Finally the day came. After less than two weeks, Cao Yun, Ren Chao, Sun Liao and Mei Hua set out toward the Lunar Marsh. Everything had been prepared. Sun Liao had rented a spatial pouch. Just as he had said, this was an array formation plate. This was big enough to be held in both hands. Stylized, the plate looked like the starry sky and the constellations and stars were in fact the engravings of the formation itself.
The knowledge to make spatial ring had not disappeared but no one under the Sage realm was able to use it. Thus, spatial rings were now very rare and only used by nobles and powerful cultivators. However, there were other spatial tools, less convenient, but easier to produce. One of those was the spatial pouch. Technically, it was a 2-star Heaven array formation called Sleeping Tao Tie. Of course, such an array formation could only be set up by the elite of the array formation masters. And to engrave it on a small plate, only a handful of them were able to do so successfully. The advantage was that the array formation could recharge itself through the surrounding Qi as long as you didn't drain it too fast. And anyone with enough knowledge, could use a plate of such a grade.
It wasn't a Spirit array formation, so it didn't have a spirit yet. But it was still imbued with the Qi of its maker and made its use easier for cultivators beneath the Mortal Warrior realm.
This array formation sealed a part of space within the plate itself. But if the array formation was to fail, every object stored within the space would be crushed as this pocket dimension would collapse. As such, spatial pouches were also rather rare, even more so than spatial rings. After all, there were many spatial rings still working from the Founding Era and the Seven Treaties Era. These spatial pouches were mainly used by powerful families or sects to help their weaker members.
Hunting without a spatial tool was always difficult. Trying to harvest the organs and parts of a demonic beast in the middle of the wild was dangerous. And carrying and transporting everything was also very inconvenient and dangerous. As they couldn't make spatial rings, they decided to use this method. In fact, the spatial pouch Sun Liao was using had been forged by Chief Elder Suxian in person a few hundred years ago. Even he had to spend several months to forge only one plate.
The group gathered in front of the Shell Gate. There were other exits, but it was symbolic for them. They had crossed this gate to join the Wubei Sect and for their first adventure outside, they would cross it again.
Sun Liao had put several artifacts in the spatial pouch, such as a cauldron and a furnace. Discussing it over with Mei Hua, they decided to take Cao Yun's old cauldron and furnace. There was always a risk when using a spatial pouch and going outside. They wouldn't risk important tools. For a similar reason, they had to wear their weapons with them. Extracting something from the spatial pouch took some time. And no one could control what came out of it, either you took everything out or nothing at all.
When the group met up, they were all wearing new robes. They were very similar to the one Chief Elder Baishen had had made for Cao Yun. As resistant as 5-star Human armors, they could resist the purely physical strength of a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior. Of course, a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior would also be able to manifest his Qi and had other ways to fight than just physical strength.
The robes were different for every one of them. They had been made specifically for them and were to their respective colors.
Sun Liao was wearing a black robe with golden and crimson red linings. His emblem was a golden crow engulfed in a sun. His friend, the blacksmith Ren Chao was wearing a green robe with white and blue markings. And his emblem looked like a mix between a hammer and a mace with a head formed by several bulbous structures, somewhat like a flower. Finally, Mei Hua was wearing a white robe with light blue linings and a cauldron made of thorns as an emblem. She also wore several birds as a reminder of her master.
They were also wearing the emblem of the Wubei Sect. Showing one's sect was always a difficult dilemma. It could deter some cultivators but also attract the wrong kind of attention. Some bandits might get the idea of attacking young sect members to steal from them, or even kill them. With the threat of the demonic cultivators, this was even more true. However, not wearing it would not protect you. In fact, it could attract even more people thinking you weak.
At least, this emblem would deter the weaker threats. And even without them, the higher threats would surely still be there.
Cao Yun's intentions were very clear and he had discussed them with his friends. First, they would climb down the mountains and train on some weaker demonic beasts to improve their teamwork. Of course, they had trained together, but a real fight was something different. Then, they would rest in Fulao City for a time. Finally, they would enter the Lunar Marsh and look for traces of demonic cultivators through Cao Yun's memories.
"Great! I can't wait to break the bones of a ferocious beast with my hammer!" Ren Chao was absolutely fired up. These past few days, he really felt useless to the group as he couldn't help them in any way. However, fighting demonic beasts was right up his alley.
Sun Liao and Mei Hua were more calm but still thought that this course of action was perfect.
As such, the group of four went into the mountains surrounding the Wubei Sect and took their time to climb down toward Fulao. Combined with their hunt, it took Cao Yun's group a bit more than four days to climb down the mountains. They spent a lot of time on coordinating their attacks and learning more about each other's moves and tactics.
Even though Ren Chao was the one with the lowest cultivation, as he was still a 5th-grade Mortal, he lead the group. Indeed, he was physically stronger than even Cao Yun who was a 7th-grade Mortal. Of course, Cao Yun could use his 'Dragon's Heart' and increase his strength several folds. But this technique was still very dangerous. He had been trying to control it but was still lacking. Right now, he was able to go up to a threefold increase in his physical abilities for five or six breaths without losing control. He could probably push it to fourfold for just one breath, but he would risk losing control and hurting himself. Hurting oneself on the duel platform in the middle of the sect was of course different from doing so in the middle of the wild.
Right beside Ren Chao, Mei Hua was also walking in the front. From the group, she was the one with the most knowledge about plants and beasts thanks to her study of alchemy. Even Cao Yun did not know as much as she did. His perception was maybe a bit better, but not by much when it came to nature. Finally, Sun Liao was rather in the back as his weapon was a bow. However, his perception was also really good and he increased it with his compass.
A compass could detect artificial array formations but also natural dangers as well. They would always leave traces in the surrounding Qi. Some times, Sun Liao was able to detect demonic beasts or even important or dangerous plants before Mei Hua. Some times, she detected them first. With the both of them, Cao Yun had almost nothing to do and the group did not walk into any trap.
When the time came to fight, Ren Chao and Cao Yun were mostly taking care of things. Their weapons were really great together. Ren Chao could fight very close to his opponents while Cao Yun's range was a bit longer. Then, Mei Hua with her rope dart could fight at a distance and Sun Liao from even farther. They mostly fought against 1-core and 2-core demonic beasts. For the 1-core demonic beasts, usually, Ren Chao only had to strike once with his hammer.
At one time, they met a Red King Boar. This demonic beast was known for its incredible charge. Even though it only had two cores, at full speed it could generate more strength than a 3-core demonic beast. As the name indicated, this beast was a boar the size of a horse. Its back was extremely narrow and high, almost like a mountain range culminating in several peaks. With this back covered in red fur, the beast was as tall as some trees. Its face was full of anger with two prominent tusks. And behind it, there were four tails whipping the air. The shock waves from these tails produced frightening noises to chase away some predators.
When it saw the group, the Red King Boar charged immediately. As everyone was screaming at Ren Chao to get out of its way, he stood his ground.
'Unbreakable Iron Bones'. Using his 'Lion's Roar' as a form of shield, he waited for the Red King Boar's impact. With a powerful noise, the majestic tusks of the beast collided with the head of his hammer. Ren Chao did not move at all. The ground around his feet got dug a little though. With a profound scream, Ren Chao pushed back the beast. Even the Red King Boar was shocked by what had happened.
'Earth Crushing Charge'. Each step from Ren Chao was enough to shake the ground and left terrifying marks in the loose soil. However, the Red King Boar was as stubborn as Ren Chao. Instead of staying where it was or even escaping, it charged once again. At the moment of impact, the shock was so intense that the nearby trees fell down. As he was holding his hammer horizontally, both ends of Ren Chao's weapon were blocked by the boar's tusks.
With all his strength, Ren Chao used his hammer as a lever. The head of the hammer bumped against the left tusk of the beast and Ren Chao flipped over the large beast on its right side to the ground. Astonished, the beast could not react at all. During the move, the tusk broke and the hammer got freed. Using his momentum, Ren Chao struck down.
'Shattering Palaces and Splitting Mountains'. The skull of the Red King Boar shattered in an instant, before it could even register what was going on.
Panting heavily, Ren Chao picked up the broken tusk and turned back.
"You see? Not even that monster can withstand my hammer! Ha ha ha ha!"
Who was the monster exactly? Ren Chao's strength was difficult to comprehend for the group. But it was great that Ren Chao was such a nice guy... Even Sun Liao had shivers down his spine. Without Cao Yun, he would have stayed Ren Chao's enemy. One day, he may have tasted this hammer of his. He was even more thankful to Cao Yun right now.
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By the time they reached Fulao, the group was able to perfectly fight together. For now, they had no battle formations, but their coordination was on point. As they all knew one another's techniques, strengths and weaknesses, they were able to complement each other without any blunder.
After these four days in the Heidai Peak, they finally reached Fulao. This was the city Cao Yun had stayed in when he first came to the Wubei Sect. Of course, they had learned about its fate, as it had been destroyed by Luduo Bu. No one knew what had happened exactly. Someone had erased all traces of the carnage, but it was not difficult to understand that Luduo Bu had slaughtered the population. However, even Xiao Xuefeng could find no clue in the ruins of the city.
Seeing the desolation, the group was infuriated. Knowing about a carnage was one thing, seeing it with their own eyes was another. Ren Chao broke down some rocks with his hammer to calm down. While the other three displayed a calm face, Cao Yun and Mei Hua were reminiscing old memories. Of course, Cao Yun was seeing the massacre of his family, strengthening his determination to explore the Lunar Marsh.
On her side, Mei Hua was having flashbacks from her infancy. To be accurate, she remembered what had happened to her father. It had been a turning point in her life, the day she had met Xiao Xuefeng and her father had died. These were memories she didn't like to remember. However, she knew that she would have to, as one day, she would have to tell the truth to her younger sister. In fact, this was her greatest fear. Mei Hua's greatest wish was to protect her sister as much as she could.
But deep down, she knew she would soon be old enough to know the truth...
The group didn't stay for long in the ruins of the city. This step of their journey also served to rest and manage their time. Indeed, they didn't want to enter the Lunar Marsh in the middle of the night when the Yin was at its greatest. The best course of action was to maximize their time during the Yang period of the day. The Pure Yang was at noon and the Pure Yin at midnight. As such, they decided to enter during the morning when the Yang slowly took over the Yin.
As they traveled toward the Lunar Marsh, their trip reminded many memories to Cao Yun. It was as though he had traveled back in time when he first joined the Wubei Sect. He had literally left a scene of ruins and desolation, he had traveled through the woods in the mountains, and now he was going back to the Lunar Marsh.
It wasn't exactly the same, but it was very strange to relive these events slightly differently. Of course, he thought about Feng Yingyue, but also about his dead family, and even about his master for a day. Even though Cleansed Asura had only given him the Drop of Wrath and a knowledge he could, for the most part, not understand, he still considered him as his master. Without this disembodied voice, Cao Yun would have died with his family.
Once more, Cao Yun strengthened his resolve. In the Lunar Marsh, it was unlikely, but there was a small possibility of finding clues about the Wolf Head Sect and the murder of his family. As of now, Cao Yun was not just trying to get revenge or justice, he was also trying to help all of mankind by getting rid of these traitors. And when he would get powerful enough, he would also try to help his master. Even if the only thing he could do was to bury him properly, he would do everything he could.