Shu Mountain and Emei

The Ten Thousand Demons Valley was truly magnificent, with cliffs on all sides soaring into the clouds, majestic and towering, forming a giant valley vast enough to hold several super-sized cities.

Yan Kuan seized an opportunity when a demon soldier let down his guard and slipped into the Ten Thousand Demons Valley. As soon as he entered, he saw several waterfalls, each a thousand zhang long, cascading from the valley walls above—a vast, white expanse of breathtaking splendor. Under the sunlight, a mist of rainbow hues shimmered in the air.

The place was evergreen through all seasons, a landscape of wonders at every turn along the path, with stone forests and bright lakes, as if stepping into a self-contained little world.

Deep within the valley lay orchard after orchard, golden and crimson fruits weighing down the branches, their fragrance crisp and enticing. There were also fields of medicinal herbs, filled with precious spirit plants like yellow essence, fleeceflower root, and ginseng—to Yan Kuan, it was nothing short of paradise.

"Slurp... mine, all mine. I need to figure out a way to make these demons willingly trade all these spirit herbs to me!"

Seeing so many spirit fruits and herbs, Yan Kuan's eyes nearly popped out. He knew that for an alchemist to advance in rank, aside from spiritual power and flame control, the most crucial factor was alchemical experience—and there were no shortcuts in that; it had to come from practice.

He was currently a Rank Four Alchemist, but that didn't mean his limits were there. The biggest bottleneck for alchemists was spiritual power and cultivation base, and he had already met those requirements. What held him back was a lack of spirit herbs to refine, which kept his alchemy skills from improving quickly.

Now that he had found the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, Yan Kuan felt he should find a way to help these 'backward and pitiful' demons. Eating spirit herbs raw was such a waste—handing them all over to him to refine into pills was the proper path.

Half a month later, in a mountain forest outside the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, several ape demons carried a cloth bundle exuding a mixed fragrance as they moved through the dense woods, stopping beneath a large tree.

"Brother Li, Brother Li, we brothers have come to trade for pills."

The few black monkey demons called out softly. Suddenly, a shadow flashed above their heads, and a short figure appeared out of nowhere.

"Brother Macaque, let's inspect the goods first."

Yan Kuan spoke little. Though this wasn't his first trade with these ape demons, he still didn't dare let his guard down—this place was too close to the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, and he was no match for the Dragon Transformation Realm experts inside.

"Sure thing!"

The leading black macaque demon said as he spread open the cloth bundle. Inside were various spirit fruits and herbs, none with medicinal properties exceeding a hundred years, but that was more than enough for Yan Kuan's current needs.

"This is the Beast Spirit Pill I refined. Taking it will let you unleash far greater strength than usual. After the temporary burst effect fades, your bloodline awakening will also improve. Check it over, or you can take one on the spot to verify the effects."

Yan Kuan handed over the pills for trade. The so-called Beast Spirit Pill was a pill he had derived by combining available materials and extrapolating from the Rank Six Demon Transformation Pill and the Rank Four Beast Transformation Pill.

The pill's medicinal properties were violent, and the process of awakening and tapping bloodline potential was agonizing—only the Demon Race and certain special physiques could withstand such potency.

"No need for all that trouble. We brothers trust Brother Li's character."

The leading macaque demon smiled at Yan Kuan, took the jade bottle, sniffed the medicinal fragrance carefully, and then asked, "Brother Li, when should we set the next trade? Tell us what spirit herbs you need, and we brothers will find a way."

"Brothers of the monkey clan, as for the pill trade, I'm afraid it won't be possible for a while. This humble one needs to return to Shu Mountain first, and I don't know when I'll come out again. If fate allows, we'll meet again!"

After saying this, Yan Kuan exchanged a few more pleasantries with the monkey demons, then his figure vanished into the dense forest. The monkey demons exchanged glances for a few moments before heading back to the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

The monkey demons made it back to the valley without trouble, going deep inside to pay respects to an imposing monkey king.

This monkey king dozed in a half-asleep, half-awake state, his breaths releasing astonishing demonic aura. His entire body was covered in crystalline golden fur, with Fiery Golden Eyes and a thunder-beak mouth, resembling Sun Wukong from Journey to the West. His name was indeed Sun Wukong, and he was the current Third Valley Lord of the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

"You monkey grandchildren are back!"

The moment the Third Valley Lord opened his eyes, golden light shot from his pupils. With a mere wave of his hand, the jade bottle in the macaque demon's hand flew into his palm.

The Third Valley Lord pulled out the stopper, took out a Beast Spirit Pill, and examined it carefully. After a moment, he chuckled smugly, "That kid really is an alchemy genius. The quality of this batch is much better than last time's! When did Li Feiyu say the next trade would be, and what spirit herbs does he need?"

The macaque demon hesitated, then stepped forward and said, "Th-Third Valley Lord, that man... he said he was going back to Shu Mountain for a while, and that if fate allows, they'd meet again."

The Third Valley Lord's expression shifted at these words. "Back to Shu Mountain? That kid does have a notable sword aura on him, but he shouldn't be a sword immortal. Could it be he sensed something?"

The macaque demon asked cautiously, "Third Valley Lord, should we give chase?"

He paced back and forth for a long while, then finally put away the jade bottle. "Since he's already gone, let it be. Our Ten Thousand Demons Valley isn't the type of force that forces trades. Blocking someone from leaving—what would that look like? Consider it planting a seed of goodwill. If fate allows, we'll meet again someday."

The Third Valley Lord had his reasons for this decision. When Yan Kuan first secretly traded with the valley's lesser demons, the greater demons inside had already sensed something amiss. But both sides could feel a lethal threat even across the mountain forest, so they never confronted each other directly.

In the subsequent trades, both sides gained something and began building trust, so the valley's higher-ups tacitly allowed it to continue.

"This Ten Thousand Demons Valley is a faction worth trading with, but I'll need stronger trump cards before I can talk to them as an equal."

In a valley a hundred li from the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, Yan Kuan stopped and waited half the night. Sensing no one following, he relaxed and continued on his way.

The spirit herbs he had obtained from these trades were enough to last him a while. To refine higher-grade pills, he would need rarer herbs, which would inevitably require negotiations with the valley's higher-ups. But his strength wasn't there yet, so he had to focus on improving and gathering more cards to play.

He left the Daba Mountains and entered Sichuan, then headed toward Mount Emei. Mount Emei rose in layered peaks, its terrain majestic, its scenery divine, with a thousand changing moods.

What people called Shu Mountain was a general term for the mountain ranges around Emei. Here, ancient trees towered to the sky, clouds severed bridges, ravines were deep and valleys secluded, countless waterfalls cascaded through the chasms, and the sound of flowing water murmured endlessly.