A glimpse of the cultivation world, a first taste of demon hunting in the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range

For three days.

Lu Chenxing enjoyed all the love and affection a baby ought to have.

Good times were always fleeting.

Lu Changfeng arrived as promised.

As the two rose into the sky on a flying sword, Lu Yunzhao and Zhong Hui watched with eyes full of reluctance to part.

"Xing'er!"

"Mother, I'll come back to visit you often."

"All right. I'll be waiting!"

Long after the flying sword had vanished from sight, Zhong Hui still could not shake off her daze.

On the way back to Heavenly Traversal Peak.

Lu Chenxing suddenly hugged Lu Changfeng's arm and wheedled.

"Grandpa Patriarch, I've already reached Foundation Establishment, but I haven't even seen what a Demon Beast looks like."

What was there to see about Demon Beasts? Encountering one meant a fight to the death.

If they were unlucky enough to meet a powerful one, their lives could even be in danger.

If they did not need cultivation resources, cultivators would never go looking for trouble with Demon Beasts for no reason.

Lu Changfeng lowered his head and met those bright, expectant eyes.

A doting look flickered across his face.

"Sigh, I really can't say no to you."

"There's a mountain range nearby where low-tier Demon Beasts often appear. I'll take you there to broaden your horizons."

Hearing this, Lu Chenxing immediately cheered and bounced with delight.

"Hooray!"

"Thank you, Grandpa Patriarch."

Demon Beasts.

There were illustrations of them in books.

But those were not the real thing, after all, and lacked impact.

The strongest impression Lu Chenxing had of cultivation was hunting demons.

So he took the opportunity of this outing to voice what was on his mind.

He had not expected Lu Changfeng to agree.

He could not help thinking to himself.

Looks like Grandpa Patriarch really does dote on me!

Lu Changfeng figured that the mountain range was not far away, and most of its Demon Beasts were first-tier, with very few second-tier ones. With his strength, he should be able to keep Lu Chenxing safe and sound without any mishaps, so he agreed.

Then he adjusted their course slightly.

They headed toward the place called the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range.

Twenty li east of the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range stood a small town called Cloud-Soaring Town, where many cultivators gathered.

Among them were disciples of various factions as well as rogue cultivators.

The place counted as a rudimentary cultivation market.

Its main purpose was to provide cultivators entering the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range with a temporary place to stay, though they could also trade goods there.

Upon hearing of such a place, Lu Chenxing immediately asked to have a look.

They would be passing it anyway.

So Lu Changfeng agreed.

Thus, grandfather and grandson arrived in Cloud-Soaring Town.

Before entering, they both activated the Breath-Concealing Instruction without prompting to hide the presence of their cultivation, then exchanged a glance and smiled.

Inside the town.

Lu Chenxing became a curious baby.

His gaze wandered everywhere.

Lu Changfeng's gentle reminder sounded beside his ear.

"Don't let your gaze linger on anyone for too long, and don't casually touch others with your Divine Sense. Be a little more composed. Don't look like you've never seen the world."

Lu Chenxing closed his gaping mouth.

He truly had never seen the world.

This was his first glimpse of anywhere in the cultivation world outside the Lu Household.

He could sense quite a few cultivators around him.

Cultivators had set up stalls on both sides of the street, displaying all sorts of strange and curious things. Aside from the usual goods, everything else was difficult to identify.

Anyone hoping to unearth a treasure would have to rely on their own discerning eye.

Finding something good meant a profit.

Finding something bad meant accepting their bad luck.

If they refused to accept it, a bloody storm might well erupt behind the scenes.

As for whose hands the deer would fall into, that remained unknown.

Everything here matched Lu Chenxing's imaginings of a cultivation market, except that it lacked a little bustle.

It was nothing like a marketplace in the mortal world.

Most cultivators were aloof and disinclined to talk. The stallholders did not call out to customers either, simply sitting there and staring into space with perfect composure.

They quietly awaited someone brought to them by fate.

Most passersby hurried along, each generally with a destination in mind.

There were others strolling leisurely like Lu Changfeng and his grandson, but very few.

Lu Chenxing simply sat on Lu Changfeng's shoulders and admired the sights, buying nothing throughout their visit.

For he did not possess eyes capable of discerning treasures.

This visit to Cloud-Soaring Town was merely a chance encounter, an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

It would keep him from looking like such an ignorant country bumpkin when he visited other, higher-grade cultivation markets in the future.

Once they finished looking around, grandfather and grandson left straightaway and plunged into the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range.

The mountain range stretched far and deep.

The farther inward they went, the greater the likelihood of encountering high-tier Demon Beasts.

So Lu Changfeng would only take Lu Chenxing within a five-hundred-li stretch of its outer reaches.

This range was not necessarily one hundred percent safe.

But at least if they truly encountered a powerful Demon Beast, they would still have a chance to escape the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range.

Only a quarter of an hour passed.

Grandfather and grandson encountered their first Demon Beast.

It was an extraordinarily thick giant python, seven or eight zhang long.

The presence it gave off was merely that of the Qi Refining Eleventh Layer.

"It's only a first-tier Demon Beast. Little Chenxing, would you like to?"

"Me, me! Let me slay it!"

Lu Chenxing answered impatiently. His flying sword had long been thirsting for battle.

No sooner had he spoken than he summoned his flying sword.

After long practice, he had already become thoroughly proficient in the sword-control law technique.

He poured in Spiritual Power and guided it with Divine Sense.

The flying sword pierced the sky, cleaving the giant python in two in an instant at tremendous speed.

The giant python had been ready to teach these two human cultivators who dared intrude upon its territory a painful lesson.

But the instant its opponent struck.

Sensing the terrifying might of a higher cultivation realm, it was so frightened that its soul nearly scattered.

Just as it prepared to flee, the human Foundation Establishment cultivator's flying sword arrived.

It did not even have time to defend itself.

It was cut down outright.

It died a gruesome death on the spot.

Lu Chenxing recalled his flying sword, a trace of disdain unconsciously curling his lips.

"So weak!"

Lu Changfeng immediately admonished him.

"The gap between major realms is like a heavenly chasm. This little snake meeting you today was a calamity written in its fate."

"But little Chenxing, you killed an opponent of a lower realm with your higher cultivation. You must not become smug."

"A true heaven's chosen is distinguished not only by cultivation speed. Combat strength is equally important. Invincible within the same realm, slaying enemies above their realm-there are even monstrous freaks in the cultivation world who can kill enemies two realms above them."

"You must always understand yourself clearly and never grow arrogant. Do you understand?"

Lu Chenxing nodded his little head firmly.

He had taken the lesson to heart.

Next, Lu Changfeng had intended to teach him a second lesson, only to discover that Lu Chenxing had already learned it at some unknown point.

It was the most important thing for a cultivator.

Cleaning up the battlefield.

Why slay demons?

For the Demon Beasts' corpses, of course!

Those were all spiritual materials that could be exchanged for Spirit Stones, extremely precious cultivation resources.

So Lu Chenxing leaped down from Lu Changfeng's shoulders, hurried to the giant python's corpse, and mobilized his Spiritual Power to put it into his Storage Bag.

Once it was safely bagged, he extended his Divine Sense in every direction.

Places where Demon Beasts lived generally had relatively dense Spiritual Qi, making them especially likely to nurture naturally grown spirit herbs, spirit medicines, or heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

He could not pass those up either.

Lu Chenxing searched for a long time but found nothing.

He could only continue exploring the vast Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range with Lu Changfeng in regret, searching for traces of Demon Beasts.

They stayed for another three days.

Lu Chenxing went on a killing spree.

Not yet a year old, the child already had the blood of more than a dozen ferocious Demon Beasts on his hands.

Seeing that the time was about right, Lu Changfeng prepared to take him out of the Cloud-Soaring Mountain Range.

But on their way out, they encountered yet another Demon Beast.

The presence emanating from this Demon Beast instantly made Lu Changfeng's body tense and his mind focus intensely.

"A second-tier Demon Beast. Little Chenxing, stand back. Leave this Black Cloud Leopard to Grandpa!"

Just as Lu Changfeng summoned his flying sword, Lu Chenxing's babyish voice sounded beside his ear.

"Grandpa Patriarch, I want to try!"