633: It's broken. I'm in big trouble.

If one is ugly, one should study more and improve one's strength. This truly is an undeniable truth, no matter which world you're in.

His thoughts drifted back, and looking at Yan Jingchang's innocent expression, Shen Bei pretty much understood how his elders instructed their juniors.

Nine times out of ten, they were instilled with the idea from a young age: 'When you see a demonic entity, just kill it; you can't go wrong.'

From the perspective of a Human Race Cultivator, there wasn't really a problem with that.

All demons, ghosts, and monsters, whether killed or captured...

If killed, their skin and bones could be directly stripped, yielding a large amount of cultivation resources, or even allowing one to seize the demonic entity's wealth.

Conversely, if a demonic entity killed a Human Race Cultivator, whether to steal treasures or slice them up like sashimi, the benefits were also considerable.

Ultimately, it all boiled down to the word "struggle."

Struggling for resources, struggling for the path ahead, struggling for survival.

Just from Yan Jingchang, observing one aspect allowed Shen Bei to infer the whole, and many thoughts had already formed in his mind.

The Great Wilderness, the competition and slaughter, was probably intensely fierce beyond imagination.

As Shen Bei's thoughts drifted further, Yan Jingchang had already quietly approached the rock python and silently began collecting usable Materials.

By the time Shen Bei came back to his senses, a rock python several hundred meters long had already been dismantled into a pile of broken rocks, with all the useful parts taken away.

"Brother Shen, these Materials are quite good. Let's split them equally." Yan Jingchang didn't hog everything; he generously divided half of them with Shen Bei...

"It just so happens I haven't seen this kind of rock python before, so I won't politely refuse." Shen Bei happily accepted the Materials, silently giving Brother Green Light a thumbs-up.

He secretly made up his mind.

I'm definitely making this friend!

Continuing to trudge through the stone mountains, the path here was even more difficult than before. Without the ability to use flying techniques, the distance to travel was at least double what it appeared to be.

Directly crossing the mountains might mean an even longer and more arduous journey...

As expected, in the subsequent journey, all the strange beasts living here had transformed into demonic entities that, while still alive, were tainted with immense Death Qi.

Whenever they encountered a demonic entity, Shen Bei didn't need to do anything; Yan Jingchang would always charge forward, resolving the encountered demonic entity. Regardless of its strength, none were his match.

The cluster of green light, formed from the verdant mountain peak suspended above his head, possessed terrifying power. At least a week had passed, and Shen Bei had never seen Yan Jingchang use it in any other way.

It was always just smashed directly, and that was it...

Demonic entities at least comparable to the Platform Realm were all smashed into a paste with a single blow.

This made Shen Bei quite envious. If he were to act, fighting a Spirit Platform Realm demonic entity without risking his life would mean only letting the ugly chicken jump out to take the hit, allowing him to control the Haoyang Treasure Bell to vibrate the demonic entity to death.

However, the further they advanced, the stronger the demonic entities they encountered became.

Shen Bei was somewhat worried that Yan Jingchang might not be able to hold on later...

"Brother Green Light, you..."

"Brother Shen, you don't need to say anything!" Yan Jingchang saw Shen Bei's expression and knew what he was about to say, interrupting him without hesitation: "We agreed, whatever we encounter next, I will handle it!"

"Brother Green Light, I'm just worried you'll get tired..."

"Brother Shen, don't worry! These mere demonic entities are nothing. My Verdant Peak was forcibly refined by my Revered Master from a spiritual mountain, and it is most effective against demonic entities!"

Yan Jingchang patted his chest, making a guarantee, while secretly sighing that Brother Shen was still too naive. If he had such an opportunity, he would probably be happy to take it easy...

However, seeing Shen Bei's hesitant look, Yan Jingchang feared that Shen Bei might act rashly without understanding the gravity of the situation, which would make him worried, so he added another sentence.

"Brother Shen, you must stay on the side to provide support, and do not personally take risks! Otherwise, you would be looking down on me!"

"Alright, no problem."

Shen Bei agreed readily, and Yan Jingchang smiled, but in his heart, he mused that Brother Shen was truly young. In the future, whenever there was a problem, he could just use the phrase "otherwise, you would be looking down on me" to persuade Brother Shen.

Shen Bei also sighed in his heart, feeling that he had truly learned to be bad. In the past, he would feel a bit guilty when tricking naive young people, but now he felt...

Slacking off like this was just too damn comfortable.

Just as they rounded a towering stone mountain, they saw something unusual ahead.

On the hillside ahead, an old man in a gray jacket squatted there, hands tucked into his sleeves.

The old man's bald head was shiny, with only sparse gray-white hair around his temples. His skin was shriveled and brownish, his flesh withered, making him look like a severely ill old beggar who had suffered greatly but still clung to a last breath.

The old man squatted there, his neck slightly hunched, curled into a ball, looking quite pitiful.

The old man seemed to notice the two of them. He shakily stood up, his body hunched, hands tucked in, neck slightly retracted, looking timid and walking unsteadily towards them.

Shen Bei stopped, his pupils constricting slightly, his eyes narrowing, and his expression becoming somewhat solemn.

Yan Jingchang also stopped, his face grave, and pulled Shen Bei backward.

"Brother Shen, retreat."

Shen Bei obediently retreated with him, for he could see clearly.

The opposite hillside was barren, entirely made of stone, but the valley below the hillside was densely packed with Headless Lanterns.

And all of them were fragments of extinguished Headless Lanterns.

Shen Bei had seen how troublesome these Headless Lanterns were, but here, they were all broken Headless Lanterns.

As if they had been violently torn apart by someone and could no longer recover.

To achieve this, one would have to forcibly extinguish the light within them.

And that old man, who walked shakily, seemed like he could fall at any moment, and appeared somewhat timid, had an even stranger aura.

His Death Qi was so dense that it had reached a Realm of returning to simplicity; the immense Death Qi was entirely contained within his body, with not a single trace leaking out, yet one could still perceive a sliver of vitality within the old man!

This sliver of vitality was as firm as a rock, unshakeable, submerged in a vast sea of Death Qi, yet it still emitted a faint light, like a lighthouse in the dark sea.

This old fellow might not be dead yet!

A person who isn't dead, and is bald...

Can't afford to provoke him...

"Brother Green Light, let's go around him. Please don't provoke this old man," Shen Bei kindly reminded him.

Shen Bei had fought against many.

But he had never encountered anyone so inscrutable.

His perception of vitality and Death Qi was absolutely accurate.

If his perception wasn't wrong, Yan Jingchang might not be a match for the old man.

"Brother Shen, we can't escape. I've heard my Master talk about these lost powerhouses who are only clinging to a last breath..." Yan Jingchang's face was grim, the cluster of green light above his head flickering erratically. He hesitated, not daring to make a move...

"Brother Green Light, we're not that unlucky, are we...?" Shen Bei's expression changed, and his face even turned a little green...

Only clinging to a last breath, lost powerhouse...