Chapter 8, Returning Home and Ambushed

Translator: Raznick

 

Red Stone Market.

 

After discussing Zhou Chun’s return to the clan, Zhou Fei also voluntarily mentioned their mission in coming to the Red Stone Market.

 

Since establishing their clan base in Nine Peaks, the Zhou Clan had already begun expanding their business ventures.

 

Zhou Fei and his two companions arrived here with the mission to gather commercial intelligence within the market. Their objective was to identify which items were in high demand and where the Zhou Clan could potentially influence or take part in the trade.

 

Upon learning this, Zhou Chun also volunteered to help investigate.

 

The four split up and each began staking out nearby shops.

 

After seven days, the four had gathered enough information and could return home to report.

 

This time around, with three Zhou clansmen traveling together, Zhou Chun no longer needed to worry about encountering bandits as he had on the way here.

 

Just as the four left the market, Zhou Fei immediately slapped his spirit beast pouch and released a black demon wolf over six meters in length to scout ahead.

 

At the same time, Zhou Jingwen also removed her waist sash and emptied her spirit beast pouch, releasing a dozen crimson birds the size of pigeons that spread out in all directions around the four, taking on the role of guards.

 

Under such combined land and air surveillance, most bandits needed not even think about ambushing them.

 

Even ordinary bandits, upon seeing this formation, would actively avoid them, lest they be mistaken for prey in turn.

 

This situation was completely opposite compared to Zhou Chun’s previous visit to the market, where every move was fraught with anxiety.

 

At the same time, this secretly decided Zhou Chun’s resolve. When he returned home to the Zhou Clan, he would definitely obtain one or two more spirit pets.

 

Even when the Zhou Clan was part of the Three Absolute Sect, they were already renowned for their beast taming arts. Almost every disciple in the clan had one or two spirit beasts at their disposal.

 

They not only greatly enhanced a cultivator’s strength but also provide various uses during travel, such as transportation and early warning.

 

Therefore, while the Three Absolute Sect still existed, the Zhou Clan was, by far the strongest among the three clans.

 

Now that they had split, although their strength was greatly diminished compared to before, providing one or two spirit pets for Zhou Chun should not pose a major problem.

 

In this way, the group of people relied on their spirit beasts for trailblazing and keeping watch, proudly making use of Lightness as they journeyed forward.

 

Since the Soaring Art consumed more spiritual power, Zhou Fei and the others dared not imitate Zhou Chun in absorbing Nature Qi outdoors to restore their spiritual power.

 

But even with the aid of the Lightness skill, the group only took less than a day to depart from the Red Rock Mountains.

 

Upon reaching the open plains beyond, Zhou Fei sought out several high-quality warhorses from the human city.

 

Then, by administering a secret pill that unlocked their potential, the warhorses had their speed increased by nearly forty or fifty percent as if they possessed inexhaustible stamina.

 

But the consequence of this was that after only half a day’s run covering close to two hundred miles, several warhorses collapsed and died from exhaustion.

 

If such behavior were placed in Zhou Chun’s previous life, once exposed publicly, those involved would dread immediate social backlash.

 

But in this cultivation world, human lives were a dime a dozen, let alone the lives of a couple of animals.

 

“We’re now less than a hundred miles away from Nine Peaks. From here on out, we’ll speed towards our destination using Soaring Art.”

 

Without looking at the dead warhorses by the roadside, Zhou Fei merely glanced up at the sky and then spoke in a serious tone about the next step of their plan.

 

Under continuous application of the Soaring Art, they would complete a journey of less than a hundred miles in under one day.

 

After returning to their clan’s base, protected by the Purification Array, they could safely meditate and restore spiritual power.

 

Zhou Chun had been eagerly anticipating this moment. The journey had been swift, but to prevent others from noticing his abnormalities, he bit down hard, enduring both physical and mental torment. Even his spiritual power was taxed to keep him from revealing any weaknesses.

 

In the case of Soaring Art, it completely relied on spiritual power to move a person, with very little consumption of physical strength, just like taking a walk.

 

As a group of people immediately formed hand seals and cast the arts, each riding the wind and flying, they seemed like gods and immortals going out for a stroll, their long sleeves fluttering in the wild mountains and valleys, their demeanor exceptionally carefree and unrestrained.

 

One day while working in the fields by chance, peasants saw what had happened and were so shocked that they immediately knelt and bowed continuously, believing they had encountered real immortals or deities.

 

Flying with the wind for another fifty miles, just as they were rushing to the Zhou Clan in one go, a sudden, shrill howl—a warning cry—rose from the mountains several miles ahead.

 

“Something’s up ahead! Danger!”

 

Zhou Fei, leading them, his face turned serious, quickly stopped and let out a long whistle, calling back the demon wolf that had been scouting ahead.

 

At this moment, Zhou Chun and the others, having received his warning, also came to a halt. Some formed hand seals to cast protective mystical arts upon themselves, while others retrieved artifacts or summoned spirit beasts in preparation for battle.

 

Not long after, Zhou Fei’s pet knocked over several trees as thick as a forearm and returned to his side.

 

After hearing the wolf’s deep roar, he said with a serious expression to Zhou Chun and the others, “There are five or six cultivators!”

 

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Jingwen immediately analyzed, “This place is less than fifty miles away from Nine Peaks. Moreover, when we passed by here earlier, there were no signs of people living on the mountain. These guys might just be targeting us!”

 

“Regardless, prepare for battle. They’ll be here soon.”

 

Zhou Fei slightly shook his head and immediately slapped his hand on the storage bag at his waist, retrieving a artifact.

 

Indeed, it was only a matter of dozens of breaths before six cultivators came chasing from the direction of the wolf’s return.

 

When they came face to face, Zhou Jingwen immediately exclaimed, “They’re here specifically for us. These guys are the rogue cultivators from the Nine Peaks.”

 

Across from them, upon seeing the four Zhou Clan cultivators, a burly man clad in black robes immediately bellowed with bloodshot eyes: “Scum of the Zhou Clan! You’ve occupied my home and slaughtered my friends. Today shall be one of reckoning—you will pay with your blood for the crimes you’ve committed!”

 

“Yes, blood debts must be settled with blood. Let them know that rogue cultivators from Jing Kingdom aren’t pushovers!”

 

“Blood for blood; kill them!”

 

…

 

Six evil cultivators roared and screamed as they launched a direct attack on Zhou’s four clansmen.

 

These six evil cultivators were not weak in terms of cultivation levels. One of them had reached the Tenth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage, just like Zhou Fei. Another was at the ninth, and there were two more at the eighth. The remaining two were both at the seventh.

 

Now, faced with the assault from six attackers, the four could only fight back.

 

Before engaging in battle, Zhou Fei, being cautious, quickly released a signal into the sky.

 

These signaling fireworks weren’t powered by gunpowder but crafted through cultivators’ techniques, soaring up to several hundred meters. Upon detonation, their patterns linger for fifteen minutes, and the explosion can be heard for tens of miles.

 

This place was less than fifty miles from Nine Peaks. As soon as the signal flare exploded, the Zhou Clan would surely detect them and immediately send reinforcements.

 

After witnessing the signal flares, several rogue cultivators instantly recognized the danger of the situation.

 

Therefore, they resorted to every means at their disposal without any restraint, determined to swiftly eliminate Zhou Fei and his companions and evacuate the area as soon as possible.

 

In this situation, Zhou Chun had it the worst.

 

Because he looked as youngest and had a cultivation level that seemed respectable, several rogue cultivators mistook him for a prodigy disciple from the Zhou Clan and attacked him together. He was surrounded by an Eight Layer Qi Refining cultivator and another at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.

 

The two men seemed eager to kill him, attacking with both artifacts and talismans as soon as they arrived.

 

Zhou Chun initially only cast an inferior mystical art, the Earth Shield upon himself. But seeing the severity of the situation, he was immediately terrified and hastily brought out the precious Metal Shield talisman he had bought from the market and activated it.

 

An explosion of firelight and sounds of heavy strikes and slashes erupted. Zhou Chun Earth Shield instantly vanished into thin air, along with the subsequent Metal Shield that followed, which shook violently despite its attempts to stabilize.

 

He himself, because his protective barrier was breached, felt his spiritual power tighten around his chest and he nearly coughed up blood.

 

At this moment, the Zhou clansmen also discerned the schemes of those rogue cultivators.

 

Zhou Yong, who was dueling with a rogue cultivator at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, quickly shouted upon seeing this, “Hold on, Brother Chun! I’m coming!”

 

Saying this, he directed his own spirit pet, the Redtail Monkey, to stop attacking the opponent and instead assist Zhou Chun in restraining another enemy.

 

At the same time, Zhou Jingwen dispatched five crimson birds to lend a hand promptly.

 

Zhou Yong’s spirit pet, the Redtail Monkey, was an average first-grade demon beast with the strength equivalent to a mid Qi Refining cultivator. It could cast several types of fire arts and possessed the immense power to tear apart tiger and leopard demons.

 

Zhou Jìnwen’s five Fire Sparrows, although only inferior first-grade demon beasts, when acting together, were comparable to a cultivator at mid Qi Refining.

 

With the help of these two spirit pets, Zhou Chun, focusing solely on defense, was able to quickly stabilize his position. Regardless of how those two rogue cultivators launched their attacks with full force, they couldn’t immediately overpower Zhou Chun.

 

Even he found a moment to glance at the battlefields of the others around him.

 

Zhou Fei alone was handling a Tenth Layer of Qi Refining rogue cultivator and another eighth layer rogue cultivator all by himself.

 

He and the demon snake spirit pet that was released afterward teamed up to take on the tenth layer rogue cultivator, while the demon wolf faced off against the eighth layer rogue cultivator alone. In both matchups, it seemed like they were gaining the upper hand.

 

Zhao Jingwen was facing off against a Ninth Layer of Qi Refining rogue cultivator, but with the help of nine birds, she held her own and defeated him soundly.

 

Only Zhou Yong, who had sent his spirit pet, the Redtail Monkey, to assist Zhou Chun, found himself fighting evenly matched with that Seventh Layer of Qi Refining rogue cultivator.

 

This all seemed perfectly normal.

 

After all, Zhou clansmen were former official disciples of the Three Absolute Sect, and their mastery of mystical arts and possession of artifacts, as well as their spirit pets, were far beyond what an average cultivator or rogue practitioner could ever hope to match up to.

 

If they were to be bested by a few rogue cultivators, that would truly bring shame upon the Three Absolute Sect and the Zhou Clan.

 

After fighting for a while, seeing no advantage to be gained, and worried that reinforcements from the Zhou Clan might arrive any moment, the rogue cultivator who had been dueling with Zhou Fei suddenly raised his voice and shouted.

 

“This situation is getting tricky. Let’s retreat for now, brothers. We’ll come back another time to settle the score!”

 

After speaking, he quickly began to retreat.

 

Other rogue cultivators, upon seeing this, dared not linger any longer. They promptly followed suit, fleeing swiftly into the mountains, abandoning their opponents as they went.

 

Zhou Fei, who witnessed this scene, chose not to chase but merely smirked: “Hmph, think you can escape? Do they really believe they can get away?”