Underground Demons

When Dongfang Riyue heard Wang Ding say that, he could not suppress his delighted surprise. "If there really is merit to be had, then that's a benefit as vast as the heavens. From now on, we'll surely be able to lessen quite a few calamities."

Dongfang Riyue's delight was not without reason. One had to know that cultivators were heavy with karma and thin in fortune, so many cultivators' roads in pursuit of the Dao were riddled with calamities. The slightest carelessness, and they would die unnatural deaths. Only those great sects knew how to accumulate merit to eliminate the karma produced by stealing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

One had to know that once karma coiled around the body, when the time came to undergo tribulation, the calamity would certainly be severe. If one's magic power was profound, one's fortune deep, and one had a sect's protection, one might still be able to pass through it. But those whose magic power was weak and whose fortune was thin could only close their eyes and wait for death. Therefore, the deeper a Dao cultivator's cultivation, the less they dared to slaughter wantonly.

Families like Dongfang Riyue's and Long Lingyu's, as well as the Wongchuan Sect they belonged to, were only mid-sized sects and clans. They did not possess a detailed method for collecting merit, so although they had developed for many years, they still could never reach the heights of the Nine Immortal Sects.

Now that they heard they had gained merit, it would have been strange if they had not been happy. In truth, Wang Ding had gained the most merit. This time, Wang Ding had used up all the Blazing Fire Talismans he had refined, more than thirty in total. The four of them had drawn great numbers of Formless Shadow Demons into clusters, and a single talisman could blow five or six of them to death. After Wang Ding carefully counted, he knew he had gained a full one hundred and fifty points of heavenly merit, and his heart was extremely excited.

"Junior Brother Wang Ding, there's definitely more than one entrance and exit here. We may run into people from other sects in this place, so everyone must be extremely careful," Dongfang Riyue said warily at this moment.

The four composed themselves and began exploring the place. Every time Wang Ding reached a corner, he carved a mark in a hidden spot to prevent them from losing their way. One had to know that Heavenly Void only opened for one month each time. Once the time limit was exceeded and Heavenly Void closed, they would only be trapped inside until they died.

Wang Ding and the other three had only advanced a dozen li when a series of roars and a fishy stench rode a gust of yin wind into their ears and noses.

Wang Ding's expression turned solemn. "Everyone, be careful. It seems the Demonic Beast isn't far away. Right, Brother Dongfang, do you know what weaknesses the monsters here have?"

Dongfang Riyue smiled bitterly. "My Dongfang family only developed into a great clan three hundred years ago, in truth. We only know bits and pieces of Heavenly Void's secrets. I truly don't know what kind of Demonic Beasts are here. I only know that the Inner Cores they're born with are rare wondrous treasures of heaven and earth, and can help cultivators break through the difficult pass of fusing Innate True Qi with divine sense."

The four continued forward and reached a corner, where they hid in ambush and began waiting for the Demonic Beast to arrive. Tremors came through the soles of their feet in waves, and the four knew the Demonic Beast was almost there.

A huge black shadow suddenly appeared at the mouth of the tunnel. Under the faint fluorescent glow, Wang Ding and the others could not help sucking in a breath of cold air. This Demonic Beast stood two zhang tall, its entire body pitch-black, with four arms and three faces. It had a blue-green face and protruding fangs, and its whole body was wrapped in countless bone spikes a chi long. It had a tail a zhang in length, with more than a dozen small bone spikes growing at the end. It was a man-shaped weapon of slaughter from head to toe.

Wang Ding and the others did not know that this Demonic Beast was a Formed Bone Demon among Heavenly Demons. Its entire body was harder than rock, but it had one weakness: it was born with low intelligence. Its core was an Inner Core that contained a type of soul essence unique to its race, and it was precisely this essence that could help cultivators fuse Innate True Qi with divine sense.

The moment the four saw this Formed Bone Demon, they knew it would not be easy to deal with. They immediately glanced at one another. The Formed Bone Demon had three faces, so a sneak attack was impossible.

Everyone decided to attack head-on. Wang Ding was the first to strike. He leaped straight out from the tunnel mouth and flung several Earth Spear Talismans at it. Five earth spears instantly burst from the cave floor, stabbing toward the Bone Demon's lower yin. For any creature, that place was a vital point.

Pfft, pfft. The muffled sounds of earth spears piercing flesh rang out. "Awooo!" The Formed Bone Demon instantly cried out in pain with a great roar and leaped up. Seeing Wang Ding appear before it, it immediately knew that this little insect before its eyes had ambushed it.

The Bone Demon flew into a rage at once. Ignoring the wound on its lower body that was gurgling blood, it swung four enormous fists toward Wang Ding, who had appeared in front of it.

Seeing it attack, Wang Ding retreated lightly and dodged the Bone Demon's blow. When the Bone Demon saw that it had failed to hit Wang Ding, it immediately disregarded everything and chased after him relentlessly. At this moment, the three people who had already fallen behind the Bone Demon immediately unleashed their Magic Tools. Huang Tutian's was a golden divine wheel, Dongfang Riyue wielded a magic sword flashing with white light, and Long Lingyu wielded a purple magic sword. All three Magic Tools were top-grade, and each could unleash the power of ten flying dragons.

The three Magic Tools carried thirty flying dragon phantoms as they slashed toward the Formed Bone Demon's back. Only then did the Formed Bone Demon realize that there were still three people behind it, and that they had launched an attack powerful enough to threaten its life. It had no choice but to give up chasing Wang Ding, swinging its tail and fists toward the three Magic Tools.

Wang Ding would never let such a good opportunity slip by and allow it to get through the crisis. He turned around directly and punched toward the wound on the Formed Bone Demon.

Wang Ding did not care about whether something was sinister or not. As long as it could kill the enemy, any move could be used. Wang Ding's entire fist glowed with a faint fluorescent light, appearing crystal-clear like jade, with even the blood vessels plainly visible. This was a sign that his qi and blood had been pushed to the limit.

At this moment, the Formed Bone Demon was occupied with dealing with the three Magic Tools behind it. Seeing Wang Ding attack, it had no other choice and planned to rely on its powerful body to take it head-on.

Rumble! The Formed Demon's fists and tail immediately collided with Long Lingyu and the other two's Magic Tools. The enormous impact stirred up a wave of air that overturned everything around them.

The Formed Bone Demon's two arms cracked on the spot, and half its tail was also shaved away. Long Lingyu and the other two were sent flying by the backlash from their Magic Tools. At this moment, Wang Ding's punch had already arrived. In an instant, all his power erupted. Ten flying dragon phantoms appeared on his fist, and under the Formed Bone Demon's terrified gaze, his blow drove through the wound in its lower body and into its insides. Two sounds rang out, bang, bang, and the Formed Bone Demon snapped into two pieces, its entire buttocks exploding into fragments.

At this moment, the Formed Bone Demon was still not dead. Two hands propped up its upper body while its other two fists waved about, preventing Wang Ding and the other three from approaching. Wang Ding and the three who had rushed over swarmed forward together, giving the Formed Bone Demon no chance to turn the tables, and sent it to the western heavens.

Once the Bone Demon died, four points of merit flew out and entered the four people's bodies. Seeing this, Wang Ding's heart filled with joy, and he said to everyone, "This seems to be a kind of Heavenly Demon too. Looks like we need to kill more of these Demonic Beasts."

When the other three heard this, joy also appeared on their faces. There was merit to take and treasures to obtain; only a fool would let that pass.

Although this Bone Demon was an existence of the Qi Training Realm, it still could not withstand the four-person siege from Wang Ding's group and ended up with a miserable fate. Wang Ding came beside the Formed Bone Demon's corpse, smashed open its head with a punch, and took out a pale-blue bead. Wang Ding said to the other three, "There's only one right now, so it won't be easy to divide. Let's give it to Junior Sister Long to keep for now. After we've hunted a few more, we'll distribute them according to how much effort everyone contributed. What do you all think?"

Dongfang Riyue and Huang Tutian both nodded in agreement, raising no objections.