The ancestor is incompetent!

Chapter 35: Ghost Beast

His speed of cultivation is no less than that of earth-grade spiritual roots. Not only because of the supernatural power of the spiritual lower Yuan Zhen Jue, but also because of the effect of wearing the Youhai Pearl to bless the water Qi.

According to the current trend, as long as he continues to work hard and cultivate for another twenty years, he will be able to reach the late stage of perfection and begin to comprehend the Dao. By then, he will probably be less than ninety years old.

Although it is still a bit slower than the earth-grade spiritual roots, it is already higher than the vast majority of cultivators below the earth-grade who have the full support of their family teachers.

Li Yuan looked at the spiritual materials in his storage bag. Many auxiliary spiritual materials had been used up. He still needed to go to the market to buy all the puppet spiritual materials.

Previously, when paying tribute, Li Yuan took the opportunity to refine puppets to obtain a lot of spiritual materials, but now they have all been used up.

But within his Wanmu Realm, there stood four puppet beasts in the late stage of Qi Refining: tiger, leopard, wolf and eagle!

With these four masterpieces, Li Yuan was able to defend himself.

In addition, there are more than twenty Jiamu and Yimu puppets, and three giant puppets.

With so many puppets, as long as he has enough spirit source beads and divine thoughts, and a stable rear, he will be invincible.

In terms of his own strength, Li Yuan is indeed the weakest among the elders in the mountain, but when he has the Shangfeng Xuanyu Order and the current group of puppets, his overall strength is already terrifying.

In addition, Li Yuan discovered a hidden function of the Ten Thousand Wood Realm. The spiritual power he needed to control any puppet refined in the Ten Thousand Wood Realm was about 10% less than that of the puppets refined in the mountains.

In addition, his spiritual power has been tempered in the Ten Thousand Wood Realm for so long. The powerful spiritual power plus the low-loss spiritual awareness allow Li Yuan to control thirty or forty puppets at the same time with an overwhelming advantage!
In this regard, even the two peak masters are probably not as good as him.

But Li Yuan was not complacent, because the situation in a life-and-death fight changes rapidly. If the enemies cooperate with each other, some of them restrain the puppets, and some use strong means to take his head directly, it would also be dangerous.

Therefore, he has not stopped practicing the secret art of Shui Yunjian over the years. Now, the Shangchao water in his body can use water escape techniques to sneak hundreds of miles away without any problem!

Moreover, this secret technique is also very flexible in short-distance maneuvers, giving Li Yuan some close-range protection.

In addition, the Gui Zang Qian Yin Jue he learned from the ancient book could conceal his aura and become invisible, so Li Yuan felt a little more secure and was no longer overly afraid of going out.

But Li Yuan always brought a talisman for help with him before going out, just in case.

With white walls and dark mist shrouded in clouds, Li Yuan entered the market in just half an hour. Wearing an isolating mask and robes, he walked on the long street where casual cultivators set up stalls. The Wenshan market was now much more lively, and the number of cultivators seemed to have increased a lot.

He came to the stall of an old Taoist priest and looked at the various spiritual objects placed on a cloth on the ground.

"Hey, distinguished guest, what would you like to order?"

The old Taoist said with a smile: "These spiritual objects on the stall are only a small part. If you need anything, just tell me!"

"Oh?" Li Yuan looked at the old Taoist with interest. He seemed to be practicing some kind of earth-based martial arts. He was in the middle stage of Qi training and his magic power was quite condensed. Although there was no murderous aura on his body, he gave people a feeling that he was not simple.

"Daoyou, you may know a spiritual object, the Golden Evil, which can transform spiritual water."

This item is the spiritual object needed by the Black Eagle Puppet. Even in the Qi Ling Sect, this kind of spiritual object is extremely rare, and he has only obtained it once.

"Golden Evil Spiritual Water?" The old Taoist repeated, thinking about it for a moment, slapped his head and remembered, and laughed: "Is it commonly known as Golden Evil Water?"

"Yes, it is this thing!" Li Yuan was also surprised. The Qi Ling Sect still retains the ancient names for many spiritual objects, so many things look different in the eyes of today's outsiders.

"This thing is not easy to get. You can't afford it without twenty or thirty spirit stones." The old Taoist looked at him with a smile, obviously confirming whether this seemingly young cultivator in front of him had the financial resources to do so.

“Don’t worry, fellow Daoist. No one in this market dares to act rashly. I still have some spirit stones.

However, this water is made from the golden spirit of heaven and earth, which is formed when it meets water and fire. Although the price is lower due to the large output, it is not something that ordinary people can get, right?" Li Yuan asked with some doubt.

"Hahaha, fellow Taoist, don't worry." The old Taoist laughed, "I am not a cultivator from Guangyuan Mountain Range, but I come from Baiwu Mountain in the west.

There is a lot of gold there, so naturally there is no shortage of spiritual objects like this."

"Baiwu Mountain? It's tens of thousands of miles away from Guangyuan Mountains. How did you come here, fellow Daoist?" Li Yuan asked with seemingly unintentional curiosity.

“Alas, isn’t it because the three immortal cultivation families in Baiwu Mountain have started fighting? Now the war is still going on there, and many of the direct descendants of the three families have died, not to mention us casual cultivators who are ignored by everyone?
Those who have a bit of foresight have already escaped from the troubled places like me. You can see that there are many more monks in Wenshan Market in recent years, and most of them are due to this reason. "

"I see. I'll give you three bottles of this Golden Evil Water at a price of thirty spirit stones per bottle. Are you willing?"

Li Yuan put his hand in his sleeve and fumbled for something, obviously trying to take the spirit stone.

"Although this thing has some origin, how can ordinary people use it? It is useless in my hands." The old Taoist showed a happy expression, flipped his hand and took out three small clay bottles from the storage bag, saying: "This golden evil water will change when it meets gold and will seep when it meets wood. Only this small clay bottle can contain it."

Li Yuan took out ninety spirit stones, took the small bottle, and looked around the stalls again. Seeing nothing scarce, he left.

Afterwards, he visited all the stalls nearby and finally gathered a lot of auxiliary spiritual materials for refining puppets.

After spending all the spirit stones he had accumulated over the years, Li Yuan glanced at his storage bag. It would be ridiculous to tell others about the storage bag of a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining, who could not even hold twenty spirit stones.

After leaving the market, Li Yuan resisted the urge to buy something else and walked out of the market mixed with the crowd.

Just over ten miles out of the market town, Li Yuan picked up the identity token with some surprise. At this moment, the token was emitting a faint light, which meant that someone had sent out a call for help!

However, judging from the token's reaction level, it was at most triggered by an early or middle stage disciple. If it was a call for help sent by an elder, it would not have this kind of reaction.

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, hid in the sky, used the Gui Zang Qian Yin Jue to conceal his figure, and hurried over at a leisurely pace.

After all, all his opportunities came from the long-standing inheritance of the Qi Ling Sect. As long as the responsibility of protecting the disciples did not threaten himself, he was still willing to do a little bit of work.

Li Yuangang flew thirty or fifty miles away, and his face suddenly became ugly.

It was because two Qi Ling Sect disciples were running wildly on the ground not far away, not daring to look back. Behind them, a group of black fog covered the forest, spreading at a seemingly slow but actually very fast speed. From the black fog came bursts of piercing roars and roars of beasts, shaking all directions and frightening the beasts on the mountain to run away wildly.

"Ghost beast!"

Li Yuan's face turned grim, and the effect of being so well-read was evident.

He recognized the origins of these monsters and ghosts at a glance. Legend has it that a beast tide would erupt in the Guangyuan Mountains every 1,200 years. Countless ancestors would fight with the beasts, and each time, countless beast spirits would turn into ghosts and wreak havoc on one side.

Therefore, some senior masters used the mountains and rivers to form a spiritual array, sealing the spirits of dozens of monsters in the hope that the power of the mountains and lakes would destroy these spirits.

In some places, the seals did indeed wipe out the spirits of monsters, but in some places, the changes in the earth veins and the formations would instead transform these spirits into ghost beasts, becoming evil creatures that are half monster and half ghost.

With the coldness, bloodthirstiness and cruelty of monsters, and the weirdness of ghosts, it would be difficult for ordinary cultivators to deal with one or two of them.

But once the ghost beasts break out, there will be tens of thousands of them covering the sky and earth!
Li Yuan did not rush to rescue the two disciples. Instead, he lifted the clouds and looked down in all directions, his eyes flashing with spiritual light. This was the simplest spiritual eye technique that could improve eyesight. Although his talent in magic was extremely poor, he could still master some minor techniques because of his high level.

At this moment, with the help of the spiritual eye technique, everything within a hundred miles was covered with black fog, and it seemed as if there was no end in sight.

This scene made his heart twitch. Fortunately, he did not ignore the talisman for help, otherwise he would have gone back to the mountain and plunged into the group of ghost beasts and died without a complete body.

Li Yuan reacted and stretched out his hand to grab the two disciples onto the cloud, then hurriedly ordered: "Explain to me what's going on."

At the same time, activating the magic power in his body, Bai Bi Wu Lan rushed towards the opportunity at high speed.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, Elder! Thank you so much for saving my life!"

The two disciples panicked for a while, and then saw Li Yuan concentrating on urging the magic weapon forward. One of the disciples, who was quite quick-witted, said, "Disciple Zhao Hongwen from Lingfeng and Junior Brother Shan Jianming agreed to go to the outer mountains to try their luck in searching for spiritual medicine. We have been out for more than ten days and have made some gains. We are planning to sell them in the market.

Last night, my junior fellow apprentice and I were practicing breathing exercises in a cave when we saw a group of eight people flying deep into the mountains. At dawn, we heard a huge roar, and the whole mountain seemed to be about to collapse.

My junior brother Shan and I fled in a hurry. Looking back, we saw that the sky was already dark and filled with gloomy energy. We knew it was not a good thing, so we ran all the way.

Later, I found that the dark fog was too fast and would catch up with us in no time. I had no choice but to activate the help talisman. Thank you for saving my life, elder."

Li Yuan turned around and said, "Shan Jianming, tell me again what you saw."

"Yes... yes, Elder." Shan Jianming had just come back to his senses after being frightened, so he repeated it incoherently, almost the same as before. However, he mentioned that because he had practiced some kind of spiritual pupil technique, he could see at night that the leader was holding something like a flag in his hand.

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Eight people!
Could it be the Nine Palaces people from that year?
It is impossible to be sure based solely on what these two people said and the number of people they saw.

However, now is not the time to explore these questions. Li Yuan looked back and saw that the dark fog behind him was getting faster and faster. Dozens of bird-like ghost beasts were already following him, screaming.

Li Yuan did not dare to delay. He reached back and took out a handful of thick talismans. He sprinkled them behind him. Suddenly, spiritual light filled the sky like brilliant fireworks. There were fire bomb talismans, wind blade talismans, water arrow talismans... These talismans stopped the ghost beast behind him.

Then Li Yuan used all his strength to drive the flying magic weapon and rushed towards Wenshan Market.

At this moment, Wenshan Market is the safest place. On the way back to the mountain gate, I am afraid that I have been surrounded by ghost beasts. There are at least two true cultivators guarding Wenshan Market, and the protective spirit formation is so powerful that even a foundation-building true cultivator cannot open it easily.

There were hundreds of monks gathered there, and the survival rate of escaping to Wenshan Market was much higher than facing endless ghost beasts in the wilderness.

Li Yuan urged at full speed, regardless of the loss of mana, and finally rushed back to Wenshan Market. At this moment, a cloud of fire rose above the market, and the hot breath was like a furnace. In addition, the spiritual energy of the world within a hundred miles was converging here, and hundreds of magical bans were spread throughout the market.

Obviously, the protective formation of the market town has been activated and is in a state of preparation, but the entrance to the market town has not been closed yet. Many cultivators, like Li Yuan, turned back and fled, but some of them were in a miserable state, obviously having experienced a great battle.

Li Yuan brought two disciples, Zhao and Shan, into the market town and were soon stopped by a late-stage cultivator, who wanted to assign them a task.

"My three fellow Taoists, please obey our orders in this critical moment." The white-haired old man stopped in front of the three people, and it was obvious that he wanted to use them as cannon fodder.

Li Yuan laughed, took off his mask, and saluted, saying, "This fellow Taoist must be the elder of the Qinghe Xu clan. I am Li Yuan, the elder of the Qiling Sect. These two were in danger outside and I rescued them and brought them here. Now they have to reunite with the disciples in the market, I'm afraid it's not convenient."

"So you are a fellow Taoist from Qi Ling Sect. You are so young, yet you are already an elder. I am so sorry for your disrespect." Upon hearing his identity, the white-haired old man extended his hand to make way for him and said, "Since you have an important mission, you should go quickly so as not to delay your important business."

"Thank you for your leniency, fellow Taoist!"

After Li Yuan thanked them, he took his two disciples and crossed the chaotic street. After all, he was in the late stage of cultivation, and when he released his aura, those casual cultivators who wanted to take advantage of the situation were deterred.

So he only delayed for a moment before arriving at the door of Baikuitang.

However, no one dared to attract the attention of the four major forces, so there were only more than ten disciples standing in front of Baikui Hall. As for the mortal helpers, they had already hidden themselves.

There happened to be two elders in the market, so they also gathered here. As for the law enforcement team of the market, it was jointly established by the four forces, and generally they contributed according to their capital.

There are only two elders and five deacon disciples from the Qi Ling Sect in the law enforcement team. At this moment, they have been mobilized to gather the scattered cultivators in the market town and gather the strength of all cultivators to face the herd of ghost beasts.

"Junior Brother Li, you are here too."

A familiar voice was heard, and Li Yuan looked up. The person happened to be Jiang Mian, whom he had met once at the Shanmen Conference that year.

The other person was Qi Feng’s elder, whom he also didn’t recognize.

"It turns out to be Senior Brother Jiang. Nice to meet you." Li Yuan bowed politely.

"Let me introduce you. This is the elder of Qifeng, Elder Wang Wujian. He has reached the perfection of Qi Refining and is one of the most powerful masters in our mountain!"

Jiang Mian introduced the elder to him with a smile, and then introduced him in return: "This is a genius that is rarely seen in our mountain for a hundred years. Not counting Junior Brother Li Yunming who has already left the mountain, he is now the youngest elder in the sect. Elder Wang must have heard of him."

(End of this chapter)