Immortal Path Space

Chapter 311: Going into Battle

After returning to the Mountain Valley base, Wang Hong gathered all of his Foundation Building stage subordinates.

The soldiers who had followed him in the past had all been promoted to the Foundation Building stage. Additionally, the first batch of recruits from the trading caravan had also achieved Foundation Building, numbering several people.

Apart from the eleven individuals who remained in Azure Void City and the ones dispatched to guard the shops in Boundary City, the rest had gathered at Mountain Valley. In total, there were forty subordinates at the Foundation Building stage.

Wen Lan was instructed to stay behind in Mountain Valley with four Foundation Building stage members, while the remaining thirty-five people followed Wang Hong into battle.

The medium-sized Flying Boat that Wang Hong had purchased on his previous trip had limited carrying capacity, accommodating only around a hundred people at a time.

Furthermore, only seventy of his Qi Cultivation experts at the Grand Mastery stage were chosen to accompany the expedition, primarily to gain combat experience.

Among the thirty-five Foundation Building cultivators, ten were primarily responsible for controlling wooden shields for defense. These wooden shields were mainly high-grade Spirit Shields obtained from Qianqiao City, with a few damaged ones that Wang Hong had personally repaired, although they were only of medium grade.

Twenty individuals were equipped with bows and arrows for long-range attacks. These bows and arrows were also obtained from Qianqiao City, with only seven high-grade ones, while the remaining thirteen were medium-grade ones that Wang Hong had refined himself.

Although he had successfully refined high-grade Spiritual Weapons before, it was still somewhat challenging for him, making medium-grade Spiritual Weapons a much more manageable task.

The remaining five Foundation Building subordinates each carried a Binding Spirit Rope to immobilize the enemy, and all of these ropes were of high grade.

The seventy Qi Cultivation stage members primarily engaged in long-range archery attacks. The bows and arrows they wielded ranged from Magical Weapons to lower-grade Spiritual Weapons, serving as Wang Hong's practice pieces in refining tools.

Of course, these were standardized equipment to facilitate coordinated combat, and each person had their own additional weaponry.

The battle strategy was not entirely fixed but adapted according to the situation.

After making all necessary preparations and ensuring they had the required supplies, more than a hundred individuals stood silently in Mountain Valley, awaiting Wang Hong's command.

As Wang Hong looked at the neatly arranged team before him, a sense of satisfaction welled up within him. This was the result of his efforts since entering the Cultivation World. This force, if deployed, would be considered powerful even among medium-sized factions.

Even if they were to join forces against an early Golden Core stage cultivator, they should be more than capable.

With a command from Wang Hong, everyone boarded the Flying Boat and departed from Mountain Valley.

Based on the information provided by Liu Changsheng, they directly arrived at a small family clan's residence.

This place had originally been home to a family clan that had operated here for centuries. It had several Foundation Building elders, over a hundred Qi Cultivation stage disciples, and thousands of Mortals.

Just a few days ago, the entire family clan had been wiped out by a group of Treasure Hunters. All the cultivators, along with the Mortals, numbering in the thousands, had been killed without a survivor.

As they approached the area from a distance, most of the houses had already been burned down, leaving only a cluster of intact buildings in the central region.

Wang Hong ordered his subordinates to control the Flying Boat and head straight for the remaining buildings in the center.

At this moment, more than a dozen Foundation Building cultivators rushed out from those buildings.

"Who dares to act recklessly here? You'd better... ah! Quick, retreat!"

The leader of the Treasure Hunters was about to speak harshly, but he abruptly noticed that the Flying Boat was filled with cultivators, with at least thirty of them at the Foundation Building stage. Furthermore, the people on the Flying Boat had already drawn their weapons and were ready to strike.

The leader of the Treasure Hunters had no time to save face and was the first to turn and flee.The others were quick to react, scattering in all directions. As Treasure Hunters, those who were slow to react or made mistakes had already perished in previous battles.

A multitude of Spiritual Weapons flew out from the Flying Boat, taking down one of the slower escaping cultivators.

"Chase!" Wang Hong led the pursuit on his Little Peng mount and quickly caught up with the leading Treasure Hunter.

The fleeing cultivator didn't dare to engage in combat with Wang Hong. Instead, he removed a Storage Bag from his waist, turned it upside down, and poured countless Spiritual Objects out of it, sending them flying in all directions with his Spiritual Power surging.

He had used this trick several times to escape from formidable opponents. Since their primary motivation was wealth, they wouldn't ignore his treasures and would prioritize chasing him.

Unfortunately, he guessed wrong this time. Wang Hong and his group were not there for the wealth, and none of his subordinates were interested in seizing his spoils.

Without even glancing at the treasures, Wang Hong's figure on Little Peng's back became a blur as he appeared behind the fleeing cultivator.

A silent and swift spear thrust pierced through a medium-grade shield and shattered a layer of defense from the Light Shield. All these defenses were like paper in front of Wang Hong's Long Spear.

The Long Spear then penetrated the back of the fleeing cultivator. He only felt a sharp pain in his chest while running, and a piece of spearhead emerged from his chest.

He remembered having double layers of defense, or did he make a mistake? Then, lost consciousness in confusion.

Wang Hong withdrew his Long Spear, used the shifting positions technique, and chased after another Treasure Hunter, while ordering Little Peng to pursue freely.

In just a quarter of an hour, the battle had concluded. They had killed twelve Treasure Hunters, while a few managed to escape.

These Treasure Hunters might not have been the strongest fighters, but each of them had a trick or two up their sleeves for escaping danger.

They collected the Storage Bags from the twelve fallen Treasure Hunters, and even Wang Hong's eyes widened at the sight.

These Treasure Hunters had amassed a fortune during this time, with multiple Storage Bags hanging from each person. Some even had ten or more Storage Bags on them.

The items inside the Storage Bags ranged from tier one to tier two, covering a wide variety of goods. There were over sixty Spiritual Weapons, countless Magical Weapons, and the most numerous were various raw materials, including Spiritual Herbs, spirit fruits, and spirit ores.

Consumable items like Pills and Spirit Wine were relatively scarce, likely already used up.

Wang Hong ordered his men to gather all these treasures and distribute them later.

They proceeded to search through several more buildings they had previously missed.

However, they didn't find anything valuable inside. It seemed that these desperate individuals had carried all their wealth on their persons.

What they did find were over thirty female cultivators, all at the Qi Cultivation stage. After interrogating them, they revealed that they had been kidnapped by the Treasure Hunters.

These women were all incredibly beautiful, with graceful figures. Under normal circumstances, they would have been the objects of admiration for many male cultivators.

Whatever they had gone through, their bodies were now terribly weakened.

Wang Hong decided not to cause them any more distress and intended to let them go.

"Thank you, senior, for saving our lives! However, considering the current situation, we have nowhere to go. We are willing to serve as servants or maids, to serve and obey you day and night. We implore senior to take us in."

The group of women kowtowed before Wang Hong, with one leading the plea, and the others followed suit, repeatedly kowtowing. They were oblivious to the fact that their foreheads were bleeding from the repeated prostrations, and tears flowed down their faces.

[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]