68: Prey? Hunter

The Qingxia Mountains stretched endlessly, and deep within the forest, an ancient Qingxia Temple nestled in a mountain hollow.

On the plaque were three large, elegant characters: Qingxia Temple.

Han Li held up his phone, the camera pointed at the temple.

"family members (audience), we've arrived at our destination! Qingxia Temple! It sounds like a place of immortal cultivation, but I don't know why, my hair is standing on end."

The live stream chat scrolled rapidly.

"Streamer, don't stir up trouble! I just checked, this is a legitimate temple, hundreds of years old!"

"Exactly, don't disturb their peaceful Cultivation!"

"Why do I feel a chill down my spine?"

Liu Lian leaned over, lowering his voice: "Old Xie, are you sure it's here?"

Xie Wangsheng pushed up his glasses and said nothing, merely pointing to the sky above the temple.

There, a wisp of faint Demonic Qi lingered, imperceptible to ordinary Mortals.

"Holy crap, the Demonic Qi is almost solidifying. This isn't a temple, it's a demonic den!" Fang Yuan cursed.

The sixteen people walked to the vermilion main gate of the temple.

The door was ajar.

Lu Miaomiao stepped forward and gently knocked on the door knocker.

"Dong, dong, dong."

After a while, footsteps sounded from within.

With a "creak," the wooden door was pulled open a crack, and a young Daoist boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a green Daoist robe and with his hair tied in two buns, poked his head out.

He saw so many people standing at the door, first startled, then a warm smile bloomed on his face.

"Esteemed benefactors, how may I help you?"

Lu Miaomiao immediately put on a pitiful expression, pointing to the mountain path behind her.

"Little Daoist Master, we are hikers who came to climb the mountain, but we didn't realize how vast it is. It's getting dark, and we're lost. Our phones also have no signal. Could you… could you possibly let us stay for the night?"

The young Daoist boy scrutinized them, and seeing that these young men and women were all well-dressed, his face immediately broke into a wide smile.

"Oh, I see! Please come in, please come in!"

"Our Qingxia Temple is most happy to help others. My Master, if he knew, would surely welcome you all."

He enthusiastically pushed the main gate fully open and gestured for them to enter.

Han Li and the others filed in.

The temple was not large, a three-courtyard complex, but everywhere exuded an inexplicable strangeness.

The stone statues in the courtyard were not the Three Pure Ones Ancestral Masters, but rather grotesque, unidentifiable beast-headed, human-bodied figures.

In the air, besides the scent of incense, there was also a very faint smell of blood.

"Little Daoist Master, are you the only one in this temple?" Liu Lian asked casually.

"Of course not." The young Daoist boy led them towards the guest rooms, enthusiastically explaining, "My Master is currently in seclusion in the back mountain, and my Senior Brother has gone out to gather herbs. He should be back soon."

No sooner had he spoken than the temple's main gate was pushed open from the outside.

A remarkably burly middle-aged Daoist priest, wearing a tight-fitting Daoist robe, walked in. He carried a huge bamboo basket filled with various items.

"Junior Brother, I'm back." The middle-aged Daoist priest spoke in a booming voice, then saw the sixteen strangers in the courtyard, and his brows immediately furrowed.

"Who are they?"

"Senior Brother!" The young Daoist boy quickly ran over. "They are lost hikers who want to stay with us for the night."

The middle-aged Daoist priest's expression then softened. He scanned the group, his gaze lingering on Han Li and the others for a few seconds.

"Since they are guests, treat them well."

After speaking, he walked towards the backyard on his own.

The moment he turned, Xie Wangsheng, who had been silent, sent a message through the team's communication channel.

"It's him."

"The Evil Qi remaining on the stone in the high-speed rail tunnel is identical to the Evil Qi on him."

The young Daoist boy arranged them in several guest rooms in the west wing, admonished them not to wander off, and then hurried away.

Inside a secret room.

The young Daoist boy was complaining to his Senior Brother.

"Senior Brother, why did the plan for the high-speed rail fail? We didn't even collect a single vengeful spirit, all that effort for nothing!"

The Senior Brother emptied the contents of the bamboo basket, revealing some dirt-encrusted human bones.

He toyed with a finger bone, his face filled with malice.

"Don't even mention it. A bunch of greenhorns appeared out of nowhere and actually stopped the high-speed rail! They ruined our good deed!"

"Then what do we do? The Temple Master is about to come out of seclusion, and without enough resentment Qi, what will he use to refine his Spells?" The young Daoist boy grew anxious.

The Senior Brother sneered, nodding towards the west wing.

"What's there to fear?"

"Haven't they just delivered themselves to us?"

"Sixteen young people, full of vigor and vitality, with tender skin and full Divine Souls, are more effective than the resentment Qi of hundreds of Mortals!"

"Refining them into a medicinal primer will surely bring the Temple Master's Magic Treasure to Major Achievement!"

The young Daoist boy's eyes also lit up, and he licked his lips: "Senior Brother is still the most brilliant!"

In the largest guest room of the west wing, all sixteen trainees gathered.

Xie Wangsheng peeled a Talisman paper from the wall—it was a listening Talisman.

The conversation in the secret room earlier had been heard by everyone, word for word.

"Damn it! A bunch of evil cultivators! And they want to refine us into medicinal primers?" Liu Lian angrily slammed the table.

"Calm down."

Xie Wangsheng spoke, and everyone fell silent.

"The situation is clear. Based on the conversation just now and my observations, that young Daoist boy's Cultivation is probably at Qi Refining Stage three, a third-stage Qi Refiner."

"That Senior Brother is stronger, Qi Refining Stage five, a fifth-stage Qi Refiner."

"As for their Temple Master who hasn't appeared, even if he's stronger, at most he's at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage."

He finished speaking and looked around.

Han Li couldn't help but ask: "Old Xie, then us..."

Xie Wangsheng pushed up his glasses.

"The sixteen of us, after a month of training by the Dean, what level are we at now?"

"All of us are at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage!"

"Not only that." Xie Wangsheng looked at Fang Yuan, who had been silent in the corner.

"Fang Yuan, you just broke through the Heavenly and Earthly Profound Gate a few days ago. What Realm are you in now?"

Fang Yuan grinned, and a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation flashed by.

"Foundation Establishment Stage."

"One Foundation Establishment Stage, fifteen Qi Refining Great Perfection."

Xie Wangsheng spoke each word distinctly.

"Everyone, tell me, how can we lose this battle?"

The atmosphere in the entire room was instantly ignited!

"Holy crap! It's a crushing victory!"

"Let's go get them!"

"To kill someone, you must also destroy their spirit! We must make them die in despair!"

"Don't get carried away."

Xie Wangsheng raised a hand, quelling everyone's excitement.

"Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. The opponents are evil cultivators with strange methods, so we cannot be careless."

He picked up a chopstick, dipped it in some tea on the table, and drew the layout of the entire temple.

"The plan remains unchanged."

"Students from the Formation System, Li Xin, Dong Wanying."

"Here!" The two girls stepped forward.

"You two immediately go out and set up the [Five Thunder Sealing Heaven Formation] around the temple to isolate the inside from the outside. Don't let them escape, and don't let any commotion from inside reach the outside."

"Mission accomplished!"

"Talisman Department, Tang Ruoling, apply the Vajra Talisman and Divine Movement Talisman to everyone. Draw them as strong as possible."

"Received!"

Xie Wangsheng looked at Fang Yuan and the other three burly men from the Body Refining System.

"Body Refining System, the four of you, when the time comes, kick down the door directly and forcefully attack the main hall. Disrupt their formation and stir up chaos!"

Fang Yuan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking: "Leave it to me!"

Xie Wangsheng then looked at Lin Xiao and the other five Sword Cultivators.

"Sword Cultivation Department, you are the vanguard. As soon as the Body Refining System brothers make their move, you immediately follow up. Your targets are that Senior Brother and that young Daoist boy. Eliminate them as quickly as possible!"

Lin Xiao and the others nodded, their hands already on their sword hilts.

"The remaining Spell Cultivators, including myself, will be responsible for long-range firepower coverage. Don't give that so-called Temple Master any chance to breathe. Drown him alive with Spells!"

A clear, ruthless, and efficient battle plan took shape.

"Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" The sixteen people responded in unison.

"Good."

Xie Wangsheng stood up.

"Return to your rooms, meditate, and adjust your condition to its best."

Everyone dispersed, returning to their rooms and sitting cross-legged.

The entire west wing instantly fell silent, with only an uncontrollable murderous intent quietly gathering.

Han Li returned to his room, but instead of Cultivating, he picked up his phone and adjusted the angle towards the dark screen.

He spoke in a low voice.

"family members (audience), the show is about to begin."