Chapter 385 - 384: Driving Off Everyone

Chapter 385: Chapter 384: Driving Off Everyone

"Young Master, there’s constant fighting in the dense forest ahead. The scent of blood is thick."

"The dense forest?" The youth looked toward the surface of Three-Heart Lake. "Is that what the crows meant?"

He raised his head and sniffed the air a few times. "The scent of the Emperor’s Liquid here is incredibly potent. The crows weren’t lying."

The youth walked a few steps toward the lake, then jumped onto a large tree—the very one where Hee Lingchuan had previously set up his silk net—and sniffed the air again.

Closing his eyes, his sense of smell was so keen it was as if he could "see" the shape of the scent. He could tell the lingering aroma of Emperor’s Liquid hanging over the lake was exceptionally potent, and it was even mixed with a faint, foul odor.

The youth opened his eyes. "Emperor’s Liquid Paste?"

Things taken to an extreme often become their opposite. For his sensitive nose, a fragrance that was too rich began to take on a foul edge.

Without a doubt, that had to be the scent of a paste even more concentrated than ordinary Emperor’s Liquid.

No living creature could resist such a soul-deep craving.

A faint red glow shone uncontrollably in the youth’s eyes, but his tone remained casual.

"What could have intercepted the Emperor’s Liquid above the lake? And it looks like they collected a lot. Wait... I think I smell a human." The scent was faint, mixed in with the aroma of the Emperor’s Liquid and mostly scattered by the mountain wind, making it hard to notice.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’the lake is exceptionally wide and open. Unobstructed. It really is a good place to collect the Spiritual Liquid.’

"So someone was collecting Emperor’s Liquid in midair?" He turned to look at where all the creatures were fighting. "But why are they fighting to the death over *there*?"

One of his men said, "Perhaps they were caught."

"Makes sense. Let’s go see." The crows had been squawking about "Emperor’s Liquid Paste" the whole way. The stuff was a magnet, and there was no telling how many competitors it had drawn in.

The Spirit Rain itself was a miraculous event that happened only once every few decades. Finding a naturally formed piece of Emperor’s Liquid Paste? That was like hitting the jackpot.

By now, the victors of the forest battle had been decided: two monsters known as Laozhi. They had jackal-like bodies, but their heads could bloom open like a flower to shoot out a whip-like tongue.

In their juvenile stage, these creatures are plants, rooted to the ground and immobile. But once they mature into demons, they grow limbs, pull themselves out of the earth, and roam the forest to hunt, their prey growing ever larger.

The principle was the same for the Ginseng Child and Reishi Horse, which could run freely all over the mountains. The Laozhi were just a bit bigger, a bit uglier, and had a bit of a bigger appetite.

They were devouring the human corpses on the ground, swallowing them down in slow, deliberate gulps.

As the black-clothed youth and his men drew near, the two Laozhi immediately spun around to face them, letting out warning snarls.

These creatures were a classic case of seeing without eyes and hearing without ears.

"Get out of the way!" the black-clothed youth said, stepping forward fearlessly. "Or I’ll kill you where you stand!"

A scarlet light suddenly flared in his eyes. The light around him dimmed, as if wreathed in black smoke.

With every step he took, the plants within a fifteen-foot radius rapidly withered. Trees lost their leaves, flowers wilted, and even the fertile black soil began to turn pale and crack.

The tip of one Laozhi’s front claw was caught within this radius. It let out a sharp SQUEAL, as if scalded, and yanked it back.

The tip of the claw shriveled. Brown spots appeared on its pale green surface, as if it had caught leaf blight.

The spots grew larger, and the claw tip began to turn yellow.

The Laozhi had no choice but to lower its head and bite off the afflicted claw.

Having learned their lesson, they began to recognize the danger. As the youth advanced, they retreated. They roared a couple more times, but anyone could tell it was all bluster.

There was nothing to be done; they were completely suppressed by his Divine Techniques or elemental affinity.

Smelling the aroma of the Emperor’s Liquid, the two Laozhi drooled onto the ground, their hearts filled with reluctance. But in the end, they didn’t dare fight. They turned and left in frustration, leaving most of their prey for the black-clothed youth.

Though they had once been plants, they weren’t complete blockheads; they knew when they were outmatched. Lingering any longer would be a death sentence.

His men hurried forward to collect the spoils.

Soon, they were beaming.

"These two collected three bottles of Emperor’s Liquid! Not bad at all!"

"These two Violent Apes were hiding some good stuff in their belly pouches too. Let’s see how much... Bah! It’s just fruit!"

Another man came forward, presenting two leaves as if they were a treasure. The youth opened them. Inside was a small, solidified piece of Emperor’s Liquid Paste, slightly larger than a fingernail.

"Which corpse did you find this on?"

"The tiger." The man pointed. The tigress on the ground was already half-eaten. "Half its fangs were already pulled. It was easy to get."

The tigress probably couldn’t resist eating the Emperor’s Liquid she’d acquired, leaving only this small piece of paste. That’s why the other Demons opted to devour her body directly to absorb the Spiritual Qi.

"This is the ’Pulp Paste’ the crows were talking about?" The black-clothed youth frowned. "It’s tiny."

One of his men chuckled. "There are over forty corpses here. If we search them all, it’ll add up."

The dozen of them had spent all night collecting in the valley and hadn’t gathered even a third of this. It was true what they said: crime was the fastest way to get rich.

The youth mused, "Can you tell who was killed first?"

His man gave a bitter smile. "They all died within the last half hour. Trying to figure out the exact order would be..." He trailed off. It was an impossible task.

The black-clothed youth noticed the corpse of a Mountain Demon on the ground.

With the Emperor’s Liquid just having passed, the Demons would prioritize eating other Demons for their power. This Mountain Demon was just a big monkey with very little Daoist Practice, which was why its corpse was still intact.

’In a place where Demons and Cultivators are fighting to the death, why would an ordinary Mountain Demon be here?’

’Shouldn’t an ordinary beast run as far as it can from a brawl like this? Or... did this Mountain Demon try to take advantage of the chaos to steal some Emperor’s Liquid, only to get itself killed?’

He squatted down to take a look. "It was killed by a predator’s bite."

’There were several predators here. Which one killed the Mountain Demon?’

A white-fronted crow suddenly flew down from a treetop dozens of feet away. It landed on a low branch, flapped its wings, and squawked, "It was killed by the tiger! I saw it with my own eyes!"

A crow? The black-clothed youth’s eyes glinted. "Was it you spreading the news?"

"Yes!" The crow folded its wings. "A man stole our Emperor’s Liquid Paste! It was bigger than a duck egg! This Mountain Demon was his underling!"

A piece of Pulp Paste bigger than a duck egg? Everyone was stirred.

Natural Pulp Paste had the potency of a hundred times its volume in Emperor’s Liquid, not to mention its many other wondrous uses. No wonder the crows were livid—they’d hit the jackpot only to have it snatched away.

From the crow’s attitude, the youth surmised, "So this person didn’t die?"

"Two Tiger Demons attacked him. He took control of one and killed the other," the crow cawed. "Then the White Crane arrived, and the man dropped the tiger’s body and fled into the forest."

"Fled?" The youth’s eyes glinted. "You lost him?"

"None of us can find him," said the crow. "But to the west lie the empty barrens, and to the east is Three-Heart Lake. He must have gone northeast!" It then described Hee Lingchuan’s attire. "He was also wearing a Nuo Ghost mask."

One of his men offered a suggestion. "Young Master, should we summon a Marsh Warden to ask?"

"I’m afraid that won’t work today." Marsh Wardens are Demons too; they won’t answer a summons on the day of the Emperor’s Liquid. "Besides, we may not have the power to compel the local Marsh Warden to appear."

The black-clothed youth then took a Purple Gold Hammer from his robes and swung it twice.

The hammer instantly grew in the air until it was larger than a man’s head.

The black-clothed youth inverted his grip, bringing the head of the hammer down to strike the ground three times. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A shockwave radiated out from the point of impact, shaking the surrounding trees and sending leaves fluttering to the ground.

The shockwave was relatively gentle, however, causing little physical damage. But the morning mist and light haze enveloping the forest were instantly blasted away.

The forest was now as clear as if it had just been washed clean.

This was the special ability of the Purple Gold Hammer:

Breaking the Barrier.

Any Illusion Realm, Blinding Technique, or even an Invisibility Divine Technique would be shattered by the shockwaves, forcing whatever was hidden to reveal itself.

Clearly, the black-clothed youth believed the thief who stole the Emperor’s Liquid Paste had deliberately left the tiger’s body behind. He must be hiding nearby, letting others fight over the scraps, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge and claim the final prize.

’After all, that’s what he would do in the thief’s position.’

His men also spread out, ready to make a capture.

One of them suddenly turned pale and, pointing behind the black-clothed youth, screamed, "Behind you!"

A gray Giant Python, nearly a meter in diameter, had slithered up behind the youth at some point. It possessed an Invisibility camouflage ability so perfect it didn’t even leave tracks on the ground, and no one had noticed its approach.

It had already been coiled to strike, preparing to ambush the black-clothed youth, when his three strikes with the Purple Gold Hammer shattered its Invisibility Divine Technique.

And so the giant beast was brazenly exposed in the middle of the clearing.

Seeing that its cover was blown, the Giant Python struck instantly. It moved so fast that, to the onlookers, the black spots on its body blurred into solid lines.

Without even turning his head, the black-clothed youth took a single step to the side, perfectly evading the attack.

The Giant Python adjusted its trajectory and lunged for his waist.

But the youth’s Purple Gold Hammer was already there, arriving so perfectly it was as if the python had deliberately offered its head up for the strike.

With a deafening DONG that seemed to echo endlessly...

...the Giant Python was sent flying, its head snapping a small tree on impact.

The heavy blow had smashed its jawbone, not only shattering the bone but leaving its lower jaw hanging grotesquely askew. It wouldn’t be closing its mouth anytime soon.

The gray python struggled to lift its head, failing twice, as if suffering from a severe concussion.

The youth walked over at a leisurely pace, preparing to bring the Purple Gold Hammer down on its head once more.

The moment he was in front of the Giant Python, it lunged with incredible force, coiling its body tightly around him!

Its jaw was mangled, rendering its bite useless, but that didn’t matter. A python’s true instinct remained. Once it had its prey, thousands of muscles would constrict simultaneously, aiming to crush him on the spot!

"Young Master!" his men shouted, rushing forward.

But the Giant Python was wary of the Purple Gold Hammer and held its head high out of reach. Without something like a horse-chopping saber, no one could reach its head.

"Back off!" the Giant Python roared. "Or I’ll crush him to death!"

Its scales were thick and hard, and a faint light occasionally flashed across its skin, but the flurry of blows from the men was still excruciating.

Just then, the black-clothed youth spoke. "To think I searched high and low for you, only for you to deliver yourself to my door."

’What did he mean by that?’

Before the Giant Python could figure it out, the youth opened his mouth and sank his teeth into its body.

Both of his arms were pinned, but his neck was free, and he only had to lower his head to bite down.