The ten water buffaloes saw that the battle was over and that they had no further role to play, so they vanished into thin air, returning to their spiritual fields.
"How are you feeling? Can you get up?" Man Gu stepped forward with concern. Lu Yang's decisive blue sword had impressed him greatly. Although he and Meng Jingzhou had helped to injure the tiger demon, Man Gu suspected that even without their assistance, Lu Yang's sword would have still been able to slay the tiger demon.
Lu Yang took a packet of recovery powder and quickly calmed his breathing. His energy was steadily rising, and the speed of his recovery was far beyond what a few grains of recovery powder could achieve.
"If I had known, I would have bought recovery pills instead. This powder is such a hassle," Lu Yang muttered, using the Water Condensation Technique to form a small ball of water at his fingertips. He then extended a water column into his mouth.
"Were you using the technique called Size Adjustment just now?" Meng Jingzhou asked, noticing how Lu Yang suddenly shrank and then grew again. It reminded him of a spell his uncle from the clan used.
But as far as he knew, that technique was extremely difficult to master and had a high entry requirement. One couldn't learn it without reaching the Golden Core stage.
"It’s something similar. I used a technique called 'Size Change'," Lu Yang explained.
"Size Change?" Meng Jingzhou was puzzled. As a member of the Meng family, he had heard of all sorts of techniques, but this "Size Change" was unfamiliar to him. Could it be a unique technique created by Senior Sister Yun Zhi?
That thought made sense.
"Hello, I am Lan Ting, and I greet the three fellow Daoists," Lan Ting approached gracefully.
"We are all disciples of the Asking Dao Sect. This is Meng Jingzhou, and this is Man Gu," Lu Yang introduced, having only introduced himself earlier due to the urgency of the situation.
"Oh, so you are Daoist Meng and Daoist Man," Lan Ting said politely. It was clear she was well-mannered, as she hadn’t chased away the ordinary people like Qi Wu earlier, choosing instead to stay in the mountain god temple to avoid the rain.
"Thank you, Daoist Lan, for your help. Otherwise, if those two tiger demons had attacked together, it would have been quite troublesome, and we might have failed our mission," Lu Yang expressed his gratitude.
This was actually just polite talk; the three of them still had hidden cards they hadn’t used.
"So this is your mission," Lan Ting said, not elaborating further. She had come down the mountain to complete a secret task herself. However, she was unfamiliar with the area, and having not descended during the day, she found herself caught in the rain at night, leading to this unexpected situation.
"I know a bit about rune techniques. Those tiger skins look quite good. Could you spare them for me?" she asked.
"Of course," Lu Yang replied with a smile. "If there’s anything else you need, feel free to take it."
Tiger skins were valuable, but they were worth less compared to the help Lan Ting had provided.
Lan Ting shook her head and didn’t ask for anything else.
Man Gu, having grown up in the wild with his parents, was very familiar with skinning. He brought his fingers together, sharper than a butcher's knife, and in just a few swift movements, he completely skinned the two tiger demons.
After Lan Ting accepted the tiger skins, she politely said goodbye to Lu Yang and the others before disappearing into the depths of the forest.
Sisters had told her not to approach the Asking Dao Sect members recklessly when her mental fortitude wasn’t strong enough, lest she be assimilated.
"Jingzhou, do you want the tiger bones and the tiger whip?" Lu Yang asked.
Meng Jingzhou looked confused. "What would I want those for?"
Lu Yang grinned mischievously. "For boosting your vitality."
"Get lost!"
With his pure Yang spiritual root, he didn’t need anything to boost his vitality; he could barely handle what he had.
"Let’s keep these two tiger demons. They are important evidence for completing our mission," Lu Yang said, taking out a jade pendant. He rubbed it with his thumb, and the bodies of the two tiger demons were sucked into the pendant.
The pendant could also serve as a storage device.
"Let’s go. The female tiger demon made quite a noise when she came, knocking down many trees. We can follow the trail it left to find their den."
The two tiger demons had been lurking in Pine Mountain for many years, so they must have a lair.
The heavy rain didn’t affect the three of them; any basic rain-avoidance spell would keep them dry.
Following the fallen trees and shattered boulders, they soon found the tiger demons' den.
It was a dark cave about three meters high, and they couldn’t see anything inside.
"Does anyone have a torch?" Man Gu asked. It was pitch black inside, and there could be traps.
He had read in books that such strange caves were perfect for traps, like stepping on a loose brick that would trigger arrows from the walls.
Or a sudden burst of poisonous gas that could kill someone.
At the very least, a rolling boulder could crush someone.
"Who would set up so many traps in their own home? Are they afraid of getting home too easily?" Lu Yang replied, feeling exasperated at Man Gu’s wild imagination.
That said, having a torch would create an adventurous atmosphere.
Outside, the rain poured heavily, while inside the cave, the three of them held torches, ready to discover treasures. Just thinking about it was exciting.
"Who goes out carrying a torch?" Meng Jingzhou complained. They were cultivators and had fire control techniques; why would they need torches?
"Open your mind," Lu Yang said, pulling out a fried dough stick. He struck a spark on it, and the whole stick caught fire.
It looked like it would burn for a long time.
Holding the flaming dough stick, Lu Yang felt proud and unbothered by the heat.
The cafeteria food was indeed useful; besides being edible and useful for fighting, it could also serve as a torch.
Man Gu suddenly understood; following Lu Yang really taught him something.
Lu Yang led the way with the flaming dough stick, while Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou followed closely behind.
There were no traps as Man Gu had imagined.
Only the lair of wild beasts awaited them.
Rare treasures from traveling merchants, ancient books from scholars, martial arts manuals from warriors...
These items didn’t need to be handed over to their sect; they were their spoils of war.
"Jewels and antiques..." Among the three, Meng Jingzhou had the most experience and was responsible for identifying the origins of these items.
"This teacup is over a hundred years old; it’s not worth much," he said. For cultivators, a hundred years was a fleeting moment, and any random item at home could easily be over a hundred years old.
In the world of cultivation, antiques were the least valuable things, only cherished by ordinary people.
"A rusty iron knife? What would a tiger demon want with this? To sharpen its teeth?" Meng Jingzhou shook his head.
Lu Yang thought to himself, "Don’t underestimate that rusty iron knife; one slice could give you tetanus, you know?"
"‘Shape-shifting Fist’? Isn’t that a folk martial art that mimics animals?" Meng Jingzhou flipped through a few pages, losing interest, and tossed it to Lu Yang.
Lu Yang was a bit interested and planned to practice it when he had time in a few days.
"‘Words of the Sage’..." Meng Jingzhou sneered, "What use do two beasts have for ‘Words of the Sage’? They’re still just beasts."
‘Words of the Sage’ was an introductory book for Confucian cultivators, containing the sage's teachings. Man Gu had memorized its contents and understood them deeply.
He tucked away ‘Words of the Sage’, not because it was particularly valuable, but because of its unique status; it deserved to be kept properly.
This was a sign of respect for the sage.
"Hmm? There’s a letter here. Is it addressed to the tiger demons?"
(End of Chapter)