Chu Ming left, but he went alone. Red Moon and the other three stayed behind in Ironfire City. Before he left, Chu Ming gave two Demon Cores to them.
Riding the Blue Star Horse galloping on the official road, Chu Ming felt a sense of exhilaration and freedom. It was until now that he felt truly integrated into the martial world, understanding its survival rules.
The Blue Star Horse sprinted, covering dozens of meters in the blink of an eye. The scenery on both sides quickly moved backward, becoming a blur.
The night sky had no stars, and a waning moon hung high. Thick clouds slowly moved across the horizon, covering the sky.
"It looks like it will rain later tonight. Better find a place to rest for the night!" Amidst the dark path, the crisp sound of horse hooves approached. Chu Ming, riding on horseback, thought.
Initially, he planned to travel overnight, hoping to reach Cyan Smoke City by dusk the next day. Now, it seemed impossible.
After traveling for a while, distant lights came into view.
The village was small. By gathering Spiritual Power into his eyes with the aid of dim moonlight, Chu Ming could easily see which house had lights and which houses were larger.
To be honest, encountering a village in the wild now was quite rare. Due to the Demon Beast rampage, the villagers had migrated to nearby cities for safety. Staying in the village was a dead end.
In a moment, Chu Ming arrived at the village entrance.
The sound of horse hooves had already awakened many, and lights turned on in several houses. Noisy voices were heard, evidently grabbing their tools.
With a few sounds of doors opening, a group of people emerged from the surrounding houses, holding weapons.
"Who are you? Why did you come to our village?"
"I’m telling you, we’re not afraid of you!"
A barrage of questions caused Chu Ming to smile bitterly. He gently slapped the ground with his palm, causing a loud bang. A meter-deep pit appeared on the hard surface, dust swirling.
"I just need a place to stay for one night. I’ll leave tomorrow. With my strength, dealing with you all is too easy." Chu Ming said casually, while scanning the crowd. They were just villagers, not very strong.
The leading villager was a man in his forties, dressed humbly in grey cloth, holding a black iron Wolf Fang Club.
He examined Chu Ming’s clothes. No one in the village practiced martial arts, and they didn’t recognize the Cyan Yang Sect’s Inner Sect attire. However, the fabric’s quality indicated it was very valuable—just a corner would be sufficient for a month’s living expenses for a family.
Looking at Chu Ming’s face, it was handsome and devoid of the fierce aura of bandits or horse thieves; he didn’t look like a bad person.
"He’s not a bad person. Everyone, disperse!" The man called to the villagers, and they dispersed, returning to their homes.
"Young hero, you can stay, but the accommodation fee..." The man hesitated, looking embarrassed and hesitant.
"Here you go!" Chu Ming took out a piece of silver from his pocket and threw it into the man’s hand, causing him to be overjoyed. The village’s living standards were low; a tael of silver could support a family for a month. Five taels could sustain them for half a year with frugal living.
"Has a Beast Tide happened here?" Chu Ming asked while observing the village. He noticed the village was peaceful, though somewhat old, with mud bricks falling off and exposing stones underneath.
"Beast Tide? In recent years, I haven’t even seen wild beasts around the village, let alone a Beast Tide." The man spoke honestly, feeling puzzled himself. In previous years, wild beasts would appear around the village, allowing them to occasionally improve their meals. Although they lacked strength, they could use traps and poison to kill ordinary wild beasts. But now, they couldn’t find even one.
Chu Ming furrowed his brows, not believing the man was lying. The tranquility of the village showed no signs of beast harassment.
"Where should I tie my horse?" Chu Ming asked, holding the horse’s reins.
"We have a tree behind our house. You can tie it there!" The man pointed behind. Chu Ming led the horse to the back, where he found an old crooked tree, half broken and cracked. Nonetheless, it was still suitable for tying the horse.
He tied the horse and took out fodder from his Storage Ring, placing it in front of the horse. He gently stroked its neck, and the Blue Star Horse lowered its head to eat, snorting out two puffs of grey air.
"It might rain soon. Find some men to set up a shed for the horse and distribute this silver to them." Chu Ming handed two more pieces of silver to the man, who nodded happily and left.
At that moment, the man’s wife had already tidied up an empty room for Chu Ming to stay.
The room was small, furnished with a bed, a table, and a chair, along with an oil lamp hanging on the wall. The lamp emitted an orange-yellow light, barely illuminating the whole room.
Once inside, the man’s wife wisely left and closed the door. Chu Ming sat cross-legged on the bed, taking out a Middle Grade Spirit Stone from his Storage Ring to cultivate. Immediately, rolling Spiritual Power continuously flowed into his Dantian.
Chu Ming had been using Middle Grade Spirit Stones for cultivation, consuming one every four days. Lower Grade Spirit Stones had little effect on his cultivation now.
The more he thought about it, the more grateful he felt to the deceased person from the crack. Without him, Chu Ming wouldn’t have obtained so many Middle Grade Spirit Stones. Although the Chu Family had plenty of them, he needed to reach the True Dao Realm to use them.
It was late. The waning moon was hidden by clouds, leaving the world in darkness and silence.
Chu Ming could hear the steady breathing of the man’s family. Without undressing, he lay down to sleep, remaining partially alert.
In the latter half of the night, heavy rain indeed started pouring down, washing away the dirt and grime of the earth.
Suddenly, Chu Ming opened his eyes, grabbed his Silver Light Sword, and looked surprised as he carefully opened the door, hoping not to wake the family.
Although there was no moonlight, martial artists had keen senses. With Soul Power comparable to the Guiyuan Realm, Chu Ming’s use of Spiritual Power in his eyes allowed him to faintly see objects within a hundred meters.
The man’s house was on the eastern edge of the village. A few steps outside led to the official road, which had a withered forest beside it. At this moment, Chu Ming vaguely saw several small and large shadows flickering in the withered forest.
Two-headed Demon Wolf, Sword Red Tiger, Cyan-Scaly Beast.....
It turned out to be a group of Demon Beasts of various types, nearly a hundred in number. Although they were First and Second Level Demon Beasts, insignificant to Chu Ming who could eliminate them with a few sword strokes, they posed great danger to the unarmed villagers.
Just as Chu Ming was about to act, he suddenly saw a delicate figure standing before the Demon Beasts, seemingly talking to them.