Cultivating for Immorality: I Evolved Martial Arts into the Immortal Path – Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Visitors from the County Town, Crisis

Master Hu was reluctant to leave behind everything he had in this village.

Both he and Chu Liang understood this point clearly.

He had no great ambitions in this life, he was getting old, and he cherished his life. He didn’t dare to go out and fight, he just wanted to be a wealthy master in a small mountain village.

And Chu Liang was still young, with a long road ahead of him.

Their interests did not actually conflict.

“It’s good that you understand. I’m leaving.”

Chu Liang said calmly, then stood up.

He didn’t need to say much.

Master Hu was a smart man, he knew what to do.

“Chu Liang, that tiger demon… I might not be its match.” Master Hu called out to Chu Liang, mentioning the tiger demon.

The villagers all thought he was stronger than the masters of other villages, and even if he couldn’t kill the tiger demon, he could at least drive it away.

But Master Hu knew his own limitations.

Judging from the previous two attacks, the tiger demon’s strength should be comparable to a human with One Strand of Qi and Blood, not weaker than him, and demon beasts were naturally skilled at fighting.

Master Hu knew that once the tiger demon attacked, he would probably have to do the same as the masters of the previous two villages, and abandon the village to flee.

Of course, he wouldn’t flee in such a sorry state.

“I will stay in the village for a while, I won’t go to the county town for now.”

Chu Liang left these words, and then lightly leaped, directly jumping over the courtyard wall of the Hu family’s backyard.

Master Hu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

From the moment Chu Liang appeared until now, his entire body had been tense, his spirit extremely nervous, and now he could finally relax for a while.

“With him here, there’s no need to fear even if that tiger demon comes.”

Master Hu wiped the sweat from his forehead.

With this relaxation, he suddenly felt a sharp pain all over his body, as if his entire body was about to fall apart.

“Hiss…”

◈◈◈

Late at night, Chu Liang returned to his own courtyard.

The feeling of defeating Master Hu was very ordinary, he didn’t even have much emotional fluctuation.

“Next, I’ll continue to temper my Qi and Blood. As for martial skills, I’m not in a hurry for now.” Chu Liang silently planned in his heart, “There are many experts in the martial arts hall. Before I go there, it’s best if I can condense a Third Strand, Fourth Strand of Qi and Blood… or maybe even wait until I condense Five Strands of Qi and Blood before going to learn martial arts…”

Chu Liang was currently seeking stability, he was not in a hurry.

With the Evolutionary Appraisal Mirror, condensing Five Strands of Qi and Blood was just a matter of time.

In the county town, those four Skin Tempering Realm experts wouldn’t easily make a move, they usually let martial artists at the Blood Coagulation Realm handle things.

“Among those at the Blood Coagulation Realm, those who have condensed Five Strands of Qi and Blood are the strongest, like the Green Robe Gang’s Gang Leader.”

There were more than ten martial arts halls in the county town.

Among them, the three most powerful martial arts halls, their Hall Masters also possessed the strength of Five Strands of Qi and Blood.

“If I go to learn martial arts after condensing Five Strands of Qi and Blood, will I be seen as someone challenging the hall? It’s a bit odd, but not impossible.”

Chu Liang knew clearly that this was the safest approach.

In the following days…

He continued to practice martial arts as usual, tempering his Qi and Blood, constantly refining his Third Strand of Qi and Blood.

He would occasionally take Chu Shan into the mountains to gather prey and collect medicinal herbs.

If they ran out of demon beast meat, they would go to the county town to buy more.

The days passed one by one.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

The tiger demon that the villagers were worried about did not appear, the entire month was very quiet.

“Has there been any news about that tiger demon? Could it have been killed by the martial artist masters from the county town?”

“No! I went to inquire today, there’s still no news…”

The oppressive feeling brought by the tiger demon was like a boulder, pressing down on all the villagers’ chests, making them anxious all day long.

What reassured them was that Master Hu had recently appeared several times, indicating that he would stay in the village and would not go elsewhere.

A few more days passed.

This evening, two groups of unfamiliar people suddenly appeared outside the village.

“This is Qing Shi Village?”

“Yes, it can’t be wrong.”

“There’s only one martial artist in the whole village, it’s that guy surnamed Hu.”

“Let’s go, let’s go in and ask him if he has found anything.”

“That tiger demon is really cunning. We’ve been searching for so long, but we still haven’t found its trace…”

These two groups of people came from the Martial Alliance in the county town, they were demon hunting squads composed of martial artists.
The weakest member of the team had One Strand of Qi and Blood, while the leading captain had Three Strands of Qi and Blood.

◈◈◈

They entered the village one after another.

Upon learning that a Martial Alliance squad had arrived, Master Hu’s expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly went out to welcome them.

Although he had also been recognized by the Martial Alliance, he was just one of the lowest-ranking martial artists in the entire organization.

“You’re the Master Hu of this village?” one of them asked.

“I dare not, I dare not, you can just call me Little Hu.”

Master Hu looked respectful and invited them into the Hu Family Mansion.

Many villagers in the village were shocked to see this scene.

They quickly understood…

Some important figures had arrived!

The two groups entered the Hu Family Mansion one after another, came to the main hall for receiving guests, and sat down on either side.

“My name is Wu Neng, you should have seen me before.”

The captain of the team on the left spoke. He had a fierce look on his face, with a very savage scar on it.

Master Hu immediately replied, “Yes, yes, the day I received recognition from the Martial Alliance, you happened to be returning with your squad from the deep mountains. You had quite a harvest that time, capturing a wolf demon alive.”

“Yes, your memory is quite good.” Wu Neng nodded slightly.

“Master Wu, are you here for the tiger demon?”

“Yes, have you found anything?”

“No, that tiger demon has never appeared.”

Master Hu answered truthfully, not daring to hide anything.

“Hmm? Is that so?”

Wu Neng’s voice suddenly turned cold, his fierce eyes staring straight at Master Hu, and he asked again, “Think carefully, have you really found nothing?”

“I…”

“Humph! Don’t try to hide anything!”

Wu Neng snorted coldly, reached into the cloth bag at his side, and then suddenly flung out a bloody human head.

Thump, thump, thump…

The head rolled on the ground a few times, rolling to Master Hu’s feet.

Master Hu’s face turned pale. He recognized this head—it was Master He from the neighboring Black Stone Village!

“You recognize this person, right?” Wu Neng’s expression was cold, “I suspected he was colluding with demon beasts, so I beheaded him!”

Hearing this, Master Hu’s heart trembled.

Just a suspicion?

Master He had been his friend for many years, and his temperament was the same as his, both greedy for life and afraid of death. How could he possibly collude with demon beasts?

Master Hu was drenched in cold sweat, feeling chilled to the bone, as if an invisible long knife was already pressed against his neck.

Why did Master He really die?

Suddenly, he had an epiphany and immediately said, “I remember now, I do have a discovery, please wait a moment!”

With that, he hurriedly ran to his bedroom.

Not long after, he ran back from the bedroom, holding a wooden box in his hand.

He opened the box, and inside was a beautifully crafted jade disc, clearly valuable.

Master Hu, enduring the pain in his heart, knelt down and presented the jade disc.

“This jade disc was discovered by me in the mountains earlier. I suspect it has something to do with demon beasts. Please accept it, Master Wu!”

“Yes, not bad!”

Wu Neng nodded slightly and casually took the jade disc.

Seeing this, Master Hu immediately breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had guessed correctly.

These scoundrels weren’t here to catch demons at all! They were clearly using the excuse of catching demons to come to the villages and extort them!

The unlucky Master He probably couldn’t produce anything of value, and was used as an example to scare the others.

Wu Neng gently stroked the jade disc, a satisfied look flashing across his face.

He waved his hand, picked up the head, and then said to the rest of his squad, “Let’s go, let’s go to other villages and see if there are any other clues.”

“Yes.”

The other members all laughed, their smiles somewhat cruel.

Wu Neng no longer paid attention to Master Hu, who was kneeling on the ground. He put away the jade disc and walked straight to the door of the hall.

Just as he reached the door, he suddenly paused and asked, “By the way, are there any other martial artists in your village?”

“No, just me.”

Master Hu hurriedly replied, “As you know, I’m the only one in the whole village who has received recognition from the Martial Alliance.”