Chapter 101: Slay the Jiao! (Asking for monthly tickets!)

Yao Shou Shijie.

A mountain ravine very far from Huanhu Dao.

Here, green trees form shade; beside a small waterfall, splashing down and rolling up layers of mist, in the gurgling stream lively small fish leap, like a paradise on earth.

Moreover, the spiritual energy here is also very rich, making it very suitable for demon beasts to inhabit.

If such a place appeared in the cultivation world, it would definitely be quickly seized by powers.

But in the Yao Shou Shijie, although it's also somewhat rare, it's not exactly extremely rare.

And at a place about twenty li away from here.

A huge turtle closed its eyes and lay on the ground basking in the sun; not far away, a white fox with snow-white, translucent fur, every movement full of lively spirit, chased butterflies, occasionally letting out soft cries, very happy.

Suddenly.

The turtle, its shell rugged and covered in black scales, suddenly opened its bell-like eyes; the white fox also stopped chasing the butterfly.

The two demon beasts glanced at each other.

"It's begun."

"Mm!"

The white fox's expression turned grave; the hatred suppressed in its bright eyes rose.

This turtle and fox are naturally Yunhe and the little fox from Huanhu Dao; they have been here for nearly half a year.

Such a long wait was precisely for this moment.

"Let's go."

Yunhe said softly.

The little fox came to his paw.

The next instant.

The two demon beasts then disappeared from this place.

When they reappeared, they were already on the slope beside the mountain ravine.

After waiting nearly a year, the little fox returned here again, its eyes glistening, as if recalling something.

Now, with Yunhe's help, it has fully healed its injuries, restoring its cultivation base to the mid-Second Stage of demon beasts, and even made slight progress.

Although the Spirit Fox's frontal combat ability is not strong, as a support it can bring out its advantages and specialties to the fullest.

It unconsciously closed its eyes; its fluffy fur swayed in the forest breeze, its nose twitched lightly, and its perception ability was pushed to the extreme.

This is what it excels at.

Yunhe leaned forward and looked.

Not far from the waterfall beside the mountain ravine, there is a cave half-shaded by forest.

It was once the dwelling of the Spirit Fox clan that lived here, but now it erupts with an extremely vigorous terrifying aura.

Just the spreading aura fluctuations frightened the birds in the mountains into flight, and many demon beasts and animals fled.

A demon beast is attempting to break through to the Third Stage!

No need to ask; the demon beast attempting to break through to the Third Stage is naturally that Rotten Wood Jiao.

After more than a year of brewing, it finally took this step.

And what Yunhe and they have been waiting for is precisely this moment.

Nothing is weaker than a demon beast's defenses when it is breaking through.

However, Yunhe is not in a hurry; he simply stands here waiting silently.

After a while, the little fox opened its eyes.

"Its demon power is starting to fluctuate and can't be stopped. The surrounding demon beasts are mostly weak; it must have cleared them beforehand, and now they've all been scared away."

At the same time, it used its Demon Sense to convey the cave's layout to Yunhe.

Yunhe did not unfold his Demon Sense, because it would likely be discovered by the Rotten Wood Jiao.

Moreover, it's truly unnecessary; no demon beast knows this place better than the little fox.

"Wait a bit more, until it begins to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

Yunhe pondered briefly, then said.

"Whoa."

The little fox, without suspicion, nodded heavily.

Then another roughly half an hour passed.

"Go!"

Yunhe grabbed the little fox with a claw, used the Earth Escape Technique, and carefully escaped into the cave.

Even while in the earth, merely approaching the cave, he could clearly feel a tremendously vigorous wood spiritual energy, and also clearly sense that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was gathering at an extremely considerable speed.

Upon reaching near the cave, the little fox held in Yunhe's claw gave off a hazy aura that enveloped it and concealed its presence.

And Yunhe has the Turtle Breath Body Forging Technique, so he doesn't need to do that.

Soon.

They then arrived inside the cave, poking their heads out from the soft soil layer.

They saw that in the spacious cave, thick and thin vines climbed the surrounding rock walls, especially at the entrance, almost completely sealing it.

A sliver of light shone through a gap above the cave, illuminating the whole cave and falling on the huge wood Jiao coiled at the center.

This wood Jiao appeared not to be flesh and blood, but rather like countless tree roots and tendrils intertwined; if not for the thin layer of scales covering those roots and tendrils, one could easily be deceived.

At this moment, the wood Jiao's body glowed with a bright green light, obviously undergoing a breakthrough.

Since we know the Rotten Wood Jiao attacked the Spirit Fox clan to prepare for breaking through to the Third Stage, the best time to ambush it is naturally when it attempts the breakthrough.

That is now!

The rotting wood jiao, wholly focused on its breakthrough, failed to notice the arrival of Yunhe and the little white fox.

At this moment, it had indeed reached the most critical juncture of its breakthrough, and Yunhe and the little white fox had timed their arrival perfectly.

Actually, Yunhe hesitated briefly.

Should we wait until after the rotting wood jiao breaks through before acting?

After all, that would make the rotting wood jiao a true third-rank great demon.

The spoils obtainable from slaying it—whether its demon core, essence blood, its carcass, or even its beast soul—would all see their quality rise by at least one tier.

But as soon as that thought arose, Yunhe nipped it in the bud.

Too unsafe.

Although the rotting wood jiao would likely fall into a weakened state after a successful breakthrough, a demon beast whose Cultivation Base has risen to its level already possesses spiritual awareness not inferior to that of humans; how could it not leave itself some life-saving measures—or even countermeasures—for its period of post‑breakthrough weakness?

Even if it fought back with its life on the line, the force would be completely different.

Since there are no ulterior motives, let's prepare to act.

Yunhe did not gather demonic power, and, like extending his divine sense, he would likely be detected.

If it were another demon beast, perhaps there would be nothing to be done.

But he is different.

Fixing his gaze on the rotting wood jiao, when the tide‑like undulations of its demonic power reached their peak,

Yunhe struck out boldly!

He lightly tapped his storage bag.

The beast soul banner, the Xuanwu bracelet, and the Lihuo pearl—three great Spiritual Artifacts—were unleashed simultaneously!

If he did not act, it would be one thing; but once he acted, it was his ultimate killing move!

He swiftly formed the hand seal.

The Xuanwu bracelet expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, with the Three Yang Heavy Water coiling around it.

The Lihuo pearl rose with scorching flames, and amidst a series of clear, ringing cries, a great flock of flame‑born birds flew forth.

As for the beast soul banner, its mere appearance caused this originally spirit‑rich place to be suffused with a large amount of yin energy.

At the same time, the three‑headed strange birds emerging from the banner condensed a black light sphere, while the double‑headed tiger ghost lunged forward immediately.

To be frank, Yunhe's three Spiritual Artifacts mutually restrain one another, making it rather difficult to drive them all at once while trying to avoid interference.

But after such a long period of familiarity and adjustment, Yunhe can almost manage it.

And at the moment the three Spiritual Artifacts appeared and erupted with power, the rotting wood jiao in the midst of its breakthrough snapped its eyes open.

Its vertical green pupils were filled with astonishment.

Boom!!!

The terrifying attack came crashing down before it could even react.

"Roar!!"

The violent external assault forcibly interrupted the rotting wood jiao's breakthrough, the dual agony of outside and inside almost causing it to faint.

But immediately afterward, it was seized by the anger born of its interrupted breakthrough.

Wrapped in extreme fury, it struggled to rise.

A large amount of wood‑spirit qi gushed forth, and the vines inside the cavern seemed to come alive, dancing wildly.

"Woo!!"

At this moment the little fox also acted; known for its agility and lightness, it resembled a white phantom, cutting away the cavern's vines.

Its task was to eliminate every demon beast and object that interfered with Yunhe's effort to slay the rotting wood jiao.

"Can it still resist even after this?"

Yunhe showed a look of surprise.

After this barrage of his, even an opponent at late Foundation Establishment or even perfect Foundation Establishment would suffer heavily.

All that can be said is that the demon beast's body is sufficiently strong.

"It's probably also because the breakthrough has already begun."

Although the breakthrough process was interrupted, the rotting wood jiao has already undergone a certain transformation, possessing the traits of a third‑rank demon beast.

"But it's merely a spent crossbow bolt."

Yunhe extended his Demon Sense and could clearly perceive the condition of the rotting wood jiao.

He immediately formed the hand seal again.

"Release!"

The huge black light sphere condensed by the three‑headed strange birds not far away was released in response.

Bang!!

The rotting wood jiao that had just risen was struck by the black light sphere, spewing a mouthful of dark‑green blood; the momentum it had gathered was knocked down again.

"That's about enough."

If we let the Spiritual Artifacts keep smashing down, it's hard to say how much of this rotting wood jiao will remain in the end.

Such was the thought.

Yunhe stepped forth, his figure rapidly enlarging.

He suddenly closed in on the rotting wood jiao.

Move the Mountain!

Immense power pressed the weakened rotting wood jiao firmly to the ground.

"Woo—"

The light, lingering fox cry echoed in the cavern; the rotting wood jiao's anger in its eyes dissipated by a third, its expression became half‑dazed, and its struggling movements slowed.

Yunhe, who had seized the opportunity, struck again, his black-scaled claw slamming down.

Move the Mountain!

Puchi!

His claw sank into the rotting wood flood dragon's body at the sound, and dark green blood spurted out again.

The rotting wood flood dragon's eyes widened sharply; the intense pain and sense of danger woke it from the white fox's phantom sound, and its vine-like body tightly coiled around Yunhe's huge frame.

A flood dragon and a turtle tangled together.

Whoosh—

But as Yunhe's claw, which had struck down, was pulled from the rotting wood flood dragon's body, its movement suddenly froze.

It then crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up dust.

And in Yunhe's claw, a dark green, crystal-clear demon beast core glowed with brilliance.

"Compared to the core of a late Second-Stage demon beast, this is more solid, but still a bit short of a Third-Stage demon beast's core. What is this? Hah, a half-step to Third Stage?"

Yunhe muttered jokingly.

He twisted his body and bared his teeth.

"Whether to say it or not, as expected of a wood flood dragon preparing to break through to Third Stage, beaten to this state, its final death struggle still hurts so much."

If it weren't for his strong defense, swapping in any other early Second-Stage demon beast would likely have been strangled to death instantly.

But no matter how you say it, the result was within expectations.

Being able to go so smoothly, lying low for half a year awaiting its breakthrough was the key.

"Woo—woo—woo—"

On the other side.

Looking at the lifeless rotting wood flood dragon.

The little white fox's eyes glistened as it raised its head and softly hummed an unknown tune.

The sound echoed in the cave, as if a lone spirit fox were responding to its voice, joining in the hum.

Yunhe glanced at the little white fox lost in memory; the mark left in its demon sense let him feel its inner sorrow and the relief of a burden lifted.

After pursing his lips and listening for a moment, he drew the beast soul banner, and with a wave, sucked the creature's living soul into the banner.

After all, it was a wood flood dragon preparing to break through to Third Stage, having undergone the baptism of essence, energy, and spirit during that breakthrough; its beast soul was still very powerful, capable of further enhancing the banner's might.

"If this continues, I won't be able to tell whether this beast soul banner is a spiritual artifact or a magic treasure."

After sighing, he began collecting the essence blood most important to him.

From body to blood to core to beast soul, Yunhe wasted nothing.

That's why cultivators of the immortal cultivation world are best at utilizing resources—this rotting wood flood dragon is treasure from head to toe.

Moments later.

Yunhe obtained a bottle of liquid shimmering with green light.

It was precisely the rotting wood flood dragon's essence blood!

———

PS: Today's 1.1w characters, steady updates, end of month, begging for monthly votes—

(End of chapter)