Chapter 2: A Disturbance in the Mountains
Lin Feng didn't react for a moment.
"…A person?"
It was only then that it dawned on him what he was looking at.
"A customer!"
Lin Feng moved so quickly that the stone beneath his feet cracked. Luckily, it automatically repaired behind him.
Appearing in front of the man, Lin Feng's hands clamped down onto the man's arms like an iron vice as he was dragged into the shopping mall.
"Come in! Come in! Welcome!"
Lin Feng was almost delirious with shock and excitement. He didn't notice the man's terrified expression in the slightest.
Lin Fang dragged him toward the vending machines, the only thing his shopping mall currently had, while excitedly talking to the man.
"It's nice to meet you! I'm Lin Feng, I'm the owner of this shopping mall. Well, it's not too much of a shopping mall yet, but it will be. We sell some good stuff though, stuff I'm sure you've never seen before.
"Are you a cultivator? Well, I guess it doesn't matter, as long as you have spirit crystals."
One Month Ago
Yashan city was a small city just south of the Demon Tooth Mountains. The Chen family was the strongest in the city but they were only a big fish in a little pond. Nearly any small sect or cultivation family from outside of Yashan city could beat the Chen family in terms of foundation and strength.
Even so, due to their relative strength, the Chen family was often called upon to investigate matters involving demonic beasts or other cultivation matters in the immediate region. If it was outside of the Chen family's ability to deal with then the matter would be given over to the city lord.
When the Chen family was asked to investigate an upheaval happening on the edge of the Demon Tooth Mountains, they decided to send Chen Rong to gather information. Chen Rong was only a Fourth-Stage Qi Gathering Disciple but his role was only to scout for information, so his strength wasn't very important. Plus, the area surrounding Yashan city was known for its low density of spiritual power. As such, it was unlikely that the matter involved anything stronger than the Qi Gathering stage anyways.
Chen Rong arrived at Changqi village early in the morning, a small village a few hours away from Yashan city by horse. He immediately went to find the village chief, Chief Duan, to ask him about the demonic beast activity in the area.
"Master Immortal, for the past few months, many demon beasts have been coming from the mountains. Many villagers have been attacked and died. People are worried that a powerful demon may have moved into one of the valleys nearby."
"How many attacks have there been recent?"
"In the last month, there were five attacks. That's more than we normally get in a year, even living on the edge of the mountains like we do."
Chen Rong furrowed his brow. It didn't make sense for a powerful demonic beast to show up in this area. Anything above the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Realm would barely have the resources to cultivate.
"Have you seen or heard anything other than the fleeing demonic beasts? Anything that would suggest something is chasing them out?"
"Sometimes there will be loud bangs and roars that echo out over the mountains. Sometimes there's smoke."
Chen Rong grimaced. To make noise that could be heard from outside the valley, at a minimum it would require strength at the Eighth or Ninth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. As a Fourth-Stage Qi Gathering Disciple, that kind of strength was not something he could compete with.
Still, it wasn't to the point that he would be unable to run away, so Chen Rong decided to continue his investigation.
After receiving directions towards where the demonic beasts are fleeing from and where the villagers have seen smoke, Chen Rong set out.
Rather than being made up of a few larger mountains, the Demon Tooth Mountains were made up of many small peaks clustered together. They formed thousands of small isolated valleys that were normally home to countless demonic beasts and were infamous for being difficult to traverse.
As Chen Rong hiked deeper in, relying on his strong physique to overcome the difficult terrain, he found that there were much fewer demonic beasts than there should be. They had all run away.
As he crested the ridge into another valley, he paused. The spiritual energy in this valley was much stronger than in the valley he had just left. This made Chen Rong quite nervous. Stronger spiritual energy could support a stronger demonic beast. Chen Rong drew his saber, an ordinary steel saber, and cautiously continued forward.
As he walked deeper in, he grew increasingly concerned about the lack of demonic beasts. With such strong spiritual energy, this valley should have been an extremely attractive territory for a demonic beast.
Chen Rong carefully spread out his spiritual sense, trying to give himself as much advanced warning as possible if a powerful demonic beast was to appear. Only, it wasn't a demonic beast he sensed.
Chen Rong was incredulous. He could sense a noticeable difference in spiritual energy density further ahead. Chen Rong carefully walked forward, straining his spiritual sense as far forward as possible.
Finally, he reached a small mountain pass leading into an especially small valley. The spiritual energy flowing out of this mountain pass was more concentrated than the spiritual energy in the Spirit Gather Array at the Chen family residence.
This terrified Chen Rong. He no longer believed that whatever was causing the demonic beasts to flee could be something as simple as a demonic beast at the Qi Gathering Realm. At a minimum, it had to be something at the Foundation Establishment Realm, maybe even the Core Formation Realm. Even the city lord was only a Peak Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Chen Rong had only ever had the privilege of seeing a Core Formation Master from a distance when an imperial official had visited Yashan city.
If this involved something on the level of the Core Formation Realm, then this would be far outside of the realm of what the Chen family or Yashan city could handle.
Chen Rong didn't dare continue into the valley. After taking note of everything about the valley that he could, he immediately turned around and ran as quickly as he could back to Yashan city.
After Chen Rong's report, The Chen family immediately contacted the city lord who then sent an urgent message to the imperial court in the imperial capital.
A month later, a Golden Core cultivator from the imperial capital arrived. His name was Wang Mu.
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