Chapter 196: A Fourth Stage Suddenly Appears!

Boom!!

A claw covered in black scales slammed down heavily.

Accompanied by a huge commotion and splashing scalding blood, a giant lizard over ten zhang in length struggled twice before crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Huu—"

Yunhe let out a long breath, and his huge body, which resembled a mountain, gradually shrank.

The giant lizard before him, covered in fine brown scales, was clearly a third-stage early-phase demon beast; dealing with it wasn't easy, though not extremely difficult, and it still took Yunhe some effort and time.

He stepped forward two paces, lifted his claw lightly, and a flying sword glowing with wood-colored light shot from afar to near, easily slicing an opening in the lizard's body.

The lifeless lizard no longer had demonic power to defend its body, and this flying sword was the 'Wood Court Sword' of mid-Golden Core cultivator He Yao; after his refinement, the fine scales posed little obstruction.

After breaking open the opening, he took out an inner dan glowing with a dark green halo.

And a toxin-filled poison sac,

Then Yunhe again commanded the flying sword, slicing the lizard into several pieces and storing them in a previously prepared storage bag.

When he returns, he will slowly divide the flesh and blood, extract the essence blood, and separate the valuable and useful parts—a process he is already extremely familiar with.

Because this is neither the first nor the last third-stage demon beast he has hunted.

To refine more 'Spirit Grain Pills' and ensure his cultivation progress, the Demon Beast Body must hunt third-stage demon beasts.

Of course, for him, the harvest is not merely a single inner dan.

Every third-stage demon beast that appears in the cultivation world has every part of its body considered a rare treasure for cultivators.

Moreover, there are the spiritual plants, ores, treasures, and so on that these demon beasts guard and tend.

However.

In the cultivation world, the difficulty of hunting a third-stage demon beast is far greater than it is for the Demon Beast Body hunting such beasts in the Demon Beast World.

Even so, Yunhe is now tens of thousands of li away from Huanhu Dao.

This is the farthest he has ever been from Huanhu Dao.

"Twelve should be enough for a while. Only one target remains; after dealing with it, I should be able to rest for a period."

The spiritual intelligence of third-stage demon beasts is already not low, especially those that have awakened special bloodlines.

But most demon beasts, unless they have a clan, rarely behave like Yunhe does in gathering many subordinates.

Like these third-stage demon beasts, most merely stay within their own small plot, silently cultivating and growing.

This also greatly reduces the difficulty of his hunts.

Yunhe raised his head.

He identified the direction.

He rubbed his claws together and exhaled a puff of white vapor.

At this place he was in, the temperature was considerably lower than that of Huanhu Dao.

The dense trees around were wrapped in a thick layer of silver.

Although he is a demon beast, or rather a demon beast with a special true spirit bloodline, as a turtle he instinctively does not particularly like such an environment.

"If that little fox guy were here, he'd surely have a blast in this place, right?"

A thought suddenly popped into his mind, causing Yunhe to smile involuntarily.

Immediately after, he flickered, employing the Earth Escape Technique to vanish from this spot and head toward his final destination.

All the way north.

Several days later.

Having prepared the investigation beforehand, he quickly found the final target of this outing.

A third-stage early-phase Frost Shadow Snow Leopard.

When Yunhe's demon sense swept over it, the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard was lying in a secluded ice cave, resting.

Around it lay piles of white bones, and on the ground there were even several striking traces of fresh blood.

"Huh?"

Yunhe, hiding underground, suddenly furrowed his brow.

Because he sensed that around the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's dwelling, many second-stage demon beasts were active.

"Has this Frost Shadow Snow Leopard already developed the intention to gather subordinates?"

Second-stage demon beasts that can move freely around a third-stage demon beast's dwelling, and that are not of the same clan as the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard, can only be explained by one reason: these second-stage beasts have already submitted to this third-stage Frost Shadow Snow Leopard; otherwise, as soon as they approach its lair they would surely be hunted down.

Moreover, the aura of the third-stage demon beast makes those second-stage beasts dare not approach at all.

This is still the first time Yunhe, after slaying dozens of third-stage demon beasts, has encountered a division of territory and the gathering of subordinates by a third-stage beast.

"That's rather rare."

It's merely a coincidence.

A few second-stage demon beasts cannot affect him much, and they don't even have a chance to break through his bodily defenses.

"Roar?"

Suddenly.

The Frost Shadow Snow Leopard, which had just finished eating and was lying lazily on the ground, seemed to sense something; it twitched its ears, slowly rose, and looked toward the cave entrance with a hint of doubt.

"Its perception is quite sharp."

Noticing the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's movement, Yunhe gave a low chuckle.

He immediately sprang into action.

He slightly opened his mouth, spat out a sheet of white paper, which immediately took on a misty earthen hue.

He lightly waved the fan.

In empty space, dozens of earth-yellow sharp rock cones instantly condensed, shooting at extreme speed and a tricky angle toward the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard.

This time, clearly feeling the threat, the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard sprang up from the ground and let out a roar.

Ao——!!

Demon power surged.

Its body quickly condensed a large number of ice spikes of various sizes, which it hurled toward the rock spikes.

For a moment.

A huge collision sound rang out, accompanied by the scattering of a large amount of ice shards.

Although the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard reacted quickly, the icy power it hastily condensed was utterly insufficient to match those rock spikes.

You must know.

Although the 'Yellow Wind Light Sand Fan' is not Fei Ling's natal magic treasure, it is still a fine magic treasure.

Moreover, the rock spikes it condensed were infused with a trace of Wu earth qi, making them extremely hard.

Furthermore, Yunhe's cultivated Mountain Carrying Art is itself earth-attribute, making the use of the Yellow Wind Light Sand Fan even more facile, far more so than using He Yao's Wood Court Sword.

However.

Although the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's ice spikes did not shatter the rock spikes, they did impede them somewhat, buying it more reaction time.

Its sturdy limbs suddenly burst with formidable strength, allowing it to dart swiftly to the other side.

What the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard did not expect was that the direction it dodged was exactly the direction Yunhe wanted it to avoid.

It had dodged the rock spikes, but what greeted it was a fist that smashed through the ice layer and swung out from the nearby rock wall.

Moving Mountain!

This feint-to-the-east, strike-to-the-west sneak attack left the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard unable to react.

Bang!!

A fierce claw strike slammed into the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard, instantly sending it flying.

The tremendous force shattered the small ice cave, at the same time creating a huge commotion.

This commotion startled all the active Second-tier Beasts nearby.

But before they could seek the culprit, they felt an unfamiliar third-tier beast aura, causing the growl stuck in their throats to be swallowed back.

Direct combat with third-tier beasts is not something they can easily engage in.

However, they did not flee; instead, they waited for the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's command.

But.

They likely would not be able to wait much longer.

Because the next moment, they saw a black tortoise pressing down on their leader, the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's head, charging forth like a plow from the ruins.

It left a deep trench on the ground.

With the sneak attack, the calculations, and its own overwhelming strength, the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard truly had little capacity to resist Yunhe, even less trouble than the previous lizard had caused.

He lowered his head to look.

Crack-crack-crack——

He saw.

As he grabbed the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's head, the surging demonic power on its body also coated his claw with a thick layer of frost.

The piercing cold penetrated his scales and transmitted into his body.

Heh.

Yunhe gave a low chuckle.

His eyes narrowed, a black demonic power rose from his body, erupting suddenly as his form swelled at visible speed, and the frost coating his claw shattered and peeled off.

A savage aura also spread out with his bodily change.

The surrounding Second-tier Beasts' bodies suddenly stiffened, gazing in terror at the rapidly enlarging Yunhe.

Meanwhile, the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard held in his hand felt it more clearly, and it began to struggle wildly.

But it had little effect.

Its flailing claws merely left white scratches on Yunhe's scales.

But just then.

Suddenly a long howl came from afar, quickly approaching.

Roar——!!

Within the roar, faint thunder could be heard.

Immediately after.

In Yunhe's demon sense, a huge white bear appeared, its whole body snow-white, its stature enormous, standing on two legs over five zhang tall.

Its ferocious aura and surging demonic power made Yunhe's breath catch slightly.

Then his expression turned solemn.

Late-stage third-tier beast!

Amid a tremor and violent shaking of the ground, it was rapidly approaching this spot.

By rights.

The territories of third-tier beasts are absolutely not small; even if the commotion from Yunhe and the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's battle were great, it would be hard to draw in another third-tier beast.

This is the experience he gained from hunting during this period.

But this time.

His speed in dealing with the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard was certainly not slow, yet this giant white bear could somehow sense it and react, appearing in Yunhe's demon sense with great speed, which can only mean that the territories of these two beasts are close, and it seems the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard is under the white bear's protection.

Moreover, considering that the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard has the awareness to command subordinates.

'Could it be that this Frost Shadow Snow Leopard is a subordinate of that white bear?'

Dealing with a third-stage early-phase beast wasn't difficult; even if two more came, with Yunhe's current strength he was confident he could handle them. But facing a third-stage late-phase beast that didn't seem to be an ordinary bloodline beast, Yunhe gave up the idea of colliding with it for now.

Immediately, he clenched his claws with force, and in the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's painful wail, with a 'bang' he crushed its skull.

For a moment, demonic energy scattered, and the splashing blood left a glaring crimson on the pure white snow.

It seemed to sense the disappearance of the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's aura; the white bear's breath stalled, then turned into a more ferocious and violent aura, its whole body swelling a bit.

"Roar!!!"

The angry roar, wrapped in the howling cold wind, spread across the vast snow plains.

Yunhe shook his claws, glanced at the direction the white bear was coming from, and prepared to retreat.

Suddenly.

His expression suddenly stiffened, and his eyes widened slightly.

His face showed a hint of astonishment.

Because.

In his spreading demon sense, several more third-stage beasts appeared!

There were early third-stage and mid third-stage beasts!

It seemed they had come rushing in response to this white bear's call?

The beasts on the snow plains, so united?

A single late third-stage beast, with such strong dominion?

No!

Yunhe's pupils contracted, as if he had thought of something.

He hurriedly stored the Frost Shadow Snow Leopard's corpse, and as his body rapidly shrank, black demonic energy surged; he unleashed the Mysterious Beast Illusion Body and the Turtle Breath Body Forging Technique, restraining his aura to the utmost.

He suddenly plunged into the ground and left at top speed.

What's more, to increase his speed even further, he actually took out a Cloud Escape Talisman from his storage bag and slapped it onto himself.

Flee!

A late third-stage beast couldn't possibly command so many third-stage beasts; deep in the vast snow plains, perhaps there was a fourth-level beast!

It seemed I had inadvertently stumbled onto the territory of a fourth-level beast?

If the awakening of intelligence among third-stage beasts varies, then once they reach the fourth level, any beast, regardless of bloodline, will absolutely not be inferior to human cultivators in intellect!

Sensing Yunhe's aura disappear, the white bear and the many third-stage beasts rushing over all halted their movements.

Then came a wave of rising and falling roars.

Venting their respective anger.

The dense roars and the unrestrained emanation of aura made the surrounding second-tier beasts all fall silent, not daring to move.

But not long after.

All the roars almost simultaneously came to an abrupt halt.

Then came a sudden gust of heavy wind and snow, sweeping in.

Amid the wind and snow, a vaguely visible, burly human-like figure appeared and faded.

He stepped through the air and arrived.

This caused the surrounding second-tier beasts to go limp on the ground, the weaker ones even rolling their eyes and passing out.

Those third-stage beasts that had previously been full of vigor now all lowered their heads obediently.

Only the late third-stage white bear remained, holding its head high and letting out low cries, as if it were trying to say something.

"Hum—"

An extremely overbearing demon sense instantly spread, nearly covering a distance of a hundred li.

"Huh?"

With a hint of surprise in that soft 'huh,' the voice came from that figure.

(End of Chapter)