Chapter 21: How Is That Possible?

“Bai Lu, come down!”
Qu Yi shouted from the ground.
The Golden-Crowned Egret immediately flew down, landing beside Qu Yi and standing neatly, no longer making a sound.
Since Qu Yi had reached the later stage of Qi Guidance, he had slain numerous mid-stage Foundation Establishment monsters throughout the Misty Demon Mountains. Even some late-stage Foundation Establishment monsters with undeveloped intelligence had been killed by him. As a result, this Golden-Crowned Egret no longer dared to act arrogantly toward Qu Yi, let alone use its head to bump into him as before. Now, whenever it saw Qu Yi, it wished it could pull its head back into its belly.
Qu Yi’s combat power was too great, and the Golden-Crowned Egret felt deep fear.
Bai Man stood beside Qu Yi, watching the egret’s pretended composure, and burst into hearty laughter.
“Senior Sister, let’s go up. I’ll take you to a place,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile, jumping onto the egret’s back first.
Bai Man raised her beautiful eyes slightly and pursed her lips, realizing that another discovery had been made regarding the mysterious treasure on Qu Yi’s body. She immediately followed and climbed onto the egret’s back.
“Bai Lu, fly low ahead!”
Qu Yi tapped the egret’s back a few times casually, giving the flight command.
The Golden-Crowned Egret had already been trained by Qu Yi; it had fully memorized all the techniques and the corresponding flight patterns.
With a chirp, the egret obeyed the command and flew steadily close to the ground.
“Qu Yi, what have you discovered again?” Bai Man couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Senior Sister, there’s a strange monster nearby. Let’s catch it,” Qu Yi replied with a faint smile, his eyes fixed on the ground.
Seeing Qu Yi remain evasive, Bai Man snorted lightly, pressed her lips together, and stared at his back.
…
In the Misty Demon Mountains, the team leaders and elders of the Immortal Cloud Sect not only protected the safety of their apprentices but also had their own special missions.
The Immortal Cloud Sect had two cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage—besides the sect leader Huai Qing, there was also Master Dong Zhen, who was at the mid-stage Yuan Ying level. During his recent travels, Master Dong Zhen discovered a late-stage Foundation Establishment monster in the Misty Demon Mountains: the Gold-Eating Rat. As soon as his spiritual sense scanned it, the Gold-Eating Rat sensed it and burrowed underground, disappearing.
The Gold-Eating Rat had a peculiar preference—it only ate Red Flame Pure Iron. Its appearance in the Misty Demon Mountains indicated that there must be deposits of Red Flame Pure Iron somewhere in those mountains.
Red Flame Pure Iron was an extremely high-grade material for crafting weapons, capable of being used to create precious artifacts. More importantly, mineral veins of spiritual stones usually accompanied deposits of Red Flame Pure Iron.

Spirit Stones can be used by cultivators to quickly replenish their vital energy and accelerate their cultivation progress. For a cultivation sect to thrive, a large supply of Spirit Stones is essential.

When Master Dongzhen discovered the Gold-Eating Rat, he thought of all this. Since he had no chance to obtain one himself, he decided to let his sect’s disciples try their luck.

Thus, taking advantage of this opportunity for lower-level disciples to gain experience, Master Dongzhen sent most of the Golden Core stage elders in the sect to hunt for the Gold-Eating Rat. Whoever caught one would be granted the right to mine the Red Flame Ferrous Ore and Spirit Stone veins in the Misty Demon Mountains.

Those with mining rights would undoubtedly have priority access to these resources, allowing their disciples to cultivate much faster.

The twenty elder leaders were busy searching for the Gold-Eating Rat throughout those nine months, while the lower-level disciples worked hard to gain experience, and the elders persisted in their search…

The Golden Crown Heron flew slowly, with Qu Yi keeping a close eye on the ground. Soon, they arrived at a barren rocky area overgrown with weeds.

Hidden in the grass beneath some rocks was a golden demonic beast the size of a human palm, resembling a rat, with two sharp fangs that shimmered with a golden glow. When the beast noticed the Golden Crown Heron in the sky, it also spotted Qu Yi and Bai Man on its back.

A mid-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast? An early-stage Qi Guidance human cultivator? Or just an ordinary human?

The beast’s spiritual sense was keen, and it quickly assessed the strength of Qu Yi, Bai Man, and the Golden Crown Heron based on the fluctuations in spiritual energy.

No danger!

The beast was at a late Foundation Establishment stage, especially with those two fangs—It was confident that dealing with these three intruders would be a piece of cake.

When Qu Yi reached above the golden demonic beast, he suddenly stood up, swayed as if unsteady, then fell straight down.

The beast immediately noticed Qu Yi’s situation and, in an instant, decided to use its fangs to kill the human cultivator the moment he landed.

Hmph, my fangs are invincible. Killing you, wretched human cultivator, will be a breeze—such was the beast’s thought.

Bai Man screamed from the Golden Crown Heron and leaned forward to look. She saw Qu Yi waving his arms and blinking at her, realizing it was a deliberate act, so she calmed down.

Qu Yi screamed loudly as his body plummeted rapidly.

Only three meters above the ground!

The monstrous beast suddenly leaped upward, its two sharp fangs glowing with golden light, even infused with golden qi—clearly aiming to bite Qu Yi to death as he fell. Just as the golden fangs reached Qu Yi’s throat and its mouth was about to close! Qu Yi’s body suddenly dropped sharply, causing the beast to miss its bite, while Qu Yi’s hands transformed into claws. With a swift strike, he actually trapped the beast between his hands, the qi infused in his palms knocking it unconscious. Earlier, Qu Yi had used the technique “Imperial Land’s Might,” suddenly increasing his body’s weight, thereby drastically slowing his descent. Though this tactic was risky, Qu Yi had full confidence in himself and carried it out resolutely. “Haha, Qu Yi, you’ve caught this beast! What kind of monster is it that makes you take such a risk?” Bai Man asked anxiously as she descended from the sky. “Sister, this beast is very important—it’s a Gold-Eating Beast!” Qu Yi said joyfully. The Spirit of Tools within Qu Yi’s soul also had a strong sense of perception toward the outside world. Having detected the Gold-Eating Beast and knowing its uniqueness from his experience in crafting, it instructed Qu Yi to capture it, leading to this encounter. Soon, Qu Yi took out his spirit bag and placed the unconscious Gold-Eating Beast inside. Suddenly, two figures appeared in the air. “Qu Yi, I finally found you!” Before they arrived, their voices were heard—it was actually Liu Qingfeng’s voice. Immediately afterward, Liu Qingfeng and Mu Qiushui descended together, standing about a hundred meters away, smiling at Qu Yi and Bai Man. “Liu Qingfeng, Mu Qiushui, did you two come here together to deal with me?” Seeing their smug expressions, Qu Yi understood their intentions and asked directly without hesitation. Hearing this, Bai Man’s face turned furious as she shouted, “Liu Qingfeng, Mu Qiushui, what do you want?” Liu Qingfeng just watched smiling, refusing to answer. Mu Qiushui’s gaze turned icy as she said coldly, “Qu Yi, Bai Man, you two mocked me at Cloud-Pursuing Peak. Back then, I couldn’t deal with you. But now that we’re both in the Misty Monster Mountains, killing you won’t cause me any trouble.” With her strength at the mid-stage of Foundation Building, Mu Qiushui spoke without restraint. Very blunt! Qu Yi’s eyes turned cold, his killing intent surging. A smile suddenly appeared on his lips as he said, “Liu Qingfeng, Mu Qiushui, do you really think you can defeat me? Hehe…” As his laughter continued, Qu Yi moved. Every inch was worth a fortune!

Qu Yi used the metal-element speed technique from “Five Qi and Three Flowers,” extracting all the metal true energy from his body to maximize his speed. In an instant, he covered the distance of a hundred meters!
Liu Qingfeng never expected Qu Yi to attack first and noticed that Qu Yi’s true energy fluctuations indicated he was already at the later stage of energy control. Realizing that Qu Yi had been hiding his true strength, Liu felt a surge of danger.
At that moment, Qu Yi’s target was none other than Mu Qiushui.
Mu Qiushui, who was at the middle stage of foundation building and practiced water-element techniques, was not fast.
“Qiushui, be careful!”
As someone at the later stage of foundation building, Liu Qingfeng’s spirit immediately reacted upon seeing Qu Yi’s move, warning Mu Qiushui. At the same time, a green wooden sword appeared around him and was shot toward Qu Yi.
The ability to form a spirit and wield a sword for attack was the terrifying power of being at the later stage of foundation building.
When Qu Yi saw Liu Qingfeng’s wooden sword coming, he ignored it completely and charged forward, braving the attack head-on with his bare body.
Bang!
Liu Qingfeng’s wooden sword struck Qu Yi, producing a loud noise. Blood flowed from Qu Yi’s mouth, and he used the momentum from the collision to speed up even further, aiming straight at Mu Qiushui.
Mu Qiushui held the Water Shadow Sword, with water true energy swirling around it, ready to defend against Qu Yi’s attack. But Qu Yi’s speed increased even more, leaving her true energy unable to keep up, causing her to panic.
“Eight Clouds Converging into a Dragon!”
Determined, Qu Yi knew he could only attack first and had only one chance, so he used his strongest move. From eight directions, eight golden energy vortices formed due to metal true energy, suddenly merging into a giant golden dragon that rushed at Mu Qiushui.
“Ah!”
Mu Qiushui tried to block with her sword, but it broke instantly. Then the golden dragon struck her, crushing her to pieces.
With one strike, Mu Qiushui was dead!
Qu Yi stood ten meters in front of Liu Qingfeng, holding the Green Python Sword, wiping the blood from his mouth and smiling coldly.
“How is this possible?”
Liu Qingfeng stared at the pool of blood in shock, his eyes filled with fury, but he didn’t retaliate immediately. Instead, he looked at Qu Yi in terror.
“How is it not possible?”
Qu Yi smiled in reply, though his heart was pounding with anxiety. His decisive attack had been made while Liu Qingfeng and Mu Qiushui were unaware of his true strength, giving him a slim chance to turn the situation around. Another factor was the golden card, the carrier of the “Five Qi and Three Flowers” divine technique, which served as his shield to defend against Liu Qingfeng’s attacks.

Golden cards can be used as defensive armor, which is something Qu Yi only learned recently. With the guidance of the Artifact God, he was finally able to use them. Although they can only provide the lowest level of defense, they are sufficient to deal with Liu Qingfeng.