62: Chapter 62 First Steps into the Demon Mountain, Lying in Waiting for an Opportunity

Lin Ye withdrew his gaze, no longer looking behind him, but turned and walked into the cabin of the Cloud-Piercing Boat. He found an inconspicuous corner, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.

Most of the people on the boat were in small groups, talking in low voices. Those Inner Sect Disciples at the Late Stage of Qi Refining were familiar with each other and had an extraordinary bearing. The Disciples at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining mostly looked nervous, or gathered together to encourage each other. The ten auxiliary personnel were even more reserved, mostly silent.

Lin Ye was like an invisible person, his aura restrained, not communicating with others, just silently listening to the discussions around him, collecting information.

"I heard that the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range has not been peaceful recently. An adventure team discovered an ancient Immortal Cave ruin two hundred miles deep, but the entire team was wiped out, and only sporadic news was sent back..."

"More than that! Near the 'Black Wind Ravine' area, traces of what is suspected to be a third-stage Yao Beast, the 'Iron-Winged Eagle,' have appeared, and it has already attacked several merchant caravans."

"This mountain patrol is probably not going to be easy. Deacon Wang and Deacon Sun are both at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment. If we really encounter a third-stage Yao Beast..."

"What are you afraid of! We have so many people, and we have the Cloud-Piercing Boat and Formation. Even if we can't beat it, can't we run? I heard that if we complete the mission, the contribution points are generous, and we can even get priority for exchanging for a foundation establishment pill!"

...

Lin Ye kept this information in his heart.

The Cloud-Piercing Boat was extremely fast, traveling several thousand miles a day. Two days later, on the horizon ahead, the outline of a continuous, endless black mountain range appeared. Above the mountain range, gray-black Demonic Qi was shrouded all year round, and faintly, various lights and beast roars could be heard.

The Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range had arrived.

The Cloud-Piercing Boat landed in a valley about a hundred miles from the edge of the mountain range. A simple camp had already been established here, guarded by a Formation; it was one of the outposts set up by the Lingyun Sword Sect in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

Everyone got off the boat and rested in the camp for half a day. Deacon Wang and Deacon Sun gathered everyone and announced the operation plan:

Eighty people were divided into four teams, twenty people in each team, with a Disciple at the ninth level of Qi Refining serving as the temporary captain. The four teams would fan out and advance within a three-hundred-mile range on the outskirts of the mountain range, executing patrol, suppression, and exploration missions. Every three days, they would return to the camp to rest, resupply, and report. They would use communication Talismans to contact each other, and in case of an emergency or finding major clues, they would immediately send a signal for help.

Lin Ye was assigned to the third team. The captain was an Inner Sect Disciple from Tianjian Peak named "Han Li," at the ninth level of Qi Refining, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, a sharp aura, and was said to have superb sword skills. The team also had five Disciples at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, thirteen at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, and Lin Ye, this "medicine boy."

Han Li was strict and didn't talk much. He simply explained the team discipline and the route, then ordered them to set off.

The third team's route was to advance northwest along a tributary called the "Red Water River," with the target area including the "Black Wind Forest" and "Red Rock Valley" areas.

The team left the camp and stepped into the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range.

Once they entered the mountain range, the atmosphere was immediately different. Ancient trees towered, blocking the sky, vines were intertwined, and the light was dim. The air was filled with mixed Spiritual Qi, mixed with the strong smell of blood, Demonic Qi, and rotting plants. Various insect chirps and beast roars were endless, and heart-stopping roars could be heard from time to time in the distance.

Everyone immediately braced themselves and advanced according to the rehearsed Formation. The Late Stage Qi Refining Disciples stood guard on the perimeter, the Middle Stage Qi Refining Disciples were in the middle, and Lin Ye and other auxiliary personnel were protected in the very center.

Han Li took the lead, his spiritual sense released, scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Lin Ye followed in the team, his eyes calmly observing the surrounding environment and vegetation. The Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range was indeed rich in Spirit Medicine. In less than ten miles, he had discovered no less than ten types of first-stage Spiritual Plant, and even a few first-stage High Grade "Red Blood Ginseng" and "Ghost-Face Mushrooms," but they all grew in steep or hidden places and were guarded by low-stage Yao Beasts. The team had a mission, so they did not stop to pick them.

"Movement in the bushes on the left!" a Disciple at the eighth level of Qi Refining shouted in a low voice.

Swish, swish, swish!

Several black shadows rushed out from the bushes. They were five gray-black Yao Beasts, shaped like wild wolves but larger, with saliva dripping from their mouths — [Rotten Bone Wolves], Middle Stage of the first stage, gregarious, fond of eating carrion, with highly poisonous claws and teeth.

"Kill!" Han Li shouted coldly, and with a flash of sword light, he had already cut off the head of one Rotten Bone Wolf.

The other Disciples also attacked one after another, sword light and Spells intertwined, and soon the remaining Rotten Bone Wolves were dealt with. The whole process was clean and neat, showing good coordination.

Lin Ye did not take action, just watched silently. These Middle Stage first-stage Yao Beasts posed no threat to this elite team.

The team continued to move forward. On the way, they encountered several waves of attacks by low-stage Yao Beasts, all of which were quickly resolved. Lin Ye also dutifully collected some usable Materials from the Yao Beasts (the captain allowed it, whoever killed them kept the spoils), and identified and collected several common healing or detoxifying Spiritual Plant encountered along the way, putting them into his special medicine basket.

His performance was standard; he was neither overly active nor holding them back. Han Li occasionally glanced at him, seeing that his medicine-picking technique was proficient, so he stopped paying attention.

The first day passed safely. At night, the team camped under a sheltered rock wall and set up simple warning and protective Formation. Everyone took turns keeping watch.

Lin Ye was arranged to keep watch from the Zi hour to the Chou hour (11 PM to 1 AM). He sat cross-legged on the edge of the camp, his spiritual sense released, while simultaneously operating the "Ice Soul Sword Art," absorbing the Spiritual Qi here, which was mixed but vast in quantity, and cultivating silently.

The Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range in the deep night was even more dangerous. From time to time, hair-raising beast roars came from afar, and it felt as if countless eyes were peeking from the darkness.

Suddenly, Lin Ye's ears moved, and he caught a very slight, but different from ordinary beast roars, "crack" sound from a dense forest far behind the camp, like... dead branches being snapped?

Immediately following, an extremely faint, yet cold and evil aura flashed and disappeared.

It was not the aura of a Yao Beast... it was more like... a Cultivator? And the Cultivation Technique style was somewhat familiar?

Lin Ye's heart tightened, and he became alert immediately. He did not make a sound, just condensed his spiritual sense and carefully probed in that direction. However, that aura had already disappeared, as if it had never appeared.

Was it a passing Loose Cultivator? Or... someone from another Sect? Or perhaps... the Yinkui Sect?

He remained calm and continued his watch, but he was on high alert in his heart.

The next day, the team continued to advance, penetrating about fifty miles.

At noon, a dense forest with dark trees and a faint scent of decay appeared in front—the Black Wind Forest.

"According to the map, the Black Wind Forest is rich in a type of first-stage spiritual wood called 'Yin Soul Wood,' which is a material for refining certain special Magical Artifact and Talisman. It is also inhabited by many Yao Beasts that are good at hiding and Divine Soul attacks, such as 'Ghost-Face Spiders' and 'Soul-Seizing Owls.' Everyone be careful, restrain your aura, and pass quickly," Han Li ordered in a deep voice.

The team entered the Black Wind Forest. The light in the forest was even dimmer, and it was terrifyingly quiet. Even the sound of insects disappeared, leaving only the sound of everyone's footsteps and suppressed breathing.

Lin Ye felt the bone ring "Xuan Yuan" in his arms vibrate slightly, seeming to sense the cold Yin Qi of this place. He operated the "Ice Soul Sword Art," and the icy Spiritual Power circulated, dispelling the cold Yin Qi that constantly tried to invade his body.

Suddenly!

A Disciple at the seventh level of Qi Refining walking at the very front suddenly stiffened, his eyes instantly became hollow, a strange smile appeared on his face, and then he slowly turned around, the long sword in his hand actually stabbing at his teammate beside him!

"Junior Brother Zhang! What's wrong with you?!"

"Careful! It's a Soul-Seizing Owl! It's using a Divine Soul attack to interfere!" Han Li shouted sharply, while slashing a sword at the crown of a dead tree to the upper side.

Swish!

A gray shadow darted out from the tree crown. It was a Yao Beast the size of a washbasin, completely gray-white, with scarlet eyes, shaped like an owl—it was indeed a Soul-Seizing Owl! It let out a sharp, ear-piercing screech, and the sound waves were like invisible sharp thorns, drilling directly into everyone's Sea of Consciousness!

Except for Han Li and a few Disciples at the eighth level of Qi Refining who barely stabilized themselves, the other Middle Stage Qi Refining Disciples suddenly felt dizzy, their movements slowed down, and they even had hallucinations.

Several more Soul-Seizing Owls swooped out from different directions. At the same time, countless nearly transparent spider silks hung down silently from the ground and tree trunks. Several black spiders the size of a washbasin with ghost-face patterns on their backs (Ghost-Face Spiders) crawled over quickly, their mouthparts opening and closing, spraying spider webs with paralyzing poison!

The scene instantly became chaotic!

"Form up! Protect the auxiliary personnel!" Han Li swung his sword to cut off several spider silks, while at the same time sacrificing a bronze mirror Magical Artifact. The clear light from the mirror spilled down, barely resisting the sound wave attack of the Soul-Seizing Owls.

But the Ghost-Face Spiders' poison webs and the Soul-Seizing Owls' Divine Soul attacks cooperated tacitly, making them hard to guard against. Soon, another Middle Stage Qi Refining Disciple was entangled by the poison web, screaming and falling down, being dragged into the darkness by the Ghost-Face Spiders.

"Save him!" Han Li's eyes were splitting, but he was entangled by two Soul-Seizing Owls.

Lin Ye, who was in the center of the team, was also affected by several spider silks and sound waves. His eyes turned cold, and he no longer hid.

The icy Spiritual Power in his body erupted instantly, forming a layer of pale blue frost armor on his body surface. When the spider silks touched it, they were immediately frozen and became brittle. At the same time, his left hand flipped, and he slapped a "Cleansing Heart Talisman" he had prepared earlier, refined with Ice Marrow Ganoderma powder, onto his forehead. A cool energy rushed directly into his Sea of Consciousness, offsetting most of the Soul-Seizing Owl's sound wave interference.

Then, his right hand formed a sword finger, aiming at a Ghost-Face Spider that was pouncing from the side and opening its mouth to spray a poison web. A condensed icy Sword Qi left his hand, shooting precisely into its scarlet mouthparts!

Puchi!

The Sword Qi penetrated its brain, and the Ghost-Face Spider twitched and died.

Immediately after, Lin Ye's figure swayed, avoiding another poison web. At the same time, he flicked his fingers continuously, and several ice needles shot towards the few Ghost-Face Spiders that were trying to approach nearby. Although he didn't kill them, he forced them to retreat repeatedly, relieving the siege for the teammate beside him.

His movements were fast, accurate, and ruthless. His grasp of timing was perfect, and he only used the most basic ice needles and ice blades, without exposing too much of his strength, but in the chaos, he played a key role.

Han Li caught a glimpse of this in his busy schedule, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. This medicine boy didn't seem simple.

With Lin Ye's unexpected eruption (which everyone thought was a calm emergency response) and the desperate fighting of Han Li and the others, the team finally stabilized their footing and repelled the remaining Soul-Seizing Owls and Ghost-Face Spiders.

Taking stock of the numbers, one person was slightly injured (poisoned), and one was seriously injured (dragged away, and was dying when rescued), a significant loss.

"This place is not suitable for staying long, leave the Black Wind Forest immediately!" Han Li's face was ugly, and he ordered.

The team took the wounded and quickly withdrew from the Black Wind Forest. In a relatively safe mountain col outside the forest, Han Li ordered a rest to treat the wounded.

Lin Ye took the initiative to step forward and check the injuries of the poisoned Disciple. The poison was the paralyzing poison of the Ghost-Face Spider, which had invaded the Meridians. He took out the anti-toxin powder he had collected and prepared, and cooperated with Spiritual Power guidance to temporarily stabilize the injury, but it required a special anti-toxin Medicinal Pill.

"You know medicine?" Han Li looked at Lin Ye.

"I know a little, I learned some at the Hundred Herbs Hall," Lin Ye said.

Han Li nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but the look he gave Lin Ye had less of the previous indifference.

After resting for about an hour, the seriously injured Disciple's breathing stabilized a little after taking the life-saving Medicinal Pill brought by Han Li, but he was unable to move and needed to be carried on someone's back.

"The mission must continue. Junior Brother Li, you take two people to escort Junior Brother Wang (the seriously injured one) and Junior Brother Zhao (the slightly injured one) back to the outpost camp. The rest of you, follow me to continue to Red Rock Valley." Han Li made a decision.

With three people less, the team had seventeen people left, and morale was a bit low.

"Let's go!" Han Li didn't say anything more and took the lead.

Lin Ye followed silently. After the battle in the Black Wind Forest, his status in the team seemed to have improved slightly, at least no one regarded him as a pure burden anymore.

In the evening, the team arrived at the second target area of this trip—Red Rock Valley.

This was a narrow valley made of red rocks, with towering cliffs on both sides and no grass growing. The temperature in the valley was significantly higher, and hot air was faintly steaming from the cracks in the ground. It is said that the valley is rich in a fire-attribute Ore called "Hematite," and it is also inhabited by some fire-type Yao Beasts.

"It's getting late, let's camp at the mouth of the valley tonight. We will enter the valley to explore tomorrow," Han Li ordered.

Everyone was busy setting up camp and laying out Formation.

Lin Ye chose a position close to the rock wall and relatively sheltered from the wind, sat down, took a bigu pill, and adjusted his breath silently, while simply processing the several Spiritual Plant collected today.

Late at night, the camp was silent, with only the campfire crackling.

The Disciples on night watch patrolled vigilantly.

Lin Ye sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, seemingly cultivating, but in fact, his spiritual sense remained highly vigilant. That cold aura that flashed by in the Black Wind Forest during the day made him uneasy all along.

Just past the Zi hour.

A sudden change occurred!

The warning Formation on the perimeter of the camp suddenly erupted with dazzling light without warning, and then shattered with a bang!

Immediately following, dozens of black shadows, like ghosts, emerged silently from the cliffs on both sides of the valley and the shadows around the camp, surrounding the camp!

These people were all dressed in black, their faces hidden under hoods, their auras cold and evil, carrying a strong Evil Qi. The leader had an aura that had reached the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment! Behind him, there were three Disciples at the ninth level of Qi Refining and more than ten Cultivator at the Middle and Late Stage of Qi Refining.

"Enemy attack!" the Disciple on night watch shouted sharply, but his voice stopped abruptly, his throat pierced by a black light.

Han Li and the others had already woken up the moment the Formation shattered, and they all stood up, brandishing their weapons, their faces changing drastically.

"Who are you people? How dare you attack our Lingyun Sword Sect's patrol team?!" Han Li gripped his long sword and shouted sharply.

"Lingyun Sword Sect? Hehe..." The black-clothed Foundation Establishment Cultivator leading them let out a hoarse cold laugh, slowly took off his hood, revealing a pale face covered with strange patterns, with ghost fires flickering in his eyes. "It is exactly you people from the Lingyun Sword Sect that we are killing! This place is where you will be buried!"

"Yinkui Sect!" Han Li exclaimed, his face instantly turning as pale as paper.

Lin Ye's heart also sank to the bottom.

It really was the Yinkui Sect! And they had dispatched a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and three Disciples at the ninth level of Qi Refining; their strength far exceeded their own!

This was a carefully planned ambush!

Their goal was clearly not simple robbery, but... annihilation!

The Yinkui Sect Foundation Establishment Cultivator gave a grim smile and waved his hand: "Kill! Leave no one alive!"

Dozens of people in black rushed up like a tide, and all kinds of evil Spells, Magical Artifact, and Puppet smashed towards the camp!

"Form up! Fight to the death!" Han Li's eyes were splitting, and he swung his sword to meet the Foundation Establishment Cultivator. He knew that only by desperately holding the other party off would there be a glimmer of survival.

However, the gap between the ninth level of Qi Refining and the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment was like a chasm. In just three moves, Han Li was hit in the chest by a ghost claw, vomited blood and flew backward, and fell to the ground seriously injured.

The other Lingyun Sword Sect Disciples fought hard to resist, but under the multiple disadvantages of numbers, strength, and being caught unprepared, they instantly fell into an absolute disadvantage. Screams, roars, and the sound of Spells exploding rang out in succession.

At the moment of the enemy attack, Lin Ye had already shrunk his figure into a depression in the rock wall, operating his Qi Concealment Technique to the fullest, while holding the few attack Talisman he had left and that discarded water-avoiding pendant (perhaps it could block some Yin Qi?).

But he knew that hiding under the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator probably wouldn't last long.

He had to make a decision immediately!

Fighting hard was a dead end.

Escape? Surrounded on all sides, the only gap seemed to be... the Red Rock Valley behind him? But the situation in the valley was unknown, and it was a dead end.

Perhaps... he could take a gamble?

His gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield and looked towards the depths of the pitch-black, steaming Red Rock Valley.

In a desperate situation, one can only survive by seeking life from death.