“ROAR——!” A tremendous roar capable of shaking the mountain and forest burst forth from Qin Ming’s bronze bell magical instrument!
The sound was deafening, maintaining a continuous, enraged howl!
Judging purely by its sheer momentum, it was truly terrifying!
With Qin Ming at the center, countess waves of sound surged out like a rising tide, sweeping across the area like clouds driven by a gale, spreading outward layer by layer in all directions.
The bizarre shrieks of the Mad Howling Monkeys were completely engulfed and submerged within it!
The eerie sonic waves emitted by the monkey pack were shattered in an instant.
In the nearby spirit fields, the blood-red color in the eyes of the surrounding spirit farmers gradually faded, and their clarity of mind slowly returned.
The low-grade Mad Howling Monkeys were so terrified that they scattered and fled in all directions.
The few Mad Howling Monkeys that were poised to attack Qin Ming and Alchemist Su inside the array were closest to the bronze bell’s attack range.
Shaken by the massive sound waves until their diseased fur stood on end, every single one of them revealed looks of sheer terror, shivering violently.
However, that Tier-One Middle-Grade Mad Howling Monkey, after a brief moment of alarm and doubt, hesitated for only a few breaths before reverting to its fierce and vicious state.
It did not seem to be overly affected.
“Screeech—screeech—screeech—!” It shrieked into the sky once more, attempting to rally the pack to charge forward again!
Clearly, it had picked up on the flaw in this Beast-Taming Art—that it was all thunder and no rain, incapable of inflicting any actual physical harm on them.
Flashy on the outside, useless on the inside.
…
‘Good grief, is this supposed to be the Beast-Taming Art?
It feels more like the Lion’s Roar Skill!’ ‘And an amplified version with a loudspeaker attached, no less.’ Qin Ming himself had been startled.
Casting the Beast-Taming Art just a single time had drained a full fifth of the magic power inside his body in an instant.
However, seeing that his first time using the Beast-Taming Art had proven effective against the monkey beasts, his mind settled slightly.
“Daoist Qin actually knows the Beast-Taming Art!” Standing behind him, Alchemist Su was greatly surprised, his eyes sizing Qin Ming up repeatedly.
He didn’t quite know how to evaluate the person in front of him anymore.
“It works sometimes and fails others.
Alchemist Su, please excuse my crude display.” “Daoist Qin, watch out!
Those Mad Howling Monkeys are coming back!” Hearing this, Qin Ming immediately snapped to attention, hurriedly circulating his magic power to strike out with another Beast-Taming Art!
…
After the span of half an incense stick…
Finally.
High in the sky, a massive flying vessel streaked through the air in a flash of radiant light, arriving directly above their spirit fields in an instant.
Qin Ming focused his eyes and saw Deacon Gu of the Spirit Feather Sect, leading a team of outer disciples to reinforce them.
‘At least they made it in time.’ He let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
Just now, he had used up all five charges of the [Beast-Taming Art] trait in one go.
At this moment, Qin Ming’s face was pale, and his Dantian felt completely hollow.
If not for the fact that his Everlasting Spring magic power was double that of ordinary cultivators…
Had Deacon Gu and his team arrived even one step later, he would have truly run out of fuel.
He had even been prepared to burn his stored [Faint Spiritual Energy] traits just to keep himself alive.
This sudden raid by demonic beasts had happened in the blink of an eye, lasting for less than seven and a half minutes in total.
Compounded by the bizarre sonic attacks, everyone had been caught completely off guard.
“Hmph!” “For days now, we searched everywhere without finding you wretched beasts, only for you to be hiding right under my nose!” Deacon Gu was clearly furious enough to burst.
The damage to the spirit fields this time was far from minor.
As the chief official in charge of spirit rice tax collection, he was bound to face punishment from within the sect.
With a flick of his finger, a crimson flying sword shot out from Deacon Gu’s hand!
A rainbow beam of light flashed, carving a sharp arc through the air.
Clang!
The flying sword passed straight through the lead Tier-One Middle-Grade Mad Howling Monkey in an instant.
The air fell dead silent.
A streak of blood-red light surfaced along the monkey from top to tail, and it was sliced clean into two halves by a single sword strike!
The monkey corpse collapsed limply to the ground.
‘Perfection of Qi Condensation…
terrifyingly formidable!’ Qin Ming stared blankly at Deacon Gu’s thunderous methods, completely dumbfounded.
The arrival of the Spirit Feather Sect members marked the end of the crisis.
Leading his disciples, Deacon Gu rapidly cleared out and slaughtered the remaining Mad Howling Monkeys.
Not a single monkey escaped the net.
In the short term, no further demonic beasts should bother the vicinity of the spirit fields.
“Who was the one who cast the Beast-Taming Art earlier?” After clearing the scene, Deacon Gu stepped back onto the flying vessel and turned his head to ask the crowd before departing.
Hearing this, Qin Ming fell into thought.
In the cultivation realm, he didn’t dare show off too much brilliance.
When it came to handling matters, Qin Ming had never deferred to anyone in terms of caution; unless strictly necessary, he only showed off within bounds he could absolutely control, taking not a single grain of extra risk.
“It was Daoist Qin.
We owe it to him this time.” Alchemist Su took a step forward, actually speaking up on his behalf.
“Oh?
Alchemist Su is here as well?” “I was so consumed by anger just now that I didn’t notice.” A rare, faint smile squeezed out from Deacon Gu’s stiff face.
“So he is the spirit farmer who cultivated the Beast-Tooth Rice?
Record a merit for him this time; reduce his spirit rice tax for this quarter by ten percent.” Deacon Gu narrowed his eyes and sized Qin Ming up twice, but couldn’t see anything extraordinary about him.
He then issued a cold command to Du Haifu standing beside him.
Du Haifu pulled an expression that looked worse than eating filth, hastily bowing: “Yes, yes, yes, it shall be done immediately.” A ten percent reduction naturally meant a reduction out of his own cut…
“Alchemist Su, what we discussed previously still stands.
If you change your mind, you are welcome to visit me at the Spirit Feather Sect encampment anytime,” Deacon Gu said with utmost seriousness to Alchemist Su.
“I’m used to a casual life and truly dislike being constrained.
Please grant me some more time to consider…” “Very well.
I have urgent matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave first.” With that, Deacon Gu departed with his disciples to report back on his mission.
Qin Ming let out a breath of relief.
He surveyed the mountain slopes that had been devastated by the monkey pack.
Only his spirit field and those of a few other spirit farmers had managed to escape unscathed.
Among the rest, three or four spirit fields had suffered losses exceeding half their crops.
More than a dozen spirit farmers on the mountain had perished on the spot, all falling victim to the Mad Howling Monkeys’ sonic wave bewitchment and dying at the hands of one another in fratricidal slaughter.
Apart from Qin Ming and Alchemist Su, the remaining surviving spirit farmers had all sustained injuries to varying degrees.
Gazing at the corpses strewn across the spirit fields, an indescribable feeling surged from deep inside Qin Ming’s heart.
‘Sigh…’ Bottom-tier spirit farmers like them were merely working themselves to the bone just to eke out a living.
Yet in the end, they could not withstand a single sudden calamity.
‘If Alchemist Su hadn’t recognized those demonic beasts, my fate today would likely have been no different from those spirit farmers out there.’ ‘Right…
I wonder how Cai Old Jiu is doing?’ Qin Ming suddenly remembered his neighbor.
“Daoist Qin, I truly owe you one this time.” “If not for your Beast-Taming Art breaking the pack’s sonic attack, had those beasts swarmed us together, it would have been very difficult for you and me to come out unharmed today.” Alchemist Su walked over and kindly retrieved a bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills, handing it to Qin Ming.
Qin Ming was startled for a moment.
After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t decline and accepted the pills.
Opening the jade vial, there were a whole five Qi-Replenishing Pills sitting inside.
He immediately poured out one pill and swallowed it, sitting down on the spot to regulate his breathing and restore his magic power.
A short while later, a touch of rosy color returned to Qin Ming’s pale face, and he felt slightly better.
“Alchemist Su, please collect the Crimson Spirit Dew in the field first.
I’m going over to check if Cai Old Jiu is alright.” After standing up, Qin Ming notified Alchemist Su.
He then hurriedly rushed toward Cai Old Jiu’s spirit field plot.
To his surprise, however…
Halfway along the mountain path, Qin Ming ran headfirst into Cai Old Jiu.
At this moment, he looked completely covered in dirt and soot, injured in several places and looking thoroughly disheveled.
He was limping his way upward, leaning on a tree branch he had picked up off the ground.
Cai Old Jiu looked up and happened to see Qin Ming, bouncing around full of life as if nothing had happened at all.
He broke down on the spot.
“No way?
How come you don’t have a single scratch on you, kid?!” Cai Old Jiu had originally been worried sick about Qin Ming’s safety, but right now, he found the contrast utterly unacceptable.
“Cai Old Jiu, how are you?
The injuries aren’t too severe, are they?” “Sigh, who knows where that pack of crazy monkeys came from.” “It’s good that you’re fine.” Seeing that the other party only suffered superficial injuries, Qin Ming felt relieved.
“What do you mean ‘fine’?!” “I don’t know which bastard fell under the monkey’s spell, but someone actually stabbed me right in the ass with a spirit-hoe handle!” “Damn it!
Don’t let me find out who it was!” “…” Supporting his lower back with one hand while leaning against a nearby tree with the other, Cai Old Jiu asked indignantly, “You haven’t answered me yet!
How come you’re completely fine?” “Could it be those monkeys are your relatives or something?
They couldn’t bring themselves to lay a hand on you?” Qin Ming replied, somewhat speechless, “Isn’t it just a coincidence?
I happened to run into Alchemist Su.” “If he hadn’t been there, you’d probably be burning joss paper for me right now.
Sigh…”