Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Lin Zhao listened quietly from the side, suddenly realizing something.

It turns out that the eerie feeling of being spied on came from the Sky-Gazing Mirror.

The divine sense of an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator can only cover a range of 100 meters, and even a peak ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator can only detect a range of 300 meters.

The Sky-Gazing Mirror is a special magical artifact. A high-grade Sky-Gazing Mirror can see everything within a mile, while a Spirit-Detecting Disc can only see a general outline within a mile. It is much more precious than the Spirit-Detecting Disc.

In terms of value alone, a superior-grade Sky-Gazing Realm artifact is not much less valuable than a top-grade magic weapon. As for a top-grade Sky-Gazing Realm artifact, its value is no less than that of a second-tier magic weapon in the hands of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It can cover an area of ​​five miles in radius, and the range of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense may not be larger than it.

If it were a top-grade Sky-Gazing Realm cultivator like Lin Zhao, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all. During last year's Battle of the Plains, his uncle used the family's top-grade Sky-Gazing Realm cultivator to constantly lock onto Lin Xuan's location.

Otherwise, how could Xiao Wen have appeared at just the right moment on her path to break through?

Everyone understands that they were somewhat lucky to escape unscathed today.

In this perilous wilderness, such good fortune is never plentiful.

Gao Yuan's gaze slowly swept over each familiar face, and he said in a low voice, "I was careless today. I thought there wouldn't be any strong teams around the Wind Spirit Canyon, but I didn't expect Black Wind to appear here, which almost caused a disaster."

His knuckles were slightly white. "As the captain, the responsibility lies with me."

Old Wu smoothed things over, saying, "Captain, there's no need to blame yourself too much. A team like Black Wind should be operating deep within the Cloud and Mist Mountains; who could have predicted they'd appear here?"

Gao Yuan shook his head. "The main responsibility today lies with me. Old Wu, Lin Zhao, and Chu Xin, the three of you did a very good job today."

Gao Yuan turned to Cheng Jin and Li Hao and said, "But you two didn't even use many talismans today. If you had used talismans, you wouldn't have been injured. I know you want to break through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining, but this is not a life-threatening method."

Li Hao's bronze face appeared exceptionally resolute in the firelight: "Captain, you know me. My life, Li Hao's life, was saved from the beast tide."

He clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking. "That year, during the beast tide, my parents and family were wiped out in the whole town. I joined the Po Jun to kill demons."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Not using talismans is my own choice. If I can't break through this cultivation level, living is in vain."

Gao Yuan remained silent. Li Hao was born in the Dayun Dynasty. Although the beast tide in the Yunxia Mountains involved cultivators from seventeen markets, there was also a defensive barrier composed of millions of mortals.

However, every year some still manage to slip through the net and enter the Great Yun Dynasty. How can ordinary mortals possibly withstand these demonic beasts?

The town where Li Hao lived was destroyed by demonic beasts. Of the tens of thousands of people in the town, only a few dozen survived. These people joined the army, and later, after their spiritual roots were tested, they were sent to Po Jun for training.

Over the years, this silent man has devoted all his energy to cultivation, as if only by becoming stronger could he fill the void in his heart.

Gao Yuan then turned to look at Cheng Jin. He used to be timid and fearful. Although his personality had improved a lot since joining the demon-hunting team, he still retained some of his former traits. He never expected Cheng Jin to go crazy like this today.

Cheng Jin lowered his head and fiddled with the spirit-detecting disc in his hand. "I was born into a Foundation Establishment family, but after my father died, the family kicked me out of the direct line. I am already twenty-seven years old this year. If I cannot break through to the late stage of Qi Refining before I am thirty, my life will be over."

He raised his head, his eyes gleaming with stubbornness. "I'm not reconciled. I want to take back everything that's mine. Only by breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining can I enter the sight of a Foundation Establishment Master."

Looking at his companion, Lin Zhao felt a pang of emotion.

It turns out that everyone has their own unknown past, and his experience does seem rather ordinary in comparison.

With both parents alive, he hadn't encountered any major difficulties since beginning his cultivation journey, and didn't even have a decent enemy. Liu Yifeng was one of them, but Lin Zhao doubted whether he could remember his name.

As expected, he wasn't the main character at all; he was just a supporting character. Lin Zhao couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Seeing that everyone was somewhat silent, Chu Xin suddenly clapped her hands and stood up. "Alright, alright," she said, her voice light and cheerful, a departure from her usual coldness. "Today is a day worth celebrating! After several days of hard work, we've finally cleaned up these beasts."

"We can get our revenge on Black Wind later; there's still a chance. Let's start taking stock of our spoils now."

She turned to Old Wu and said, "Old Wu, you have the most experience, please quickly take stock of this harvest."

Chu Xin then asked Gao Yuan, "That wolf king should be considered an elite-level demonic beast, right?"

Gao Yuan knew she was changing the subject, and knowingly continued, "This wolf king is indeed extraordinary. It has mutated into a third eye, so it should be considered an elite-level monster."

Upon hearing this, everyone took out their spoils from their storage bags.

In an instant, the center of the camp was piled high with the pelts and fangs of the Howling Wolves. The corpses of three late-stage Qi Refining demonic beasts were deliberately placed in the center; the bodies of ordinary wolf demons were worthless.

Late-stage Qi Refining monsters are quite valuable. The corpses of the Wolf King and the two guard wolves were covered with ice-cooling talismans, emitting wisps of cold air.

Old Wu carefully counted the items, his fingers tracing over each wolf pelt: "Eighty-four relatively intact ordinary wolf pelts, along with these wolf teeth, three corpses of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and scattered wolf pelts."

He calculated with his fingers, "Excluding the wolf king's strange eye, it's worth about 270 spirit stones in total. If we include that strange eye, it will definitely exceed 300 spirit stones."

Cheng Jin rubbed his hands excitedly: "It's only the sixth day! At this rate, everyone will get over a hundred spirit stones when we get back!"

Generally, a demon-hunting team takes about a month to go out and hunt demons, and then returns to adjust and cultivate, with a cycle of three months.

Lin Zhao asked curiously, "How exactly are the elite-level demonic beasts you mentioned earlier classified?"

Gao Yuan added a piece of firewood to the fire. "Even late-stage Qi Refining demon beasts are divided into different levels of strength."

The demon-hunting team categorized them into three levels: ordinary demon beasts, elite demon beasts, and commander-level demon beasts.

Gao Yuan paused for a moment: "The most ordinary ones are those two guard wolves. Their strength is mediocre, their spells are limited, they have basically no room for advancement, and their value is not high, only a few dozen spirit stones."

Elite-level wolves like this wolf king often possess special magical abilities; those unfamiliar with their characteristics can easily suffer greatly.

"However," Gao Yuan said confidently, "we, the Po Jun, have seen many of these kinds of monsters. We know all about their moves."

"As soon as I saw the white mark on its forehead, I knew it was about to cast some kind of spell, so I used a counter-strategy and killed it by surprise. The wolf king's corpse is worth over a hundred spirit stones."

His voice suddenly lowered: "The most terrifying are the commander-level demonic beasts. Such beings are extremely rare, and their strength far exceeds that of the ninth level of Qi Refining, comparable to the level of your Lin family's patriarch."

They have the potential to advance to Foundation Establishment level demon beasts, and among Qi Refining cultivators, only the most exceptional talents can contend with them. "Gao Yuan surveyed the crowd," he said, "and these are the very beings our demon-hunting team least wants to encounter."