Longevity: Comprehending the Heart Method

Unlike Human Race Cultivators, Great Demons don’t possess an endless array of treasures. Their strengths lie in their powerful physical bodies and immense Life Force.

That meant they couldn’t fight it head-on. They had to continuously wear it down, breaking its will bit by bit to achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost.

The four of them had a clear division of labor. Song Changsheng, the strongest, would work with Zhu Yiqun to attract the Great Demon’s attention from the front.

As for Zhuang Yuechan and Xu Yunhe, whose Cultivation was weaker, one was responsible for using the music from her zither to confuse and disrupt the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s mind, while the other would use fierce Sword Qi to strike its back.

The zither’s notes drifted, Sword Qi crisscrossed, and the Great Demon roared.

The battle became white-hot the moment it began.

The four frequently attacked with Magic and Sword Qi, but to the Five Elements Spirit Beast, whose defense was off the charts, it was like being bitten by a mosquito—harmless.

But they firmly believed that with enough mosquitos, they could still bite something to death.

Gradually, however, Song Changsheng realized something was wrong.

They had been wearing it down for so long, yet the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s aura showed no signs of weakening. On the contrary, it seemed to be growing stronger the more it fought.

A suspicion quickly arose in his mind. Song Changsheng activated his Eye of Truth and looked beneath the Five Elements Spirit Beast. He immediately saw a continuous stream of Five Elements Spiritual Power welling up from the depths of Five Elements Peak and entering its body through its feet.

"This is bad," Song Changsheng urgently transmitted to the others. "It’s drawing power from the Five Elements Spiritual Veins! If this keeps up, we could fight to our deaths and still not kill it. We must change tactics and lure it away from the Five Elements Peak’s spiritual vein."

"Holy crap, so that’s how it is. No wonder this guy is so damn tough. Looks like we have to cut off its connection to the Spiritual Vein," Zhu Yiqun said, the realization dawning on him as he immediately began to formulate a plan.

Xu Yunhe unleashed several waves of Sword Qi and said grimly, "The beast must be aware of this principle as well. It would rather stay put and take our attacks than leave Five Elements Peak. Luring it out of the range of the spiritual vein will be difficult."

"I have a song I can try, but it might provoke its ferocious nature. You all must be careful," Zhuang Yuechan said, her tone urgent.

"Don’t worry about it. Go ahead."

"Alright!" Zhuang Yuechan’s expression suddenly grew stern.

TWANG...

Zhuang Yuechan pressed her palms to the strings, silencing the zither. Then, her slender fingers flew across them, striking up a tune completely different from the one before.

The previous melody had been like a gentle spring breeze and a soft drizzle, subtly lulling and beautiful, making one feel drowsy just listening to it.

This new piece, however, was like being dropped into a chaotic marketplace. The sounds were loud and jarring, stirring up an unavoidable sense of irritation.

ROAR—

The Five Elements Spirit Beast’s eyes gradually turned crimson, and a massive amount of Demon Qi surged from its body, blotting out the sky.

"Be careful, this beast is enraged," Xu Yunhe shouted a warning, narrowly dodging the beast’s tail as it whipped toward her like a steel lash.

"Piece of cake."

Zhu Yiqun held another large black wok in front of him. Neither Fireballs nor water jets could harm him in the slightest.

"It still needs a final push. I’ll be the one to completely enrage it. Watch out."

Song Changsheng shouted, and the Brocade River and Mountain appeared in his palm. Illusory mountain peaks appeared layer after layer around him, coalescing into a large, pitch-black seal in his palm.

"Little Divine Technique: Mountain-Flipping Seal!"

BOOM—

The great seal landed on the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s head. Dirt flew, and its massive head was smashed directly into the mountainside, leaving a deep dent on the back of its skull.

AWOOO—

The Five Elements Spirit Beast let out a long howl, a scarlet light flashing in its eyes. The last shred of its consciousness was consumed by a towering rage.

"Retreat!"

Song Changsheng shouted, and the four of them immediately shot off into the distance.

The Five Elements Spirit Beast hesitated for an instant before finally spreading its vast, translucent wings and giving chase.

As soon as it took to the sky, the Five Elements Spirit Beast showed off its speed as a Tier Three Great Demon. It quickly caught up to Xu Yunhe, who was at the rear. A ball of crimson light welled up in its abdomen, and it spewed a torrent of scorching flame from its mouth.

"Yunhe, watch out!"

With a mighty throw, Zhu Yiqun sent the black wok in his hands flying, blocking the fatal blow for Xu Yunhe.

"We’re not out of the spiritual vein’s range yet! Everyone, push harder!" Song Changsheng shouted. He swung his sword, unleashing a sky full of Sword Light to momentarily slow the Five Elements Spirit Beast, then pulled Zhuang Yuechan into his arms and shot high into the heavens with Sword Control.

The zither’s notes drifted, as pervasive as a Demonic Sound, seeping into everything.

The Five Elements Spirit Beast had completely lost its sanity, continuously bombarding everyone with Five Elements Demon Techniques.

"This is far enough! Surround and kill!"

Song Changsheng shouted, flicked his sleeve, and summoned the Supreme Profound Thundercloud Pot. A thick, leaden cloud burst forth, blanketing hundreds of miles of sky. In an instant, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, echoing endlessly.

"Supreme Profound Divine Thunder, fall!"

Forming the Thunder-Attracting Seal with his hands, he directed bolts of Thunderbolt to rain down upon the Five Elements Spirit Beast.

AWOOO—

The Five Elements Spirit Beast let out a pained howl. The intense pain shocked it back to its senses, but it was too late to escape. The thunderclouds had locked onto it.

"Little Divine Technique: Heaven’s Edge!"

Xu Yunhe flicked her wrist, and endless Sword Light converged, slashing down fiercely at the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s neck.

SHICK!

Blood flew, leaving a ghastly gash on the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s neck. Feeling the touch of death, it instantly retracted its limbs, head, and tail into its shell, turtling up completely.

"Little Divine Technique: Soul-Slaying Golden Saber!"

A brilliant Golden Saber chopped down, brazenly cleaving the Five Elements Spirit Beast’s Sea of Consciousness in two. This instantly threw it into a frenzy, and it began to struggle violently in mid-air.

"Now! Take its head!"

Xu Yunhe bellowed, and the four of them launched a combined attack.

BOOM—

The Five Elements Spirit Beast’s massive head was shattered, and its enormous body plummeted from the sky like a bird with broken wings, causing the earth to shake and the mountains to tremble once more upon impact.

A moment later, the four arrived before the massive carcass. Looking at the small mountain of a corpse, Zhu Yiqun grinned and said, "Well, we won’t be short on ingredients now. The flesh of a Tier Three Great Demon should be quite delicious."

Then, he pointed at the corpse and said, "I don’t want anything else, but the flesh must be mine."

He possessed the Devouring Spirit Body, which allowed him to grow stronger by consuming food containing Spiritual Power. To him, the flesh of this Tier Three Great Demon was an incredible tonic.

"I want these wings to forge a Magical Artifact," Xu Yunhe said, pointing to the pair of wings.

Among the group, Xu Yunhe had the weakest Body Technique and needed a Magical Artifact to compensate. These wings were perfect for that.

"Then I’ll take the shell," Zhuang Yuechan said softly.

The three most valuable parts of a Five Elements Spirit Beast were its Demon Pill, its membranous wings, and its shell.

The value of the Demon Pill went without saying, but they all tacitly agreed to leave it for Song Changsheng.

This was because, among the four, both Zhuang Yuechan and Xu Yunhe had Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation and didn’t need to worry about breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage just yet. As for Zhu Yiqun, he possessed the Devouring Body and had no bottlenecks to speak of before the Golden Core realm, so he had no need for it either.

Only Song Changsheng needed it the most right now.

"I won’t waste time with thanks." Song Changsheng smiled and cupped his hands in a salute. They all looked at each other and smiled; everything was understood without a word.

Swinging his sword, Song Changsheng cut open the corpse’s abdomen and retrieved a fist-sized, Five-Colored Inner Core. He then removed the membranous wings and the shell.

And just like that, the Five Elements Spirit Beast was completely carved up.

"Since we’ve dealt with our uninvited guest, it’s time we went to see the gift the Great City Lord prepared for Changsheng," Zhu Yiqun said with a grin, storing the massive carcass into that large black wok of his.

"Alright, let’s go take a look."

Song Changsheng nodded. He too was curious about the treasure inside the mountain that was emitting a five-colored light.

The group returned to Five Elements Peak. After confirming the location, Song Changsheng phased directly into the mountain’s interior...

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