Going Mad

Inside the Demon Grotto.

The five of them walked across the grass. What greeted their eyes was not a dark cavern, but a bright sky.

A curtain of light rippled like water overhead, stretching boundlessly.

The landscape was no different from the outside world, with mountains, rivers, flowers, grass, and trees.

They were walking along the edge of a forest, and far ahead, they could see a beam of light soaring into the sky.

Stars seemed to fall within that light.

It was a wondrous sight.

The core of the Demon Grotto.

Jiang Hao began to weigh things up.

The sect's records stated that the core was where the Demonfolk were sealed, and approaching it was forbidden.

"This is my first time in the Demon Grotto. I never imagined the surroundings would be so pleasant," Xin Yuyue of Thunderfire Peak said in amazement.

"Yes, the surroundings here are surprisingly pleasant, but it's also extremely dangerous." Lou Feng of the Heavenly Joy Pavilion looked at Jiang Hao with a smile.

"I hear that if you die here, the Law Enforcement Hall won't come in to investigate."

Jiang Hao lowered his eyes. The man was threatening him.

He did not get angry. The more things were like this, the more he needed to stay calm, then find an opportunity to eliminate the danger.

First, he needed to find some Demonfolk and kill one to see what happened.

Both planting spirit herbs and killing demonic beasts could yield bubbles.

Demonic beasts dropped them immediately upon being killed. He needed to find out what bubbles the Demonfolk would drop.

"It's a little quiet." Zheng Nineteen frowned as he surveyed their surroundings.

"It is rather quiet. There should be quite a few Demonfolk around at this point," Qing Xue of the Heavenly Joy Pavilion agreed.

Each of them had their own agenda, but none would gamble with their own safety.

The five headed into the forest.

Jiang Hao kept a vigilant watch on their surroundings. His perception should have been only a fraction weaker than Qing Xue's.

He simply did not dare reveal it.

At a disturbance, Jiang Hao immediately looked to the left.

At that same moment, Qing Xue spoke up:

"They're coming."

Whoosh!

A huge boulder hurtled straight at them.

Boom!

The boulder smashed a large crater into the ground.

Jiang Hao and the others scattered before it landed.

Just then, a surge of flames swept toward the direction the boulder had come from.

With a bang.

An explosion erupted ahead.

Xin Yuyue had made her move.

It was powerful. Jiang Hao sensed that she, too, was close to advancing to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Roar!

An enraged roar rang out from the explosion.

Three burly figures charged toward them.

Once they drew closer, Jiang Hao could make out their appearance. They resembled gorillas, their bodies covered in hair.

Their faces looked somewhat ferocious.

Without dwelling on it, he was the first to charge forward. From what he could tell, they were only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

He drew his long saber, leaped in front of one of the Demonfolk, and slashed down.

Clang!

The blade swept across, sending sparks flying.

Yet it inflicted no damage at all.

"So tough?"

Startled, Jiang Hao abandoned his saber for the moment. He spun around behind the Demonfolk, a dagger appearing in his hand, and stabbed it into its neck.

Pfft!

The dagger sank in with difficulty, and blood began to seep out.

Roar!

The Demonfolk roared. Jiang Hao struck the dagger with his palm, driving it through the Demonfolk's neck and out the other side.

The Demonfolk fell and did not rise again.

At that moment, two blue bubbles emerged from its body.

They instantly merged into Jiang Hao's body.

[Vital energy +1]

[Cultivation +1]

Two?

In all his years of killing ferocious beasts, this was the first time he had seen that.

He immediately looked toward the other two. Both had already fallen, but there were no bubbles.

That was to be expected. He had wanted to get another strike in just now.

Participating made bubbles more likely to appear.

"It seems you're quite fond of stabbing people in the neck, junior brother." Lou Feng, who had cleaved a Demonfolk in two, stared at Jiang Hao with a smile.

"You jest, senior brother. The Demonfolk's bodies are tougher than I expected. Their necks are a little weaker," Jiang Hao replied softly.

There was some information available on the Demonfolk, but their toughness exceeded what the records described.

After carefully reviewing the brief fight, Jiang Hao realized that the Demonic Sound Slash should be able to break through their outer defenses.

One or two might not be a problem, but large numbers would be dangerous.

There was another important point.

He needed to kill fifty Demonfolk to leave the Demon Grotto safely.

Otherwise, the two from the Heavenly Joy Pavilion would never let him walk out.

"So their necks are their weakness." Xin Yuyue thrust her sword into a Demonfolk's neck and nodded.

"It really is easier to wound them there."

"We need to be careful. The Demonfolk attacked as soon as they saw us, which means they consider this their territory. A group of three suggests that most of those nearby will also be in groups of three or four," Zheng Nineteen said.

"We might as well clear them out together. Once we've dealt with the groups, we can look for the stragglers," Qing Xue said coldly.

Then she began walking forward.

The others followed, and Jiang Hao was naturally no exception.

He was thinking about how to kill more of them-the faster, the better.

Soon, they encountered Demonfolk again. This time there were four, with one at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Hao avoided the middle-stage one and charged at the other three.

He killed one with his dagger, then went straight for a second.

Seeing how hard he was fighting, the others were happy to let him.

After killing two in succession, Jiang Hao received three bubbles.

[Cultivation +1]

[Vital energy +1]

[Vital energy +1]

It seems the gains aren't very consistent. I'll have to kill more.

Jiang Hao's heart sank. Things were not as promising as he had expected.

After that, he threw himself even harder into killing Demonfolk.

A month passed like this. Throughout that month, they acted together.

This kept Jiang Hao safe. Those from the Heavenly Joy Pavilion would not slaughter a fellow disciple in front of the others.

Unless they killed everyone. Then there would be no guilt to prove.

[Cultivation +1]

Looking at the Demonfolk lying dead before him, Jiang Hao felt increasingly uneasy.

It had been a month, and they encountered many Demonfolk every day. Yet apart from the many bubbles he had received early on, the bubbles had grown increasingly scarce.

It was not just that there were fewer Demonfolk. More importantly, he was unable to kill them.

Or, after he killed one, Lou Feng would kill the rest.

Who knew what madness had seized the man? Whenever he saw Jiang Hao killing Demonfolk, he had to kill them too-and he insisted on killing all of them.

He no longer even concealed his late-stage cultivation.

There were fewer and fewer Demonfolk. Soon, they would split up.

Yet his vital energy and cultivation were still just a little short.

[Vital energy: 95/100 (Can cultivate)]

[Cultivation: 96/100 (Can cultivate)]