Qin Sang arrived under concealment. Coming before the grand array's protective barrier above the rift valley, he retracted his Cloudfall Wings and revealed himself.
The Shaohua Mountain disciples beneath the array were startled at first. But when they caught sight of Qin Sang's waist token, they cheered in immense relief and hurriedly opened the array to welcome him in, saluting him in unison as Martial Uncle.
Though the white rhinoceros demon beast had ceased attacking the spirit stone mine, it was still watching hungrily from the shadows. Terrified of a sneak attack, they did not dare lower the array and remained on edge at all times. All mining operations had ground to a halt, leaving them utterly exasperated.
"I am Qin Sang, here by order of the sect master to eliminate the demon. Where is your manager?"
Qin Sang swept his gaze across the gathering and found that there were only twenty-odd disciples at the mine. The two with the highest cultivation were merely at the twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement stage: one was middle-aged, while the other appeared older, looking about fifty or sixty.
The spirit stone mine had originally been garrisoned by Foundation Establishment disciples. Now that it was nearly exhausted and held little value, Shaohua Mountain no longer wasted resources on it. The disciples stationed here possessed no hope of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
The elderly-looking man hurried forward and bowed before Qin Sang, saying respectfully, "Disciple Shen Youdao pays respects to Martial Uncle Qin. I unworthily serve as the manager of this spirit stone mine."
Qin Sang nodded and instructed, "The rest of you, continue maintaining the array. Shen Youdao, tell me about that white rhinoceros demon beast."
Shen Youdao did not know much about the beast either. Given his strength, he dared not face it head-on and had remained cowering inside the array the entire time.
When the white rhinoceros had attacked the mine, the aura it exhibited was at the early Demon Spirit stage. The horn on its forehead could loose water arrows that were not only swift but exceedingly powerful, nearly piercing straight through the mine's array. It was unclear whether this was its innate divine ability.
Apart from that, Shen Youdao had only one assessment of the creature: it had thick hide and coarse flesh. When their magic tools struck the beast, they failed to harm it in the slightest.
A vast gulf already separated Qi Refinement from Foundation Establishment, not to mention that certain demon beasts possessed extraordinarily tough physical bodies—one of their innate advantages. It was only natural that the disciples could not pierce its defense.
"Do you know why it attacked the spirit stone mine?" Qin Sang asked, seemingly in passing.
Once a demon beast broke through to the Demon Spirit stage, it gradually developed sentience, though instinct still held sway. Even so, by this point, they possessed the awareness to pursue fortune and avoid calamity. Especially after encountering danger a few times, their intelligence would grow rapidly, allowing them to grasp intuitively the importance of arduous cultivation and pursue the Grand Dao.
Unless spurred by great temptation or deep vengeance, such demon beasts rarely left their lairs.
Those that truly preyed on humans, ferocious and cruel, driven purely by gluttonous appetite, were mostly lesser demons in the Mortal Demon stage.
The Mortal Demon stage was also when beasts were most likely to bring fatal disaster upon themselves. In the domain of human cultivators, a demon beast's lot was harsh indeed; not every beast had the good fortune of the white cat, enlightened by Emperor Flowing Dew.
This spirit stone mine was nearly depleted, with only a few difficult branches left to excavate, virtually abandoned by Shaohua Mountain. Why had it drawn the white rhinoceros demon beast, and why was the beast so persistent?
Could there be some treasure within the mine that the white rhinoceros had sensed?
Catching Qin Sang's glance, Shen Youdao broke into a sweat on his brow and hurriedly said, "To report to Martial Uncle Qin, we suspect that the aura of the spirit eye inside the mine leaked out and lured it here. Some time ago, when we were excavating a vein beneath the spirit vein, a careless mistake caused a cave-in. It nearly destroyed the companion spirit vein of the mine and caused its aura to leak. Although this spirit vein is small, it contains a spirit eye. When a senior martial uncle guarded the mine in the past, he opened his cave abode right there. If Martial Uncle follows me down, you will see for yourself."
The two arrived at the cave abode's entrance. After scanning it with his spiritual sense, Qin Sang stepped inside. Indeed, it was a spirit eye, though he could clearly feel that the spiritual power within was somewhat thinner than in an ordinary spirit eye cave abode. The ground was riddled with cracks, and the jagged fractures were fresh.
Qin Sang inspected deep within the mineral vein as well and nodded to himself. Shen Youdao was likely telling the truth. If there had truly been any treasure in the mine, that Foundation Establishment senior brother would have swept it clean long ago.
Wealth, companions, techniques, and land—the four pillars of cultivation applied equally to demon beasts.
A spirit eye cave abode held immense appeal for a demon beast as well. No wonder the white rhinoceros was so relentless.
Qin Sang then inquired about the exact location where the disciple had been ambushed. By the time they finished speaking, dusk had already fallen. He instructed Shen Youdao to oversee the grand array and await his signal, keeping it as a retreat should the battle go awry.
He then activated his Cloudfall Wings for concealment and quietly flew out of the spirit stone mine.
The Yuncang Great Marsh stretched for tens of thousands of boundless jade-green ripples, its waters fathomlessly deep. It was difficult to pinpoint where the white rhinoceros demon beast lay hidden.
Concealed, Qin Sang flew to the spot where the disciple had been attacked. After surveying the surroundings, he slipped away and searched the vicinity for a long while before finally finding a deserted island to the southeast.
The desolate island was not large and completely uninhabited. Without disturbing a single blade of grass or tree, Qin Sang first laid down simple restrictions to block line of sight and conceal spiritual power fluctuations. Then, retrieving six Ten Directions Yanluo Banners, he secretly set up the array on the island.
Once his preparations were complete, Qin Sang dropped his concealment and performed the hand incantation for the Spirit Concealment Art, masking his aura down to the Qi Refinement stage. Then, boarding the Sky-Soaring Shuttle, he flew boldly toward that stretch of water.
Flying overhead, he had nearly reached the spirit stone mine, yet the lake surface below remained completely calm.
*Could the white rhinoceros demon beast have given up on seizing the cave abode?*
Just as Qin Sang was murmuring to himself, he suddenly heard a loud splash.
Water sprayed high into the air as a fierce gust tore through the sky.
Qin Sang's expression tightened. His spiritual sense had remained taut the entire time, and the moment the anomaly occurred, he detected the enemy. On the lake surface that had previously lacked the slightest ripple, the massive silhouette of a rhinoceros appeared without warning.
This demon beast was a full size larger than a normal white rhinoceros, lurking underwater like a colossal behemoth. Furthermore, its hide and horn gleamed with a white-jade luster, peculiar and distinct from ordinary white rhinos.
*Swoosh!*
A translucent water arrow shot up from the lake surface like roaring thunder, shooting straight toward the Sky-Soaring Shuttle in midair.
Prepared beforehand, Qin Sang banked the Sky-Soaring Shuttle sharply, dodging the ambush by a hair's breadth.
Immediately afterward, a barrage of whistling sounds pierced the air.
The white rhinoceros broke the water's surface, glaring up at the flying streak of light with savage eyes. Light flashed repeatedly from its single horn as water arrows fired in rapid succession like a string of pearls, sealing off every angle of evasion for the Sky-Soaring Shuttle in an attempt to riddle Qin Sang into a sieve.
Seeing this, Qin Sang pondered briefly before decisively putting away the Sky-Soaring Shuttle and summoning the ebony sword. Riding the sword, he broke through the barrage, turned around, and sped toward the deserted island, putting on the appearance of fleeing for his life.
Before the white rhinoceros revealed itself, Qin Sang had not sensed it at all—not even a trace of demon qi. Clearly, this beast excelled at concealment and movement techniques. It would be far wiser to trap it within the grand array first and deal with it at his leisure.
Chapter 145