Cultivating To Immortality

Chapter 721: Demonic Calamity

Ever since entering Yunxi City, I had heard many strange rumors along the way.

The rumor about the crows was one of them.

However, before this, I had only listened to it as a story, never expecting it to be related to Qing Valley.

Now that I think about it, the demonic calamity that Liu Xincheng said the Profound Origin Sect Disciple was investigating must be this matter.

This rumor about crows has been circulating near Qing Valley for so many years, why are they still investigating it?

Song Yan’s interest in Qing Valley grew, but he still had important matters to attend to.

He directly sold a batch of Huang Ya Pills at the Pill Embracing Hall, totaling three hundred and thirty Spirit Stones.

Afterward, he found a shop selling Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicine in the market and purchased some Materials for refining Huang Ya Pills and Qi Condensation Pills, spending all three hundred and thirty Spirit Stones he had just acquired.

"To earn money from Alchemy, one must have high skill."

"To have high skill, one must refine many Medicinal Pills."

"To refine many Medicinal Pills, one must spend many, many Spirit Stones."

This was truly exasperating; this was with his rapid learning speed in the Dao of the Sword and Alchemy. He couldn’t imagine how many resources an ordinary Cultivator with average Alchemy talent would need to achieve the Dao of Alchemy.

Alchemy wasn’t a business where you could make a profit just by producing Medicinal Pills. Taking Huang Ya Pills as an example, at least a fifty-five percent pill formation rate was needed to make any profit.

Muttering to himself, he walked out of the Spirit Medicine shop. Across from it was a general store, selling all sorts of miscellaneous trinkets.

Medicinal Pills, Talismans, Formation Plates, Magical Artifacts—it had a bit of everything.

Song Yan wasn’t interested in the shop and was about to leave when he saw a familiar figure inside.

"Oh?"

He looked from afar and saw the familiar slender figure meticulously selecting something in the general store.

She wanted to pick up a Formation Plate, but seeing the price marked on it, she withdrew her hand.

"Xiao Ju?"

Song Yan called out a greeting.

Ju Luyi, who was deep in thought, heard someone call her and suddenly turned around, seeing an impressive face.

"Senior Song!?"

Before turning around, she had thought it was her imagination, or that someone else was greeting someone, and that someone else was also named Xiao Ju.

Because ever since her A Niang (Mother) passed away, it seemed no one had called her by her name outside the Sect.

She never expected to meet Senior Song here.

Song Yan was also surprised. In such a large Chu Kingdom, there were so many Disciples traveling down the mountain, and he knew only a few of them.

He actually met one so quickly.

There was a sense of pleasant surprise, like "meeting an old friend in a foreign land."

"Why are you here?"

"I... my hometown is near Yunxi City. I came back to visit a few days ago."

Ju Luyi was not considered a Cave Abyss Sect Disciple, so there were no strict rules about traveling down the mountain; theoretically, she could leave at any time.

But perhaps because Seamless also had to wait until the Sword-Wiping Tournament’s business opportunity and craze passed before having a period of rest.

So, Xiao Ju also waited until this time to leave the Sect.

"Hometown? Your hometown is Yunxi City?"

"No, no, no, not Yunxi City..." Speaking of her hometown, she was a bit flustered: "It’s a small place. You probably haven’t even heard of it. It’s called Qing Valley."

Qing Valley?

Why was it this place again?

Seeing Song Yan suddenly fall silent, Ju Luyi thought he had indeed never heard of it.

"It’s a mountain gully, so it’s normal not to have heard of it."

"You’re mistaken. The name Qing Valley, ever since I entered the Yunxi City area, I’ve always heard of it."

Song Yan asked, "Are you selecting Spiritual Artifacts here?"

At this, Ju Luyi’s eyes dimmed, and she shook her head: "Not really."

"Something happened at home, and I wanted to ask Devotee Liu Xincheng for help."

"I came... to buy him some things."

Xiao Ju naturally knew that if Senior Song stepped in, the matter would be much simpler.

But in this world, there was nothing that others were obligated to help you with, and she didn’t want to trouble anyone.

When Song Yan first heard this, he found it a bit strange.

Although Xiao Ju wasn’t a Cave Abyss Sect Disciple, she was at least a Qi Refining Cultivator. There was no need to humble herself to ask Liu Xincheng for help.

However, on second thought, Liu Xincheng, as a Devotee, indeed held some power, especially in an important city like Yunxi City, giving him much more say than many Loose Cultivators.

"Something happened at home...?"

Qing Valley?

Song Yan happened to want to go there, and that Liu Xincheng had been hesitant and not forthcoming. Ju Luyi should be familiar with the situation.

"I happen to be inspecting Sect affairs in Yunxi City. Don’t buy anything; just tell me what happened in Qing Valley."

Ju Luyi’s eyes lit up.

If it was Sect affairs, then it wasn’t troubling Senior Song; instead, it was helping him complete his mission!

The two walked and talked, and Ju Luyi naturally told him everything.

"Ever since A Niang (Mother) passed away, Xiao Ju has had no living relatives, but Devotee Hu from Qing Valley once led me to the Cave Abyss Sect."

Speaking of this, a hint of sadness appeared on Xiao Ju’s face.

"Although I didn’t get the chance to enter the Sect in the end, that was because I wasn’t good enough. Xiao Ju still remembers Devotee Hu’s kindness."

"This time, I came back to visit him."

"But when I returned to the Valley, I didn’t see Devotee Hu. I then learned that he had been missing for a long time."

"Yesterday, I met Devotee Su Li, who was investigating the matter in the Valley. He said... Devotee Hu had already been harmed by a demonic crow!"

"What..."

Song Yan was a little confused. The Devotee Su Li she mentioned should be Su Li of the Profound Origin Sect, whom Liu Xincheng had spoken of.

It was a bit strange.

Liu Xincheng hadn’t told the truth yesterday, but why did he hide it?

The two walked out of Yunlin Market, but unexpectedly, not far from outside the market, they saw Liu Xincheng waiting there.

He looked nervous, yet seemed to have made some kind of decision.

"Senior Song!"

Seeing Song Yan, he walked forward.

Song Yan was a little puzzled: "Devotee Liu, I was just about to look for you."

Liu Xincheng quickly explained his purpose.

"Senior Song, Qing Valley, I’m afraid there’s a situation."

"Why didn’t you say so yesterday?"

"This..."

Liu Xincheng had been holding onto a sliver of hope before, but now he knew that paper couldn’t wrap fire, and this fire would eventually burn him.

Song Yan didn’t waste time blaming Devotee Liu. He spoke calmly, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Lead the way."

"Let’s talk as we go."

...All the way northwest, not far.

Qing Valley belonged to the hills, famous for its high-quality timber and herbs.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of Qing Valley, Song Yan’s expression shifted. He stopped and looked up.

Xiao Ju and Liu Xincheng also looked in the direction of his gaze, their faces showing surprise.

They saw a black crow slowly flying from somewhere unknown.

"Is this the demonic crow you spoke of...?"

The arrival of the crow, seen as an ominous sign, meant that disaster was about to strike.

Liu Xincheng looked wary, but Ju Luyi was not nervous, her eyes flickering as she looked at the sky.

The crow had also appeared when she was born... They saw the crow cawing noisily as it flew into Qing Valley.

Unbeknownst to them, a ray of golden light surged into Song Yan’s eyes, and the Insightful Void Sword Eye activated, observing the trajectory of the shadow in the sky.

"Sword Qi?"

Song Yan murmured to himself.