"Cauldron Lord, this place doesn't feel like an ancient sect ruin," Lin Yu said, eyeing the eerie surroundings.
"Some ancient sects were tainted by demon cultivators in battles, turning their blessed lands into this. We can't jump to conclusions—we need to find the ruins first," the Cauldron Lord explained, but Lin Yu still felt something was amiss.
Nodding, Lin Yu marched toward the mountain range shrouded in black mist. Meanwhile, silver lights flickered across Demon Mountain, each representing a warrior transported here—far more than nine.
…
In the Demon Palace within the rift valley, the blood-robed elder's face burned with fanaticism. "The Demon Mountain Formation is activated! Follow me to hunt geniuses from all sects, using their flesh to nourish the Evil God's body and welcome its rebirth!" He raised his jade talisman, shouting.
"Follow the Sect Master! Rebirth to the Evil God!" Demon cultivators in the palace raised their talismans, vanishing in silver light to the formation.
…
The closer Lin Yu got to the mountains, the stranger it felt: dim skies like eternal dusk, howling winds carrying sickening血腥味 (blood odor), and faint demon roars from within. The魔气 (demon qi) must have festered here for ages, birthing countless demons.
At the mountain foot, his confusion grew. The concentrated demon qi here was too intense for a merely tainted blessed land—something was very wrong. But greater danger meant greater reward, so he pressed on.
"Heh!没想到 (Who would've thought) humans are entering this abandoned blessed land today. We brothers can feast!" Two demons burst from the forest, blocking his path.
"Hey, this guy isn't even Xiantian! How'd he get here?" One demon laughed, seeing Lin Yu's apparent weakness. Born on the mountain's edge, they were weak, often prey for deeper demons. A human weaker than them was a godsend.
"Xiantian Realm?" Lin Yu stared, stunned. "Demons this weak exist?" He'd only faced Purple Mansion or Myriad Manifestations demons. Xiantian demons were a novelty. No wonder—outer mountains had weaker demon qi; Xiantian was lucky. Newborn demons might not even reach that.
"You Xiantian-failing human dare mock us?"
"Even as Xiantian demons, we'll crush you!" Enraged, they felt their fragile pride wounded.
"I'll tear you apart and eat you slowly, so you know pain!" One charged, the other blocking escape.
Lin Yu shook his head, walking past.
Bang, bang!
The demons froze mid-charge, hitting an invisible wall, then exploded into powder, their demon qi dissipating. Lin Yu marched on—they were too weak to bother refining. They died without knowing how trivial they were.
Deeper in, he saw grand buildings on the highest peak—likely the ancient sect ruins. Most demons he met were Xiantian; he crushed them with mere Coercion.
Boom!
A black demon qi pillar rose from the forest, burning like a tens-zhang flame, radiating strong spiritual energy.
"Is a treasure emerging?" Lin Yu headed toward it.
Soon, he found dozens of demon corpses, even Purple Mansion ones, with several human warriors standing among them. A tall, fair-skinned man in white held a longsword spewing demon qi like black flames.
"A Myriad Manifestations demon sword?" the Cauldron Lord exclaimed in Lin Yu's mind.
"What's a demon sword?"
"Spirit weapons tainted by demon qi become demon blades—their power doesn't weaken; they gain negative effects, surpassing peer weapons. Refining it could give you much energy."
"Too bad someone got it first." Lin Yu shook his head at the warriors—his first encounter with others here. He wasn't a saint, but he disdained robbery. A mere Myriad Manifestations demon sword wasn't worth breaking his code.