The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 326: Chapter 318: Driving Out the Demons

A rustling sound swept through the mountain forest.

A full hundred people moved through the woods. They treated the mountain paths as if they were flat ground, moving with incredible speed.

All of them were Martial Artists, and powerful ones at that.

Needless to say, they were the treasure hunters from Yan Province and the Cao Bang.

The celestial phenomenon might attract other powers, but in the eyes of this group, those factions were nothing but small fry, utterly unqualified to join the fight for the treasure.

"We’re almost there."

Wei Yang gazed at a familiar giant boulder.

The Cao Bang had already sent men to scout the area. And as the local powerhouse, the Yan Province Prefecture Magistrate’s Office had long since gotten a clear picture of the situation.

In fact, Wei Yang himself had already come to investigate this place.

"A full five Tier Seven Great Demons are entrenched here. They’ll be extremely difficult to deal with."

This was exactly why he was willing to team up with the Cao Bang. Otherwise, he would have secretly claimed the prize for himself, without ever involving the Sun Alliance or the Aries Sect.

Qiu Yang licked his lips.

A certain phrase from Bai Yuan particularly resonated with him.

The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish.

Demons were far more sensitive to treasures than humans. The stronger the demons a treasure attracted, the greater its value. If you wanted a prize of that caliber, you had to take risks.

Qiu Yang was already feeling an unbearable hunger.

Although the Cao Bang had won the contest, he had still conceded an extra ten percent of the spoils in the end.

In reality, the Cao Bang was still the biggest winner.

The three Yan Province factions would only split forty percent of the profits, while the Cao Bang alone would take sixty. It was obvious who came out on top.

Qiu Yang had done this because he understood a simple truth: even a cornered dog will fight back.

If he’d been too greedy, then even after winning the duel, the Yan Province factions might still turn on them out of sheer envy. The Cao Bang would then have to face three factions alone and would surely be at a disadvantage.

It was better to concede ten percent. That way, Wei Yang and the other two would have to consider the consequences of crossing the Cao Bang, making a betrayal far less likely.

These were lessons Qiu Yang had learned the hard way in the Jianghu.

An old Confucian scholar had once told him this was known as "never pursue a desperate foe."

Led by scouts, they soon arrived at a valley.

"We’re here."

Wei Yang stopped and crouched low.

Seeing this, everyone else did the same.

The other Martial Artists from the Cao Bang and Yan Province couldn’t perceive anything amiss, but the few Sensing Grandmasters, like Bai Yuan, could clearly see the valley teeming with countless demons of all shapes and sizes.

Wei Yang’s brow furrowed slightly.

He hadn’t expected so many demons to gather right under his nose. By a rough estimate, there were over a hundred of them.

After all, Yan Province wasn’t like Ling Province. It bordered the Central Plains, a region where demons were known to keep a low profile.

The presence of so many demons now meant they must have sensed the divine object’s aura ahead of time and come to lie in wait. Otherwise, there was no way they could have escaped the notice of the Yan Province Prefecture Magistrate’s Office.

Wei Yang beckoned to the Martial Artists behind him.

The Officials from Yan Province produced powerful crossbows, their sharp bolts glinting coldly.

The sight of over a hundred powerful crossbows sent a surge of morale through the men.

These weren’t just any crossbows; they were specially commissioned by the Court and possessed extraordinary power.

Only a province as close to the Central Plains as Yan Province could acquire such fine weapons.

Wei Yang said, "Incense Master Qiu, Alliance Leader Hu, Sect Leader Qiao, when I give the order, we charge together."

Qiu Yang and the other two nodded in unison.

With the power of these crossbows, a few volleys would surely inflict some damage on the demons, giving their side a considerable advantage.

Wei Yang let out a low shout. "Fire!"

SWOOSH!

A bone-chilling sound of bowstrings snapping taut filled the air as a dense volley of short arrows rained down into the nearby valley.

"Fire!"

SWOOSH!

...

The crossbows loosed five volleys in total.

Seeing the time was right, Wei Yang leaped to his feet. "Charge!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, Qiu Yang and the others were already leading their men into the valley.

In an instant, battle cries shook the heavens!

Bai Yuan didn’t rush to the front. Instead, he hung back, a single step behind Qiu Yang and the others.

Just three breaths later, the demons in the valley came into view.

He proactively sought out a Tier Seven Tiger Demon and engaged it in a fierce struggle.

The scene descended into chaos. Humans and demons clashed, and in the first moments of engagement, people and beasts alike fell dead.

Bai Yuan handled the Tier Seven Tiger Demon with ease.

He even had the spare attention to survey the rest of the battlefield.

Just like him, Qiu Yang and the others had each engaged their own opponents—all of them Tier Seven Great Demons.

They were all veteran experts of the Sensing stage, so they held their own without issue.

The battle raged for a full half-hour, the fighting growing ever more intense.

Bai Yuan felt the time was ripe.

He intentionally lured the Tiger Demon away from the main battlefield. Once he was certain no one could see them, he unleashed his full power, striking with the Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber in one hand and the Manggu Zhuhe Technique in the other. The Tiger Demon was beaten back again and again.

The Tiger Demon’s eyes, already as large as bronze bells, widened even further, nearly popping from their sockets.

Its intelligence was incredibly high, not the least bit inferior to a human’s.

’This human was hiding his strength!’

The Tiger Demon instantly understood. It tried to flee, but Bai Yuan blocked its path with his Moving Sand Treading Snow technique.

A few roars later, the Tiger Demon was reduced to a bloody pulp under Bai Yuan’s palm.

Bai Yuan glanced at the new enhancement points on his panel and smiled faintly.

With a flash, he was back on the battlefield.

When Qiu Yang saw Bai Yuan return without the Tiger Demon in sight, he knew the young man had succeeded.

"Brother Yuan, help me."

He bellowed in his raspy, gong-like voice.

Bai Yuan chuckled. "Coming."

With his help, the Snake Demon that had been locked in a long struggle with Qiu Yang was gradually overwhelmed, finally falling to Bai Yuan’s saber.

With two of the Great Demons dead, the remaining Tier Seven Demons knew the battle was lost.

They dove into the mountain forest one by one and vanished from sight.

Before long, the only things left on the battlefield were the corpses of demons.

Bai Yuan thought to himself with some regret.

’These demons are good for one thing, but they die too easily. If I could have turned them all into enhancement points, the gains would have been incredible.’

’A pity I couldn’t cash them all in.’

Wei Yang and the other two leaders sheathed their weapons and approached Bai Yuan and Qiu Yang.

There was a hint of wariness in all three of their eyes.

After all, Bai Yuan’s strength was simply too outstanding. He was without a doubt the strongest person present.

Hu Sanyang couldn’t resist sidling up to Bai Yuan. "Brother Yuan, I’ve got some business of my own, and I was wondering if you might be interested?"

’Since Bai Yuan called himself a Ghostwriter, if the Cao Bang could hire him, then the Sun Alliance certainly could as well.’

Hearing this, Wei Yang and Qiao Ding also looked tempted.

’A Ghostwriter as powerful as this man is hard to come by. Perhaps we’ll have a use for him in the future.’

’I should get his contact information.’

Just as the other two were about to make their own offers, Qiu Yang snorted. "Poaching my man right in front of me? A bit brazen, don’t you think?"

Hu Sanyang retorted, "Brother Yuan is a Ghostwriter. It’s only natural he goes to the highest bidder."

Bai Yuan had to step in. "My apologies, Alliance Leader Hu. Once this business is finished, I must return to the Central Plains."

Hu Sanyang looked utterly disappointed.

At this, Wei Yang changed the subject. "Gentlemen, perhaps we should first focus on how to find the divine object."

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