My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar-Chapter 30: City in the Forest
The rain stopped.
The mountain road leading to the demons’ gathering place was long, with hidden sentries posted at regular intervals. The road surface wasn’t as dirty and chaotic as one might expect. Even after being washed by the heavy rain, it didn’t feel muddy. In this respect alone, it surpassed most small county towns in the Xia Country.
Judging by the rest areas set up along the way, this road was usually bustling with demons, but now it was eerily quiet.
The strange silence was shattered by the sound of an arrow slicing through the air. Someone had triggered a trap in the mountain forests on either side of the road.
A continuous DING DING of metal colliding rang out. More than ten Qi Cultivators worked together: some provided light on both sides, some were responsible for clearing the hidden sentries, and others kept watch on the surroundings. They crushed over a dozen hidden sentries along the way without any resistance.
Behind the Qi Cultivators was a mountain search party of over a hundred people. The torches in their hands formed a long, narrow Fire Dragon along the mountain path.
The Qi Cultivators scouting ahead probably hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly, and they couldn’t help but speed up. Any demons they encountered along the way, whether fleeing or planning an ambush, had no chance of survival once discovered.
Fifteen minutes later...
The Qi Cultivators at the front spotted a city with the help of the faint moonlight.
So, they ignited their Spiritual Qi, forming a simple Lighting Technique in mid-air. Then they truly saw a city. It was a small city constructed from giant rocks and wooden stakes. Inside, the houses were of various heights and the roads were tidy. There was even an aqueduct running down from the mountaintop. To the north, there seemed to be a huge quarry, and to the west, patches of vegetable fields were faintly visible.
But at this moment, the small city was silent. The only source of sound came from the central square, where a dozen or so Little Demons were dancing around a bonfire. But roasting over that bonfire was a human thigh!
"These beasts!"
One of the Qi Cultivators, utterly furious, brandished his long spear. With a single leap, he landed on the roof of a tall stone house, ready to charge into the central square.
"They were born beasts," someone added. Then, the dozen or so Qi Cultivators charged forward in perfect coordination.
"You beasts!"
A Wolf Demon across from them roared in fury, but its words were strange... It also regarded humans as beasts.
The battle began quickly, and it ended just as quickly...
All the demons were slain in the middle of the square, their blood staining the clean plaza red. When the fighting stopped, the Qi Cultivators heard strange sounds coming from deeper within the city.
At this point, the main mountain search party also entered the city. Every one of them was utterly shocked. Some couldn’t resist rushing into the nearest houses...
「Deeper in the city.」
A towering staircase had been built leading straight into the mountain behind. The Qi Cultivators exchanged glances, gave a green signal, and then charged up the steps, covering one another.
At the top of the stairs was a huge platform. A pavilion built against the mountainside was the most eye-catching feature. In the flickering firelight, a few Mouse Demons and the bundles they carried were very conspicuous.
When the Mouse Demons saw the Qi Cultivators ascending the stairs, they decisively dropped their bags and fled toward the mountain behind them. As they neared the mountainside, they immediately used magic to burrow into the earth.
Two Qi Cultivators were about to give chase, but their targets vanished in the blink of an eye. Others walked over and carefully opened the bundles, only to see a pile of silver lumps roll out. Some even had a tael or two of gold ingots mixed in.
"Wow, this is quite a haul!"
"You two, go guard the entrance to the stairs. The rest of you, get into pairs and continue searching for any trace of the demons... You, go inform Martial Uncle Guangxuan!"
The lead Qi Cultivator tore his gaze away from the silver lumps and quickly gave his orders.
...
When Wang Ping and the others entered the city deep in the mountains, they were even more shocked than the Militia, because they were witnessing the dawn of a civilization!
"Good thing we found this early. Otherwise, a great demon would have appeared in a place like this sooner or later, and the entire south would have suffered!" Feng Miao shot a provocative glance at the stern-faced Guangxuan beside her, as if telling him their earlier argument now had an answer.
Wang Ping couldn’t help but think of Hu Mountain Country. Over there, demons and humans lived together in harmony. While the civilization they built wasn’t exactly brilliant, it was better than in most regions of the Xia Country.
’The aura here is very stable. The only malice comes from the hatred of the dead demons over there!’ Yu Lian’s voice rang out in Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea. At the same time, she was coiled around Wang Ping’s left arm, gazing at the city built by demons.
Just then, a Qi Cultivator ran over from the distance and reported, "We’ve found something up above!"
...
「Inside the staircase pavilion.」
Upon entering, the first thing they saw was a huge Dao Field. It looked no different from the Dao Fields of other major sects. It seemed someone had often preached and answered questions for the demons here.
"I feel a very familiar Spiritual Power fluctuation..." Feng Miao said seriously, standing before the lecture platform.
"What do you mean?"
"The aura of fire spirits!"
"Someone from the Mystic Sect? Or perhaps your True Yang Sect?" Guangxuan asked. If someone from the Mystic Sect was involved here, the aftermath would be unusually troublesome.
"Neither. It’s the false gods created by ’First Day’!"
As soon as Feng Miao finished speaking, someone shouted from the passage on the left side of the Dao Field, "Martial Uncle, quick, save me!"
Everyone turned to look and saw a Qi Cultivator covered in sparks, running desperately toward Wang Ping and the others. Seeing this, Feng Miao’s expression changed, and she roared, "Stop him! He’s been hit with ’Blast’!"
Upon hearing this, most of the Qi Cultivators present, including Wang Ping, instinctively took a step back. ’Blast’ was the signature magic of the Evil Cult ’First Day’. Its victims would have their internal Qi Sea ignited, causing them to self-destruct. The power of the explosion was linked to the size of their Qi Sea.
Wang Ping had read about ’First Day’ in the collection of books from Yu Cheng Taoist. It was an alliance formed by a group of madmen who pursued extreme fairness and justice. They sounded righteous, but their actions were insane. They were most famous for using the Blast Technique to self-destruct in the middle of a crowd.
While everyone else instinctively retreated, Guangxuan took a step forward. At the same time, his left hand formed the Hand Technique for the Sword Control Technique...
CLANG!
The Treasure Sword on his back unsheathed itself automatically. A cold glint flashed, and the flying sword instantly shredded the charging Qi Cultivator’s Dantian and Qi Sea.
"AHH!"
With a blood-curdling scream, the fallen Qi Cultivator’s entire body was covered in magma-like flames.
At the same time, two Fox Demons wreathed in flames rushed out of the same passage the Qi Cultivator had come from. Standing at the entrance, they were about to cast their Magic Formulas without a word.
But Guangxuan was faster. As a phantom-like figure shot out from his body, he untied the gourd from his waist and flung out a splash of water. As the water scattered, it all transformed into ice spikes that glinted with a cold light.
The next moment, the ice spikes turned the two charging Fox Demons into pincushions, extinguishing the flames all over their bodies.
"Is that a divine soul?"
Wang Ping whispered, looking at the phantom above Guangxuan’s body that was forming Magic Formulas with its hands.
"Yes. I never expected Fellow Daoist Guangxuan to be so profoundly skilled. I thought he was just..."
Feng Miao didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she changed the subject. "Against the madmen from ’First Day’, we need to end this quickly. If you protect yourself with Spiritual Qi, the Blast Technique loses its effect!"
With that, she gritted her teeth and charged into the passage on the left!
Xia Yao followed close behind. Wang Ping subconsciously took out two Copper Coins and flipped them, exchanged a look with Guangxuan, and they too charged into the passage one after another...
’Those three just now had no malice. In fact, they felt very warm...’ Yu Lian, who had shrunk to a foot in length and was coiled around Wang Ping’s wrist like a silver bracelet, whispered this reminder as he passed the corpses of the two slain Fox Demons.
Wang Ping focused his mind and ignored Yu Lian’s voice.
After passing through a corridor several meters long, the first thing they saw was a treasury piled high with silver lumps. In the back of the treasury was a secret passage containing a long, narrow corridor. The corridor was quiet and dark. In the middle of it lay the corpse of a Qi Cultivator from Sanhe Temple, likely killed while scouting ahead earlier.
Feng Miao led the way, igniting a flame that brightly illuminated the corridor.
About ten breaths later, the view before the four of them suddenly opened up. The light, which came from flames, was dazzling. They had appeared in an even larger, more magnificent palace!
"This looks like some kind of ancient ruin?"
Feng Miao murmured to herself, her gaze drawn to the dense rows of stone pillars in the palace. A person was bound to each pillar, and a strange Array was carved onto each one, connecting them to an altar at the very front of the palace. And the altar was siphoning the essence, qi, and spirit from every person on the pillars!
Just then, Yu Lian’s voice sounded again. ’This place is also very warm, but I can feel malice...’
