"Let's go take a look!"
Upon hearing the loud noise from afar, Ji Yuan only pondered for a moment before quickly rushing towards the source with Zhou Lianying by his side.
Logically, in an unknown environment, it would be best to stay as far away from such disturbances as possible to avoid falling into danger.
However, he was confident in his own strength, capable of ensuring their safe retreat even if they encountered danger. Furthermore, he hoped to rendezvous with others, which might resolve some unnecessary troubles.
At least with companions, he could conserve some of his spiritual energy and retain more strength when facing unexpected situations.
In about fifteen minutes, the two were already extremely close to where the previous loud noise had originated.
After a little longer, sounds of fighting could be heard from a distance. Among them, a few angry shouts sounded somewhat like Li Buwei's voice.
Ji Yuan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he strode forward. Zhou Lianying followed closely behind, maintaining a distance of no more than five steps from him.
Soon, they passed through the forest and arrived at an open space.
Before them, two people were fighting against several shadowy figures. Spells were continuously cast, snapping trees in half and expanding the clearing.
As the surrounding trees were broken, the flexibility of the shadowy figures was greatly reduced. Although their speed remained astonishing, it was at least less bothersome.
Under the faint glow emanating from beside them, Ji Yuan recognized them instantly: Li Buwei and Hong Lie. They had also obtained the same night-shining pearls as he had.
"Those shadowy figures... they look a bit like the monsters we encountered earlier?"
Zhou Lianying gazed intently at the shadowy figures.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan immediately swept his gaze over them and clearly saw their forms revealed by the glow.
Their figures bore some resemblance to the monstrous creatures with green faces and fangs they had encountered before, but they were not as robust, appearing rather thin.
However, apart from their slender build and deep black fur, there were no other significant differences.
After observing for a moment, he noticed that these black-furred monsters seemed to possess higher intelligence and stronger physiques.
Yet, while their movements were agile and their speed extremely fast, their strength had diminished. They were not as powerful as the bluish-green furred monsters outside the forest.
"Fellow Daoist Ji, please lend us your assistance!"
Seeing the two observing from the edge of the forest, Li Buwei grew anxious and called out loudly.
He and Hong Lie both possessed cultivation at the early stage of the second realm. In theory, they should not fear these monsters, which lacked any cultivation.
However, these black-furred monsters were inherently agile and possessed extreme speed, which perfectly countered them.
No matter how many spells they cast, they couldn't land a hit on the monsters. Their prolonged fighting was merely a waste of spiritual energy.
Ji Yuan frowned slightly. If Hong Lie was helpless, then there was nothing to say. But he didn't believe Li Buwei had no means to deal with them.
At this point, the man was still trying to conceal his true strength.
After a moment of contemplation, he ultimately decided to respond to the request. After all, Li Buwei hiding his strength must have a purpose, and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
For him, it might even be beneficial at a critical moment.
Thus, after only a moment of thought, he reached for his waist. With a swing of his arm, a whip's shadow broke through the air.
Under the layers of whip shadows, no matter how agile or fast the black-furred monsters were, they were still torn and bled, sent flying three to fourzhang away in mid-air.
Watching the black blood splatter in the air, Ji Yuan's eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't help but speculate.
In a matter of mere breaths, the black-furred monsters were killed under the heavy whip shadows, their lives extinguished and their bodies lying scattered on the ground.
"Thanks to Fellow Daoist Ji's intervention, otherwise with these beasts' speed, I truly wouldn't know what to do."
Li Buwei hurried forward, forcing a wry smile, and thanked him repeatedly.
However, Ji Yuan frowned, a look of displeasure, even anger, appearing in his eyes.
Sensing this, Li Buwei subconsciously glanced to the side and saw Hong Lie squatting beside a monster, prodding at it with a short blade, seemingly looking for anything of value.
In the mortal world, the fur of ordinary beasts could fetch a good price in copper coins, and well-made leather could be worth hundreds of taels of silver.
Let alone the fur of rare species or even demonic beasts, most of which could be used as materials for talismans or for crafting protective robes.
However, these monsters were killed by Ji Yuan. Even if there were valuable parts on them, they were his spoils of war.
Moreover, he had come to their rescue. Regardless, he should have approached to offer thanks. Such actions were bound to incur anger, and even Li Buwei was displeased at this moment.
"Fellow Daoist Hong, why don't you quickly come and thank Fellow Daoist Ji for his assistance?"
Seeing Li Buwei's displeased tone, Ji Yuan chuckled inwardly. It was not in vain that he deliberately put on that expression earlier.
If he hadn't intended to test them, he wouldn't have intentionally displayed displeasure or even slight anger.
As his words fell, as if sensing Li Buwei's dissatisfaction, Hong Lie came over with a sheepish grin. However, he didn't even look at either of them, instead focusing his gaze on Zhou Lianying.
Earlier, when they first entered the mountain protection formation, he had gone through a fierce battle and his mind was greatly shaken. He had no energy to pay attention to anything else.
Now that his mind had settled, he had a bit more leisure and noticed that accompanying the young Taoist was a strikingly beautiful girl. His thoughts immediately turned active.
"Hmph, Fellow Daoist, you'd best mind your eyes, or you might suddenly go blind."
Ji Yuan's expression darkened. He spoke out with uncharacteristic warning.
According to his usual behavior, he would have already drawn his sword or, at the very least, rained down a barrage of talismans. He wouldn't waste so many words.
The only reason he didn't was that he intended to keep this person around to test the depth and background of the others.
Of course, if the other party continued to be so unappreciative, or even made any unwise moves, he wouldn't mind ending him on the spot.
As if sensing a faint killing intent, Hong Lie immediately withdrew his gaze. Under Li Buwei's glare, he smiled sheepishly, apologized, and then added a perfunctory thank you.
"Fellow Daoist, do you know what 'inheritance qualification' means?"
Seeing the night-shining pearl in his hand, Li Buwei suddenly asked.
Ji Yuan shook his head. "I was about to ask Fellow Daoist about that matter."
Their gazes met briefly, then quickly separated. It seemed as though nothing had happened, but only in their hearts did they feel a slight anomaly.
"If Fellow Daoist also doesn't know, then why don't we follow the pearl's guidance and continue onward?"
He said, his eyes flickering.
Li Buwei exclaimed "Excellent!" and then waited quietly, as if expecting Ji Yuan to lead the way.
Ji Yuan sneered inwardly at this and then, with Zhou Lianying, continued to look towards the depths of the forest.
With each step they took, the glow emitted by the night-shining pearl in his hand grew stronger, serving as a clear indication of the direction.
At the same time, he noticed that Zhou Lianying beside him was frowning slightly, as if suppressing her anger.
Ji Yuan then realized that Hong Lie, following behind them, had his gaze fixed on the girl. Anger flared up in his heart.
Fortunately, Li Buwei also noticed this and let out a cold snort as a warning to Hong Lie beside him, causing him to retract his gaze. Otherwise, Ji Yuan would have lost his temper and acted in the next moment.
He didn't take a mere mountain-dwelling rogue cultivator to heart. While he remained cautious, he was still confident he could suppress the other party with a flick of his hand.
In their silence, they had unknowingly walked over twenty li. The glow emanating from the night-shining pearls in their hands had already extended to over forty zhang.
Within this radius, it was like daylight, making it somewhat uncomfortable for those who had grown accustomed to the darkness of the underground arena.
"There's movement!"
Ji Yuan suddenly stopped, warning the others around him as he scanned the surroundings.
However, after a long while, there was no sign of anything unusual in the surrounding forest, and even Li Buwei couldn't help but frown.
Just as Hong Lie let out a cold sneer, a look of disdain appearing on his face, a sharp howl suddenly rang out.
Ten breaths later, their faces turned grim. They could already hear countless footsteps rapidly approaching.
Soon, dense numbers of black-furred monsters appeared within the forty-zhang radius of light, their faces contorted as they charged towards the group.
Having experienced this before, Li Buwei and Hong Lie immediately formed seals with their hands and cast spells, breaking the surrounding trees to clear an open space.
Following this, Ji Yuan drew the long whip from his waist and casually whipped away seven to eight of the fastest monsters.
"How did these monsters know we were here?"
Zhou Lianying subconsciously looked at the night-shining pearls held by the two. There was no need for further explanation; the answer had already dawned on them.
In the darkness, having a moving light source like this would be visible from a great distance. Moreover, they suspected the object might have the ability to attract monsters.
How it achieved this was not their immediate concern.
The most important thing right now was to clear out the surrounding monsters.
Having gone through it once, Ji Yuan knew that this group of monsters would not retreat easily before suffering heavy casualties.
However, with the other two present, he could no longer deploy the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda and had to resort to other methods.
This would inevitably lead to more consumption. Although his spiritual energy was far more abundant than that of ordinary cultivators, he didn't want to waste it here.
"Fellow Daoist, if you continue to hide your strength, I will not accompany you any further."
Seeing that Li Buwei was still concealing his abilities, Ji Yuan couldn't help but say in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Li Buwei forced a wry smile and, with a flip of his palm, produced a crimson furnace.