Chapter 524: Chapter 524

"The ’Stone Demon’ is already a top-tier existence among Tier Five Demon Beasts. What entity could make it apprehensive, no, terrified enough to retreat? What kind of existence could it be?

A Tier Six Demon King?

As Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian thought of this, their bodies trembled slightly. They exchanged a glance, seeing the fear in each other’s eyes.

Facing the pursuit of the ’Stone Demon,’ they might still have the courage to fight to the death, but against a Tier Six Demon King of such caliber, even self-detonating their Golden Cores would merely mean a quick death!

"Maybe we’re just scaring ourselves. Perhaps the [Stone Demon] retreated because there happened to be an existence here that restrained it. Until we figure this out, we must remain calm!"

After scanning the surroundings with his Divine Sense and finding nothing amiss, Zhouyang felt slightly relieved. He then forced a smile at Jiang Fengxian beside him, laughing awkwardly as he tried to reassure himself.

Just as he finished speaking and before Jiang Fengxian could reply, a cold voice suddenly echoed from within the forest.

"Boy, you’re quite courageous. Can you guess how the forefather will deal with you?"

The cold voice came from an unknown origin, instantly freezing Zhouyang’s smile.

With a shout, he sprang up intending to fly out of the forest.

Even though before entering the ’Celestial Rift Canyon,’ he had repeatedly emphasized not to fly within it.

Of course, Jiang Fengxian wasn’t in the mood to tease him about it. As he shouted, she flashed with a blue light, immediately using the ’Wood Escape Technique’ she had cultivated to the Small Success Realm.

Unfortunately, although the two acted quickly, the enemy was even faster.

At that moment, a cyan light flashed in the sky, and the rising Zhouyang was bound by a cyan vine and pulled back into the forest.

Simultaneously, Jiang Fengxian, who tried to use the ’Wood Escape Technique’ to leverage the omnipresent vegetation in the forest to escape, suddenly found herself disconnected from all plant life, forcibly interrupting her technique and revealing herself atop a tree.

Before she could employ other methods, the branches grew rapidly, binding her and confining her magical power.

Moments later, by a pool deep in the forest, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian, bound and their magical power suppressed, reunited.

It was then that they finally saw the true form of the cold voice’s owner.

The creature that captured them in an instant was unexpectedly a peculiar monster standing about one zhang tall, with the head of a human and the body of an ape, covered in greenish-black hair.

The monster looked strange, its cultivation was equally strange.

Zhouyang had encountered some Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, and he could confirm this monster’s cultivation wasn’t at the Nascent Soul Stage, yet its aura didn’t match a Golden Core Stage Cultivator or a Tier Five Demon Beast either.

The most peculiar was the monster’s origins.

Based on its looks and the methods it used to capture him, Zhouyang judged it to be a rare special monster similar to the ’Stone Demon,’ known as "Wood Demon."

According to the Monster Atlas, Wood Demons are born in forests, capable of communicating with plants and commanding ghost creatures and demon beasts for their own use, skilled in various Wood Element Magical Techniques.

However, the Monster Atlas describes Wood Demons as beings with ape bodies and monkey faces.

This one, however, not only had the body of an ape and the head of a human but also dressed like a human in beast-hide robes. Zhouyang even saw several Storage Rings on its furry fingers.

Wait, several Storage Rings?

Zhouyang’s face changed suddenly, staring at the monster in horror.

"Boy, where are your eyes wandering?"

The monster seemed to notice Zhouyang’s gaze change, its greenish-black human face darkened, scanning him coldly.

Just one glance put immense pressure on Zhouyang, forcing him to lower his gaze, not daring to meet its eyes again.

At this time, Jiang Fengxian, who was captured alongside him, looked at the monster with a face full of suspicion and asked, "Senior, are you a human cultivator?" The rıghtful source is n0velfire.net

Zhouyang’s mind shook, involuntarily looking up at the monster again.

Upon closer inspection, although the monster seemed fierce, its aura wasn’t as rugged as a typical demon.

He looked at the monster with a puzzled expression, his mind turning, vaguely guessing the origin of this creature.

"Hehehe, what difference does it make if I’m human or demon?"

The monster’s face twisted into a sinister smile, its eyes mocking as it looked at Jiang Fengxian and said, "You’re quite a pretty little girl. In the thousands of years I’ve lived, I haven’t seen many as beautiful as you. It seems the next few hundred years won’t be so lonely for me!"

Jiang Fengxian’s face changed immediately.

Looking at the monster with a grim expression, she said firmly, "If you dare touch me, I’ll self-destruct my Golden Core and fight you to the death!"

"Oh? Will you really self-destruct your Golden Core? Are you willing? Don’t you want this young lover of yours to leave here alive?"

The monster taunted Jiang Fengxian, but its gaze shifted to Zhouyang’s handsome and heroic face, full of mockery in its eyes.

Hearing the monster’s words, before Jiang Fengxian could say anything, Zhouyang’s eyes widened as he said angrily:

"Senior, you were once a dignified Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Even if your cultivation is gone now, have you lost the integrity of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator?"

"Killing is nothing more than a matter of life and death. The fact that the two of us have fallen into your hands was a destined calamity. You can kill or maim us as you please, but why stoop to such humiliating acts?"

That’s right. Through Jiang Fengxian’s previous questions and the monster’s answers, he had already guessed the monster’s background.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the monster used to be a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator who came to the Kunxu Realm seeking treasures but encountered some danger, resulting in the destruction of its physical body. Thus, it had no choice but to possess a Wood Demon.

Yet humans and monsters naturally repel each other. Even if the monster managed to possess the Wood Demon relying on its cultivation, it couldn’t restore its Nascent Soul Stage cultivation or turn the Wood Demon’s body into a human form.

But after all, the monster once had Nascent Soul Stage cultivation. Even though it couldn’t reach Nascent Soul Stage cultivation now, it relied on its formidable strength to transform its head into that of a human’s.

This was the fundamental reason why Zhouyang felt the monster’s aura was neither like a Nascent Soul Stage nor a Golden Core Stage.

After succeeding in possessing the Wood Demon, it was no longer considered human. The Kunxu Order that allowed human cultivators to leave the Kunxu Realm was naturally useless to it, so it could only be trapped in the Kunxu Realm like countless Tier Six Demon Beasts, unable to return to the Spirit Realm.

Over time, even if the monster originally had a good disposition, it would have become twisted beyond recognition.

"The integrity of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator? Kid, you’re truly naive! Since you know why this ancestor turned out , do you still expect me to give you humans a way out?"

The monster laughed coldly, its tone filled with resentment as it growled, "Those damned Outer Realm True Immortals! If they hadn’t set up a killing array targeting non-human bloodlines at the teleportation array, would I have been trapped in this damned place for over two thousand years?"

"If I hadn’t been trapped for millennia and hadn’t been forced to dissipate all my magical power to completely merge with this Wood Demon’s body to extend my lifespan, I wouldn’t have become the monster I am now!"

"Since I can no longer be human, why should I adhere to human morals? If I can’t leave here, why should you bastards be allowed to take the treasures from here to flaunt and lord over others?"

Zhouyang looked at the Wood Demon with a distorted face, feeling both shocked and afraid.

Should I really self-destruct my Golden Core to fight this monster to the death?

Zhouyang’s heart was in turmoil.

His words just now may have sounded easy, but as the monster said to Jiang Fengxian, who would be willing to self-destruct their Golden Core unless it was the last resort?

Especially for him and Jiang Fengxian, both forming their Golden Cores before the age of three hundred, with great prospects for refining the Pill and Forming the Infant in the future, their future was indeed bright.

Compared to ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivators, they were undoubtedly even less willing to take that step.

"Kid, don’t be afraid, I won’t kill you so easily. After all, if I kill you, who will entertain me for the next few hundred years?"

"Hehehe, let’s see what treasures you have acquired in this Kunxu Realm first!"

The Wood Demon laughed wickedly. Waving its furry hand covered in greenish-black hair and sharp claws, several storage rings flew from Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian’s hands into its hands. Zhouyang then felt the divine sense marks he left on the storage rings being violently erased.

Next, Zhouyang watched helplessly as the treasures he’d collected were taken out one by one and toyed with by the monster.

"Quite a haul, kid! This feather in the Jade Box, if I’m not mistaken, is the Lifebound Feather of a Tier Six Top Grade Demon Beast Fire Phoenix!"

"And this Treasure Cauldron, tsk tsk, not only has it recorded a top-notch Body Refining Divine Technique, but it’s also a Tier Six Middle-grade Spiritual Artifact. In all my years, I never imagined the first Tier Six Middle-grade Spiritual Artifact I’d acquire would come from a junior like you!"

"Hmm, this Treasure Pearl is rather strange. It turns out to be a rare Light Attribute Treasure, and its grade seems extremely high. Kid, where did you acquire such a treasure?"

The Wood Demon’s eyesight was undoubtedly extraordinarily sharp. Although Zhouyang had many treasures, only those few it held caught its attention.

Fortunately, the Spirit Plant Map was carried closely by Zhouyang and for the moment seemed safe, hidden from the monster. Otherwise, the Netherworld Profound Coffin and Qin Yue’Er within were likely to fall into its hands as well.

Hearing the monster’s question, Zhouyang’s heart stirred, and he suddenly realized this monster probably wasn’t from one of the cultivation realms bordering the Land of the Far West. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be unaware of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace’s renowned Tier Seven Immortal Artifact, the Eye of Light.