Deep in the forest, Fang Mu faced a Black Wolf head-on, looking like two sworn enemies meeting with eyes blazing red.
"You all stand back. I'll deal with this demon wolf." Fang Mu spoke to the several Demon Slayer Envoys behind him.
The moment they heard this, those people retreated toward the edge of the forest without a second thought.
Loyalty and such things meant nothing to Demon Slayer Envoys like them. Staying alive was what mattered most.
Watching his companions leave without even looking back, Fang Mu ignored them and launched the first attack.
"Roar!" The Black Wolf howled and pounced at Fang Mu, just as unyielding.
The creature was still injured. Fang Mu had wounded it when it ambushed him that night.
As the two sides engaged in close combat, countless wood chips flew through the air and branches snapped.
The Black Wolf took several of Fang Mu's punches head-on, viciously knocking him down and lunging with its fangs bared, but Fang Mu kicked it over onto the ground.
Seeing that no one was in the small patch of woods, Fang Mu stopped holding back. He unleashed his full strength, pounding the Black Wolf with blow after blow that landed flesh-on-flesh.
The Black Wolf let out a miserable howl. The sound reached the edge of the forest, making the Demon Slayer Envoys there tremble with fear.
Before long, the howls abruptly stopped, and Fang Mu emerged from the woods covered in blood.
"Lord Fang, are you all right?"
"Lord Fang, where's the demon?"
Seeing Fang Mu covered in blood, the Demon Slayer Envoys approached and asked timidly.
"The wolf demon has been slain. Don't mention this matter again. Continue searching for the Corpse King!"
Fang Mu glanced at everyone and replied flatly before heading toward the mountain forest to one side.
"Yes!" The others quickly answered and hurried after Fang Mu after exchanging glances.
Everyone had begun to suspect Fang Mu's strength. They had never expected him to have hidden it so deeply.
But the stronger Fang Mu was, the safer they would be following him, so they instead felt that this was a good thing.
After searching for a while, Fang Mu saw many bones casually discarded throughout the forest. The pungent stench of decay made even him hold his breath.
In the end, they regrouped with Wen Xuan and the others and arrived outside a hidden cavern.
The cavern was concealed inside a tomb, and its depths were impossible to see.
"You go down and investigate first!" Tu Qing ordered Fang Mu and the others.
"Damn!"
Fang Mu was somewhat displeased. This was clearly asking him to serve as cannon fodder, and the others' expressions were even uglier.
"I'll go down. If it's too narrow below, sending too many people down would just be throwing their lives away!"
Ignoring Tu Qing, Fang Mu turned to Wen Xuan and spoke.
Then, without waiting for his reply, Fang Mu leaped straight into the cavern, making Qi Zhu beside him cry out in alarm.
Entering the cavern was not entirely because Tu Qing had forced him to. He also wanted to see whether he could defeat the severely wounded Corpse King.
If he could refine it, Fang Mu had a hunch that the Demon Refining Mirror might refine something good.
The cavern was more than ten meters high, and it grew wider the farther down one went.
Fang Mu landed on the ground with a faint, muffled thud and was not injured.
But this was only a dozen or so meters high. What if it were a hundred meters, or even higher?
Fang Mu felt that he should fuse with the Bat Wings when he had the time. Perhaps they could save his life when needed.
Collecting his thoughts, he continued forward along the pitch-black mountain tunnel and discovered that this place held a world of its own.
The passage inside the cavern was extremely long, resembling a natural underground cave.
After walking along the passage for some time, Fang Mu arrived inside a huge cavern.
He possessed night vision and did not need to rely on light to see everything around him clearly.
He discovered a pool of blood in the center of the cavern. Even from the entrance, Fang Mu could clearly smell its pungent, bloody stench.
Inside the blood pool, a tall corpse sat cross-legged, seemingly devouring the blood qi within it.
Just as Fang Mu was examining the corpse, it seemed to sense something and unexpectedly opened a pair of scarlet eyes.
At that moment, footsteps came from outside. Fang Mu transformed from solid to illusory, becoming a dark shadow that hid in a shadowy corner.
The Corpse King's aura was too powerful, and Fang Mu had no confidence in defeating it. It would be just right to let the others test the Corpse King's depth.
Very soon, a group of people entered the cavern. Amid a roar and howl, screams rang out one after another inside.
Immediately afterward, more than a dozen dark shadows shot over from the distance and rushed into the cavern.
Then another fierce battle and bloody melee erupted inside.
Fang Mu hid in the dark corner of the cavern, and no one noticed him.
He could be said to have broadened his horizons as he watched Wen Xuan, Bronze Toad Envoy Chen Mu, and the others employ various methods, urging powerful techniques to attack the Corpse King.
The Corpse King was blasted out of the blood pool, and even the blood pool itself was shattered by Wen Xuan and the others' attacks.
Wen Xuan and Chen Mu were both Third Rank Martial Artists. Working together, they suppressed the Corpse King.
With the assistance of Tu Qing and the others, who were Fourth Rank Martial Artists, the Corpse King immediately fell into a desperate situation.
At that moment, the Corpse King let out a roar. Its blood qi surged, and after breaking free of the encirclement, it fled toward the cavern entrance.
"Qi Zhu! Take people and stay behind to clean up the blood pool!"
Wen Xuan gave an instruction before pursuing the Corpse King outside with Tu Qing and Chen Mu.
Soon, the cavern fell silent.
Inside the cavern, Qi Zhu led more than twenty Demon Slayer Envoys, along with the remaining Demon Slayer Envoys, as they searched the blood pool with torches raised.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a string of screams rang out. Everyone who had approached the blood pool was pierced through by bone spurs.
Fang Mu, hiding in a dark corner of the cavern, was startled as well. He had not expected another mutation to be lurking inside the blood pool.
A skeletal monster burst out of the blood pool, instantly killing numerous Demon Slayer Envoys.
"Run!"
Amid cries of alarm and chaos, the remaining people desperately fled toward the cavern entrance.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
A series of sounds slicing through the air rang out. Countless bone spurs shot forth like sharp arrows, piercing through the bodies of the remaining Demon Slayer Envoys.
Qi Zhu grunted and was blasted away by the bone spurs. If she had not been wearing defensive soft armor, she would have been injured even if she had survived.
In an instant, the entire cavern fell utterly silent. Everyone had been silenced by the skeletal monster, leaving only Qi Zhu alive.
Fang Mu, hiding in the darkness, could not help gaping in shock at the skeletal monster's strength.
"Ah!"
Seeing the skeletal monster slowly approaching, Qi Zhu cried out in alarm and retreated again and again, coincidentally backing into the place where Fang Mu was hiding.
"Roar!"
The skeletal monster let out a howl, leaped high into the air, and pounced at Qi Zhu.
Qi Zhu cried out in alarm and raised her sword, intending to fight to the death.
Fang Mu, hiding in the darkness, sighed. He knew that if he did not act now, Qi Zhu might be killed in a single move.
"Ah!"
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Qi Zhu cried out in alarm as she watched the skeletal monster pounce at her. Terrified, she raised her sword and hacked wildly.
Then a string of thunderous clashes rang out, along with the sensation of a long sword cutting through empty air, bringing Qi Zhu back to her senses.
She saw a figure fighting the skeletal monster. The savage, bare-handed melee left even Qi Zhu staring in stunned disbelief.
The skeletal monster roared repeatedly and sent bone spurs shooting at Fang Mu.
Although Fang Mu's physical body was powerful, he gained no advantage.
The skeletal monster's entire body was covered in bone spurs. Its strength and speed were inferior to his.
But its bone spurs were far too sharp, stabbing into Fang Mu's fists and skin.
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