Clan Cultivation: Starting with Building an Island Immortal City

45: An unexpected helper, a companion on the journey“It’s you!”

Li Yinglong looked closely, and sure enough, they were familiar faces!

On the left, a figure was as agile as a spirit leopard, holding a short sword inlaid with colorful gems, its blade gleaming crisply;

On the right, a person was as burly as a mountain, the ground slightly shaking with each step, and a yellowish glow circulated around his fists, faintly revealing a rocky texture.

It was none other than the Angry Dragon Clan brother and sister from the market earlier—Aya and Yan Gang!

As soon as Aya landed, her short sword pointed at the man with the scorpion tattoo on his neck, her voice filled with anger:

“Scorpion Gu Master! You traitor! Last time, outside Dragon Valley, you ambushed and killed our clan’s herb-gathering team, gravely injuring my third uncle. Today, you even dare to ambush passersby here! Old grudges and new, today we settle them all!”

With that, her left hand swept from her waist and quickly swung out!

“Buzz~”

Several dark lights shot out from her sleeve, so fast that only afterimages remained!

The dark lights grew with the wind, revealing their true forms—they were three strange insects, the size of a fist, entirely black, with transparent thin wings on their backs, and mouthparts as sharp as needles!

A faint gray Qi surrounded their bodies, their compound eyes were crimson, and the sound of their flapping wings was terrifying, heading straight for the Scorpion Gu Master’s face!

“Black-Winged Soul-Devouring Gu!”

Seeing this, the Scorpion Gu Master’s face turned pale with fright. He no longer cared about commanding the venomous snakes and hurriedly retreated backward, while simultaneously pulling out a handful of foul-smelling yellow powder from his懷and scattering it forcefully!

The powder clearly had an effect that countered Gu insects; the three strange insects’ offensive paused slightly, circling and hovering, waiting for another chance to attack.

At the same time, Yan Gang, without a word, had charged at the Phosphorescent Fire Man wielding the beast bone staff like a savage giant elephant!

His fists were covered in earth and stone, sharply defined, as if he had donned a pair of rock gauntlets. With a dull whooshing sound, he punched straight at the opponent’s face!

The Phosphorescent Fire Man was startled and enraged. He quickly brought his bone staff back, and points of phosphorescent fire converged into a shield, blocking in front of him.

“Bang!”

The stone fist and the phosphorescent shield clashed head-on!

Qi energy overflowed, and phosphorescent fire splattered!

Yan Gang’s figure didn’t even sway, but the Phosphorescent Fire Man was shaken back, staggering. His staff-holding hand trembled slightly, and his eyes were filled with horror!

This raw strength far exceeded that of ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators!

Li Yinglong was no ordinary person. Although surprised by the sudden appearance of the two, he instantly understood the situation—an enemy’s enemy is a friend!

If not now, then when!

“Little Wan, help that girl trap the snake-handler! I’ll deal with this old ghost who uses the banner!”

He made a decisive decision, transmitted a message to Lin Xiaowan, and at the same time, shook his overlord spear, instantly intensifying his offensive, like a torrential storm covering the Old Cultivator who was controlling the Puppet and the black banner.

Lin Xiaowan obeyed the command without hesitation, her slender hands waving repeatedly, sending out several more seeds.

A deep purple exotic plant with thick, spiky leaves quickly spread, not only further hindering the Scorpion Gu Master’s steps but also emitting a faint strange smell that made the one-horned black snakes agitated and their attacks increasingly chaotic.

Seeing this, Aya’s eyes lit up, and she praised:

“What a good method!”

She showed no mercy in her actions, letting out a short, sharp shriek.

The three circling Black-Winged Soul-Devouring Gu heard the sound and changed their attack. They no longer tried to bite but circled at high speed, spraying extremely faint gray threads from their mouthparts, like smoke and mist, coiling around the Scorpion Gu Master.

The Scorpion Gu Master was scared out of his wits, dodging repeatedly and in a sorry state.

On the other side, Li Yinglong exerted his full strength. His Evergreen True Qi was vast and majestic, and a light green glow circulated around his overlord spear. Every strike was as heavy as a mountain.

“Clang!”

A spear accurately struck a Puppet’s knee joint, and the Puppet’s leg bone instantly shattered, its movements stalling.

The Old Cultivator’s expression changed dramatically. He had originally relied on numbers and strange methods, but now his opponent suddenly gained strong reinforcements. His side instantly lost two people; the Scorpion Gu Master was trapped by strange Gu and exotic plants, the Phosphorescent Fire Man was firmly entangled by the brute, and he himself faced this unfathomable old man alone, increasing the pressure exponentially!

He glanced across the battlefield with the corner of his eye:

He saw that the three helpers wielding knives had long been intimidated, their attacks timid and hesitant; the new brute’s punches were powerful, and the Phosphorescent Fire Man was now defending more than attacking; and the young girl’s Gu insects were even more elusive and hard to guard against… The signs of defeat were already evident!

“Better a dead Fellow Daoist than a dead poor Daoist!”

The Old Cultivator made a decisive decision, let out a fierce shout, and suddenly pulled out two round spheres, the size of dragon eyes and covered with strange runes, from his懷, smashing them hard onto the ground!

“Bang! Bang!”

Two muffled thuds, the spheres exploded, instantly releasing a large cloud of foul-smelling black mist that quickly spread, enveloping an area of several dozen feet!

The black mist not only blocked vision but also carried highly corrosive poison. Any surrounding vegetation it touched immediately withered and turned black, sizzling!

“Be careful! It’s ‘Hundred Miasma Corrosive Bone Smoke’! It corrodes flesh and dissolves bones upon contact!”

Aya urgently warned, and she and Yan Gang immediately held their breath and retreated.

Li Yinglong reacted even faster, having felt a sense of alarm the moment the Old Cultivator pulled out the spheres.

As the black mist suddenly rose, he quickly embraced Lin Xiaowan’s waist with his left hand, sharply tapped the ground with his toes, and shot backward like lightning. At the same time, his right arm’s sleeve billowed with True Qi, and he forcefully flicked forward!

“Whoosh~!”

A powerful wave of Qi rolled out, not to disperse the poisonous mist, but to push most of it back the way it came, swirling back towards the area where the Old Cultivator and his accomplices were!

“Ah!!”

“You old ghost, you…!”

Several sharp screams immediately came from within the black mist, mixed with curses of shock and anger, clearly indicating that some of the Cultivators who couldn’t escape had fallen victim.

Li Yinglong and Lin Xiaowan landed beside Aya and Yan Gang. All four held their breath and focused, vigilantly watching the rolling black mist.

The screams in the mist quickly weakened, leaving only a chilling sound of corrosion.

A moment later, the black mist gradually dispersed.

Only three unrecognizable corpses, rapidly decaying, were left on the spot. They were the three Cultivators wielding knives and one accomplice who was too slow to dodge, their state too gruesome to behold.

However, the Old Cultivator, the Scorpion Gu Master, the Phosphorescent Fire Man, and two other Cultivators who were slightly faster had disappeared!

Yan Gang let out a low growl, intending to pursue.

“Don’t pursue a cornered foe!”

Li Yinglong stopped him in a deep voice, his sharp gaze sweeping over the surrounding woods:

“The forest is deep and the mist is heavy; they are hidden, we are exposed. Be careful of tricks.”

Aya also nodded in agreement:

“That old ghost is cunning and excels at setting ambushes. Having suffered such a heavy loss this time, he certainly won’t let it go, but today they lost men and resources, so they shouldn’t dare to come again for a while.”

As she spoke, she walked to the corpses and carefully used her short sword to pry open their waistbands, and sure enough, found that their qiankun bags were all gone.

“Hmph, as expected, that old ghost took advantage of the situation! How vicious, not even sparing his own people!”

Lin Xiaowan looked at the rapidly decaying corpses, her face slightly pale. Suppressing her discomfort, she whispered:

“This poison… is so potent.”

Li Yinglong’s fingers subtly flicked inside his sleeve, and a few imperceptible points of Evergreen True Qi escaped, quietly purifying the residual poisonous Qi around them, before he spoke:

“Thank you both for your timely assistance. If not for your arrival, this old man and my disciple would have faced much more trouble today.”

Aya sheathed her sword, a bright smile reappearing on her face, and waved her hand, saying:

“Old grandpa, you’re too polite! We were also passing by on our way back and heard the sounds of fighting. We didn’t expect it to be these villains!”

“That Black Gu Master was originally a member of the Black Gu Clan, but because he coveted a secret treasure within the clan, he was expelled from the Black Gu Clan and has been committing acts of Cultivator robbery everywhere. He even injured our clansmen before!”

“Today, we originally intended to capture him, but we didn’t expect him to be so vicious, sigh…”

“So that’s how it is. What are your plans next? Would you like to travel together? For safety’s sake.”

Li Yinglong asked, seizing the opportunity.

Aya looked at her brother, Yan Gang:

“We are returning to our clan… Very well, we’ll be passing by Blood Gu Village anyway, so let’s travel together.”

Li Yinglong was naturally delighted to hear this:

“In that case, I’ll trouble you both.”

“No trouble at all!”

Aya said with a smile:

“It’s good to have company! Brother, let’s pack up and leave quickly. The smell of blood here is too strong and might attract bigger creatures.”

Yan Gang nodded and silently walked to one side, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.

Aya pulled out a powdery substance from her waist pouch and threw it onto the corpses.

The “powder” actually came alive, crawling continuously over the corpses.

In just a few breaths, the corpses were completely devoured by the “powder,” leaving nothing behind.

“Let’s go!”

Aya called out, and the group quickly disappeared into the forest.