When the raging wind that had been rolling itself subsided, seven or eight stone monkeys struggled to get up, swaying unsteadily, and couldn't recover for a long time.
It wasn't until a long while later that these stone monkeys let out chirping sounds, glanced at the distant crowd a few times, and then turned to disappear into the darkness.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan and others slowly breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were just a few stone monkeys and couldn't cause them any harm, they were still a considerable nuisance.
Especially if they had used lethal force, it was very likely to provoke the revenge of an entire clan, and the outcome at that time would truly be unpredictable.
The current outcome was quite good, and it was thought that the stone monkeys, having suffered a bit, would not dare to come again.
"Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Ji reminded us, otherwise, if we had killed these stone monkeys, it would have caused considerable trouble."
Wu Chengqing withdrew his gaze and couldn't help but sigh.
If he had used lethal force earlier and provoked the stone monkeys' clan into a frenzied revenge, with their petrified skin and pure strength comparable to mid-to-late stage flesh and blood realm martial artists.
He and Ji Yuan might have been able to ignore it, at most causing some inconvenience, but Li Junxian and others would at least be seriously injured, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to lose their lives by being careless.
Hearing this, a scene of a group of stone monkeys, impervious to weapons, swarming in, with millstone-sized rocks raining down, made everyone shudder.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Ji Yuan's silent expression, Wu Chengqing asked with doubt.
"Nothing, I just feel a little strange."
He shook his head, his brows furrowed as he looked in the direction the stone monkeys had left.
After pondering for a while, he suddenly turned to Wu Chengqing and asked, "Have you ever encountered such a situation when you traveled out in the past?"
At this remark, even those who had just turned back were taken aback.
In everyone's impression, except for ferocious beasts with strong offensive capabilities, wild beasts with reasonable intelligence rarely attacked unfamiliar creatures passing by.
"Perhaps they felt we invaded their territory?"
Lin Miaoyi proposed a possibility but then shook her head and negated it.
If that were the case, the stone monkeys would not have chosen to turn and leave after suffering some pain, but would have relentlessly attacked to the death.
Any wild beast with territorial awareness would never allow itself to be invaded by other life forms; once discovered, it would inevitably lead to a life-or-death struggle.
"Did someone tamper with things from behind the scenes?"
Wu Chengqing immediately realized this and cast a sharp gaze around.
However, no matter how he searched, he could not find any clues or sense any unusual aura.
It was as if all of this was just his wild speculation, and it was merely an accident, with no one secretly manipulating things.
Yet, no one present let down their guard. When traveling, any coincidence might not be a real coincidence, but a delusion intentionally created by someone.
"The enemy is in the open, and we are in the dark. We must not act rashly."
Ji Yuan said in a deep voice, dispelling Wu Chengqing's thought of probing.
Now, they only needed to wait for half a day for the elders of the Nine Xuan Sect to arrive. If the other party, out of apprehension, delayed their actions, it would be exactly what they wanted.
Conversely, if someone was indeed lurking in the shadows and could not hold back and chose to make a move, they could then react to whatever came and even use this opportunity to pinpoint the other party's whereabouts.
All of them were disciples carefully trained by the Nine Xuan Sect, and they understood Ji Yuan's meaning with a single word.
Immediately, Li Junxian and the other five dispersed and sat on the ground, seemingly meditating but actually concentrating on sensing their surroundings. Any slightest disturbance would be detected immediately.
"It should be cultivators from Qinghe Prefecture, perhaps even people from Wangyue Sect."
Wu Chengqing spoke in a voice that only they could hear.
The northern part of Feiyun Prefecture was adjacent to Qinghe Prefecture, and the disciples of Wangyue Sect were the ones who had discovered this dojo along with Zhao Yuansong and others.
Although it could not be ruled out that someone else had discovered this place during this period, it was most likely people from Wangyue Sect!
"What kind of techniques do the cultivators of Wangyue Sect specialize in?"
Ji Yuan looked around, feeling a vague sense of unease.
Although he was not familiar with Wangyue Sect, he felt that if someone had lured the stone monkeys to attack, it wouldn't be a disciple of that sect.
Wu Chengqing thought for a moment: "It is said that Wangyue Sect specializes in artifact control, with a moon wheel being their signature skill. Their cultivation techniques lean towards illusionary arts."
As neighbors to Qinghe Prefecture, the Nine Xuan Sect had had many dealings with Wangyue Sect in the past and was naturally more familiar with their specialized techniques and divine abilities.
In combat, Wangyue Sect disciples used the moon wheel as their primary method of attack, supplemented by their unique illusionary arts. Their killing power within the same realm was not weak, otherwise, they would not have become the overlord sect of Qinghe Prefecture.
However, they had never heard that this sect also possessed beast-taming or beast-control techniques. Of course, such methods were not uncommon, and even some rogue cultivators could easily acquire them with some effort.
"Do you think that the person lurking in the shadows is not a disciple of Wangyue Sect, but someone else?"
Wu Chengqing understood his meaning and wore a thoughtful expression.
It had been more than ten days since they discovered this underground dojo. Even if others had stumbled upon it, it was not impossible.
After all, the mountain forests on the surface were quite famous in the northern part of Feiyun Prefecture. Not to mention rogue cultivators and wild hermits, even disciples of some sects were accustomed to coming here to search for spirit herbs and hunt demonic beasts.
However, they did not expect it to be such a coincidence that they encountered such a vast underground dojo first.
Although there was no evidence, Ji Yuan had already concluded that they had not encountered disciples of Wangyue Sect, but rogue cultivators and wild hermits who had been lingering in the mountains all along.
"They're here!"
His expression suddenly changed, and he turned his gaze in a certain direction.
According to his spiritual sense, three auras were stealthily approaching, leading more than ten stone monkeys towards this place.
Although Wu Chengqing could not sense the people in the shadows, he could hear the calls from afar and the sound of commotion.
It was not only him. Li Junxian and the others also opened their eyes at the appropriate time, rising together and looking in the direction of the stone monkeys' calls. Soon, they could see figures moving among the faint light.
Twenty to thirty breaths later, the group saw more than a dozen stone monkeys leaping between giant trees, rapidly approaching them.
Seeing this scene, their faces immediately sank. Such a number of stone monkeys swarming in made even them feel a great headache.
With their stone-like, invulnerable skin and immense strength comparable to flesh and blood realm martial artists, these strange creatures were enough to threaten their lives, and a slight carelessness could lead to their demise.
Fortunately, these stone monkeys had low intelligence and only used brute force. Otherwise, even a cultivator like Li Junxian, whose cultivation was at the late stage of the Enlightenment Realm, would not dare to confront them head-on.
"Attack!"
Seeing that the group of stone monkeys was still seven or eight zhang away, Wu Chengqing gave a low command.
As the words fell, Li Junxian and the other five figures flashed out, directly charging into the monkey horde.
In a flash, dense sword shadows intertwined. With their coordinated efforts, they managed to suppress the group of stone monkeys steadily, at least preventing them from advancing any further for the time being.
However, if the fight dragged on, they would also become somewhat overwhelmed. This group of stone monkeys seemed to have inexhaustible stamina and immense strength. If it weren't for their use of force-dispelling techniques combined with swordsmanship, they would have already been defeated.
The most important point was that they knew these stone monkeys had been lured by cultivators and that a trick had been used to provoke the attack. Therefore, they did not dare to kill them easily, for fear of provoking more stone monkeys to retaliate ferociously later.
"Fellow Daoist Wu, please guard here and preside over the formation."
Ji Yuan observed for a moment and then said, "I will go and deal with those who are acting from the shadows!"
Before his voice faded, he left a few formation plates and then immediately flashed out. He gathered the spiritual power in his body, then leaped into the air, lightly stepping on a few giant trees, and finally landed more than ten zhang away.
He glanced back at the others who were entangled with the stone monkeys, then turned his gaze to the darkness.
Even though the special plants provided a faint light, within his spiritual eyes, he could not see any anomalies, as if no one was hidden there.
"Are you still planning to hide?"
Ji Yuan raised an eyebrow, and a talisman slipped from his sleeve, held in his palm.
Next, he pinched the talisman with two fingers, moved his wrist slightly, and flicked it out several zhang away.
As the spiritual power within the talisman ignited, blue light immediately appeared, and countless water droplets condensed and shot out in all directions.
Within two or three breaths, blurred figures appeared, dodging the shooting water droplets.
Under Ji Yuan's spiritual eye observation, he quickly saw the faces of three blurred figures: two middle-aged men and an old man whose hair had almost all fallen out.
All three of them had cultivation at the early stage of the Spirit Point Realm, and their auras were mixed, indicating they were likely wild hermits.
Even in his perception, their spiritual power was full of superficiality, mixed with a large amount of turbid energy.
Ji Yuan was quite impressed. To have cultivated to this point under such circumstances, their perseverance and desire for the Dao were no less than that of disciples from major sects.
With a hint of respect in his heart, he immediately reached out and grasped a Yuan Chen Whip in his palm, then vigorously swung his arm, lashing out the several-zhang-long whip!
The pale blue whip body flowed with aqua-blue light, suddenly growing to more than ten zhang in the air. It lashed out with fierce momentum towards a middle-aged man with several knife scars on his face.
The man, who had just dodged the shooting water droplets, immediately heard the sound of air being torn. Without thinking, he rolled onto the ground, narrowly dodging such a strike!
*Bang!!!*
In an instant, the long whip struck a giant tree, shattering its petrified bark and revealing the tree trunk with its engraved Dao patterns.
However, the hard tree trunk was blasted into a fist-sized piece by Ji Yuan's whip, with more than ten cracks spreading across it.
At the same time, a howling sound rose, and then, in the darkness, a fierce flame suddenly erupted, which churned and condensed into a fierce tiger about a zhang in size!
"Go!"
Another middle-aged man with triangular eyes let out a low cry, and with the last hand seal formed, the fire tiger above his head immediately stepped into the air and charged forward!
Seeing this scene, Ji Yuan calmly pulled the whip, and a flash of aqua-blue light passed. The whip body then fiercely struck the fire tiger!