After coming out, seeing that the guards at the main entrance were about to close the gate, Jiu Baiyun and Su Zhiyun almost ran out of the town.
Seeing Jiu Baiyun and Su Zhiyun running at full speed, the guards had no intention of stopping them and simply let them pass.
And the moment Jiu Baiyun and Su Zhiyun rushed out the door, behind them came the heavy sound of the wooden gate closing and the bolt falling, declaring the town completely cut off from the outside.
“Huff… huff… We… we made it…”
Su Zhiyun hugged the ten bundles of incense sticks, panting heavily, sweat droplets rolling down her forehead, soaking a few strands of her black-gold hair.
“Don’t stop. Keep moving!”
Jiu Baiyun looked up at the sky, showing no intention of resting.
They had wasted too much time along the way.
If they didn’t hurry, it would be dark soon.
Su Zhiyun naturally understood this as well.
Gritting her teeth, she kept pace with Jiu Baiyun and once again set foot on the winding mountain path.
The return journey seemed even longer and more difficult than the trip there.
Su Zhiyun, whose stamina was already nearly exhausted, hugged the ten bundles of incense, each step painfully strenuous.
The shadows in the mountain forest grew thicker, and the surroundings were eerily quiet—even the chirping of insects had vanished.
Jiu Baiyun instinctively looked around.
The next moment, an extremely harsh, short bird cry cut through the dead silence without warning.
“Caw——!”
Then came a second cry, a third… sounds erupted from all directions.
Sharp, frantic, filled with mania and malice, instantly flooding the entire forest.
Jiu Baiyun’s expression changed drastically, and he stopped abruptly.
Without hesitation, he raised his right hand, spiritual energy flowing at his fingertips, quickly forming a detection and warning spiritual seal.
And the moment his finger seal took shape—
“Rustle, rustle, rustle—”
Countless gray-white figures surged wildly from the depths of the dense forest on both sides of the road and from the gaps in the canopy.
Hundreds and thousands of sparrows, all displaying a sickening pallor and deathly white.
Their tiny eyes were now entirely occupied by a murky, frenzied scarlet.
‘Damn!’
Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help cursing inwardly.
‘Did I stir up a sparrow’s nest or what? So many sparrows suddenly!’
Even just the sight of their numbers made Jiu Baiyun’s scalp tingle.
Su Zhiyun looked at the swarm of sparrows blotting out the sky, her expression equally grim.
This was the first time she had seen such a scene.
She couldn’t help shrinking her head, then looked at Jiu Baiyun with concern.
Jiu Baiyun wasn’t idle either.
He suddenly clapped his hands together, and spiritual energy surged from within him.
Hmm—
A pale green spiritual energy shield abruptly expanded around Jiu Baiyun, barely covering him and Su Zhiyun, who was pressed close.
Just as Jiu Baiyun was about to form another seal, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable couldn’t help but say, “You just recovered this spiritual energy, and you’re going to waste it like this?”
Hearing the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s words, Jiu Baiyun was slightly stunned, then replied grumpily.
“You finally decided to show up. You’ve been silent for so long—I thought you’d almost offed yourself again.”
It wasn’t a complaint.
It was just that the Yao Fox Demon Venerable was usually the one responsible for sensing danger, and with its talkative nature, its long silence really made Jiu Baiyun feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Do you think I’m as carefree as you? I was busy all night and just accidentally fell asleep!”
Hearing the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s righteous tone, the corner of Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched.
‘What else could that guy be doing besides going through my trivial memories?’
‘I bet it’s forcing itself to read some novel or manga in my mind when its true soul hasn’t rested enough.’
‘At this rate, it’ll really become a hermit fox!’
Jiu Baiyun didn’t call it out.
While grumbling inwardly, his hands didn’t stop.
Spiritual energy adhered to his fingertips as he quickly drew a talisman in the air.
But after a moment of hesitation, Jiu Baiyun stopped.
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable was right about one thing—given his spiritual energy recovery rate, every bit of spiritual energy he used was one bit less.
If he did it this way, the spiritual energy of the Third Profound Realm really wouldn’t let him squander it for long.
“Then do you have a way?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the first wave of fearless sparrows slammed into the shield like dense hailstones hitting glass.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The loud collision sounds made Jiu Baiyun frown tightly.
“Do you even need to ask? Just run.
Are all the abilities I shared with you just for decoration?”
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable was also speechless.
‘Now that he has some spiritual energy, he forgot about her abilities.’
Jiu Baiyun came to his senses.
‘Right. If I try to endure this overwhelming flock head-on, even if I can break out, the spiritual energy consumption will be massive. Using the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s abilities would be much easier.’
‘If I remember correctly, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable has an ability that can make itself ethereal.’
As he thought, Jiu Baiyun was about to act, but at that moment, Su Zhiyun poked him from behind.
“Here, a Spiritual Power Enhancement Talisman. It can temporarily enhance spiritual energy. Only those with spiritual energy can use it, and there are no side effects…”
Jiu Baiyun turned his head instinctively.
Su Zhiyun had somehow pulled out a palm-sized, pale golden talisman of strange material from her bosom.
She was biting her lower lip, looking pained as she offered it.
Jiu Baiyun froze for a moment, looking at Su Zhiyun’s expression of obvious reluctance yet forced offering.
He wanted to say something, but before the words left his mouth, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s shocked and urgent voice rang in his mind.
“What are you standing there for? Take it! That’s a good thing!”
Although in the eyes of high-level cultivators this might not be particularly great, to Jiu Baiyun at this moment, it was extremely precious.
Just from the pure spiritual energy he could sense, it was enough for Jiu Baiyun to go all out here.
Without further hesitation, Jiu Baiyun nodded and thanked her, “Much appreciated!”
Then he reached out and took the talisman, which shimmered with a faint golden light.
The talisman felt warm in his hand, neither metallic nor papery.
The moment he took it, before he even formed a seal to channel it, the talisman lit up with a blinding golden light on its own, turning into a warm current that instantly merged into his meridians.
Jiu Baiyun could feel his spiritual energy continuously rising, finally surging to the peak of the Third Profound Realm, just a hair’s breadth away from the Fourth Xuan Stage.
His gaze sharpened.
The pale green shield suddenly trembled, its radiance greatly intensifying, becoming solid and thick, forcefully repelling another round of violent impacts.
A few of the weird sparrows at the very front were even shattered by the recoil force, dissipating into wisps of gray smoke.
“Sss…”
Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help inhaling sharply.
Feeling the surging, far-more-powerful-than-usual spiritual energy within him, a trace of astonishment flashed in his eyes.
It had been a long time since he’d experienced the feeling of being filled with spiritual energy.
Even though he had only reached the peak of the Third Profound Realm, it was enough to make him feel exhilarated.
Unlike when he used the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s power before—this was truly his own strength!