Mount Buzhou Range

Chapter 8: Mount Buzhou Range

Seeing the Black Beast in the distance and sensing its terrifying demonic aura, He Yu became even more cautious, concealing his own presence. He had yet to create any suitable offensive techniques; although he did not fear the Black Beast, he lacked the confidence to defeat it, especially with the Giant Tiger Demon present. If they were to join forces, his only option would be to flee.

The Black Beast's demonic aura was more than twice as strong as He Yu's, who had recently devoured the Python Demon. However, the distance between them was vast, and with He Yu's deliberate concealment, he remained undetected for the time being.

The Giant Tiger Demon led the Black Beast forward with careful, respectful gestures. Watching this from afar, He Yu could not help but recall a story from Liaozhai he had read in his past life: a fierce tiger in the mountains killed a deer and hid the carcass in a cave, intending to invite a Black Beast to feast. A man happened upon the scene and took the deer. Soon after, the tiger returned with the Black Beast, and upon finding the deer missing, the Black Beast flew into a rage and struck the tiger dead, while the tiger, paralyzed by terror, dared not offer the slightest resistance.

From this story, one could gauge the depth of the tiger's fear of the Black Beast, proving that the Black Beast's power far surpassed that of the tiger.

He Yu followed from a distance, keeping just within sight to avoid drawing the Black Beast's attention.

Before long, the three demons arrived at the site of the Python Demon's corpse. Since He Yu had slain the Python Demon only a short while ago, its body had not yet been scavenged by lesser demons, and the Giant Tiger Demon and the Black Beast arrived to find the carcass intact.

Upon seeing the Python Demon's remains, the Giant Tiger Demon's face drained of color. It trembled with fear, its four paws knocking together as it looked cautiously at the Black Beast stepping up behind it.

The Black Beast's expression darkened the moment it saw the corpse. It strolled up to the remains, inspected them for a moment, and then turned to fix a cold, icy gaze upon the Giant Tiger Demon. He Yu, watching from afar, understood: the Black Beast had come for the Python Demon's Demon Core, and finding it missing, it was now enraged.

ROAR!

A strange, guttural roar echoed out—less resonant than that of a tiger or leopard, but filled with a brutal, violent aura.

At the Black Beast's roar, the Giant Tiger Demon's legs gave way, and it collapsed to the ground, its face twisted in the terror of impending death.

The Black Beast paced toward the Giant Tiger Demon. The tiger simply lay paralyzed, whimpering as if begging for mercy. Ignoring this, the Black Beast reached the tiger, wrapped its front claws in terrifying demonic energy, and swung them with force. Two black, claw-shaped energy projections, each ten zhang in size, tore toward the Giant Tiger Demon.

BOOM!

Amidst the swirling black demonic energy, the Giant Tiger Demon's entire body was ripped to shreds. He Yu, watching from afar, was left speechless. It was exactly as Pu Songling had described! Faced with the Black Beast's strike, the tiger and leopard waited for death in fear, daring not to resist. It was truly incredible; the Giant Tiger Demon possessed no small amount of demonic energy itself, and while far inferior to the Black Beast, it could have potentially escaped had it fought for its life. Yet, it chose to wait for death?

WHOOSH! A swirl of black demonic energy swept out, and the Giant Tiger Demon's pale yellow Demon Core flew out with it. Seeing this, the Black Beast opened its blood-stained maw, and the core flew directly into its body. At the same time, the external demonic energy was retracted into its form.

Its expression shifted, its body trembled, and black and yellow demonic energies swirled and clashed violently around it.

He Yu watched with envy. He didn't know before, but after refining the Python Demon's core, he had truly experienced the benefits. Seeing the Giant Tiger's core being refined by the Black Beast made his heart ache.

Should I launch a sneak attack? Although this monster is powerful, refining a whole Giant Tiger Demon Core at once is a difficult task! My chances of success in a surprise attack might be quite high. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, He Yu was startled. He recalled his own experience with refining; two different demonic energies would fight incessantly and could not coexist. If he killed the Black Beast, both its core and the Giant Tiger's core might detonate simultaneously, and he would be caught in the crossfire.

Although his theory remained unproven, He Yu dared not take the risk. It wasn't worth it!

After a long while, the pained Black Beast gradually calmed down. The black and yellow demonic energy swirling outside its body turned entirely black. Seeing this, He Yu knew the refinement was complete; the Giant Tiger's core had been thoroughly devoured.

ROAR!

With an excited roar toward the heavens, the Black Beast's demonic aura surged significantly, now nearly three times that of He Yu.

Following the Black Beast's roar, countless lesser demons gathered from all directions. They were the subordinates of the Python Demon and the Giant Tiger. With both masters dead, their forces now fell into the hands of the Black Beast.

"Hmph! Stealing the Demon Core and then seizing the subordinates—despicable. If I, He Yu, do not avenge this, I am not worthy of being a man." Rage surged in He Yu's heart. Setting aside the Giant Tiger's core and the subordinates, he had been the one to slay the Python Demon; its subordinates should have been his. The thought of losing over a thousand lesser demons fueled his resentment toward the Black Beast.

Assessing that he was likely no match for the Black Beast, He Yu dared not strike. He would wait for an opportunity.

Before long, all the subordinates of the Python and the Tiger had arrived, all bowing in submission to the Black Beast. A dense, dark mass of creatures of various species, numbering around three thousand, stood before it. Their demonic auras varied in strength, with the strongest nearly half as powerful as the Python or the Tiger, and there were no fewer than a dozen of them.

A formidable force indeed!

Seeing that all the lesser demons had gathered, the Black Beast roared again in excitement. A surging, terrifying demonic aura erupted from its body, forming a massive black demonic cloud. Carrying all the lesser demons, it took to the air and flew into the distance.

Could something be happening? The Black Beast coming here to devour a core to increase its cultivation and then seizing these subordinates—this is certainly unusual! He Yu pondered. Furthermore, he could not swallow the insult of this unavenged grudge, so he followed them from afar.

Flying with three thousand lesser demons was difficult even for the Black Beast, despite its terrifying aura. It immediately arranged for the lesser demons to support it in two rotating shifts. There was strength in numbers; although the individual auras of the lesser demons were weak, their combined total was not inferior to the Black Beast's. Its burden was greatly reduced, and it flew toward the distance without pause.

He Yu, following far behind, had initially worried that his own demonic cloud would attract the Black Beast's attention. However, after traveling for a while, he was surprised to find many other demonic clouds like the Black Beast's along the way—varying in color and size, all carrying numerous lesser demons, led by powerful and terrifying Great Demons, some even comparable to the Black Beast.

"Something big is happening!" As He Yu sighed, his pupils suddenly constricted as if he had seen a ghost.

Looking at the mountain pillar in the far distance that connected the heavens and the earth—though it appeared as thin as a thread—it stirred up a tempest in He Yu's heart. Mount Buzhou! He Yu was certain of it; that was Mount Buzhou, the legendary spine of Pangu.

"The Primordial World? It really is the Primordial World!" He Yu did not know whether to be happy or worried. Even the lowest existence in the Primordial World could easily achieve immortality, but the thought of the great calamities made him shudder.

"Whatever, this isn't something I can choose. I must strive to improve my cultivation. The Primordial World is a place where the strong prey on the weak! Especially after that old Daoist Hongjun becomes a Saint. Wait, I am a transmigrator—could I be some kind of anomaly? If so, I'm bound to be killed by Hongjun! I must ensure that old man never becomes a Saint and merges with the Dao!" As He Yu's thoughts raced, the Mount Buzhou before him grew more imposing. Beneath the mountain pillar lay a vast, majestic, and boundless range—the very origin of the later myths of East and West Kunlun: the Mount Buzhou Range!

Upon seeing the Mount Buzhou Range, He Yu discovered tens of thousands of demonic clouds converging from all directions. They varied in size, but there were at least a hundred that were no less impressive than the Black Beast's.

No wonder everyone is in such a rush to improve their cultivation! It seems something is about to happen at Mount Buzhou, and it's attracting hundreds of millions of demons—it must be something precious! I cannot miss this! He Yu thought to himself.