118: Chapter 118 On the Return Journey, Demons Attack, Demons Display Their Power, Slay the Patrol Envoy and Seize the Order

Leaving the area of the Black Miasma Swamp, Ye Qing was in quite a pleasant mood.

This exploration had not only yielded an entire abandoned Spirit Stone mine, allowing his Cave Heaven World to expand to a radius of thirty-five thousand zhang, but he had also unexpectedly obtained a "source of poison" from a Mid-Nascent Soul Stage poison dragon, making it a truly fruitful return.

He steered his escape light, flying unhurriedly toward Zhenbei City.

Three moons of different colors hung high in the sky, casting fantastical light and making the primeval forest below appear shadowy and indistinct.

After flying for about half an hour, he had left the Black Miasma Swamp and entered the relatively safe outer region of the Canglang Mountain Range.

Just as he was calculating whether to refine the "source of poison" or take on a few tasks to earn some Spirit Stones after returning to Zhenbei City, a sharp sound of something breaking through the air suddenly came from the sky ahead!

Immediately following this, several escape lights of different colors shot up from the dense forest ahead like meteors, rapidly closing in on him in a pincer formation!

Within the escape lights, several powerful auras of Demonic Qi were faintly emitted, one of which had clearly reached the Late Golden Core Stage! The others were also around the Middle Golden Core Stage!

"Oh? Is this... an encounter with robbers? Or are they coming specifically for me?"

Ye Qing raised an eyebrow, stopped his escape light, and hovered in mid-air, watching the rapidly approaching lights with keen interest.

He did not choose to dodge or detour.

Firstly, given his current strength, a mere few members of the Yao Race at the Golden Core Stage were not worth him retreating.

Secondly, he also wanted to see just how bold the Yao Race of the Great Wilderness Region was, daring to brazenly intercept and kill a Human Race Cultivator so close to Zhenbei City.

A moment later, those escape lights stopped a few dozen zhang in front of him, revealing the figures within.

They were five transformed Yao generals.

The leader was a middle-aged man dressed in black with a sinister face and eyes as sharp as a hawk's; his aura was the strongest, clearly having reached the Late Golden Core Stage.

He carried a pair of pitch-black iron wings on his back, the edges of which shimmered with a cold metallic luster; it was clearly a Magic Treasure of no low grade.

The other four consisted of two burly tiger demons wielding heavy hammers, a seductive snake demon with enchanting eyes and a colorful poisonous snake coiled around her waist, and a small, thin fox demon holding a bone staff, with ghostly green flames dancing in its eye sockets.

The five Yao generals formed a semicircle, faintly surrounding Ye Qing in the middle, their gazes unkind and filled with undisguised greed and killing intent.

"Human brat, if you know what's good for you, obediently hand over your Storage Pouch and the treasure you just obtained in the Black Miasma Swamp! If I am in a good mood, I might just leave you an intact corpse!"

The leading black-clad hawk demon, his gaze as sharp as a knife, looked Ye Qing up and down, his tone cold and carrying an unquestionable commanding tone.

Clearly, they had mistaken Ye Qing for an ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivator who had good luck and obtained some treasure in the Black Miasma Swamp, intending to kill him and seize the treasure.

Ye Qing couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

He pointed to his own nose and said in a rather innocent tone, "Are you... here to rob me?"

"Cut the crap! Either hand over the treasure and commit suicide to apologize! Or die at our hands, and we will search you ourselves!"

The tiger demon, with a short temper, roared impatiently, the heavy hammer in his hand already glowing with an earthy yellow light, ready to act at any moment.

"Oh." Ye Qing nodded, the smile on his face unchanged, but his eyes gradually turned cold, "Then I will give you a choice as well. Kneel down now, kowtow three times, and then get lost, and I can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the five Yao generals, his tone becoming flat but carrying a bone-chilling coldness, "Otherwise, you won't need to leave."

"Arrogant!"

"You're seeking death!"

"Kill him!"

Ye Qing's words completely enraged the five Yao generals.

The tiger demon was the first to lose patience; he roared, and the heavy hammer in his hand shone brightly, turning into a streak of earthy yellow light, carrying the momentum to shatter mountains and split rocks, smashing down towards Ye Qing's head!

At the same time, the snake demon let out a sharp cry, and the colorful poisonous snake at her waist shot out like lightning, baring its fangs and spraying a mouthful of pink poisonous mist, attacking Ye Qing's face!

The fox demon chuckled sinisterly, struck its bone staff on the ground, and the ground suddenly cracked open, with several pale white bone claws reaching out to grab Ye Qing's feet!

The black-clad hawk demon and the other tiger demon did not attack immediately but stared at Ye Qing like tigers watching their prey, preventing him from escaping.

Facing this three-sided assault, Ye Qing did not even lift an eyelid.

He simply reached out a single finger.

And lightly tapped against the earthy yellow heavy hammer that was the first to smash down.

"Ding!" A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

That heavy, powerful hammer, capable of smashing a small mountain, seemed to collide with an invisible divine mountain the moment it touched Ye Qing's fingertip, suddenly freezing in mid-air!

Immediately after, fine cracks rapidly spread from the point of contact to the entire heavy hammer!

"Bang!" With a muffled sound, the heavy hammer of no low grade shattered like porcelain, exploding into countless fragments that scattered in all directions!

"Pfft!" The tiger demon, whose mind was connected to the heavy hammer, felt as if he had been struck hard; he spat out a large mouthful of blood, his face instantly turning pale, his eyes filled with horror!

This was not over. Ye Qing's finger that had shattered the heavy hammer swept forward.

An invisible Sword Qi, like a breeze blowing past, swept across the tiger demon's neck.

The expression on the tiger demon's face instantly froze, and a large head, with an expression of disbelief, soared into the sky!

Blood gushed out like a fountain from the headless neck!

A Middle Golden Core Stage tiger demon, dead!

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The poisonous mist sprayed and the poisonous snake shot out by the snake demon, and the bone claws summoned by the fox demon, hadn't even had the chance to touch the corner of Ye Qing's clothes!

"What?!"

"Third Brother!"

The remaining four Yao generals let out a cry of alarm simultaneously, their faces filled with shock and disbelief!

They never imagined that a Human Race Cultivator who looked like he was only at the Early Golden Core Stage would possess such terrifying strength! One finger! With just one finger, he had shattered the tiger demon's Lifebound Treasure and killed him!

This... what kind of monster is this?!

"Now, do you still want to rob me?"

Ye Qing withdrew his finger, his gaze sweeping calmly over the remaining four Yao generals; his tone was still calm, but it carried a suffocating sense of oppression.

The black-clad hawk demon's face became incomparably ugly.

He knew that this time they had kicked a steel plate! And it was the hardest kind of steel plate at that!

The Human Race Cultivator before them was definitely not at the Golden Core Stage! He was at least at the Nascent Soul Stage! Perhaps even an old monster at the Mid-Nascent Soul Stage!

"Run!" This was the only thought remaining in his mind.

Without the slightest hesitation, the pitch-black iron wings on his back flapped violently, and he turned into a black bolt of lightning, fleeing desperately in the direction opposite to Zhenbei City!

At the same time, he let out a sharp, shrill cry from his mouth, seemingly signaling his companions.

The remaining tiger demon, snake demon, and fox demon also woke up as if from a dream, each using their best life-saving techniques to flee in different directions!

"Want to run now? It's too late."

Ye Qing's tone was flat, even carrying a hint of laziness.

He slowly raised his right hand, splayed his five fingers, and made a grasping motion in the air toward the four Yao generals fleeing in different directions.

"Void, Imprison."

An invisible, intangible, yet terrifying power that seemed capable of freezing space instantly descended!

The four Yao generals, who had already fled hundreds of zhang away, suddenly froze, like insects sealed in amber, fixed in mid-air, unable to move a single inch!

Their faces were filled with extreme fear and despair!

"No! You cannot kill me! I am a vanguard under the 'Patrol Envoy' of the 'Heavenly Demon Imperial Court'! If you kill me, the Patrol Envoy will never let you go!"

The black-clad hawk demon let out a desperate roar, trying to use his background to scare Ye Qing off.

"Heavenly Demon Imperial Court? Patrol Envoy?"

Ye Qing raised an eyebrow slightly, but his hand movements did not stop.

He formed his fingers into a sword shape and pointed four times in the air at the four imprisoned Yao generals.

"Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!"

Four imperceptible streaks of Chaos Sword Qi flashed and vanished.

A needle-point-sized blood spot appeared on the foreheads of the four Yao generals simultaneously, and the light in their eyes rapidly dimmed and scattered as they completely lost their vitality.

The four corpses fell powerlessly from mid-air like kites with broken strings.

Ye Qing waved his hand, collecting the corpses of the five Yao generals, their Storage Pouches, and the Magical Artifacts they had dropped into his Cave Heaven World.

Then, his gaze fell on the corpse of the black-clad hawk demon; he reached out and beckoned, and a palm-sized, pitch-black token with a silver eagle pattern engraved on the front, wings spread as if ready to fly, fell into his hand.

The token felt cold in his hand; the material was neither gold nor jade, and it emitted a faint, majestic aura unique to the "Heavenly Demon Imperial Court."

On the back of the token, two characters were engraved in small Seal script—"Patrol".

"Heavenly Demon Imperial Court, vanguard token under the Patrol Envoy... It seems these five unlucky fellows really were subordinates of that so-called Patrol Envoy. I've only been in this world for a few days, and I've already offended such a behemoth; this is really..."

Ye Qing toyed with the token and shook his head helplessly.

"Forget it, if you have many lice, you don't itch; if you have many debts, you don't worry. Anyway, we will clash sooner or later, so killing them early or late is the same. This token might come in handy in the future."

He put the token into his Cave Heaven, stopped thinking about it, and once again turned into an escape light, flying toward Zhenbei City.

Having experienced this small interlude, he became even more determined to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

In this Great Wilderness Region where the weak are prey to the strong and humans and Yao are in opposition, only by possessing sufficiently powerful strength can one control their own destiny and live freely and unfettered in this vast world filled with opportunities and dangers.