Chapter 277

Yao Shou Shijie

Cultivator Body lurking in the cultivation world, the Demon Beast Body was not idle, continuously causing disturbance to the Ten-Thousand-Li Mountain where Lu Shan Gui resides.

Not only the demon beasts inside Lu Shan Gui's Ten-Thousand-Li Mountain knew of Yunhe's existence as a demon beast waging guerrilla warfare, but even the demon beasts from the snow plains and volcanoes knew of his presence.

Knowing there was such a demon beast with extraordinarily strange abilities and great strength, it would from time to time attack and kill the demon beasts of the Ten-Thousand-Li Mountain.

However, after drawing Lu Shan Gui's attention, Yunhe has become much more cautious.

Cultivator Body now has mastered the Ghost Insect Breath Concealment Technique from the Nine Ghosts Old Monster and the toxin extracted from that half jar of Corpse Evil Insect eggs, his courage has grown again.

With the Cloud Escape Talisman, the Ghost Insect Breath Concealment Technique, and even the Instant Movement ability, plus its own powerful fleshly defense and a higher mastery of Nascent Soul corpse refinement, he now has greater confidence to face Lu Shan Gui.

Not this.

Yunhe now has a new target.

At the edge of the Ten-Thousand-Li Mountain lies a stone‑blade thicket.

The environment here is very special.

The scattered stones are like countless daggers driven upside‑down into the ground.

Moreover, these "daggers" are quite special: their material is strange, not ordinary rubble but extremely hard and sharp.

What's more, a faint special "sharpness" seems to linger on the edges of these stone blades, capable of slicing through ordinary demonic power.

Even ordinary demon beasts approaching the stones risk being cut by these blades, causing many demon beasts to avoid the area entirely, even third‑level ones.

Yet in such a harsh environment, a special demon beast tribe survives.

Giant Rock Stone Monster!

Rather than calling them a kind of demon beast, they are more like mountain spirits, or mountain stone essences, similar to the thunderstone essence Yunhe once encountered.

Their entire bodies are composed of heavy, massive rock.

From afar they first appear as towering rock giants several zhang tall.

This kind of demon beast has considerable combat strength, its strength is tremendously strong and its defensive power is even more outstanding; combined with the special environment here, ordinary demon beasts truly dare not provoke them.

Their only shortcoming may be their spiritual intellect.

Put nicely, they are simple‑minded and act plainly; put harshly, they are obstinate and inflexible.

However, because this tribe hardly has any natural enemies and nobody dares to provoke them, their overall strength is great; among them is a third‑level late‑stage Giant Rock Stone Monster, plus two third‑level mid‑stage and two third‑level early‑stage Giant Rock Stone Monsters!

With such strength, one could say that if it weren't for Lu Shan Gui's appearance, they would completely be the overlords of this place!

That is, they have no intention of expanding their territory, nor do they wish to clash much with other demon beasts; by staying in their corner they have not caused much impact on the demon beasts originally inhabiting the surroundings.

But there is no doubt.

Such a tribe, with such strength, naturally caught Lu Shan Gui's eye; he wants to bring it under his control.

However.

At this point the Giant Rock Stone Monsters' obstinacy surfaced; even though Lu Shan Gui is a Fourth Level demon beast, they refuse to submit, and are even unwilling to leave this place, which gives Lu Shan Gui quite a headache.

But now the demon beasts of the Ten-Thousand-Li Mountain have suffered heavy losses, and Lu Shan Gui's subordinates have repeatedly lost third‑level late‑stage demon beasts, prompting him to turn his gaze once more to the Giant Rock Stone Monster tribe, hoping to try again to subdue them.

And Lu Shan Gui has now been targeted by two Fourth Level demon beasts from the snow plains and the volcano; he dare not openly venture out, especially to subdue his subordinates, so he sent a third‑level late‑stage Earth‑Traveling Marten from his retinue to this place.

To say the Giant Rock Stone Monsters are strong, but they do have weaknesses.

Besides lacking spiritual intellect, their huge size also hinders their fine motor abilities to some extent.

Meanwhile, the petite Earth‑Traveling Marten, which likewise excels at driving earth and stone, is the bane of the Giant Rock Stone Monsters.

The Earth‑Traveling Marten, following Lu Shan Gui's orders, attempts to persuade them once again.

This is also something Yunhe encountered and discovered unintentionally while waging his guerrilla warfare.

At the same time, he found that the Earth‑Traveling Marten's mission was not going smoothly.

No, one should say there has been no progress at all; the Giant Rock Stone Monsters' obstinacy far exceeds Lu Shan Gui's expectations, and the Earth‑Traveling Marten is usually regarded as an enemy the moment it appears, suffering successive attacks without even a chance to speak.

This is enough to make the Earth‑Traveling Marten furious.

After being worn down for two or three months, the Earth‑Traveling Marten seems ready to abandon persuasion and, acting on another order from Lu Shan Gui, prepares to wipe out the tribe entirely.

Although the stone‑blade thicket is not large, it is extremely special, inhabited by many Giant Rock Stone Monsters that rarely venture out, yet they have managed to cultivate so many third‑level demon beasts; if one said there were no secret here, even Yunhe would not believe it.

Lu Shan Gui originally intended to subdue the tribe first, then properly explore the secrets of this place.

But since the Giant Rock Stone Monsters are so uncooperative, the only option is to wipe them out and see if any benefit can be gained.

Whether it strengthens his own power or enhances the abilities and strength of his subordinates.

Leaving other matters aside, simply speaking, the Giant Rock Stone Monster, being a mountain stone essence, has considerable attraction for earth‑attribute demon beasts and can bring considerable benefits.

Moreover, such essence‑type demon beasts are also among the best choices for artifact spirits.

Of course, for Lu Shan Gui and the demon beasts of the Ten‑Thousand‑Li Mountain, artifact spirits are still somewhat distant.

However.

Yunhe has come across this matter; he certainly cannot just stand by and watch.

Leaving aside his interest in that third‑level late‑stage Earth‑Traveling Marten and the valuable third‑level late‑stage demon beast core it possesses, Yunhe is also very interested in this stone‑blade thicket, equally curious about what kind of place it is that can provide the resources for a tribe to give birth to so many third‑level demon beasts.

Yunhe slowly protruded his head from the earth layer.

His Demon Sense has already blanketed the entire stone‑blade thicket.

Given his current Demon Sense strength, only Lu Shan Gui could detect him across the whole Ten‑Thousand‑Li Mountain; the Giant Rock Stone Monsters and the Earth‑Traveling Marten could not possibly sense his Demon Sense traces.

Although a strand of divine soul moistened by the 'Cold Soul Pearl' has some effect, it is still within acceptable limits; after the 'Cold Soul Pearl' incubates for a period, my divine sense should gain some increase.

Yunhe muttered to himself.

But he does not intend to let the 'Cold Soul Pearl' nurture that strand of divine soul for just a few years before taking it back.

This special divine soul that has been moistened, he intends to retrieve it at a critical moment; it should be able to play a crucial role at some critical moments, for example, when attempting to break through to the Fourth Level!

Boom!!

Just as Yunhe was silently calculating, battle had already erupted in the stone‑blade thicket.

The small and agile earth weasel launched a sneak attack; in just a few breaths, it severely injured one early-stage third-rank Giant Rock Stone Monster and one mid-stage third-rank Giant Rock Stone Monster.

Relying on its own agility, it darted among the remaining three Giant Rock Stone Monsters, continually inflicting damage upon them.

Actually.

If we talk about frontal combat ability, the earth weasel is inferior to that late-stage third-rank Giant Rock Stone Monster, but it is not stupid; it knows how to use its own advantages, firmly avoiding lethal blows multiple times.

Thus it can be seen.

Among demon beasts, strength is not determined solely by cultivation base; the mutual restraint relationships are even more evident than among cultivators.

Because cultivators can compensate for their shortcomings as much as possible using magic treasures, secret arts, and divine abilities, which is exactly what demon beasts lack.

If that late-stage third-rank Giant Rock Stone Monster leader possessed a magic treasure, or a divine ability specifically targeting the earth weasel, the situation would undoubtedly be very different.

Suddenly, Yunhe's eyes lit up slightly.

"Kind of interesting."

In his Demon Sense, he discovered that the group of Giant Rock Stone Monsters, unable to deal with the earth weasel, began indiscriminate attacks.

The three Giant Rock Stone Monsters displayed decent coordination and cooperation, leaving the earth weasel unable to approach for a short time, appearing somewhat at a loss.

But the earth weasel was also smart; it did not blindly charge forward again, even preparing to retreat.

Having already severely injured two Giant Rock Stone Monsters this time, it could simply wait for the monsters to lower their guard before striking again; if it could successfully severely injure two more next time, leaving only the Giant Rock Stone Monster leader, it would have nothing to worry about.

How could Yunhe, who had been watching this scene from start to finish, allow it to succeed?

After finally waiting for the earth weasel to appear, and then for its conflict with the Giant Rock Stone Monster group to fully erupt, what Yunhe had been waiting for was this moment.

"It's also my turn to go on stage."

Yunhe's demonic power surged around him; with a flash of his figure, he appeared tens of zhang away.

This shattered stone blade forest not only consists of standing stones as hard as blades, but the ground is likewise; thus using the Earth Escape Technique to move is extremely inconvenient, far less convenient than 'Instant Shift'.

A few breaths later.

Center of the shattered stone blade forest.

"Hiss!!"

Facing the sandstorm-like tornado before it, the earth weasel bared its teeth, slowly stepped back two steps, preparing to withdraw.

But suddenly, the earth weasel's fur stood on end all over, its back arched sharply; the beast's instinct made it sense danger, and it darted aside.

"Its alertness is quite high."

At the very moment the earth weasel dodged, a claw grasped at air.

It was Yunhe!

On the other side, the earth weasel that had landed saw Yunhe suddenly appear, felt his surging demonic power, a flash of panic crossed its eyes, and it immediately tried to run toward the outside of the shattered stone blade forest.

But Yunhe is not that clueless bunch of Giant Rock Stone Monsters; although his size is not small either, his agility cannot compare to theirs, and he also possesses many secret arts and divine abilities, plus the innate divine ability 'Ruyi'.

Then Yunhe slightly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of bubbling thunder slurry.

Boom!!

The ground exploded open at a point less than an inch from the earth weasel, frightening it into freezing in place, beads of sweat appearing on its body.

Because of this thunderous roar, even the three Giant Rock Stone Monsters halted their movements.

Immediately after, a domineering demonic sense swept out from Yunhe, heavily striking the earth weasel's sea of consciousness.

Whether demonic sense attack or divine sense attack, it is truly effective against demon beasts; a demon beast whose intelligence has not fully awakened cannot withstand Yunhe's powerful demonic sense impact, and the earth weasel immediately rolled its eyes and frothed at the mouth.

Yunhe immediately flashed his figure and arrived beside the still-unconscious earth weasel, grabbing it.

Only now did the earth weasel finally shake its head and wake up.

Upon seeing Yunhe, it let out a terrified hiss and tried to struggle, but as Yunhe's claw clenched tightly, the small beast went completely limp, losing its vitality.

Once a demon beast submits, it is not easy to betray; this earth weasel has already submitted to the Lu Shan Turtle, which is Yunhe's enemy, and he never shows mercy to his enemies.

He picked out a small monster core.

Although this core is small, the demonic power it contains is not much less than that of other late-stage third-rank demon beasts.

"That's another at least seven or eight 'Spirit Grain Pills'."

Crack!

The eyes of the three halted Giant Rock Stone Monsters, Lvdou-like, fell upon Yunhe, the suddenly appearing black-shelled great turtle; regarding his appearance, the Giant Rock Stone Monsters were also unclear about his attitude.

Seeing their simple-minded appearance, Yunhe instantly also felt a bit of a headache.

This group of Giant Rock Stone Monsters is impervious to persuasion, indifferent even to the Lu Shan Turtle; he also doesn't know how to deal with them.

Could it be that they're all to be wiped out?

But it's not impossible.

But...

Yunhe actually has taken a liking to this group of stone simpletons.

Demon beasts like the Giant Rock Stone Monsters, if they could be subdued, would truly be a loyal guard unit with no possibility of betrayal.

Just like the little fox Bai Ning, the little azure luan Qingyao, the white ape king and that group of "elders" of Huanhu Dao, they could be entrusted with the existence behind them.

Moreover, as essences of mountain stone, the Giant Rock Stone Monsters can also to some extent increase the fertility of spirit fields, can guard Huanhu Dao, and can serve as the cornerstone of construction.

Multifaceted in function.

But how to subdue them is also a major problem.

————

PS: This is the last update of 2023, wishing everyone a happy New Year! May all go well!

(End of chapter)