23: Chapter 23 Taking advantage of the chaos to leave the mountain, shedding one's skin like a cicada, the first journey of a rogue cultivator.

On the first day of returning to labor, before the sky had brightened, the handymen lined up in the courtyard under the shouts of Steward Wang.

The air was filled with lingering smoke and a faint, bloody scent. The light curtain of the Mountain Protection Array remained bright, but upon closer inspection, imperceptible ripples occasionally appeared at the edges, clearly indicating a heavy load.

"Today's task is to clean up the area outside the 'Sword Tempering Platform' on the west side of the main peak. A Yao Beast self-destructed the day before yesterday, damaging parts of the ground and auxiliary buildings; you need to clear the rubble, level the land, and transport repair Materials."

Steward Wang's voice was hoarse, his eye bags were heavy, and his gaze swept over the crowd sternly.

"Five people per team, designated areas, you are not allowed to cross boundaries. Collect your tools here. Someone will deliver food at noon. You must return here to assemble before the Hour of the Rooster! Do you hear clearly?"

"Heard clearly!" The handymen responded sparsely, most of them looking panicked.

Ye Qing silently received a heavily worn iron pickaxe and a rattan basket, assigned to the fifth team, responsible for cleaning up the chaotic rubble on the east side of the Sword Tempering Platform.

The Sword Tempering Platform was a square where Outer Sect Disciples practiced sword techniques and sparred daily, paved with hard obsidian. At this moment, near the edge, a scorched crater several feet wide and a foot deep had appeared, with broken stones and burnt marks scattered around. Faint, blood-stained, torn clothing fragments could still be seen, having been hastily cleaned up.

The air retained violent fire-attribute Qi and the distinct stench of a Yao Beast.

"Be quick! Put the rubble in the baskets and transport it to the designated dumping point! Two people lift the big pieces!" The small leader in charge of supervision was a Level 3 Qi Refining Disciple in green robes, his face tense, looking towards the surrounding mountains from time to time with vigilance.

Ye Qing blended into the crowd, burying his head in work.

His movements were neither fast nor slow, his strength neither great nor small, perfectly matching the standard expected of a Qi Refining Stage 2 handyman.

The iron pickaxe pried at the rubble, dust flying.

His lowered eyes, however, were like the most precise instruments, quickly scanning his surroundings.

At the edge of the scorched crater, stuck in the cracks between a few pieces of rubble, were several fingernail-sized, pitch-black, sharp-edged shell fragments, emitting a faint, violent fire-attribute Yao energy.

These were the remains of some fire-attribute beetle-type Yao Beast! And judging by the concentration of residual Yao energy, it was at least a Middle Stage Yao Beast of the first rank!

Ye Qing did not stop his actions. When putting a piece of rubble into the rattan basket, his wrist flicked extremely slightly, and the tip of the pickaxe "happened" to flick the largest shell fragment along with the rubble into the basket.

The movement was natural, without any flaws.

Immediately after, under another piece of rubble, he discovered a small, scorched, finger-thick vine-like object with a strange texture, neither metal nor wood, with burnt lightning patterns on the surface.

It didn't look like a local plant, nor did it look like common Yao Beast Materials. It looked more like... some low-grade spiritual plant remnant roots affected by lightning and fire? Or, some Yao Beast's tentacle?

A faint, curious suction force came from the space within his body.

Ye Qing once again "inadvertently" swept it into the basket.

Throughout the morning, the basket of rubble he "cleaned" had, besides real stones, quietly mixed in three Yao Beast shell fragments, a piece of unknown scorched tentacle, and several burnt and deformed metal particles (suspected to be the remains of some shattered low-grade Magical Artifact).

Each "harvest" was extremely covert, completed with the help of dust, movement, and the blind spots of others' vision.

At noon, rough food was delivered. The handymen squatted by the ruins, swallowing silently.

The supervising green-robed Disciples gathered slightly further away, whispering to each other, their faces not looking good.

"... I heard from Senior Brother Zhang that the patrol team discovered small groups of Yao Beast tracks again near 'Luoying Ravine' in the back mountain last night, looking like a mix of 'Iron-Backed Wolf' and 'Fire-Armored Scorpion'..."

"Damn, these beasts are getting more cunning, specifically targeting weak spots. The Sword Tempering Platform side is still okay, I heard the Herb Garden at Danxia Valley was ruined quite a bit, and two guarding Disciples died..."

"The Sect's 'Yao Hunting Order' reward has been raised again. Killing one Late Stage first-rank Yao Beast can be exchanged for one hundred contribution points plus a bottle of 'Qi Gathering Pills'! Unfortunately, you have to have your life to take it..."

"Say less, eat your food! Use the time to rest, there's still a lot of work in the afternoon!"

Ye Qing lowered his head to shovel food, but his ears took in all this fragmented information without missing a word.

Luoying Ravine was deep in the back mountain, the terrain was dangerous, and it was rarely visited on weekdays. The Iron-Backed Wolf had high defense, and the Fire-Armored Scorpion was good at sneak attacks and spitting fire; both were difficult low-grade Yao Beasts. Their mixed appearance indicated that the Yao Beasts' actions were becoming more organized.

The attack on the Danxia Valley Herb Garden indicated that the Yao Beasts had begun to consciously destroy the Sect's resource points and strike at logistics.

The skyrocketing rewards for the Yao Hunting Order indirectly confirmed that the pressure on the front line was immense, casualties were not small, and there was an urgent need to boost morale and replenish combat strength.

"The speed at which the situation is deteriorating is faster than expected. The Sect is probably no longer able to fully control the area within a hundred miles of the mountain gate."

Ye Qing's judgment in his heart became clearer.

In the afternoon's labor, he continued to be "diligent and conscientious" while keeping an eye on the terrain, patrol patterns, and weak points of the Formation light curtain (if any).

The Sword Tempering Platform was close to the main peak, and the defense was relatively tight, but on the west side, there was a steep slope where handymen piled rubble and waste. Below the slope was a dense bush, and further out was the edge area of the Mountain Protection Array.

The patrol frequency there seemed slightly lower, and the stability of the Formation light curtain was also slightly worse, occasionally having subtle turbulent Qi.

"Perhaps it is a 'gap' that can be utilized?"

Ye Qing silently noted it down.

As the Hour of the Rooster approached, the labor ended.

The handymen dragged their exhausted bodies back to the courtyard. They counted the numbers and handed over the tools.

Ye Qing returned the iron pickaxe and rattan basket; there was nothing else in the basket besides stones. Those "harvests" had long been quietly transferred to the hidden pocket in his chest during the transport, with the help of his body for cover.

That night, Ye Qing did not "introspect" his space or deduce Spells as usual.

He lay quietly on the common bed, breathing steadily, repeatedly deducing the plan for departure, the route, potential dangers, and response plans in his mind.

In the space within his body, the moonlight flower seedlings were growing well, and the earliest batch already showed faint signs of budding. The iron wire vine seeds had not yet broken through the soil but were full of vitality. The night firefly grass had already grown two tender leaves, vibrant with green.

It was time to let this small world breathe in a wider world.

The next day, the handymen were summoned again.

Today's task was to go to the downstream of "Qingxi Valley" in the back mountain to clean up the silt and broken wood washed down by the flash flood from the previous days and reinforce a section of the damaged water diversion canal.

Qingxi Valley was exactly where Uncle-Master Zhao Ming's Herb Garden was located, but the downstream area was already outside the Herb Garden's range, closer to the mountain forest.

Hearing this task location, Ye Qing's heart stirred slightly.

The opportunity might be right before his eyes.

The team followed the mountain road, winding along under the lead of the supervising Disciple.

Along the way, more battle traces could be seen: scorched trees, cracked mountain rocks, and the murderous atmosphere permeating the air grew thicker.

Downstream of Qingxi Valley, the scene was even more chaotic. Silt carried by the flash flood blocked the creek, the simple water canal was washed away, and broken wood and rubble piled up.

"Get to work quickly! Clean up the silt, move the broken wood, and repair the canal! This section must be finished before sunset!" The supervising Disciple urged sternly, while he chose a high slope to look around vigilantly.

Ye Qing was assigned the task of cleaning up silt.

He rolled up his trouser legs, stepped into the cold creek water, and used a wooden shovel to scoop the silt into the rattan basket.

His movements were nimble, his mind racing.

This place was already close to the mountain forest, and there were fewer patrol Disciples. At the bend of the creek, the forest was dense, forming a blind spot for vision. More importantly, he could feel that the Mountain Protection Array light curtain here, due to the terrain and the impact of the previous battle, had an extremely inconspicuous, periodically fluctuating weak node.

"This is it."

He silently calculated the time, observing the position and state of the supervising Disciple and the handymen in the same team.

In the afternoon, the sun was blocked by the mountains, and the light in the valley was slightly dim.

The supervising Disciple seemed a bit tired, leaning against a large rock, his eyes occasionally sweeping towards the depths of the mountain forest, looking a bit restless.

The few handymen in the same team were already exhausted, their movements slow, complaining incessantly.

Ye Qing shoveled the last shovel of silt and poured it into the designated dumping point.

Then, he "slipped under his feet," let out an "oops," his body "lost balance," and he "fell" toward the direction of the bend in the creek where the forest was densest.

The wooden shovel in his hand flew out and fell into the bushes.

"What's wrong?" The supervising Disciple was startled and looked over with a frown.

"No... nothing, Senior Brother, my foot slipped, the shovel fell, I'll go pick it up." Ye Qing scrambled up in a hurry, his face full of embarrassment and nervousness, limping toward the direction where the shovel had fallen.

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle!" The supervising Disciple waved his hand impatiently, his attention refocusing on the mountain forest direction.

Ye Qing responded and walked quickly into the bushes.

His figure was instantly swallowed by the dense branches and leaves.

Once he entered the blind spot, the panic and embarrassment on his face disappeared instantly, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.

The Light Body Technique was quietly operated to the extreme, his footsteps landing without sound, like a civet cat, rapidly passing through the bushes, speeding toward the weak node of the Formation light curtain he had calculated long ago!

Ten zhang distance was reached in an instant.

Before him, the pale green Formation light curtain flowed quietly, but at one point, the flow of the light curtain showed an extremely faint lag and thinning, like a tiny vortex under calm water.

Now!

Ye Qing restrained his aura to the extreme, the Qi of Level 5 Qi Refining surging in his body, but not a bit leaked out. The activation method for the Triangular Spirit Shield circulated at his fingertips, ready to deal with possible Formation backlash or unexpected attacks at any time.

He took a deep breath, aimed at the moment when the "vortex" was weakest, his figure like electricity, and suddenly lunged forward!

Chi—

A faint, almost inaudible sound, as if passing through a layer of sticky water film.

A slight squeezing sensation came over his body, followed by a release.

The scene before his eyes changed suddenly.

Dense mountain forests, fresh air, and... the pale green light curtain behind him that looked intangible but separated the two worlds.

He was out.

He had left the range of the Qingyun Sect's Mountain Protection Array.

He had not alerted anyone, had not triggered any alarms.

Like a drop of water merging into the sea, leaving no trace.

Ye Qing did not stop, nor did he look back.

The Light Body Technique was fully operated, his figure like a wisp of green smoke, speeding toward the dense forest further into the periphery of the Cangyun Mountain Range, opposite to Qingxi Valley.

The direction was southeast.

There lay the buffer zone between the "Black Water Swamp" where Loose Cultivators gathered and the edge of the "Ten Thousand Demon Mountains" — chaotic, dangerous, but also full of opportunities, most suitable for a lone traveler like him who needed low-key development and self-supplied resources.

The first step of steady development, safely escaping the cage, had been completed.

Next was the real, long path of longevity belonging to the Loose Cultivator Ye Qing.

The space within his body also seemed to sense the vastness of the outside world, sending a joyous, expectant slight rhythm.

The moonlight flower seedlings swayed gently, silver light flowing.

A new chapter began from here.