"Thatâs right!" The others nodded in agreement after hearing this.
"If I canât achieve the Golden Core Path in this lifetime, I will eventually die and fade away," said He Shu Li, a cultivator from Dafeng Kingdom.
"No matter how formidable the Trench Patrol Guest is, I only regard him as an ordinary calamity on my path."
"If I canât even overcome this calamity, whatâs the point of even talking about achieving the path or Core Formation?"
The members of Lin Xuanâs team, having cultivated to this level, were all Golden Core seeds, naturally possessing extreme tenacity, and quickly pushed their fear of the Trench Patrol Guest to the back of their minds.
"Everyone, check if you have any elixirs, treating Shiniangâs injuries is the top priority!"
After hearing this, everyone hurriedly checked their storage bags and storage rings, taking out all the healing elixirs they had on hand.
After gathering them together, they managed to find a few types of elixirs that could quickly heal injuries.
After Ding Shiniang took them, her complexion visibly improved significantly.
"Three years, at most three years, and I will be back to my peak!" Ding Shiniang said with great determination.
Soon, Lin Xuanâs team returned to the cave, packed their belongings, and left the area they had stayed in for many years, heading to a new defensive region.
...
In the new defensive region, everything had to start over.
Every day, aside from Ding Shiniang recovering from her injuries, Lin Xuan would lead everyone around to explore the surroundings, familiarize themselves again with the complex terrain and understand all the circumstances around them.
In the new defensive region, there were three major demon lairs, each one erupting with demon disasters three times a month.
Fortunately, the eruption times were different, giving everyone a buffer.
Even so, they had to clear demons for nine full days a month, and the rest of the time, they had to devote a significant portion to restoring spiritual essence.
This left everyone in the team feeling miserable, with almost no time to search for spiritual creatures and heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Later on, Lou Yi no longer concealed his strength when venturing to the demon lairs.
His gang qi, mixed with spiritual power, burst forth, effortlessly dissolving and reaping the semi-transparent, oddly shaped, high-pitched demons like harvesting crops.
The Martial Saintâs gang qi was inherently a nemesis to demons, no less effective than spells of the sun element or thunder element.
Meanwhile, the energy value in the attribute panel was also rising rapidly.
Beside him, while the others might not notice, Elder Gui gradually noticed something unusual, looking at Lou Yi with some suspicion, "Is that... martial arts gang qi? Youâre not a body cultivator!"
"Daoist Brother Gui is indeed knowledgeable." Lou Yi replied with a smile.
Everyone in the team had faced numerous trials together, their character already proven.
Even if he exposed his true identity now, he didnât worry about them leaking it out.
"No wonder you could kill a Spirit Platform cultivator," Elder Gui said gravely, "In our team, thereâs nothing to worry about, you can use martial arts freely."
"But in front of outsiders, itâs best to be cautious."
"Why?" Lou Yi already had an idea but wanted to confirm it further.
"The Immortal Dao Alliance has long imposed a ban on martial arts, and cultivators within the alliance are not friendly to martial artists," Elder Gui explained slowly.
"When I was young, I met an ancient martial artist in the heavenly abyss.
Unfortunately, he was targeted by a Trench Patrol Guest who hated martial artists, and ultimately didnât make it out alive."
Seeing a slight change in Lou Yiâs expression, Elder Gui added, "You neednât worry too much; those who harbor extreme hatred towards martial artists are in the minority in the heavenly abyss.
Most view them as passersby, not worth bothering with."
"So Liu Shu was a martial artist?" Upon hearing Elder Guiâs words, the others in the team looked on in surprise.
"Iâve heard that martial artists are invincible at the same level, but I wonder if Liu Shu, after cultivating to my realm, could withstand one move of my Shattering Star Gold Rainbow!" Lin Xuanâs eyes gleamed with excitement, feeling a bit eager.
"Lower realm martial artists are fine; the Immortal Dao Alliance tends to ignore them.
But if oneâs cultivation reaches a certain level, it seems the Alliance may personally step in to limit it..." The news from Qin Dong, the yellow-faced man, made Lou Yiâs heart tremble.
He now had a clearer understanding of how difficult it was for martial artists to survive in the cultivation realm.
Now that his teammates were aware of his identity, Lou Yi no longer hid his strength.
He looked at the wave of demons surging from the demon lair and gently punched forward.
"Tidal Shock."
In the next moment, his transparent red gang qi surged out like a tide, continuously flowing.
It formed visible red ripples in the air, shattering and dissolving any demon body that collided with it.
Tidal Shock had an extremely wide attack range, and Lou Yiâs endurance was strong enough to temporarily suppress a demon lair single-handedly, astonishing his teammates who watched.
Except for Elder Gui, the others were witnessing Lou Yiâs high-level martial artist cultivation for the first time.
"If you reach my realm, you should be able to fight me," Lin Xuan analyzed with a serious face, amusing Lou Yi.
Once Lou Yi let loose, the pressure on the other teammates greatly decreased.
It shortened their time to restore spiritual essence, giving them more time to search for spiritual creatures.
He also maximized the power of his divination talent.
After moving to the new defensive region, he once again found a few nests of spiritual creatures for the team.
The spiritual creatures in the new area were generally stronger than those in the old area, and the amount of spiritual materials collected increased, which was a pleasant surprise.
"Alright, if the Trench Patrol Guest doesnât want us to cultivate, then we wonât go along with his wishes!" Lin Xuanâs team, rekindling their fighting spirit and enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, a pair of eyes from the darkness occasionally watched the team.
Zhou Nan immediately went to report to the Trench Patrol Guest âHe,â telling him the news.
"Brother, this Lin Xuan team is truly persevering.
Even after moving places, they are still able to constantly find spiritual creaturesâ nests, and everyoneâs strength is rapidly growing...
At this rate, it wonât be long before the Golden Evil Child can completely stabilize his cultivation. If they find Heaven and Earth Wonders after that..."
Upon hearing this, Heâs expression darkened suddenly.
In the Su District, the position of the Trench Patrol Guest was not permanent.
If someone reached the fifth level of the Spirit Platform, they had the opportunity to challenge and replace the original Trench Patrol Guest.
"What do you suggest?" He asked.
"Brother, we can do this..." As Zhou Nan laid out his plan, Heâs eyes gradually lit up, and he laughed as he wrapped his arm around Zhou Nanâs waist, "Youâre quite the clever one."
"Oh, stop it!"
...
On that day, as Lin Xuanâs team set out from their residence, intending to clear the demons,
Zhou Nan, an alluring man, came over with a hawk-nosed, black-clad middle-aged male cultivator.
"Whatâs your game, pansy?" Lin Xuan, unreserved in his disdain, snapped at Zhou Nan.
This time, Zhou Nan wasnât angered by being called a pansy and responded calmly, "The Trench Patrol Guest knows how difficult it is for you to clear demons, so heâs sent someone to assist."
After saying that, the hawk-nosed male stepped forward, clasping his fists, "Fellow Daoists, I am Cui Rong from the Ghost Yin Sect, and I will be needing your guidance from now on."
"What do you mean by this?" Lin Xuan was furious, "Are you trying to plant a spy in our team?"
"Golden Evil Child, donât say it so unpleasantly. What spy?" Zhou Nan chuckled.
"The Trench Patrol Guest simply sympathizes with your hard endeavor to exterminate demons and has sent someone to support you.
This simply shows the kindness of the supervisor; another Trench Patrol Guest wouldnât care about your living or dying."
"Cui Rong, you should get along well with the other daoists and avoid conflicts, or the Trench Patrol Guest will have a word with you!"
"Understood!"
After delivering Cui Rong, Zhou Nan floated away, seemingly unconcerned whether Lin Xuanâs team would accept him.
"Letâs go," Elder Gui, always amicable, showed no particular hostility to Cui Rong, the Trench Patrol Guestâs plant.
"Besides, we are about to clear the demons, it wonât hurt to have an extra hand."
However, upon arriving at the demon lair, they noticed that Cui Rong stood firmly on the outskirts, showing no sign of offering help in clearing the demons.
"Cui Rong, wonât you join us?" Lin Xuan called out.
"Fellow Daoists, Lord He instructed me to act only when necessary, my apologies." Cui Rong addressed their suspicions with composure.
His feet remained planted, refusing to budge.
He stood brazenly at the perimeter, watching them with ease.
His leisurely demeanor and amused gaze reminded Lou Yi of a supervisor from his past work.
"So theyâve sent a watchdog?" Everyone in the team was infuriated.
...