of Enforcement of the Three Sects" on the lintel shone brightly, exuding an awe-inspiring righteousness.
Upon entering the main hall, a young man dressed in white and holding a silver fan immediately greeted him; it was Duan Chen. Seeing Luo Ming, a gleam of joy flashed in his eyes: "The market's security array detected an unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator entering. I thought it was a demonic cultivator who had infiltrated, but I never expected it to be Brother Luo!"
After some conversation, Luo Ming finally understood the reason. It turned out that recently, Qinghu Market had been plagued by bandits, with many cultivators being robbed on the outskirts of the market, severely impacting business. A few days ago, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect stationed here was ambushed by several bandits while on patrol. He would have perished if he hadn't used a life-saving secret technique to break through the encirclement.