Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 464 Loss of a Loyal Minister

—Hanya Mountains, bordering Hong County
Thick miasma surged and churned like living things, and purplish-gray mist waves, carrying the stench of humus, washed over the protective auras of each cultivator.

The mist condensed into a gel-like substance that clung to the hems of the Taoist robes, causing the cultivators to leave dark green, sticky trails on the mottled rock surface with every step they took.

Suddenly, a skeleton leaning against the giant tree emitted a crisp sound.

The leading cultivator looked up and saw a rusty flying sword stuck diagonally in his ribcage, the hilt wrapped with a poison-repelling silk that had been soaked in poisonous miasma and was now only half intact.

The leading cultivator's eyes narrowed as he recognized her as his fellow disciple who had gone missing just ten days prior.

After looking at the skeleton, the leading cultivator realized that he could no longer recall the delicate and adorable childlike face of his junior sister, whom he had only parted with ten days ago.

Immediately afterwards, cold sweat seeped from his fair right hand, which was gripping the tortoise shell compass. As his knuckles brushed against the surface of the compass, he rubbed off a few pieces of the divination symbols, which had long been blurred by the miasma.

A rustling sound came from deep within the decaying wood.

The leading cultivator dared not be careless and retreated abruptly, but his boot heel sank into the bubbling mud. The first-grade superior crescent rhinoceros hide spiritual boots were scalded to pieces, and as his feet were left a bloody mess, a cluster of crimson mycelium began to climb up his calf.

Wherever the crimson mycelium passed, the Daoist robe turned to ash, and spiderweb-like black patterns appeared on the delicate skin of the leading cultivator. Ignoring the pain, he gritted his teeth and made a hand seal. As the detoxifying pill in his mouth suddenly dissolved, white spiritual energy, like a mist, emanated from his body.

The wisp of spiritual energy twisted into a ghostly green the moment it touched the mycelium. The dissolution of the mycelium did not immediately relieve the leading cultivator from his predicament. The putrid odor emanating from it caused his seven orifices to rot and his internal organs to ache terribly. It was only after taking several life-saving elixirs that he felt slightly better.

If he was in such a sorry state, then the situation of his fellow disciples must have been even worse. Countless of them had their flesh rotting away, and even in this miasma-filled forest, a strong stench of decaying flesh could be smelled.

The leading cultivator was decisive. He took his flying sword, sliced ​​off layers of rotten flesh, gritted his teeth, applied medicine to his wounds, and then asked urgently, "Junior Brother Pan, have you chosen the location for the array base?"

A cultivator in plain clothes, also covered in blood, came up with a sword on his back, his face showing some sorrow: "Senior Brother Gou, the miasma in this place is much thicker than described on the previous map. The first-grade high-quality 'Melting Smoke Array' we brought may not be effective enough. Even if we set it up, we still won't be able to completely dispel the miasma here."

The cultivator surnamed Gou looked grim. The pain from his wounds made him grimace for a moment, but he still coughed lightly and said in a deep voice, "Once the array base is selected, we will begin. We have traveled for so long. If we cannot accomplish anything, how can the sect leaders explain to the state court and the master's family?"

Before the cultivator surnamed Gou could even finish speaking, and before Junior Brother Pan could even respond, two scarlet spots lit up deep within the miasma.

A bloodthirsty demon deer with giant horns and tiger claws walked across the swamp. A palm-sized blue-striped toad was parasitizing on its giant horn, and its swollen venom sacs flickered with its breath.

The moment this demonic beast appeared, it aroused the caution of all the cultivators present.

The cultivator surnamed Gou couldn't recognize the toad, but he became cautious upon seeing the Blood-Eating Deer, a high-grade demonic beast. This was because such demonic beasts often traveled in groups of three to five and possessed considerable combat power, far exceeding that of other beasts of the same rank.

Without a second thought, the cultivator surnamed Gou bit his tongue and spat out his blood essence, intending to arouse the magic weapon in his hand to be even more excited. However, the moment the blood droplet left his body, the blue-patterned toad on the horn of the blood-eating demon deer let out a strange cry. The sound waves spread, and the blood essence of the cultivator surnamed Gou was instantly swallowed by the surrounding mist, turning into several twisting black lines that burrowed back into his seven orifices.

The cultivator felt as if a cacophony of countless poisonous insects flapping their wings exploded in his ears. At the same time, his internal organs were in excruciating pain, and cracks appeared in the protective mirror on his chest. The shards of the mirror that splashed out reflected the asphalt-like turbid liquid seeping from his eyes.

"Be careful when casting spells, that toad is strange!"

The cultivator surnamed Gou was a promising Foundation Establishment cultivator in the sect, yet he had suffered such a calamity. How could the remaining cultivators dare to be negligent in the slightest? They immediately unleashed all sorts of magical artifacts, talismans, and Taoist techniques, and attacked the two demonic beasts in front of them.

More than ten blood-eating elk emerged from the miasma, all of which were of mid-grade first rank. The blue-toads had strange cries and used man-destroying techniques; the blood-eating elk had astonishing physiques and sharp horns. In an instant, they slaughtered the elite disciples of the Book and Sword Sect, causing them to cry out in agony and suffer heavy casualties.

"Let's go! Report back to the state court and our master, this place is beyond our control!" The cultivator surnamed Gou's face was mostly covered in yellow liquid, and in his panic, he was about to lead his fellow disciples away.

Suddenly, a bugle call came from the rear, followed by a group of neatly dressed Taoist soldiers in blue robes stepping forward.

The leader, a man carrying a six-leaf blue lotus banner, was not highly skilled, only at the late stage of Qi Refining. Yet, he showed no sign of panic in the face of such a scene. His soldiers, without needing any orders, formed a battle formation, waiting only for their leader's command to advance and hack the beasts before them to pieces.

Before long, after assessing the quality of the beasts in front of them, the leader waved his hand and said, "Kill them, but don't hurt the toads on their horns."

The cultivator surnamed Gou didn't care which group of soldiers had come from; seeing that reinforcements had arrived, he only wanted to leave.

However, the leader of the rear team glanced at him silently and was so frightened by the murderous aura that he could not move his legs. He could only watch as a group of ten Taoist soldiers in blue robes worked in perfect coordination and quickly took the lives of the blood-eating demons.

The leader of the group wasn't particularly interested in the pairs of expensive giant horns, but he paid considerable attention to the dozen or so blue-patterned toads he had put into his spirit beast bag. After carefully storing them close to his body, he finally had a moment to glance at the cultivator surnamed Gou, and touched his hands together as a greeting:
"Chongming Zongye Pingshui greets fellow Daoist."

The cultivator surnamed Gou felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, thinking to himself, "How did I run into their family here! Hey, wasn't their job to monitor various families because of that shameless scoundrel Kang Dabao's attempt to curry favor with the powerful? How come I'm seeing them so far ahead?"
Are these blue-robed Daoist soldiers the Qingjue Guards trained by the Chongming Sect? They certainly look formidable; I wonder if they can compare to the Tie family's Xiezhi Iron Guards.

However, he showed no sign of distress and said respectfully, "Gou Shangyi of the Shujian Sect greets Fellow Daoist Ye. I will certainly report your kindness in helping me today to my master and the state court."

"Oh, so you're a fellow Daoist from the Book and Sword Sect." Ye Pingshui's expression suddenly turned colder, and his tone was full of chill: "If I had known, I would have waited until these blood-eating demons had chewed them up before coming up to deal with them."

However, Ye Pingshui also knew that the situation was no longer the same as when the Tie family led the Shujian Sect and other vassal groups to besiege Xuelin Mountain. The two families still had to maintain appearances to avoid causing trouble for the sect.

So he simply snorted coldly, then abandoned the heavily wounded Shujianmen troops and led his Qingjue Guards away.

After traveling for about half a day, they arrived at a clean and flat valley. There, Ye Pingshui led his troops to see Yuan Changsheng, who was resting with a battalion of local soldiers drawn from various families in Hanya Mountain.

"Junior brother, please check." Ye Pingshui's face lit up with joy, and he quickly handed the spirit beast pouch in his arms to Yuan Changsheng. The latter's lips curled slightly, and then, while making hand seals and holding a pill in his mouth, he carefully examined the blue-patterned toad in the pouch before finally breaking into a smile:

"Senior Brother Ye is really lucky. He found so many Blue Spirit Toads on his trip."

Ye Pingshui also laughed. Over the years, he realized that he was not very talented in weapon crafting and that he would probably never become a top-grade weapon craftsman in his lifetime. So he followed his master Yuan Jin to study military strategy, but he still hadn't given up the skill he had practiced since childhood.

As he picked up a handful of spirit gold sand and sprinkled it onto a high-grade short axe whose blade already had a nick, he simultaneously formed a fire-infused hand seal. Seeing the spirit gold sand crackle and pop as it was burned by blue flames, slowly filling the nick in the blade, Ye Pingshui then spoke, seemingly distracted:
“If Master hadn’t repeatedly warned us not to go too far, I might have found even more of these Blue Spirit Toads.” Ye Ping Shui paused here, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I wonder what the Sect Leader wants us to do with these Blue Spirit Toads?”

It wasn't just the Chongming Sect; Fei Nanying had assigned the entire Chongming Alliance the lucrative task of overseeing all the various factions.

However, the sect leader Kang insisted that these disciples, who could have waited in the rear and enjoyed the fruits of others' labor, each lead the Qingjue Guards, who were supposed to be transporting supplies in the rear, to scatter throughout the mountains to search for this unassuming demon toad. This made Ye Pingshui quite surprised.

Yuan Changsheng looked somewhat hurt, unsure of how to respond, when he saw Wei Gu, another leader, returning with his troops.

The two could tell that Wei Gu's group was in a sorry state; not only were many of them seriously injured, but they were also missing half their number, so they rushed to help them.

"Junior Brother Wei, did you encounter a second-tier demonic beast?" Yuan Changsheng asked with concern. Wei Gu, whose robes were torn, handed the spirit beast pouch to Yuan Changsheng before speaking in a deep voice, his face filled with lingering fear.
"These mountains are really dangerous. We haven't seen a single low-grade second-tier demon beast along the way, but after traveling another twenty miles, we ran into a top-grade second-tier Wind Spirit Leopard."

Ye and Yuan gasped in shock, wishing they could break out in a cold sweat like Wei Gu. After all, even though Wei Gu's mastery of formations was unparalleled among the younger generation in the sect, he was still no match for such a ferocious beast.

Even within the entire Chongming Sect, apart from Kang and Jiang, there is probably no one who can rival this level of demonic beast.

Wei Gu's face was still deathly pale as he explained: "I didn't even have time to send out the message. Fortunately, Uncle Qin was leading his troops nearby. He heard the commotion and came to check on things. When he saw the six-leaf blue lotus banner that I had displayed, he was able to return alive."

The two people standing to the side both looked solemn, marveling at Wei Gu's good fortune in being able to be rescued by Qin Sufu.

However, whether it was due to his superior skills and daring or his determination to accumulate enough merit for Foundation Establishment, this junior brother Wei actually traveled so far.

It should be noted that this time, the Yue family of Hancheng suffered a lot of suppression from the Fei family after losing power in recent years. They gritted their teeth and took the vanguard order, leading their subordinates and bearing most of the casualties.

As the son-in-law of the Yue family, Qin Sufu naturally led a battalion of soldiers from the state to support him from behind.

Wei Gu actually managed to bump into them, which means they've all ended up near the vanguard, far exceeding the area set by the masters. He's caused trouble for many fellow disciples and left the masters indebted to him. Even if Wei Gu finds a lot of Blue Snow Toads, he'll likely receive a good scolding upon returning to the sect.

Yuan Changsheng had no time to worry about his junior brother. He simply went to the side to help a fellow disciple bandage his wounds, and said:
"The Cold Crow Mountain Range stretches for several miles, each with its own unique dangers. In the past, many mountain tribes had established themselves in our Ping and Jin counties. During the Pingrong campaign, General Shen Lingfeng led troops to slaughter them and set up military camps to keep watch for a while. Therefore, even after more than two hundred years, the monsters are still not strong."

However, the foothills adjacent to Hong County are quite different, and are truly extremely dangerous.

In just over a month, the number of comrades who have passed away has already exceeded two thousand. Yet, we've only reached the halfway point, and the treacherous terrain we've cleared is far from stable. We don't know if things will revert to the same pattern later.

"Junior Brother Yuan, have you collected enough Blue Spirit Toads?" Upon seeing Wei Gu's fate, Ye Ping Shui immediately lost his arrogance and dared not utter those boastful words of "I am free."

Yuan Changsheng nodded in agreement and said calmly, "The amount set by our sect leader is indeed enough, and even slightly more. If the other disciples haven't found enough, we can share some with them."

"Then let's head back?" Nohira Mizuki suggested, putting away his short axe.

"Let Junior Brother Wei rest a bit more." Yuan Changsheng comforted the junior beside him for a while, but when he looked at Lan Lingha, a bit of worry arose in his heart.

They said they were going to rest, but in reality, only a short while had passed. The group was about to break camp and leave, and they had all set off on their own flying boats when a beam of light appeared from behind.

As they drew nearer, it became clear that it was actually a golden-horned flying boat. The boat slowed down upon seeing the Chongming Sect's group, and then a tall cultivator disembarked, asking in a questioning voice, "Chang Sheng, what are you doing here?"

Yuan Changsheng was also surprised to see Qin Sufu, and quickly bowed and said, "Uncle, how are you? This junior is about to return home."

"Are you here looking for some spiritual treasure?" Qin Sufu asked, guessing. Then he added, "I have a complete second-tier top-grade Wind Spirit Leopard carcass on this ship, as well as more than ten second-tier demonic beasts of various ranks, thousands of first-tier demonic beasts, and hundreds of spiritual herbs. You can board the ship and see if there's anything you want to take."

Yuan Changsheng did not interact much with Qin Sufu, mainly because after the latter joined forces with Yue family, he found it difficult to get too close to the other brothers of Chongming Sect.

Yuan Changsheng only saw this uncle on a few occasions when he was feeling down, and they never had a chance to be alone together; they could almost be said to have no interaction. Now, seeing him in person, he realized that what his teachers had said was true—this Uncle Qin was indeed very generous.

However, Yuan Changsheng was not a greedy person, so he declined.

Seeing this, Qin Sufu didn't ask any further questions and said, "Are you going back to the rear? My Yingzhou troops have many wounded and need to retreat and rest. You should come back with me on my flying boat. This place is dangerous, and it will be much safer with me here."

Everyone's eyes lit up. With Qin Sufu looking after them, they would be much safer. Yuan Changsheng didn't refuse and immediately bowed in thanks: "Then thank you very much, Uncle."

The journey was far from smooth, with three or five encounters with second-tier demonic birds along the way. Even though the combined forces of Ye, Yuan, and Wei were no longer afraid, they were still bound to suffer some casualties.

In particular, the Han Ya Mountain militia under Yuan Changsheng's command, though numerous, were of mixed quality, and casualties were bound to be significant.

However, with Qin Sufu's Golden Horn Spirit Boat, this trouble was no longer an issue. He didn't even need to lift a finger; the Foundation Establishment cultivators under the Dianjun Mansion were enough to clear away any obstacles. But they had to split up halfway through their journey. Qin Sufu urgently needed to report back and didn't want to appear before his sworn brothers to avoid being accused of seeking credit. So he sent another yellow-faced Foundation Establishment cultivator to lead the Chongming team back to the rear and hand them over to Kang Dabao.

Qin Sufu was indeed a man of great influence, but how could the Grand Master Kang be a stingy person? This yellow-faced Foundation Establishment cultivator naturally received generous thanks, and when he left, he had a bright smile, as innocent as a child.

But after he left, Kang Dabao's expression suddenly turned cold.

Ye Pingshui and Wei Gu were completely unaware of the situation. They thought that Wei Gu had offended their sect leader by targeting too many disciples this time, so they immediately fell silent and dared not utter a word.

Only Yuan Changsheng immediately understood and handed over a spirit beast bag filled with blue spirit clams to Sect Leader Kang.

The latter remained silent, and after probing for a moment, he finally let out a long breath and then instructed, "Chang Sheng, come with me. You two take your men down and await further instructions."

As soon as he spoke, the younger generation respectfully responded. Yuan Changsheng was anxious and impatient, but dared not speak. He simply lowered his head and followed his senior uncle past the low tents until they arrived at the most luxurious military tent in the rear.

The military tent occupied a large area, and a pool of newly lit second-tier earth fire was burning inside. As soon as Yuan Changsheng entered, his face was burned by the fire. Only after he made a spell to activate the spiritual restriction on his magic robe did he feel much better.

A towering alchemy furnace floated in mid-air amidst the earth fire. The two uncles, Yuan and Jiang, who had just found various spiritual objects, and the two fellow disciples, Duan and Ming, all had ashen faces and surrounded the large-bodied Luan Gongfeng as protectors.

The latter's expression remained solemn, and his hand gestures changed repeatedly, so fast that Yuan Changsheng could not make them out, only seeing afterimages.

As the final profound hand seal closed, the surging crimson flames inside the tent scorched the spiritual seal on the brocade, creating glass-like patterns. The twelve yellow light talismans engraved on the furnace body flickered under the licking of the earth's venomous fire.

Each time the furnace lid vibrates, the medicinal fragrance that seeps out from the gaps is slightly mixed with the fishy and sulfurous smell, which can also startle the magma below and cause it to burst open like red lotus flowers.

Luan Gongfeng's expression was extremely serious, his hands, with bulging veins, hovering in the air and forming a fire control incantation, completely ignoring the fact that the corners of his top-grade magic robes had been burned with honeycomb-like holes by the flying sparks.

Suddenly, his neck stiffened, and the cold sweat that had just seeped out of his skin turned into white mist and steamed. He coughed lightly and exhaled foul air, which not only made Yuan Changsheng below look painful, but also caused the black iron bell hanging on the furnace ear to crack like spider webs.

"Why is it taking so long?! Has the Blue Spirit Toad arrived yet?!"

The sect leader, Kang, was so drunk that he lost his temper for a long time. He immediately poured out the entire bag of Blue Spirit Clams. Without Luan Gongfeng urging him, he knew how to handle this spiritual ingredient.

With a flick of his finger, these ugly creatures let out miserable howls, and then the blue markings and poison sacs on their bodies were extracted, melting into a pool of gray spiritual liquid, which slowly approached the alchemy furnace.

Yuan Changsheng was also a rank-one alchemist. He could see that although his master's technique was still rough, he handled the spiritual materials in one go with almost no obstruction. He knew that he must have used his powerful divine sense to forcefully accomplish this, and he was secretly shocked.

After all, based on what he had seen and heard in various classic texts, this was something that even ordinary alchemists would find difficult to accomplish.

However, those in the tent had no time to marvel at Kang Dabao's divine sense. They only saw him attach a layer of spiritual energy to the gray spiritual liquid to prevent it from being vaporized by the earth fire and instead pour it directly into the cracks of the pill lid.

Upon seeing this scene, Luan Gongfeng checked the situation inside the furnace with his divine sense, and his whole body immediately relaxed considerably. However, he still did not speak, but simply nodded slightly to Kang Dabao.

The latter's expression relaxed, but his tone remained unchanged. He simply said to Yuan Changsheng beside him in a deep voice, "After leaving the tent, send word to those fellow disciples who are still scattered outside collecting the materials for the Xuan Sha Continuation Qi Pill, and tell them that they can come back."

“Yes,” Yuan Changsheng replied, still worried, but not daring to ask questions. After agreeing, he and Sect Leader Kang looked intently at the alchemy furnace that had been thrown into the air.

Those inside the tent had no idea how much time had passed. They only heard a cracking sound as Luan Gongfeng's hand seal suddenly broke open, and a burst of spiritual energy emanated from his palm.

The lid of the alchemy furnace, suspended above the earth fire, was wide open, and a large cloud of pure energy overflowed, spreading to every corner of the military tent in an instant.

A hint of joy finally appeared on Luan Gongfeng's face. He dispersed the Condensing Pill Finger Technique and pointed with his halberd finger. A pill brimming with spiritual energy immediately emerged from the furnace and was held in Luan Gongfeng's palm.

Dark patterns, like spiderwebs, covered its surface, and within the translucent paste, wispy blood vessels floated, resembling the frozen meridians of a living creature. With each turn, a chilling, damp aura seeped out. The moment the fingertip touched the shell, wisps of green smoke shot out from the cracks, carrying with them the pungent, sweet scent of blood, flesh, and spiritual herbs, sending shivers down one's spine.

Luan Gongfeng coughed a few times, unable to hide his joy when he spoke: "It's also luck. I've been refining this Xuan Sha Qi Sustaining Pill for half a century, and I actually succeeded on the first try! It's just as your junior brother's life shouldn't have ended!"

Luan Gongfeng couldn't help but be excited. Although he was a rare third-tier alchemist, due to the limitations of his cultivation, he could only produce a few third-tier pills with enough confidence. The fact that he was able to refine the Xuan Sha Qi Sustaining Pill into a single pill was a tricky life-saving elixir among low-grade third-tier pills, which meant that he had a lot of luck involved.

All the cultivators in the tent were deeply moved, bowing their heads and saying, "Thank you so much for saving our lives, senior!"

Luan Gongfeng snorted lightly, clearly unimpressed by the scene. He thought to himself, "Why hasn't that Pei brat successfully established his foundation yet?! If he really dies in vain, wouldn't I be at a huge loss?"

However, this incident happened suddenly, and it was unknown whether the letter to the capital could reach the Kuai family. Even Luan Gongfeng couldn't bear to see them so nervous, but he was still asked by the Grand Master Kang to refine the pills again.

Although he was unhappy, he had already figured it out: since he had already placed a large bet, he had no choice but to continue and avoid losing everything in one go.

Since the previous offering was enough for Luan Gongfeng to bring out his most treasured items to help Pei Yi continue his path, the materials for this Xuan Sha Qi Sustaining Pill, though also precious, are far inferior to the former, so he is naturally more willing to give them away.

After all, apart from a few rare items, most of the alchemical materials were incomplete. The rest were mostly urgently searched for in Cold Crow Mountain and purchased from various markets by Kang Dabao's disciples.

Luan Gongfeng naturally put in a lot of effort this time, but he didn't pay much in real money, which shows he was willing to spend it.

Just as Luan Gongfeng placed the pill into the jade bottle, summoned a warm breeze, and gently handed it to Sect Leader Kang, a messenger talisman entered from outside the tent.

Suddenly, the expressions of all the cultivators, including Luan Gongfeng, tightened.

Kang Dabao suppressed his panic and forced himself to remain calm. As he gripped the jade bottle in his hand, he reached out and took the letter to read it.

However, just a few breaths later, he shuddered, his face contorted in pain. Yuan Jin and Jiang Qing's expressions changed drastically, and they rushed over, but after reading the letter, they too clenched their teeth and remained silent for a long time.

Luan Gongfeng, having lived for over two hundred years as a rogue cultivator and become a third-tier alchemist, must be an incredibly astute individual. Seeing this scene, how could he not know what had happened?!

In an instant, his joy vanished into nothingness.

Luan Gongfeng, with his fat face and extremely ugly expression, did not speak to the other cultivators. Instead, he rushed to Kang Dabao's side, roughly pried open his hand, took back the Xuan Sha Xu Qi Dan that he had painstakingly refined, and started to leave.

"Kang will forever remember the kindness of his fellow Daoist."

"Ha, you!" Upon hearing this, Luan Gongfeng sneered, his heart filled with rage. He was about to turn around and hurl a few curses at her. But the word "servant" was already in his mouth, about to slip out through his teeth, when he saw the utterly indifferent eyes of Headmaster Kang.

Luan Gongfeng then realized that although he held a superior position in the Fei family, Kang Dabao had recently become more valued than when he had just defeated Fu Neng, so there was no reason for him to become enemies with the latter.

After all, this lowly sect leader, at present, seems to be one of the few people in Sheshan Hall who, besides Fei Bofeng and Fei Zhongyun, the two seeds of Golden Core cultivation, have the best chance of attaining advanced cultivation.

So he just snorted coldly and left the military tent with a displeased look on his face.

At this moment, even though the younger generation knew the situation perfectly well, they still clung to a sliver of hope and stepped forward. Yuan Changsheng was the most anxious, yet he took the slowest steps. Although they were only a few feet apart, he couldn't seem to get there for a long time.

Halfway there, Yuan Changsheng dared not approach the letter any longer. He stammered to Sect Leader Kang, "Sect Leader Uncle."

The latter sighed sadly, summoned a wisp of pure energy, transformed it into a palm, and slowly clamped the talisman into Yuan Changsheng's hand with his fingers.

"Chang Sheng, you have no master anymore."

"How...how could it be..."

The token fell to the ground, and sobbing could be heard from inside the tent.

The Grand Master of the Kang Sect had no time to grieve. He instructed Yuan and Jiang, "Tell Changsheng to go back and handle the funeral arrangements. The opening of this place is entrusted by the Fei family and cannot be delayed. The rest of you should each perform your duties. After everything here is settled, go back to see Junior Brother Pei. I have to go out and take care of something. Second and Third Brother, you two take care of things here."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother."

"I and the third brother will definitely not make any mistakes."

After giving his instructions, Kang Dabao was about to leave the tent, but after taking only a few steps, he stopped, turned around, and said, "Don't forget to inform the entire clan and that everyone should wear mourning clothes."

————State Military Camp

"Rest well. If you're not seriously injured, we will certainly remember you when we announce your merits!"

"Thank you, Commander!"

"You fought bravely at the forefront, slaying ten beasts of the same rank. You have been registered as a military officer, and your land and spiritual veins have been assigned. When we return to Xuanwei City, I will promote you and give you a higher rank!"

"Thank you, Commander Xie. Once my injuries have healed, I will fight for you again!"

"Don't worry, I will arrange a future for your spiritual offspring, regardless of their aptitude."

"It's a pity I can no longer fight for the army; I have no regrets in this life!"

After comforting the wounded soldiers in the camp and leaving the tent, Qin Sufu said to his attendant beside him, "This time in the mountains, I also saw a cluster of spiritual herbs. These herbs are very mild and can be used by ordinary people. When I came out a month ago, there was an epidemic around Hancheng. Later, take this herb back to Master Yue's alchemy and tell him that I told them to treat the common people and not to delay."

As soon as the attendants received their orders and withdrew, Qin Sufu's divine sense stirred, and he saw a close friend standing in front of the camp.

Brother Kang

"Brother Tao!"

After the storm passed, both of them froze, and asked in unison, "You knew all along?"

After the wind died down, there was no more sound.

(End of this chapter)