Cultivating in Different Professions

"I must be crazy."

Xue Shan sat with his back against the stone wall, panting heavily.

"I’m a goddamn assassin! Why the hell am I here rescuing people with you guys?"

"For silver."

Wu Yiqi sat across from him, also leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.

Xue Shan rolled his eyes.

"Crazy! Everyone else is running away, and we’re jumping right into a trap."

Xue Shan said, rolling his eyes, "Now we’re really fish in a barrel."

"They don’t dare to rush in," Wu Yiqi said.

Not far away, Su Mu stood holding the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow, his gaze fixed on the cave entrance.

One man guarding the pass could hold off ten thousand.

The cave entrance was only so wide. If the Tier Three Demons dared to charge in, they would be unable to dodge an arrow from the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow.

So, as long as the men didn’t go out, the demons wouldn’t dare to come in.

This bought them time to recover.

Otherwise, if they had kept running, they would have eventually been overtaken by the Tier Three Demons once their strength gave out.

"They can’t get in, but they’re guarding the entrance, so we can’t get out. Even if all three of us are in the Rebirth Realm, we’d be lucky to last ten days without food or water."

Xue Shan sighed. "Besides, if they can’t get in, they could use fire. Or, they could just collapse the mountain and bury us alive."

"If you keep giving them ideas like that, we really are going to die," Su Mu snapped.

The Tier Three Demons might not have thought of these methods, but if Xue Shan kept talking, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t overhear him.

Xue Shan quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

After a moment, he couldn’t help but speak again. "Say, if we all recover our strength, you think the three of us could fight our way out, taking turns with the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow?"

"Difficult," Wu Yiqi uttered a single word.

"Very difficult," Su Mu also said slowly. "These four Tier Three Demons are all equivalent to High-Tier True Essence Realm masters. Unless we catch them by surprise, the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow will have a hard time killing them outright.

"They’re on guard now. Even if we take turns with the bow, it’ll be tough to kill them."

"So we’re doomed?" Xue Shan sighed.

"This is unacceptable! The price has to go up!"

Xue Shan suddenly shouted, "Ten thousand taels of silver per person is a huge loss! I want more money!"

Wu Yiqi was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend Xue Shan’s train of thought.

’We’re about to die, what’s the point of silver?’

"Fine. We’ll count by the head. Twelve thousand taels per person rescued," Su Mu said.

"No! Fifteen thousand taels, minimum!" Xue Shan shouted.

"Thirteen thousand taels."

"Fifteen thousand taels. Not one tael less."

"..."

Wu Yiqi watched the two of them haggling, his face a mask of confusion.

’Is silver really that important?’

He had never touched silver in his life and had no interest in it.

He simply couldn’t understand the point of them haggling over a few thousand taels of silver.

THUD! THUD!

Footsteps echoed from the mouth of the cave.

TWANG! Without hesitation, Su Mu loosed an arrow.

BOOM!

The Tier Three Demon that had tried to rush in was sent flying backward. Five-colored flames erupted at the entrance, and in an instant, a shower of shattered rock fell, nearly blocking off half the opening.

For a moment, the four Tier Three Demons milled about the entrance, not daring to make another reckless attempt.

Su Mu tossed the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow to Wu Yiqi.

"Your turn to watch. I need to recover," Su Mu said casually.

Wu Yiqi nodded, got to his feet, and gripped the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow, his eyes glued to the cave entrance.

Su Mu immediately sat down cross-legged and began to silently restore his strength.

...

In the mountain forest, the horrifying screams had lasted for over two hours.

The demons inside the translucent barrier of light were finally all reduced to ash.

Zhao Poni, Lin Qi Huan, and the others, including some Sect Martial Artists, all stared at each other in stunned silence.

Terrifying!

Absolutely terrifying!

Those dozen or so Taiping Captains had actually set up such a terrifying Array here.

Dozens of Tier Two Demons, along with so many Tier One Demons, had been turned to dust in the blink of an eye.

"The Wuling Taiping Bureau has Array masters?" one Sect Martial Artist whispered.

"I’d believe it if you said the Taiping Bureau Headquarters had Array masters, but why would someone like that be in a small place like Wuling City?" another Sect Martial Artist shook his head.

Array masters were rare to begin with. Even within the Taiping Bureau, such individuals were treated as treasures and would almost always be cultivating at the Taiping Bureau Headquarters. It was highly unlikely for one to appear in a place like Wuling City.

In a small place like Wuling City, even if someone had a talent for Arrays, they would have no opportunity to learn them, making it difficult to develop that talent.

"Regardless, does this mean... we’ve escaped?" one person said.

Joy bloomed on everyone’s faces. That’s right, their pursuers had been completely wiped out. They were safe.

The Taiping Bureau was reliable, after all.

"We’re not safe yet!"

Zhao Poni said in a low voice, not bothering to ask about the Array. "Don’t forget, there are still those Tier Three Demons!"

The color drained from everyone’s faces.

"Go! Don’t stop! Keep moving! Back to Wuling City!" Zhao Poni said without hesitation.

This Array was fine for holding off Tier Two Demons, but it couldn’t stop Tier Three Demons.

"Lord Zhao, what about Su—Captain Su?" Luo Anning couldn’t help but ask.

"He’s covering our retreat. We leave first," Zhao Poni said grimly. "You all head back to Wuling. I’m going to Jingzhou to request reinforcements.

"Tier Three Demons have appeared on the outskirts of Daxing Mountain. Wuling City can’t hold out alone; we need the provincial Taiping Bureau to send people."

Luo Anning was silent for a moment.

She knew that with her current strength, she was of no help to Su Mu at all.

She tightened her grip on the Command Flag in her hand, making a silent vow. ’I must train harder. Otherwise, if something like this happens again, I’ll be just as helpless.’