Wang Hao withdrew his flames. It was a pity the red spider’s fur had completely burned away, rendering it worthless as a material. However, its legs were excellent and hadn’t suffered much damage.

“Fifth Brother, you’re amazing! You instantly killed a mid-second-rank demon beast!” Wang Wenmei retrieved her flying sword, her eyes wide with admiration. If she had encountered this monster alone, her only option would have been to flee. Yet, with Wang Hao, they had taken it down effortlessly.

Wang Hao was fairly satisfied with his own strength. He was now at the third layer of Foundation Establishment, and his True Essence had grown much deeper. The power of the high-grade spiritual artifact, the Child-Mother Green Light Sword, had also increased significantly in his hands. It was a far cry from when he had just established his foundation, where a few sword strikes would have drained him dry.

He glanced at the spider’s two front legs, swung his sword to chop them off, and tossed them to Wang Wenmei.

“These two legs are quite powerful. They’ll definitely make a formidable mid-grade fire-attribute spiritual artifact. Keep them safe!”

“Fifth Brother, don’t you want them?”

Wang Hao smiled. “I have plenty of spiritual artifacts, enough for my needs. It’s you all who only have one each. If it gets damaged, there’s no replacement. You take them. When we return to Wanxiang City, find an artifact smith to craft them. Once you change your cultivation technique, they’ll be just right for you.”

The Wang Family ran an alchemy shop, so asking affiliated artifact smiths for help would be simple. Even rogue cultivators could buy spiritual artifacts in Wanxiang City, but the prices were steep.

“Thank you, Fifth Brother!” Wang Wenmei beamed. She knew Wang Hao was wealthy. Although she wasn’t sure exactly how many Spirit Stones he possessed, a single raw material like this was likely beneath his notice.

At this moment, the others heard the commotion and quickly gathered. However, by the time they arrived, the battle was already over.

They were no longer surprised by Wang Hao’s combat prowess. A few days ago, while hunting demon beasts, Wang Hao had single-handedly entangled three second-rank monsters, buying the group enough time to eliminate the horde.

Li Derong looked around the clearing. “No wonder there are no mature high-year Spirit Medicines here; they must have been eaten by the demon beasts!”

Wang Hao sighed. “That’s also why there are so many second-rank demon beasts here. Without the nourishment from the Spirit Medicine Garden, how could they possibly advance so quickly?”

Where there was one demon beast, there could be a second. Everyone became even more cautious. However, it seemed demon beasts respected territorial divisions. After searching the entire Spirit Medicine Garden again, they found no other threats.

“For a proper Golden Core sect, how come not even a single third-rank Spirit Medicine can be found?” Wang Yanping voiced his confusion. “Even if the mature ones were eaten, there should at least be seedlings, right? Looking at this place, the demon beasts haven’t been destructive; they seem to be ‘farming’ the medicines for themselves.”

Wang Hao analyzed the situation. “Perhaps this is just one of many gardens. A major sect wouldn’t rely on a single location. Let’s look elsewhere.”

He was still missing a few ingredients for the Nine-Elixir Golden Liquid and was eager to continue the search.

Although this particular garden lacked third-rank herbs and mature specimens, the group still reaped a massive harvest. They found five Spirit Fruit trees. Besides the destroyed Hundred Fragrance Spirit Fruit tree, there were two others that weren’t bearing fruit, which were divided between the Wang and Li families. Additionally, they collected two first-rank Spirit Fruit trees and nearly a thousand first and second-rank Spirit Medicines—worth at least a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Gaining so much from just one location meant that even if Wang Hao hadn’t suggested moving on, the others wouldn’t have wanted to leave. If they could find two or three more gardens like this, each of them could afford a full set of high-grade spiritual artifacts.

While Wang Hao and the others searched for the next Spirit Medicine Garden, Ji Xiaotang and Qi Li were leading their clansmen in plundering a garden located on the mountainside.

“Dammit! Why are they all immature Spirit Medicines? I thought after thousands of years we’d harvest a bunch of thousand-year-old treasures!” Qin Hu punched a towering tree in frustration, his face twisted with unwillingness.

Crack!

The tree splintered and collapsed.

Screech!

A demon monkey tumbled from the falling branches. It was clutching a Spirit Fruit, munching on it happily.

Qin Hu stared at the second-rank Spirit Fruit in the monkey’s hands, and his anger flared instantly.

“So that’s why there are no mature Spirit Medicines,” he realized. “You’ve been eating them all!”

He shot out a hand, activating a technique to capture the creature mid-air. Hatred flashed in his eyes as he drew a small knife and stabbed it toward the monkey’s eye.

The monkey screamed wildly, struggling desperately. But as a mere first-rank juvenile, it was helpless against a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. It watched in terror as the knife pierced its eyeball. Moments later, it went limp.

Qin Hu casually tossed the carcass aside and laughed, feeling some of his frustration dissipate.

“Qin Hu! What are you doing? Causing such a commotion!” Qi Li stormed over, furious.

“It’s just killing a first-rank demon beast; why are you making such a fuss?” Qin Hu curled his lip disdainfully.

Qi Li approached and looked down at the small monkey on the ground. His eyes suddenly widened in horror.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t recognize this is a juvenile Thunder Ape?” he demanded sharply.

“So what if I did? Was I supposed to let it go?”

“Idiot! These beasts live in groups! If there’s a juvenile here, the pack must be nearby!”

Qi Li didn’t wait for a response. He turned and sprinted back toward his clansmen.

Qin Hu froze. A moment later, the implication hit him, and a chill ran down his spine.

“Everyone! Gather quickly! We—”

“Ah… Patriarch, save me!”

A clansman’s agonized scream cut through the air.

ROAR!

A deafening bellow shook the forest as the screaming clansman was torn in half by a massive second-rank Thunder Ape. Blood and entrails scattered across the grass.

The Qin Family members were stunned into silence for a split second. Then, someone shrieked, and chaos erupted. The formation broke as everyone fled in terror.

“Bastards! Why are you running?!” Qin Hu roared, enraged. “Quickly gather around me! Defensive formation!”

A few clansmen obeyed, rushing toward him, while others, running like headless flies, tried to circle back.

ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

Multiple enraged cries echoed through the woods. The trees in the distance shook violently as dark shapes surged forward.

“It’s a Thunder Ape pack! We can’t hold them off! Run!”

The newly gathered clansmen scattered again instantly. Even Qin Hu and the other Foundation Establishment cultivator turned tail and fled without hesitation.

Withstand them? What a joke. Against an entire pack, whoever ran slowest died.

In the distance, Ji Xiaotang and Qi Li were also shouting orders to retreat. Even though their combined forces numbered over eighty, facing a Thunder Ape pack in the wild offered zero chance of victory. Moreover, everyone was scattered collecting herbs, making it impossible to form a defensive line in time.

Within moments, several Qi Refining cultivators had already fallen victim to the apes’ wrath. The enraged beasts tore them apart, the gruesome sight sending waves of panic through the survivors.

“Bastard,” Ji Xiaotang gritted her teeth, hatred for Qin Hu burning in her chest. She shouted to another Foundation Establishment cultivator from her family, “You lead our clansmen back to the exit immediately! I’ll lure away the apes!”

She had brought the core disciples of the family. If they perished here, the Ji Family would be finished.

The cultivator nodded hastily, gathered the nearby clansmen, slapped a speed talisman onto himself, and led the group away. Many distant clansmen were left behind, but there was no helping them now.

The Qin Family members, lagging behind, became the primary targets. They no longer cared about noise discipline—talismans flew wildly as they used every means possible to escape, whether flying or burrowing.

Disturbing more demon beasts? That was a problem for later. If they didn’t escape now, death was immediate.

But the Thunder Apes, having lost their young, were not about to let them go. Several second-rank apes charged through the barrage of spells, willingly trading injury for injury just to get their claws on the murderers.