10: Chapter 10 Harvesting

Beside the Vulture Demon stood two other Yao Beasts.

One was a pitch-black Python Demon, several zhang long and as thick as a bowl. It coiled on a giant rock, its cold, vertical pupils fixed on the cave entrance, motionless, like a black withered vine.

The other was a Grey Rat Demon. Its body was over ten times larger than an ordinary rat, with greasy, grayish-brown fur. Its small eyes darted around, looking both crafty and sleazy.

It was the most skilled at digging holes in this area and was the former owner of this Immortal Cave, though, of course, it no longer dared to think so now.

The Three Great Demon Generals all guarded the entrance, but each harbored their own thoughts...

When a whale falls, everything else thrives.

The Earth Lizard's Lifespan was nearing its end. If it died, its flesh and blood... for these low-level small demons, would be a Heaven And Earth Treasure.

"Go in."

Outside the Immortal Cave.

The Vulture Demon kicked a shivering grey rabbit into the cave entrance with one claw.

The grey rabbit was a low-level Yao Beast that had gained intelligence. Its sentience had just begun, and it could not yet speak, but it knew what was inside the cave. It struggled desperately, its four claws scratching the ground, emitting squeaks of sorrow.

But the Vulture Demon's claws were too powerful. With a flick, the grey rabbit flew inside.

A moment later.

A short, sharp scream came from within the cave, then...

It went quiet.

The Vulture Demon's Adam's apple rolled, and it swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Next."

The Grey Rat Demon dragged a half-dead muntjac out from the cave behind it, pushed it to the entrance, and then flicked it with its claw.

The muntjac rolled inside.

Another scream.

Then silence.

The Vulture Demon, Python Demon, and Grey Rat Demon guarded the entrance like this, occasionally driving some intelligent creatures from the mountains inside to be devoured by the Earth Lizard.

Some of those creatures were caught by them, some were driven from elsewhere, and some...

Were simply their own descendants.

But no one dared to say a word of objection.

The Earth Lizard needed blood food to extend its Lifespan; this was known throughout the eastern part of the Wanhui Mountain Range. Whoever dared to be slack in this matter would become blood food themselves.

"How many?"

The Vulture Demon asked in a low voice.

"Today... the seventeenth."

The Grey Rat Demon answered in a shrill voice, its tail flicking uneasily.

"Not enough."

The Vulture Demon shook its head, its voice lowered even further.

"The Old Ancestor is in a bad mood today. We need to send at least ten more in. Do you have any more on your side?"

The Grey Rat Demon's expression changed. It opened its mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately swallowed it back.

"Yes... yes."

It turned around.

It limped toward the depths of its own cave.

Behind it, the Vulture Demon and Python Demon exchanged glances, neither speaking.

Inside the cave.

The Earth Lizard let out another tyrannical roar.

The sound traveled very far; even in the direction of Desolate Ridge, it seemed to be faintly audible.

...

In the blink of an eye.

Five days later.

Desolate Ridge.

Morning mist permeated the air, and the greyish daylight filtered through the mist, coating the entire withered forest in a layer of dull silver-white.

At the top of the tallest withered tree in Desolate Ridge, a black ball of fluff huddled on a branch, motionless, like a black fruit growing on the tree. Its feathers were covered in morning dew, casting a faint, cold light in the mist.

Suddenly.

The ball of fluff moved.

Wu Li poked his head out from under his wing and shook his feathers all over.

Morning dew splattered, tracing fine, sparkling points of light in the mist.

He opened his beak and let out a low "caw-caw" sound. The sound was not loud, but it was deep and powerful, shaking away some of the mist on the branch.

It had been five days.

Five days had passed since that night he swallowed the fleeceflower root and snatched back the Formation Plate spiritual pearl.

During these five days.

Wu Li had hardly left this withered tree.

He slept huddled on the branch during the day and Cultivated the Blood Eye Pagoda Sutra at night. Day after day, he thoroughly refined the medicinal power of the fleeceflower root and completely consolidated his First Stage Mid-level Cultivation.

The dark red light in his Dantian was now stable, the size of a chicken egg, rotating steadily with restrained radiance, not as restless as when he had just achieved his Breakthrough.

Demon Power flowed through his Meridians, smooth and powerful, and he could feel a subtle increase with every circulation.

His feathers had changed too.

The new black feathers were denser and shinier than five days ago, each one like a meticulously polished black blade, with a dark, metallic luster on the edges.

Of course.

The biggest change was not in his Physical Body, but in his spells.

Wu Li crouched on the branch and closed his eyes.

He silently recited the incantations of the Blood Eye Pagoda Sutra in his heart. The Demon Power surged from his Dantian according to the circulation route of the Blood Seal Curse, flowing along his Meridians to his claws.

He extended his right claw, claw tip pointing downward.

Demon Power condensed at the claw tip, transforming into strands of blood-colored silk as fine as hair.

Those silk threads intertwined and wound around each other, slowly outlining a blood-colored rune the size of a fingernail.

The rune was circular, with complex and eerie patterns inside, looking like a closed eye, or perhaps a blooming flower.

Blood Seal Curse.

Wu Li opened his eyes, looking at the blood-colored rune on his claw tip, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Five days.

He had finally Cultivated the Blood Seal Curse to the point where it could take shape.

Once this blood-colored rune was struck into an enemy's body, it could trigger a riot of their Qi and blood. At best, their combat power would be greatly reduced; at worst, they would explode on the spot. If the enemy was already injured, the rune could crawl along the wound deep into their Bloodline, multiplying its power.

"It's time to go and move around."

Wu Li crouched on the branch, slowly lifting his head, his gaze piercing through the morning mist, looking toward the depths of the Wanhui Mountain Range.

There, grey miasma shrouded the layered mountains, blocking even the sunlight, like a sleeping giant beast coiled on the horizon.

Even from such a long distance, he could feel the oppressive atmosphere coming from there, lifeless and dead, like a huge shadow covering the entire mountain range.

A crow's innate perception told him that the vitality there was slipping away bit by bit.

That old demon couldn't hold on much longer.

Wu Li's pupils narrowed slightly.

A Tier 2 Demonic Beast, its Lifespan nearing its end.

Once such an existence went crazy, the nearby Yao Beasts would suffer.

But it wasn't dead yet, and the Three Great Demon Generals were guarding the cave entrance, driving creatures in day and night for it to devour.

Two Late Stage First Stage, one Mid-level First Stage—any one of them could pin him to the ground and rub him into the dirt.

"Not the right time."

Wu Li murmured in a low voice, withdrawing his gaze.

He had never been a reckless person.

Having lived for so many years in the Age of Dharma Decline in his previous life, the most important thing he had learned was: fight if you can, run if you can't, hide if you can't run, and play the fool if you can't hide.

Going to provoke those three Demon Generals now would not be worth the loss. After all, once a member of the Yao Race was injured, there were no human physicians to treat them; they had to rely on their own hardiness to survive.

But besides that place, there was some small interest that could be collected now.

The Old Fox Demon was dead.

The Thousand Fox Den, where it had been entrenched for decades, held its life savings.

That old fox never did anything that wouldn't profit it; over so many years, it must have accumulated quite a few good things.

"Caw-caw-caw~"

Wu Li let out a low laugh, spread his wings, leaped from the withered branch, and flew toward the Thousand Fox Den.