Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Demon Alarm Bell

All the Cultivators were lodged in the mansions of the county’s wealthy households. The County Magistrate had also arranged for banquets, where most of the attendants were daughters of concubines from powerful and wealthy families, all hoping to conceive a child with a Cultivator.

Cultivators possessed abundant Vitality, so their descendants had a far greater chance of possessing a Spirit Root than mortals. Every year during the autumn defense, the common folk would try every means possible to “borrow their seed.”

Even though preserving one’s Primordial Yang could slightly increase the chances of Foundation Establishment, very few Cultivators could resist such temptation. The Six Great Sects strictly forbade Cultivators from disturbing mortals. Within the Marketplace, they were cautious and discreet, painstakingly accumulating Spirit Stones to raise their Cultivation. The moment they left, however, some of them could no longer restrain themselves.

Most of the Cultivators eagerly headed off to the banquets, with only a handful remaining in their residences.

Yang Jing sat cross-legged on the roof.

Areas where mortals congregated tended to accumulate all sorts of foul and filthy qi. During Qi Cultivation, it was easy to absorb this foulness along with the Spiritual Qi, requiring extra effort later to purify one’s Magical Power.

This foul qi was heavy, while Spiritual Qi was light and ethereal. Cultivating at a high altitude helped avoid it. Furthermore, Yang Jing could use his Bright Qi Talent to steer clear of the foulness and exclusively absorb Spiritual Qi.

Yang Jing activated the Five Elements Wheel, drawing the Five Element Spiritual Energy from the heavens and earth into the meridians of his body, where it was then converted into Magical Power within his Dantian. Since he didn’t have to share Spiritual Qi with Iron Head and Yinjiao, two major consumers of it, the Magical Power he refined in a single Circulation surpassed what he could manage back in his Cave Mansion.

He cultivated late into the night, only coming down from the roof after his clothes were soaked with dew.

Constant effort is never in vain. If one was inconsistent with their Qi Cultivation, then even with outstanding Talent and immense wealth, it would be difficult to achieve any Great Success.

For the next few days, Yang Jing dedicated most of his energy to improving his Cultivation, occasionally letting Iron Head and Yinjiao out of the Spirit Beast Bag for a breather. The other Independent Cultivators, however, were almost completely lost in sensual pleasures. They either stayed out all night or were carried back in sedan chairs in the early hours of the morning.

“Seeing how hard you’re cultivating, I now realize you weren’t just boasting when you said you wanted to reach Foundation Establishment.”

Li Yuanqing said, holding a cup of Spirit Tea.

Yang Jing shook his head with a resigned look.

“Without the backing of a master or a family, the only way for Independent Cultivators like us to reach Foundation Establishment is through sheer hard work.”

Li Yuanqing nodded in agreement and offered Yang Jing some advice on a few cultivation difficulties. In his eyes, Yang Jing was blessed by fortune. He had been targeted by Qiu Feihua and still managed to escape unscathed. He was also diligent, practical, and skilled in Alchemy. ’Perhaps he has a ten percent chance of reaching Foundation Establishment,’ he thought.

Among Independent Cultivators, those were very high odds.

Just then, the large bell in the county town’s Bell Tower suddenly began to clang. The two men exchanged a look, their expressions turning grim. This meant a Demon had appeared within the borders of Huashan County.

This large bell was a Magical Artifact installed by the Chen Kingdom, called the Demon Alarm Bell. The main bell and its smaller counterparts were connected via their Qi Mechanism. If one of the smaller bells, deployed in the villages and towns throughout the jurisdiction, sensed Demon Qi, the main bell would immediately sound the alarm.

All the Cultivators gathered at the County Yamen. Some had just emerged from their night of revelry, still carrying the scent of perfume.

“It’s in Li Shan Village, twenty li from here. The Demon Qi reading isn’t strong. It should be a Demon at the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation,”

said the experienced Li Yuanqing.

Yu Yingwu nodded in agreement.

“A Demon in the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation shouldn’t be too difficult to handle. Three people will be enough. Who is willing to take care of it? If no one volunteers, I’ll have to start assigning people.”

At the start of the autumn defense, most of the Cultivators were still quite cautious. But there was never a shortage of bold, risk-taking individuals among them. After a brief wait, three Cultivators accepted the task. Although they also lived in San Yuanli, Yang Jing only knew them by sight and was aware they frequently hunted Demons in the Huangyuan Mountain Range.

If it was just a single Demon in the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation, three Cultivators in the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation could naturally capture it with ease. The real fear was other Demons lying in ambush, or that the commotion from the Magical Combat would attract more of them.

“Starting to think this autumn defense isn’t so bad?”

Li Yuanqing asked.

“If your luck is good, the autumn defense can be perfectly safe. You can just treat it as a trip to ’lend your seed’ to the mortals. But if you let that make you careless, you might just find your grave here.”

He was older, so he had naturally seen and heard a great deal. While the autumn defense wasn’t exceptionally dangerous, a fair number of people still died each year. This was especially true for those dissolute Cultivators who, lost in sensual indulgence, had completely let their guard down.

“It wasn’t like this in previous years. They’re spending all their energy on women. I wonder how much Magical Power they’ll be able to muster when they actually encounter a Demon.”

This made Li Yuanqing uneasy. During past autumn defenses, the Chen Family’s Guests would impose at least some discipline on the Independent Cultivators. Yu Yingwu, however, let them run completely wild, fostering a lax attitude. Even with the protection of Huashan County’s Grand Array, his age and experience had made him shrewd, so he offered Yang Jing a word of caution.

“Brother Li, are you saying something is wrong?”

Yang Jing’s guard went up immediately. Because of the Wu Family, he had never truly let his guard down, but since this was his first autumn defense, he hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Li Yuanqing shook his head hesitantly. He just had a gut feeling that something was off. Yu Yingwu’s supervision of the Independent Cultivators was far too lax compared to other Guests, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong.

In the last few autumn defenses, at least, the Chen Family’s Guests never allowed for such unrestrained feasting, even if they permitted the banquets. If Demons were to attack the county, they might not even have time to activate the Grand Array.

That night, Yang Jing released Iron Head from the Beast Taming Bag. He would never have left Iron Head and Yinjiao behind in the Cave Mansion. For one, their Power was extraordinary, making them a huge asset in a crisis. For another, Yinjiao’s identity was sensitive, and since it couldn’t undergo Transformation yet, leaving it alone in the Cave Mansion was too dangerous.

Because Beast Taming Bags could hold living creatures, they were far more expensive than Storage Bags. The cost of two such bags was enough to make even Yang Jing—who could occasionally squeeze a few Spirit Stones out of Brother Wang Tong—wince in pain.

Iron Head had been going stir-crazy in the Beast Taming Bag. The moment it was out, it placed its two little paws on Yang Jing’s leg, its tail wagging furiously in a circle.

Yang Jing rubbed its soft head, took a piece of smoked Demon Fish jerky from his Storage Bag, and stuffed it into its mouth.

“Iron Head, I want you to carefully scout the city. See if you can find anything unusual. Your safety is the top priority, so don’t engage unless you have to.”

Iron Head had no Demon Qi, was small, and looked just like an ordinary mutt. Its Power was top-tier among those at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation, and its Bright Qi Talent granted it astonishing perception. It was the perfect choice for scouting the city for anything amiss.

It nodded emphatically and vanished in a blur of black, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Yang Jing leaped back onto the roof and sat cross-legged, Refining Spiritual Qi. A sense of looming, yet undefined, crisis made him feel an even greater urgency to break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.

Footsteps sounded from downstairs, and Li Yuanqing and Song Min appeared in the courtyard below.

It was late at night. Beneath the moon, the bluestone-paved courtyard was cast in a clear, bright light.

Li Yuanqing wore a Cyan Daoist Robe with Two-Tier Armor layered over it. Since arriving in Huashan County, he hadn’t had any servants to help him groom, so his hair and beard were a mess, making him look like a slovenly Daoist priest. Walking behind him was Song Min, dressed in a cobalt-blue gossamer gown. Her dark hair was styled like smoky clouds, and her graceful figure swayed gently, reminiscent of a wild orchid blooming in the mountains.

Yang Jing leaped down from the roof.

“Brother Li, Fellow Daoist Song. For you to visit so late at night, it must be for something important.”

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