Vampire Cultivation Notes

The courtyard gate was closed again.

As dusk fell, Li Jieqing changed into a black robe and went out the back door.

Ignoring the figures following me, I hurried along until I reached North Street.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, give me a few of your Thunder Pills."

In the North Street Market, Old Liu was taken aback when he heard this.

After a long pause, he finally replied, "How much does Fellow Daoist Zhao want?"

"How many do you have!"

"Fellow Daoist, you don't even leave the workshop to hunt demonic beasts, so what use do you have for this?"

"It's just for protection. If you don't have it, I'll go somewhere else," Li Jieqing said impatiently.

The Thunder Ball is a one-time use magical artifact that can be activated with just a few strands of magical power. When projected, its power is equivalent to a strike from a regular late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, making it highly popular during the Qi Refining stage.

Aside from being a bit pricey, it has no major drawbacks.

Wanbaoge sells each spirit stone for seven.

It's cheaper on North Street, sometimes five yuan, sometimes six yuan.

With the recent outbreak of the beast tide, the price has basically stabilized at six yuan.

Old Liu still has five more here, which he got from a rogue weapon-wielding master. He's handing them all out now.

The Thunderball is about the size of an infant's fist, grayish-white in color, with flashes of lightning occasionally passing over it.

"Fellow Daoist, have you encountered some trouble?" Old Liu carefully handed over the Thunder Pill and asked.

"Alas, we've suddenly been blocked at the door by the Yu family... By the way, Fellow Daoist Liu, do you have any clues?"

Li Jieqing took the thunder pill, his expression thoughtful.

"No! How could I possibly have a clue!"

Old Liu's voice got a little louder.

Just then, the noisy North Street suddenly fell silent, making Old Liu's voice seem abrupt.

"?"

Just as they were wondering, a sudden burst of urgent drumbeats came from the top of Wanbao Pavilion in the center of the market.

One sound, two sounds, three sounds...!

In the end, the drumbeats continued for a full quarter of an hour and still showed no signs of stopping!

Amidst the drumbeats, a patrolling monk leaped into the market from the entrance, vomiting blood and calling out incessantly along the way.

"The fishing grounds and spirit fields have all been destroyed! The beast tide is coming!!"

"The entire area under the jurisdiction of the market town, including several spirit fish farms and 120 hectares of spirit fields, has been occupied. The demonic beasts have arrived!"

Chaos erupted on North Street upon hearing this, and some people hurriedly gave chase.

"How many of them actually came this time?!"

"How many more? A beast tide! A beast tide!"

After the roar subsided, the urgent drums atop the Wanbaoge Pavilion finally ceased.

Instead, Li Jieqing seemed to vaguely sense that the entire earth was trembling, and something was surging towards him.

"Fellow Daoist, I'm not selling the Thunder Orb anymore, give it back to me!"

"Dream on!"

Holding up the five thunderbolts, Li Jieqing turned and left, ignoring Old Liu's heartbroken cries and the notices hastily posted by the market officials, offering high prices to recruit rogue cultivators as guards.

Who could have imagined that this beast tide would be so fierce, suddenly reaching a climax after half a year?

Just from the description, Li Jieqing knew that this must be one of the largest beast tides since the establishment of Taipingfang City.

I'm only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, I can't afford to mess with them, I'm outta here.

Outside Taipingfang Market at this time.

At the edge of the earth, dark shadows loomed over like dark clouds. As they drew closer, countless demonic beasts approached the largest spiritual vein in the area, which was Taiping Market, occupied by cultivators.

Suddenly, the demonic wind condensed into malevolent energy, and the beast tide completely reached the market area.

Dozens of white tigers leaped from the beast tide, their bodies, averaging several meters in size, crashing onto the magic array and roaring in unison.

Just a few feet apart, the archway bestowed by the Ruyi Sect stands tall, with the two characters "Taiping" (Peace and Prosperity) shining brightly above it.

On the top of the market.

Beams of sword light rose up, and the entire Taiping Market seemed to come alive. The sword light was an extension of it, descending from the sky and slashing into the beast tide.

The spray of demonic blood halted the charge of the beast tide.

Only the group of white tigers continued to roar, and their heavy roars had already reached into the market.

"These demonic tigers have gone mad! We can't afford the benefits of the market; I should avoid their advance..."

"No need to back up, look behind you!"

The process of conscripting rogue cultivators to the front lines ceased, and behind them, inside the market town, a flying boat took off into the air.

An old man stood lightly on the flying boat, dressed in a five-colored black robe, stroking his beard with one hand.

On the top of Wanbaoge, another elegantly dressed female cultivator flew into the sky on a long scarf, fearlessly breaking free from the protection of the market's array. The scarf fluttered as it crashed down on the beast tide.

"It's Master Baozhou! The master of Taiping Market, he's a formal disciple of the Ruyi Sect, possessing extraordinary abilities!"

"And then there's Fairy Shecai! The head manager of Wanbao Pavilion, half of the 120 hectares of spirit fields in the market belong to her, she's rolling in gold and jade!"

"With two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators appearing simultaneously, we should be able to hold our ground no matter what..."

The morale of the rogue cultivators who came to their aid soared.

A batch of local demonic beasts were eliminated when the Ruyi Sect opened its workshop a hundred years ago, with all the second-tier great demons killed.

Even if a second-tier great demon doesn't appear, and a first-tier demon beast has a strong demonic aura, it's unlikely to be a match for two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

"Such heavy malevolent energy, but unfortunately it's chaotic and disorganized, making it unusable for cultivation. Instead, it's just polluting my magical power."

"...And these peak first-tier demonic beasts, who knows how many years they've been hiding, trying to take advantage of the opportunity to advance on the spiritual veins in the city...that's troublesome."

The Venerable Baozhou, who arrived by boat, looked down at the surging beasts and made a decision after a moment.

"You rogue cultivators, having come here upon receiving this notice, quickly follow me out of the market and charge into battle. I will personally bring up the rear."

"what?"

Master Baozhou's voice echoed throughout the archway area, and the gathered rogue cultivators stared at each other, seemingly doubting whether they had misheard.

The new cultivators who have arrived in recent years are too naive. If they were old people from Taipingfang City, like Old Liu or someone else, they would have been nowhere to be seen by now.

Now, however, there is no other choice but to fight a fierce battle.

……

……

"Hold on! The market is just ahead!"

In the wilderness, heavy breathing swept across the mud.

Jiang Wei and his wife were in a sorry state. They had already used up their levitation talisman and could only use their remaining magic power to cast a lightness spell, running frantically toward the illuminated magic array area in Taipingfang City.

A month ago, a horde of beasts surged and surrounded Taiping Market, and the magic array has been running day and night ever since.

Taiping Market also began to close, and countless independent cultivators were trapped inside, unable to leave or come out.

Only a few cultivators dared to leave the protective array and go out, either because they were confident in their cultivation and wanted to hunt demons, or because they were struggling to make a living and had no choice but to go out, or for various other reasons.

Jiang Wei and her husband belong to the third type.

The two men struggled to get through the archway, and before they had walked more than a few steps along the street and caught their breath, the scattered cultivators gathered there began to look over.

Even though Jiang Wei and his wife were disheveled and in a sorry state, they were quickly recognized and inevitably pointed and whispered among themselves.

These two are cultivators who have undergone tribulation; they are in grave danger, so we must be careful.

"...Unfortunately, I returned in such a hurry that I didn't try to cover it up."

Ignoring the surrounding noises, Jiang Wei cursed under his breath, pulled out a thunderbolt from his hand, and headed down the path.

When the onlookers saw him take out the thunder pill, their pointing and whispering finally subsided.

His wife followed, wiping the mud from her face, and said angrily, "What old friends and acquaintances! They only know how to kick someone when they're down. When my family rises up, let's see if they'll still tolerate these scoundrels!"