Chapter 246: Kind Ancestor?
Chapter 246: Kind Ancestor?
As snow crunched softly beneath their feet, Song Meilin finally began explaining.
"The creatures you encountered earlier are called Pishachas."
"Pishachas?" Su Mo repeated.
"Yes," Song Meilin nodded. "The ones we fought were all Grade Two Pishachas."
"Are the grades based on strength?" Yang Qingxi asked.
"You can think of it that way."
Song Meilin continued walking while explaining patiently.
"Grade One Pishachas are the weakest. Their combat strength is generally equivalent to Qi Condensation cultivators."
"Grade Two Pishachas are equivalent to Foundation Building cultivators."
"As for Grade Three..."
A trace of seriousness appeared in her eyes.
"Those are extremely rare."
"Their strength is comparable to Golden Core cultivators."
Yang Qingxi’s brows furrowed slightly.
"No wonder White Moon Sect is treating this situation so seriously."
Song Meilin nodded.
"Normally, encountering one or two Pishachas isn’t a major problem. The issue is that their numbers have been increasing recently."
As she spoke, her expression became increasingly troubled.
This was the real reason the sect was under pressure.
The Pishachas activities showed an abnormal increase recently.
Yet nobody knew why.
It was like treating symptoms while never finding the disease itself.
Then Song Meilin suddenly thought of something.
She turned toward Su Mo.
"Speaking of which..."
Her eyes carried obvious curiosity.
"Junior Su, you should already be at the peak of the Golden Core Stage, right?"
Only a Golden Core cultivator should possess such overwhelming strength.
At least that was what common sense told her.
After all, that giant fireball earlier had practically rewritten the landscape.
However, Su Mo shook his head casually.
"Sister Song guessed incorrectly."
"Hm?"
"I’m only Level One."
Song Meilin was momentarily confused.
Then her eyes widened.
"Level One?"
Su Mo nodded.
Song Meilin immediately stopped walking.
Her expression froze.
She had originally assumed Su Mo was at least a Peak Golden Core cultivator.
Perhaps even someone who had intentionally concealed his cultivation.
Yet now he was telling her that he was merely at the first level of Golden Core?
Her gaze became increasingly strange.
The giant fireball from earlier suddenly replayed itself in her mind.
It was like a miniature sun.
That terrifying heat.
The instant annihilation of five Grade Two Pishachas.
She looked at the smiling young man before her.
For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
Finally, she could only let out a helpless sigh.
"I’ve never seen a genius as powerful as you."
This wasn’t flattery.
It was her heartfelt truth.
Even throughout her decades of cultivation, she had never encountered anyone capable of crossing such a ridiculous gap in power.
Su Mo merely smiled noncommittally.
Internally, however, his thoughts were completely different.
[Genius?]
[In a world where protagonists seem to pop up everywhere?]
[I’m afraid true monsters are still waiting out there.]
After all, this wasn’t a normal cultivation world. This was a chaotic fusion of countless stories.
The Sons of Luck they had encountered so far were indeed weak.
But who knew what kind of ridiculous existences were hiding in the supernatural world?
Compared to those walking cheat codes, being called a genius felt somewhat undeserved. Suppose his own cheat was good enough. He might have already become an immortal being by now.
Still... Su Mo didn’t bother explaining.
Some misunderstandings were better left uncorrected.
Yang Qingxi’s thoughts were similar to Su Mo’s, so she wasn’t particularly excited by the mention of genius. Instead, her attention remained on the more important issue.
"Sister Song, where exactly did these Pishachas come from?" she asked as the three continued walking through the snowy mountain path. "If such dangerous monsters have existed in the Frostspine Mountains for so long, how are the nearby towns still able to live peacefully? As long as they don’t enter the mountains, nothing happens to them. Don’t the Pishachas ever leave and attack?"
Su Mo nodded in agreement.
"I’ve also been wondering about that."
The snow beneath their feet crunched softly as they walked. Although the mountain air remained cold, the conversation felt much lighter than before.
"My guess is that either the Pishachas behave like territorial predators and only attack when someone enters their domain..." Su Mo said thoughtfully. "Or they’re trapped within these mountains and can’t leave for some reason."
Song Meilin glanced at him with slight surprise.
"That second guess is actually quite close."
"Really?"
She nodded before letting out a quiet sigh.
"To be honest, even we don’t know everything about their origins. The records are incomplete, and many things have been lost over the centuries. However, there is one story every disciple of White Moon Sect knows."
Her expression softened slightly.
"This story begins over five hundred years ago."
Su Mo and Yang Qingxi listened quietly.
"At that time, our Sect Ancestor was travelling throughout the world. He hadn’t founded White Moon Sect yet. During one of his journeys, he arrived at these mountains and discovered the existence of the Pishachas."
Song Meilin’s gaze drifted toward the distant snowy peaks.
"The situation back then was far worse than it is now. The Pishachas weren’t confined to the mountains. They frequently descended upon nearby villages, killing people and treating them as food."
A trace of sadness appeared in her eyes.
"Entire families were wiped out. Some villages disappeared overnight. Fear spread throughout the region."
Su Mo frowned slightly.
"That bad?"
"Much worse."
Song Meilin nodded.
"Our ancestor witnessed it personally. He saw grieving parents, orphaned children, and countless people living in terror."
Her voice carried genuine respect when speaking of the sect founder.
"He was a compassionate man. He couldn’t simply ignore what he saw."
"So he stayed?" Yang Qingxi asked.
"He stayed."
A faint smile appeared on Song Meilin’s face.
"Alone, he began hunting the Pishachas."
"He searched throughout the mountains and fought them one after another. Whenever they attacked villagers, he would appear. Whenever they hid, he would pursue them."
"Eventually, even the leader of the Pishachas was defeated by him."
Yang Qingxi couldn’t help asking, "If he was that powerful, why didn’t he simply eliminate them completely?"
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