North Garden Herb Garden

He Sheng had clearly worried too much. What he did not know was that although Heaven Capital Mountain had quite a few great demons, they were divided among the eastern, central, and western regions.

The central region was the largest, home to four great demons in total: the Black Jade Blood Python, the Golden-Maned Giant Lion, the Thousand-Legged Centipede, and the Star-Backed Black Turtle.

Now, the Star-Backed Black Turtle had acknowledged Ye Shaochen as its master, while the other three great demons had all died by Ye Shaochen's hand.

As for the great demons of the eastern and western regions, they had clashed fiercely with the Black Jade Blood Python and the Golden-Maned Giant Lion over the treasure light of Black Vine Ridge two years ago. They had suffered a crushing defeat, and now they did not dare easily set foot in the central region.

Thus, the central region of Heaven Capital Mountain was currently in something of a vacuum period. Not a single second-rank great demon remained, while how could first-rank demon beasts dare casually enter Black Vine Ridge?

Take the Green Snake, for instance. It clearly knew that the Black Jade Blood Python and Golden-Maned Giant Lion were already dead, yet the moment it approached the edge of the mountain's interior, it stopped. No matter what, it refused to take another step, leaving He Sheng to go alone.

"Looks like the suppression between demon beast ranks is even fiercer than that among human cultivators. Even though the second-rank great demons are dead, the demon aura radiating from their corpses still keeps ordinary demon beasts from approaching."

Even the Green Snake, a demon beast that had already gained intelligence, was so pathetic. Demon beasts that had not gained intelligence needed no mention.

He Sheng headed straight into the heart of the mountain. Before long, he saw that enormous stone platform. The corpses of the Black Jade Blood Python and Golden-Maned Giant Lion still lay atop it, giving off an intense stench of blood and demon aura.

For three consecutive days,

He Sheng finally finished processing the corpses of the two demons. The spiritual materials he obtained were even better than those from the Thousand-Legged Centipede.

The Black Jade Blood Python in particular—although Ye Shaochen had taken its inner core, it had already shown signs of transforming into a flood dragon. A fist-sized bulge had grown on its forehead, containing a finger-sized hard horn.

Though this flood dragon horn had not fully formed, it was still extraordinary. When infused with spiritual power, it could unleash crimson lightning, already nearing the quality of a third-rank treasure material.

This haul truly left He Sheng with a bumper harvest.

"With these spiritual materials, once things settle down, I can properly improve my artifact-refining skills."

He Sheng nodded in satisfaction, then raised his head to look above the stone platform. A faint blue-green vortex was vaguely visible.

"This is the secret realm entrance the Green Snake mentioned?"

The Green Snake had only briefly mentioned the secret realm, having heard of it from the Star-Backed Black Turtle. Yet it did not know the details, and the Star-Backed Black Turtle had not explained them either.

He Sheng extended his divine sense into the vortex and immediately sensed nine spiritual power pathways, connecting respectively to the eight directions around the stone platform and a spiritual power node in midair.

He then tried injecting mana into the spiritual power nodes.

Once all nine spiritual power nodes had been filled with mana, the light they produced intertwined. A profound symbol appeared upon the blue-green vortex, and then its center opened outward, revealing a passage.

He Sheng did not enter immediately. Instead, he reinforced his divine sense with the Subtle Ripple Intent Realm and carefully probed into the passage.

This time, he still sensed no danger whatsoever. Instead, he vaguely detected a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Could there be an herb garden inside this secret realm?"

He Sheng hesitated slightly, but when he recalled that the Black Jade Blood Python, the Golden-Maned Giant Lion, and Ye Shaochen had all entered this secret realm in succession, he figured there should be no problem and plunged into the passage.

The instant he entered, he discovered that it was a long, narrow corridor. Everbright lamps were embedded on either side, while ruined defensive formation patterns still remained on the walls.

When he reached the end of the corridor, the view suddenly opened up, and he found himself before an herb garden.

A ceremonial gate stood outside the herb garden, bearing the two words: "North Garden."

The herb garden was arranged in a circular layout. The outer perimeter consisted of second-rank spirit fields, but there was now nothing left in them—only traces of the Black Jade Blood Python's rampage and the massive footprints of the Golden-Maned Giant Lion.

In many places, the soil had been overturned, and the spirit earth had been trampled beyond recognition.

Apart from that, shattered pieces of wood lay scattered everywhere, seemingly parts of some kind of puppet.

He Sheng drew over a chunk of wood whose core still contained a faint circulating glow and murmured,

"It seems this herb garden was originally guarded by some kind of puppet, but the Black Jade Blood Python and Golden-Maned Giant Lion tore it apart by force."

Seeing that the wood in his hand was of extraordinary quality, apparently refined from some superior second-rank spiritwood, He Sheng gathered up all the remaining fragments in one sweep.

When he went farther in, he found that the center of the herb garden contained a third-rank spirit field.

From afar, He Sheng sensed a trace of aura that had yet to dissipate. It was immensely powerful, far beyond the Foundation Establishment level. If it was not Core Formation, then it was at least False Core!

That aura was cold and mechanical, making He Sheng's heart pound wildly.

He forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart and carefully searched the center of the spirit field. Yet all he found was an enormous pit. The soil around it had been scorched black and vitrified, clearly the result of an instantaneous blast from some extreme heat or lightning technique.

"Perhaps this place originally held a Mysticwood Puppet at the False Core stage, or even the Core Formation stage?

But Ye Shaochen killed it and took it away? Along with all the spirit herbs in the third-rank spirit field?"

This speculation made He Sheng's expression change again. If that was truly the case, then Ye Shaochen's upper limit of strength was simply too terrifying.

Yet at present, this seemed to be the only explanation. There were no traces left by the Black Jade Blood Python or Golden-Maned Giant Lion within the third-rank spirit field, showing that the two demons had been barred outside. Only a puppet at the False Core stage or even Core Formation stage could have kept those two great demons at bay.

Although the herb garden had already been stripped clean, leaving He Sheng with nothing but scraps and broken bits, it once again elevated his understanding of Ye Shaochen's strength.

And what made Ye Shaochen so powerful?

There was only one explanation: divine powers!

After He Sheng emerged from Black Vine Ridge, he soon saw the Green Snake still waiting outside the mountain.

"Little Green, do you know where the lairs of the Black Jade Blood Python, Golden-Maned Giant Lion, and Centipede Demon are?"

After leaving the secret realm, He Sheng still felt unsatisfied.

Now that the great demons of Heaven Capital Mountain's central region were gone, he naturally intended to raid the lairs of those great demons.

The Green Snake looked as though it wanted to speak but stopped itself. In the end, it only said,

"I know the territories of those kings, but I do not know the exact locations of their lairs. I will lead you there, Immortal Master."

With that, the Green Snake led He Sheng on a circuit through Ten Thousand Reverence Ridge, Toxic Miasma Marsh, and Heaven-Sweeping Peak.

The result... after He Sheng searched all three places, he stood on the cliff of Heaven-Sweeping Peak, buffeted by the cold wind, and finally understood the Green Snake's earlier reaction.

Whether it was the Black Jade Blood Python, the Golden-Maned Giant Lion, or the Thousand-Legged Centipede, each had a whole band of lesser demons under its command.

Those fellows had their own channels for news and had long learned that their kings were dead.

Under such circumstances, they absolutely did not dare go to Black Vine Ridge to verify whether it was true.

But they certainly had the nerve—plenty of it—to loot the spiritual items their kings had left behind, then scatter like birds and beasts!

"Forget it. When water brims, it spills; when the moon is full, it wanes. This harvest has already been considerable. It is time to take Kou Xiang'er and continue north."

As He Sheng murmured softly, he prepared to ride through the air from the cliff.

Yet when his gaze casually swept over a pool of water not far below the cliff, he noticed a small gray-furred monkey.

The monkey sat atop a large rock, staring blankly at the pool.

"This monkey..."

He Sheng suddenly thought of something. He immediately changed direction and headed toward the pool.