Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Mud and water splattered on his boots, but Ning Che didn't turn around.

Three footsteps followed.

Lin Ye's footsteps were the heaviest, like an iron hammer smashing into the mud, each step sending up a splash of water. Zhong Hongyao's were the lightest, rapid and even. Zhao He's footsteps had lost their rhythm; where he stepped and how deep he stepped were completely random, like someone who had just learned to walk.

Ning Che recited the Ice Purification Mantra and opened his all-hearing ears to the maximum.

The three eighth-rank rat demons had not yet caught up, and the surroundings fell silent again, with only a few bubbles occasionally rising from the swamp.

Did they give up because the four-eyed rat demon was severely injured?

It's not impossible, but we must not place our hopes on the enemy's hesitation or caution.

Moreover, given the combat intelligence displayed by the four-eyed rat demon, it is entirely possible that the opponent has set a trap or made other preparations.

He needs information, especially in situations like this.

Blindly moving forward, if we crash into a trap the enemy has already laid, the whole team will perish.

Just then, there was a fork in the road ahead.

He glanced at the three of them and made a quick decision: "Split up. The three of you go the other way, I'll go back. If you encounter any problems, follow Zhong Hongyao's instructions. After you get out, go to Caixia Village, I'll find you there."

"No!"

Lin Ye immediately objected: "It's too dangerous for you to go alone! That four-eyed rat is very cunning; he might be hiding somewhere. We should go together!"

"Stop talking nonsense and get going!"

Ning Che gave the direct order.

"Brother Xing—"

Zhao He growled in a low voice, his face contorted with anguish: "Chen Mu cannot have died in vain!"

"I know the Cicada Step technique; even if we're ambushed, I can escape. Chen Mu won't have died in vain, I guarantee it."

Ning Che turned around and took out the porcelain bottle that Zhong Hongyao had given him when he was preparing to fight Hu Shan.

It's time to put it to use.

He pulled out the cork, tilted his head back, and swallowed it all.

Behind him, Zhong Hongyao pursed her lips, said nothing, and immediately ran towards the fork in the road. Zhao He gritted his teeth and followed. Lin Ye cursed and finally said, "Come back alive."

As Ning Che listened to the footsteps of the three people gradually fading away at the end of the fork in the road, his tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but he immediately became extremely vigilant again.

A continuous stream of power was rising within him, causing his strength to surge by at least 50%, and his physical fatigue and depletion of magical energy were gradually recovering.

This is really good medicine, I wonder if it has any side effects...

The thought flashed through my mind.

He stepped across the mud with the Cicada-Chasing Step, without even disturbing a ripple. After taking two steps back, he suddenly gripped the Crescent Moon Blade in his palm and deliberately drew a line in the muddy water.

Ripples spread out.

Almost instantly, three powerful demonic auras suddenly exploded from the dense forest behind them, and the figures of three eighth-grade rat demons shot out like black lightning, following the sound!

The Taoist talisman issued a warning.

They did indeed follow, but they used some kind of magic to conceal their movements, like lurking venomous snakes, waiting for them to reveal a weakness.

A cold glint flashed in Ning Che's eyes. Instead of taking the hit head-on, he swayed and used the Cicada Chasing Step to its fullest extent. Like a startled swan under the moon, he darted several feet towards the depths of the swamp, just avoiding the sharp claws of the three rat demons that were surrounding him.

He certainly didn't expect to be able to fight three against one. He had only two objectives in this battle: first, to buy time so that they could leave safely; and second, to find out their situation so that he could deal with them in the future.

The three rat demons, having missed their attack, disappeared into the nearby mud. Even with Ning Che's keen hearing activated, he couldn't find them.

Ning Che was not in a hurry and continued to wield his sword in place, maintaining an impenetrable defense.

But wielding the knife takes a toll, and after only a few minutes, his movements slowed down.

The next moment, the Taoist talisman issued another warning.

Two sharp claws attacked him from the left and right, but instead of retreating, he advanced and thrust out a knife.

The sword is the courage of all weapons!

The blades surged wildly, engulfing everything in their path like an avalanche. The two eighth-rank rat demons couldn't dodge in time, and even with their defensive spells, they couldn't withstand the attack and were cut.

One of them was more seriously injured, Ning Che silently noted it down, and at the same time withdrew his sword.

The third rat demon's spell, which it had been holding back, struck precisely when his old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated, causing his tiger's mouth to go numb.

A temporary victory cannot reverse the huge gap in strength.

The three rat demons launched a fierce counterattack, and he was exhausted from defending himself, fighting and retreating. By the time his feet sank into the mud, his body was covered with seven or eight crisscrossing wounds.

It seems there is no way out.

But the three rat demons' attacks began to slow down.

They were driving him away.

Like a shepherd driving sheep, leading them into a pre-designated sheepfold.

Ning Che's heart skipped a beat, and his movements suddenly stopped. Instead of retreating, he turned around and swung his sword. The frost-colored sword light surged, and he once again unleashed Avalanche, slashing fiercely at the injured eighth-grade rat demon on the far left!

The two rat demons beside them knew the power of this attack and both dodged it, neither daring to meet it head-on.

The rat demon was clearly not expected to suddenly turn the tables on him. Startled, it let out a shriek and hurriedly raised its claws to block.

"when!"

A deafening clang of metal rang out, and the rat demon was forced back by the force of the blade, its claws severed by the edge, black blood spurting out.

Using the force of the recoil, Ning Che leaped backward and rushed towards the dense forest on the left—a direction completely opposite to the depths of the swamp, and also the path leading to the outer perimeter.

But he had only taken two steps when the mud beneath his feet suddenly exploded!

Yellow, red, blue, and white light suddenly shone, and a rotating halo shot out from the mud, heading straight for his face.

Four-eyed rat demon!

It still has energy left!

Ning Che was prepared. He used the Cicada Step to turn sharply, twisting his body in mid-air to avoid the light circle.

But in that brief moment of delay, three rank-eight rat demons caught up and joined forces with the four-eyed rat demon to encircle him, once again blocking all his escape routes.

The only gap in the encirclement was at the deepest part of the swamp.

Ning Che held the knife in one hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground, his chest rising and falling slightly, his gaze fixed on the four-eyed rat demon.

Then they retreated.

Previously at the outpost, it clearly had the opportunity to kill itself, but only killed Chen Mu; during the breakout, the three eighth-rank rat demons could have caught up with them, but they always lagged behind at a leisurely pace; now, they are going to great lengths to surround it, but they only chase it without killing it, insisting on forcing it deeper into the swamp.

They clearly had other goals than simply killing him.

Frustration surged up again, and Ning Che did not recite the Ice Cleansing Spell.

He can't afford to be distracted anymore.

What exactly are these beasts plotting?

Chen Mu's withered corpse seemed to be right before his eyes, but Ning Che's steps did not falter in the slightest.

Then let's fight a guerrilla war. What kind of harsh environment hasn't he been to? This is just a shallow swamp.

Chen Mu, you watch.

I hope you can see my journey from heaven.