The Demon Cave in the Desert Suppresses the Vast Abyss

Three days later.

Thousands of miles away from the Jade Sleeve Sect, at a border between the Southern Zhuo and the Northern Mang.

The sky and earth are vast and boundless, the desert stretches endlessly.

The wind whips up dust and sand like waves, and the tide surges and rolls up to several feet high, as if an immortal is wielding a brush to outline the boundary between heaven and earth. A few drops of ink fall to the ground and become barren hills and ruined buildings in the Gobi Desert eroded by the wind.

Traces of human activity remain, but the remains are hard to find.

Time has brought many changes, and all that remains is wasted time.

In the gloomy sky, a small black dot was rapidly approaching from afar. It was a brown-feathered, bald-necked vulture, eyeing the rotting flesh in front of a cave below. It folded its wings and swooped down.

But before it could get close...

From inside the cave, a muscular leopard with sharp eyes leaped out, nimbly soaring into the air, its claws outstretched, and in the blink of an eye, it pounced on the vulture, killing it instantly by biting its neck.

After doing all this, a hint of humanity flashed in the leopard's eyes. Without lingering, it carried the vulture's carcass back to the cave.

But inside this cave, it was a completely different world.

The cave walls were smooth as a mirror, with stalactites hanging from the top, emitting a soft, luminous glow that illuminated the way underfoot.

As they went deeper, the noise became increasingly clear, seemingly coming from all directions.

Before long, the view before us suddenly opened up.

A square open space, more than ten feet in size, with the cave walls inlaid with various pearls, jade and precious shells, radiating an unusual brilliance, beautiful and colorful.

In the center of the open space, there was a clear pool about ten feet square, deep and still, without a ripple. At first glance, it looked like a transparent mirror.

Several figures were gathered on one side of the clear pond.

Without exception, they all resembled monsters!

"Gurgle..."

The leopard quietly approached and rubbed its head against a furry paw.

Immediately afterwards, a striped tiger demon, over ten feet tall with broad shoulders and a wide back, snatched the vulture's corpse with a claw and began to tear it apart, savoring the taste.

While chewing indistinctly, he glanced at the old ape in front of him, dressed in a Taoist robe and looking dejected, and said in a muffled voice:

"Alas, listen to my advice, Tiger!"

"What else can we do but use this 'Eye of the Vast Abyss' to cultivate with the Crimson Feather Fire?"

"It's been over a hundred years! Our demon lineage is really willing to stay here and guard the Jade Sleeve Sect for the rest of its life without getting any benefits?"

"If word gets out, the demons will laugh at us!"

The old ape in the Taoist robe, with long eyebrows that reached his shoulders, remained silent upon hearing these words.

Beside it, another ape demon responded indifferently:

"The land that this 'Hanyuan Sea Eye' leads to is the legendary 'Hanyuan Great Swamp'."

"It is said that human cultivators who enter it can use the special environment there to change the virtue inherent in the Qi of their dwelling."

"Therefore, the Gang Qi was changed to Sha Qi; Sha Qi can also be Gang Qi."

"For cultivators who intend to refine the seventy-two mouthfuls of spiritual liquid, condense the [manifestation], and pursue the perfection of Qi refining, it is something to be envied by all, and they flock to it like moths to a flame!"

"Otherwise, why do you think the Chi clan would grant you so many benefits?"

"Oh, so what happened?"

Yi Hu swallowed the bone fragments and bits of meat in his mouth and said blankly.

The ape, looking slightly helpless, continued:

"If that's the case, then there must be quite a few cultivators who are envious of this 'Hanyuan Sea Eye'. Why is it that during the more than one hundred years that you and I have been guarding this place, only the Chi clan has come forward to ask to enter it for cultivation?"

"Moreover, the 'Eye of the Vast Abyss' experiences a violent outburst every so often, and there is no discernible pattern to it."

"That Crimson Feather Fire has cultivated to the late stage of Qi Refining at such a young age, do you really think he would treat his life like a game?"

"Oh, is that all?"

Yi Hu still seemed to understand but not quite.

The ape then spoke:

"More than a hundred years ago, the reason why our branch of demons was able to guard this place was entirely due to the support of the Zhu clan. At that time, the Zhu clan and the Chi clan were considered to be on equal footing."

"Now times have changed, and the Zhu clan has gradually declined and become weak. Not long ago, some members of the Zhu clan came here to beg me to let the Crimson Feather Fire enter the Sea Eye to cultivate."

"At that time, I knew that what the Chi clan sought was definitely not just a cultivation opportunity."

"What they want is complete control of the entire 'Eye of the Vast Abyss'!"

Yi Hu blinked, pinching his steel-needle-like beard, and asked in confusion:

"Guarding the 'Eye of the Vast Abyss' isn't an easy job, so why didn't they just give it to us?"

Youyuan snorted coldly:

"With the battle for the Dao imminent, in my opinion, the Chi clan has probably gotten wind of something and wants to seize the initiative and stabilize their position in the Jade Sleeve Sect and even the entire Nanzhuo region before it happens!"

"And seizing the 'Hanyuan Sea Eye' should be a key move!"

"Once this succeeds, our demon lineage will be utterly abandoned. You can imagine what will happen to us then, can't you?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Hu became slightly anxious. His amber-like eyes darted around as he asked:

"So what do we do now?"

The sorrowful ape and the mournful ape exchanged a glance, then said in a deep voice:

"Instruct the lesser demons below the third level of strength not to wander around. As for the magic-based demon cultivators... be extra careful when gathering spiritual energy outside."

"Humans are treacherous and cunning. If the Chi clan's plan fails this time, they will definitely resort to underhanded tactics and sabotage. If we are not careful... it could be a catastrophe for our entire demon lineage!"

……

……

midair.

A flying boat hovers above the clouds, overlooking the vast desert.

The middle-aged man in black robes who had appeared with Guo Shoujie earlier was now inside the flying boat.

He was no longer the arrogant man he had been; instead, he appeared somewhat reserved, approaching a young man in a fine robe behind him, and lowered his head to speak in a low voice:

"Chidao, what urgent matter brings you to summon me from so far away?"

"How's the harvesting of the three hundred Blood Yang Fiends going?"

The figure in the magnificent robe did not turn around. His voice was very young, yet full of authority, clearly the kind of imposing presence that only someone who had long held a high position could cultivate.

Bai Mo remained silent for a moment, but ultimately dared not deceive the other party and told them the truth.

The figure in the magnificent robe remained silent for a moment before slowly turning around, revealing a handsome face with distinct features.

His eyes were filled with a vibrant green aura, exuding a sense of burgeoning vitality, which further accentuated his handsome and extraordinary appearance, making him stand out from the crowd!

Bai Mo subconsciously swallowed and quickly lowered his head.

He knew in his heart that this was a strange phenomenon that could only be manifested after he had cultivated to the seventh level of Qi Refining and refined a certain Qi mechanism in the mansion into eighteen mouthfuls of spiritual liquid.

The difference in their levels of understanding is greater than an insurmountable chasm.

The terms "upper-level correction" and "lower-level correction" are relative.

Even if one is at the fourth level of Qi Refining, one still needs to be subservient and subservient to a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

However, the pressure only lasted for a moment before it suddenly dissipated.

"It's alright. The Blood Sun Fiend was originally sought for my younger brother. He has just broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, so there's no rush."

Chi Linghu chuckled softly, then took a stack of talismans from the table behind him and placed them in front of Bai Mo.

"I borrowed some paper figures and horses, and tricks like turning beans into soldiers, from your altar master to play with before, but now I'm bored with them, so please return them to me."

After saying that, she stopped looking at him, turned around and stood by the window, looking down into the depths of the desert.

His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of dust and sand, as if he could see something.

Bai Mo, quick-witted and perceptive, understood instantly, bowed in agreement, and then put away the talisman before hastily departing.

……

……

at the same time.

Jade Sleeve Sect, Melting Gold Valley.

Another fiery cloud shuttle, stirring up clouds and mist, arrived above a pavilion and slowly descended.

……