Chapter 67: Preparing to Wrap It Up

From this day on, the disciples of Tianxuan Sect training in the Windy Gorge and the external cultivators noticed a rather strange phenomenon—the Windy Rats were far more active than usual, visible everywhere as they scurried about busily.
Yet even so, capturing them became much harder. These lowest-tier demonic beasts seemed to have grown smarter; they no longer acted alone but gathered in groups to warn each other, making it difficult to trap them with ordinary snares.
“I guess something major has happened within the Windy Rat colony. Their king must be getting married?”
Similar jokes spread quickly among the human cultivators, but most didn’t take it too seriously, as the Windy Rats were only slightly abnormal and hadn’t caused much trouble.
In a cave in the gorge, two small mounds piled up in Su Che’s presence—one filled with various minerals and the other with various plants. These were the “treasures” collected by the army of Windy Rats.
After all, being the lowest-tier demonic beasts, they had limited intelligence. Though the “treasures” forming the two mounds seemed numerous, many of them were worthless to Su Che. The Windy Rats had contributed them simply because they thought they were delicious or interesting.
Of course, among them were genuine spiritual herbs and minerals, such as over twenty roots of the Underground Poison Vine, more than forty Wind Spirit Herbs, over thirty Thousand Gold Herbs, over twenty Brilliant Separation Flowers, and hundreds of valuable ores…
Roughly estimated, these items were worth thousands of spirit stones, and this was merely the harvest of the Windy Rat army in one morning. If Su Che stayed in the gorge for a month, the value of the spiritual herbs and minerals he could collect would be immeasurable.
However, that would make it difficult for other human cultivators to gain anything in the Windy Gorge in the short term, likely leading to complicated situations.
“Fifty thousand spirit stones!”
Su Che gave instructions to Lao Hei, “Remember, keep a tight grip on things. This time, I’ll be very satisfied if we can obtain fifty thousand spirit stones worth of special products. Make sure they don’t overdo it.”
“Don’t worry, master,” Lao Hei replied. “I already have a plan. I’ll handle it carefully so those human cultivators won’t notice anything.”
“Good.”
Su Che happily stored away these spiritual herbs and minerals.

Speaking of which, among the specialties of the Windy Gorge, aside from the special spirit herb like the Underground Poison Vine, the rest are all low-grade items. To gather a total of 50,000 spirit stones, even three or five Cosmic Pouches wouldn’t be enough—especially since unrefined ores take up a lot of space. Fortunately, besides the Cosmic Pouches, Su Che also has a small world like the First Layer of the Immortal Prison, where he can store all the non-perishable ores. The Cosmic Pouches are used only to carry various spirit herbs, ensuring that their spiritual energy and medicinal effects remain intact for now. I’m rich! This trip to the Windy Gorge wasn’t in vain after all. Who would have thought that the most detestable rats would help me earn such a huge profit… Indeed, money can make even ghosts grind mills. Now, whenever Su Che sees the rat tail behind Old Black, it seems even more pleasing to his eyes. “Old Black, from now on, you don’t need to tie up your tail anymore.” “Haha, great!” In the Immortal Prison, Old Black’s long tail swished loudly, even forming several beautiful whip-like movements… Another day passed, and a certain rat king sent news to Old Black: a human cultivator had been found in the central area of the Windy Gorge, with features extremely similar to Han Zuo Jing, especially the dark red birthmark on his right temple. “Good, go capture him!” Su Che immediately set off, heading deeper into the Windy Gorge. Along the way, Old Black reminded him again, “Master, that rat king also said Han Zuo Jing isn’t alone; he has a few companions with him.” “That’s certain,” Su Che had already anticipated this. “With his strength, he wouldn’t dare enter the Windy Gorge alone.” After three hours of travel, covering over 600 miles, they finally reached the central area of the Windy Gorge. Along the way, they encountered several scattered cultivator groups trying to stop them for robbery. Su Che had important matters to attend to and was too lazy to engage with them. He used his rapid movement techniques and defensive spirit talismans to withstand their attacks and push through without fighting. Hidden among some rocks in the gorge, Su Che waited patiently for Han Zuo Jing and the others to fall into his trap. “There are four of them. Besides Han Zuo Jing, there’s the young couple who ambushed you and the Lei siblings last time; and another female cultivator in her twenties who seems quite close to Han Zuo Jing. They just killed a Black Gold Python and are skinning and butchering it to divide the loot.”

Lao Hei’s detection abilities had already made it possible to see everything clearly dozens of feet away. Due to the obstruction of many boulders, plants, and side paths in the canyon, Su Che could definitely not see these things with the naked eye.

As for the cultivation levels of the four of them, there was no need for Lao Hei to explain—there was definitely no progress; they were still at the third level of Qi Cultivation. This was because those who surpassed the third level were not allowed to enter the Yin Wind Canyon. The enforcement team stationed here by the Tian Xuan Sect managed this aspect quite well.

Su Che set up an ambush, planning to launch a surprise attack on Han Zuo Jing and the others when they passed by. Unexpectedly, he heard Lao Hei report, “Master, three outer disciples from the Tian Xuan Sect are coming from the other side. They are also at the third level of Qi Cultivation. They are heading toward Han Zuo Jing and the others.”

Lao Hei transmitted everything he saw to Su Che in the form of mental images. The three outer disciples all appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, and they didn’t have the identity jade tablets of the Ten Major Peaks around their waists, indicating that they were just among the largest number of lower-level disciples in the Tian Xuan Sect.

One of the sect’s rules was: if a disciple reached the age of twenty but still hadn’t advanced to the middle stage of Qi Cultivation (the fourth level), their status as outer disciples would be revoked, and they would be demoted to self-practicing disciples. Only by advancing to the later stage of Qi Cultivation (the seventh level) before the age of thirty could they return to the sect.

These three youths were already at the bone age of nineteen, constantly facing the immense pressure of being expelled from the sect. In order to obtain more cultivation resources to break through their cultivation barriers, they might resort to reckless and unscrupulous methods…

Sure enough, Su Che’s prediction was correct. The three outer disciples approached Han Zuo Jing and the others, immediately issuing arrogant threats and demands: “You guys are lucky to have hunted an adult Black Golden Python… There’s no need for more talk. This is a training ground for our Tian Xuan Sect disciples. Since we happened to find you here, everyone who sees it deserves a share. Give us the Python’s gallbladder and the demon pill, and the rest can stay with you. Otherwise…”

Han Zuo Jing and the others looked displeased, but they were already used to such situations. In the Yin Wind Canyon, there was constant competition between Tian Xuan Sect disciples and independent cultivators—whichever side had the upper hand could plunder the others’ possessions.

This kind of competitive environment was actually deliberately created by the higher-ups of the Tian Xuan Sect. Since it was a training ground, the more complicated the situation, the more meaningful the training would be. After all, since everyone was at the initial stage of Qi Cultivation, it could be considered a fair competition.

At this moment, although the three disciples of Tianxuan Sect were at a numerical disadvantage, their overall strength was on par with Han Zuo Jing and the other three. After all, the individual strength of a sect disciple is naturally slightly greater than that of an independent cultivator at the same level.

In fact, neither of the two opposing teams wanted to actually fight. Because once a battle started, even if no one was injured, there would still be consumption in terms of spirit talismans, pills, and other resources. In that case, a mere Black Golden Python might not be enough to make up for the losses.

So, the two groups began bargaining, just like old women in a market arguing endlessly over trivial gains.

After listening for a while, Lao He grew impatient: “It’s just a Black Golden Python. At most, it’s worth a few dozen spirit stones. Is it really worth fighting over?”

“We can’t blame them for hesitating,” Su Che thought to himself. “Even for a super sect like Tianxuan Sect, an outer sect disciple only gets ten spirit stones per month. Moreover, independent cultivators have an even tighter budget, having to be very careful with every spirit stone. If it weren’t for you and Xianyu, I’d end up in the same situation too.”

Lao He chuckled. It was not appropriate to judge his master in this regard.

After a brief pause, Su Che said, “How about we just capture them all at once? What do you think?”

“Great idea!” Lao He exclaimed excitedly. “Just as they say, everyone gets a share. Since we’ve encountered them, let’s take them all out together.”

“There are so many ores in Xianyu waiting to be refined. The more people there are to work, the better…” Su Che nodded. “Then let’s capture them!”