Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 334 Surprise Attack on Star-Absorbing Village

The Luoyang Mountains are vast, and in the past they were deep forests like the Puyin Mountains.

However, since Hao County was captured by Heng State, it has no longer been a paradise for monsters.

Countless monks have hunted here.

To escape being hunted, the monsters are forced to migrate constantly.

Eventually, a dense circle of monsters formed deep within the mountains.

Since then, very few cultivators have gone hunting in the Luoyang Mountains.

Entering this monster-infested area results in too many casualties, making the gains completely disproportionate to the costs.

However, many cultivators chose to remain in the Luoyang Mountains.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the Luoyang Mountains is generally higher than that in the outside world.

Over time, various cultivation factions, large and small, were established around the Luoyang Mountains.

Even after experiencing numerous monster rampages, they did not completely withdraw from the Luoyang Mountains.

It preserved a considerable amount of cultivation potential in the Luoyang Mountains.

As time passed, most of those cultivation forces from back then disappeared.

It wasn't destroyed by monsters, but rather due to conflicts of interest, which led to the replacement of one group after another.

Both Green Cloud Cave and Star-Absorbing Village are newcomers to the Luoyang Mountains.

In particular, Song Kui's Xixingzhai has only been around forty or fifty years.

This amount of history wouldn't even qualify a regular shop as a time-honored brand.

For a Foundation Establishment faction, this is far too young.

The young disciple patrolling the mountain was only at the third level of Qi Refining.

"Uncle Nineteen, there were only two people nearby, and we've already taken them both down."

Li Jihu personally dragged a prisoner and slammed him heavily to the ground like a monster.

His demon-hunting team members followed suit, acting very roughly.

Li Xiangming glanced at the two Star Absorbing Village disciples at his feet, both of whom were already unconscious. He waved his hand and said, "Wake them up and ask them something useful."

Li Jihu slapped his forehead: "I completely forgot about that."

As he spoke, he immediately directed the others: "Go quickly, and remember to interrogate them separately!"

"Yes!"

Several members of the demon-hunting team quickly dragged the prisoner away.

Li Xiangming observed them and found that this group was not very disciplined, acted in a loud and boisterous manner, and interrogated prisoners in a chaotic manner without a clear hierarchy.

Li Jihu blushed: "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Uncle Nineteen."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Xiangming, however, disagreed.

He certainly didn't think much of these people, but they were all wandering cultivators from various places who had come to Pu County. They had chosen a life of danger because they couldn't make a living there.

It is unrealistic to expect them to be as well-trained as the Li family disciples or the Green Cloud Cave disciples.

They are willing to risk their lives for spirit stones and have a certain level of initiative, which is enough.

Moreover, these people were not ordinary individuals, as they had been carefully selected by Li Jihu.

The lowest level of cultivation is Qi Refining Level 5, with two others at Qi Refining Level 6 and one at Qi Refining Level 7.

According to Li Jihu's confession, this was only half of the manpower in his demon-hunting team.

The other half, the weaker ones, remained on Puyin Mountain.

This shows that Li Jihu was indeed doing very well in Puyin Mountain.

Soon, the demon-hunting team brought the person back, and one of them whispered a few words in Li Jihu's ear.

Li Jihu looked surprised: "Really?"

The man scratched his head: "That's what they said."

Li Jihu nodded and looked at Li Xiangming: "The patrolling disciples reported that Star Absorbing Village doesn't have any defensive formations, only an illusion array set up in front of the mountain gate to block enemies. The current number of people on the mountain is unknown, but there should be four to five thousand. However, Star Absorbing Village is a mix of immortals and mortals, and these people are mostly mortals. There are only about a hundred who can be considered cultivators. Among them, there are seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and the number of mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators is uncertain; some say twenty-one, others say twenty-two. The rest are early-stage Qi Refining cultivators."

"Only seven people?"

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment.

In terms of the number of cultivators, Star Absorbing Village and Green Cloud Cave are roughly equal.

However, in terms of the quality of the cultivators, the difference between the two is like heaven and earth.

Before the Green Cloud Cave was destroyed, there were more than twenty cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining. These cultivators were all disciples taken in by Fairy Green Cloud in her early days, including four outstanding true disciples.

The remaining disciples were also evenly split between those in the mid-stage of Qi Refining and those in the early stage of Qi Refining.

The reason for this is that Fairy Green Cloud does not often take on disciples.

She only opens the mountain gates every so often. By the time new disciples enter, the previous batch of disciples have already made significant progress in their cultivation.

Therefore, although Green Cloud Cave has few people, its strength is considerable.

In contrast, although the Star Absorbing Village recruits disciples every year, a large number of them have very short cultivation periods. Even if their numbers are comparable to those of the Green Cloud Cave, they would probably all scatter like birds and beasts once a battle breaks out.

There is another aspect.

As a disciple of the Golden Core True Man, Fairy Green Cloud has developed her own unique teaching methods through constant exposure to the world.

Even if she didn't care much about her disciples, she wouldn't have produced such incompetent ones.

Song Kui, the leader of the Star Absorbing Village, is said to have entered the world of cultivation by chance.

These people have no lineage and are no different from independent cultivators. Their understanding of the Dao is very shallow, and they will only simply pass on the techniques to their disciples.

In a mere fifty years, it is already quite remarkable that the Star Absorbing Village has produced seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

However, while seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators might be enough to dominate a corner of Pu County, they are far from sufficient in Hao County.

Without Song Kui, even the Yin family of Furongping, who sought the protection of Green Cloud Cave, could rival the Star-Absorbing Village.

Under these circumstances, why didn't Xixing Village set up a protective formation?

"Perhaps they don't have the money."

Li Jihu said in a low voice.

Everyone knows that formations, as one of the four traditional arts of cultivation, possess boundless power.

Whether used for attack or for self-defense, it performs remarkably well.

But how many people actually carry array plates?

Li Jihu had no concept of spirit stones before, because in the Li family, people discussed achievements from a young age, and spirit stones were more of a rare cultivation resource than a currency.

However, after arriving at Puyin Mountain, he realized the importance of the spirit stones.

I also came to understand the saying, "Even a hero can be brought down by a penny."

In Puyin Mountain, news of people going mad due to being possessed by evil spirits comes almost every few days.

Clearly, all it takes is one Burning Fiend Pill to alleviate the pain and eliminate any worries.

But a lot of people just can't bring themselves to buy it and stubbornly hold on until the end.

The formation is far more valuable than the Burning Fiend Pill.

To provide long-term protection for a region, it is necessary to set up a protective mountain formation.

Even the most ordinary first-order magic array plate costs dozens of spirit stones.

Not to mention the mountain-protecting formation?
The scale and complexity of this thing far exceed what a small array plate could contain.

Setting up such a large formation requires a formation master to personally measure the land and determine the location, which can take anywhere from several months to several years.

Not to mention the preciousness of the array materials, the payment to the array masters alone is a heavy burden.

Green Cloud Fairy was able to set up a small Xuan Yin Spirit Array in front of Green Cloud Cave because of the rich legacy left by True Person Zhi Jing.

However, the Star-Absorbing Village clearly did not receive such treatment.

Li Xiangming nodded slowly. It wasn't that he thought the Star-Absorbing Village was short of money.

A powerful Foundation Establishment faction with hundreds of cultivators under its command.

Even if you just farm, you can save up some money after a few years.

However, Song Kui may not necessarily invest the money in the construction of Xixingzhai.

Because Star Absorbing Village has no spiritual veins, it is a dispensable training ground for Song Kui.

If danger arises, we can simply walk away.

As long as Song Kui is still alive, the Star-Absorbing Village will never be destroyed.

"Let's go up the mountain and take a look."

Li Xiangming then stopped hesitating; Song Kui's stinginess actually saved him a lot of time.

Soon, the group quietly crept up the mountain.

Suddenly, two large, colorful tigers leaped out from the mountain path, roaring in unison, their cries deafening.

"broken!"

Li Jihu's tone was heavy; with such a commotion, the Star-Absorbing Village would likely react soon.

Moreover, these two large worms don't look easy to deal with.

"Calm down."

Li Xiangming said calmly, casually pulling out the Weeping Spirit Desolate Sky Rope in his hand. The giant worm inexplicably weakened and slowly dissipated into the world.

However, following the giant insect, other ferocious beasts appeared, numerous in variety, densely packed, almost filling the entire mountain path.

Faced with this incongruous scene, Li Jihu finally realized: "Illusion? We're here?"

(End of this chapter)