Chapter 26 Before the Monster Uprising

More than half a year passed, and summer had arrived in Black Magpie Mountain; the mountains were lush and green.

Today, a notification letter was received from the Lu Family.

Within this half-year, two Qi Refining Immortal Clans left Yuanwu Prefecture. Their highest cultivation levels were Qi Refining Fifth Layer and Eighth Level of Qi Refining, respectively. Both families had been in Yuanwu Prefecture for less than thirty years.

The general content of the letter was that the Golden Core Cultivator Yang Jing agreed to a method of tax reduction by sending Cultivators with cultivation.

For Qi Refining Families, sending one Cultivator at the Third Level of Qi Refining could reduce taxes by two-thirds of ten percent; sending two at the Qi Refining Second Layer could reduce taxes by ten percent; and sending three at the Qi Refining First Layer could also reduce taxes by ten percent.

Families were now frantically going to Mortal towns or villages, crazily testing for Spiritual Roots. Some Mortals with Spiritual Roots could even be sold.

During this half-year, Chen Li finished carefully reading the "Five Qi Facing Primordial Breakthrough Method". He attempted to open his Qi Sea, but failed; his cultivation was not yet sufficient, and he likely needed to reach the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

Besides trying to open his Qi Sea, Chen Li went to practice Alchemy again. Now, only two stalks of 500-year-level medicinal herbs remained, which were for refining longevity pills. Last time, he refined 120 bottles of qi overflowing pill.

One stalk of 500-year-level Breakthrough medicinal herbs could refine about seventy bottles. Last time he used nearly one and a half stalks. Using the remaining herbs, he spent another month refining fifty bottles of qi overflowing pill.

He tossed ten bottles to Brother Ox, which was enough to reach the Third Level of Qi Refining, and gave thirty bottles to Zhu Lingyue, which was also enough to reach the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, Zhu Lingyue was ten months pregnant. Time passed so quickly; a new life was about to arrive.

...

In the Boundless Forest, ten thousand miles deep, the shapeshifted man Red Gold was purging a Seventh-level Demon Beast, a Flying Feather Crane Demon that refused to submit to discipline and was lawless!

The shapeshifted man Red Gold looked down at the Seventh-level Demon Beast, which was now pinned to the ground, and said, "Feiyu, I will give you one more chance. Cultivation over several hundred years is not easy. Will you submit to me today or not?"

After speaking, he exerted another wave of magic power, pressing the Seventh-level Demon Beast down so it couldn't move.

Although the Seventh-level Demon Beast was pinned down tightly, it still roared, "Red Gold, you're dreaming. I only started a few steps later than you; I will not submit to you."

Red Gold shook his head and said expressionlessly, "Why must you be like this?"

After speaking, one hand transformed into a large golden claw and reached out, aiming straight into the belly of the Seventh-level Flying Feather Crane Demon. A few breaths later, a dark blue, shining Flying Feather Crane Demon beast core appeared in his hand.

After the Seventh-level Demon Beast had its core forcibly removed, its roars and screams were incessant, but after a while, they gradually subsided!

A few minutes later, another Seventh-level Demon Beast came before the man and said, "Big Brother, all Flying Feather Crane Demon beasts above the Third-level Demon Beast have submitted!"

The shapeshifted man Red Gold said, "Good! Let's set a small goal first: clear out all Human Race Cultivators within a thousand kilometers of the Beast Hunting Sect's area in the Boundless Forest!"

The Seventh-level Demon Beast accepted the order: "Very well, Big Brother. I will ensure they never return!"

A few days later, when some Loose Cultivators ventured within one thousand kilometers, they discovered that Third-level Demon Beasts and Fourth-level Demonic Beasts were basically nowhere to be found!

Often, a single Third-level Demon Beast would appear, but when they went to pursue it, a dozen more Third-level Demon Beasts would emerge from somewhere and swarm them.

As more and more Cultivators died, some Loose Cultivators and hunting disciples from various Families also realized something was wrong.

This group of Yao Beasts had become very united, well-organized, and highly targeted—and they were targeting them.

Inside the main hall of the Hunting Hall of the Beast Hunting Sect, Jin Yue was currently consuming a human pill.

A Foundation Establishment deacon ran in and said, "Elder, the situation in the Boundless Forest is not right. All fellow disciples within one thousand kilometers have been attacked by Yao Beasts, and they are all active attacks or lure attacks. The casualties are heavy!"

Jin Yue naturally knew that a shapeshifted great Yao had appeared in the Boundless Forest and had unified some Yao Beasts, but he hadn't expected their influence to have reached this close.

"Understood. You all should not go hunting for now; we Elders will discuss this first!"

"Yes, Elder!"

After the people left, Jin Yue stood up, paced, thought, and sighed.

"Even the Grand Elder suffered a setback last time; what can we do? Without reaching the Nascent Soul stage, one ultimately cannot determine anything!"

However, Jin Yue still didn't want the Beast Hunting Sect to fail so quickly; this stable environment could still bring him many good things. So, he notified the remaining six Golden Core Cultivators.

In the Sect's main hall, the seven Golden Core Cultivators below the high platform all looked grim after hearing Jin Yue's explanation of the situation.

"Is it already this close? One thousand kilometers—what do these beasts want to do!" The person speaking was a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator, the Hall Master of the Hunting Hall.

"Senior Brother, are these Yao Beasts trying to invade our Human Race Cultivator territory?" Jin Yue put forward his own thoughts.

At this time, other Golden Core Cultivators agreed: "It is highly likely to be the organization of the shapeshifted great Yao. I heard that this shapeshifted great Yao has unified many Yao Beasts; I think it is highly probable!"

The Hall Master of the Hunting Hall said, "Hmm, send out the notification!"

...

In Black Magpie Mountain, new life was born a few days ago—two boys.

The third son was named Chen Songxuan, and the fourth was Chen Songxiao. The birth of these two little guys made Black Magpie Mountain even livelier.

The eldest, Chen Songli, and the second, Chen Songyan, were already nearly three years old, at the age to attend a small class, and they couldn't stop jumping around all day.

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, Zhu Lingyue had eaten quite a few vitality replenishing pills and had recovered significantly.

Chen Li was serving by her side when the eldest, Chen Songli, walked over and said, "Father, I want to hold my little brother!"

Before long, the second, Chen Songyan, also came over and said, "Father, I want to hold my little brother too!"

Chen Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry, seeing the two children making the same motions toward the baby as adults would.

Zhu Lingyue "shooed away" the two little ones, then said to Chen Li, "Husband, the rumors circulating in the county that Yao Beasts are about to attack our area—are they reliable?"

Chen Li said, "It is highly likely. It's only one thousand kilometers from the edge of the Boundless Forest; it will be very quick to reach us!"

"Rest assured, staying inside the mountain is very safe. There will be those Foundation Establishment and Golden Core Cultivators to deal with Sixth or Seventh-level Demon Beasts. This Fourth-Rank Defensive Formation cannot be broken by a Fifth-level Demonic Beast for quite a while!"

Zhu Lingyue nodded and said, "There have been more and more people coming to buy Formations these past few days!"

"Seven or eight sets of Third-Rank Formations have been bought from me, so we should also make some preparations."

After the news that Yao Beasts would invade the Human Race Cultivator territory spread from the Beast Hunting Sect over the past few days, every Family was on high alert.

Some Talismans, Formations, and Magical Artifacts were selling well, and Chen Li had earned nearly four thousand Spirit Stones by selling quite a few Third-Rank Formations!