Chapter 212 - 210: Fog Beast Outbreak
Several more days passed, and the area eroded by the thick fog had exceeded any previous occurrences.
Another county city and several villages and towns were swallowed up, but fortunately, the people had evacuated with their families in advance, so there were not too many casualties.
Due to the battle conditions within the fog, on this day, the Vice Pavilion Master stationed at Wangyue Pavilion decided to lead a group of powerful individuals and disciples down the mountain.
This included his direct disciple, Liu Yan’er.
When this was heard by the Liu Residence, Liu Dingsheng became immediately worried, concerned that Liu Yan’er might encounter an accident in the fog.
However, he was unable to stop it.
Liu Yan’er was a legitimate disciple of the Wangyue Pavilion gate, and as the Vice Pavilion Master’s direct disciple, she could not retreat in the face of such a crisis.
"I’ll go, elder." Song Changming, upon hearing of this, rose to his feet and said, taking on the task without much thought.
Not to mention his previous agreement with Liu Dingsheng, Liu Yan’er called him big brother, and they shared a deep bond. He would not stand idly by and let his little sister face such danger on her own.
Moreover, he wanted to see the persistent fog from the Outer Domain and see just how formidable it truly was.
If it continued to spread, it wouldn’t be far from reaching Wangyue County City.
"Thank you, Changming!" Liu Dingsheng, hearing Song Changming’s words, let out a subconscious sigh of relief, feeling a bit reassured.
He had full confidence in Song Changming’s strength.
With Song Changming’s protection, Liu Yan’er’s safety would be much more assured.
"Elder Liu, rest assured. Even without Changming, the young lady has her master protecting her, and he is the Vice Pavilion Master of Wangyue Pavilion. She will be safe." Liu Ziwen took the opportunity to comfort from the side.
Considering Liu Dingsheng’s current physical condition, he should not worry excessively or expend what little energy he had left.
"Hmm..." Liu Dingsheng nodded.
"Brother Song, I’ll go with you." Song Ping’an approached and said.
"You stay at the Liu Residence and keep watch here." Song Changming refused.
The fog was too dangerous, and there was no need to bring Song Ping’an into such peril.
After all, even ordinary Qi Refining Martial Artists were not safe in there, let alone Song Ping’an.
When the time came, if danger truly presented itself, it would be easier and more convenient for him to retreat alone.
Without further delay, Song Changming made minimal preparations, took up the Dragon Pattern Saber, and set off.
Outside the city, waves of common folks fled as if driven like flocks of ducks, pouring into the county city and other southern county cities far from the fog.
About half a day later, Song Changming arrived on horseback, seeing from afar the dense fog that seemed to devour everything in sight.
"How many fog beasts are in there; have they still not been slain after so many days?" Song Changming murmured to himself.
He knew that various forces, Martial Artists, and hidden experts were inside dealing with the cultists and slaying fog beasts.
So many days had passed, and the fog had not receded, implying that the fog beasts were far from eradicated.
"Go, run farther away, do not approach this fog." Song Changming dismounted, patting the horse’s rump.
The horse, understanding well, sprinted away and quickly vanished from sight.
Song Changming then proceeded on foot, stepping into the distinct boundary of the fog.
The next moment, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately executed the Flying Thunder Technique, with Inner Qi surging, and arcs of lightning flashing around him as he swiftly retreated.
Within the fog, a Black Scaled Python broke through and nearly bit Song Changming.
The python’s girth was much thicker than a large water tank, and it was a massive creature several dozens of meters long.
Having missed the fresh prey, the python did not retreat but instead launched out of the fog, pursuing Song Changming.
"It seems the fog beasts are indeed rampant..."
Song Changming thought silently, his feet digging two deep grooves in the ground as he finally stopped his retreat.
He leapt up abruptly, dodging the python’s head-on collision.
The python’s head smashed into the ground, creating a large pit.
Song Changming drew his saber, twisting mid-air, and descended swiftly with the long saber in his hand transforming into a Flame Blade several meters long!
Fire God Saber Technique: Fire God Slash!
Boom!
A shower of starfire burst into the air as the Flame Saber slashed into the python, unleashing waves of fiery Sword Qi upon the creature’s body!
The ground trembled with the impact!
The python let out a high-pitched shriek as its body was severed, leaving only the remaining portion writhing and twitching on the ground.
Finally, after a while, it fell silent, devoid of movement.
"Hmm!" Song Changming turned to look at the python’s head.
Under spiritual perception, the scorching mist energy within the python did not dissipate at all but instead concentrated towards the head of its corpse.
He had heard of such a phenomenon before.
It is said that the Outer Realm is rich in mist gold, with nearly eighty to ninety percent of all mist gold flowing into the Da Han Dynasty coming from there.
In the Outer Realm, mist gold is mainly formed in two ways.
One is through environmental creation, where a large amount of scorching mist energy naturally condenses and forms, scattered everywhere.
Of course, no one has ever witnessed the entire process of the environment nurturing mist gold, so if one were to be precise, this is merely a plausible hypothesis accepted by many.
The other is that within the large number of Fog Beasts in the Outer Realm, some have mist gold inside them.
If one is lucky, they can obtain mist gold from the bodies of slain Fog Beasts.
Currently, it is still unclear where the mist gold inside these Fog Beasts comes from.
It’s only known that the stronger the Fog Beast, the greater the likelihood of finding mist gold within it. However, this is not absolute; in the end, it depends purely on luck.
And today, Song Changming’s luck is evidently good.
With one slash, he split open the Fog Beast’s head, and sure enough, there was a piece of mist gold inside.
Mist gold is greatly beneficial for Inner Qi cultivation, as the scorching mist energy it contains can well substitute the scant natural energy outside, being refined into Inner Qi.
With mist gold, the Qi refining efficiency of an average Martial Artist can at least double.
If one has strong spiritual power or exceptionally high talent, their Qi refining efficiency with mist gold will only be higher.
Therefore, mist gold is an extremely valuable cultivation resource for Qi Refining Martial Artists.
If not for this, the mist gold Song Changming sold back then wouldn’t have fetched such a high price.
Now understanding the function of mist gold, he only regrets having too little of it in hand.
Over the past two years, Song Changming has also been using mist gold to accelerate his cultivation, which is another major reason he has gathered his third Qi vortex within just two short years.
It can be said that without the help of mist gold, he might still be stuck at the Second Layer Qi Refining cultivation realm.
"Not bad, the weight is quite substantial." Song Changming weighed the mist gold in his hand.
Estimating that it can support his practice for about half a month, the scorching mist energy inside is by no means insignificant.
In the market, trying to purchase such a piece of mist gold, even with his family having money and silver piled up like mountains, is not an easy task.
After all, it is inherently a scarce commodity, and the ratio of the entire Da Han Qi Refining Martial Artists to this mist gold is undoubtedly one where demand exceeds supply, making it a cultivation resource that money alone can’t easily buy.
Stowing away the mist gold, Song Changming doesn’t linger much longer and once again steps into the thick fog.
The immediate visual range becomes narrow, a vast expanse of white everywhere.
Having experienced it once before, Song Changming doesn’t feel uncomfortable, directly dispersing his spiritual perception to assist in scouting the surroundings.
Under the cover of fog, after several days, perhaps due to the lack of direct sunlight, vegetation has withered considerably, and flowers have all wilted.
The ground is pitted, with traces of battles and remnants of Fog Beasts everywhere.
Mucus, bloodstains, chunks of flesh, severed limbs...
And of course, there are also desiccated corpses of Martial Artists drained of essence blood, barely recognizable as human.
The stench of decay lingers in the fog, blood qi rises, under the shadow, Song Changming pauses and looks up.
Another Black Scaled Python has its sights on him.
No, this time there are three.
Song Changming hears the commotion from his sides, as the giant pythons appear.
With a single step, he bursts over twenty meters away.
Boom!
The original ground had a massive, shadowy python head that slowly lifted after smashing a large pit.
The mist-covered serpent eyes locked onto Song Changming.
The heads of several pythons crisscrossed and descended, continuously biting toward Song Changming.
Song Changming swiftly maneuvered around.
The speed burst granted by his Flying Thunder Technique is unmatched by any other Light Body Skill, allowing him to easily dodge the pythons’ attacks again and again.
The three fierce and giant python heads formed large swathes of shadows in the thick fog, looming in and out, terrifyingly.
Seeing himself encircled once more, Song Changming mobilized his Inner Qi again, channeling it into the Dragon Pattern Saber.
The next moment.
Roar!
Three pure white Wind Dragon Sword Qi appeared, soaring skyward, dispelling the surrounding fog, and then engulfing the three Black Scaled Pythons.
Under the assault of the Wind Dragon Sword Qi, the three Black Scaled Pythons were all struck and repelled, their scales shattered, skin and flesh split open with gaping sword cuts, continuously oozing fresh blood.
The insides were further churned into a paste by Song Changming’s Wind Dragon Sword Qi.
The Wind Dragon Divine Saber Technique, now he has achieved some proficiency in it, with a mastery level higher than the Fire God Saber Technique, making its execution more smooth and effortless.