A Bountiful Harvest

Upon hearing this, Li Yunyan immediately agreed. "Understood!"

She held her twin blades and spun them in a sweeping slash, forming a ring of blade light as a protective barrier. Then she flashed backward, widening the distance between herself and the Gold Devouring Demon.

Seeing both enemies retreat far away, the Gold Devouring Demon let out a roar and charged at Fan Lang. Fan Lang freed his right hand and unleashed the Water Cloud Palm, striking forward with all his strength.

A giant palm formed from condensed water appeared out of thin air and slammed toward the Gold Devouring Demon. The two sides collided head-on, triggering a violent shockwave that shattered the ground.

Fan Lang changed his technique, flicking both hands repeatedly as though manipulating a puppet on strings. Streaks of light shot out and stuck to the Gold Devouring Demon, restraining the giant brute's movements.

A minute passed before the water spirit finally squeezed out a duplicate. The two water spirits split up; one continued dividing while the other went to help.

The water spirit was quite fast and nimble, proving highly useful. It blocked the rampaging Gold Devouring Demon and endured several attacks before finally shattering.

As this water spirit was destroyed, another new water spirit finished splitting. They were endless.

Throughout the battle, the Gold Devouring Demon's health had been steadily dropping from poison. A stream of red numbers never stopped appearing. The damage was insignificant at first, but once it accumulated, it became substantial, reaching several thousand points!

Five minutes later, the strange poison on the Gold Devouring Demon automatically wore off, and he entered an immune state. His health had fallen to less than half.

With the poison gone, they could no longer rely on it for damage.

Fan Lang's eyes sharpened as he charged toward the Gold Devouring Demon, preparing to deliver the final blow.

Heaven and Earth Seal!

Fan Lang had condensed a Heaven and Earth Seal long ago. After several minutes of accumulation, its power had become exceptionally formidable. He leaped onto the Gold Devouring Demon's head and struck down hard.

The words "Heaven" and "Earth" exploded, blooming with white light that pierced the night sky. Since it struck the head, it dealt critical damage.

-7200

"Aah!"

The Gold Devouring Demon screamed, shaking his head and staggering back several steps. The huge mouth on his belly opened like a sack, spewing out vast amounts of gold, silver, and jewels that scattered across the ground.

"My money, my money!"

The Gold Devouring Demon hurriedly pounced on the money and desperately stuffed it back into the mouth on his belly. He had fallen into demonhood because of greed, stuffing all the money he gained into his own body, believing that was safest—like a Pixiu that only took in and never gave out.

Fan Lang knew the Gold Devouring Demon's traits well. When the Gold Devouring Demon was picking up money, it was the best time to deal damage!

"Attack together!"

Fan Lang and Li Yunyan attacked the Gold Devouring Demon together, unleashing a furious barrage. Under the onslaught, the Gold Devouring Demon kept vomiting up gold, silver, and jewels until he died atop the very treasures he cherished.

"My money..."

The Gold Devouring Demon grabbed a handful of jewels and spoke his final words before collapsing motionlessly. Demonic Qi surged from his body as it crumbled apart. After death, he reverted to his original human form: a plump, middle-aged man.

Congratulations! You have slain the BOSS Gold Devouring Demon. You successfully challenged an enemy above your level and received 32,000 Experience Points as an over-level reward, as well as one 5-star Skill Book: Earthquake Wave.

The Gold Devouring Demon dropped a large amount of treasure, worth a total of 52,566 taels of silver.

You received a BOSS kill reward: Small Experience Pack x3. These contain random Experience Points, with a maximum possible reward of 9,999 Experience Points.
Player level increased to Mystic General Level 7. Mystic Power +300, Health +300.
Player level increased to Mystic General Level 8. Mystic Power +300, Health +300.

Killing a BOSS really was different!

The instant the Gold Devouring Demon received bento, so many notifications popped up at once—rewards, level-ups, everything.

At the Mystic General realm, leveling up was no longer easy. Gaining two levels in a row was enough to make Fan Lang grin from ear to ear. The Earthquake Wave Skill Book, fifty thousand taels' worth of treasure, and three Experience Packs were all good things as well.

This battle could truly be called a bountiful harvest.

"Haha, coming all this way wasn't for nothing," Fan Lang laughed.

"Killing him did earn us quite a lot of money." Li Yunyan put away her twin blades and looked at the treasures scattered all over the ground.

"It's not just about the money. I gained other things too."

"What else did you gain?"

"It's hard to explain in just a few words. Simply put, I can improve my strength through battle. The more I fight, the stronger and braver I become. That's my true gain."

"I see."

Li Yunyan completely believed Fan Lang's words. Over the past few days together, she had clearly sensed the improvement in his strength. His rate of progress was incredibly fast—almost absurdly so.

If he continued progressing at this rate, how high would his future achievements reach?

Li Yunyan could not imagine it.

The battle had taken quite a bit out of both of them, so they definitely needed to rest properly. There would be no more major action tonight.

While they took turns resting, Fan Lang opened his system inventory and looked at the three random Experience Packs. These were another kind of item that depended on luck.

With good luck, he could get several thousand Experience Points. With bad luck, getting a single-digit amount was also possible.

Fan Lang could not resist testing his luck and opened one Experience Pack.

You obtained 5 Experience Points.

Five points?

No way?

Single digits?

Fan Lang looked again and confirmed that it really was only 5 Experience Points!

No one had worse luck than this. He truly had the darkest possible luck.

"Getting two digits would at least have been fair. Damn it, it actually gave me single-digit Experience Points! Forget it, I'd better honestly modify them..."

Fan Lang accepted his fate, returning to his old trade and obediently modifying the other two Experience Packs. It took quite a bit of time, but he changed both to their maximum values.

You obtained 9,999 Experience Points.

You obtained 9,999 Experience Points.

Player level increased to Mystic General Level 9. Mystic Power +300, Health +300.

Modifying them was far more satisfying. Every pack gave the maximum Experience Points, directly raising him another level!

With that, Fan Lang was only one step away from becoming a Mystic Spirit. He would definitely level up before leaving Demon Claw Forest.

Once he reached the Mystic Spirit realm, he would be able to unlock the Spirit Eye and cultivate eye techniques.

Eye techniques were a branch beneath secret arts. Their effects varied widely, and because they were cast directly through the eyes, they often produced unexpected results.

Demon Claw Forest happened to conceal a very powerful eye technique. One reason Fan Lang had chosen this place to level up was to obtain that eye technique.

The next morning, a ray of dawn illuminated the gloomy Demon Claw Forest.

The system had a small map function that could help Fan Lang lock onto directions and locate targets. He headed toward the location of that eye technique manual, cutting through thorns and brambles along the way while gaining quite a bit more Experience Points.

After traveling a long distance, he finally reached his destination.

This place lay deep within Demon Claw Forest. On the surface, there was nothing special about it. If one did not know the truth, one would never imagine that a great secret was hidden here.

Fan Lang stepped on the ground, pointed beneath his feet, and said one word.

"Dig!"