166: An old friend, I'll lend a helping hand!

After crossing the canyon where the refugees gathered, the terrain ahead suddenly opened up.

But what followed was a much stronger scent of blood and a sense of oppression.

If the previous scene was the struggle of low-level Cultivators for survival, then what Chen Xu saw next was naked bullying, and even... finding pleasure in harming people.

In the sky, a luxurious Flying Boat, decorated with gold and jade and inlaid with various gems, was slowly circling at a low altitude.

On the deck of the Flying Boat stood several young men and women in brocade clothes.

They were not holding any Magic Treasure, but rather, exquisite Spiritual bows.

"Hahaha! Brother Li, look over there! That one is running quite fast!"

A greasy-faced youth pointed at a Loose Cultivator sprinting through the jungle below.

He laughed and pulled the bowstring in his hand.

"Swish!"

An arrow flashing with spiritual light tore through the air.

The fleeing Loose Cultivator only had the cultivation of the Early Nascent Soul Stage, so how could he dodge such an attack? He was instantly pierced through the heart by the arrow and pinned to the ground.

"Good archery! Young Master Wang's 'Pursuing Wind Arrow' is truly becoming more and more masterful!"

The men and women beside him immediately clapped and cheered, their words full of flattery.

The youth known as Young Master Wang had a smug expression on his face.

His eyes were filled with the arrogance of one who views human life as nothing but grass.

"This rabbit is too weak, boring. The one who tried to resist earlier was a bit more interesting."

They called this act of hunting living people "hunting."

And those Loose Cultivators fleeing in despair below.

In their eyes, they were nothing but beasts used for amusement.

Chen Xu stepped on his Flying Sword, hidden in the clouds not far away, watching this scene coldly.

His fingers moved slightly, and a sharp killing intent gathered at his fingertips, but it quickly dissipated.

If this were in Tianxuan City, these pieces of scum would already be a pile of minced meat.

But this was the territory of Zhenyuan City.

The flag hanging on this Flying Boat was clearly the mark of a large Family affiliated with the Lin Family.

If he made a move now, although he could kill to his heart's content, it would surely alert the enemy, expose his whereabouts, and even attract experts to investigate.

It was not worth ruining the Family's grand plan for the sake of a few unrelated Loose Cultivators.

"This world is, after all, one that eats people."

Chen Xu sighed inwardly.

He was not a Saint; he could not save all the suffering in this world.

At this moment, the peaceful and harmonious scene in Tianxuan City flashed through his mind.

The smiles and hope on the faces of his clansmen surfaced.

That strong contrast made him realize even more deeply how correct his decision to establish the Family and protect his clansmen had been.

In this cruel Cultivation World, without powerful strength and a solid fortress.

Even a Cultivator with some Aptitude is nothing but prey and a plaything in the eyes of others.

"Only by becoming stronger, strong enough that all rules must make way for me, can I truly protect everything I want to protect."

Chen Xu thought secretly, and the slight fluctuation in his heart caused by sympathy was completely suppressed.

He stopped looking at the Flying Boat, urged his Flying Sword, and prepared to take a detour.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

Just then, Xiao Hei, who had been playing dead behind the Flying Sword, suddenly stood up abruptly.

It let out a rapid and low growl towards a hidden valley on the lower left.

Its eyes, which had been a bit cloudy, were now flashing with a ghostly green light.

That was its instinctive perception of blood and danger as a Heaven-Devouring Beast.

"Hmm?"

Chen Xu's heart stirred, and he immediately stopped his Flying Sword.

Although Xiao Hei usually seemed unreliable, it had never been wrong about such things.

He looked in the direction of Xiao Hei's growl.

It was a deep valley shrouded in thick fog. It looked unremarkable on the surface, and even Divine Sense would be deflected by that layer of shielding fog.

But at this moment, deep within the fog, there came faint, muffled roars and the unique hissing of a Yao Beast.

There was also an extremely obscure but exceptionally pure fluctuation of blood energy.

"Interesting."

Chen Xu pondered for a moment, his figure flickered, and he and his sword turned into a wisp of light smoke.

He drifted silently towards the valley.

Passing through the outer mist, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

He saw that in an open area in the center of the valley, more than a dozen Cultivators in uniform, tight-fitting clothes were standing back-to-back in a defensive circle, struggling to hold on.

And all around them, hundreds of ferocious Yao Beasts with bodies like oxen and iron armor on their backs—Dark Iron Armored Wolves—were densely surrounding them!

Although the individual strength of this kind of Yao Beast was only around the Soul Transformation Stage.

They were tough-skinned, thick-fleshed, and extremely vengeful.

Once they gathered in packs, even a Cultivator at the Soul Transformation Stage Late Phase would feel their scalp tingle.

The trapped team of Cultivators had clearly reached their limit.

The defensive light shields on their bodies were flickering, in danger of shattering at any moment.

Several corpses already lay on the ground, blood staining the earth red.

This further stimulated the ferocity of the wolf pack.

"Everyone, hold on! As long as we survive this wave, we can find a chance to break out!"

In the crowd, a burly man shouted loudly.

He used the giant axe in his hand to hack away a wolf that pounced on him, but his own arm was also torn by a wolf claw, leaving a wound deep enough to see the bone.

And at the very front of the team, a slender figure was facing the densest attacks of the wolf pack alone.

It was a woman.

Although her face was covered in blood and grime, making it hard to see her features.

Her eyes were startlingly bright, revealing a stubbornness that refused to yield even in death.

She held a long sword with a cold, piercing light in her hand.

Her sword stance was like a rainbow; every swing brought a rain of blood.

That was no flashy Spell, but purely the most extreme sword technique!

Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

Without any unnecessary, flowery movements, every sword strike pointed directly at the Yao Beast's vital points.

"This sword technique..."

Chen Xu, hiding in the shadows, had originally intended to leave after just one look.

But the moment he saw the woman strike with her sword, his eyebrows raised slightly.

Although the power was not very great due to the limitation of cultivation, the technique of exerting force, that style of sword moving in an unconventional way yet being grand and open...

It actually made him feel a sense of inexplicable familiarity!

It was as if...

A sword technique that an old friend had once displayed when he was in the Lower Realm!

A few blurry images flashed through Chen Xu's mind instantly.

Finally, it locked onto a name, or rather, a Sect.

"East Sea Sword Sect? Lan Shuyao?"

Chen Xu felt uncertain in his heart.

The East Sea Sword Sect was considered a major Sect in the Lower Realm and indeed had some unique aspects in the Dao of the sword.

However, this is the Spirit Realm!

Could this woman be someone from the East Sea Sword Sect?

Or was this just a coincidence?

And just as Chen Xu was pondering, the slaughter in the valley had reached a fever pitch.

The air was filled with a thick, nauseating scent of blood.

The defensive circle formed by the dozen or so Cultivators was tottering under the continuous offensive of the Dark Iron Armored Wolves.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, the magic shield in a young Cultivator's hand finally couldn't bear the weight and shattered completely.

Before he could react, two Armored Wolves that had been ready to strike pounced like black lightning.

The screams stopped abruptly, and the Cultivator was instantly dragged into the wolf pack.

Only a shocking pool of blood remained.

Once the gap opened, the already precarious defense line collapsed instantly.

"We can't hold it! Retreat! Retreat to the back mountain!"

The burly man leading the group was wide-eyed with fury, his giant axe swinging wildly in an attempt to carve a bloody path.

But there were simply too many Armored Wolves around, as if they were endless.

The woman holding the sword was also in a perilous situation at this moment.

Although her sword technique was exquisite and she could avoid vital points in the nick of time, the spiritual energy in her body was already nearly exhausted.

The hand holding the sword was trembling slightly, and the originally sharp sword light had become dim and lusterless.

Just when her old strength was spent and new strength had not yet been born.

A low growl suddenly came from behind the pack of Dark Iron Armored Wolves.

"Roar—!"

As soon as this sound came out, the ordinary Armored Wolves that had been attacking crazily retreated to both sides.

They made way for a path.

A giant beast, twice the size of an ordinary Armored Wolf, walked out slowly.

It was pitch black all over, and the armor on its back presented a strange dark golden color. Its eyes were not cloudy like a beast's.

Instead, they flashed with cunning and cruelty!

A Peak Soul Transformation Stage Late Stage Yao Beast! Dark Iron Wolf King!

The moment he saw this Wolf King appear, the giant axe in the burly man's hand dropped to the ground with a "clatter."

All the blood drained from his face instantly.

"It's over..."

Facing hundreds of Soul Transformation Stage Armored Wolves, they might still have had a glimmer of hope to break out.

But facing a Wolf King with strength close to the Void Refining Stage, and in their state of being at the end of their rope.

There was no other way but death.

The Wolf King seemed to enjoy the desperate look in its prey's eyes.

It didn't rush to attack, but instead played around, sizing up the woman holding the sword.

It could feel that the flesh and blood of this human woman were the most delicious.

That was the pure aura tempered by years of practicing the sword.

"Swish!"

Without any warning, the Wolf King moved.

Its speed was extremely fast, pulling an afterimage in the air.

The woman holding the sword only felt a blur before her eyes, and a thick, fishy wind rushed towards her face.

Subconsciously, she wanted to raise her sword to block.

But her arm felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, and it simply couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed.

The bloody mouth full of fangs magnified rapidly in her pupils.

The aura of death was so clear.

The woman smiled miserably and closed her eyes in despair.

Chen Xu, hiding in the clouds, looked at this scene, and his originally calm eyes fluctuated slightly.

It was not out of pity for the fair sex, but because the last sword strike the woman had stabbed out in desperation, although weak, had a kind of "unyielding" Sword Intent that was very similar to that stubborn figure from back then.

"Fine, since you have the demeanor of an old friend, I will send you a stroke of good fortune."

Chen Xu gently raised his right hand and tapped his index finger and thumb together.

He did not use any earth-shattering Divine Ability.

Nor did he sacrifice any Magic Treasure.

He just flicked a finger gently towards the Wolf King below, who was about to succeed, across the void of thousands of zhang.

"Pop."

A very slight explosion sounded in the air.

A cyan Sword Qi instantly pierced through the barrier of space.

In the valley below.

The Wolf King's fangs were less than half an inch away from the woman's throat.

The cruelty in its eyes grew stronger.

It was as if it had already tasted the sweetness of blood.

However, in the very next instant.

"Puff!" A muffled sound rang out.

That massive, hideous wolf head was like a watermelon struck by an invisible giant hammer.

It exploded instantly without any warning!

Red and white gore splattered everywhere, drenching the woman from head to toe.

The Wolf King's massive body surged forward another half a foot due to momentum, then crashed heavily onto the ground, its limbs twitching a few times.

Then, it became completely still.

Dead silence.

The entire valley instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Whether it was the human Cultivators who had closed their eyes waiting for death, or the surrounding pack of wolves that had been so vicious just a moment ago.

Everyone was frozen in place.

What happened?

That was a Wolf King comparable to an Early Void Refining Stage Cultivator!

Its iron armor was indestructible; even a Cultivator of the same level would have to exert significant effort to break its defense.

How did it suddenly... explode?

"Awoo..."

After a brief moment of dead silence, a chorus of mournful howls erupted from the wolf pack.

Yao Beasts have a much keener perception of danger than humans.

Although they hadn't seen where the attack came from, the faint, terrifying pressure lingering in the air.

Made their Souls tremble.

The once ferocious wolf pack instantly broke into chaos, tucking their tails and fleeing in all directions like stray dogs.

They didn't even care about the Wolf King's corpse, and in the blink of an eye, they were all gone.

The few Cultivators who had survived the ordeal stared blankly at the headless wolf corpse on the ground.

It took them a long time to regain their senses.

"Who... which Senior intervened to save us?"

The burly man was the first to react; ignoring his injuries, he knelt down toward the void with a "thud," his eyes brimming with tears of excitement.

"Junior Tie Shan, thanks Senior for saving our lives!"

The others also came to their senses and quickly followed suit, kneeling on the ground.

They kowtowed repeatedly toward the empty sky.

The sword-wielding woman wiped the blood from her face, her hand gripping the long sword trembling slightly.

She looked up into the depths of the clouds, her expression complex.

In that instant just now, she seemed to have sensed an aura that was extremely sharp yet restrained to the extreme.

That wasn't a Spell; that was... Sword Intent?

Or was it something even more Advanced than Sword Intent?

However, no matter how they called out or kowtowed, all that surrounded them was the rustling of the wind through the leaves.

There was no other response.

That mysterious "Senior" seemed as if they had never appeared at all.

...

Hundreds of miles away, in a hidden dense forest.

The space warped slightly, and the figure of Chen Xu appeared out of thin air.

He paid no mind to the gratitude of that squad; to him, this was just a minor interlude done in passing.

His current identity was sensitive; if he were to reveal himself.

It would only invite unnecessary trouble.

"Plop."

Chen Xu tossed something aside, and a gray Yao Beast wolf, only the size of an ordinary dog but with exceptionally intelligent eyes, was slammed heavily onto the ground.

This was the sub-leader that had tried to escape, hiding among the ordinary armored wolves when the pack scattered earlier.

Although it only possessed the strength of the Nascent Soul Stage Late Phase.

But there was a cunning look in this wolf's eyes, clearly, it had gained sentience.

"Don't play dead."

Chen Xu looked down at the shivering Yao Beast wolf, his voice icy and bone-chilling.

The Yao Beast wolf whined and actually knelt on the ground like a human, its two front paws constantly bowing.

Its eyes were filled with a look of pleading.

"Woof!"

Xiao Hei, who had been following behind Chen Xu, leaned in and bared its teeth at the Yao Beast wolf, drool dripping all over the ground.

Clearly, it had a strong appetite for this kind of Yao Beast with some cultivation.

Frightened by the aura emanating from Xiao Hei, the Yao Beast wolf trembled like chaff and nearly lost control of its bladder on the spot.

"This beast is quite clever."

Chen Xu sneered, not softening his heart because of the other's pleas.

A beast tide of this scale and organization shouldn't have appeared on the edge of the Beiming Wilderness.

Although the dead Wolf King was fierce, given its intelligence.

It wasn't capable of understanding tactics like "besieging a point to strike reinforcements."

Behind this, there must be traces of human manipulation.

Chen Xu couldn't be bothered with small talk; he stepped forward, spread the fingers of his right hand, and clamped them onto the top of the Yao Beast wolf's head.

"Soul Search!"

"Awooo—!!!"

A shrill, miserable scream rang out in the dense forest, but it was sealed off tightly by the sound-insulation barrier Chen Xu had set up as soon as it left its throat.

The Yao Beast wolf's body convulsed violently, its eyes rolled back, and it foamed at the mouth.

The art of Soul Search is incredibly overbearing.

It directly forcibly invades the target's Divine Soul and Sea of Consciousness to browse their memories.

For the caster, it only consumes some Divine Sense, but for the one being cast upon, it is no different from tearing the Soul apart and piecing it back together; the level of pain is ten thousand times worse than being sliced to death.

Chen Xu remained expressionless with his eyes slightly closed, his massive Divine Thought rapidly cutting through and searching within the chaotic and jumbled memories of the Yao Beast wolf.

Most of the memories were primitive images of hunting, mating, and fighting.

Chen Xu skipped past these, his Divine Thought heading straight down towards the core memories of the last few months.

Soon, several clear images emerged in his mind.

Image 1:

Deep in a dark cave.

The dead Wolf King was lying on the ground, and in front of it.

Stood several human Cultivators wearing black robes.

One couldn't see the faces of these black-robed people...

But on their cuffs, there was an embroidered dark red "Lin" character.

One of them was holding a burning purple incense stick in his hand.

The smoke emitted by the incense was extremely strange; after the Wolf King inhaled it, its eyes instantly turned crimson, and its remaining sliver of rationality was replaced by a violent desire to kill.

Image 2:

The black-robed men threw some blood-stained Magic Treasure garments to the Wolf King; they carried the aura of human Cultivators.

Afterward, they pointed toward the edge of the wilderness and issued orders to drive and hunt.

Image 3:

This sub-leader Yao Beast wolf was hiding in the shadows eavesdropping.

It couldn't understand the complex human language, but through Divine Soul fluctuations, it remembered several frequently repeated words: "Purge," "Resources," "Grand Ceremony," "No survivors."

...

A moment later.

Chen Xu let go, and the Yao Beast wolf was already lifeless, its Divine Soul shattered.

"It's the Lin Family?"

Chen Xu casually flicked out a fireball, turning the Yao Beast wolf's corpse into ashes, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Through the Soul Search, he had roughly pieced together some matters.

This so-called beast tide...

It was likely orchestrated by the Lin Family!

They used special drugs to control several major Yao Beast clans on the edge of the wilderness.

Driving them to conduct an indiscriminate purge of the Loose Cultivators in this area.

The purpose was simple, and also very cruel.

First, through the beast tide, to force those Loose Cultivators who didn't want to pay heavy taxes and were trying to survive on the edge of the wilderness back to Zhenyuan City.

Or to kill them directly, in order to reduce uncontrollable factors.

Second, to use the mouths of the Yao Beasts to plunder the resources on these Loose Cultivators.

Once the Loose Cultivators were all dead, the Lin Family would then send people to "exterminate" the Yao Beasts.

Naturally reclaiming all the Storage Pouches and Spiritual Plants.

Killing two birds with one stone; what a ruthless method.

"It seems this Lin Family is even greedier than I imagined."

Chen Xu sneered in his heart.

A Family that could resort to such a ruthless, conscience-less method of draining the pond to catch the fish.

Its internal structure was likely already rotten to the core, or rather, they were facing some kind of immense pressure and desperately needed massive resources to fill the hole.

However, this just happened to give him an opportunity.

The more chaotic it was, the easier it would be to fish in troubled waters.

Just as Chen Xu was preparing to leave.

He suddenly remembered a few sentences from the conversation of that monster-hunting squad in their moment of despair earlier.

At the time, he hadn't paid attention...

But recalling it now, he caught a piece of key information.

"As long as we can get even one ticket to the 'Centennial Grand Ceremony' and sell this Yao Beast core, we'll be saved..."

"I heard that among the finale treasures of this auction, there is the legendary 'tai xu realm stone'..."

tai xu realm stone!

This recollection caused Chen Xu's mind to explode with shock.

He stopped in his tracks, his breathing becoming slightly hurried.

Setting up the cross-realm teleportation array...

Needs the last two core main materials:

tai xu realm stone!

This is the anchor used to stabilize the cross-realm channel and prevent space storms from tearing the teleporter apart!

This item is extremely rare; it only exists at the intersection of Void Realm turbulence and is hard to come by in tens of thousands of years.

Chen Xu had originally planned to try his luck at the Tianbao Pavilion in Zhenyuan City, or post a bounty to search for it slowly.

Unexpectedly, he had searched high and low for it, only to find it without any effort!

"tai xu realm stone... must obtain it!"

With this thing, the plan to bring the clan members from the Lower Realm can be completed years or even decades early!

This is not just about the Family reunion...

It is also a key step in whether the Chen Family can rapidly expand in a short period of time.

"Let's go, Xiao Hei."

Chen Xu called out to the mangy dog, which was staring blankly at the pile of ashes.

"Let's go see just how impressive this Zhenyuan City really is."

He waved his large sleeve, completely erasing all traces of his own aura.

Then, his figure flickered and disappeared from the spot.

At dusk.

The setting sun was like blood, dyeing the earth a chilling, dark red.

At the end of the horizon, a massive city, so towering it was breathtaking, finally revealed its true form.

Zhenyuan City.

This was not just a city; it was more like a primordial giant beast crouching on the wilderness.

The city walls were a thousand zhang high, built entirely of basalt, with every giant stone engraved with complex defensive runes.

Under the setting sun, these runes faintly shimmered with a dark red light.

As if they were solidified blood.

On the city walls, a massive arrow tower stood every hundred zhang.

"So this is Zhenyuan City, which rules over a million miles and is known as the number one majestic city of the Beiming Wilderness..."

Chen Xu stood on a small hill, looking out at this massive city, a glimmer of admiration flashing in his eyes.

By comparison, although his Tianxuan City had infinite potential.

It was indeed still far behind in terms of heritage and scale.

This is the accumulation of time.

However, Chen Xu was not discouraged in the slightest.

As long as he was given time, Tianxuan City would sooner or later surpass this place.

Becoming a true Spirit Realm Holy Land.

He composed his mind and patted the head of Xiao Hei beside him: "Behave yourself, don't give us away."

Xiao Hei rolled its eyes and drooped its ears.

With the look of a half-dead mangy dog, its acting skills were at the level of a movie star.