In the valley, although the Mountain Demon had spat out its inner core, the burning, oppressive heat in its chest still hadn't dispersed. Its head remained foggy and painfully uncomfortable, much like a person who had drunk too much and was suffering all kinds of physical discomfort.
"Soul-Luring Incense" was no poison. To monsters like Mountain Demons, it was like fine wine, and consuming too much could become addictive.
This miraculous effect had also whetted the Mountain Demon's appetite. It had swallowed quite a few living people, eating until its belly was distended, yet finding them difficult to digest. Combined with the enormous dose of "Soul-Luring Incense," this left the Mountain Demon increasingly dizzy. It finally blasted out its inner core with a burst of Baleful Breath of the Inner Core, and its mind recovered somewhat at last.
Just then, several white shadows swept over like whirlwinds, circling around the Mountain Demon.
Already irritable and restless because of the "Soul-Luring Incense," the Mountain Demon immediately roared and swung at the white shadows with all its might. But before its sharp claws could reach them, the shadows scattered backward in every direction.
A cold wind blew, and the effects of the "Soul-Luring Incense" seemed to surge again. The Mountain Demon grew drowsy and couldn't be bothered to move. The white shadows pressed close once more, then suddenly thrust out both palms and struck at the Mountain Demon's protective baleful aura.
The paper dolls swooped in and attacked. Their hands, harder than metal, clashed against the protective aura. The Armor-Clad Spirit Light and the invisible barrier pressed against each other, compressing tighter and tighter before bursting apart with a pop. The space caved in, and dust and sand scattered in every direction.
The paper dolls seemed to float away untouched by the force. The Mountain Demon staggered, as if jolted awake from its drunken stupor. Its fury boiled over, its eyes turned bloodred, and it sprang forward, desperately chasing after the scattered white shadows.
A pair of fleshy wings grew beneath the monster's ribs, but it had no ability to fly. On top of that, it had exhausted too much energy, and its movements grew slower and slower.
The paper dolls toyed with it like a cat playing with a mouse. Their faces showed joy or sorrow as they kept the Mountain Demon in tow, leading it deeper into the valley. As they moved farther away, only the sounds of breaking trees and roaring beasts gradually remained.
Qi Baiyi and the few surviving members of the Hu Ma Gang exchanged bewildered looks. What had happened was so bizarre that they couldn't even summon the relief of having survived a disaster.
Roar!
The Mountain Demon threw back its head and howled. Its eyes glimmered brightly, and the streak of blood in its pupils grew ever more vivid. The next second, it suddenly opened its mouth wide. Deep within its gaping maw shone a blazing red light.
Whoosh! The crystal-red, skull-shaped inner core shot out once more, turning into a great mass of dazzling red light. Even from far away, it was hard to keep one's eyes open. Wherever the light swept, grass withered and then crumbled into sand.
The paper dolls scattered through the air. Only one was struck by the inner core and blown apart.
At that moment, He Ping, who was hiding on the other side and controlling the paper dolls, also found the red light painfully glaring. As the flames flickered, he even felt the blood and qi in his body begin to boil.
Idiot!
The flames gradually dimmed. He Ping's phoenix eyes snapped open, and he sneered inwardly. This Mountain Demon was truly stupid. Didn't it know that spitting out its inner core would consume a huge amount of Baleful Breath of the Inner Core?
This inner core was the One-Horned Mountain Demon's most powerful attack, and its destructive force was astonishing. But each time it was used, it consumed a massive amount of baleful qi. Once its Baleful Breath of the Inner Core ran out, the protective baleful aura covering its body would be exhausted as well. It was truly a foolish move.
In the end, it's just a monster, with limited intelligence. After swallowing such a large dose of "Soul-Luring Incense," its mind is clouded, its strength weakened, its movements slowed, and it's carelessly wasting its precious Baleful Breath of the Inner Core. There's no doubt it's heading for a dead end.
He Ping had been assessing how much Baleful Breath of the Inner Core remained within the Mountain Demon. After testing it repeatedly, he concluded that it could no longer spit out its inner core and attack. Having lost its final trump card, the Mountain Demon had no chance of escaping with its life.
After spitting out its inner core, the Mountain Demon panted heavily, moving even more slowly than before.
"This One-Horned Mountain Demon is a rare breed. After forming its inner core, it absorbed all the Blood-Skull Baleful Qi from the earth's apertures and cultivated a strange kind of baleful qi by holding the core within its body."
Chixinzi, clad in a green robe, couldn't help smiling excitedly.
"If I can take this inner core, I'll be able to refine a formidable Outer Dao technique. Then I'll have an even better chance of seizing the inheritance of the Sanyuan Devil Palace."
At this point, he worried that He Ping might go back on his earlier promise, so he hurriedly added, "Of course, I'll also honor my promise and hand the fragment of the Seed Demon Technique over to you, Junior Brother."
"Good." He Ping lowered his eyes, his expression unmoving, while his hands continued to control the Mountain Demon, making it circle around in place.
He had haggled with Chixinzi for quite some time, and they had finally settled on terms. The One-Horned Mountain Demon's inner core was probably something valuable; he could tell from how impatient Chixinzi looked. But He Ping was quite interested in the Seed Demon Technique.
After all, in the depths of his own mind, another soul still bore a cloud of gloom left behind by the Seed Demon Technique. He Ping thought he might be able to use it to his advantage, especially after learning from Chixinzi that it was a "Resentful Demon" cultivated through the Seed Demon Technique.
"This Resentful Demon was refined from the grievances of more than a hundred members of the Cheng Family. I was there when disaster struck the Cheng Family Ranch. While the Hu Ma Gang and the Changhui Gang were killing people, I slipped in among them and refined a Resentful Demon."
Chixinzi admitted that a Resentful Demon needed the blood of a relative to inhabit its host. He had first lodged it in Cheng Yujiao. After she died, it would naturally transfer to Cheng Zhi, the only surviving bloodline of the Cheng Family.
"So the Resentful Demon can pass between blood relatives? And it grows stronger by accumulating resentment?"
Hearing this reminded He Ping of Cheng Yujiao, who had become a zombie after her death. A plan came to mind.
Perhaps Cheng Yujiao, who was made into a zombie, could serve a purpose beyond being used to refine Death Longevity Incense...
As he considered this, he replied to Chixinzi.
"But compared to the matter of the Sanyuan Devil Palace, I'd still like Senior Brother to help me capture this Mountain Demon. You promised you would, after all."
"Hahaha, of course."
Chixinzi didn't waste words. He stamped his right foot on the ground, and an invisible shockwave traveled through the thick-soled black cloth shoe, piercing the surface and sinking into the earth.
At his command, the ground behind the distant Mountain Demon suddenly cracked open. The Red-Scaled Earth-Armored Centipede Dragon burrowed out with agile movements. Its segmented body, each section covered in a hard red shell, coiled around the Mountain Demon's huge form.
This centipede-legged puppet was covered in Armor-Clad Spirit Light. Its joints ground together with a grinding clatter.
The Mountain Demon was bound fast, as if a heavy iron gate and chains had been clamped around it. Its chest could hardly expand; it nearly coughed all the air from its lungs. Its spine and shoulder blades ached as if about to shatter, and it seemed its internal organs would be squeezed out.
It was fortunate that the protective baleful aura was still active, radiating a faint light to resist the Armor-Clad Spirit Light pressing down from every side. Otherwise, even if the Mountain Demon hadn't been ground into mincemeat, its tendons and bones would have been crushed, and it would have died horribly.
"The protective baleful aura this Mountain Demon has gathered isn't invincible. Breaking through it point by point is indeed difficult, but when it's pressed from all sides, its defensive power drops. On top of that, it's wasted too much Baleful Breath of the Inner Core. The protective baleful aura covering its body has been weakened again and again, and it no longer has the strength to resist my Red-Scaled Earth-Armored Centipede Dragon."
Chixinzi let out a series of strange cackles and swept his sleeve. Several streaks of golden light shot out. They were Severed Ghost Hands. Flying in from every direction like steel spikes and awls, they pierced the Mountain Demon's spine and limbs, or transformed into steel hoops that clamped around its neck and mouth.
He Ping was also a little surprised. Only then did he realize that Severed Ghost Hands could be used in many different ways.
Chixinzi's centipede-shaped puppet and his Severed Ghost Hands—these are all puppet arts I haven't mastered. If he hadn't helped me today, I'd have had to spend far more effort capturing this Mountain Demon.
He didn't have any large puppets on hand that could suppress the Mountain Demon head-on. If he relied only on paper dolls and wooden demons, he could only wear the Mountain Demon down little by little. That was nowhere near as easy as what Chixinzi had done.
"Junior Brother, if you want to cut out the Mountain Demon's heart for your Heart-Swapping Technique, it's best to remove it while the beast is alive. As it happens, the sect's Heart-Piercing Lock is perfect for the job..."
Chixinzi seemed to want to show off in front of He Ping. He slowly extended a hand from his sleeve, then spread his fingers as though he meant to grasp something.
"Heart-Piercing Lock?"
He Ping raised his eyes with a frown. He noticed a faint green light flickering between Chixinzi's outstretched fingers, as if invisible threads stretched out into the air.
"Hah!"
Chixinzi suddenly clenched his hand. The Mountain Demon in the distance let out a hoarse, pained shriek. The old burn scar over its heart, which had never fully healed, split open, and a blood-filled hole suddenly burst into its chest with a bang.
He Ping's vision blurred. A huge lump of slick, red flesh had appeared in Chixinzi's palm. The coconut-sized mass was still beating—thump, thump—a horrifying sight.
"Junior Brother He, this is the demon heart you wanted."
Beneath Chixinzi's mask, the corner of his mouth stretched into a twisted, crooked smile.