Chapter 472: Slaying a Demon First, Meeting a Demon Later

Proactive? Or passive?

Was it actually normal before death, or was it already abnormal before death? As expected, it is impossible to tell under normal circumstances.

Then, let us look at the situation under extreme circumstances.

Of course, before figuring out the matter of that treasure, one must not alert the enemy...

Du En still wanted to take the opportunity to observe other aspects, so naturally, he would not drop his disguise at this moment, choosing instead to continue acting and playing the part.

In this way, he ground away for a full quarter of an hour before finally using his artifact to pierce through and shatter the Myriad Spirit Blood Bead.

"No!"

The Great Demon Blue Leech cried out with a look of extreme horror, but in reality, it was already preparing to self-detonate the blood bead, hoping to use this to secure a chance at escape.

However, before it could self-detonate, Du En slightly raised his eyes and cast a very ordinary glance at it.

On the spot, its mind went blank, as if it had suffered the backlash of the blood bead shattering—which was perfectly reasonable—and then it was pierced through the head and primordial spirit by his flying sword.

It died.

Once the main body of this Great Demon died, the other clones immediately began to stir and turn on each other, seemingly wanting to select a new main body through cannibalism, while some that had not yet surfaced were about to quietly flee.

"Hahaha! Die, you monster!"

"Refreshing, truly refreshing!"

Seeing this, the two Great Cultivators naturally beat the dog while it was down, while simultaneously subconsciously guarding against Du En, each choosing to activate their own life-bound magical treasures.

Ancestor Gengluo released a golden cymbal; as it struck, the sounds of metal clashing and horses neighing rang out, with sharp golden killing tones covering the surroundings, followed by popping sounds like rain falling as one after another, the demon leeches had their heads exploded out of thin air.

The Old Freak Xuanxu spat out a bamboo ruler; it was lush and verdant, but in the blink of an eye, it turned fiery red. As it flashed, it seemed to measure the area from one end to the other, and all the demon leeches in between burned without wind, unable to avoid the fate of turning into ash no matter how they struggled.

The two of them suddenly unleashed their divine might, easily slaughtering the leaderless and chaotic swarm of leeches.

However, they did not discover those demon leech clones hidden deep underground and in the demon nest.

Fortunately, Du En was here, and with a sweep of his eyes, he wiped them out one by one from a distance.

As for the surface, he pretended to be exhausted, having to stop to rest and catch his breath.

At the same time, he kept a close watch on the Great Demon's corpse; at a glance, it looked like he was evaluating which part was more valuable, but in reality, he was observing whether it would mutate or show any strange signs.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted slightly, as if he had discovered something.

And the two Great Cultivators, both fearing that he would take all the benefits and secretly relieved that he needed to catch his breath, immediately spared no mana or methods to quickly clear away all the demon leeches on the surface.

Then they landed on either side of the Great Demon's corpse, overall forming a faint three-legged stance, with two of the legs standing closer together.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Or rather, the two Great Cultivators appeared inexplicably nervous; although they had tacitly agreed to unite to pressure Du En, who now possessed a "treasure artifact" and appeared more powerful, they were also wary of each other, which was why they stood in such a way and were so tense.

It made things seem as if they were at a stalemate.

It seemed so.

Because Du En actually didn't care about this; he very simply raised his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air. With a *pop*, the corpse of the Great Demon Blue Leech split open, and something flew out from within, causing the two people opposite him to immediately become inexplicably nervous, subconsciously about to speak.

They thought it was a demon core.

A demon core is the essence of a demon beast's power condensed, similar to the Golden Core of a human cultivator at the Golden Core stage; thus, at first glance, it should disappear as one's realm rises to Nascent Soul or Deity Transformation. Now that the demon was dead and its primordial spirit destroyed, it was even more impossible for any residue or fragments to remain.

But in fact, just like the True Dragons—who are equivalent to the Void Refinement stage—generally possess dragon pearls, which are a type of demon core, or perhaps as a result of demon beasts learning from True Dragons.

In short, demon beasts do not actually completely dissolve their demon cores, but instead leave a portion behind, attempting to use it as the essence core of their physical body, gradually integrating it into their physical origin to continue cultivating it as a second core, hoping that one day it could become a treasure like a dragon pearl.

The ordinary demon beasts of the Qingxuan Star Realm do not have this inheritance, but the Great Demons, as the cream of the crop among demons, clearly have all experienced bloodline awakening and received inheritance, so it is only natural that they would leave behind a demon core.

Now, this Great Demon's demon core was the best treasure on its body, so it was no wonder the two Great Cultivators were so concerned about it.

But before they could speak, they saw that it was actually not a demon core, and thus they were momentarily stunned on the spot.

What arrived in Du En's hand was merely a pitch-black piece of iron.

It looked like some kind of fragment, appearing exceptionally ordinary, with no treasure light or spiritual energy, and even less of any mysterious or unique quality, yet Du En played with it and observed it, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Because he himself could not see anything for a moment, as if what he held in his hand was not a piece of iron, but a miniature black hole capable of devouring all external observation.

Interesting...

He did not rush to use other methods to probe it, but slightly raised his head, intentionally waving the object in front of the two Great Cultivators: "I don't want anything else on its body, but this must belong to me. You two have no objections, right?"

Hearing this, Ancestor Gengluo and Old Freak Xuanxu could not help but exchange a glance.

There is a problem with it! Although that iron piece looked plain and unremarkable, for this "Jiuyun" to value it so highly, it clearly had some other mystery, and furthermore, it was definitely not ordinary!

What kind of ordinary iron piece could be preserved inside the body of a Great Demon?

Never mind a piece of iron; even a vein of iron ore or an iron city, once inside the body of a Great Demon, would be easily ground down and digested!

Therefore, this iron piece must not be a simple object; it was just a strange item hiding its own brilliance, and they simply didn't understand the key to it and couldn't see it!

Is it related to the treasure artifact that Jiuyun obtained? Is it a clue to some ancient hidden treasure?

The two Great Cultivators had impressive powers of association and both had such thoughts; consequently, in their exchange of glances, the greed in their eyes grew more intense, yet they could only restrain themselves for now.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuyun is truly magnanimous; then we shall not be so modest!"

"Exactly, exactly. Originally, it was you, Fellow Daoist, who put in the great effort, while we only helped out; we truly feel a bit ashamed to accept this!" They said this, but they were not slow at all in carving up the Great Demon's corpse, quickly cutting it into two equal portions and putting them away; it was only when it came to the demon core that they erupted into a dispute again.

Watching them quickly fall into infighting, Du En shook his head to himself.

Because the performance of these two fellows was too ordinary; there was only the common, everyday greed for profit, and they did not reveal any signs of having a deep understanding of the iron piece.

He was slightly disappointed by this, and after putting away the iron piece, he spoke to stop their dispute.

"Why must you two make things so ugly at a time like this?"

Hearing him speak, the two Great Cultivators, who were actually very restrained and wary of him, immediately stopped their bickering and looked over with apprehension, more or less feeling that he still could not let go of that precious fifth-rank demon core.

Du En only said: "We need to finish this quickly this time; it won't do to damage our harmony now. Could it be that you two want to let others take advantage of us?"

Now that the Great Demon Blue Leech of the Rantao Dangkou and its surrounding floodplains had been dealt with, the Jiuyun City could move south to develop and quickly turn this forbidden zone of life into a fertile new district.

That was why he said what he did.

After all, if it dragged on, it might alert other Great Demons, and if their harmony was damaged, they would be unable to continue cooperating, and in the end, only this side would benefit, being able to connect to the Starfall Islands beyond the Void-Micro.

Great cultivators exist over there as well; if they were to successfully hook up with them...

Ancestor Gengluo and Old Monster Xuanxu exchanged glances, their hearts shivering, and they both thoroughly calmed down.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuyun, you mock me. The Old Monster and I were just speaking in jest; naturally, we know how to conduct ourselves!"

"That is exactly right. How about this: the demon core shall be kept by me, the Old Monster, for now. We don't yet know the situation with those two beasts ahead, and who knows if we'll even be able to secure the demon core? If we can, then naturally it will be one for each person; if we cannot, then it won't be too late to discuss how to divide it when the time comes!"

What a fine old monster, he really did climb right up the pole!

Ancestor Gengluo's expression stiffened, and he cursed inwardly, then spoke directly: "Next, we head toward my sect. If we can successfully kill that rampant old demon, then its demon core should be kept by me!"

Not only did he seize the momentum to set the subsequent goal, but he also made a tough stance to claim the core, causing Old Monster Xuanxu's smugness to freeze.

Because the later it was his turn, the more likely he would be detected by the remaining great demons. If the demon threat on his side was ranked third, and if it ran away in the end or some other accident occurred, wouldn't he just be working for nothing for them? Even if he successfully broke through to the mid-stage of Spirit Severing afterward, both sides could hook up with forces beyond Xuwei, and at that time, he feared they would only be able to maintain a tripartite balance of power! Although Old Monster Xuanxu usually lived in seclusion and practiced hard, it did not mean he was not keen on power and status; otherwise, a force like Xuanxu City would not have emerged.

He had a mind to say something more, but seeing this old ghost Gengluo had already jumped to Du En's side, and seeing that there were no objections here, he immediately knew the situation was a foregone conclusion, so he sighed inwardly.

Fine, a tripartite balance it is; besides, it might not necessarily be that bad in the end!

With a quick battle and a quick decision, perhaps it would be the best result: all three demons destroyed!

And also...

Old Monster Xuanxu suddenly became very proactive, nodding and urging with a smile.

This, in turn, caused Ancestor Gengluo to subconsciously begin to weigh and consider.

However, at this moment, as Old Monster Xuanxu flew out first, Du En also chose to follow closely behind, appearing to agree with this approach, and he could only gloomily put aside his considerations and hurriedly follow.

The three had their own thoughts, their escape lights moving in a hurry.

Heading north past Jiuyun City and continuing north, after half a day, they arrived at the sphere of influence of the Gengluo Sect, where Ancestor Gengluo took the lead, changed direction, and headed northwest.

After another hour, Ancestor Gengluo in the lead slowed down.

"The two of you, ahead is the Hulan Grassland, which that old demon Eight-Legs is currently ravaging. Although the old demon is very rampant this time and, counting the days, it is nearing its end and appears to be in its final madness, no one can say for sure. And as for it, you know, its bloodline is inherited from the Eight-Footed Heavenly Horse, most skilled at running, and in terms of escape ability, it is peerless among its peers, so..."

So he wanted the two of them to hide first, circle around from different directions, and then have Ancestor Gengluo take the initiative to provoke it, so they could launch a sudden sneak attack when it was caught off guard.

"At the very least, we must sever its horse legs. This point depends on Fellow Daoist Jiuyun; I hope you will not spare your efforts. If there is any loss, I will naturally compensate you when the time comes!"

Ancestor Gengluo seemed to think of the detestable nature of that great demon at this moment, his expression turning gloomy, as if he had no other hidden agendas and only wanted to kill the opponent.

It appeared that the opponent had been too aggressive before, causing him to lose his reputation and face, which was why he was so concerned and hostile, but Du En knew that this should also involve the emergence of a treasure.

So he nodded on the surface, but in reality, he was pondering other things.

Although these two were scheming against each other, they had not revealed anything unusual. Since that was the case, it was time for him to bring out some real skills to scare them and see if they would reveal anything because of it.

Thinking this, they separated for the time being.

Du En circled the edge of the Hulan Grassland, continuing westward.

Ancestor Gengluo continued directly northwest, while Old Monster Xuanxu first circled north.

Counting it up, this Ancestor Gengluo still had hidden thoughts, because both the left and right wings needed to take detours, but they needed to arrive at the same time, which invisibly required more consumption, and he could not be detected while speeding up.

Old Monster Xuanxu actually had objections, feeling that this old ghost shouldn't just use lip service and needed to show some sincerity to make up for it, but as a result, Du En had no objections and acted decisively, leaving him no room to speak.

"This guy Jiuyun is really getting arrogant! Hmph! Does he really think that having a treasure tool can make up for the thousand-year cultivation gap between us?"

He was very dissatisfied with Du En in his heart, because unknowingly, the person leading the overall situation seemed to have become Du En, and he himself had to consider the other party in everything.

Originally, he was the invisible leader among the three, but now it had become like this... Malice and greed spread in his heart, and he secretly sneered and mocked Du En.

"The price of being fearless is constant consumption, and then being bitten by that old ghost Gengluo. Of course, I, the Old Monster, will certainly not be absent when the time comes, hehe!"

Whether it was Old Monster Xuanxu or Ancestor Gengluo, both had their own malicious calculations.

But now, no matter who it was, they were all quickly getting into position, wanting to kill the great demon first before talking about anything else.

The smell of blood began to reach his nose and mouth. Du En stopped and looked from afar, only to see that in the middle of the green grassland, there was a scene of blood flowing like a river, with countless severed limbs and fragments scattered everywhere like leftovers on a dining table.

Mutilated, fearful faces, tiny limb fragments... Millions of grassland inhabitants died without a burial place, leaving only these remnants scattered in the blood. In a trance, the resentment soared into the sky, dyeing the sky as if it were blood-colored.

An Eight-Legged Horse Demon, resembling a small mountain, bathed in blood and draped in bones, lay in the center of the blood, its demon Qi surging, fierce and evil. It was unknown what evil technique it was circulating, as blood-filled lumps like tumors bulged and moved on its body, and faint, shrill, hoarse screams could be heard coming from within.

(End of chapter)