Demons Cultivate Power, the Marvel of Returning to the Origin

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slaying one First-tier Sixth Level Butterfly Demon. Gained 6 Experience Points."

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slaying one First-tier Sixth Level Butterfly Demon. Gained 6 Experience Points."

With a thought, Lu Yang opened the Attribute Panel.

[Host: Lu Yang]

[Realm: Houtian First Level (0/20)]

[Martial Arts: Mountain Splitting Saber Art (Perfection: (10/10)]

[Experience Points: 28]

Those two Butterfly Demons had likely only been scouts. They were fast, but their strength was very weak; only the Charm Powder fanned out from their butterfly wings could make a person's mind fall into a brief daze.

Lu Yang cut off the butterfly wings, took out a small bottle, and carefully collected the Charm Powder.

Niu Hanshan used the dagger he carried to cut open the Butterfly Demon and search its body for a Demon Treasure. Naturally, he came up empty.

The chance of a First-tier Lesser Demon producing a Demon Treasure was already very low to begin with. Moreover, this Butterfly Demon had not reached the high stage of First-tier, so the chance of a Demon Treasure appearing was pitifully small. Niu Hanshan could only let out a helpless sigh.

The two continued deeper into the forest, and before long, they had left the boundaries of Niushi Town.

White Crane Ridge, towering into the clouds, was already within sight.

"According to the information my fort has gathered, no fewer than two hundred demons are entrenched around White Crane Ridge. On White Crane Ridge itself, there are at least seven or eight Second-Order Demons that have cultivated into spirits."

Niu Hanshan continued, "With our current strength, getting rid of Old Master White Crane probably won't be easy."

Lu Yang said, "Since Brother Niu invited me here, you must already have a plan in mind. Just say it."

Niu Hanshan said, "In my opinion, there's no need to go up White Crane Ridge for the time being. The Demon Race gathers separately in different communities. I know roughly how the Demon Race is distributed south of White Crane Ridge, on the side close to Niushi Town."

"You mean we strike separately and break them one by one?" Lu Yang said.

Niu Hanshan smiled and said, "Exactly."

With the two's current strength, if they joined hands, even Demon Race members at the second or third level of the Houtian Realm could be killed.

But if they wanted to clash head-on with all of White Crane Ridge, that was clearly unrealistic.

"The chance of a Demon Treasure appearing inside a Second-Order Demon Race member is not small. You and I have only just broken through to the Houtian Realm, and we don't have much of a bottleneck. To us, Demon Treasures are even more great supplements for blood and Qi, things that can increase the true Qi in our bodies. As long as we can truly obtain Demon Treasures, after you and I swallow them, our strength can also rise another step," Niu Hanshan added.

Hunting demons to seize treasures was also the main rapid-advancement path for Rogue Cultivator martial artists.

Only, acting this way was undoubtedly a matter of hanging one's head from one's belt. It was extremely easy to fail at hunting demons and instead become blood food in a demon's mouth.

However, Lu Yang had the system on him. If he could obtain Demon Treasures, that would be even better; if he could not, he could also quickly improve through Experience Points.

At present, the County Yamen was unclean within, and outside there was the Wang Family, this powerful enemy. If he could not rapidly improve his own strength, he would very easily be harmed by treacherous people.

Therefore, upon hearing Niu Hanshan's invitation, he naturally did not mind taking a dangerous gamble.

As for Niu Hanshan, he was likely doing it for Niushi Fort's safety.

Lu Yang's thoughts turned like lightning, while he said aloud, "Even so, challenging one Demon Race community at a time probably won't be that easy. If the commotion gets too big, it'll be very easy to draw in the surrounding Demon Race."

Niu Hanshan smiled and said, "I already thought of all that long ago."

After saying this, he reached into his robes and took out a black porcelain bottle the size of a palm.

The moment he opened the stopper, a faint stench immediately spread from within.

"What's inside this bottle is dung water I refined from the feces of many kinds of Demon Race. As long as we sprinkle a little on ourselves, it will completely cover up our own scent." Niu Hanshan shook the bottle in his hand at Lu Yang and smiled.

Seeing this, Lu Yang could not help but smile. "It seems Brother Niu's idea of entering the mountains to hunt demons probably wasn't a sudden whim."

Niu Hanshan said, "I won't hide it from Brother Lu. Back then, my father died in this very forest. The demons of the entire White Crane Ridge and I cannot live under the same sky! When I was young, I entered the forest many times to hunt demons. It was only because of the hidden injuries on my body that I restrained myself somewhat over these years."

Lu Yang fell silent.

The hatred between the Human Race and demons and devils had existed since ancient times.

Demon Hunters like Niu Hanshan, carrying blood feuds on their backs, could be seen everywhere throughout Black Mountain County.

Most likely, during all these years when his hidden injuries had not healed, he had also been holding in a surge of energy, wanting to clear out the demons around Niushi Town.

Lu Yang had no intention of prying into another person's past.

After all, in such a world, perhaps everyone's heart held a few unspeakable old stories.

The two silently traveled through the mountain forest. The mountains and woods were vast; even by the time the sun set, the two had not encountered a second group of demons.

After night fell, Niu Hanshan skillfully found a concealed spot and dug an earth cave, then sprinkled a little Demon Race dung water at the cave entrance, covering the human scent on the two of them.

Lu Yang took the initiative to propose that he keep watch for the first half of the night, and Niu Hanshan sank into deep sleep.

Only after Niu Hanshan's breathing steadied did Lu Yang sit down cross-legged inside the earth cave and begin circulating the Returning Origin Art, mobilizing the demon Qi he had drawn from those two Butterfly Demons during the day. With the secret method recorded in the Returning Origin Art, he guided the demon Qi into his body, stimulating the muscles and flesh throughout him.

Demon Qi was formed when demons absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and fused it with the blood and Qi within their own bodies. It contained the power of vicious Baleful Intent, and ordinary people naturally kept their distance from it.

Even if they were only contaminated by a little, it could make mortals who did not cultivate the martial path fall seriously ill.

An act like Lu Yang's, drawing demon Qi into his body, even in the eyes of martial artists, was simply no different from suicide.

Following the secret method, Lu Yang first forcibly suppressed the instinctive rejection of the true Qi inside his body. After that, he used the secret method to draw strands of demon Qi into his body, stimulating the blood, flesh, muscles, and membranes throughout him.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

That feeling was as if he were taking a small knife and constantly slicing flesh from his own body; the slightest carelessness could easily leave him crippled.

Fortunately, Lu Yang had always been cautious by nature. Before he began drawing demon qi into his body, he had already rehearsed this secret method countless times in his mind.

He had also anticipated the pain involved.

Two hours later, the demon qi around Lu Yang dispersed, and of the thirty-six major acupoints within the body recorded in the Returning Origin Art, he had opened two.

Lu Yang instinctively sensed that the true qi inside him, which had originally stopped growing, had quietly increased by a few points.

Though it was not much, it was already a good beginning.

In addition, the flesh and blood tempered by the demon qi had also, imperceptibly, become a few degrees tougher.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle!

He had not felt it while cultivating, but after ending his practice, Lu Yang suddenly felt his stomach become unbearably hungry.

The early stages of cultivating the Returning Origin Art consumed an extreme amount of qi and blood. Only after all thirty-six major acupoints were opened would the situation improve.

Lu Yang took out some dry rations he carried with him and swallowed them down, and only then did that feeling of hunger ease slightly.

Just as he was about to wake Niu Hanshan so they could switch shifts for the night watch, a sudden rustling sound came from above the underground hole.

"It's a Snake Demon," Niu Hanshan said with a frown, having woken at some point.

He had grown up in a place like Niushi Town, located on the edge of Black Mountain County, and his understanding of demons was even greater than Lu Yang's.

Only, before he finished speaking, Lu Yang had already leaped up and jumped out of the underground hole.

His long saber danced in the dark night. In the forest where not the slightest glimmer of light could be seen, it still sliced off the snake's head with extreme precision.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, for slaying one seventh-level First-tier Snake Demon. Obtained 7 Experience Points."

Lu Yang's own Experience Points also rose to 35.

Only after doing all this did Lu Yang belatedly freeze in place.

"Hm?"

"How did my perception become so sharp?"

Dark clouds covered the sky tonight, and this place was further blocked by dense forest. There was not the slightest bit of light at all.

Relying solely on perception, Lu Yang had locked precisely onto the snake's head and killed it in one strike.

Such keen perception was something he had not possessed at all before.

Clearly, it was a hidden gain from cultivating the Returning Origin Art tonight.

Lu Yang could not help sighing with emotion. The earlier torment, as though he were being sliced to pieces by demon qi, had ultimately not been endured in vain.

The next day, the two of them arrived in a mountain hollow.

Below, more than a dozen Wolf Demons were sprawled across a flat boulder, lazily sunning themselves.

After Niu Hanshan investigated and confirmed they were only some First-tier Lesser Demons, he raised his iron bow, drew it full as the moon, aimed at one Wolf Demon, his gaze sharpening as he loosed the arrow with a swoosh.

"Awoo!"