This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Yuanshan City, Yuanshan Tower.

An old man clad in a grey Daoist robe walked into the tower.

"Senior Fengxing Zi," Dantai Qingrun came forward to greet him with respect, "we’re going to need your expertise with the Illusion Array."

Fengxing Zi was a Fourth Grade Array Master with an esteemed position in the tower, not just for her as the Tower Master of Yuanshan, but even the Tower Master of Zhenjiang Tower would have to treat Fengxing Zi with courtesy.

Fengxing Zi waved his hand casually, "No need for formalities, I just happened to be passing through your Yuanshan City. The higher-ups heard that you were having trouble with a high-rank Illusion Array here and sent me a Spirit Message, asking me to lend a hand."

"Hurry and take me to the site of the Illusion Array. I want to see for myself what kind of Illusion Array those Demon Cultivators from the Netherworld have managed to set up!" Fengxing Zi didn’t bother with more pleasantries with Dantai Qingrun. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit as he urged her on.

Dantai Qingrun naturally did not take Fengxing Zi’s impatience amiss.

It was common for Array Masters of Fengxing Zi’s temperament to be consumed with joy upon encountering arrays. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t devote themselves to the dry and complex study of formations.

Dantai Qingrun nodded in agreement, ready to lead Fengxing Zi to the location of the Blood Pool outside Yuanshan City.

Just at that moment, a jade pendant at Dantai Qingrun’s waist flashed with a ripple of aqua light.

A Spirit Message from Jiang Rong.

Dantai Qingrun immersed her Divine Sense in it, reading the contents of the message.

Afterward, Dantai Qingrun’s expression turned a few shades colder.

"Tower Master Dantai, is there an emergency?" Fengxing Zi, despite being obsessed with formations, was not oblivious to the ways of the world. Seeing Dantai Qingrun’s reaction, he said, "If there’s something urgent, you can just order a subordinate to lead me to the Illusion Array. Your matters are more important."

Dantai Qingrun’s expression returned to calm, "It’s nothing urgent, Senior Fengxing Zi. You’re willing to assist our Yuanshan Tower, I wouldn’t dare to show any negligence."

…

"Lu Qingshan left the city with the Lin Family caravan at noon today, destination: Zhenjiang City."

That was the message conveyed in Jiang Rong’s Spirit Message.

Zhenjiang City, do you think you can escape the palm of my hand?

Dantai Qingrun chuckled silently to herself, a flicker of smugness in her eyes.

…

Outside Yuanshan City.

Three hours had passed since Lu Qingshan left, and the Lin Family caravan truly left without delay, not wasting a single moment on the road.

The beasts pulling the caravan’s carts were not horses but black rhinoceroses with a faint Demon Beast bloodline.

These black rhinoceroses were entirely black, with incredibly thick and strong limbs that radiated sheer power.

On the forehead of each black rhino was a single horn, which glinted with a dark luster under the sunlight.

Despite their imposing appearance, these black rhinoceroses were actually quite docile, showing not the slightest hint of ferocity.

Thanks to their weak Demon Beast bloodline, not only were the black rhinoceroses tremendously strong, but they also had remarkable stamina and speed.

In merely three hours, the caravan had already covered a good distance.

The road had changed from the wide avenue with a width of over ten meters when they left the city to a bumpy mountain trail.

Lu Qingshan sat leisurely at the front of one of the cargo carts in the caravan, his eyes slightly squinted, appearing quite relaxed and content.

After receiving his mission, Lu Qingshan had cautiously gathered information about his employer.

The Lin Family, a small cultivator family in Yuanshan City, controlled a vein of qingguang stone.

Qingguang stone, a First Grade ore, wasn’t overly precious, but it was commonly used in the creation of Magic Artifacts, making it a popular material.

So, with this vein of qingguang stone, the Lin Family had managed to flourish decently well.

The head of the Lin Family was a Foundation Establishment Mage at the initial stage, but his time was nearly up.

If the Lin Family couldn’t produce a second Foundation Establishment Cultivator before the Family Head passed away, the decline of the family would be inevitable.

-- Without a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, they couldn’t hold onto the qingguang stone vein.

The Ma Family, not far from the Lin Family, had been coveting the qingguang stone vein for a long time.

As for why the Lin Family needed to transport such a large shipment all the way to Zhenjiang City a thousand miles away, one must mention the origins of the Lin Family.

The Lin Family of Yuanshan City had broken away from the main Lin Family of Zhenjiang City many years ago.

Although they separated from the main family, the two have maintained some faint connections over the years.

For instance, every three years, the Yuanshan City Lin Family would tribute a large quantity of qingguang stone to the main family in Zhenjiang City in exchange for some support.

These dozen or so carts full of goods were all qingguang stones meant for tribute to the main Lin Family in Zhenjiang City.

Due to the large amount but low individual value of the qingguang stones, they had to resort to this mundane mode of transportation for goods to Zhenjiang City instead of using Storage Artifacts.

The reason was simple, the worth of a Storage Artifact capable of holding so much qingguang stone far exceeded the value of the stones themselves.

In previous years, the Lin Family could escort these qingguang stones to Zhenjiang City using their own people.

But with the Family Head’s time drawing to a close and the family urgently needing to cultivate a second Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the Family Head along with several elders from the family had recently set out to slay a Second Grade Demon Beast in exchange for a few Foundation Establishment Pills.

Although they ultimately succeeded in killing the Second Grade Demon Beast, several elders, as well as the Family Head, were seriously injured and now had to recuperate quietly in their caves.

With the tribute matter being of such importance and with no other option available, Lin Yao, the Family Head’s daughter who rarely made public appearances, had to lead the team personally to escort the qingguang stones to Zhenjiang City.

Due to insufficient manpower, coupled with the urgency of time, they had no choice but to post a hiring mission with the Demon Hunter Alliance.

The rise and fall of such small families are very common, trivial matters in the cultivator’s world.

Lu Qingshan didn’t care.

As long as they could take him to Zhenjiang City, that would be fine.

...

The caravan had been traveling for a day.

The journey had been extremely peaceful, so peaceful that Lu Qingshan began to feel somewhat idle.

Considering the situation, these thirty First Grade spirit stones were going to be an easy gain.

Perhaps because of this reason, the mood of the other demon hunters accompanying the caravan also seemed to improve, and they started to chat and laugh.

Lu Qingshan glanced back.

There was a carriage there, inside of which was the mysterious daughter of the Family Head of the Lin Family, Lin Yao.

Throughout the day, Lin Yao hadn’t shown herself, leaving all the affairs to be handled by Lin He.

Lu Qingshan would occasionally see Lin He, through the curtains of the carriage door, quietly reporting something to Lin Yao.

Thump—

Someone knocked on the side of the cargo truck where Lu Qingshan was located.

Lu Qingshan looked in the direction of the noise and saw it was a middle-aged demon hunter named Mu Shan.

"What is it?" Lu Qingshan frowned and asked.

With such a bold gesture, this Mu Shan obviously came with a provocative intent.

But why?

"Kid, I see you’ve kept silent all the way here, looked pretty suffocated!" Mu Shan’s voice was rough, and his tone was very unrestrained.

Both being Qi Refining cultivators, instead of addressing each other as fellow daoists, calling Lu Qingshan ’kid’ contained a certain disdain.

Lu Qingshan bowed his hands towards Mu Shan: "This ’kid’ myself is reserved by nature. If I have disturbed the fellow daoist in any way, I hope you can be accommodating."

While the words sounded extremely polite, the actual translation meant something like, "None of your business if I don’t talk, right?"

Being countered by Lu Qingshan in such a manner, Mu Shan didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Upon noticing the cultivators from the Lin Family snickering, he felt he had lost face: "You little brat, you think you’re worthy to be on par with me? You probably just started cultivating and reached the first layer of Qi refinement, oblivious to how high the sky and how deep the earth is."

Lu Qingshan smiled without a word, watching Mu Shan with a calm expression.

Seeing that Lu Qingshan was impervious, and not wanting to actually start a fight, Mu Shan could only skulk away in defeat.

Watching Mu Shan’s retreating figure, a hint of suspicion flashed in Lu Qingshan’s eyes.

If he were a spoiled scion from a major family it might make sense, but Mu Shan appeared to be just a demon hunter, evidently a loose cultivator.

Loose cultivators are always characterized by being cautious and painstaking.

What sort of loose cultivator would provoke a stranger over some inexplicable reason like Mu Shan?

How could a loose cultivator with Mu Shan’s disposition have survived until now?

Something was off.

With this thought, Lu Qingshan subconsciously cast a Heavenly Eye Technique towards Mu Shan.

——————

Mu Shan (Human Race)

Profession: Body Cultivation

Cultivation Technique: [Everlasting Spring Art]Lv7 (345/700) —— [Spiritual Power +70, Health Recovery +1]

Rank: Qi Refinement

Personal Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 1, Mana 1, Divine Soul 1, Charm 1, Stamina 4

Health Points: 48/48

Spiritual Power Value: 70/70

Skills: Segment Intent lv3 (single-target attack skill), Eight Extremes Collapse lv1 (single-target attack skill with control effect), ???, ...

...

——————

Looking at the data information in front of him, Lu Qingshan’s gaze sharpened.

It seemed he had discovered something strange.

A thought surfaced in his mind.

Could it be?

Lu Qingshan cast Heavenly Eye Technique on several other demon hunters in the caravan to verify his guess.

Afterward, Lu Qingshan couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Indeed, these thirty First Grade spirit stones were not going to be easy to earn.