Chapter Eighty-Five: The Thousand-Year-Old Demon

  Mr. Eagle's strength is no less than Ye Si Dao, and he has been cultivating for over 150 years. With his guidance, the cultivation of Ye Xu and others has made rapid progress.

  Zhou Shiwen returned to the Zhou family from Eagle Gorge and studied a type of offensive witchcraft called Huoyu Yishen Archery, also receiving his guidance and benefiting greatly.

  Huoyu Yi Archery is a magical technique that visualizes the bow and arrow, using yuanqi as the bow and fierce fire as the arrow. Its power is many times greater than ordinary archery. When cultivated to a high level, it can even achieve simultaneous firing of ten thousand arrows, with an awe-inspiring momentum.

  Fang Chen's Blood Demon Primordial Soul Technique was prone to going out of control and entering a state of madness, but he also received guidance from Mr. Eagle.

  "The two of them have rare talent and insight."

  Mr. Eagle's eyes flickered, and he secretly praised Zhou Shiwen and Fang Chen, then shook his head and said, "However, compared to that little brat, the two of them are far inferior."

  Not yet arrived in Yue State, Ye Xu had already cultivated to the peak of Prenatal Five Ranks. His body's yuanqi surged and howled like a long river, stirring up the Zhou Tian Star Power. When it reached his head, it formed a whirlpool about 7-8 meters in diameter, constantly devouring the Zhou Tian Star Power.

  He was surprised to find that Mr. Eagle's words were true, and as his cultivation increased, the speed at which he drew in the heavenly star energy also accelerated, and with a few breaths, his primordial energy surged up by a large margin.

  At this speed, he might soon break through another small boundary and become a sixth-grade wizard of the Yuan Cultivation!

  In Mr. Ying's eyes, Ye Xu's cultivation was naturally not worthy of attention, but the momentum of his improving cultivation made him astonished.

  "It hasn't even been a day, and this kid has already risen from the fourth rank of Qi Refining to the peak of the fifth rank. This speed is simply comparable to those of the great demonic sects! I don't know what kind of cultivation technique this kid is using, but it's incredibly fast. At this rate, he might catch up with me in just a few years..."

  Yuezhou is getting closer and closer, already in sight, with only a dozen miles to go. Liu Zhou is located on the west side of Bai Man Mountain, while Yuezhou is on the north side. The official road leading to the two states runs along the foot of Bai Man Mountain, with towering mountains on the right side.

  Mr. Eagle stopped in his tracks and said, "I'm so hungry, let's stop and eat something to fill our stomachs." As he spoke, his eyes shifted back and forth between Zhou Shiwen and Fang Chen.

  The two men's faces changed color, and their hearts were filled with anxiety.

  Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept across, and the big demon transformed into its true form, which was a majestic black-feathered giant eagle. It stood over ten meters tall, with wings spanning more than twenty meters. With one swift peck, it pinned down Zhou Shiwen's fine horse, then tilted its head back and swallowed it whole. Immediately after, it picked up Fang Chen's horse and also swallowed it into its belly!

  "Eat something even if it's just half full."

  That black eagle clicked its beak, scanning the withered grass and trees. Its eyes gleamed with a fierce light: "This horse is too skinny, no flavor to it. Do you want to go to Liu Zhou to eat a few people or settle it on the spot? Use this big beard and little white face to fill our bellies first..."

  The withered bamboo rat let out a loud snort, its front paws scratching the ground, and charged at him with bared teeth and a menacing scowl, revealing rows of small steel-like teeth, looking extremely ferocious.

  Ye Xue stepped forward and blocked the way in front of Gan Chai Jiao, saying: "Mr. Eagle, this Bai Mian Mountain is full of wild beasts and demonic beasts, why must you eat us few?"

  "That's also true."

  The black giant eagle nodded, looked around and exclaimed with joy: "It turns out that we have arrived at the Valley of Five Poisons, this time we can eat our fill." After speaking, it spread its wings and flew towards a nearby emerald green valley.

  "This birdman is too ferocious." Zhou Shiwen's heart still had lingering fear, and he wiped away a cold sweat.

  Ye Xufang Chen nodded in agreement, even Su Qiaoqiao thought so too. Mr. Eagle, this bird demon was moody and unpredictable, following him around made one's heart skip a beat.

  "This birdman is looking for food, we'd better escape quickly if we can!"

  Zhou Shiwen and Fang Chen exchanged a glance, then rushed forward. Turning back, they said: "Shaobao, aren't you leaving?"

  "You two gentlemen go first."

  Ye Xu smiled and waved goodbye, thinking to himself: "Even if you run a thousand miles away, for Mr. Eagle it's just a matter of time before he can fly over and catch up with you."

  The two of them stopped persuading him and turned to run wildly away. Ye Xu stood at a high point, gazing out at the mountain valley where the Black Eagle had flown in. All he saw was a vast, dozens-of-miles-wide deep valley, like a basin, with dense flowers and green grass woven together into a picture. Towering pines and strange rocks stood upright, and pink peach blossoms rose up from the depths of the valley, one after another. From a distance, it seemed as if the mountain valley was floating amidst a sea of gorgeous peach blossoms. The beauty of the scene was beyond the power of words to describe.

  Below the peach blossoms is a milky white mist that shrouds the forest, never dispersing. This mist is even more dangerous than the peach blossoms themselves, as it is formed by the fermentation of toxic plants' roots and leaves in the dark valleys, rising to form a noxious vapor. Within this vapor are also the foul airs produced by the rotting corpses of poisonous insects and beasts, as well as the venomous miasma spat out by snakes, insects, and ants.

  If it were an ordinary person, inhaling a mouthful of this mist would cause them to die from poisoning within five steps, hence the name "Five Steps Miasma".

  "This place, Wudu Valley, is indeed an ideal location for cultivating the Five Poisons Scripture."

  Ye Xuhong's heart moved, Qingyu Han Guang Lou jumped out from his body, and took out the Shenmu Wang Ding.

  This divine wooden king tripod, although it is a witch treasure, has an extremely ingenious refining technique, and does not require true yuan to activate it. Ye Xu's heart moved, a fierce yuan energy rushed towards the king tripod, and the king tripod emitted a humming sound, gradually growing from small to large, becoming a giant tripod with a mouth of over ten feet, and fell to the ground with a loud crash.

  The aroma rose, and a fragrance that was refreshing to the lungs and spleen suddenly came from the cauldron. The scent wafted and spread in all directions.

  Not long after, Ye Xu suddenly heard a strange noise, and upon looking around, he saw a two-foot-long giant centipede approaching with the scent. This giant centipede was entirely golden yellow, with six pairs of thin cicada-like wings, surrounded by a five-colored poisonous mist, flying in the air with a hissing sound, ignoring Ye Xu, and suddenly drilling into the cauldron.

  Ye Xuan leaned in to take a look and saw that the centipede was lazily lying still in the cauldron, and his heart slightly relaxed.

  Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the jungle, and Ye Xue was startled. He saw countless poisonous insects and animals rushing out of the jungle, including venomous snakes, spiders, geckos, centipedes, scorpions, and even a swarm of poisonous bees in red, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, and black, densely packed, swarming towards him.

  Ye Xue's scalp was numb with fear, Su Qiaoqiao was even more frightened and screamed loudly, Gan Chaijiao also hid behind Ye Xue, not daring to move. They saw the poisonous creatures rushing in, all drilling into the cauldron, many poisonous insects even crawled past them, startling the two of them into a cold sweat, fortunately these poisonous creatures were attracted by the Shenmu Wang Ding and didn't pay attention to them at all, it was a narrow escape.

  After a stick of incense had passed, the Shén Mù Wáng Dǐng was already filled with all kinds of poisonous insects, fighting and killing each other. Outside the tripod, poisonous insects continued to arrive one after another, attracted by the fragrance, but their numbers were decreasing.

  After a while, the poisonous insects nearby had all been attracted and were all stored in the cauldron. Ye Xuan was about to put away the Wang Ding when suddenly a orange-red light point rose from outside the valley, flying closer and closer, and in the blink of an eye it was as big as a gourd, rolling up waves of heat, but it was a small blood-red boat.

  That small boat hovered in mid-air, with several wizards standing inside it.

  Only one of the tall and thin wizards cast a large net, which grew with the wind and covered an area of several miles. It was as light as gauze and seemed to be blown away by the wind, but when it fell into the valley, it penetrated through trees and rocks.

  The big net fell down, and after a scoop in the valley, it was immediately lifted up by the witch doctor. In the net, hundreds of poisonous insects and snakes were hanging, struggling ceaselessly.

  The thin wizard picked up the poisonous insects and cast a net again.

  "Who is it? How dare you snatch food from someone's mouth!"

  In the Valley of Five Poisons, Eagle Sir's angry shout suddenly rang out. A black giant eagle spread its wings and took to the air, facing off against the red small boat's witch from a distance.

  The thin and weak wizard saw the giant eagle, his face lit up with joy, and laughed: "What a great bird! Just right to catch and train it, and make it my mount!" Having said that, he stretched out his big hand towards the front, reaching for the giant eagle.

  Ye Xue and Su Qiaoqiao watched from a distance, seeing that the thin and frail wizard's true yuan was densely packed, forming a gigantic palm in the air about half an acre in size, enveloping Mr. Eagle.

  The black eagle let out a loud cry, and a hundred-meter-long feathered snake burst out of its body, crushing Yuan Qi's giant hand. The eagle sneered, "Who did you want to offend? You had to offend me! It's not easy for you to cultivate to the third true realm of True Yuan period, but you can still control the witch treasure. However, since you've encountered me, you can only be my appetizer!"

  The feathered serpent vibrated its nine pairs of wings and charged towards the small red boat with a loud whoosh, its momentum fierce. The faces of several wizards on the boat changed drastically, and the thin wizard hastily shouted: "This senior, don't take action, we are the wizards of the Luan family of Yue State..."

  Mr. Eagle suddenly changed his expression, hastily withdrew the Feathered Snake Return to Origin Great Technique, spread his wings and flew away quickly, landing beside Ye Xuan, transforming into a strange man with an eagle head and human body, shouting: "Hurry up! The old monster is coming out!"

  Ye Xuhui was shocked, put away Shenmu Wangding, hugged Su Qiaoqiao and got on the horse, galloping wildly towards Yuezhou.

  "Eagle Sir, what is an old monster in Wudang Valley?"

  Su Qiaoqiao asked curiously: "Could it be that he is even more powerful than you?"

  "This old freak has been cultivating for a thousand years, let alone me, even Ye Si Dao is far from being his opponent!"

  Mr. Eagle had barely finished speaking when a loud clap of thunder suddenly rang out, and Ye Xu turned his head to see that in the central area of Wudang Valley, a crystal clear spring suddenly burst forth from the ground, shooting up dozens of feet high, truly a magnificent sight.

  That clear spring gushed into the air, bursting with a loud crash at the top, and thousands of silver threads scattered in all directions, shining brightly like fireworks under the sunlight.

  These silver threads are fine and unbroken, weaving a large net in mid-air that covers an area of several miles, slowly falling down, light as gauze.

  Ye Xu's face changed dramatically, and he exclaimed in a low voice: "Spider web?"

  That clear spring just now was not spring water, but a large spider sprayed out of the ground, turned into a spider web in the wind, and caught prey!

  The red sampan's Ruan family Wu Shi let out a breath of relief and laughed, saying: "It's still my Ruan family's reputation that's loud and clear, scaring off that bird demon without a fight..."

  Before he could finish his sentence, the web had already enveloped the small boat. The thin and gaunt wizard suddenly felt that this magical treasure was out of control, and hastily shouted in a stern voice: "Who dares to oppose me, the Shan family? Looking for death..."

  The word of death had not yet been spoken, but suddenly a fist-sized bright pearl rose slowly from the valley, emitting a cold and eerie glow. The sky seemed to have an extra moon, illuminating the Five Poison Valley with a dazzling light, as white as snow, and eerily beautiful.

  That bright pearl was the Yuan Dan of a great demon hiding in the Five Poison Valley to cultivate, shining brightly, hidden in the valley by the great demon, suspended in the air at a height of one hundred feet, spinning and rotating, radiating light in all directions, absorbing the original energy of the sun. The mountains and valleys within dozens of miles around suddenly turned dark, and all the sunlight was swallowed up by this Yuan Dan, turning pitch black.

  Only a few demonic beasts can refine the yuan dan, and such demonic beasts are often rare and exceptional species, equivalent to the most talented wizards with broad divine powers. Even if they are of the same realm as other wizards, they may not necessarily be their opponents!

  That Yuan Dan stopped in mid-air, motionless. Suddenly, a huge black shadow rose from the valley with a whooshing sound. It was an eight-legged giant spider, carrying dark and eerie energy, flying diagonally towards Yuan Dan.

  This powerful demon can actually fly against the wind without relying on any external force, simply by using its physical body. Its strength is truly unimaginable.

  ————

  I accidentally wrote over a thousand more words. I originally planned to split it into two chapters, but after thinking about it, the plot wouldn't be coherent if I cut it off, so forget it.

  There is still one more chapter at night, I will work hard to crawl and finish it...