The Calamity Battle Demonic Beast looked like a dog.
Its body was thirty feet long, and its head was ten feet tall. Its body was covered in flames, and it had golden eyes, green horns, black claws, and a tail of smoke.
With Lin Dong's current strength, he wasn't afraid of beating it, but once the battle started, his Rotten Wood Transformation would be destroyed, and all his previous disguises would be for nothing. He hurriedly drew an Earth Burrowing Formation, chanted a secret incantation, and formed a secret seal with his hands. He silently burrowed into the ground.
"Luckily there's no one around, or else a weak rogue cultivator like you wouldn't be able to use this kind of Earth Burrowing Technique! However, this ugly monster seems to have a master! " Sister Puppet was actually praising Lin Dong for burrowing so quickly. Of course, her way of expressing it was a little arrogant, but Lin Dong was already used to it. If he didn't hear her sharp tongue for a day, he would feel uncomfortable!
"This is a Mountain Patrol Beast, similar to a Mountain Guardian Beast, loyal and quite intelligent. With a Mountain Patrol Beast, there must be a cultivation sect within a hundred miles. Furthermore, to be able to use a Demonic Beast like this to patrol the mountain, this sect must be very powerful! "Lin Dong immediately knew, or else he wouldn't have hurriedly burrowed into the ground.
"It's coming." Sister Puppet reminded him to hold his breath.
The Mountain Patrol Beast also sensed Lin Dong's aura, but it couldn't discover Lin Dong who was burrowing into the ground. It searched the surrounding ground in confusion for a while, but finally gave up. The Mountain Patrol Beast was a fire-type Demonic Beast, so it couldn't do anything about the Earth Burrowing Technique. Moreover, it lacked patience, so after sniffing around for a while, it immediately turned around and left.
Of course, it was also cunning.
After walking for a few thousand meters.
It suddenly retracted its aura, then quickly turned around.
Unfortunately, even though it turned around, it still didn't find anything. Lin Dong was too familiar with the Mountain Patrol Beast's personality.
"Woof!" The Mountain Patrol Beast spat out a ball of demonic fire towards the place where Lin Dong had burrowed into, creating a huge crater in the ground within a radius of thirty meters. The demonic fire burned fiercely, but there was no response from the ground. The Mountain Patrol Beast roared a few times, then resentfully left.
Five kilometers away, Lin Dong was moving forward unhurriedly.
If a burrowing technique only allowed one to burrow into the ground and didn't know how to burrow, then it couldn't be considered a true burrowing technique.
When Lin Dong first learned the Earth Burrowing Art from the Rock Splitting Howling Wind Sect's disciple, he could only stay underground and not move at all. Half a year later, when he got to know the White Robed Sect Patriarch and became slightly more familiar with him, Xiaonu would tease him that he was drilling into the ground instead of burrowing. Had it not been for Xiaonu changing the Earth Burrowing Art into the Earth Burrowing Art, Lin Dong reckoned that he would continue to make mistakes. Just now, Huo Dou had blasted the ground with his demonic fire. If he hadn't moved far enough, he might not have been injured, but he would definitely have been forced to break the Earth Burrowing Technique and reveal himself.
Less than a hundred li along the way.
Lin Dong encountered five equally strong patrolling mountain beasts.
Ordinary sects would only have one patrolling mountain beast, and slightly famous sects would have two. Only beast-taming sects or super famous sects would have four patrolling mountain beasts.
But in this unknown place, Lin Dong had only walked for a hundred li and encountered five patrolling mountain beasts, and all of them were Huo Dou. If there weren't any problems here, unless there was a supreme-grade nouveau riche comparable to Earth's Prince Hussain as the sect master, such a situation wouldn't happen.
"It seems like there must be a treasure about to be born here. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many patrolling mountain beasts." The puppet sister suspected that it was a treasure.
"Maybe Monarch Blood River is plotting something!" The puppet sister had other suspicions.
"No matter what the situation is, it's not something I want to see." Lin Dong didn't want Monarch Blood River to obtain a treasure, and he didn't want him to be secretly plotting something here.
Another fifty li later.
There was a small stone town in front of him.
The whole town was built on top of a cliff in a canyon.
A clear river flowed through the middle of the canyon, and there were three stone bridges between the cliffs, one big and two small, connecting the two canyons.
As for the residents, they all lived on the cliffs, and the caves were all connected. Apart from the stone bridges, there were also several mountain roads extending out. Countless strange pines grew on the cliffs, like a dragon's crown, welcoming guests from afar. There was also a pink mountain flower that Lin Dong didn't recognize. It grew on both sides of the small path, and its tiny petals danced in the wind like a goddess scattering flowers. It was a beautiful sight.
Lin Dong pretended to be a loose cultivator.
He went forward to check out the situation.
This town was the same as most of the small towns in the cultivation world. There were no taverns that provided food and drink to visitors from afar, and there were no administrative staff.
When Lin Dong entered the town, he noticed that there were relatively few males here, and most of them were women and children. Every household had an elderly person who had lived for a long time, quietly basking in the sun. As Lin Dong walked in, other than a few children who curiously chased after him for a while, no one paid any attention to him.
"My name is Dong Lin, and I am a traveling sword cultivator. May I ask if there is a place to rest in this town?" Lin Dong found a kind-looking old woman to ask.
"Young man, you are just a country bum. What use do I have for your spirit stones?" The old woman waved her hand and rejected the spirit stones that Lin Dong offered.
"There are few people within a hundred li of this place. I am just a loose cultivator, and I don't know about the spiritual mountains or the divine rivers. I didn't know that the famous sects were hiding in a treasured land. On the way here, I saw the mighty and tall Mountain Patrol Divine Beasts from afar, and I was in awe of them. I didn't expect to stumble into this place. Aunty, please tell me if there is a place for me to rest in this celestial town? I will only stay here for a short while and rest for a night. I will immediately leave tomorrow morning! "Lin Dong gave a deep bow.
"If you don't mind, I have a woodshed." The old woman looked at Lin Dong and once again rejected the spirit stones that Lin Dong presented.
Lin Dong was overjoyed and hurriedly followed the old woman to her house.
Along the way, they continued to talk.
At long last, Lin Dong got some information.
The residents of Stone River Town had always lived a peaceful life. Aside from the occasional wandering cultivator, they didn't have many opportunities to interact with the cultivation world. They gathered medicinal plants for a living, and fished for food. Most of the old people lived for more than three hundred years, with very few exceptions.
But the peace was shattered ten years ago, when the Myriad Magic God Sect rose up in the depths of the mountains.
That was because the sect's magical technique was so powerful that it didn't matter whether or not the disciple had a good foundation.
It was a selfless and benevolent sect.
The young people of the town, especially the men, went to work on their cultivation, leaving only the women, children, and the elderly behind. Although the town had lost most of its population, thanks to the Myriad Magic God Sect's charitable donations, it didn't lack food. In fact, the young people who had mastered the magical technique could easily provide food and clothing for their families.
Sighing softly, the old woman said, "It's true that we don't have to worry about food and clothing. But I still hope that things can go back to the way they used to be, with a house full of children and grandchildren, singing in the valley, women singing duets on the cliffs, and golden-haired toddlers dancing around their knees. Now that they're all gone, searching for the dao to live forever, the valley is quiet and lifeless."
"Aunty," Lin Dong said, "they've achieved their dao, and when the time comes, their chickens and dogs will ascend to the heavens. As their parents, you should share their happiness."
The old woman shook her head. "Life is limited," she said. "The dao of heaven can't be forced."
"Young people want to work hard," Lin Dong said. "After all, they're still young, and it's normal for them to have ambitions."
"I understand their ambitions," the old woman said. "But out of selfishness, I hope they can stay by my side. There are so many people in the world who seek the dao, but how many actually succeed? Besides, considering their latent talent, it's all just a dream. " From the look of it, the old woman had come into contact with cultivation in the past. At the very least, she wasn't completely clueless.
"Senior," Yang Qi said, "I feel very guilty." Lin Dong guessed that the old woman must have had some experience in cultivation when she was young. At the very least, she had a Master to guide her. But for the sake of her family, she had given it up. Instead, she had stayed in Stone River Town with her family, content to live a peaceful life.
"The world is a chaotic place," she said. "It's dangerous to wander around. You should think about your parents. It wasn't easy for them to raise you!" She was trying to persuade Lin Dong to go home.
She could tell that Lin Dong wasn't very strong.
Wandering around would be courting death.
Therefore, she hinted to Lin Dong to give up on the idea of cultivation and return home as soon as possible to spend time with his parents.
Lin Dong paused, then sighed. "How could I not wish for that kind of familial love? Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away, and all that's left of our big house is an empty house. Living there will only bring back memories. It's better to go out and broaden my horizons."
Hearing Lin Dong's heartfelt sigh, the old woman's eyes softened.
She opened the wooden door for Lin Dong. "If you don't mind, you can stay here for a few days. You don't lack food or clothing in the valley. Young man, please don't be so polite with me. If you want to stay, just stay. Don't mention anything else, or I won't like it! Oh, by the way, there might be people from the Myriad Arts Divine Sect coming to investigate your identity. If you have a clean background, you can tell me that you're a distant nephew of mine. I've been looking for you for many years, and I'm here to visit my family! "
Lin Dong thanked her.
He also promised that he was a rogue cultivator with a clean background, and that he wouldn't make enemies with anyone. Even if something did happen, he wouldn't implicate his aunt.
"Have dinner with us," the old woman said, turning to leave. "There aren't many people at home, and we're in the countryside, so there's no need to stand on ceremony." A young girl stuck her head out of the door, curious about Lin Dong. Seeing that the old woman had left, she dared to greet him. Off in the distance, there was a little boy wearing only a dudou. He looked to be about two or three years old, and his family had probably been worried that he would be hard to raise, so they had given him a dudou to wear.
Lin Dong smiled kindly at the boy.
He had forgotten that he was ordinary, and thought he was a handsome guy that everyone loved.
His smile almost scared the boy to tears. Lin Dong was speechless. Did the cultivation world really care about looks? How come he hadn't noticed that before?
Not until nightfall.
Before long, the disciples of the Myriad Arts Divine Sect arrived.
From the look of it, they had a permanent base in town. In addition to maintaining order, they also accepted faith and students. Two in-name disciples wearing the insignia of the God Eye rode on their flying swords and landed in front of Lin Dong in an incomparably confident and carefree manner … Their expressions were extremely ugly, and one of them even had a slightly dark expression on his face. He was seething with anger, and the first thing he said when he jumped off his flying sword was, "Good boy, I've finally caught you!"
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