Su Yu tore open his storage pouch and emptied several bottles of bleeding-staunching powder and Qi-recovery pills into his mouth, bottle mouths and all.
The medicinal liquid burned his throat as it went down.
He drew the black-gold saber from behind him, held its hilt in a reverse grip with his left hand, and pushed off.
He drove Wandering Dragon Steps to its limit.
The vines outside the cave swayed slightly.
A black afterimage skimmed over the fallen leaves and out of the cave, precisely skirted two Shadow Wolves sniffing about, and plunged straight into the darkness in the deepest reaches of the Black Demon Mountain Range.
Two hours later.
The surrounding vegetation began to change noticeably. Ancient trees so thick that ten people could barely encircle them grew in grotesque twists, their bark purplish-black and the edges of their broad leaves covered in barbs.
The bloody stench in the forest vanished entirely, replaced by an intensely sweet fragrance.
This was the line of mortal combat between the inner and outer regions of the Black Demon Mountain Range.
Fifty meters ahead stood a massive granite boulder ten meters tall.
Five claw marks, half a foot deep and several meters long, were visible on its surface.
The stone along the edges of the claw marks had formed glassy crystals, as though corroded and melted by powerful acid.
Su Yu stopped behind a dead tree and stared at the boulder.
Several li behind him, the pounding of charging demonic beasts mingled with the shouts of Mystic Sword Sect disciples, rapidly closing in in a fan-shaped formation.
Just then, an Ironclad Rhinoceros at the Spirit Realm third level, frightened by the beast tide behind it, charged blindly past the claw-marked granite boulder.
Its four sturdy hooves had barely touched the purplish-black soil.
Suddenly, the ground exploded.
Boom!
Boom!
Dozens of dark red tendrils as thick as an adult's arm burst from the soil, piercing straight through the Ironclad Rhinoceros's impregnable armor.
The Ironclad Rhinoceros did not even manage half a scream.
Its enormous body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within a few breaths, nothing remained but dried skin wrapped around white bones.
The tendrils withdrew underground.
The soil churned and closed, leaving not the slightest trace.
Su Yu's facial muscles tightened. The dangers of the inner region exceeded his projections.
But he did not stop. Planting his left foot against the dead tree's trunk, he vaulted over the boulder and stepped fully into the inner region.
Before long, Su Yu came to a halt within the inner region.
From deep within the deathly silent purplish-black forest came an extremely slow chewing sound.
"Crunch!"
"Crunch!"
A moment later, an enormous shadow emerged from behind an ancient tree a hundred meters tall, several dozen meters ahead.
A giant python as thick as a water vat slithered along the ground.
Its heavy, dark red scales scraped against dead branches with a piercing, tearing sound. A swollen fleshy lump protruded from the top of its head.
A Baleful Blood Mystic Serpent-another demon at the Spirit Realm ninth level.
Su Yu held his saber across his body, his eyes flickering, ready at any moment to spend Slaughter Points to extrapolate his trump cards.
The Mystic Serpent flicked out its scarlet tongue, and a powerful pulse of thought rippled through the air.
"A human?"
"A mere Spirit Realm second level, yet you managed to break through that pack of useless fools in the outer region."
The booming reverberations battered his eardrums. Su Yu withdrew his divine sense completely, holding his sea of consciousness firm.
Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons and Vajra Demonic Baleful Intent surged furiously through his meridians, and intricate dark gold patterns instantly appeared across his skin.
The Mystic Serpent flicked its enormous tail lightly.
Bang!
An explosive crack rang out as a white sonic boom cloud burst at the tip of its tail.
More than a dozen ancient trees, each several arm spans thick, snapped in half beneath the blast.
At the sight, Su Yu drove power into his legs, and Wandering Dragon Steps dragged his body three zhang sideways.
A horrifying trench dozens of meters long and several meters deep was smashed into the ground where he had stood, sending soil flying everywhere.
The serpent's tail did not stop. It reversed at an uncanny angle and swept toward Su Yu in midair.
There was no way to dodge!
Su Yu abruptly formed a hand seal with his left hand, unleashing the tenfold gravity field at full strength.
A dark red ring enveloped the three feet around him.
The Mystic Serpent's tail slammed into the gravity field, its speed dragged down, stalling for half a breath.
Seizing that half-breath opening, Su Yu forced his black-gold saber upward.
"Blood Baleful Intent Mad Blade!"
The blade struck the dark red scales with precision.
Screech!
Sparks flew.
A terrifying recoil slammed through the hilt into his arms.
Su Yu landed, his feet plowing two deep furrows more than ten meters long through the soil before he barely steadied himself.
Yet only a white mark remained on the scales of the serpent's tail.
The Mystic Serpent withdrew its tail and slowly lowered its enormous head, hovering less than five meters from Su Yu.
A foul wind struck his face.
"There is a scent I like in your blood and Qi."
The Mystic Serpent continued speaking.
"Those flies in blue outside are looking for you, aren't they?"
Su Yu forcibly suppressed the churning blood and Qi within him. The serpent demon held no killing intent.
Had it truly meant to fight to the death, that tail strike would not have used only thirty percent of its strength.
A moment later, the Mystic Serpent spoke again.
"This is my territory." The Mystic Serpent coiled its enormous body. "Something has caught my eye."
"Help me get it out, and I won't capture you to trade for a favor from that old fellow outside."
Before its words had faded, a projected image entered Su Yu's sea of consciousness.
It showed a valley filled with green miasma, with a blood-red vine growing at the center of a rock wall.
Dense Sha Qi formed visible vortices around the vine.
A low-grade mystic-tier spiritual plant, Blood Baleful Intent Thorn.
Su Yu's gaze paused briefly.
To extrapolate the Vajra Demonic Baleful Intent technique further, he urgently needed an enormous supply of Sha Qi resources.
If he consumed this Blood Baleful Intent Thorn, it would be enough to give his physical body a tremendous breakthrough in a short time.
"Whose territory is that?" Su Yu asked.
"A stupid pig's," the Mystic Serpent transmitted.
"I'll smash into its lair head-on and lure that stupid pig away."
"You go pull the thing out of the wall."
"Dare to pocket it, and I'll chew you to pieces, bones and all."
On the outskirts of the Black Demon Mountain Range, more than a dozen streaks of blue sword light sealed off the mountain entrance.
Large numbers of low-level demonic beasts with scarlet eyes raced madly through the forest, searching every inch as though plowing the land.
On the official road less than three li from the mountain entrance, a party of Rogue Cultivators in close-fitting martial attire was forcibly stopped.
"The Black Demon Mountain Range is closed effective immediately."
Two Mystic Sword Sect disciples barred the middle of the road with swords in hand.
"Demonic beasts are rioting. All unauthorized persons must leave."
The burly Rogue Cultivator leading the group felt his cheek muscles twitch.
"Closing the mountain? By what right?"
"Our demon-hunting group spent a fortune on information that mystic-tier spiritual herbs had appeared deep in the mountains, and your Mystic Sword Sect thinks it can claim the whole place with a single word?"
The surrounding martial artists watching the spectacle began clamoring.
"The Black Demon Mountain Range isn't your backyard!"
"My brothers are still inside!"
A mocking look appeared on a Mystic Sword Sect disciple's face. He raised his hand and struck with his sword.
Blue Sword Qi shot forth, shattering the burly leader's protective Spiritual Qi like paper.
A bloody gash deep enough to expose bone burst open across his chest. He flew backward and crashed into the muddy water, his fate unknown.
"Grand Elder Chu He is here in person."
"Cross the line, and die."
The entire crowd fell deathly silent.
The Rogue Cultivators suppressed their anger and retreated together.
The prestige of the Mystic Realm third level truly stood in a class of its own on the outskirts of the Black Demon Mountain Range.
In the shadows, several martial artists in brocade robes exchanged quick glances.
"The Mystic Sword Sect's table manners are truly ugly."
"To kill a junior from the Demon Suppression Bureau, they actually dare to strike a bargain with a Mystic Realm greater demon in the outer region."
"Send word back. The waters of Tiannan Commandery are about to churn."
Tiannan Commandery, the Demon Suppression Bureau headquarters.
Inside the sprawling bluestone hall, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.
Commandant Lu Cang sat in the seat of honor, the terrifying spiritual pressure of the Mystic Realm ninth level roaming uncontrollably around him.
With Tiannan Commandery's Demon Suppression Commander away, Lu Cang was temporarily responsible for all affairs of the commandery's Demon Suppression Bureau.
The bluestone floor at the center of the hall cracked inch by inch.
Several Demon Suppression Guards knelt below on one knee, breathing heavily.
A masked Shadow Guard stepped out from the shadow of a load-bearing pillar.
"Commandant Lu, the latest intelligence from the Shadow Guard."
"Su Yu has been forced into the inner region of the Black Demon Mountain Range by Chu He of the Mystic Sword Sect."
"Chu He joined forces with a Mystic Realm tiger demon in the outer region and triggered a regional beast tide."
"The outer region has been completely sealed off."
Bang!
The red sandalwood table beside Lu Cang instantly disintegrated into fine powder, and the teacup shattered.
The scalding tea hung in midair, forcibly vaporized into white mist by the raging spiritual pressure.
"What a fine Mystic Sword Sect."
"Do they truly think our Demon Suppression Bureau has no one?"
Lu Cang rose, tangible killing intent pouring from his burly, two-meter-tall body.
"Colluding with demons to surround and kill one of our Demon Suppression Bureau's men."
"That old dog Chu He really thinks no one in Tiannan Commandery dares to cleave him apart alive!"
Su Yu was a promising talent he had personally chosen.
He had slain Demon God Cult followers in succession while still in the Mortal Realm, and was also a genius at refining the spirit, with hopes of becoming a Demon Suppression Envoy in the future.
"Contact the Shadow Guards stationed near the Black Demon Mountain Range. Have them head there immediately. They must keep Su Yu alive."
Lu Cang reached back and drew the broad-bladed greatsword behind him.
The dark gold greatsword weighed several thousand jin, whipping up fierce winds through the hall as it moved.
"If the Mystic Sword Sect dares harm so much as a hair on Su Yu's head."
"Today, I'll cut off Chu He's head and raze his Mystic Sword Sect's mountain gates!"