Ancient Demon Pass

Lu He had barely taken two steps when the thick fog around him abruptly dispersed.

A space roughly ten zhang long and wide appeared before him.

Six ancient stone archways stood on all sides. Through them, he could see nothing but pitch-black void.

His gaze swept over the tops of the archways, where different Dao inscriptions were engraved.

"Dao Merit Tower, Heavenly Craft Tower, Dao Canon Tower, Ancient Demon Pass, Dao Combat Platform, Dao Demonstration Platform... Void Mirage Realm—could this be some special secret realm, like the virtual worlds of my previous life?"

Lu He murmured softly, a faint guess taking shape in his mind.

There was no shortage of secret realms in this world. They were generally closely tied to spiritual nodes—what others called spirit veins.

Of course, that was limited to large spirit veins, or even the legendary blessed-land-grade spirit veins.

The two unformed miniature spirit veins he had encountered in the Medicine Garden before had absolutely no chance of giving birth to a secret realm.

His gaze shifted.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu He headed straight for the Ancient Demon Pass before him.

According to Senior Brother Jin, this place concerned where seeds like them would end up in three months. Lu He could not afford to take it lightly.

The moment he passed through the archway, the scene before him suddenly changed.

"This is..."

Lu He froze for an instant, then quickly recovered and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

He found himself in a dim ancient forest.

As far as the eye could see stood towering old trees, lush and verdant, each dozens of zhang tall. They blotted out the sky overhead almost completely, leaving only a few narrow gaps through which faint light filtered.

Miasma filled the ancient forest, while the howls of demon beasts rose and fell from its depths.

The sound made one's scalp crawl.

Instinctively, Lu He activated the White Ape Dao Diagram. His entire body entered the empowered state of the Immaculate Heart Ape, and his eyes instantly became detached and tranquil, like a bottomless pool of stagnant water.

At the same time.

Within his dantian, the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel gave a faint tremble and hum, as though answering Lu He's thoughts.

"The Immaculate Heart Ape and the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel can both be used. This so-called Void Mirage Realm... is truly rather interesting."

Lu He smiled faintly, his mind settling somewhat.

Lowering his gaze, he looked ahead.

A winding stone path stretched straight into the depths of the ancient forest, its end nowhere in sight.

"Ancient Demon Pass... Do I just keep going forward?"

With his hands clasped behind his back, he slowly walked deeper into the forest.

In his right palm, the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel spun without pause. Its Dao patterns flickered in and out as it continuously drew in the spiritual essence around him.

In truth, leaving the Treasure Wheel in his dantian did not prevent Lu He from using the inscribed Summon Mist as Soldiers Art.

But after repeated experiments, he had confirmed that when the Treasure Wheel remained outside his body, it would actively draw upon the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, thereby reducing the mana he expended when casting the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art.

That was why Lu He had developed the habit of summoning the Treasure Wheel outside his body.

Having only just entered the Qi-Feeding Realm, and without yet cultivating an official Qi-feeding method, his mana was limited. If he could save some, he naturally would.

Rustle—

His footsteps echoed endlessly, shattering the dead silence of the ancient forest.

At a certain moment.

A rustling of branches and leaves came from beside his ear.

A shadow too blurred for the naked eye suddenly flashed out from the corner of his vision, carrying threads of savage, bloodthirsty aura as it lunged straight at Lu He's face.

Lu He stopped.

A pair of blood-red pupils instantly reflected in his eyes. There was no emotion within them, only endless brutality.

His thoughts stirred.

The surrounding mist rapidly gathered, condensing before him into a shield about a chi wide, almost solid in form. It stood squarely in the path of the incoming shadow.

Three sharp barbs rapidly grew from the center of the shield, arranged in a triangular formation, their edges gleaming with cold light.

Boom—

The mist-forged shield instantly shattered into fragments.

The tremendous force made Lu He take half a step back.

The black shadow, meanwhile, let out a howl and was sent flying. It vanished into thin air midair.

And in the instant before the shadow dispersed.

Lu He saw its true form clearly. It was a spirit monkey covered in black fur, its long claws like daggers, incomparably sharp.

Though his shield had been hastily formed, it was still many times tougher than ordinary iron. Yet this beast had forcibly torn it apart with its claws.

"The very first demon beast I encountered is already this outrageous?"

Lu He's heart tightened, and he raised his guard to the utmost as he continued onward.

He did not know how much time passed.

After enduring several attacks from demon beasts.

A towering structure, like a city wall lying across the middle of the stone path, slowly came into view.

Before the gate in the city wall sat a demon ape in battered iron armor, quietly cross-legged with an iron staff braced in its hand.

Its upper body alone, even while seated, was nearly two zhang tall. Its frame was immensely burly, wreathed in a faintly vicious Sha Qi.

As Lu He approached, the demon ape abruptly opened its eyes. Its mountain-like body slowly rose upright, casting a vast shadow across the ground.

Roar—

A savage gleam appeared in the demon ape's eyes. With a roar, it seized its iron staff and leaped directly before Lu He, bringing the weapon down in a killing strike.

Rolling demon qi surged from its body, its momentum utterly grim and ferocious.

Lu He's expression changed slightly.

With the White Ape Dao Diagram empowering him, he could naturally sense just how terrifying the force behind that strike was.

In an instant, the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel trembled and hummed without stop. Lu He's body shot backward as dense mist rushed in wildly from all around, concealing him in the blink of an eye.

The next moment.

The ground shook.

Where Lu He had just stood, the iron staff had smashed out a crater more than a man deep. Heat steamed from it, while dense cracks covered its edges.

Seeing its strike miss, a flash of almost human viciousness crossed the demon ape's face. Without the slightest hesitation, it charged into the mist and began sweeping its staff about with all its strength.

The fierce winds it raised had only just blown away some of the mist when more mist surged forth without end. In the blink of an eye, the battlefield became so dark one could not see one's own hand before one's face.

The demon ape flailed and swept wildly through the fog as though blinded.

Lu He did not remain idle either. He controlled more than ten blades and swords condensed from mist, thrusting and slashing without pause at the parts of the demon ape's body not protected by its battered iron armor, producing a ceaseless clanging of metal against metal.

Whenever the blades and swords were shattered by the impact, they immediately condensed again.

For a time, neither side could gain the upper hand.

"So this is a true member of the Demon Race? Its body, tempered by demon qi, is far too tough. No wonder those people wanted to form teams."

Lu He felt somewhat helpless.

While controlling the mist weapons to attack the demon ape, he glanced at the Golden Book.

[Name: Lu He]

[Cultivation: Qi-Feeding Realm, First Layer]

[Methods: Layered-Origin Tide Breath-Absorption Method · Not Yet Initiated (0%)

Summon Mist as Soldiers Art · Not Yet Initiated (37%)

Little Crimson Burning Art · Not Yet Initiated (11%)]

"No. The next time I enter the Ancient Demon Pass, I must at least cultivate the Layered-Origin Tide Breath-Absorption Method and the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art to the Initiated stage—with the amplification of the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel, the power of the Summon Mist as Soldiers Art will certainly rise by another major level.

"If I then use Profound Nether Layered-Origin mana to activate it, it should not be this difficult to face the Demon Race again."

Lu He pondered inwardly.

His attention immediately returned to the demon ape.

Several wounds had unknowingly appeared on its body, and its movements had slowed by a fraction.

He gritted his teeth.

Since he was already here, he might as well wear it down slowly.

He did not know how much time passed.

Just as the mana within Lu He's dantian was about to run dry.

The demon ape, covered in wounds, crashed to the ground.

The gate in the city wall opened in response, revealing a stretch of barren desert beyond.

A majestic voice exploded beside his ears:

"First Demon Pass cleared. Reward: twenty Dao Merit. The Scorching Sun Golden Ranking has been opened!"