344: A standoff in the forest, a murder and a robbery.

Shen Yuanmo's figure hung silently in the clouds above the Nine Heavens.

The fierce gale whipped at his robes but could not shake him in the slightest.

His terrifying Divine Sense, far surpassing those of his cultivation stage and already comparable to the Spirit Transformation Late Stage, descended from the high heavens.

It silently penetrated the dense canopy of the primeval forest, bringing the vast area below under his control.

Below, a strong scent of blood, mixed with the Evil Qi from dissipated spiritual energy, rose into the sky, tainting the freshness of the primeval forest.

Two groups of Cultivators were locked in an extremely brutal standoff.

Shen Yuanmo's Divine Sense spread like mercury, and in an instant, he had thoroughly grasped the details of both sides.

One side had a numerical advantage, with over twenty people.

They were all shabbily dressed, exuding a fierce Evil Qi unique to desperate outlaws, and their eyes were filled with greed that was almost tangible.

Most of the Magic Treasures in their hands were of low quality, their spiritual light dim, and many even bore crude repair marks.

However, their ruthlessness was far beyond what ordinary Sect Disciples could compare to.

Leading them was a burly, powerfully built man with a scarred face, displaying a ferocious appearance.

He was bare-chested, and on his bronze-colored skin, a ferocious black tiger was tattooed, roaring and undulating with his bulging muscles, as if ready to devour someone.

In his hand, he held a blood-stained ghost-head broadsword, with fragments of flesh still clinging to the blade, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.

The cultivation fluctuations of a Nascent Soul Initial Stage Cultivator emanated from him without restraint.

"Black Wind Stockade..."

Shen Yuanmo's Divine Sense swept across an inconspicuous dark iron token on the big man's waist, and he instantly understood.

They were merely a band of Loose Cultivator bandits entrenched in this area, making a living by murder and robbery.

The Canglan Realm was too vast; such forces were as numerous as cattle.

The other side of the standoff was much more miserable.

Only seven or eight of them remained. Although they wore uniform, well-made Daoist robes, indicating a distinguished origin.

But at this moment, every one of them was injured and wounded.

Their faces were as pale as paper, and their aura was weak and dispirited.

Clearly, they had just endured a desperate bloody battle and had barely managed to retreat to this position, already at the end of their rope.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with a resolute face, though his eyes were now filled with an unconcealed weariness and indignation.

His cultivation was also at the Nascent Soul Initial Stage.

Behind him, several Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage guards were forming a fragile defense line with their bodies.

They desperately protected a girl who looked only sixteen or seventeen, with delicate features, but was trembling with fear, firmly in the center.

"Yun Family..."

Shen Yuanmo's gaze fell on the cuff of the middle-aged man's Daoist robe.

There, a small and elegant cloud pattern was embroidered with golden thread.

A typical immortal cultivation family that had already fallen into decline.

"Yun Tianhe! I'll give you one last chance!"

The Master of Black Wind Stockade slammed his ghost-head broadsword heavily into the ground, and the earth rumbled, cracking into several spiderweb-like fissures.

He swept his gaze over the exhausted Yun Family members opposite him with a cat-and-mouse mockery, then let out a sinister laugh.

"If you know what's good for you, obediently hand over that beast skin map to me!"

"Otherwise, today will be the day your Yun Family's lineage is cut off!"

His gaze fell wantonly on the young girl, filled with lewdness.

"That delicate little girl behind you, I'll also 'take good care' of her for you!"

"Hahahaha!"

The Loose Cultivator bandits behind him burst into a vulgar roar of laughter upon hearing this.

Malicious gazes, like sticky venomous snakes, coiled around the girl.

"You... you're shameless!"

The girl, protected behind them, had her small face flush crimson with anger at the filthy words.

Trembling all over, her apricot-shaped eyes filled with tears, she still bravely managed to retort angrily.

"Shameless?"

The Master of Black Wind Stockade disdainfully curled his lips and spat.

"In this man-eat-man Cultivation World, the bigger the fist, the more reason you have! Little girl, didn't your father teach you that?"

He looked at Yun Tianhe mockingly.

"Your Yun Family has guarded that broken map for hundreds of years, but what good has it done? Haven't you just declined step by step from a second-rate family back then to a point where you're not even as good as a third-rate Sect today?"

"Pah!"

Yun Tianhe, the Yun Family Patriarch, spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments onto the ground.

He clutched the ancient beast skin map tightly in his hand, his eyes burning with an unyielding flame.

"Wishful thinking! Even if I, Yun Tianhe, die in battle here today, I will never let this map fall into the hands of you scoundrels!"

He suddenly turned to look at his daughter behind him, who was already pale with fright, a resolute and tragic glint flashing in his eyes.

"This map is the last hope for my Yun Family's rise!"

His voice was hoarse yet firm.

"It is the last hope that our Yun Family's ancestors exchanged with their lives!"

"Hope?"

The Master of Black Wind Stockade seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. He burst into wild laughter again, his laughter shaking the leaves in the forest.

"Just you few crippled soldiers and defeated generals? Don't you dare dream!"

His laughter abruptly ceased, and his face instantly became incredibly ferocious.

"Brothers! Attack!"

"Kill these ungrateful bastards! Chop the men into pieces to feed the Yao Beasts! As for the women, leave them for the brothers to have some fun!"

"Roar!"

Following the Master of Black Wind Stockade's command, the more than twenty Loose Cultivators behind him, who had long been unable to restrain themselves,

Immediately let out excited roars, like a school of sharks that had smelled blood.

They unleashed their respective Magic Treasures, transforming into streaks of light, and charged madly towards the remaining seven or eight Yun Family guards!

For a time, the light of Spells and the roar of Magic Treasures once again resounded throughout this forest clearing!

Spiritual light flashed, and flesh and blood flew!

Although the Yun Family guards were all fearless, they were ultimately outnumbered and already severely wounded.

After only a few rounds of engagement.

"Pfft!"

"Ah!"

Accompanied by two screams, two more Golden Core Stage guards were targeted by several Magic Treasures. Their protective spiritual light couldn't even last a breath, and they were instantly blasted into a sky full of blood mist!

"Father!"

The girl protected behind them let out a shrill, heart-wrenching scream.

"Wan'er, don't be afraid! Father is here!"

Yun Tianhe's eyes were bloodshot and streaked with red. The Flying Sword in his hand transformed into streaks of sharp sword light.

Desperately resisting the encirclement of several Cultivators of the same stage, he was already overwhelmed and in grave danger!

He knew he couldn't last much longer.

At most, about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Their Yun Family would be completely erased from this world.

Endless despair and unwillingness transformed into icy coldness, corroding his limbs and bones.

However, on this bloody and tragic battlefield,

In the clouds above the Nine Heavens, Shen Yuanmo remained as calm as an ancient well, without a ripple.

His gaze did not even linger for a moment on the dying Yun Family guards.

All his attention was focused on the center of the chaotic battle.

It fell upon the ancient beast skin map that Yun Tianhe was desperately protecting with his life.

This map is quite interesting.

A faint, almost imperceptible hint of interest finally flickered in Shen Yuanmo's eyes.

He wasn't interested in any so-called Treasure Trove.

With his current vision and strength, there were not many things in the Eastern Domain of the Canglan Realm that could truly catch his eye anymore.

He was interested in the beast skin map itself.

In his Divine Sense perception, the material of this map was extraordinary, seemingly containing a very ancient and faint Qi.