Trouble Brought by a Tomb Raider [Monthly Ticket and Investment Request]

"Not enough."

Jiang Ming tightened his grip, wearing an indifferent expression as if he were about to crush the Lightning Bird into meat paste. A surging demonic aura pressed down on everyone.

"Add another piece of Grand Unity Divine Iron."

Having sensed the threat of death, the Lightning Bird did not hesitate to produce its most precious treasure.

Grand Unity Divine Iron was a material capable of refining heirloom Saint Weapons. There probably was not much of it.

"Deal. Where is it?"

Jiang Ming did not truly intend to kill him. He mainly wanted to display his current image as an ancient remnant Long-Armed Demon Ape, letting everyone understand just how ruthless and greedy he was.

"I don't carry such a precious treasure on me. It's stored in my cave abode."

The Lightning Bird hurriedly explained.

Within these Primordial Ruins, the Demon Race also had a secret realm grotto-heaven. Yan Ruyu had awakened within that secret realm.

She had likely been beside the Demon Emperor in seed form, undergoing companion nirvana, before being brought here.

As for the Azure Emperor, during the Immortal Ancient Era, he had been a lotus beneath the eternal azure heavens. His true form was a Chaos Azure Lotus, known as the Azure Lotus Immortal King. Later, at the end of the Desolate Ancient Era during the Shrouding Era, he had grown alongside the Green Copper Block, taking root upon it. After coexisting for a million years, he gained sentience within the Immortal Transformation Pool of the Qinling Mountains in Central Province.

"Kill!"

More than twenty savage beast riders suddenly charged down from the sky. Their mounts were all comparable to Life Spring cultivators and were mutated savage beasts. Their scales gleamed coldly, their horns were imposing, and purple mist curled around them. They were clearly the Purple Glow Qilin Beasts of the Qixia Sect.

A month earlier, a fat Daoist had dug up the tomb of one of the Qixia Sect's leaders, stealing several precious treasure weapons along with other items. He had even declared that anyone dissatisfied could seek him out in the Primordial Ruins, claiming to be a great demon of the Azure Emperor Lineage there.

As one of the top great powers in the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland, the Qixia Sect had mighty experts overseeing it. Even the Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven of the Yan Kingdom was merely one of its subordinate forces.

Upon seeing these demons, the Purple Glow knights of the Qixia Sect immediately urged their mounts forward and charged without hesitation.

The mount at the very front was particularly extraordinary. Its body was covered in purple scales, purple energy swirling around it, making it look remarkably like a true Purple Qilin. It was a Purple Glow Qilin Beast with Divine Bridge cultivation.

The Qixia Sect had been established atop Purple Glow Ridge. After its founding, it had been named for the area's unique terrain, where purple haze lingered year-round and contained a faint trace of the purple energy that emerged at sunrise.

After painstakingly raising savage beasts containing a trace of Qilin aura, then nourishing them over time with rosy light containing purple energy, they had formed into these majestic and domineering mutated savage beasts, with imposing horns and appearances resembling Purple Qilins.

Beside the leading knight stood a young man. His mount looked remarkably like the Old Cold Chi Jiang Ming had cooked into hotpot. It was a twelve-meter-long giant serpent, with forked antlers growing from its head, two pairs of claws beneath its belly, and four talons on each claw. Clearly, it was not a snake, but a flood dragon.

The antlers on the flood dragon's head were also purple, like a pair of purple jade horns. Its body was covered in purple scales, making it look incomparably noble.

A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old youth stood atop this mutated Purple Flood Dragon. Dressed in green, he possessed a heroic bearing, and the golden armor on his body made him seem like a dragon or phoenix among men. His eyes brimmed with arrogance as he looked disdainfully at the Lightning Bird, the golden-winged girl, and the burly horned man.

Only when he looked at Jiang Ming did his gaze hold a trace of curiosity. This black Demon Ape appeared immensely imposing and incomparably ferocious. It was even clutching the Lightning Bird with its blood-filled maw open. Was it going to swallow him alive?

A demon was a demon—primitive and savage, drinking blood and eating raw flesh.

The Qixia Sect riders charged in and began slaughtering without another word. Purple Copper halberds danced in their hands, while they wore armor forged from Star Iron, armed to the teeth. Every rider was a Divine Bridge cultivator, and they all appeared young, at most in their forties.

The two leaders were even Other Shore cultivators. Together with their mounts, they erupted with terrifying might.

In particular, there was a woman in her twenties who seemed to lead this group, yet she had not acted at all.

She rode a one-horned horse suffused with silver radiance. Its entire body was covered in silver scales, while a purple jade horn grew from the center of its forehead. Purple brilliance flowed over its body as it walked through the air, immaculate and untouched by dust.

Judging by its aura, it was clearly a great demon comparable to an Other Shore cultivator. Its bloodline was even purer, belonging to the descendants of the legendary Desolate Ancient remnant species, the Unicorn.

The woman seated atop the one-horned horse looked twenty-two or twenty-three. Her skin was fair, her features beautiful, her legs long, her flesh smooth as congealed cream, her eyes shimmering with autumn waves, and her red lips vibrant. She watched everything with a gentlemanly gaze, aloof from the world, giving others a sense that she was beyond reach. She seemed unconcerned with anything, her attitude casual and indifferent, as though the slaughter before her was merely children playing house.

"Capture that Demon Ape alive. Its bloodline should be quite pure. With its blood essence, we can cultivate an immortal seedling for the Qixia Sect."

At that moment, the woman's voice rang out like silver bells, crisp and pleasant. Yet to Jiang Ming's ears, it sounded like the devil's voice from hell.

"Fuck!"

Jiang Ming had initially intended to put on a show, rescue these people, then go with the flow and join the Demon Race force here. Now, he no longer thought so. He wanted to capture this little bitch, strip off her clothes, lock her in a cage, and raise her like a canary.

"Roar..."

With a furious roar, surging demonic energy burst from his body, carrying an aura of madness, loss of control, brutality, and despair. It was black as ink, its dark radiance cold and sinister, brighter even than the sun in the sky. It transformed into endless, chilling demonic flames that flickered and burned around Jiang Ming.

This was the innate demonic nature of the Long-Armed Demon Ape. It was also an ancient ferocious beast, belonging to the lineage of the World-Overturning Demon Ape, inheriting most of its demonic nature.

The World-Overturning Demon Ape was among the most powerful bloodline races even in the Immortal Domain. It had turned the Immortal Domain upside down and fought the Solar Heavenly Emperor for the position of Heavenly Emperor of the Ancient Heavenly Court.

Heaven-Piercing Arm!

Jiang Ming attacked. As his arm extended, it seemed to transform into an ancient demonic mountain crashing down. With a puff, the savage beast riders charging at him turned into powder in an instant, blood spraying everywhere. Even the leading rider coughed up blood and was sent flying. The arm holding his halberd twisted and snapped, broken bone jutting out in ghastly white. The Purple Glow Qilin Beast beneath him had its bones shattered and tendons torn, collapsing directly into a puddle of flesh.

"Congratulations, Host. You have caused the death of one Divine Bridge cultivator and received a one-star reward: one cubic measure of Purple Copper."

"Congratulations, Host. You have caused the death of two Divine Bridge cultivators and received a one-and-a-half-star reward: one cubic measure of Light Stone."

Hearing the system prompts, Jiang Ming did not feel pleased. Instead, he felt insulted. The refining materials he had struggled so hard to obtain were apparently sold wholesale by the cubic measure in that damn system?

Was it trying to lure him into killing people?

Pluck Stars and Seize the Moon!

Jiang Ming only killed those who provoked him or wanted to kill him. He would not take the initiative to kill anyone; he had his own path. Reaching out with his huge hand, he made the savage beast rider commander who had escaped death feel as if he were actively rushing toward the Demon Ape. The surrounding space seemed to shrink. Though he was retreating in terror, trying to flee farther away, he was actually drawing closer to the Demon Ape.