Chameleon Lizard Demon

Boom!

Li Ye smashed a huge boulder with one punch. Only after confirming that he could not find any demons did he turn back to survey the area. Everywhere he looked was a complete mess, with scraps of flesh and blood scattered amid the wreckage.

He had started from the central area and expanded outward. Each time he searched one section, he returned before moving closer in another direction.

After several hours of searching, everything in the area that he could see or could not see had been dug out.

Glancing at the sky as dusk gradually fell, Li Ye dusted off his hands and prepared to return to the entrance, ending the day.

But just as he launched his Lightness Skill, he inexplicably heard a muffled impact from below, mixed with a shout.

His soaring figure immediately shot toward the other side of the mountain.

He was currently right atop a peak. Ahead lay an area enclosed by markers, and from the mountaintop, he could see where the mountainside had been excavated, exposing the rock face below.

His current position was still quite close to the quarry. Down below, Yang Jie had clearly been struck by something. He fell to the ground with a muffled groan, and even his arm had bent out of shape.

"Run! There's danger!"

From the corner of his eye, Yang Jie saw someone descend. He shouted a warning, then moved to call for help from the drone patrolling overhead.

But at that very moment, Li Ye landed swiftly and felt a gust of wind rush at him.

Bang!

A dull impact exploded against him, forcing Li Ye back a step. Several tears opened across the clothing on his shoulder, as though sharp claws had slashed him there. Beneath the damaged fabric, several red marks had appeared on his skin as well.

Li Ye revealed a look of surprise. Ever since he had mastered the Twelve Golden Palaces Dragon Tiger Gate, no one had ever forced him back a single step.

Especially after tests on Dragon Mountain had confirmed that no demon could so much as budge him—yet he had actually run into one now.

And something was wrong. Though he could not see its body, that single exchange made Li Ye's blood and qi churn, forcefully stirring in him the urge to flee, as if he had encountered some great terror.

But that feeling was quickly resisted by his blood and qi.

"Let me see what you are!"

Li Ye swiftly reached out and grabbed at the object ahead that was warping the air.

The thing seemed to be invisible, yet it still created a faint distortion in the air. At close range, he could make out its rough outline.

Rip!

With that one grab, Li Ye's fingers dug in, forcibly tearing off a chunk of flesh.

Blood sprayed from the air, congealing in Li Ye's hand into a cracked fragment of scale mixed with flesh.

"Gah!"

A strange cry came from the air, followed by another whistling gust. Li Ye blocked it, and a muffled impact rang out.

"Tail?"

He grabbed backhandedly, catching a form that felt like a tail. With a kick, he sent that patch of warped air visibly toppling over. Li Ye took the chance to step down on it, his hand clamped tightly around the tail.

"It'll show itself once it dies!"

A savage grin rose on Li Ye's face. His fingers curled into tiger claws as he tore downward with vicious force, ripping out a massive streak of blood and skin like shattered scales. It had clearly been torn completely apart.

The invisible thing took shape. In Li Ye's hand was indeed a tail covered in irregular fragmented scales. Beneath his foot was the creature's upper chest, while its center had been ripped open and split in two.

It was a humanoid lizard monster. Its body was covered in fragmented scales, and its limbs resembled those of a human, but its head was long and narrow like a lizard's.

The claws on its hands and feet were long and sharp, with red lines running through its nails. Behind its narrow head, there was even some hair that belonged to a human.

"This thing..."

Li Ye frowned and looked toward the half-excavated quarry on the distant mountainside. He then walked over, pried open its long mouth, and discovered that its mouth was split into four petals like a flower. Its tongue was also hard, with an arrowhead-shaped tip.

"A Chameleon Lizard Demon."

Before coming to Dragon Mountain, aside from the materials issued by the school, he had also learned some things on his own.

After all, he had searched through a great deal of information for the sake of authority long ago, especially ancient texts. Records in that area were particularly comprehensive.

He had collected the most complete information of all on Ningjiang City.

There were also records of demons within Dragon Mountain's territory in Ningjiang City.

The Chameleon Lizard Demon was one of them, recorded in the Qing dynasty's Ningjiang Prefecture Records: Labor Service Records.

Three hundred quarry laborers worked at the northern foot of Dragon Mountain, chiseling rock day and night for the city's construction. A stoneworker surnamed Wang unearthed "Blood Marrow Jade," enraging the mountain spirit. Sulfurous mist suddenly surged from the cracks in the rock. The flesh and bones of ninety-three people melted into the stone veins, while the survivors all went mad, devoured mineralized lizards, and fled through the crevices to survive.

The modern academic explanation was that the ancients, unable to bear the crushing burden of forced labor, bred resentment and a desire to escape. Combined with the deathly aura of those who had died, it gave rise to this type of demon.

The essence of the Chameleon Lizard Demon lay in "avoiding labor"—escaping every hardship and exhausting task, wanting to cast aside every burden and slip alone into a safe place.

That was why this type of demon possessed invisibility, able to assimilate with its surroundings.

Once it appeared, it could also stir laziness and pessimism in people. They would want to do nothing, find everything troublesome, especially fear responsibility, hardship, and exhaustion, their view of the future becoming a blank expanse.

But because of its habits, it rarely appeared where people lived, usually emerging in remote places deep in the mountains.

This type of demon feared Righteous Qi. Things forged through blood and iron, bearing responsibility for home and nation, could effectively intimidate them.

For example, the national anthem of the Divine Land.

Or the sound of a great bell tolling could drive a Chameleon Lizard Demon away.

This was not a naturally evolved demon. It was a demon born purely from resentment, a harmful kind of demon.

"A demon like this can still appear in this day and age."

Li Ye looked toward the quarry and clicked his tongue. "No idea which black-hearted company did this. They've pushed things so far they forced out a demon. They need to investigate it thoroughly."

After spending two months in the Pest Control Bureau, he knew how to handle this sort of situation.

He looked toward Yang Jie. "Are you all right?"

"Th-thanks."

Yang Jie stared blankly at the severed corpse for a long while. He first stammered out his thanks, then smiled bitterly. "I heard before that you practiced the Adamantine Gate, and I doubted it. I didn't expect it to be true. Is a superior martial art really this powerful?"

It was not that he felt jealous. There was simply no way to be jealous.

The martial arts school he attended had superior martial arts. As a main competitor for the school, he could have the school find one for him—but his aptitude was lacking.

It was like building a nuclear bomb. The principles were right there. Why did no one learn it? Was it because they did not want to?

It was still because their aptitude was insufficient. He could only settle for cultivating a mid-grade body-tempering art. Otherwise, he would not have lost to Xiang Feipeng of the Fourth Dragon Gate while he himself was from the Fifth Dragon Gate.

That demon had broken his arm with one strike, yet when it hit Li Ye, it did nothing beyond tearing a little clothing.

The gap between them was revealed in an instant.

No wonder Li Ye ate so much. He had reached the realm of Bell Chimes and Cauldron Feasts. That was a personal accomplishment beyond envy.

"Get up first. Someone should be coming soon. You should get your injuries treated first."

Li Ye extended a hand. After Yang Jie grabbed it and got to his feet, Li Ye stared at the drone flying toward them overhead and said, "The people in charge should be here soon."

Only moments later, sharp whooshing sounds rang through the mountains. Several figures could be seen swiftly darting through the terrain, scaling walls and leaping across eaves as they rapidly arrived.

Only then did Li Ye see clearly that they were all dressed in field uniforms. Their blood and qi surged so fiercely that even the air around them twisted, brimming with vitality.

The military had arrived.