Chapter 304: Stone Gargoyle

Because the Zhaogu Mountains' high terrain acts as a barrier.

The smog over Ke's Plain is not severe—only a thin layer of sandy haze.

Sunlight tries to pierce through, but only casts mottled golden patches.

The flight spell is not fast.

Luo De spent half an hour reaching the nearest marked location.

Looking down from the sky.

That should have been a village with vast green fields.

But now, wooden houses are destroyed, and large plants rise in thick black smoke after being burned.

Countless beast-infected wander aimlessly through the wasteland, their eyes glinting with wildness and madness.

Due to the influence of spirituality or magic, beast infection does not turn those with cultivation into mindless zombies.

They retain their normal memories, but their personalities become more bestial—cruel and cunning—as if their very thoughts were infected.

Luo De chose a small hillock to lower his altitude.

The trembling Banshee in his arms finally calmed enough to open her eyes.

"Can we land, Master?"

She said with a trembling voice.

As previously mentioned, undead appearances are closely tied to negative energy emanating from the ground, so they become visibly fearful once away from it.

Luo De feared she might die of fright in his arms, so he simply landed on the ground.

He dropped Chriss with a thud.

Still dazed, she couldn't adjust in time and let out a yelp as she fell onto the grass, legs flailing.

He ignored her and maxed out his 【Spider Sense】.

The marked location was merely an estimate by Wendigo Belljin—its accuracy was uncertain.

He had to rely on his own senses to locate it.

To avoid unwanted attention, Luo De had Tally cloak them both in the 【Dark Veil Cloak】.

It was a new skill he unlocked a few days ago.

Its main function is to drape others in a cloak woven from shadows, reducing presence and concealing faces.

More importantly, the cloak fully blocks blood and toxic mists—this is one reason Luo De dared enter Ke's Plain.

Perhaps due to his advancement to seventh tier and his greater mastery of shadow magic, Tally's innate spiritual art has gained new possibilities.

"Oh, found it."

After only a few steps, Luo De detected a faint leakage of spirituality in the bamboo grove to his left—around sixth tier.

No wonder it's a shared skill—【Spider Sense】 is incredibly effective.

He followed the trail step by step.

The 【Dark Veil Cloak】 worked well—low-tier wandering beast-infected did not notice their presence.

Roughly half an hour passed.

Luo De passed through the bamboo grove and found a half-naked man, drenched in blood, beside a small stream.

His spiritual accumulation: low sixth tier.

He was crouching by the stream, a spear planted beside him, his hand stirring something in the water.

"He cut his wrist and is now letting blood flow into the stream—are beast-infected starting to commit suicide?"

Tally asked, puzzled from within the shadows.

"They like to fling their blood onto others."

The recovered Banshee said.

She had endured half a night of battle—she knew their habits.

"Yes, beast infection has one trait: they desperately want to infect others. This one probably hopes the blood carried by the stream will infect everyone it touches. But this amount? Long diluted by the current—it's useless."

The beast-infected have lowered intelligence anyway—so doing this isn't strange.

Luo De spoke as he drew 【Sacrificial Blade】.

Then came a powerful, howling slash—a blue-white crescent of spirituality sliced across the man's neck.

His body stiffened, then his head separated from his torso—he died before he could react.

"That was easy."

Luo De had just sheathed his blade.

His sense immediately triggered.

He frowned toward the distant southern sky.

There, a massive stone creature, resembling a monkey with stone wings, rose into the air—its wings rigid as stone, yet still flying, gripping a similarly massive stone axe.

"Stone Gargoyle?"

The Stone Gargoyle raised its axe and dove toward the ground like a meteor.

With a thunderous boom, even Luo De's position felt the ground shake.

Someone was fighting.

And they'd specifically summoned Ghouls—magic creatures immune to beast infection.

"Stone Gargoyle? Can you do it on the bed?"

Tally leapt out of the shadows.

She cast a transformation spell, becoming a catgirl with cat ears and tail.

She tilted her head cutely, asking—both her question and her appearance seemed rather dim-witted.

"Probably not. They're demons born from stone, with no reproductive system."

This young demon, despite her age, lacked knowledge beyond lovemaking.

"Pfft, what's the point, meow."

"Meow?"

At her master's confusion, Tally bounced over, slipped into his clothes, and began licking his neck.

"Tally's a kitty today. Kitties love licking people."

"No, Master—Stone Gargoyles don't reproduce through mating. They lay stone eggs after pairing."

Chriss spoke up.

"Oh?"

"There are many Stone Gargoyles near Jade City. I've seen them in the forest… you know, doing it. But the fluid they exchange isn't anything like our essence—so they're not on the demon's menu."

"I see."

So I was the one with limited knowledge.

Luo De felt slightly embarrassed—reading is shallow; one must see for oneself.

The demon inside his clothes perked up: "How do they do it? Like us?"

"No, they connect while fighting—often destroying everything around them. I heard the loser becomes the egg-layer."

"Are Stone Gargoyles hermaphrodites?"

"Hard to say—I wouldn't dare get close enough to check."

The Banshee shrugged.

Tally's head poked out from Luo De's collar, eyes gleaming with excitement.

Her pink-tinted cat ears twitched cutely.

"Master! Let's capture that Stone Gargoyle! I want to watch you do it!"

No.

You don't.

I don't want to do a giant-winged monkey made of stone. Even if I had to, I'd pick something cute.

Besides,

That Stone Gargoyle is strong—barely touching seventh tier.

If they're deploying something this powerful, the beast-infected enemy must be comparable. This area isn't far from Zhaogu Mountains—I should go see.

So they set off again.

Following the stream upstream, they spent ten minutes climbing over dense, towering shrubbery, arriving at the flatland where the Stone Gargoyle had fought.

But unfortunately,

The battle was already over.

Luo De had realized this shortly after setting out.

After all, that Stone Gargoyle's move was suicidal.

Among the scattered battle marks lay a Stone Gargoyle torn apart—closer inspection revealed it had stood nearly five meters tall.

"Stone Gargoyle dismantled… covered in beast-infected blood. Huh? A Fungus Man's corpse? And a Star Spirit's too?"

(End of Chapter)