Chapter 171: Second Layer Tour Group

Amidst the dust and sand, that person, frantic with urgency, wanted to pursue further; the demonic beast ahead, seeing someone charging with a sword, instinctively blasted a strike toward them.

"Get lost!" That person shook off the demonic beast and tried to pursue again, but the entrance had already sealed shut.

"Damn!" That person was furious, utterly unable to comprehend how the entrance to the Second Layer opened and closed so conveniently, as if helping Lu Xingzhou, and moreover, Lu Xingzhou had known beforehand...

But upon second thought, that didn't make sense; the Second Layer was so dangerous, could the three of them, Lu Xingzhou included, really "tour" it?

Lu Xingzhou knew beforehand that this was the Second Layer entrance, naturally because Sheng Yuanyao had informed him, warning that this battlefield had a Second Layer entrance and to be careful not to enter. But even Sheng Yuanyao hadn't expected Lu Xingzhou to seem as if he were waiting for this place to open, joyfully drilling inside.

"I haven't been to the Second Layer; I'm not familiar with the terrain down there!" As soon as they descended, Sheng Yuanyao grew quite anxious: "These are all third-grade demonic beasts; even with their strength diminished, they are at the fourth-grade level, and there are many of them, unlike the sparse ones on the First Layer. I told you to be careful not to come down, yet why did you jump down voluntarily?"

"If we didn't jump down voluntarily, we couldn't handle this third-grade sword cultivator; within the sandstorm, there is no visibility, making casualties extremely easy, so it's safer down here," Lu Xingzhou said. "Moreover, a place with fourth-grade level demonic beasts is the trial ground suitable for me and A'nuo in my mind; heavenly treasures and rare herbs are sought amidst danger; relying on the sparse goods of the First Layer, what trial value could there be?"

Sheng Yuanyao was speechless; previously she hadn't sensed that Lu Xingzhou's inner substance was also a mad martial arts fanatic; this theory would be more fitting if spoken by Miss Qingli, yet she never expected it to come from Lu Xingzhou's mouth.

No wonder your relationship has also started to become strange.

Of course, she herself was also one who didn't mind trouble escalating; if not for the mission at hand, perhaps she would be even more excited about the adventure than Lu Xingzhou.

Lu Xingzhou said, "Let's go, move first, talk while walking; if they pursue down, it won't be good... Let's casually change location first; if they pursue down, it will be hard for them to find us."

A'nuo quickly pushed the wheelchair and fled.

Sheng Yuanyao followed closely, asking, "Why do you seem to have known beforehand that this Second Layer entrance was about to open?"

"I didn't know beforehand. It's just that since you all said many demonic beasts survive in the Second Layer, it's highly likely some would linger near the entrance; once it opens, they would rush out to escape prison. If someone wanted to trap me, seeing me near the entrance, the possibility of it suddenly opening and a demonic beast rushing out to attack me would be quite high; I merely took precautions against such a scenario. Hmm... The person who opened this entrance is most likely Chen Yu, and he is not on the same side as this sword cultivator."

Sheng Yuanyao: "..."

"Since I was prepared in advance, naturally I could turn this highly probable existence of demonic beasts around to help us delay the enemy. Then, the sandstorm's visual cover; Chen Yu, not knowing we are facing a third-grade sword cultivator and wanting to flee himself, seeing us descend voluntarily, would most likely be overjoyed. Thinking he sealed the entrance, we are essentially delivering ourselves to death in the Second Layer. Look, the entrance is sealed, isn't that helping us block the enemy? Chen Yu is a good man."

Sheng Yuanyao looked at Lu Xingzhou with eyes that were simply looking at a monster.

She had thought that losing visibility within the sandstorm was an extremely disadvantageous situation for their side, but Lu Xingzhou turned this visual cover around, causing the opponent to misjudge instead.

Given the premise that Chen Yu was watching, analyzing these things wasn't considered very difficult. But amidst an extremely chaotic battlefield, focusing on controlling the Flame Demon to seize the fire, how did his brain process so much? She, Sheng Yuanyao, was entirely tense and focused on the battle situation in the moment; how could she spare a thought for these things!

Previously, she felt being hit by the energy of roaming demonic beasts was sheer bad luck; now it seemed perhaps not necessarily so...

She asked somewhat cautiously: "Then which side does this third-grade sword cultivator belong to?"

"Most likely a retainer of the Huo family; no other faction is so ruthless in wanting my life. Old Huo is determined this time; outwardly using Daoist Xuan Qing as bait to make me think the opponent was nothing, actually hiding a trump card to take my life."

Sheng Yuanyao sighed in relief; this judgment matched her own; good, good, no existence exceeding her judgment had popped up again, otherwise she would question if she was an idiot.

Lu Xingzhou added another sentence: "But it's also possible it's an unknown faction... fundamentally not wanting Shen Tang to have any assistance, targeting Shen Tang, not me."

"Prince Jin?"

"Doesn't seem like Prince Jin; Prince Jin doesn't hide so Yin; the fact that Chen Yu is his man was already hidden before we knew, and now it's hidden doubly... Moreover, this person and Chen Yu don't seem to be on the same side."

Sheng Yuanyao's expression became very ugly.

It wasn't fear of becoming an idiot; what she feared was if this conjecture was fact, then the matter was far bigger than the Huo family's internal strife! Besides Prince Jin, there are other factions?

"Heh, this matter has nothing to do with you; why is your face so pale and green?" Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Look, the demonic beasts are coming..."

Two dark shadows silently ambushed from left and right.

The shadows' bodies were entirely black, yet their eyes were vivid red, resembling soul-like entities without flesh or blood.

Shadow Demons.

Sheng Yuanyao drew her waist blade, just about to chop one, when "Bang!" A'nuo slapped a large flatbread out; the right-side Shadow Demon crashed directly into the bread, emitting a peculiar roar.

On the other side, a wisp of black flame silently coiled around the other Shadow Demon; seemingly a meeting of compatible attributes, the next moment the Shadow Demon hissed "Sssss" all over, roaring earth-shatteringly: "What kind of fire is this!"

"Just fused fire; I haven't studied it carefully yet." Lu Xingzhou grinned: "Perfect to use you two as the first sacrifice."

That Shadow Demon was about to flee, but dark spirits rose all around, binding it tightly in the center.

Black flames rose, the shadow twisted, the red pupils gradually dimmed; before long, it was refined into a Shadow Crystal.

Turning his head, he saw A'nuo had already pinned the other Shadow Demon to the ground with a flatbread, jumping on top of it and stomping "Thump, thump, thump": "Ambush me, let you ambush, ambush, ambush me!"

That Shadow Demon soon had breath out but none coming in; black flames rolled up from the ground, similarly refining it into a crystal.

Sheng Yuanyao had drawn her waist blade halfway, yet from start to finish never got a chance to strike.

Who exactly is the demon here? These two were clearly fourth-grade Shadow Demons; they were once third-grade; in a few breaths, they were refined into crystals, and this master and disciple pair didn't even pant.

I think I need to suppress you two master and disciple first!

Lu Xingzhou frowned and shook his head instead: "The effect after fusing this black flame is not up to expectations; the fire seed absorbed just now might not be suitable for the black flame; later, if there's a convenient place, I'll separate it out and study it a bit. Perhaps it would unexpectedly be more suitable as alchemical fire..."

Speaking, he extended his hand and beckoned; the two crystals arrived in his palm: "For demonic beasts condensed from shadows, if they are of the upper third grade or higher, after refining them, they can form Shadow Crystals, similar to demon cores. Very lucky; although the demonic beasts here have dropped to fourth-grade strength, they themselves were third-grade."

Sheng Yuanyao said, "Can they be used to forge artifacts?"

"Hmm, they can also reinforce and strengthen my Soul Banner; additionally, refining A'nuo's flatbread is great, replacing some low-grade materials inside." Lu Xingzhou looked at Sheng Yuanyao's waist blade: "This blade of yours looks like the standard-issue blade of the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

"The style is standard-issue, but according to official rank, the quality of the distributed blades differs."

"Then ultimately it's still standard-issue goods; no custom-made good blade?"

Sheng Yuanyao smiled: "What, do you want to forge an artifact for me?"

"Hmm, although I am an alchemist, I also know a little bit about forging artifacts; after all, we both play with fire. If there are appropriate materials here, I can forge one for you."

"But my true life-bound weapon isn't this kind of waist blade."

"Then what is it?"

Sheng Yuanyao touched her ring and pulled out a long, wide, thick-backed blade, grinning with bared teeth: "This one. Used for war. The ancestral first-grade blade is in my father's hands; mine is also third-grade."

A'nuo stumbled, almost pushing the wheelchair away.

Sheng Yuanyao widened her eyes: "What, you, small as you are, can slap iron cakes; can't I play with a thick-backed blade?"

"Yes, yes." A'nuo shrank back, smiling apologetically: "Great King, spare my life."

"Hmph, hmph." Sheng Yuanyao pinched A'nuo's face: "If I were a mountain bandit king, I'd tie you up and take you back as my mountain wife."

Though her hand pinched A'nuo, her eyes didn't know who they were glancing at.

Lu Xingzhou merely smiled; he didn't sit in the wheelchair either, put the wheelchair into his ring, and walked around observing, collecting any possible herbs.

Clearly, things growing in the Second Layer were far more numerous than in the First Layer; just casually moving forward in one direction, they found quite a few special materials suitable for alchemy along the way, and their grades were not low.

But similarly, the demon beast attacks encountered along the way grew more frequent, and by the end, dealing with them was no longer easy.

"Swish!" Sheng Yuanyao cleaved a long-horned demon beast with a single strike, sustaining a few minor wounds herself: "Blindly wandering like this won't work. We will eventually tire out. We must find a specific location, preferably one with terrain suitable for defense, and hole up there. After some time, once others realize we've entered the Second Layer, someone will come to rescue us."

The Second Layer had also formed various special terrains and landforms through the long-term evolution of diverse demon beasts. In terms of terrain alone, it was no more complex than the First Layer; they were all just those same few types. Lu Xingzhou gazed into the distance for a moment, then smiled: "That's about right. Do you see the smoke over there?"

"A volcano?"

"Mm." This time, Lu Xingzhou truly did intend to head for a volcanic lava terrain. Such places were indeed easy to hide a Fire Seed in; the First Layer likely had none, but the Second Layer likely did.

As for Fire Seeds, Lu Xingzhou could never have too many. Moreover, since A'nuo was now independently refining pills, she could make use of them as well.

The three of them quickened their pace, dashing toward the volcano, but came to an abrupt halt the moment they reached the edge.

A demon beast rose from the lava, its body roughly a zhang tall, shaped like black steel yet cracked, with cracks from which flowed "blood" resembling lava. Its blood-red mouth gaped open, lava dripping from its lips, emitting a "huff-huff" of scorching breath, looking utterly terrifying.

Such a creature was better described not as a Lava Demon, but as a type of Iron Demon; the so-called flowing "lava blood" was actually molten liquid metal.

It had been unable to endure the special suppressing power of the Demon-Suppressing Domain any longer, so it hid within the lava, attempting to merge with the environment to eke out a survival. In a sense, this place could be considered territory it had claimed after waging war against other demon beasts.

The problem now was that it was not a single demon.

The three of them stared in stunned silence at a rock pillar behind it, where a naked, seductive long-horned woman was bound tightly with iron chains.

Judging by the woman's enchanting gaze, the coquettish way she licked her lips upon seeing Lu Xingzhou, and the obvious Fourth-Grade aura radiating from her... that so-called tight binding was less a capture and more a form of play.

Lu Xingzhou was thoroughly stunned: "Did I end up in the wrong place? How does this world have succubi too?"

(End of this chapter)