Chapter 147: One Incense Stick Isn't Enough

The moonlight was dim, falling upon the Bull Demon's robust and sharply muscled frame, as the overwhelming demonic aura gradually dyed the entire Xitai Mountain range with a layer of red mist.

It was the first time Shen Yi had heard a demon refer to itself as "this King."

But this appearance had nothing whatsoever to do with Howling Moon, and the aura he sensed from the other party was not a single tier higher than Jiang Qiulan's.

But no matter how one put it… the scene before him didn't look like something he could take part in.

Suddenly, Shen Yi noticed beneath that tall stone throne, there was also an old dog demon holding a long spear, though set against the Bull Demon's massive frame, it was easy to overlook.

The aura emanating from the dog demon was clearly that of another Embracing Elixir Realm demon.

"……"

Shen Yi quietly glanced behind him.

Just then, the Bull Demon also noticed his presence, gave a casual wave of its palm, seemingly uninterested: "Go take care of him."

Hearing this, the old dog twisted its neck and took a step forward.

Bai Lu suddenly stepped forward: "Where would there be any need for the Little Demon King's own men to act personally? I'm not good at much else, but I can run fast—let me handle it."

There were also power divisions among the demon race; the entire territory outside Qingzhou belonged to the Howling Moon Demon King, and this group of Embracing Elixir Demon Lords were likewise its subordinates.

The Little Demon King was a rising star who had come from outside.

Bai Lu's secret collusion with it had already violated a taboo, and it was even less willing to be used as cannon fodder for an ambush on Jiang Qiulan.

Hearing this, the Little Demon King seemed not to care much; its attention remained fixed on that woman: "Need to catch up a bit more?"

In the depths.

The ink-colored robe on Jiang Qiulan's body swayed slightly, her sleeves lifted, her hand hanging down at ease.

Her utterly unruffled expression seemed to validate the words she had just spoken.

In Qingzhou, aside from the Howling Moon Demon King.

Whoever came made no difference.

Streaks of silver needles flew out from within her body, hovering in the air, rapidly transforming into longswords condensed from cold ice—at a glance, there were at least tens of thousands of them.

They gathered in the air into a jade dragon, coiling around her body.

"I need the time it takes one incense stick to burn."

"Please hold on a moment."

Hearing these words, the Little Demon King gave a self-mocking smile; its casual motion of rising caused the mountain forest and earth to tremble in a regular rhythm.

A waterfall-bright ring-pommel greatsword was gripped in its palm: "This is why this King did not wait until after a true breakthrough to come find you. The taste of being looked down upon like this truly kept this King awake all night."

Jiang Qiulan had no intention of paying it any heed at all; standing within the profound ice jade dragon, she calmly turned her gaze to the youth: "One incense stick—can you do it?"

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, watching Bai Lu walking toward him, and said lightly: "Should be… no problem."

Although his original plan had been to kill the Mountain Lord, now that it had been swapped for an Embracing Elixir Realm Bai Lu, there was some pressure, but it hadn't yet reached the point of making him afraid.

Before his words had faded, the youth's figure instantly merged into the night, transforming into a clear wind that swept toward the distance.

Not until she saw this did a touch of seriousness suddenly appear in Bai Lu's previously casual expression. She had originally assumed it would be a matter of easy capture, only wanting to let this youth run farther so she could take the chance to slip away herself; now it seemed she really would have to exert some effort.

Without further hesitation, her four hooves stamped violently against the void.

What allowed her to repeatedly escape from Jiang Qiulan was precisely this speed of hers.

……

The red-mist-shrouded Xitai Mountain range.

A streak of white light crashed down with a thunderous impact, blasting out a massive crater, while the surrounding trees were ground into fine powder by the violent aura.

Bai Lu stamped her hooves in fury, watching helplessly as that clear wind once again drifted farther away.

She had never heard of anyone in Qingzhou who could compare with her in speed, yet now that youth seemed to be deliberately toying with her, every so often even pausing on purpose to wait a moment.

On a distant treetop.

Shen Yi yawned out of boredom.

Even he hadn't expected that, driven by the Outer Heavenly Demon Pill, the Carefree Wind-Riding Art brought to perfection would leave even an Embracing Elixir Realm Demon Lord in the dust.

If it were only this, let alone one incense stick's worth of time—as long as he had enough demon cores to replenish, he could lead Bai Lu on a chase all the way back to Qingzhou City.

"How about… trying to kill it?"

Now his tempered body had barely stepped into the perfected Core Condensation tier, and the Outer Heavenly Demon Pill was only one step away from perfection.

Idle hands being idle hands anyway, Shen Yi vanished from the spot once more, casually taking out a demon core from the silver bell and placing it in his mouth.

【Remaining demon lifespan: 3,862 years】

As the demon lifespan rapidly decreased, Shen Yi kept an eye on whether Bai Lu had lost him, occasionally stealing a glance at the panel.

This time, erasing Kong Que's consciousness had cost over three hundred years.

Accompanied by a bird cry in his mind, the demon core in his mouth transformed into surging demonic power that poured into his body.

Shen Yi took out the Heaven-Shattering Sun Divine Bow; ever since the fourth molt was complete, he had already been able to draw it to about ninety percent—just one more breakthrough, and an arrow loosed from a full-drawn bow would be enough to make Embracing Elixir Realm Demon Lords turn pale at the sight.

【Year 1,302: the Purple Marten demon core has been entirely exhausted…】

The higher one went in the Nine Molts of the Heavenly Demon, the more demonic power it consumed; as for which demon's consciousness ultimately condensed into the immortal demon, it depended on which demon beast's will was more dominant.

This time the demon core had come too easily—even Shen Yi didn't feel it was a waste, so he took out another demon core and placed it in his mouth, deliberately slowing his pace once more, intending to give Bai Lu a glimmer of hope.

【Year 2,600: the Mountain Lord demon core has been entirely exhausted…】

Shen Yi's eyelid twitched slightly. Compared to his other martial arts, the Body Tempering method had always seemed infinitely familiar in his eyes—now how had it become increasingly excessive?

Of the demon cores just obtained, only the Golden Eagle's remained; he took it out once more and swallowed it.

Three kinds of demonic power mingled within his body, gradually kneaded together by the power of vitality, while the residual consciousnesses fought madly, like raising gu.

In the end, a long cry of a Golden Eagle pierced into his mind, declaring the final victor.

【Twin wings roll up a thousand layers of clouds, the song of shattered gold startles the immortal gates, divine eyes gaze across ten thousand li, both ears hear the eight directions, the Patrol Heaven Flying General, hunting the Great Wild, nowhere to hide from the soul-snatching talons】

【Immortal Demon Fifth Molt】

【Remaining Demonic Lifespan: 372 years】

The cultivation of three Perfect Core Formation demons had now been wholly transformed into part of his body.

Shen Yi slowly rose to his feet, a sharp gleam radiating from his eyes.

The mountain forest shrouded in red mist now lay incomparably clear within his field of vision.

He raised the Heaven-Piercing Sun-Severing Bow, drew it casually, the bow opening like a full moon; the great sun upon the bow-arm suddenly erupted with incomparably violent white light, as if he truly held a massive sun in his hands, about to tear open this boundless firmament.

The Bai Lu, hot in pursuit, seemed to sense something.

Its four hooves slammed to a halt.

The next instant, a vast Bai Mang swept in from afar in a flash, slamming brutally into its body.

Beneath that terrifying, soul-rending sharpness, its entire body was sent flying several hundred zhang away; wherever the arrowhead passed, a bottomless ravine was instantly carved into the earth!

Only when the dust settled.

It staggered to its feet from the ground, racked by tearing, tearing agony across its whole body; raising its head to see the second white light on the horizon gradually engulfing it, an uncontrollable dread welled up in its pupils.

No longer daring to show the slightest carelessness, it summoned all its strength and leapt to the side.

Boom!!

Even the mere aftershock of the arrowhead sent it tumbling into the air once more.

At the same moment, the time of one incense stick had elapsed.

In the hinterlands of Taishan, nearly half a mountain range suddenly collapsed downward; the crimson demonic clouds shot straight up to the heavens, fleeing toward the distance at an unimaginable speed, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

The Bai Lu, whose five viscera and six bowels had already been knocked out of place by the white light, had just spat out a mouthful of blood when it witnessed this scene.

Its whole body trembled, and it suddenly fixed its gaze ahead.

It saw that figure of the clear breeze that had been dodging all along now reveal its tall, slender form, calmly drawing the bow and aiming straight at its heart.

(End of this chapter)