Chapter 73: Chapter 71: The Yellow Sparrow? The truly clever hunter often appears in the guise of the prey. Ji An’s eyes were cold and fierce. Having experienced the bloody fight with the Cyan Wood Ape tribe, he had completed a preliminary transformation and had a clear understanding of his combat capabilities. Falling back a step was intentional, to bait the enemy, and sure enough, someone couldn’t resist. The Stone Turtle Shield dispersed into twelve armor plates, arranged in a staggered pattern in the direction of the incoming Magic Sword. If the Magical Artifact struck straight down, it would at least be obstructed by a piece of turtle shell, so it couldn’t harm him unless the control of the Magical Artifact could bypass his defenses. Closer, just a little closer! Ji An saw the enemy descend several feet, just as he planned, with the Magic Sword elegantly bypassing the turtle shell and shooting toward him. The turtle shell rotated, brushing against the Magic Sword, slightly shifting the flight path of the Magical Artifact. At the same time, a concentrated golden light shot from his finger, and without checking the outcome, he leapt into the rain curtain. His figure vanished, and only then did the Magic Sword arrive late, stabbing into the rock beside where he had been standing, the sword vibrating with a ringing sound. The weak-looking Tribulation Cultivator saw the Magical Artifact miss the target and bit his lip in frustration, reflexively raising a shield to resist the oncoming golden light. He recognized it as the Geng Metal Finger and felt a sense of disdain. Although the Profound Iron Shield was just a lower-grade Magical Artifact, the outer layer of profound iron was two fingers thick, with a lining of tough beast hide. The only Dharma Prohibition in this Magical Artifact was its solidity! It could be remotely controlled and was handy for countering sharp weapons like Magic Swords. If the enemy’s magic was something like the Explosive Flame Technique, he would worry about the shockwaves injuring his muscles, but Geng Metal Finger at most could leave a half-finger deep mark on his Magical Artifact. Just as he thought this, he glimpsed a golden light piercing through the Artifact, dazzling his eyes. The sharp aura pierced his brow and exited through the back of his head, and he felt his consciousness plummet from the clouds, the world in his eyes rapidly losing its last trace of color. The Talisman Bird spiraled in the sky, and the person originally seated on it fell to the ground with a thud. "Boom!" The cultivator’s head hit the ground first, and bright red blood flowed freely across the rocky ground. The other Tribulation Cultivators were dumbfounded by the sudden change. They only saw a flash of golden light, their comrade raised the Magical Artifact to defend, and then — there was nothing. A wet, gold-brown rat dashed out, bit through the rope holding the Storage Bag at the cultivator’s side, and scurried back. Receiving the Spirit Binder’s message, Ji An dashed out from the rain curtain, grabbed the Magic Sword, and pulled it forcefully upward. As a precaution, he activated the Water Curtain Talisman to protect himself, then deftly leaped back into the rain curtain once he had secured his target. The Tribulation Cultivators cursed openly. It wasn’t just the loss of a comrade that irked them, but the valuable items on their comrade vanished in the blink of an eye. Robbing anyone is still robbing, as long as they ended up with some Bag Crystal Stones, it was a success. Two of them stood guard while another controlled the Talisman Bird to swoop down and retrieve their comrade’s Magical Artifact before flying up again. The three felt an intense battle raging below, but couldn’t discern any details, so they randomly hurled a few fireballs downward. Cursing a bit more, they found no solution to break the situation. After defeating the Demon Beasts, these people could comfortably restore their magical power before fighting them again. They were just a few Loose Cultivators, choosing opportunistic heists whenever feasible. They had been watching these Sect disciples for a while, thinking they had a good opportunity to take advantage when the Demon Beast group was battling them. Who would’ve thought these disciples were so wealthy, scattering Cold Wind Talismans like they cost nothing, and who knew what other trump cards they held? The two most powerful Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses were killed, and after the beast group was decimated, they’d have no more chances. "What do we do next?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 "Leave here, and head to the territory of the other two Sects. Even though we didn’t show our faces, our identities are already exposed. The skinny one’s Magical Artifact and Storage Bag got snatched. When these disciples report back to the Golden Spirit Sect’s Law Enforcement Hall, it won’t be hard to track him down." One premise of the Golden Spirit Sect allowing Loose Cultivators to enter the new marketplace for supplies was processing Identity Jade Tokens for them, and they would take a wisp of the cultivator’s Qi Mechanism. If these Loose Cultivators committed any crimes, that wisp of Qi Mechanism could trace back to whoever did it. The Magical Artifacts and Storage Bags inevitably carried some Qi Mechanism. The Spirit Rain might wash some of this Qi Mechanism away, but they didn’t dare gamble on it. Against Sect disciples of the same stage, most Loose Cultivators were utterly crushed in both magic and artifacts. They had no advantage in numbers; three against five was hopeless. "What is a Spirit Farmer with such a strong Small Cloud Rain Technique doing hunting Demons instead of staying in his Sect to farm? Was he kicked by a donkey! Demon hunting is so dangerous." Grumbling and cursing, they dejectedly flew off. If it wasn’t for that magic blocking their vision, they had a ninety percent chance of cooperating with the Demon Beast group to take down these Sect disciples. ... A Perfection Level magic contained a trace of the Water Element True Intent, an environment even less favorable for the Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses. The team aggressively slew several late-stage Qi Refining Demon Beasts before Ji An shouted: "Captain, next I’ll assist in defense and not participate in the attack, reserving magical power for the Small Cloud Rain Technique." The mid-stage Qi Refining Demon Beasts posed much less threat to them, conserving magical power to deal with the outside Evil Cultivators was more important. "Alright." Chen Moxuan agreed with a smile, then shouted again: "Come on, guys, let’s show the junior disciple our coordination!" Even if Ji An hadn’t said anything, he was already planning to have him do this. If it weren’t for him, today might have turned out dire. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros’ straight-line charge was strong, but in close-range skirmishes, it lost its edge. Their defenses were strong, but against the late-stage Qi Cultivators, they were just more substantial targets. After two quarters, the last Fire-Horned Rhinoceros let out a mournful bellow and fell to the ground in reluctance. Two Spirit-Seeking Rats scurried out from different directions beyond the range of the Small Cloud Rain Technique, standing up to take a look around. Tian Yulei shouted: "No enemies in sight." "I didn’t spot any either. Everyone, hurry and restore your magical power I’ll stand guard." Ji An called out, running out of the rain curtain. "Let’s recover here; the Spiritual Qi seems thicker here." Chen Moxuan laughed heartily, grabbing a Spirit Stone and sitting cross-legged on the ground. The sunset sank in the west, dyeing the earth a shade of orange-red. The team members were busy skinning and gutting, slicing Demon Beast meat, a scene full of bustling activity. Although the number of Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses was fewer than Cyan Wood Apes, their size was much larger than the Ape Demons. Chen Moxuan calculated that their harvest this time might be even greater than last time. Demon Beast skulls could serve as valuable materials for Artifact Refining, and rhinoceros horns were a prized item for Artifact Refining. Beast hides and essence blood were top-grade materials for making upper-grade, Tier One fire-based talismans, always in high demand. The Demon Beast meat contained abundant Fire Element Spiritual Energy, its texture tender, and flavor superior to Cyan Wood Ape meat, so there was no worry about selling the beast meat. The others also calculated their gains silently, smiles never leaving their faces, for the bloody spoils in their hands were clearly chunks of Crystal Stones — what cultivator ever thought they had too much gain!