Demon Hunting (III)

After a simple breakfast, the Liu Household cultivators set out to hunt demon beasts again.

Without the two little fellows to guide them, they could only rely on the Spirit Eye Technique, the Spirit Ear Technique, and their spiritual sense to find prey. Many demon beasts hid in their dens during winter days, making the search all the more difficult!

At that thought, Liu Changxu decided to ban the two little fellows from drinking whenever they went demon hunting in the future!

Liu Changxu and the other Liu Household cultivators had no choice but to fall back on their old method. They spread out, keeping a set distance between them, with Fourth Elder Liu Baichuan in the center, Liu Changxu and Liu Changshun on either side of him, and Third Uncle Liu Shijie and Fifteenth Uncle Liu Shichao on the left and right wings, advancing in a fan-shaped search formation.

In this fashion, the five members of the Liu Household searched one mountain after another.

Although Liu Changxu had little experience hunting demon beasts, he was very good at thinking and learning. Whenever he hunted with his elders, he earnestly sought their advice on demon-hunting knowledge and experience!

Liu Changxu knew perfectly well that danger lurked everywhere on a demon hunt. Many people lost their lives in a demon beast's jaws because of a single careless moment!

Every demon beast was a master of camouflage, and the slightest lapse in attention could invite an attack. Often, even the Spirit Eye Technique and spiritual sense were of no use!

Sure enough, while Liu Changxu was searching for demon beasts with the Spirit Eye Technique on the slope of a tall mountain, he noticed something amiss with a cliff face a short distance ahead, but could not tell exactly what was wrong!

Liu Changxu examined it repeatedly with the Spirit Eye Technique, yet still could not find the cause. Even so, whenever he looked there, unease stirred in his heart!

After a moment's thought, Liu Changxu took the Moon-Shooting Bow, a middle-grade first-tier magical artifact, out of his Storage Bag. He nocked an Eagle-Feather Arrow, pulled the bowstring to full draw, and fired at the cliff face. With a tremendous crash, the arrow punched a deep hole into the blue stone.

An earth-yellow Mountain-Piercing Lizard more than ten feet long sprang out of the cliff face.

Liu Changxu's intuition had been right. A demon beast really had been hiding on the cliff face, and his arrow had forced the Mountain-Piercing Lizard out!

This Mountain-Piercing Lizard had reached the middle grade of the first tier. It was an earth-element demon beast adept at boring through mountains and splitting stone, with the Earth Escape Technique as its bloodline demon art. Its hide could change color to match its surroundings, making it very difficult to detect with an ordinary Spirit Eye Technique!

Cultivator Robes made from its hide were excellent at concealing one's presence and were highly prized by cultivators. However, Mountain-Piercing Lizards were difficult to hunt down because of their skill at escaping through the earth.

Still, there were ways to counter demon beasts skilled at escaping through the earth.

The Mountain-Piercing Lizard was furious that this hateful human cultivator had nearly wounded it! It hissed and roared at Liu Changxu while unleashing the Falling Stone Technique.

In an instant, dozens of enormous blue stones fell from the sky, hurtling toward Liu Changxu!

Liu Changxu hurriedly used the Lightness Technique to dodge! At the same time, he sent the Purple Gold Sword slashing toward the Mountain-Piercing Lizard, but it used the Earth Escape Technique to burrow underground!

Liu Changxu used the Spirit Ear Technique to listen for movement underground and located the Mountain-Piercing Lizard. He took a middle-grade first-tier Ground-Hardening Talisman from his Storage Bag-another talisman taken from the evil cultivator's Storage Bag-and activated it over the ground where he had detected the lizard!

The patch of ground, spanning two hundred feet, swiftly became as hard as metal and stone!

As the Mountain-Piercing Lizard traveled underground, it immediately felt the soil and rock around it become unnaturally hard! It had no choice but to return to the surface!

Liu Changxu had already taken out the Moon-Shooting Bow and nocked an arrow, aiming toward his target's position, poised to fire!

The moment the Mountain-Piercing Lizard emerged, he loosed the arrow. With a piercing whistle, the Eagle-Feather Arrow struck the lizard squarely in the neck before it could dodge. Blood gushed out in a column, leaving it gravely wounded!

Seizing the opportunity, Liu Changxu fired two more arrows in quick succession, killing the Mountain-Piercing Lizard outright!

Once he saw that the Mountain-Piercing Lizard was well and truly dead, Liu Changxu dropped onto the ground, utterly drained of strength!

The Moon-Shooting Bow was unlike ordinary magical artifacts. It was a magical artifact used by body cultivators, and without a powerful physique, one could not draw it.

Although the Moon-Shooting Bow was only a middle-grade first-tier magical artifact, drawing it required a tremendous strength of ten thousand jin! This was one of the benefits of Liu Changxu cultivating both magic and his body!

Yet a mere four arrows had exhausted all of Liu Changxu's strength. If he had still failed to kill the Mountain-Piercing Lizard, he would have been the one in trouble!