Chapter 38 - 37 Sneaky Level Evil Invasion_l
Thirteen mature Spirit Firefly Grass plants were ready, and any longer on the vine might result in loss of vitality and damage to their quality.
Lu Xuan planned to hand these thirteen plants over to the Bai Cao Tang, and take the opportunity to shop for suitable Spirit Seeds and young beasts at the market.
“Little guy, do you want to come with me?”
Before Lu Xuan’s words fell, he felt a slight sinking sensation on his right shoulder. Turning his head, he saw the crisp emerald eyes of a Mysterious Cloud-Civet whose cloud-like paws were lightly stepping on his shoulder.
A couple of aquamarine eyes stared straight ahead, coldly observing the front, seemingly reluctant to acknowledge the turned face of Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan focused his spirit on its body, quickly understanding the excitable feelings inside the young civet’s heart.
He didn’t find it surprising. After a light laugh, he instructed the now back-to-normal Grass Puppet to take extra good care of the Spirit Field before he took the Cloud-Civet to the market with him.
In the market, there was a noticeable increase in the number of Loose Cultivators compared to before.
The countless materials and Spiritual Medicine that were brought back from the new Secret Land attracted many Cultivators to enter the market.
New and unique items appeared on the stalls, Lu Xuan leisurely strolled around, looking for something that caught his interest.
Suddenly, a group of Cultivators about ten yards away caught his attention.
These Cultivators wore standard Daoist robes. Lu Xuan recognized at a glance that they were Patrol Guards from Linyang Market.
A few Qi Practitioners at the intermediate level were using a black rope to encircle an area, where quite a few strange charms were attached. Within this circle, there was a scorch mark.
Lu Xuan observed a Patrol Guard tossing an Evil Banishing Talisman into the circle. A pure white light flashed, emitting a peaceful sentiment.
At the appearance of the white light, the other guards nervously watched the open space. Only after the white light gradually disappeared did they slightly relax.
Lu Xuan, led by curiosity, moved closer to the crowd and quickly got some information.
“These Patrol Guards are indeed diligent, guarding the place where the Strange Class Cultivator died a day ago, to prevent Evil Spirits from appearing.”
“There’s no help for it. Everyone knows the horror of Evil Spirits. Better safe than sorry.”
“In the North District, at least ten cultivators have died, either attacked and tainted by the Evil Spirits and transformed into monsters or killed by these transformed monsters.”
“Don’t know if you guys have heard, but rumor has it the large number of Evil Spirits appearing this time in the market has a lot to do with the Wang Family.”
“The rumor says they broke open a new formation and stirred up a Trick Level Evil Spirit in the Secret Land, which then followed them back.”
“Be prudent with your words, this isn’t something we Lower Level Loose Qi Cultivators can discuss at will, lest they bring bad luck.”
“What we can do now is just think about how to survive this Evil Spirit invasion.”
As the discussion gradually subsided, they slowly moved on to new topics.
“Cultivators transformed to death, Trick Level Evil Spirit Invasion?”
Lu Xuan vaguely picked up two key words.
“I didn’t expect so much to happen in just the few days I didn’t leave the house.”
“Trick Level Evil Spirit…”
He felt a heaviness in his heart.
The classification of Evil Spirits was different from Demon Beasts, divided into four ranks: Strange Class, Trick Level, Disaster Level, and Catastrophe Level.
A Strange Class Evil Spirit already possessed strange and extraordinary abilities, akin to a Qi-Cultivator. A Trick Level Evil Spirit possessed inscrutable abilities, generally comparable to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Even though the Wang Family and other powers in the market were up front, if a regular Loose Cultivator was slightly affected by it, it would result in their death.
With a little attention, Lu Xuan observed that influenced by this rumour, the prices of charms such as Evil Banishing Talismans and Demon Warding Talismans in the market had risen a lot.
“Quickly take a look around the market, if there’s none, go to ‘Bai Cao Tang’ at the fastest speed, deal with these dozen or so Spirit Firefly Grass, and immediately go home,” Lu Xuan made up his mind on the spot. As the market became increasingly unstable and unsafe, he planned to stay in the courtyard as much as possible, accompanied by spiritual plants and spirit pets.
Just as he quickened his pace, Lu Xuan suddenly felt his shoulder where the Cloud Leopard was resting become a few pounds heavier.
He turned his head and saw the civet juvenile staring coldly ahead, issuing that strange low growl from its mouth.
“It’s making an actual sound. Did it detect something?”
Seeing the civet behave oddly, Lu Xuan slowed down.
The civet’s posture made Lu Xuan recall its actions when it lurked at the edge of the Spiritual Spring Pool, ambushing the Red-bearded Carp. This posture meant that the Cloud Leopard entered into attack mode.
“Those strange eyes of the civet seem to be able to see something that’s usually hard to detect,” Lu Xuan thought, remembering the information he’d received about it when he first started raising the Bi Jing Cloud Treading Mink.
At this thought, he was suddenly startled. The Slivered Silver Blade on his waist emitted a faint hum, and a Second-Grade Sword Qi Ten Thousand Talisman quietly slid into his sleeve.
“According to my usual behavior and the direction the Cloud Leopard is looking at, the most likely spot a problem would occur is directly in front,” he thought.
His expression unchanged, he naturally stopped at the nearest stall, casually pointed at a piece of merchandise, and quietly asked the stall owner about the price.
His body was actually tensed, with his attention entirely on the cultivators around.
“Too expensive, I don’t want it,” He disregarded the vendor’s response, casually leaving a comment and intending to retreat along the same path.
Suddenly, a Loose Cultivator standing two or three feet ahead of him grunted. In an instant, various small and large cracks appeared on his face and neck. Countless red buds shot out from the cracks at a rapid pace, growing rapidly. In a blink of an eye, they became blood-red tentacles, madly attacking cultivators nearby.
“Ah!”
A cultivator near him failed to react, and his head was pierced by a blood-red tentacle.
The moment the red buds appeared, Lu Xuan moved backwards urgently. With a Swift Talisman attached to each of his legs, he was as swift as the wind and floated back.
The surrounding cultivators released all their skills. For a moment, Formula Methods, Magic Artifacts, and Talismans flew everywhere.
The blood-red tentacles grew rapidly, appearing to cover a radius of ten to twenty feet.
Lu Xuan soared out like an arrow, leaving several cultivators behind. Suddenly, a high earth wall appeared in front of him and a few others, blocking Lu Xuan from view.
The moment the earth wall appeared, Lu Xuan noticed a sneering cultivator in the front.
“A bunch of fools, it doesn’t matter if I can’t outrun the Demon Envoy. As long as I run faster than you guys, I’ll be safe,” the loose cultivator who had cast the earth wall felt incredibly clever.
Lu Xuan quickly went around the earth wall. The Loose Cultivator had managed to run quite a distance due to the momentary delay.
Feeling frustrated at being used as a human shield, Lu Xuan mobilized his Spiritual Power. He instantaneously released the grand-mastery level Golden Sword Technique, and a golden ray, like lightning amidst chaos, struck the Loose Cultivator’s leg precisely, causing blood to gush out and leaving a huge hole in his lower leg.
The Loose Cultivator let out a wailing cry. Reeling in pain, he couldn’t help but stop.
Lu Xuan silently passed by him.
“You wanted to see who runs faster? Now I’ve made it so you can’t run at all.”
He looked back to see several blood-red tentacles, like giant pythons, attacking the loose cultivator lying on the ground..