After they select some lone prey, someone will go and deal with them.

Unable to use spiritual power, their methods were quite traditional, relying primarily on physical strength and martial arts skills to hunt wild animals.

For cultivators, even without using spiritual power, dealing with one or two wild beasts is a piece of cake.

Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian also experienced what it was like to hunt wild beasts. These beasts were actually not very strong, and even if one of them faced Bai Zhi alone, it wouldn't be a problem.

Not a problem?

This is a big problem!

After everyone had brought back a wild animal, Qi Zhiheng finally asked Old Li his question: "Since we have enough wild animals to hunt outside for our daily needs, why do we still need to form teams to hunt large numbers of animals every now and then?" He had initially thought from Xiong Shuang's description that it was because they were mortals and had difficulty dealing with wild animals, and that they had to form teams to hunt wild animals every now and then due to food shortages. Now it seems that there is no shortage of food at all, which is a big problem, isn't it?

Old Li hoisted his prey onto his shoulder and, upon hearing Qi Zhiheng's question, replied, "Naturally, it's because there are too many wild animals in these mountains, and every few years, large numbers of wild animals come down from the mountains. If we don't carry out extermination regularly, there will only be more casualties when the beast tide comes."

"I see." Qi Zhiheng understood the reason. Xiong Shuang probably kept them around not only because they might become enemies with other factions, but also because he wanted them to help fight the beasts.

Qi Zhiheng didn't blame him for hiding anything; fighting wild beasts wasn't a big deal for him.

After the hunt, the group returned to their camp.

They encountered Xiong Shuang at the entrance. Xiong Shuang greeted everyone and then asked his new companion, "Brother Qi, are you getting used to the wild beasts here?"

"It's alright. These beasts aren't particularly fierce, so dealing with them shouldn't be too difficult." Qi Zhiheng guessed that Xiong Shuang had come to find out if they still wanted to stay.

Xiong Shuang also adopted the demeanor of an elder, and after hearing Qi Zhiheng's nonchalant remarks, he advised, "Don't underestimate these wild beasts. Their individual combat strength is indeed not strong, but if you want to go into the depths of the forest alone, I'm afraid you will not return."

"Even if there are many wild beasts deep in the forest, I am willing to deal with them, and at least keeping my life will not be a problem."

"This is no small matter. There are too many wild beasts in the depths of the forest, and you can't handle them all by yourself. Countless newcomers have had the same idea as you, but unfortunately, they either came back seriously injured or never returned. I think you two are quite good, so I'm kindly reminding you not to think about exploring any secrets and go into the depths of the forest alone."

"This junior will humbly follow the teachings of my senior."

"Don't take this lightly. When the next beast tide comes, you'll see." Although Xiong Shuang didn't take the two Nascent Soul stage cultivators seriously, even Nascent Soul cultivators could now help kill some wild beasts.

Xiong Shuang came to the village entrance to greet him for two reasons. First, to ascertain whether Qi Zhiheng would stay after learning the true situation in the forest. Second, to give the newcomer a warning, preventing him from becoming overconfident and thinking that ordinary wild beasts were nothing to worry about, thus foolishly venturing into the depths of the forest to his death.

Qi Zhiheng had some guesses about his intentions and assured him, "I have kept everything you said in mind. Before witnessing the true nature of this world, I will absolutely not act rashly. We will not set foot in either the spiritually rich West or the depths of the forest. Please rest assured, senior, we haven't lived enough yet. After traveling with Senior Li a few more times and understanding the true situation, I will make other plans."

Xiong Shuang believed that once Qi Zhiheng understood the true situation, he would likely give up the idea of ​​investigating further.

This time, they got a satisfactory answer. Xiong Shuang patted him on the shoulder and then left with the others.

Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian also returned to their residence.

Although they told Xiong Shuang they would go a few more times to get a better understanding of the situation, in reality, after that trip, the two of them stayed home and cultivated, while Yang Yitian studied his talismans and talisman arrays.

Qi Zhiheng had more or less understood Xiong Shuang's expectations of him and Yang Yitian: first, to stay in the settlement and not cause trouble; second, to lend a hand when there was danger in the settlement.

All he could get was a slightly safe place to stay.

Now that Qi Zhiheng had figured out his own position, he decided to behave himself for the time being.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

The door to Qi Zhiheng's house, which had been quiet for a long time, was knocked on again.

Old Li came to inform them that it was time for the group hunt this month, and that they should get ready to depart in half an hour.

Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian didn't have anything to prepare, but since it was still early before departure, they waited a while before going out.

A group of about a hundred people set off in a grand procession. Once they reached the forest, Qi Zhiheng realized just how densely packed the wild beasts were in the inner part of the forest, as Xiong Shuang had described. A group of about a hundred people were fighting against thousands of wild beasts, a density that was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

If they could use their spiritual power, killing these beasts would be a piece of cake, but without spiritual power, it would be difficult for their team to escape unscathed.

According to Xiong Shuang, this is still the outer perimeter of the inner area. If they go deeper, they will encounter more wild beasts.

The distribution of these beasts was slightly strange; they always clustered together in one place, as if something had caused them to gather together.

Qi Zhiheng's body-tempering technique is quite good. Even without using spiritual power, he can deal with the surrounding wild beasts and escape unscathed.

The hunt lasted a full day, and the group gradually withdrew from the forest as the sun was about to set.

Those who were seriously injured were helped away by the uninjured. Yang Yitian and Qi Zhiheng, who were uninjured, naturally also helped help the others leave.

Xiong Shuangsui and the other person were somewhat surprised that they were not injured, and praised them, "You two are quite skilled. Are you body cultivators?"

Some people present suspected that the two hadn't exerted their full strength earlier, otherwise how could two Nascent Soul cultivators have escaped injury without a scratch?

However, Xiong Shuang, who had noticed the two new members with his soul power, didn't think so. He had been paying attention to the two from time to time and had also seen their clean and efficient methods. So he just thought that Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian might be body cultivators like him. Because of their strong physiques, ordinary wild beasts could hardly damage their skin. But seeing that their clothes were intact, it didn't seem to be because of that.

Qi Zhiheng replied, "We are not body cultivators. It's just that our robes are special and we still have some spiritual energy stored up, so we activated our defenses."

"So that's the effect of the robe. I was wondering how two Nascent Soul cultivators could be more powerful than us Out-of-Body stage cultivators."

Some people advised, "It's better to conserve your spiritual energy. After all, every bit of spiritual energy you use is precious, and we don't know how many years we'll be staying here. If we use up all our spiritual energy now, we won't have any means to save our lives when we encounter real danger later."

Qi Zhiheng naturally nodded to show that he had learned something, and his sincere attitude made all the seniors feel very comfortable.

Among these injured cultivators, some possessed spiritual herbs capable of healing their injuries, and they simply ate the herbs raw.

Yang Yitian felt it was a real waste: "These spiritual herbs are best used to refine pills, right?" Besides, eating these spiritual herbs like this would result in a lot of impurities.

Old Li chuckled and replied, "Everyone knows that these spiritual herbs are the most effective for making pills. But now that there's no spiritual energy, who would bother to refine pills? Over the years, we've almost exhausted all the edible pills. As for these spiritual herbs, there's nothing we can do about it. Now, every one we eat is one less we have. Unless it's so serious that we have to lie down for months, nobody is willing to eat them."

In the current situation, there's no point in talking about impurities. They've eaten so much meat; they're already full of impurities themselves.

Yang Yitian couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They were so injured that they didn't even have a single pill to take. He did have quite a few pills on him, but if he took them out now, he would probably be accused of being wasteful.

A barbecue festival is held at night.

Old Li's barbecue skills are pretty good, but unfortunately the ingredients aren't very good. Besides the ingredients, he can't use spiritual power. If he can't use spiritual power, he can't use the methods of a spiritual chef to process the food, so even the best skills are wasted.

Old Li was a decent person; at least among the many aloof cultivators, he was very humane. He roasted meat and shared it with Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian to thank them for the spiritual fruits they had given him.

Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian didn't really want to eat, but since everyone was living here, they couldn't be too different, so they ate a little bit as a token gesture.

After getting a little tipsy, Old Li, even without alcohol, acted like a drunkard, recounting his early days of cultivation, when he wasn't as ruthless as he would later become. He even had a female cultivator he liked, but sadly, she died in a secret realm.

After that, he married other wives and concubines.

This is quite common in the cultivation world. After all, being able to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage in the Four Continents is considered genius-level, and marrying a few female cultivators is nothing unusual.

Yang Yitian thought Old Li was alright, so he decided to go back and continue studying his talismans and arrays to see if there was a way to create a talisman that could separate violent factors.

The next round of group hunting will be in six months, so Yang Yitian and Qi Zhiheng will not need to go out much in the future.

The two were locked up for three months.

Qi Zhiheng's "Five Elements Body Forging Technique" has made a small breakthrough in the past few months, while Yang Yitian's research on talismans and talisman arrays has also yielded some results.

That day, he took out two talismans and placed them in front of Qi Zhiheng, saying, "Look!"

"What?" Qi Zhiheng thought it might be the talisman that Yang Yitian had been longing for, the kind that could reduce violent factors.

However, he felt that this talisman was not so easy to research, so when Yang Yitian took it out, his first reaction was only suspicion, not certainty.

"This is the result of my research over the past few days," Yang Yitian said, activating a talisman in front of Qi Zhiheng.

Qi Zhiheng sensed a subtle turbulence in the air. A swirling mass of air appeared in front of him, about the size of a one-year-old baby's head.

"The principle behind this is rather unique," Yang Yitian explained his creation. "This talisman is based on an electrical appliance I invented on Earth. It utilizes the principle of a washing machine, where the agitation process dissipates the violent elements within, thus purifying the spiritual energy!"

After introducing his invention, he wore a "I'm so smart, aren't I?" expression, waiting for Qi Zhiheng's praise.

Qi Zhiheng could easily see through his little scheme, and praised him, "As expected of my Daoist partner, your ideas are quite unique."

Yang Yitian snorted: "You really know how to make yourself look good. What do you mean by 'worthy of being your Daoist partner'? My achievements are not related to you!"

Qi Zhiheng: "Yes, you are exceptionally intelligent and have unique ideas. You have accomplished something that more than a hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators here could not do! It is my honor to have a Daoist partner like you." After saying that, he used his good looks to kiss Yang Yitian on the cheek.

Yang Yitian covered his face with a smug look. Although he had become immune to the onslaught of handsome men over the years, as a leading member of the "looks-matter association," he was still somewhat dazed. He said modestly, "Actually, I'm just average. This talisman works, but it can only handle a very small area."

Yes, although the talisman Yang Yitian created could separate spiritual energy, its area was too small, about the size of an infant's head. It could only absorb a small amount of spiritual energy. To put it more bluntly, the spiritual energy absorbed from this tiny mass of energy was less than one-thousandth of the spiritual power Yang Yitian used to draw the talisman.

It's embarrassing to even mention something this small...

"At least we've made a good start. If you want, it won't be long before we can expand the area of ​​this airflow." Qi Zhiheng wasn't just flattering him; he genuinely believed it. He had great confidence in Yang Yitian's past identity and thought that it wouldn't be long before his powerful intuition would allow him to draw the talisman he wanted.

Yang Yitian was a little embarrassed by the sudden praise.

But at the same time, he was full of fighting spirit and went back to study the talismans.

After Yang Yitian left, Qi Zhiheng also stopped his cultivation.

Now, he can cultivate freely in the violent spiritual energy he is in. He feels that he can move a little further west to feel a more concentrated spiritual energy.

However, it would be inappropriate to leave now, so Qi Zhiheng decided to wait until after the next group hunt before going out to explore.

With a goal in mind, the three months flew by.

The person who came to knock on the door was still Old Li.

During this period, Yang Yitian's talismans have made groundbreaking progress, growing from the size of an infant's head to a meter in size.

The spiritual energy inside is still very little, but for people who have never needed spiritual energy, this is great news!

Yang Yitian had drawn a lot of talismans. It was Yang Yitian who helped Old Li open the door this time, mainly because he planned to give Old Li some talismans.

"Old Li, you're here?" Yang Yitian greeted him with a broad smile.

Old Li smiled kindly and said, "Young Brother Yang, what good news is there? Why are you so happy today?"

Yang Yitian didn't hide anything too much and took out a talisman, saying, "I've researched some good things, let me show you."

"A talisman?" Old Li looked at the patterns on the talisman and asked in confusion, "What kind of talisman is this? I've never seen talismans like this before."

Yang Yitian pulled the person into the house and said, "Aren't you busy? Come in and I'll demonstrate for you."

Old Li quickly waved his hand and refused: "There's no need for a demonstration. Activating the talisman requires a lot of spiritual energy. Don't act impulsively and waste spiritual power."

Yang Yitian said, "It's alright! I'll show you." He had wanted to show off for a long time, but the only person he could share it with was Qi Zhiheng. He had been showing off for so long that Qi Zhiheng was almost tired of hearing it.

At this point, if they catch someone, they want to show off.

As for the secrecy surrounding this talisman, he didn't think there was anything to hide. He had originally intended to make this talisman public, but it wasn't perfect yet, so he had to give up.

The spiritual energy emanating from this talisman is enough for Yang Yitian to draw one, given the abundant spiritual energy in the air. However, there's very little spiritual energy left, and the talisman's area needs to be expanded to avoid a loss.

However, none of this stopped Yang Yitian from showing off his achievements. These people wouldn't doubt how Yang Yitian had the spiritual power to draw talismans. Everyone knew that they had a lot of spirit stones, so they wouldn't think too much about it.

Without waiting for Old Li to refuse again, Yang Yitian activated the talisman in his hand and said, "Come and see my results."

A wisp of air about a meter in size appeared in front of him. Old Li was a little confused. Although the wisp of air looked like it was flowing, its attack power was still a bit weak.

He assumed that Yang Yitian had developed a weak and unsuccessful talisman, so he glanced at Yang Yitian cautiously, feeling somewhat embarrassed to discourage him.

Yang Yitian was unaware of Lao Li's thoughts. At this moment, he was carefully counting the time, just like when washing clothes. You put things in the washing machine and have to wait for it to wash for a while before you can take them out. The same goes for this airflow. You have to wait for the airflow inside to calm down a bit before it means that the violent factors inside have been eliminated, and only then can you use the spiritual energy.

Once the airflow slowed down, Yang Yitian immediately said, "Alright! Senior Li! Try absorbing it!"

Old Li hesitated when he heard Yang Yitian's observation, but thought that it wouldn't hurt to try, so he extended his soul power into it.

The next instant, the abundant spiritual energy within this energy cloud shocked him greatly: "This! This is spiritual energy!"

"Yes! This is absorbable spiritual energy! I've tested it these past few days, and there will definitely be no problems. You can use it with confidence." Yang Yitian said smugly.

Old Li was afraid that the energy cloud would disappear, so he quickly absorbed the spiritual energy inside and immediately felt a sense of comfort throughout his body!

His depleted spiritual veins were nourished by this pure spiritual energy, and he felt as comfortable as if he were soaking in warm water. For a moment, he didn't want to come out.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. The spiritual energy here was limited, and after Old Li absorbed it for a while, it was all gone.

Old Li was still somewhat unsatisfied: "This feeling is just too wonderful." It's a pity that it was too short.

He looked at Yang Yitian with some disappointment, then suddenly realized, "Wait a minute! How can there be spiritual energy here!"

Yang Yitian grinned and said, "The talismans I developed have this effect. How about it? Aren't I amazing?"

"This is absolutely amazing!" Old Li couldn't wait to announce it to the world! They finally had something to look forward to in this godforsaken place!

He couldn't wait to tell Xiong Shuang! This represented the hope of cultivators in this world!

The excitement lasted only a few moments; Old Li quickly calmed down from his euphoria! This matter must not be spread!

At least, it cannot be leaked without Yang Yitian's consent.

Thinking of this, he looked at Yang Yitian.

"Young Master Yang, what are your plans for this talisman?" Old Li knew the importance of the talisman but dared not make the decision for him.

Yang Yitian stuffed two more into his hand: "These are considered failed samples. I'm giving you a few to try out first."

"Give it to me?" Old Li was somewhat incredulous, then declined, saying, "How can I just give away something so valuable! No, you keep this talisman!"

This was a rare find, and Old Li felt a pang of regret. He had just used one without thinking! What a waste!

Qi Zhiheng also came over: "Senior Li, please accept them. They are just some failed attempts anyway. We will still be in this world in the future, so please take good care of us."

Yang Yitian took out a few more: "There are a few more here, but these are earlier talismans and can handle less spiritual energy. Anyway, we don't need them. Senior Li can take them. If Senior Xiong needs them, Senior Li can give him some too."

Old Li was still a little hesitant, then seemed to remember something: "Oh right! I have some materials for drawing talismans here. If Brother Yang doesn't mind, please feel free to take them."

In this space, most things with spiritual energy are considered treasures, but these materials for drawing talismans are useless. He can nibble on a few spiritual herbs, but he can't eat these talisman materials! Therefore, the talisman materials that Old Li currently has are the most numerous among the spiritual items he possesses.

Knowing that Yang Yitian would need to draw talismans, and would inevitably need materials for doing so, Old Li kept taking out his own things and stuffing them into Yang Yitian's hands: "I don't need any of these, you can have them all, they're just a waste to keep them in my hands."

Although Yang Yitian wasn't lacking in talisman materials, the materials offered by a Nascent Soul cultivator were of high quality! Even he was tempted. He immediately accepted them; perfect timing, he figured other cultivators probably had the most talisman materials, and he could use them as a bargaining chip later.