Changsheng: My qualifications improve a little every day

Fang Yue became even more alert, as he knew very well that this small pool must be an extremely dangerous place.

He walked slowly around the edge of the pool, his eyes fixed on the water, fearing that something might suddenly jump out of it.

Just as he was about to bypass the pool, the water suddenly rolled violently, as if something huge was stirring underneath.

Fang Yue gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, stepped back a few steps, and assumed a defensive posture.

A crocodile-like monster covered with black scales jumped out of the pool. It opened its bloody mouth full of sharp fangs and bit towards Fang Yue.

Fang Yue flashed and moved several feet to the left, while swinging his sword towards the monster's side.

The monster reacted extremely quickly, sweeping its huge tail and creating a cloud of black mist.

"Hmph, you bastard, how dare you!"

Fang Yue snorted coldly and casually sent out a stream of vital energy.

The vital energy turned into a white blade of light and slashed towards the black mist.

The light blade collided with the water mist, making a hissing sound. The black water mist was cut open, and the monster was cut in half in an instant!
After killing the monster with one blow, Fang Yue did not let down his guard, because he knew that the forest was full of dangers and new threats could emerge at any time.

After the monster was cut in half, black blood gushed out from the wound, splattering on the ground, making a sizzling sound, as if it was corrosive.

Fang Yue quickly took a few steps back to avoid the corrosive blood.

He continued to move deeper into the woods. The further he went, the denser the trees became and the dimmer the light became.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Fang Yue heard a melodious mountain song.

He was surprised. How could there be folk songs in this forest full of evil spirits?
Following the direction of the singing, he soon discovered a tribe of mountain people.

The tribe is not big. The houses are built with wood and stone, and the tribe is surrounded by simple fences.

The mountain people in the tribe wore simple clothes, and men, women, young and old were all busy with their own things.

Some women were drying herbs, a few children were chasing each other and playing, while the men were repairing farm tools or sorting out hunting equipment.

Fang Yue's appearance aroused the vigilance of the mountain people. Several young mountain people quickly picked up the farm tools in their hands and surrounded Fang Yue.

A middle-aged man who looked like a leader came forward and asked with a wary look in his eyes: "Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you near our tribe?"

Fang Yue clasped his fists and saluted, saying gently: "Don't be afraid, fellow villagers. My name is Fang Yue, and I am a man of the underworld passing by here. I was investigating something and came here by accident."

The leader looked at Fang Yue and saw that he had a kind face and did not look like a bad person, but he still remained vigilant:

"We don't welcome outsiders here. You'd better leave as soon as possible. This forest is very dangerous. It's not easy for our tribe to survive here. We don't want to be disturbed by outsiders."

Fang Yue said hurriedly, "Chief, I mean no harm. I encountered many dangers in the woods, such as demonized wild wolves, monsters covered with black scales, and pools of water emitting evil spirits. I see that your tribe is safe and sound here, so I guess you must have a unique way of survival. I wonder if you can tell me something about it?"

When the leader heard Fang Yue mention the dangers in the woods, his expression became a little complicated.

He was silent for a moment, then waved his hand for the young mountaineers to lay down their weapons, and said, "Come in, for you can walk this far in the woods, and I will tell you something."

Fang Yue followed the leader into the tribe and came to a simple house.

The leader asked Fang Yue to sit down, then sighed and said, "This forest is full of evil spirits, and many monsters have appeared here in the past. Our tribe can survive here because we have an ancestral treasure."

Fang Yue's heart moved, and he asked hurriedly: "I wonder what kind of treasure it is?"

The leader looked at Fang Yue and said slowly: "It is a stone that emits white light. As long as it is placed in the center of the tribe, the evil spirits around it will be dispelled. But the power of this stone is gradually weakening, and we don't know how long we can rely on it."

Fang Yue pondered for a moment and asked, "Have you ever seen some strange people coming in and out of this forest? For example, people who practice evil skills?"

The leader frowned, thought for a moment and said, "We have seen a few strange people. They were wearing black robes and exuded an uncomfortable aura. They seemed to be looking for something and were running around in the woods. But we didn't dare to get close to them, so we just watched from a distance."

Fang Yue was secretly delighted, thinking that these people might be related to the "Evil Shadow Sect".

He continued to ask: "Then do you know which direction they went?"

The leader shook his head: "We didn't dare to follow too closely, so we don't know where they went."

Fang Yue was slightly disappointed, but he also knew that this was an expected answer.

When he was about to ask the leader something else, the leader suddenly smiled and said:

"Brother Fang Yue, it's not easy for you to make your way through this dangerous forest. Since you have the good fortune to come to our tribe today, why don't you stay and have dinner with us?"

Fang Yue was stunned. He wanted to refuse, after all, he had important things to do.

But seeing the sincere look in the chief's eyes, and thinking that he might be able to get more clues from the tribe, he nodded and agreed: "Then Fang Yue will respectfully obey your command. Thank you, chief."

In the evening, a bonfire was lit in the open space of the tribe, and the women brought up the prepared food.

There are golden roasted rabbits, fragrant wild vegetable soup, and some whole grain cakes.

Fang Yue felt a lot more relaxed as he looked at these simple yet life-filled foods.

However, what Fang Yue did not notice was that when he was not paying attention, the leader secretly winked at a tribe member.

The tribesman understood and quickly brought a few more pottery jars.

"Brother Fang Yue, this is the wine brewed by our tribe. Although it is not as good as the fine wine outside, it has a unique flavor. You can try it." The chief said enthusiastically.

Fang Yue looked at the pottery jars, smiled slightly in his heart, took the wine jar, tilted his head back and took a big sip.

As soon as the wine entered his throat, Fang Yue felt something was wrong. A tingling sensation quickly spread from his throat.

When the leader saw Fang Yue drink the wine, the enthusiasm on his face instantly disappeared, replaced by a sinister smile. He stood up and laughed, "Fang Yue, Fang Yue, you are so stupid that you actually drank this wine."

Fang Yue suppressed the discomfort in his body, held the hilt of the sword, and looked at the leader coldly: "Why do you want to harm me? I have no grudges against your tribe."

The leader snorted coldly: "No grudges? You know, your head is very valuable. As long as we hand your head over to the Lord, we can get countless treasures and magic weapons, so that our tribe can live a prosperous life from now on, and no longer be threatened by the evil spirits of this forest."

Fang Yue's heart trembled. He knew that this so-called lord must be the man behind the "Shadow Evil Sect". It seemed that this tribe had been completely blinded by interests.

"Do you think you can get benefits by doing this? The Lord is not a person who will keep his promise. What you are doing will only bring disaster to the tribe." Fang Yue said, enduring the discomfort in his body.

The chief, however, curled his lips in disdain: "You don't need to scare us here. We have long heard of the Lord's reputation. He will not deceive our small tribes." Fang Yue knew that it was useless to say more at this time. He circulated the vitality in his body to force the poison into one place.

Although, this poison is extremely overbearing.

As his vital energy circulated, the powerful and overbearing poison was instantly suppressed.

It turned into a poisonous mist and was expelled from his body.

Fang Yue's expression gradually returned to normal. He looked at the leader coldly, his eyes full of chillness.

"You have done such despicable things for the sake of profit. I will not let you go easily today." Fang Yue said coldly.

When the leader saw Fang Yue neutralized the poison so easily, he was shocked and his face turned very ugly.

"You...how could you have detoxified yourself so quickly? This is a deadly poison specifically designed to deal with cultivators like you." The leader said in horror.

Fang Yue did not answer his question, but walked slowly towards the leader with sword in hand.

"What do you want to do? I am the leader of this tribe. If you dare to hurt me, the entire tribe will not let you go." The leader shouted in a timid manner.

Fang Yue sneered: "When you wanted to kill me just now, did you ever think about the consequences? Are you scared now?"

When the other mountain people in the tribe saw Fang Yue walking towards the leader, although they were a little scared, they still picked up their weapons and surrounded him.

"Brother Fang Yue, this was all the leader's idea. We were forced to do this. Please let us go." An old mountain man said tremblingly.

Fang Yue looked at these mountain people and felt a little hesitant.

He knew that most of these mountain people were bewitched by their leader and did such things for the survival of their tribe.

"All of you retreat. I will only hold your leader accountable for this matter." Fang Yue said to the mountain people.

After hearing Fang Yue's words, the mountain people all breathed a sigh of relief, put down their weapons and stepped aside.

Fang Yue walked up to the leader and put his sword against his throat. The cold blade made the leader's body tremble slightly.

"You are such a greedy person, you will do anything for the sake of profit. I really can't let you stay."

Fang Yue's eyes turned cold, and he swung the sword in his hand lightly. The leader's eyes widened, and he fell to the ground and died before he could make a sound.

The mountain people in the tribe cried out in surprise, but when they saw Fang Yue's cold eyes, they dared not say a word.

Fang Yue put away his sword, glanced at the crowd and said, "Your leader deserves his punishment. Now, who else knows about those black-robed men or the Lord? If you can tell me the truth, I will forgive you."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. After a while, a young mountain dweller stood up and said timidly:
"My lord, I have heard from the leader that the place where the Lord is is called 'Shadow Cave'. It is in the deepest part of the forest. There is a valley entangled by black vines. There is a huge cave in the valley. The Lord is in that cave. However, the area is filled with various traps and evil guardian beasts."

Fang Yue was delighted that he had finally found the exact location. He looked at the young mountaineer and said, "You are very smart. I hope your tribe will not have anything to do with these evil people in the future."

After saying that, Fang Yue did not stop and ran quickly in the direction pointed by the young mountain man.

He galloped through the woods, and the closer he got to the so-called "Shadow Cave", the more intense the evil energy around him became. The originally dense forest became sparse, and was replaced by some strange-shaped plants emitting dim light.

Suddenly, a patch of black vines appeared in front of them. These vines entangled with each other like giant pythons, forming a natural barrier.

As Fang Yue got closer, the vines seemed to sense his presence and began to slowly wriggle.

Fang Yue drew out his sword and approached the vines cautiously.

Just as he was about to swing his sword to cut the vines, the vines suddenly shot towards him like sharp arrows.

Fang Yue dodged easily with a flash of his body, while swinging his sword to cut at the approaching vines.

The sword hit the vines, splashing a burst of black juice that emitted a pungent smell.

Fang Yue did not dare to be careless. With the help of surging vital energy, vines were constantly cut off as sword shadows flew.

Soon, a path was cleared among the vines.

Continuing to walk forward, Fang Yue heard a noisy sound, mixed with painful groans and the supervisor's scolding.

Confused, he lowered his footsteps and quietly approached the source of the sound.

Pushing aside a bush that was emitting a faint glow, Fang Yue was stunned by the scene before him.

In an open space, thousands of ragged people were busy building a huge hall built against the mountain.

These people had haggard faces, their eyes were full of fatigue and despair, and there were many scars on their bodies from being whipped.

Around the open space, there were some men in black robes patrolling back and forth. They had cold eyes and held long whips in their hands. If they saw anyone moving a little slowly, they would whip them mercilessly.

The whip hit people, making a crisp sound, accompanied by the laborers' screams of pain, which made Fang Yue's anger burn even more fiercely.

Fang Yue carefully observed the surrounding environment and found that the evil spirit in this place was extremely strong. Moreover, these laborers seemed to be bound by an invisible force and moved very slowly.

He guessed that this might be a ban set by the "Shadow Evil Sect" to prevent the workers from escaping.

Fang Yue knew that he could not act impulsively. He had to find a way to lift the ban first so that he could better rescue these workers.

He began to quietly look for clues around him, not missing any corner.

Suddenly, he found a black stone pillar not far away. The stone pillar was engraved with complex runes, and those runes exuded a faint evil aura.

Fang Yue's mind moved, he felt that this stone pillar might be the key to controlling the ban.

He approached the stone pillar cautiously, while being wary of the black-robed men patrolling around.

Just as he was about to approach the stone pillar, a man in black robe suddenly turned around and walked towards him.

Fang Yue quickly hid behind a huge rock and held his breath.

The man in black robe walked past him without noticing his presence.

After the man in black robe walked away, Fang Yue approached the stone pillar again.

When he stood in front of the stone pillar, he could feel a strong evil force emanating from it. (End of this chapter)