Xu Qi'an slowly scanned the faces of his colleagues and said in a deep voice, "This is saltpeter."

The name saltpeter was very unfamiliar to the martial artists present who had little education and lacked relevant knowledge.

Song Tingfeng and his colleagues exchanged glances and frowned, asking, "Saltpeter?"

Xu Qi'an considered and said, "Let me give it another name. Flame saltpeter might be more understandable to you. It is the main ingredient in making gunpowder."

Everyone present couldn't control the change in their facial expressions.

Gunpowder was one of the secret techniques of the Great Feng, one of the means to intimidate the countries around them. The Great Feng strictly controlled any formula or material related to gunpowder (mainly saltpeter).

Even Nightwatchers had only a vague understanding of the components of gunpowder.

Saltpeter mines were discovered in Mount Dahuang, and there were traces of mining. Song Tingfeng's face no longer had a smile, and he was very serious. "Immediately return to the capital and report this matter."

Compared to the chaos caused by demons, the discovery of saltpeter mines was more important.

Lv Qing stared at the gray-haired village head and ordered, "Tie him up and take him away."

There shouldn't be any knowledge of the saltpeter mine, otherwise he wouldn't have brought them here. This doesn't make sense...and from analyzing the details of his body language, he doesn't seem to be someone who knows anything. A cultural-less old man couldn't possibly be acting. Is the reason for driving away the demons to protect the saltpeter mine?

Um...it's not very likely. We need to invite a professional to determine the mining time of the saltpeter mine here before we can make a judgment.

Xu Qi'an combed through various thoughts in his mind, holding a torch. Just as he stepped out of the cave, he heard Lv Qing's scream, "Be careful!"

At the same time, he heard the sound of breaking through the air, and a black shadow shot towards him from the side, too fast for him to react.

Bang!

The copper gong on his chest shattered, and Xu Qi'an felt like he had been hit head-on by a high-speed train. The powerful impact sent him flying, and his consciousness instantly plunged into darkness.

The sudden attack caught everyone off guard, and they each responded differently.

The three Nightwatchers from the yamen drew their swords and took off their crossbows.

Zhu Guangxiao swept the village head's legs and kicked him into the cave, while Song Tingfeng drew his sword and shouted, "Get in there and don't come out."

On the side of the cave, there was a giant monster about two feet long, resembling a salamander, with thick armor covering its body.

It had sharp horns on its forehead, amber vertical pupils, and a cold and cruel light flickered in its eyes.

It had four toes on its front limbs.

Its cheeks were bulging, as if hiding hidden weapons that could be launched at any time.

"Poof!"

A black shadow that was almost invisible to the naked eye shot out and hit Song Tingfeng directly.

The latter squinted his eyes, and his body reacted faster than his brain. Instinctively, he leaned back to avoid the fatal blow.

Lv Qing stepped forward with a bow step, stomping on the stone and splashing stone powder, and swung her sword.

Buzz...the blade vibrated at a high frequency.

"Ding ding ding..."Amidst a series of grating sounds, sparks flew from the blade on the tip of his tongue.

The people finally saw that the monster's long tongue was covered with a layer of fine scales.

The monster seemed to feel pain and retracted its long tongue. It supported its huge body with its limbs and stood on a high boulder overlooking the crowd.

With its cheeks bulging, it opened its bloody mouth and let out a deep roar.

The roar startled the wild birds in the mountains and they flew up into the sky.

Song Tingfeng and the others were momentarily dazed, their minds feeling like they had been hit with a hammer.

The Refining Qi Realm... Xu Qi'an's heart skipped a beat. He suppressed the dizziness, tapped the handle of his knife against his chest.

Clang...

The clear sound of the copper gong was like the evening drum and morning bell, counteracting the sound waves and bringing clarity.

After shaking off their dazed state, both sides immediately made their moves.

Lv Qing retreated while instructing two colleagues who were at the pinnacle of the Refining Essence Realm, "You guys use the crossbows to attack its eyes, jaw, and mouth."

These were relatively soft spots.

Song Tingfeng took off the copper gong and threw it to Zhu Guangxiao, saying, "You're in charge of holding it off, be careful."

He had just seen Xu Qi'an's copper gong shattered and knew that one copper gong was not enough to withstand the monster's tongue.

Thinking of Xu Qi'an, Song Tingfeng felt a little despondent. Although the copper gong could withstand a full force attack from the Refining Qi Realm, the monster had caught him off guard earlier.

If Xu Qi'an had been unprepared, it was possible that his heart would have been shattered by the residual force. If his career only lasted for one day, it would be too tragic.

Song Tingfeng suppressed his emotions, ran wildly with his knife, and attacked the monster from the side.

The salamander's amber-colored eyes flickered, as if it was about to turn around and spit out its tongue. Zhu Guangxiao struck the gong face first, shaking the monster's spirit.

At the same time, he infused his blade with his energy and slashed out a powerful blade energy with a deep growl. The arc-shaped blade energy swept out, causing the air to distort with high temperatures.

The monster was too huge to dodge, so it lowered its head and used its hard forehead to withstand the blade energy. Then, it whipped its tail like it had eyes on its back and accurately hit Song Tingfeng.

Song Tingfeng blocked with his knife, and his body flew backwards.

On the other side, Lv Qing seized the opportunity and stabbed the monster's abdomen with her knife, but it still avoided the attack as if it had foreseen it.

Warriors and demons in the Refining Qi Realm had strong spiritual power that could radiate around them, making everything around them clear in their minds.

No tracking, ambush, targeting, or killing intent could escape the perception of a warrior in the Refining Qi Realm.

This was the unique magic of the Refining Qi Realm.

...

Oh my god, I almost died before I could even complete my training. I haven't even lost my virginity yet, and I'm already dead... Xu Qi'an regained consciousness after a brief faint.

He listened to the intense fighting in the distance, didn't get up, but crawled forward unnoticed by everyone, and climbed to a certain high point.

He took out the jade stone mirror from his chest, pressed the back, poured out the crossbow and bone-corroding poison that Song Qing had given him, calmly applied the poison, and silently raised the crossbow, aiming at the monster, waiting for an opportunity.

Clang...

Zhu Guangxiao struck the copper gong, shaking the monster's spirit and blinding its perception.Xu Qi'an was about to shoot, but the monster suddenly turned over, leaving Song Tingfeng and the others confused about its intentions.

"Damn it, sneak attacks don't work on a master of the Refinement Realm!"

Xu Qi'an cursed inwardly, knowing the real reason.

The safest way was to continue waiting, let Song Tingfeng and a few other tools consume the monster, severely injure it, and lower its spiritual perception. Then he would have a chance to use the crossbow that could kill the Refinement Realm, and complete the beheading!

Soon, Xu Qi'an gave up on this idea...

Lv Qing was like a nimble female leopard, running with her powerful legs and finally stabbing the monster's abdomen with a high-frequency vibrating blade.

Blood soaked the blade, sizzling like it had touched a red-hot iron, steaming with blood smoke.

The monster roared in pain, its head tilted, its jaws vibrating, and a black shadow shot out through the air.

Lv Qing's face sank, and her beautiful face showed fear as she couldn't avoid this attack.

At that moment, a figure rushed over and hugged the full and agile body of the female head catcher, rolling sideways with her.

Song Tingfeng came to the rescue and stabbed the monster's soft belly, forcing it to be unable to chase its companions.

Lv Qing felt a pair of strong arms around her waist, with a heavy male body pressing against her. She breathed heavily and looked at the man on her body in surprise, blurting out:

"You're not dead."

Xu Qi'an grinned. "Almost."

If it weren't for Song Qing's heart-protecting mirror...

Lv Qing was about to speak, but saw the monster's tail coming down on them. She quickly hugged Xu Qi'an and rolled with him.

Bang!

Deep marks were left where the two had been lying.

"Evened it out." Xu Qi'an smiled at her, and the two separated, cooperating tacitly with Song Tingfeng to attack the monster.

He gave up the sneak attack and chose to join the battle because the three Qi-Refining Realm cultivators couldn't beat a monster of the Refinement Realm.

In the end, the monster would not be worn down, and Xu Qi'an would be left as a commander with no one else to fight.

Seeing their companions not dying, Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng's eyes lit up with hidden joy.

Xu Qi'an took out the bone-corroding poison from his pocket, wiped it on the blade, and tossed it to Lv Qing. "Put it on the blade."

Lv Qing glanced at him, took a few steps back, applied the poison, and then threw it to Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.

Song Tingfeng was unlucky. When he applied the poison, he was targeted by the monster and its long tongue grazed his arm, leaving a bloody mess.

Lv Qing cut the monster and saw the wound turn black quickly, emitting a stench. She looked at Xu Qi'an with surprise. "It works!"

With Xu Qi'an's help, the four Qi-Refining Realm cultivators teamed up to kill the monster. Two Refinement Realm cultivators shot arrows from the sidelines to interfere, giving them a significant advantage.

The monster was incredibly strong and had unparalleled tongue skills.

However, its huge size and body structure meant that it couldn't move as flexibly and nimbly as human warriors.

Its injuries became more and more severe...

"Watch out!" Xu Qi'an waved his sword, infused with his Qi, and split the monster's tail, saving Lv Qing, who had been injured.

(Note: Some of the terms used in this translation may not have direct English equivalents, as they are specific to the Xianxia genre.)His tiger's mouth instantly shattered, blood flowing.

He glared at Lv Qing: "Are you trying to die? A woman fighting so desperately."

Lv Qing stared at him with a hint of feminine weakness, a rare sight: "Hmm."

"Roar...."

The monster shook the air, erupting with a terrifying spiritual storm once again.

Xu Qi'an and the others were prepared, quickly retreating and pulling away to avoid the long tongue attack.

Who knew that after the monster forced everyone back, it turned its body, its claws flying like lightning, and escaped....

It burrowed into the woods, violently knocking down tree after tree, carving out a clear and rough path.

Lv Qing's face turned pale: "Chase after it, don't let it get away."

Once the monster entered the water, it would be difficult to eliminate.

Song Tingfeng jumped up, stepping on branches like a master of martial arts.

He stepped hard on a tree trunk, flying into the air, overlooking the entire forest. The muscles in his right hand holding the sword expanded, tearing open the loose sleeve.

"Attack!"

The sword shot out, drawing a bright silver beam in mid-air.

A second later, the monster's painful roar came from the dense forest.

Song Tingfeng exhausted his strength and fell into the woods.

Zhu Guangxiao took over, his light work not as good as Song Tingfeng's, but his explosive power was not weak. He ran madly, catching up to the monster, shouting and jumping into the air, fiercely hacking at the monster.

Snap!

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The monster with a knife in its back swept him away with a tail, continuing to flee.

Only Lv Qing and Xu Qi'an were left chasing after it. The agile female head catcher chased closely behind the monster, not falling behind, but also not catching up.

Soon, they left the woods, chasing for a moment until they saw the rushing river.

"Plunk!"

The monster plunged into the river, splashing water.

The disappointed female head catcher caught a glimpse of Xu Qi'an leaping high, taking a crossbow from his waist, without even aiming, casually pulling the trigger.

At the moment the arrow was shot, a powerful aura wave exploded.

The female head catcher didn't even catch a glimpse of the arrow's shadow, only hearing the sound of it entering the water.

A few seconds later, a miraculous scene unfolded.

The river surface turned bloody, and a two-foot-long monster floated up slowly.

Its cause of death was a pierced head by an arrow.

Lv Qing turned her head in surprise, looking at the young and tall Nightwatcher.

Xu Qi'an shrugged: "I've always been lucky."

PS: This chapter has been modified, so the update is slow. If there are any typos, please remind me.