Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 22 Leaving the Mountain

As the year draws to a close, everywhere is filled with joy and decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations.

"Senior sister, it's so lively down the mountain this year. I could see red lanterns hanging all over the place from afar when I was on the mountain."

Jian Muyi excitedly gestured to the scene below the mountain.

Ji Tinghan put down his brush and said calmly, "The market is still a long way off. It'll probably be a few more days before the big market."

Su Wusi, clutching his sword, shook the snow off his shoulders: "How did Fourth Senior Brother know?"

Xue Xin walked in carrying a pot of warm ginger tea, his body radiating cold air: "When he accompanied me to shop yesterday, he specifically asked, 'No rush, the market lasts for three days, Mu Yi, you should focus on practicing your sword.'"

Luo Zai Shui put down the ancient book in her hand, took the ginger tea that Xue Xin handed her and took a sip: "Let's invite our senior brother to go down the mountain for a stroll sometime. It's been a long time since we've been down the mountain."

"Then I'm afraid we'll have to go down the mountain today." Shi Ming used his spiritual power to dispel the chill from his body as he walked in. "It seems there's a demonic problem on the southwestern border."

Jian Muyi had a headache: "They really are a bunch of troublemakers. It's almost Chinese New Year, can't they just be quiet for once?"

Luo Zai Shui, on the other hand, seemed quite calm: "The snow is heavy this year, so the demonic beasts probably can't find food and are attacking people. Has the sect leader said how many there are?"

"It's hard to say. Master said the Qian family gave us a lot of spirit stones to ask for our help."

Luo Zai Shui recalled, "I remember that the Qian family's medicinal herb business mainly deals in herbs from the southwest. After this incident, they should be in a hurry to ask for help."

Jian Muyi couldn't help but mutter, "Are all the powerful families these days so powerless? Why do they always need our help with everything?"

Xue Xin was well aware of the current situation of those aristocratic families: "Now the aristocratic families can only be described as outwardly strong but inwardly weak. Take the Qian family for example. Although they are a large and powerful family, most of their fighters are hired from outside. They must be short-handed."

Luo stood up at the water station: "It's the ordinary people who will suffer. Let's pack our things and leave quickly. We need to get back for the New Year."

Shi Ming nodded: "We'll fly there on our swords faster. You guys pack up first, I'll go report to Master."

Xie Jing didn't really want Luo Zai Shui to go, but he knew she wouldn't stay alone on Xianyun Peak, so he let her go. He figured that since she had eliminated so many demons, nothing would go wrong.

The gathering place for all the clans was Nanling, where the Qian family lived.

The area where the First Money Family is located is permeated with the aura of money, and all kinds of magnificent buildings have sprung up in this city where every inch of land is precious.

However, the young master of this region had no time to worry about such things.

"You've finally arrived."

Looking at the much more haggard-looking young master Qian, Luo Zai Shui realized that this matter was indeed a headache for him.

Jian Muyi couldn't help but start mocking: "It's actually Young Master Qian who personally came out to greet you."

Ji Tinghan had a toothache: "Senior sister, next time we go out, let's not take him with us. I'm afraid he'll be beaten to death by someone before we even finish our mission."

Su Wusi chimed in, "I think so too. Fifth Senior Brother can be really annoying sometimes."

Xue Xin smirked: "Haven't you guys fought enough?"

Luo Zai Shui recalled for a moment: "Back then, your senior brother and I would beat him every time he had a sharp tongue in order to correct his habit of talking nonsense?"

Su Wusi concluded: "It seems that the correction was unsuccessful, and the new skill of being sarcastic and unpleasant has been successfully unlocked."

Jian Muyi was heartbroken: "Do you really have to talk bad about me to my face like this?"

Shi Ming's silence seemed to say: What else?

Qian Kuo scratched his head in frustration: "There's nothing I can do. My dad and the others went to discuss business, leaving me to manage things at home. This whole thing just happened. I immediately arranged for people to catch the demon, but those guys are too cunning. We still need to leave the demon-slaying to the professionals."

Shi Ming raised an eyebrow: "You mean you wrote to the five major sects in your father's name requesting support, and offered each of them five thousand high-grade spirit stones?"

Qian Kuo disagreed: "That's right, isn't this the simplest way to find reliable helpers? You help me get rid of the monsters, and I'll give you spirit stones. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

Luo Zai Shui looked at this extravagant child with a headache: "Does your father know about this?"

Qian Kuo said confidently, "I don't know, but he should find out soon. Those old fogies in my clan are always trying to use this to suppress me. This is my last resort. If my people were more capable, it would have been resolved long ago."

"No." Luo Zai Shui felt that the child had missed the point of her question. "I wanted to ask if your father knew that you were going to pay 25,000 high-grade spirit stones to the five major sects?"

Qian Kuo scratched his head: "So what if I know? I'm going to use my private treasury. Let's make it clear first, the demon cores you hunt are mine."

Shi Ming sneered, "Young Master Qian has a good plan. According to the rules, whoever hunts the demon beast gets its demon core."

Qian Kuo, exposed, showed no embarrassment: "The rules are like this. How about this: since I've hired you, five thousand high-grade spirit stones will be the minimum down payment for this trip. As for the monsters you hunt later, I'll buy them at market price if they're at the Golden Core stage or above. As for those below the Golden Core stage, you can give them to me for free. Anyway, nobody buys monster cores below the Golden Core stage, so keeping them with you would be a waste."

Xue Xin smirked: "Do you think we don't have any medicinal cultivators here? Besides, wouldn't the Huayu Sect be at a disadvantage if they came? Even if we agree, they might not."

Qian Kuo waved his hand: "No, I still need to purchase pills from them to distribute to the injured people, borrow people from the Metallurgy Sect to help with the reconstruction, and purchase talismans to ward off evil spirits from the Linghai Sect. Anyway, you won't be short of money."

"That's great!" Nie Xushuang, who had just landed, squinted her eyes with delight upon hearing this. She loved customers like this who were generous.

Chu Yeli landed right after him: "If the money is right, everything is negotiable."

"So, only we and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect are laborers?" Jian Muyi finally understood. "They rely on their brains, while they rely on brute force."

Qian Kuo raised an eyebrow: "Who told you to have so many sword cultivators?"

No sooner had the words been spoken than the Wanjian Sect and the Metallurgical Sect arrived.

Ye Xiao first greeted Qian Kuo, and then greeted Luo Zai Shui: "Greetings, Junior Sister Luo."

"Greetings, Senior Brother Ye."

Luo nodded in greeting.

Aside from Luo Zai Shui, everyone on Xianyun Peak inexplicably hardened their fists. They had no idea what this guy was doing waving around in front of his senior/junior sisters every day!

"Alright, alright." Qian Kuo really didn't have time to deal with them anymore. "I'll leave this to you. I need to go back and settle accounts. You can do whatever you want with these people. We can't let them do nothing. Just find an inn tonight and I'll reimburse your food and lodging. You'd better not come to my house. It's too smoky and you won't be used to it."

After saying that, Qian Kuo disappeared in a flash, looking very busy.

The remaining five sects looked at each other in bewilderment.

Nie Xushuang spoke first: "The usual?"

Chu Yeli yawned: "We'll go hunt monsters, and you go rescue people. When you need more monster cores, just give us the corresponding amount of pills."

“Alright!” Nie Xushuang readily agreed, then turned her gaze to the Myriad Swords Sect.

Ye Xiao, holding the sword, said calmly, "Our sword needs maintenance."

The implication is that they are short of money and will not cooperate this time.

Sun Heng of the Metallurgical Sect readily agreed, but as for Xianyun Peak, they have medicinal cultivators and are not so lacking in pills, so they are not included in the scope of cooperation.

Shi Ming, holding his sword, looked at Luo Zai Shui and asked, "Junior Sister, do you have a tracking talisman?"

Ji Tinghan took out the talisman paper he had prepared in advance: "My senior sister told me to prepare it before she left."

Luo Zai Shui stood on Su Wu Si's sword and smiled: "Then everyone, this time it's up to you to rely on your own abilities."

Having said that, the group had already vanished without a trace on their swords.

Watching the figure gradually disappear, Nie Xushuang couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of Xianyun Peak, their speed is truly impressive."

Chu Yeli seized on another point: "No, she's been in seclusion for over half a year, and she still doesn't have a Golden Core?"

Ye Xiao led the Wan Jian Sect members to catch up, leaving behind the words: "If we don't hurry, Junior Sister Luo and the others will be wiped out."

The Metallurgical Sect also took out its magical artifact and followed.

"No, are you all this enthusiastic?" Chu Yeli asked, puzzled.

Nie Xushuang smiled and said, "Perhaps it's been too long since we last met, and everyone wants to show off their recent strength. Don't you want to see how much you've recovered after your seclusion in the water?"

Chu Yeli said he didn't want to, but he threw out more than a dozen talismans in succession: "I don't want to lose to those guys from Xianyun Peak."

The snow in the suburban forests was about a foot thick, and with each step you would bury yourself deep in it. The snowflakes would then melt, taking away the body's warmth.

Looking at the forest, which wasn't even a single bird feather in sight, Jian Muyi couldn't help but question, "There's not a single bird feather here, Ji Tinghan, are you sure you didn't draw the talisman wrong?"

Ji Tinghan frowned: "The demonic energy did indeed disappear from here."

Luo looked around at the water: "With such thick snow, it's impossible that the monster didn't leave any trace."

Shh, listen.

At Shi Ming's prompting, the group seemed to hear the breathing of some kind of beast.

"There it is!" Shi Ming immediately pinpointed the location of the object and thrust his sword at it.

The snow leopard, having been spotted, charged out and let out a roar.

Everyone brandished their magical weapons to fight back.

"A snow leopard at the Golden Core stage, truly impressive!"

Jian Muyi's tone revealed excitement.

Snow leopards are known for their speed and strength, and they are also very cunning, making them particularly difficult to deal with even those at the Golden Core stage.

Shi Ming took the lead with his sword, followed closely by Su Wusi and Jian Muyi, while the other three were responsible for distracting the snow leopard and thus restraining it.

"Ow—"

The snow leopard, clearly outmatched, suddenly became agitated, and Shi Ming was nearly injured by it.

"Be careful." Luo Zai Shui noticed the snow leopard's eyes were glowing an abnormal red. "Something's not right with it."

After several tugs and pulls, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Jian Muyi finally dug out the snow leopard's demon core and collapsed to the ground.

Jian Muyi, still shaken, clutched the gradually cooling demon core: "This snow leopard must be crazy."

Luo Zai Shui glanced at Su Wu Si: "This matter is probably not simple."