Chapter 351 - Hunting Peach Rat
Chapter 351: Hunting Peach Rat
The banquet was ongoing.
The Ten Mile Peach Blossom Forest in the center was indeed worthy of its reputation. The dense fragrance of the spiritual fruit was irresistible.
The entire venue was roughly divided into three levels.
Jiang Li’s wooden clone and the Medicine King Pavilion’s manager sat at the outer area. In front of each of them were three Longevity Peaches and some delicacies made from other precious ingredients.
The Great Mountain Alliance and the Medicine King Pavilion were really not considered large sects in the Eastern Region. If they joined the Divine Judgment Hall, they might be able to sit in some of the positions inside.
At the outermost area were naturally the 1200 rogue cultivators who were fortunate enough to obtain the peach blossom invitation.
The anonymous invitations they held could only sit at the outermost area and had to become the entertainment content of those important figures inside.
In the middle of the entire venue, there was an exquisite martial arts arena.
In terms of entertainment, the most popular one in the cultivation world was still martial arts competitions.
The rogue cultivators would fight in pairs. The winner could show off in front of many sects and also obtain the Longevity Peaches rewarded by the Mu family.
If he could win ten consecutive rounds, not only would he be famous in the Eastern Region, he would also be able to obtain a 30-year-old Longevity Peach that even the disciples of the Mu family could not easily eat.
Recalling the price of the Mu family’s Longevity Peaches at the auction, they could be rich if they sold this one.
“You’re a little late. Please sit here.”
It had been a long time since the banquet started. At this moment, two people rushed in with invitations from behind.
The attendant was obviously slightly displeased. Two rogue cultivators dared to be late for the dignified Mu family’s Longevity Peach Banquet.
Did they think they were the Divine Judgment higher-ups?
The attendant led the two of them to a remote seat and ignored them.
The last two people to enter were none other than Jiang Li and Mu Yulan.
In the battle with the statue clone just now, Mu Yulan was actually not injured. She was just a little tired.
She was a Nascent Soul cultivator after all, so she was fine after resting for a moment. Of course, this was under the circumstances that Jiang Li was by her side.
Otherwise, without his suppression, Ghost King Yang Ruozhi would immediately make a comeback and seize control.
Therefore, if she did not want to lose consciousness forever, it was best to follow Jiang Li first.
After telling Jiang Li about the Nine Nether Wood in the graveyard, the two of them should have changed their appearance and identity and used an invitation gathered by a Hidden Rock cultivator to return to the Mu family’s Peach Blossom Forest.
Now, on the surface, he was disguised as the Nine Nether Wood clone. As long as he hid among the rogue cultivators, he could hide in the shadows again.
Jiang Li wanted to see what the Nine Nether Wood that had lost to him could do this time.
Before knowing the existence of the Divine Possession Girl, the Nine Nether Wood in the graveyard had already entangled a group of demonic cultivators and planned to attack the Mu family.
Although Yang Ruozhi had failed to snatch Shenshan Qiuhua, it most likely did not affect their plan.
Jiang Li had to take this opportunity to completely bury the branch for good.
Otherwise, with such a fellow covetously watching from behind, Jiang Li’s Hidden Rock cultivators and the Prosperous Jiang Hong shops would be completely unsafe. He would be unable to sleep and eat in peace.
In addition, Yan Hong and the others were still in the hands of the Nine Nether Wood in the graveyard. No matter what, he had to save his good friend first.
“Hey, you two late guys, how about giving me these two peaches? I don’t think you’ll mind, right?”
The two of them sat down under the peach blossom tree. Longevity Peaches were just placed on the table.
A burly man with thick hair and beard that almost reached his eyebrows stood in front of them with two other lackeys.
In the world of rogue cultivators, such things could happen at any time.
Most of these rogue cultivators bullied the weak and feared the strong. For the sake of the Longevity Peach, they did not dare to go on stage to fight, but they dared to bare their fangs at the seemingly easy to bully.
Jiang Li was stunned. It had been a long time since such a person appeared in front of him.
He sized up the aura of his and Mu Yulan’s clothes and discovered the problem. The two of them had hidden themselves a little too much this time.
As rogue cultivators, they did not have anyone to protect them. They could only protect themselves.
If one was not fierce enough or strong enough, these troublesome things would always find them.
Even at such a banquet, it was bound to have people who would find trouble with you.
Mu Yulan frowned. Her hand had already assumed the posture of a crane claw under the table, preparing to teach these guys a lesson for overestimating themselves.
Ever since the slaughter in Fengdu City, this abandoned disciple of the Thousand Crane Tower had encountered too many things in the past few months.
Her personality was vastly different from before.
However, before she could attack, a hand landed on the burly man’s shoulder from behind.
“When I’m drinking, I’ll kill whoever dares to be an eyesore in front of me. Do you understand?”
The person was drunk and sleepy-eyed. His clothes were loose and not gorgeous, and his figure was not as burly as these three men.
He looked like a drunkard.
However, when he raised his eyes, the sharp aura emitted from them made the three of them tremble in fear.
Just by looking at them, they felt as if their faces had been cut by a blade, causing them to feel a burning pain.
“You are… Drunken Young Master! Sorry, sorry, we’re an eyesore. We’ll leave immediately. We’ll leave immediately.”
The three of them immediately gave up on the Longevity Peaches on Jiang Li and the others’ table, and they turned around and left.
Drunken Young Master glanced at the two people at the table.
“Do you mind treating me to a pot of wine?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he casually picked up a bottle of peach blossom wine in front of Jiang Li and Mu Yulan without waiting for an answer.
Holding the wine pot, he staggered to the ring that was in the middle of the competition.
When the two people who were fighting intensely in the arena saw that someone suddenly intruded, they began to berate loudly in displeasure.
However, Drunken Young Master did not care and drew the sword at his waist, executing an extremely beautiful sword technique.
The wine and fire sword qi that scattered out forced the two people above down.
“Alliance Leader Jiang, look. That’s a rogue cultivator who’s famous in Phoenix Sun City, Drunken Young Master.”
“There’s also Gamble Young Master, Affection Young Master, and Slaughter Young Master. They’re called the four great rogue cultivator young masters of Phoenix Sun City.”
“They’re young, but their cultivation levels are outstanding. They’re not inferior to many disciples of large sects. Many sects want to recruit them, but they haven’t succeeded.”
On the other side, the wily Shopkeeper Jiang introduced the situation of the rogue cultivators to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li who listened to this news at the same time stayed in the crowd and looked at the four young men who were rather famous amongst the rogue cultivators.
Among the rogue cultivators, they were the focus.
There was always a group of people surrounding him, and there were continuous compliments.
Before Drunken Young Master went on stage, he drank whenever he saw anyone. The tables around him were filled with drunkards who were lying on the ground. He drank 30 cultivators alone. However, after drinking so much spiritual wine, his sword technique was still sharp and his combat strength was astonishing.
Gamble Young Master loved to gamble the most. He placed a few banquet tables on his side and actually disregarded the gazes of the surrounding people to start the gamble on the spot.
His artifacts were six dice the size of millstones. After he went on stage, he spun and continuously threw them, sending his opponent flying with continuous attacks.
Affection Young Master was dressed like a graceful scholar. He was handsome and gentle. There were more than ten beautiful female rogue cultivators around him. It seemed that they had just hooked up at the venue. This talent in this aspect was clearly extraordinary.
Only the last Slaughter Young Master, the cold one, leaned against the tree alone, indifferent to everything.
This person was said to be from an assassin organization and dared to accept any mission. He even had the deeds of killing a Golden Core expert above his level when he was at the Void Core realm.
Jiang Li watched with interest in the crowd and clicked his tongue in wonder.
The rogue cultivators pecked at each other, from time to time, they could give people unexpected surprises.
The four rogue cultivator young masters indeed had some skills. The four of them took turns to go on stage and easily established their ten consecutive wins, obtaining a 30-year-old Longevity Peach.
Even two of the sect disciples who came down could not stop them. Instead, they lost face.
Soon, the entertainment competition came to an end.
The Mu family’s organizer carried a huge iron cage and stood in the center of the ring.
“Thank you for coming to our Mu family’s Longevity Peach Banquet to support us. According to tradition, it will be our peach rats’ hunt next.”
“All young cultivators below the age of 50 can participate in the competition.”
“Here are 100 gray peach rats, five silver peach rats, and one golden peach rat.”
“If you capture a gray peach rat, you can obtain a 30-year-old Longevity Peach. If you capture a silver peach rat, you can obtain a 90-year-old Longevity Peach!”
“If you capture this one and only golden peach rat, you’ll be able to obtain one of our Mu family’s sacred fruits, the Immortal Peach! You can also enter the core of our family and meet our Mu family’s patriarch. If you don’t have a master, you can become his personal disciple!”
As soon as the organizer finished speaking, a series of gasps sounded in the venue.
It was not only the rogue cultivators below, even many sect disciples could not help but be tempted.
Ordinary nine-year-old Longevity Peaches were more or less not attractive to them.
This kind of Longevity Peach could only be considered an ordinary spiritual fruit. To second-generation heirs like them who soaked in medicine all year round, it was basically dispensable.
The effect of increasing lifespan was not obvious on cultivators above the Core Formation realm.
However, lifespan fruits with more than 30 years of lifespan had rather impressive effects. They had multiple effects of extending lifespan, increasing cultivation level, and healing injuries.
As for the 90-year-old Longevity Peaches, even in the Mu family, only a few peach trees could bear them.
If a Core Formation cultivator consumed it, they could at least advance a small realm.
The final Immortal Peach was even more exaggerated. It was said that the Holy Immortal Peach had never been leaked to the outside world.
Over the years, only the higher-ups of the Mu family and the disciples who had made major contributions could obtain it.
For example, if one obtained a Nine Nether Tree Heart and provided it to the Mu family’s patriarch, they could obtain an Immortal Peach.
The effect was enough to reverse aging and change one’s fate. One would immediately become a genius after eating a single pill.
Moreover, if one did not have a master, they could still become the disciple of that legendary patriarch. To rogue cultivators, it was really a meteoric rise.
Of course, this meant that the competition would be very intense.
That Golden Peach Rat had extreme speed and talent in hiding. It was extremely difficult to capture it.
Moreover, it was not only these rogue cultivators who were participating this time. Most of the outstanding disciples and disciples of the Mu family present would participate.
The disciples of those famous sects had used the best cultivation resources since they were young. Their cultivation levels were far higher than rogue cultivators of the same level.
There were even a few outstanding people who, like Mu Chunhao, had already broken through to the Nascent Soul realm at a young age.
The insurmountable gap in cultivation made many people feel despair.
However, the temptation of the first prize was too great, enough for them to fight for it.
Moreover, it was not like they were going to fight in the arena directly. Through this method of catching the peach rats, who knew if they would be the lucky ones?
Jiang Li looked at Mu Yulan. Due to the severe deficiencies caused by the possession of the Ghost King during this period of time, she probably needed the Immortality Peach to be treated fully.
Although the Nine Nether Earth Fruit was not bad, it was not good at healing injuries. The Nine Nether Earth Fruit was better at raising cultivation level and controlling the hearts of people.
If she did not have such a heaven and earth spiritual treasure to treat the injuries, Mu Yulan would definitely not live beyond a year.
Moreover, Jiang Li was very interested in those high-quality Longevity Peaches and Immortal Peaches.
The effects of the low-quality version of the Nine-Year Longevity Peach could roughly conceal the aura of Jiang Li’s spiritual root seed.
The 30-year-old Longevity Peach could be used on a Foundation Establishment realm Nine Nether Earth Fruit to conceal its aura.
No matter how high the grade of the Longevity Fruit was, Jiang Li had never seen the legendary Immortal Peach. However, it would probably be even more useful.
In any case, they still had to think of a way to find the hidden graveyard’s Nine Nether Wood among these people.
Among the 1200 rogue cultivators, besides a number who were too old and did not meet the criteria, almost none were absent. If they did not go, they would be too conspicuous.
Therefore, they followed the flow and participated in this hunt.
Soon, everyone was given a black spiritual beast bag and gathered in front of a tall peach forest that had been marked out.
The requirement was that they were not allowed to destroy the peach tree or kill the rat. Otherwise, they would be eliminated.
There were no restrictions on the other methods. Everyone could capture many peach rats, there was no limit on quantity.
The small iron cage opened. Peach rats that were only half the size of a fist darted into the forest at an extremely fast speed, especially the five silver rats and the most special golden rats. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the forest.
Fifteen minutes later, the group of Mu family disciples standing at the front and the descendants of a few high-level Divine Judgment Hall disciples set off first.
Then, there were the medium and low-level Divine Judgment Hall factions, ordinary forces, and finally the rogue cultivators.
Different statuses and statuses were treated differently everywhere.
The rogue cultivators had long been accustomed to this. Perhaps they cursed the unfairness of the world in their hearts, but they no longer revealed any displeasure on the surface.
Jiang Li who was following in the crowd felt that it was refreshing. In the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region, he was a disciple of the Scripture Storage Valley from the beginning, and he joined the inner sect in a few months.
The treatment in all aspects had always been the best. This time, he came to experience the treatment of a rogue cultivator, which could be considered to have enriched his cultivation experience.
Nearly 2,000 people rushed into the forest.
Soon, the first person to be eliminated appeared.
A burly man wanted to chase after the former as quickly as possible, but he suddenly stepped on the branch of a peach tree and broke it. He was directly grabbed by the Mu family cultivators who had been staring at the peach forest.
Someone also picked up the broken tree branch and used a spell technique to help it recover as soon as possible.
Then, the first person to catch the rat appeared.
“Young Master Chunhao took the lead and captured a gray peach rat! Congratulations!”
Mu Chunhao was one of the few people who ran to the front. His cultivation level was the highest. He lived in the peach forest all year round and was most familiar with the terrain here. It did not take long for him to capture the first one.
However, to him, as the eldest son of the first wife, 30 years of Longevity Peaches was really not attractive. His only goal was that golden rat.
He, who had found the core of the Nine Nether Tree a few years ago, had already eaten an Immortal Peach. It was precisely because of that peach that he had leaped to become a Nascent Soul expert at a young age. He had an extremely high status in the clan and was basically a candidate for the next clan leader.
However, for some reason, the reward given by the patriarch was especially great this time. Everything else was fine, except for the Immortal Peach.
He casually threw the gray rat to a female cousin of his.
Then, as they went deeper, everyone dispersed.