Another week passed, and the mountain expedition team organized by Xue Shiyu set off once again.
Zhuang Xun quietly sized up his teammates for this trip.
There were not many of them—only twelve people. Judging by their attire, every one of them was decently off, yet they lacked the typical demeanor of children from wealthy families.
They had likely been carefully selected by Xue Shiyu; their families probably had some modest wealth but no real power.
In terms of martial arts, most of them were at the Eighth Rank, with one at the Seventh Rank and two others at the Ninth Rank like Yan Pingsheng.
After quickly analyzing this, he greeted his teammates in a warm tone, humbly stating that his strength was meager and asking them to look after him.
His teammates were also very polite, smilingly saying that they would help one another.
A man with a genial face who looked like a plump, middle-aged merchant waved his hand with a smile. “No need for such modesty. We are the newcomers here, so we should be asking Junior Brother Yan to look after us instead.”
“Sigh, Junior Brother Yan is truly bold to have recognized the potential of Senior Brother Xue's mountain expedition team at first glance. Actually, I knew about it when Senior Brother Xue first thought of organizing it, but I just couldn't make up my mind. Sure enough, my foresight is far inferior to yours, Junior Brother Yan. I still have much to learn from you.”
He spoke very humbly, trying to build a closer relationship with Yan Pingsheng throughout the journey.
Zhuang Xun did not put on airs either, chatting and laughing with him. He later learned that the man was actually only twenty-five years old, despite looking like he was forty-five.
Not bad, he's twenty years ahead of everyone else... Zhuang Xun thought in approval.
Soon, the group arrived at the foot of Northern Mountain. Their laughter and chatter gradually faded as everyone grew alert.
Although there were many opportunities on the mountain, there were also many dangers, so they could not afford to be careless.
They searched the mountain for the entire morning with very little to show for it. After a brief rest to recover, they set off once again, heading deeper into the mountains. When they reached a marshy area, their leader, Xue Shiyu, discovered a massive footprint and immediately raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.
“Such a large footprint? It's a fierce beast!” Huang Renyong lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Precious beasts and fierce beasts lived in symbiosis.
Often, a powerful fierce beast would have an old precious beast living with it.
This was because the secretions of a precious beast held an infinite attraction for a fierce beast. Some precious beasts could even provide energy to their hosts through parasitism, accelerating their growth and recovery from injuries.
Thus, out of instinct, fierce beasts would keep one or several precious beasts by their side.
On the other hand, precious beasts remained extremely weak no matter how old they grew, so they would also actively approach fierce beasts to seek protection.
This was common knowledge in Mount Dazhou, so everyone in the team realized what this meant.
A few of them even began to breathe heavily, eager to search for the fierce beast's tracks.
They all turned their gazes toward Xue Shiyu.
Xue Shiyu pondered for a moment and nodded. The group then proceeded along the footprints.
Before long, they arrived at a swamp where the footprints ended. They immediately realized that the fierce beast was inside this very swamp.
Xue Shiyu made a gesture signaling everyone to hide. He then took out a stick of beast-attracting incense, lit it, and stuck it into the soft, muddy ground.
Having done this, he leaped up into a tree with a flash of his body, quietly lying in wait.
I should just go over and pinch the incense out... Zhuang Xun hid behind a clump of bushes, with the plump merchant who had been chatting with him along the way by his side.
He kept his eyes on the swamp while remaining on guard in case the plump merchant suddenly pushed him.
After a moment, a series of small bubbles rose from the swamp, and a giant crocodile over ten meters long surfaced, with a small white ball resting on its head.
A precious beast! The team members hidden in various spots stared intently at the small white ball.
The giant crocodile crawled out of the swamp, shifting its body uneasily. Finally, its gaze locked onto the half-burnt beast-attracting incense, and it crawled toward it rapidly.
“Strike!” The moment the crocodile knocked over the beast-attracting incense, Xue Shiyu roared.
Following their prearranged plan, the Eighth Rank disciples hidden behind two separate trees threw out a large net, instantly covering the crocodile.
Then, the disciples hiding in all directions leaped out and launched their attacks on the crocodile.
“Yah! Take this! Hundred Breaths!” Holding a steel longsword, Zhuang Xun's right hand spun at high speed, stabbing at the crocodile's left hind leg, producing a shower of sparks with a series of clangs.
Ha... ha... so tiring. I'll leave the rest to you guys.
After stabbing a few more times and drilling a few small bloody holes into the crocodile's body, Zhuang Xun decided to slack off. He let his right wrist spin at idle speed as he ran around the crocodile, occasionally thrusting his sword to look busy.
Meanwhile, the other disciples also showed off their skills.
The two disciples from the Pianqian Courtyard pulled out hidden weapons from their robes. Their fingers, which were noticeably longer than an average person's, seemed to have lives of their own as they instantly threw out dozens of hidden weapons, piercing the crocodile's vital spots from various tricky angles.
The skin of the three disciples from the Jixin Courtyard turned redder and redder as they roared and slashed at the crocodile, each wound deeper than the last.
The four disciples from the Linjia Courtyard grew scale-like cuticles all over their bodies. They held down the large net with all their might, restricting the crocodile's movements.
The sole Seventh Rank disciple was from the Formless Courtyard. He ran across the crocodile's back, using the precise control of his Formless martial physique to easily slide his sword into the gaps between the crocodile's scales, carving bloody gashes across its body.
“Roar—!” The giant crocodile roared in pain, and the small white ball of a precious beast on its head began to throb.
Visibly, the crocodile's wounds began to heal, and its body swelled slightly. With a violent swing of its head, the large net, along with the four Linjia Courtyard disciples and the Formless Courtyard disciple on its back, were sent flying.
It then charged straight toward the two Pianqian Courtyard disciples.
Oh my, how fierce... Zhuang Xun had realized something was off early on and had already leaped onto a tree branch to watch.
“Out of the way!” Xue Shiyu twisted his body, bypassing the two Pianqian Courtyard disciples. Without slowing down, he charged head-on at the crocodile. Just as it was about to bite him, he pivoted his ankle half a turn, and his body shifted backward in an eerie manner.
Bang!
The instant the crocodile's bite missed, he leaped into the air, his right hand holding the sword spinning at high speed.
At the Sixth Rank, his spinning speed was significantly faster than Yan Pingsheng's. The air around the sword buzzed as it drilled into the crocodile's right eye, bursting into a massive shower of blood.
“Roar—!” The crocodile shook its head and lunged to bite Xue Shiyu.
It had clearly entered a frenzy from the pain. Even though Xue Shiyu had quickly pulled a hundred meters away, it pursued him relentlessly, completely ignoring the other disciples who were much closer.
Its ten-meter-long body charged forward with such force that it shook the ground.
Xue Shiyu felt that violent aura and panicked slightly. He scanned his surroundings and ran toward Huang Renyong.
“Brother Huang, help me!”
Don't come toward me!
Huang Renyong wanted to run, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xue Shiyu secretly aiming his sword at his leg. Cursing inwardly, he gritted his teeth and charged at the crocodile.
“Good job, Brother Huang! Hold it off for a moment to buy me some time.”
“Understood! Ahhh!” Scale-like cuticles emerged on Huang Renyong's arms, much denser than those of the other three Linjia Courtyard disciples.
He raised both hands, holding open the crocodile's massive jaws as they tried to snap shut.
“Hurry up!” Huang Renyong's face turned visibly red, blue veins bulging on his neck as his spine slowly bent under the pressure.
However, the crocodile's charge was successfully halted.
Seizing this opportunity, Xue Shiyu's wrist spun rapidly once more. Before the crocodile could roll over, he blinded its other eye.
Having suffered another severe blow, the crocodile instinctively opened its mouth to roar, allowing Huang Renyong to escape.
By now, heavily wounded, the crocodile turned around, attempting to flee.
At Xue Shiyu's call, the disciples who had scattered earlier returned to surround and attack the crocodile once more.
Zhuang Xun also mingled among them, launching occasional sneak attacks while putting on a display of being very busy and hardworking.
Before long, the crocodile collapsed to the ground.
Xue Shiyu leaped onto its head and grabbed the fleeing precious beast with one hand.
He parted the precious beast's fur, squeezing it repeatedly, before shouting in delight, “An eleven-year-grade precious beast! Everyone, we hit the jackpot!”
Eleven-year-grade?! Everyone silently did the math in their heads.
The market price for an eleven-year-grade precious beast was one thousand one hundred taels. If split equally, each person would get over ninety taels of silver!
They looked at Xue Shiyu with expectant eyes.
Meeting their gazes, Xue Shiyu sneered inwardly, but on the surface, he said generously, “I am currently nearing a breakthrough in my martial arts and urgently need high-grade precious meat. I will buy this precious beast myself and compensate everyone with one hundred taels of silver each. What do you all think?”
“No problem at all! Senior Brother Xue is so generous!”
“May Senior Brother Xue's martial arts reach the next level!”
Everyone was beaming with joy. Mingling among them, Zhuang Xun also offered his congratulations to Xue Shiyu with a smile.
Enjoy your happiness while it lasts. Once I lure Hu He out, I'll make you spit out every single copper you've taken from me... Xue Shiyu's heart was cold.
How interesting. I hope Hu He delays joining a bit longer, so I can play this game a little while more... Zhuang Xun continued to smile and praise Xue Shiyu along with the others.
Rate on N.U.
