Chapter 70: Hunting a Second-stage Demon Beast! (Seeking Subscriptions! Monthly Votes!)

Ang—

A provocative voice filled with challenge rang out in a place where jagged rocks stood like a forest.

Soon, a rustling sound came, the noise grew clearer and louder, indicating something was approaching.

Standing before the stone forest, Yunhe in his demon beast body wore a solemn expression.

He waved his claw at his subordinates behind him, signaling them to retreat a bit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ground trembled repeatedly.

Not long after.

A huge toad-like demon beast came hopping into Yunhe's sight.

Its size rivaled a carriage, its body covered in rough, dry skin like rock, studded with stones that emitted a faint red glow like burning coal.

Its hind legs looked extremely powerful; each leap reached ten meters high, and when it landed heavily, it was like a boulder crashing down, booming repeatedly.

An early second-stage demon beast, the Fire Stone Toad!

Yunhe narrowed his eyes, watching the demon beast unleash its demonic power without reserve, its ferocity fully exposed, and he slowly stepped back two paces.

This was the first second-stage demon beast he had chosen after careful consideration.

Although in the cultivation world there is a saying that the more unique one's bloodline, the higher the chance of forming an inner core at the second stage,

but that is something he will consider later.

He now needs to first determine whether his preparations can grant his demon beast body the ability to smoothly slay a second-stage demon beast.

The Fire Stone Toad before him is actually not weak; it also possesses its own unique abilities.

But for Yunhe, it is indeed a suitable target for an initial attempt.

First, it alone occupies the stone forest, existing not as a clan, and has no other demon beast underlings, so when a clash erupts there will be no pesky interferers.

Second, as a turtle, it is naturally inclined toward fire and has an affinity advantage with rock.

Lastly, and most importantly, it does not dig burrows!

If he finds the situation hopeless, Yunhe can retreat smoothly using the Earth Escape Technique.

In fact, this is not his first time provoking this Fire Stone Toad; the previous time he came, he successfully avoided it using the Earth Escape Technique.

Gua—!!

Seeing Yunhe, the Fire Stone Toad's eyes flared with flame; it obviously had not forgotten this turtle that repeatedly provoked it.

Conflicts between demon beasts are straightforward.

No need for communication; they go straight into battle!

As the Fire Stone Toad's legs slammed hard into the ground, causing the earth to burst layer by layer, it leapt up and lunged fiercely at Yunhe.

Seeing this, Yunhe tensed his whole body, daring not to relax in the slightest.

In a flash of his eyes, a small black shield flew out from his storage bag and quickly expanded.

Boom!!!

The Fire Stone Toad crashed headfirst into the "Black Scorpion Shield," emitting a violent roar accompanied by a shockwave that scattered outward, kicking up clouds of dust and sand.

Yunhe, braced against the "Black Scorpion Shield," shuddered violently and, using the impact's force, swiftly retreated.

Just that single impact let him deeply feel once again the mighty physique of a second-stage demon beast.

"Good thing I didn't try this with my cultivator body."

Logically, the Qingyu Domain lies beside the Heavenly Ridge Mountains, where demon beasts roam; if a cultivator body wanted to hunt second-stage demon beasts, entering those mountains would surely yield many encounters.

But in the end he still chose to let his demon beast body act; a major reason is that the demon beast body's sturdy physique means that even if it cannot defeat a second-stage demon beast, it at least won't be killed instantly, giving ample chance to escape.

Moreover, entering the Heavenly Ridge Mountains means facing not only demon beasts but also the cultivators active there.

Cultivators are far more scheming than demon beasts.

Of course, there is an even more important point.

His demon beast body has operated this area for decades, centered on Huanhu Dao and spreading outward; though not known like the back of his hand, he is at least thoroughly familiar with it.

The interaction pattern between demon beasts is also simpler; if a demon beast senses danger from Yunhe, it mostly avoids conflict and yields, thus eliminating much unnecessary trouble.

In contrast, a cultivator body rashly entering unknown woods would find demon beasts far less "friendly" if encountered.

Furthermore, this is one reason why Yunhe, the Qingzong Sect, and many clan cultivators dare not recklessly enter the Heavenly Ridge Mountains to hunt demon beasts: it is said that third-stage demon beasts dwell there!

Third-stage demon beasts comparable to Golden Core Stage cultivators!

A thought flashed through his mind; after retreating a certain distance, Yunhe abruptly halted and slammed his forefeet into the ground.

Wu Earth Boulder Formation!

Hum—

The surrounding air suddenly trembled, and then a layer of earth wall like a barrier shot up from the ground, quickly closing in.

On the wall, fine spiritual power patterns flowed, like obscure characters, faintly containing mysterious power.

A moment ago he wondered why a turtle suddenly had a shield; the next second he was startled by the sight before him.

Instinctively, a strange agitation and unease welled up in its heart; it tensed its body, trying to leap out before the earthen wall fully closed.

"Ang—!!!"

But he heard an angry roar mixed with rolling thunder, carrying power that could pierce demon sense.

Thunder Sound Technique!

Even a second-stage demon beast, with far greater intellect and will than a first-stage one, inevitably felt the effect, its body stiffening.

The Thunder Sound Technique is originally a first-rate first-tier spell, but when Yunhe adapted its clever use against spirit sense to apply to divine or demon sense, its power increased a notch, and its deterrent effect on second-stage demon beasts remains significant.

That is, at the instant the Fire Stone Toad's body stiffened, the Wu Earth Boulder Formation fully sealed.

Trap formation, accomplished!

Yunhe, standing outside the formation and controlling the formation plate, could clearly see the situation inside, but the fire stone toad could only see the completely sealed earthen wall.

The feeling of restlessness and unease became increasingly evident.

The fire stone toad leapt up violently.

It heavily struck the formation and fell to the ground.

To be honest, it was a bit dazed.

Although it was a Second-tier Beast, having lived here for over a hundred years, when had it ever seen a formation?

Standing outside the formation, feeling the formation plate tremble, Yunhe, as the great formation shook, only now finally relaxed his breath.

Fact proved that this formation, focused on the "trap" character, a second-tier formation, could trap a second-tier beast.

But a trapping formation only has the trap.

To truly hunt and kill a second-tier beast, one still needs to see if it has lethal power.

Hu—

From the storage bag flew out another feather fan with fiery red plumage.

A light wave sent three plumes flying into the formation.

Red Sheath Fan!

Originally, even if Yunhe's Cultivation Base advanced and his spiritual sense exceeded ten zhang, he could not transmit a Spiritual Artifact between his two bodies.

This then necessitates mentioning the design of the Red Sheath Fan.

The Red Sheath Fan can be disassembled into its plumes and shaft!

Perhaps a whole fan cannot be transmitted.

But if disassembled, it definitely can.

That is, Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts, which can be used without special refinement; if it is a treasure, Yunhe does not know whether his Cultivator Body and Demon Beast Body can share it.

"Gua—!"

As the Red Sheath Fan's plumes entered the formation, although it did not directly kill the fire stone toad, it inevitably added several wounds to its body.

Roar—!

The pain provoked the fire stone toad's ferocity, and it spat out a mouthful of scorching demonic fire, causing the Wu Tu Pan Shi Formation to shake violently.

Yunhe's expression changed.

"Roar—!"

Another rolling thunder sound, and the fire stone toad inside the formation was affected again.

At the same time, as Yunhe opened his mouth, a stream of warm water silently entered the formation.

Three Yang Heavy Water!

Hiss—

The next moment, the wounds on the fire stone toad's body began to emit a hissing sound.

Strands of Three Yang Heavy Water gathered, continually eroding and dissolving its body.

This is Yunhe's plan to hunt and kill a second-tier beast.

The method was conceived from the Qian Xu Yin that once chased him.

Since the Qian Xu Yin, a second-tier early-stage beast, is corroded by Three Yang Heavy Water into countless wounds, other second-tier early-stage beasts certainly can be as well.

Especially after Three Yang Heavy Water undergoes a second refinement, its corrosive effect becomes stronger.

All he needed was time.

For other cultivators, the trapping formation Wu Tu Pan Shi Formation is too single-purpose, but it is precisely what suits him best.

No one knows how long passed.

The formation dispersed, and on the ruined ground lay only the corpse of a fire stone toad.

Its body was covered in wounds, but in fact its internal organs suffered the most severe damage, almost half corroded.

"A demon beast's whole body is treasure; even with such heavy damage, it does not affect its value. Well, it does have an impact, but for the inner elixir, it is still worth it."

Yunhe tried to console himself, found it ineffective, and could only choose to accept.

He stepped forward, and strands of heavy water flowed out from the fire stone toad's corpse; aside from the blood vanishing at visible speed, there was nothing else.

"What a pity."

No inner elixir was found.

He was not too disappointed either.

After all, from the beginning it was merely to test whether this method was feasible.

If inner elixirs of second-tier beasts were easy to find, the Foundation Establishment Pills of the cultivation world would not be so scarce.

"Next, we just follow the gourd to draw the ladle."

He collected the fire stone toad's corpse.

Dismantling the formation flags takes considerable time; repairing the formation takes even longer; without three or four days, it cannot be finished.

"Where in the Heavenly Ridge Mountain Range could there be such a peaceful place to set up a formation?"

He waved his claws, signaling his subordinates to go look for another suitable second-tier beast.

The subordinates watching the battle from afar exchanged glances, swallowing their saliva.

Such a powerful fire stone toad, just killed like that?

Originally they did not understand why the King sought a second-tier beast—was that something they could face head-on?

Only now did they finally understand.

It seemed that in the King's eyes, a second-tier beast was truly also prey.

"What are you spacing out for?"

Hearing the sound coming from Yunhe, the red-bellied snake, the green-shadow swallow, and the white ape king all shuddered, then each scattered away.

As for this dense forest, their familiarity with it still far surpassed Yunhe's.

Seven months later.

On Huanhu Dao.

"Monkey, rest well."

Yunhe looked at the white ape king, whose appearance was weak and whose right shoulder was scorched black, and stuffed into its mouth an Elixir whose color was slightly dull but whose rich fragrance was in no way diminished.

The several beasts nearby gulped saliva nonstop, their eyes blazing as they stared at the white ape king's mouth.

Frightened, the white ape king didn't even bother to chew, directly swallowing the Elixir, as if afraid those fellows would pry it from its mouth.

What it swallowed was precisely the "Rearing Elixir" refined by Yunhe.

However, it was a defective "Rearing Elixir".

But to the white ape king and its kind, such Elixirs were treasures they could hope for but never obtain.

Had it not been for the green-shadow swallow's timely rescue, the white ape king probably wouldn't have returned.

"When everything is over, you'll have your share."

Looking at the remaining beasts, Yunhe soothed them.

In these seven months, the harvest was still not bad; they had hunted many Second-tier Beasts, altogether gaining four inner cores.

But judging by his current success rate in refining the "Rearing Elixir," four would be far from enough.

Boom!!

Suddenly, a tremendous roar came from the woods not far from Huanhu Dao.

All the beasts present, including Yunhe, instinctively tensed their bodies.

"They actually chased us here."

They raised their heads toward the source of the commotion.

All they saw was.

In the vast stretches of fallen forest, there loomed a massive python with horns on its head!

"Second-tier, Horned Python!"

(End of chapter)