Free Web NovelChapter 9: Chapter 9: A Good Thing
Perhaps the gunshot had truly served as a deterrent, as Yang Wenqing’s team encountered no more Demon Beasts during the rest of their patrol.
When the three-man team finished clearing their two-kilometer, fan-shaped sector and returned to the edge of the forest, they found that the other teams were also returning one after another, their tasks complete. The rough outline of a camp was already beginning to take shape.
In the clearing, two-meter-high folding metal fences had been set up to form a simple defensive line. The surface of the fences was engraved with simple reinforcement runes. Several thick canvas tents had also been erected, the largest of which was clearly the command post. In the center of the camp, a portable rune generator was running, providing power to several high-mounted searchlights.
Members of the first squad and the logistics personnel were still busy, further perfecting the defensive details, such as laying simple early-warning traps outside the fences and setting up communication antennas.
Just then, the members of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth patrol squads arrived, and the once-quiet camp suddenly became bustling with activity.
Each squad settled into their pre-assigned areas under the guidance of the logistics personnel. Afterward, they collected their dinner rations and inspected their gear.
"Setting up camp this late at night... I have no idea what the higher-ups were thinking."
Ye Yong grumbled irritably as they settled in.
Zhu Lin replied while biting into his rations, "What else could it be? The leadership probably got too deep into their meeting, so it ran overtime and delayed our assembly by a few hours."
As soon as he finished speaking, a streak of light shot across the sky and halted above the camp. The light dissipated, revealing a Flying Shuttle—the very same one that was usually docked in the backyard of the Public Security Office. They then watched it slowly descend.
Once the Flying Shuttle stabilized on the ground, Director Wang Ren leaped out of the cabin, followed by the communications officers from each patrol squad. Sister Liu from the second squad was among them. Upon their arrival, they immediately got busy around the command tent, clearly setting up communication devices.
After dinner, Yang Wenqing had been practicing his forms in a corner of the second squad’s designated area. The others were long used to it. His diligence was so well-known that even the Director had heard of it. Most people didn’t have high hopes for him, but quite a few were looking forward to seeing when he would finally advance to the Qi Cultivation Stage.
At eight in the evening, Xiao Liang, who had been in a meeting in the command tent, walked back. He glanced at Yang Wenqing, who was in meditation in the corner, and walked over. "Get some rest," he said. "We’ll have a busy day tomorrow."
Yang Wenqing had already roused from his meditation as his captain approached. Hearing his captain’s words, he nodded obediently, then got up and walked into his assigned tent.
The tents were assigned by team. Li Ming and Zhou Kun were also meditating inside. They both opened their eyes at the sound of footsteps. The three of them exchanged a few casual words, then started making their beds. Before long, they were sound asleep.
Yang Wenqing was up before dawn the next day. When he stepped out of his tent, he saw a few people already engaged in their morning practice in the distance. Among them was the same middle-aged man he often saw in the small courtyard—Kong Yu, a senior guard from the sixth patrol squad. He had been persisting in his cultivation like this for ten years.
The others who persisted in their cultivation were all young people like Yang Wenqing. Their family circumstances were similar to his, and they all hoped to one day succeed in their Qi Cultivation and change their own destinies, as well as those of their families.
The first blush of dawn had, at some point, touched the clouds on the horizon. By now, everyone in the camp, including Director Wang Ren, was engaged in their daily morning practice.
Suddenly, a mechanical alarm blared from the center of the camp. The six captains immediately stopped their training and barked orders at their subordinates to get into their gear. Ten minutes later, they began to assign tasks.
The task assigned to Yang Wenqing’s three-man team was a thirty-kilometer sector to the south of the camp, an assignment decided upon by the Director and the six captains the previous night.
...
In the dim morning light, a damp, cold mist filled the forest.
Yang Wenqing, Li Ming, and Zhou Kun’s team proceeded cautiously southward as assigned. The deeper they went, the taller and denser the trees became. The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air also seemed to be higher, though it wasn’t very stable.
When the trio had advanced about twenty kilometers, they discovered some deliberately cleared paths and crude markers made of piled animal bones and stones.
"Be careful. There might be a gathering of Demons nearby," Li Ming, ever the experienced one, immediately warned.
His words had barely faded when a sharp shriek erupted from the thicket ahead. Dozens of figures shot out from among the trees and bushes, semi-encircling the three of them.
"So it really is Demons!" Zhou Kun’s eyes held a cold glint.
These Demons mostly retained their bestial features. Their leader was an exceptionally tall Wolf Demon. It walked nearly upright, its body covered in grayish-blue fur. Its wolf head was savage, fangs bared, and its sharp claws glinted with a cold light. In its hand, it gripped a thick bone club. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
It was surrounded by seven or eight companions with the same wolf heads and humanoid bodies, though they were slightly smaller. Besides them, there were also several lizard-like Demons covered in dull scales, holding stone spears.
"ROAR!"
The leading Wolf Demon let out a threatening growl, its scarlet eyes locked onto the three men, filled with a wild lust for slaughter.
"Clear them out!" Li Ming wasted no words, issuing the combat order directly.
"AWOOOO!"
Seeing that its intimidation had failed, the Wolf Demon leader let out a howl to attack. Its bone club whistled through the air as it lunged at Li Ming first. At the same time, the Demons behind it also roared and charged.
The three men simultaneously activated the Protective Array on their wrist guards. A pure white ring of light instantly formed, shielding them within.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Li Ming and Zhou Kun were the first to open fire, their bullets whistling toward the charging Demons. But these Demons were much tougher and thicker-skinned than the rotted-claw jackals from before. Unless they were hit in a vital spot like the eyes, it was difficult to kill them in one shot. Moreover, they knew how to use the trees for cover.
Yang Wenqing’s eyes were sharp. He spotted a lizard demon using a tree trunk to leap up, attempting to hurl its stone spear at Zhou Kun from the side.
"Freeze!"
Yang Wenqing threw a sheet of ’Immobilization Spell’ Rune paper, accurately hitting the lizard demon in mid-air. The demon’s body stiffened, ruining its throwing motion. The stone spear skewed off course and stuck into the ground nearby. Zhou Kun reacted instantly, swiveling his gun and blowing its head apart with a single BANG.
At that moment, the Wolf Demon leader had closed the distance, its bone club smashing viciously against the barrier. The barrier shook violently, its light dimming considerably.
"Cover me!"
Li Ming shouted, his gun in his left hand as he drew his longsword with his right. He infused Spiritual Qi into the blade, preparing to engage in close combat.
Yang Wenqing understood immediately. He quickly locked onto the Wolf Demon leader and pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, his target this time wasn’t the leader itself, but the ground a single step in front of it!
"Explosive Bullet!"
Yang Wenqing shouted a warning to his comrades.
A violent explosion erupted. He had fired an Explosive Bullet. The powerful shockwave and flying shrapnel from the blast sent the demon leader flying backward.
Li Ming, having already cranked the protective shield’s power to maximum the moment Yang Wenqing shouted his warning, only swayed slightly from the impact. Then, his longsword transformed into a cold glint of light, stabbing straight for the leader’s throat, which was exposed due to its momentary paralysis!
"PSHFFT!"
The longsword pierced through with perfect accuracy!
The Wolf Demon leader let out a shrill, mournful howl. As the longsword was withdrawn, its massive body crashed to the ground.
With their leader killed, the remaining Demons fell into chaos. Some fled in terror into the dense forest, while others charged forward with even more frenzy.
"Clean up the rest!" Li Ming ordered coldly.
The trio cooperated seamlessly. Gunshots rang out and the light of Spells flashed once more. Without their leader’s coordination, the Demons were quickly wiped out one by one.
After the battle ended, the area was a complete mess, thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.
Following the retreat path of some of the Demons, the three soon found the Demon settlement. It was built next to a small creek, with structures mostly consisting of tents made from animal hides.
In the center of the settlement was a crude altar built from rubble and animal bones. On the altar rested a piece of spinal bone, about a foot long. It had a strange, white jade-like texture, and a shimmering light seemed to flow within it, as if it were autonomously absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
"This thing could sell for a lot of money. I heard the West City Public Security Office found three pieces like this last year while clearing out some Demons." Li Ming circulated the Spiritual Qi in his body, a slight smile on his face as he looked at Yang Wenqing and Zhou Kun.
Yang Wenqing and Zhou Kun also turned their gazes to the piece of spinal bone. It was the remains of a Cultivator—and a great Cultivator at that. The bone had refined itself into a Spiritual Object and could be used as the core of an array to gather Spiritual Qi.
According to the City Defense Bureau’s regulations, this thing was now considered their spoils of war, and they had the right to decide what to do with it.
As he spoke, Li Ming picked up the spinal bone. "What a strange feeling," he said. "The Demons keep digging up things like this here. This place was probably a battlefield long ago. It’s just that when our predecessors cleaned up the battlefield, they took all the good treasures and left only the corpses behind."
"What’s it feel like?"
Zhou Kun asked impatiently.
Li Ming smiled faintly and handed the spinal bone to Zhou Kun.
Zhou Kun took it, and after no more than a second, he shook his head. "It’s basically a portable Gathering Spirit Array. But the Spiritual Qi it gathers isn’t refined. If we used the Spiritual Qi it gathers to cultivate, we’d be done for sooner or later."
As he spoke, he handed the spinal bone to Yang Wenqing.
The moment Yang Wenqing took it, an uncontrollable joy appeared on his face. But his joy was completely different from Li Ming’s and Zhou Kun’s, because his Golden Core World could rapidly refine and absorb this kind of Spiritual Qi.
