Chapter 118: The True Demonic Beast (Bonus Chapter for Patron Shangguan Yulin)

Even with a three-meter-long Qi vein, Ding Huan still exited the cliff cave effortlessly using the Wind Riding Technique.

"Big brother, are we really leaving Earth?" Qi Qi Xinyue had no strong attachment to whether they left Earth or not.

Her only family was her mother; after leaving the Fallen God Valley, she knew she would never see her mother again.

Because his master had said, her mother stayed on Zhan Shen Continent solely for her sake. If it weren't for her, her mother would have long left Zhan Shen Continent with his master.

Where her mother had gone, she did not know.

"Mm, I feel my strength is still too low—I can no longer advance on Earth."

"Before leaving, I still have a few things to take care of," Ding Huan sighed.

Regardless, Earth was the place that gave him life and raised him. If he hadn't misjudged, in his past life, after he left Earth, it had been seized by ferocious beasts.

As for humanity, they likely hadn't gone extinct—but had become vassals of the ferocious beasts.

So before leaving Earth this time, Ding Huan would eliminate those few great ferocious beasts.

If the Great Wilderness Jin Yuan refused to swear an oath, he would kill the Great Wilderness Jin Yuan too.

There was no point being merciful now.

He might never return again; this would be his way of doing something for Earth.

Qi Qi Xinyue had been with Ding Huan for more than just a few days; she understood somewhat what kind of person he was.

Despite Ding Huan's ruthless slaughter of those extraterrestrial invaders,

deep down he had feelings for Earth—he would definitely go to the Human Corridor Defense Line to kill the Giant Gorilla and the Demon Dragon.

After a moment's hesitation, she said:

"Big brother, I heard Cang Beichun say there's a ferocious beast above Level Nine in the Kunlun Mountains—I don't know what kind it is, but I suspect he wasn't lying."

A ferocious beast above Level Nine in the Kunlun Mountains? That would make it a demonic beast.

Ding Huan froze, then seemed to realize something, accelerating his pace.

In just a short time, he arrived at the perimeter of the Blue Star.

"It seems there really is a demonic beast above Level Nine here," Ding Huan said, staring at the damaged perimeter fence of the Blue Star.

This fence had been arranged by Lao Liu.

Lao Liu was fairly meticulous—he'd built it entirely from thick trees and large boulders, yet now there was a massive gap.

Clearly, someone had been here.

Aside from powerful figures like Cang Beichun, no ordinary person could reach this place.

That could only mean a ferocious beast had come.

Strangely, after arriving, the ferocious beast had merely torn open the Blue Star's perimeter fence without damaging the Blue Star itself.

"So a ferocious beast came here?" Qi Qi Xinyue also noticed the situation.

The perimeter fence hadn't been randomly torn apart—it looked deliberately dismantled. The gap showed no signs of chaos.

Only humans could do this.

But Ding Huan was certain it wasn't human—so this must be a demonic beast with intelligence.

"Not only has a ferocious beast arrived, but it's waiting for us not far away—even now, it's watching us."

"No, this isn't a ferocious beast anymore—it's a demonic beast." As he spoke, his spiritual sense swept outward.

"Ah…" Qi Qi Xinyue gasped—she knew full well how powerful a demonic beast was.

That demon dragon had once been severely injured; even then, Ding Huan and Zhong Chi barely lost when they fought together.

As for why Ding Huan ultimately won, Qi Qi Xinyue hadn't fully understood at first—but after cultivating to Level Five Gene Cultivator, she understood clearly.

If Ding Huan were still at his original strength and fought that same injured demon dragon again, he would almost certainly lose.

Simply put, his Wind Blade Art and Fireball Art weren't that powerful.

He won against the demon dragon because of tactics and strategy.

He'd torn open the demon dragon's wound with Wind Blades while the demon dragon was unaware, then tossed in a Fireball.

Once the demon dragon realized Wind Blades and Fireballs were utterly insignificant, Ding Huan's entire tactic would become meaningless.

Ding Huan, however, grew puzzled—his spiritual sense hadn't sensed any demonic beast nearby.

His spiritual sense could now scan a range of four to five kilometers—could this demonic beast be watching him from over ten miles away?

Ding Huan believed the demonic beast hadn't come here for the Blue Star—it had come because it sensed the Zhan Shen Crystals and Qi veins aboard the Blue Star.

Ding Huan walked beside the Blue Star and immediately noticed marks on its exterior, as if struck by something.

No—it was claw marks.

This must be the demonic beast's doing.

But the material of the Blue Star was simply too hard—even a demonic beast had left not a single scratch on its exterior.

Ding Huan had previously used the Starlight Blade to slash wildly inside the warship, subconsciously assuming the Blue Star's material was no better.

Now he understood—the material used inside and outside the Blue Star was clearly different.

He could slash wildly inside, but outside, he probably couldn't even leave a mark.

This demonic beast had high intelligence—after clawing several times without leaving a trace on the Blue Star,

it simply stopped damaging the ship entirely, even wiped clean the claw marks so Ding Huan wouldn't notice at first glance.

At this moment, Ding Huan was certain: the moment he opened the Blue Star, the demonic beast would charge in instantly to seize it.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept outward again.

He refused to believe a demonic beast ten miles away could instantly reach here to stop him from entering the Blue Star.

Indeed, this time he noticed something different.

Less than two hundred meters away stood a massive boulder.

Beside that boulder was a withered tree, ancient beyond reckoning.

The dead tree's girth was at least twenty meters, and though it couldn't compare to the ten-thousand-year cypress of Luohe City, it was undoubtedly an ancient tree.

A large great horned owl was stuck to the dead tree.

If you didn't look closely, the great horned owl's color matched the bark exactly, completely indistinguishable.

This was definitely a mutated great horned owl; an ordinary one would never exceed one meter in length. This one was at least three meters long.

Its massive beak pressed against the dead tree, utterly seamless.

Ding Huan noticed something unusual in its half-closed, half-open eyes.

Immediately, Ding Huan sensed a faint fluctuation of demonic qi emanating from the great horned owl.

Ding Huan sighed—he still lacked sufficient divine perception.

If his divine perception had substance, he would surely distinguish living beings from non-living ones.

With the ability to sense life, he would have detected the great horned owl at a glance.

His current divine perception was merely slightly stronger than his eyesight.

"Xinyue, you and Lao Liu lift this qi vein up first." Ding Huan pointed to the qi vein he'd just dropped on the ground.

Lao Liu seized the qi vein at once; even though he couldn't cultivate, holding this several-meter-long qi vein brought him comfort.

Qi Xinyue had authorization to open the hatch; she walked to the Blue Star and opened the door.

As soon as the Blue Star's hatch opened, the densest possible celestial qi spilled out.

Ding Huan, carrying the great horned owl, appeared to be inspecting the qi vein; though he held the white-jian wood spear in hand, its tip angled toward the ground.

At that moment, a blur struck Ding Huan's back at nearly the speed of a Light Killer Crossbow's killing beam.

Simultaneously, Ding Huan's white-jian wood spear lashed out.

As Ding Huan bent forward, his back still turned to the great horned owl, he thrust the spear.

He feared the great horned owl might truly be a demonic beast—he might not be able to defeat it.

So he deduced that since the great horned owl hid here waiting for the Blue Star's hatch to open, it would surely strike the instant it opened.

In this place, the great horned owl likely feared him most.

Its ambush would inevitably target him.

After hundreds of spear beams erupted, they instantly coalesced into a single line.

This was the trait of the first of the Nine Paths: Soul-Shattering Spear—it could unleash hundreds of spear beams at once, or condense them instantly.

"Boom!"

Followed by a piercing owl screech, feathers flew everywhere, and a spray of blood mist exploded into the air.

"Crack!" Ding Huan's white-jian wood spear snapped in two; powerful backlash surged through him, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ding Huan knew—such devastating force could not come from an ordinary ferocious beast.

It was undoubtedly a demonic beast, one that had barely ascended, and whose combat ability was weak, hence caught off-guard and severely wounded by his ambush.

A gray shadow dashed into the mountain depths and vanished in an instant.

"Big Brother…" Qi Xinyue's face was pale.

Ding Huan's clash with the great horned owl lasted only a moment; the owl had aimed solely to ambush him, while Ding Huan had been prepared.

Though Ding Huan's speed couldn't match the mutated great horned owl, he had struck first.

Thus, as the great horned owl lunged at his back, Ding Huan's white-jian wood spear pierced its chest and stabbed through its heart.

Even as a demonic beast, when concentrating its qi to attack Ding Huan, its heart's blood flow accelerated.

Ding Huan's spear strike was so devastating, it was like causing a massive hemorrhage in the great horned owl's heart.

"Xinyue, you and Lao Liu enter the Blue Star and wait for me to return…"

After speaking, Ding Huan's figure flashed away, chasing after the great horned owl's vanished silhouette.

He was nearly certain that without ambush, if he faced it head-on, he wouldn't be its match.

Mainly because this great horned owl was too fast and cunning.

It was the owl's excessive cunning that doomed it—if it had confronted him directly, he couldn't have wounded it so badly.

Now that the great horned owl was wounded, how could Ding Huan let it escape? If he missed this chance, unless he achieved genetic foundation establishment, he could never defeat it.

A powerful demonic beast like this left on Earth would be a calamity among calamities.

Watching Ding Huan's retreating figure as he pursued the beast, Lao Liu felt even more certain his earlier choice had been right.

Ding Huan hadn't lied—forget the demonic dragon and giant gorilla he'd mentioned; even this great horned owl demonic beast could easily crush him.