Chapter 140 - 133: Demon, Prey

Chapter 140: Chapter 133: Demon, Prey

At the bow of the ship.

Lan Cai Shen’s gaze frequently swept over the surrounding mountains, a hint of anxiety in his eyes.

When Jin Fang had returned to Miscellaneous Peak to ask for reinforcements, Lan Cai Shen had been busy dealing with the people from the Blood Fusion and Beast Soul factions. The news made him instantly anxious.

He knew all too well what the Power Demon Sect was like.

If they breached the Ring Mountain Spiritual Land, it went without saying that the place was finished.

And that wasn’t all.

The fates of Li Changsheng and Dong Xing’s group of three were a foregone conclusion.

If they were taken away, they’d be sold off to who knows where, never to be seen again in this lifetime.

The Ring Mountain Spiritual Land, Li Changsheng, and the others were a hard-won expansion of his path. Now that it was about to be narrowed, how could he not be anxious?

After reporting to his father and discussing the matter.

It was decided that Elder Qing would accompany him to the Ring Mountain Spiritual Land.

Seeing this, the two Cultivators from the Blood Fusion and Beast Soul factions wanted to go along and see for themselves.

Elder Lan couldn’t have been happier for them to leave, so he agreed immediately.

The group of five then boarded a Flying Ship and headed for the Ring Mountain Spirit Vein.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Elder Qing watched the mountain scenery rush by, his expression unhurried. As if sensing Lan Cai Shen’s anxiety, he turned his head and chuckled, "Don’t be anxious. With Tong Zuo guarding the Spiritual Land, unless a Dao Foundation Realm Cultivator makes a move, a few Vein Condensation Perfection pups won’t be able to do a thing to him."

Hearing this, Lan Cai Shen’s anxiety eased slightly.

He knew how strong Tong Zuo was; he’d just been overly worried because his path was at stake, which was why he had lost his composure.

Lan Cai Shen cupped his hands. "I was the one who panicked."

"Hehe..."

Elder Qing stroked his beard and chuckled. "I, for one, would like to see this little fellow who can condense a Spirit Plant Mark using the ancient method."

Lan Cai Shen smiled along. "He certainly won’t disappoint you, Elder." After a pause, he added, "His talent in the way of Spirit Plants is truly exceptional."

"Haha, now that you put it that way, this old man is even more interested."

A big, fat man in a dazzling golden robe overheard their conversation, a flicker of curiosity in his narrow eyes.

He asked Jin Fang, "Since when did Miscellaneous Peak have a Spirit Plant Master?"

Jin Fang gathered his thoughts and began to slowly recount the story from the beginning, starting with the discovery of the Spiritual Land.

Meanwhile, the subject of their conversation, Li Changsheng, was cautiously stepping out of a cave.

Looking out at the darkness, Li Changsheng had a thought.

BZZZ...

The sound of buzzing wings arose as a swarm of insects slowly flew out from the cave walls, disappearing into the surrounding darkness.

Li Changsheng used his mind to constantly perceive the changes in the swarm.

Just as he climbed to the top of a hill, he suddenly felt a vibration from within his robes.

Li Changsheng quickly reached into his robes, and a jade stone emitting a faint green glow appeared in his palm.

CRACK...

With a crisp sound, a crack appeared on the jade stone.

Wisps of light green Spiritual Power flowed out from the jade and slowly coalesced in the air into the word "Hide."

Then, the jade stone shattered into several pieces, and the light green Spiritual Power silently dissipated.

Li Changsheng’s expression turned grim. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and headed down the hill, carefully scrambling his tracks before he left.

He didn’t recall the insect swarm, instead commanding them to scatter around the cave.

Li Changsheng concealed the cave entrance once more, then walked to a corner and sat down casually.

’They lost...’

That was the only explanation. Otherwise, Tan Hu wouldn’t have sent him a message; he would have come to find him in person.

’But it’s only been such a short time...’

Although he was certain of it, he still found it hard to believe.

The Demon Hunting Corps had over two hundred Cultivators, all at least at the Mid-Qi Cultivation stage, including several Vein Condensation Realm Cultivators. Their leader was Chief Steward Tong, who could command hundreds of Tier Two Spirit Insects, and they also had four Vein Condensation Realm stewards like Tan Hu and Steward Ye.

It was hard to imagine what kind of overwhelming power could have crushed them and caused the Ring Mountain Spiritual Land to change hands.

Just as Li Changsheng’s mind was in turmoil.

Suddenly, a heavy pressure descended upon him, feeling like a small mountain pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

’What’s going on?’

Ugh...

Li Changsheng grunted, trying to circulate his Spiritual Power to resist the ever-increasing pressure, but it had no effect.

Just then, a powerful emotion surged into his mind.

Hungry... hungry... hungry...

Hmm?

Li Changsheng froze for a moment. As if realizing something, he hurriedly sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.

In a trance-like instant, he opened his eyes again to find himself in a dark, empty void.

The darkness was filled with countless star-like points of light, but among them was a colossal star shimmering with five colors: white, yellow, red, blue, and purple.

All the other stars around it seemed dim and lackluster in comparison.

Li Changsheng stared at it, still finding it hard to believe. ’Xiaohai succeeded?’

’How did it succeed?’

As soon as the thought occurred, he quickly immersed his consciousness into it.

His mind flickered for a moment.

A somewhat dim space appeared before his eyes.

The space wasn’t large. Its walls were made of irregularly shaped stones piled together, and wisps of purplish-black mist drifted in the air.

Xiaohai seemed to be lying on a huge rock, its thoughts constantly broadcasting a feeling of hunger.

’If it’s hungry, why isn’t it eating?’

Li Changsheng wondered.

Xiaohai’s emotions suddenly paused. In the next instant, the surrounding space began to streak backward at a crazy speed.

In just a few breaths, Xiaohai had leaped out of that space.

The world was still bright, but this space was much larger and wider.

Li Changsheng looked down at the pool of water giving off a purple mist and thought, ’So Xiaohai was in the deep pool just now...’

Then, his perception suddenly expanded rapidly in all directions.

The surrounding ice-blue Cold Flame Flowers, the patch of dusky yellow Earth Spirit Root, the small courtyard of Dong Xing’s group of three, a patch of shimmering blue Water Spirit Flowers on the mountainside...

And a blazing, crimson flame...

HISS...

A piercing screech.

The surrounding space streaked backward again. In just a few breaths, Xiaohai appeared on the mountainside, its entire focus fixed on the crimson flame at the foot of the mountain.

A powerful emotion—the craving of a predator that has spotted its prey—flooded into Li Changsheng’s mind.

’Hunting...’

Li Changsheng suppressed the strange tremor that rose in his heart and watched quietly.

At that moment, Xiaohai’s presence suddenly dropped to a freezing point, its insect body becoming like a dead twig.

It leaped from tree to tree, making no sound as it approached the crimson flame at a considerable speed.

Soon, Xiaohai landed among the branches of a large tree at the foot of the mountain, looking down at the crimson flame.

Li Changsheng could also vaguely see Xiaohai’s target.

It was a person who seemed to be made of crimson flames, their body covered in a dense network of crimson veins.

Slightly to the left of the chest was a heart that looked like crimson magma. With every beat, streams of crimson light flowed through the veins, surging throughout the body.

CRUNCH...

Gong Bai pulled out his arm with a smile on his face. He slowly opened his palm, where a thumb-sized Spirit Crystal shimmering with a seven-colored halo lay.

"Once I’m done looting this Spiritual Land, I won’t be short on resources to advance to the middle stage."

Gong Bai was overjoyed. He examined the Spirit Crystal for a few breaths before carefully placing it in a jade box.

He then turned and headed for the next Spirit Field.

The Spirit Field he was walking toward was directly in front of the tree where Xiaohai was hiding.

As he drew closer, Xiaohai’s emotions began to churn with agitation.

Gong Bai didn’t notice a thing. He continuously poured his blood-qi into the Spirit Field, probing for the location of the Spiritual Vortex.

After a dozen or so breaths.

His eyes suddenly lit up. He crouched down, and his right arm, wreathed in wisps of scarlet blood-qi, plunged into the Spirit Field.

Just as his attention was focused on the Spiritual Vortex.

Xiaohai suddenly moved.

WHOOSH...

A faint sonic boom echoed.

A dire sense of crisis suddenly welled up in Gong Bai’s heart. His own heart swelled for an instant as he stimulated a massive amount of blood-qi, causing a layer of scarlet energy to erupt from his body.

In Li Changsheng’s eyes, the flames around Gong Bai suddenly doubled in size, filling his vision with scarlet.

But Gong Bai’s reaction was a step too slow.

In the next instant, a five-colored stream of light descended with a boom, tearing through the thick blood-qi surrounding him and piercing straight through the magma-like heart.

BOOM...