Chapter 0217: Clever Escape

Chapter 0217: Clever Escape

Qin Yun felt a bit sheepish and said, "I only need one Demon Beast crystal egg. Everyone did a great job, especially Sister Lan and Lao Tan with the Spirit King Cannon!"

"Alright, here you go," Da Shan said as he handed a crystal egg to Qin Yun. "Let's divvy up the Demon Beast crystal eggs—one for each of us."

As the captain of the Mighty Dragon Team, Da Shan hadn't contributed much and hadn't properly scouted the situation with the beast horde. He only gave Qin Yun one crystal egg, which left Lao Tan and the others feeling pretty disgruntled.

Lao Tan smiled and said, "Ah Yun, you put in the most effort. You shouldn't just get one crystal egg! What do you think, Da Shan?"

Lan Fengjin nodded and said, "If it weren't for Qin Yun, we wouldn't have gotten our hands on those Demon Beast crystal eggs! His immobilization bone runes also helped us take down many ninth-order Demon Beasts!"

Da Shan's son, the young man in black, looked visibly displeased. "He's at the seventh level of the Martial Body stage; getting one Demon Beast crystal egg is already very good. What more does he want?"

"Fine, I'll make sure the distribution is fair," Da Shan snapped at his son. With Lan Fengjin speaking up, any unfairness would only breed resentment.

After all, the intel he provided had been way off. Lao Tan and Lan Fengjin hadn't blamed him, so he was lucky.

"We have twenty ninth-order magic crystal cores, two spirit beast magic crystal cores, and seventy eighth-order magic crystal cores," Da Shan said after a moment's thought. "Ah Yun, how about we give you ten more ninth-order magic crystal cores?"

Qin Yun replied, "I don't need the magic crystal cores. Just give me the spirit beast corpses, and you can divide the cores among yourselves."

Lan Fengjin nodded and said, "He's a Runes Master; these materials are useful to him, so give them to him."

The spirit beast corpses would still fetch a decent price if sold.

Qin Yun didn't want more magic crystal cores so that Lao Tan and the others could get a larger share. Getting two spirit beast corpses was enough for him. He had seen firsthand how tough those gorillas' bones were.

In the end, Lan Fengjin and Lao Tan got the largest shares, followed by Da Shan.

"This cooperation went smoothly. I hope we can work together again in the future!" Da Shan smiled, then turned to Qin Yun and asked, "Ah Yun, are your Bone Immobilization Runes for sale?"

"One ninth-order magic crystal core per rune!" Qin Yun said with a faint smile.

Da Shan didn't press further. The price was way too steep. If sold, a ninth-order magic crystal core would fetch around ten million crystal coins. Ten million per rune was an outrageous price!

Qin Yun didn't want to craft runes for Da Shan and the others. Aside from Lan Fengjin, he didn't have a good impression of the rest of the Mighty Dragon Team.

After dividing the spoils, they continued to rest. None of them had fully recovered, and sticking together was the safest option.

By mid-afternoon, the sun had lost its intensity, and the once-clear sky suddenly darkened, the weather changing in an instant.

"Time to hit the road!" Lao Tan stood up and walked out of the shop.

The rain poured down, and Qin Yun and the dozen or so people with him jogged through the deserted streets.

Before long, they reached a square and were about to part ways when they suddenly sensed auras closing in from all directions!

"There are people—lots of them—nearby!" Lan Fengjin said, her face serious and cold.

As she finished speaking, figures began leaping out, surrounding the entire square.

Over a hundred people surrounded the square, all wearing bamboo hats and wielding weapons, their faces cold and eyes filled with malice.

"Were you the ones who took down the Blood Fang Gorilla horde? Despite your small numbers and modest strength, you managed to scatter the horde. Not bad!" An elder removed his bamboo hat, revealing a bald head, and held a sharp golden hook in his hand, smirking coldly.

"What do you want?" Lan Fengjin asked coldly, unleashing her Martial Warrior aura.

Moments later, two or three more Martial Warrior auras emerged from the group.

This was a large beast-hunting team, with three Martial Warriors and the rest at the ninth level of the Martial Body stage, making them an overwhelming force. Qin Yun and his group of ten or so stood no chance against them.

"You must have taken down the Bloodthirsty Ape Beasts, right? Hand over the Demon Beast crystal eggs, and we won't make things difficult for you!" The bald elder said with a cold smile, revealing his shiny bald head.

The chaos caused by Qin Yun's group during their attack on the beast horde had alerted this large team. Upon arrival, they found the horde gone, leaving only corpses and faint traces of the Demon Beast crystal eggs.

Da Shan was even more reluctant. He had been devastated when Qin Yun, who was only at the seventh level of the Martial Body stage, took one of the crystal eggs.

"Can we have a moment to consider?" Da Shan asked, then immediately rushed toward one side of the square with his two sons and his cousin, where there were no Martial Warriors.

No one expected him to suddenly make a move, and their speed was incredible, covering eighty to ninety meters in an instant.

After rushing over, Da Shan tossed out a Bone Immobilization Rune. He had secretly kept one Immobilization Rune, which infuriated Qin Yun.

Several ninth-level Martial Body warriors were immobilized by the rune, and then Da Shan and his group of four charged forward, mercilessly slaughtering them.

In an instant, Da Shan and his group of four took down over a dozen ninth-level Martial Body warriors.

The bald elder roared in fury and charged toward Lan Fengjin.

The other two Martial Warriors also charged at Lan Fengjin without hesitation. They didn't dare to face a young Martial Warrior alone, especially a mysterious woman wielding a King-grade spiritual weapon—a giant axe.

Chaos erupted instantly. Lan Fengjin struggled to hold off the three Martial Warrior elders.

Some of the seventy to eighty ninth-level warriors pursued Da Shan's group of four, while the rest closed in to capture Qin Yun's group alive.

Da Shan's sudden attack was clearly premeditated, relying on Lan Fengjin to hold off the three Martial Warriors while they dealt with the rest, giving them a good chance of escape.

However, Lao Tan and Lan Fengjin were now more likely to be captured—or worse, killed.

Both Lao Tan and Lan Fengjin were furious. Da Shan's actions were a clear betrayal.

Lao Tan whispered, "Ah Yun, find a chance to get out of here!"

Just as he finished speaking, he saw Qin Yun pull out a Demon Beast crystal egg.

When the surrounding ninth-level Martial Body warriors saw Qin Yun's action, they immediately froze.

"What are you doing?" the bald elder shouted, unable to break away from his fight with Lan Fengjin.

"Let's all die together!" Qin Yun laughed and slammed the Demon Beast crystal egg onto the ground.

The crystal egg shattered upon impact, releasing a pungent odor that spread far and wide on the wind.

The bald elder and the other two Martial Warriors' faces paled with terror.

"Fall back! Everyone, go after the four who escaped. Move as fast as possible!" the bald elder shouted, then immediately broke off his fight with Lan Fengjin and chased after Da Shan's group with the other two elders.

Lan Fengjin, seeing the shattered Demon Beast crystal egg on the ground emitting black gas, was shocked and quickly shouted, "We need to go now!"

The torrential rain showed no sign of letting up, and the dark rain clouds in the sky churned even more violently, with flashes of lightning that seemed to tear the earth apart.

"You're really reckless, kid. If you keep this up, we'll attract a whole horde of Demon Beasts!" Lao Tan called out, still running and chuckling at Qin Yun.

"I can't believe this actually worked! Those Demon Beasts were totally spooked." Qin Yun chuckled, glancing over at Lan Fengjin.

While he was crafting the talisman, Lan Fengjin had explained to him that the Demon Beast crystal egg was an incredibly mysterious object. It wasn’t something born from a Demon Beast, but rather created through a highly mystical process by the Demon Beast.

The Demon Beast that hatches from the crystal egg is at least a ninth-tier Demon Beast, and once it matures, it becomes a Spirit Beast. Fully grown, it’s even more formidable.

If this fully grown Demon Beast continues to reproduce, its offspring will be even more powerful.

The Demon Beast that hatches from the crystal egg is destined to become the future leader of a beast horde.

As a result, the Demon Beast that hatches from the crystal egg is often hunted by other powerful Demon Beasts. Once it hatches, it emits a strong aura that can attract powerful Spirit Beasts from far away, as Lan Fengjin had explained to Qin Yun.

So, without hesitation, Qin Yun smashed a Demon Beast crystal egg. The aura that spilled out was just like a hatchling breaking free from its shell, drawing powerful Spirit Beasts from the surrounding area.

The aura of a Spirit Beast is as intimidating as that of a warrior at the Martial Arts Realm. They don’t conceal their presence, so their aura can be detected from a great distance.

After only a short sprint, Qin Yun and the others could already sense the presence of Spirit Beasts.

"Head for the basement!" Lao Tan shouted, diving into an abandoned building by the roadside.

Once they were all inside the basement, a massive shadow streaked across the sky. It was a flying Demon Beast, and only one of those could have arrived so quickly!

Qin Yun and the others pulled out glowing stones to light up the dark basement.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. They had been on edge just moments ago.

"Ah Yun, you acted fast. If you hadn’t sacrificed that Demon Beast crystal egg, we wouldn’t have made it out so easily," Lao Tan smiled.

"It’ll likely take some time before things settle down upstairs. I’m going to get some rest." Elder Zhou entered a storage room and closed the stone door behind him.

The basement was spacious, with multiple storage rooms. Elder Zhou’s two sons also headed off to rest one by one.

Qin Yun, Lao Tan, and Lan Fengjin remained in the main area of the basement.

"Ah Yun, I’ll give you my Demon Beast crystal egg. You’ve done so much and haven’t gotten anything in return. It doesn’t feel right," Lao Tan smiled. "Besides, I’ve already collected plenty of Demon Beast cores."

"Lao Tan, I won’t hide it from you. Actually, I’ve managed to get several Demon Beast crystal eggs. I’ll bring them out and share them with you!" Qin Yun smiled. After all, Lao Tan had always stood up for him and been a loyal friend.

Lao Tan was taken aback, glanced at Lan Fengjin, and whispered, "Keep them for yourself! I’m content with what I have. Don’t mention this to Elder Zhou or the others, let’s just leave it at that."

Lan Fengjin had already known about this but hadn’t said anything. Otherwise, she would have exposed Qin Yun earlier.

"Alright, I’m going to catch some sleep. You guys should rest too." Lao Tan chuckled, then entered a storage room.

After Lao Tan left, Qin Yun smiled at Lan Fengjin and whispered, "Sister Lan, are you interested in a Demon Beast crystal egg?"

Lan Fengjin smiled gracefully and replied, "I can give you my Demon Beast crystal egg, but you’ll need to do me a favor in return, alright?"