Second-Tier Demon Treasure, atop White Crane Ridge

"Heh, now this is starting to get interesting." Lu Yang chuckled softly as the true qi of the Returning Origin Art accelerated inside him and flowed into the space between his brows.

The illusion before his eyes abruptly shattered, and Lu Yang's mind quickly regained its clarity.

As a Black-grade, high-tier cultivation method, the Returning Origin Art's true qi was upright, balanced, and gentle in nature, and innately possessed the ability to "break delusion."

The few illusions released by that Butterfly Demon were no pressure at all to Lu Yang.

"Rolling Stone Opens Mountain!"

Lu Yang gripped his saber with both hands and shouted as he exhaled.

The blade was like a shooting star tearing across the night sky, vanishing in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, his hand rose and the saber fell. The berserk Butterfly Demon let out a startled cry, then its head was cut off, and it toppled straight to the ground.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slaying one second-rank, second-level Butterfly Demon. Gained 100 Experience Points."

Seeing their leader die in battle, the remaining Butterfly Demons lost even more of their will to fight and scattered in every direction.

With Experience Points delivered right to his mouth, how could Lu Yang let them go so easily? Seizing the chance, he struck out again and again, killing another two late first-rank Butterfly Demons.

At this moment, of the Butterfly Demons, some were dead and some had fled. Beside the Cold Spring, only Lu Yang and Niu Hanshan remained.

Niu Hanshan loved Demon Treasures most of all. As soon as the battle ended, his eyes shone, and he ran off in high spirits to dig out the Demon Treasure.

Lu Yang opened the system panel and checked his own attributes.

[Host: Lu Yang]

[Realm: Houtian Second Level (0/199)]

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

[Experience Points: 148]

He was still 51 Experience Points away from breaking through to the Houtian Third Level.

What a pity. If I could have kept all those Butterfly Demons here just now, I'd definitely be able to break through to the Houtian Third Level. At that point, even if I faced Old Master White Crane head-on, I'd have quite a bit more confidence, Lu Yang thought.

Fortunately, he also knew that rice had to be eaten one mouthful at a time, and roads had to be walked one step at a time, so he was not too disappointed.

"Hahaha, a second-rank Demon Treasure!" Niu Hanshan held a palm-sized piece of flesh in both hands, extremely excited.

Although quite a bit of blood still clung to the Demon Treasure, a faint, strange fragrance had already begun to spread from it.

Lu Yang's brows furrowed slightly, and he urged, "Brother Niu, stop celebrating. Hurry up and swallow it!"

Niu Hanshan's heart tightened at those words. He quickly took out a handkerchief, wiped the bloodstains off the Demon Treasure, then swallowed it whole in one gulp.

The Demon Race was especially sensitive to the strange fragrance of Demon Treasures. If even a little of that scent spread, it would be enough to expose the two of them.

"We can't stay here for long. Go!" Lu Yang immediately set off with Niu Hanshan, quickening their pace and following the Cold Spring upstream.

Sure enough, not long after the two left, a white shadow dropped down from the sky.

Old Master White Crane's massive body stood beside Butterfly Spring, his icy gaze falling on the headless body of the Butterfly Demon leader.

Several shadows followed closely after him and arrived there as well.

The Fox Demon said, "The intelligence was wrong. If that boy could kill the Butterfly Demon, his strength is definitely not as simple as Houtian First Level!"

"He brought a helper." The Snake Demon's vertical pupils contracted as it said darkly, "To the north."

The Bear Demon said in a muffled voice, "There's only White Crane Ridge to the north. Brother Tiger is on the mountain right now. The two of them have nowhere to run."

The eyes of the other demons all revealed a bit of mocking amusement as well.

At present, the various second-rank Demon Race leaders of White Crane Ridge, along with the masses of demons under their command, were all beside Butterfly Spring to the south of White Crane Ridge.

The vast White Crane Ridge lay directly north of them.

As for that Tiger Demon under Lord Black Mountain's command, he was currently on White Crane Ridge.

All the demons present were very clear on that Brother Tiger's strength.

Lu Yang and Niu Hanshan were now caught in the middle. As the encirclement shrank, the range in which they could move would grow smaller and smaller.

At that point, the two would be faced with a choice: continue north and climb White Crane Ridge, or turn back and head south.

If they went south, Lu Yang and Niu Hanshan were bound to run into the swarm of demons led by Old Master White Crane. It was practically a certain-death situation.

If they went north and climbed White Crane Ridge, they would encounter that Brother Tiger. In the eyes of the demons, that was also certain death.

Old Master White Crane sneered. "If they could wipe out the Butterfly Demons, then the two of them have already made it worth their while."

The original encirclement continued to shrink, and after the Fox Demon's adjustments, it focused more heavily in the direction upstream from Butterfly Spring.

Because a few traces of strange fragrance still remained on Niu Hanshan, the demons were closing in on the two of them at an extremely fast speed.

Time was pressing, and it simply did not allow Niu Hanshan to stop and circulate his energy to absorb the medicinal power of that Demon Treasure.

"Brother Lu, their encirclement is getting tighter and tighter. What do we do?" Niu Hanshan's expression looked slightly tense.

Along the way, the two had brushed past demons several times. To avoid being held up by large numbers of demons, they had no choice but to change direction again and again, weaving back and forth through the forest.

The space left for the two of them to dodge and maneuver was growing smaller and smaller.

Lu Yang looked up at the towering White Crane Ridge ahead and said, "If we stay here, we'll be surrounded sooner or later. We might as well force our way out and fight our way up White Crane Ridge!"

Niu Hanshan sucked in a cold breath when he heard that. "Are you insane? White Crane Ridge is Old Master White Crane's lair. Charging up White Crane Ridge is no different from suicide!"

"Not so," Lu Yang said. "If Brother Niu's earlier judgment was correct, then Old Master White Crane should be with the mass of demons right now, pursuing and blocking us to the south. White Crane Ridge must be thinly defended at the moment. If you and I do the opposite and kill our way up White Crane Ridge, we may have a chance to descend from the other side and escape!"

Niu Hanshan's eyes lit up. "Fortune is sought amid danger. Let's do it!"

The two immediately stopped playing hide-and-seek with the swarm of demons. They found a relatively weak section of the encirclement and ferociously broke out.

Whoosh, whoosh!

First, Niu Hanshan nocked arrows in the dark and shot down several lesser demons, drawing the demons' attention.

Immediately after, Lu Yang charged out with his saber from the opposite direction, catching the demons completely off guard.

"Rolling Stone Cracks Earth!"

"Rolling Stone Opens Mountain!"

The swarm of demons let out a string of furious roars and miserable screams. In just a dozen breaths, seven or eight lesser demons had all died there.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing one Snake Demon at first tier, sixth level. Gained 6 Experience Points."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing one Bear Demon at first tier, seventh level. Gained 7 Experience Points."

At this moment, Lu Yang's Experience Points had risen to 188. He was only 11 points away from advancing to the third level of the Houtian Realm, and a little more confidence settled in his heart.

After climbing White Crane Ridge, he only needed to kill a few lesser demons and advance to the third level of the Houtian Realm. Relying on the vast amount of true qi brought by the Returning Origin Art, he would be strong enough to contend with late-stage Houtian Realm experts.

"Go!"

The two did not even have time to dig Demon Treasures out of the corpses of those lesser demons. To avoid being surrounded by the large numbers of Demon Race nearby, they immediately quickened their pace, hurriedly broke through, and followed the rugged mountain path up White Crane Ridge.

"Screech!"

They had only just reached the mountainside when several clear crane cries rang out across the mountain summit.

"Lowly blood food, how dare you trespass on my White Crane Ridge?" A dozen or so Crane Demons stood on the mountain rocks, and the one in the lead, a peak first-tier white crane, spoke in human tongue.