Beasts are divided into three kinds—Barbaric Demons, Spirit Beasts, and Divine Beasts.

Barbaric Demons, deprived of Spiritual Wisdom, brimming with demonic power, are existences that have undergone Demonization.

Spirit Beasts, initially awakened by Spiritual Wisdom, possess Spiritual Power and are beings transformed by Spiritual Energy.

Divine Beasts, which ride the clouds and summon the wind and rain, command various Spell Techniques and exist as deities.

Every Barbaric Demon inevitably yearns to become a Spirit Beast, and every Spirit Beast aspires to evolve into a Divine Beast. Except for the Dragon Horn Turtle, other demon beasts lack the constitution and capability to transform into a dragon over a thousand years. Although they cannot leap directly into becoming Divine Beasts, given a twist of fate, they could evolve into Spirit Beasts. For instance, currently, if any Barbaric Demon seizes the initiative and is the first to kill the Dragon Horn Turtle—which is in the midst of transforming—by consuming its Demon Core, it could purify its demon nature, awaken its Spiritual Wisdom, and become a Spirit Beast.

Therefore, such a phenomenon is considered normal.

Yet at this moment, the appearance of a group of people deeply surprised Wang Xiaoqiang; he used the technique "Observing Heaven and Earth" daily to scout the surroundings within fifty miles and had not detected any human presence. At this crucial moment, however, others came to compete for the Demon Core.

Wang Xiaoqiang flew swiftly and soon was flying below the Red Cloud.

Below the Red Cloud, in a large clearing amongst the forest, lay a Dragon Horn Turtle as large as a house, undergoing transformation. Its body, enveloped by the hovering Red Cloud, cast in red hues, lay half-lying like a human, emitting cries of a half-demon, half-dragon nature, greedily swallowing the Red Light, alternately fading in and out—brightly appearing as a dragon, and darkly as a turtle.

However, as it continuously swallowed the Red Light, the periods of brightness grew longer, and the darkness shorter, and its cries increasingly resembled a dragon's roar.

It appeared that before long, it would shed its demon nature and transform into a dragon and fly away.

Wang Xiaoqiang shifted his gaze from the Dragon Horn Turtle and scanned around. At that moment, he saw a Ninth Level Barbaric Demon, a Thorn Flood Dragon, rapidly approaching.

Without further thought, Wang Xiaoqiang acted upon his willpower, and the Patterned Beast flashed out from him, uttering a mighty roar and pounced toward the Thorn Flood Dragon.

Eighth Level against Ninth Level, the Patterned Beast showed no fear.

Firstly, after a month of cultivation, the Patterned Beast's demonic power had improved; secondly, as the master's Cultivation Base grew, it subtly enhanced the beast's abilities as well.

Now with its strength, combined with its ability to fly and become invisible, it matched the Thorn Flood Dragon well.

The Thorn Flood Dragon, eager to obtain the Demon Core, was infuriated by the blockage of the Patterned Beast. It shook its head, its spike-like horn surging toward the Patterned Beast.

As the two beasts clashed, Wang Xiaoqiang propped open the Spiritual Energy Protective Shield, took the Penglai Immortal Sword from the Sumeru Ring, and rushed toward the Dragon Horn Turtle which was in the state of transforming into a dragon.

"Kind sir, spare my life! A thousand years of cultivation is not easy to come by. Please show mercy. Once I transform into a dragon, I will surely assist your cultivation and repay your mercy of not killing me..."

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang charging at him, the Dragon Horn Turtle actually spoke human words, pleading with Wang Xiaoqiang.

By then, Wang Xiaoqiang had already reached its side and had raised the Penglai Immortal Sword. Hearing the Dragon Horn Turtle's plea, he hesitated for a moment, but at that instant, from not too far away, came the expected sound of trampling and various odd cries of Barbaric Demons. Hearing this, he spoke, "Spirit Turtle, listen—many of your kind now seek to kill you for your core. Even if I don't kill you, you won't be able to transform into a dragon; you're destined to die today, so you can't blame me!"

With that, he thrust the sword downward.

To transform into a dragon, the Dragon Horn Turtle had to first disperse all its demonic power before it could absorb the Divine Power from the Red Cloud.

Thus, at this moment, it was merely a shell without any defensive capability.

The Penglai Immortal Sword pierced through the body of the Dragon Horn Turtle, pinning it firmly to the ground.

The Dragon Horn Turtle whimpered in agony, stopped absorbing Divine Power, and struggled desperately.

But it was hardly any use.

Wang Xiaoqiang stepped on its body, pulled out the Dagger Fish, opened its belly, and took out something transparent and luminous—not a Demon Crystal, nor a Dragon Pill, but a—a Demon Core.

The sound of Barbaric Demons running drew nearer, their thudding strides booming like drums. Various terrifying howls filled the area.

Before the onslaught of beasts arrived, he had to find an escape.

Without further thought, he placed the Demon Core into the Sumeru Ring, pulled out the Penglai Immortal Sword from the Dragon Horn Turtle's body, and with a thought, the Patterned Beast, which was still incessantly battling the Thorn Flood Dragon, growled softly, ceased fighting, and came to its master's side, half crouching. Wang Xiaoqiang stamped his foot, leaped onto the beast's back, and mounted it.

The Patterned Beast, carrying Wang Xiaoqiang, gave a loud shout, spread its wings, and flapped upwards into flight.

......

As the Patterned Beast reached mid-air, on the forest clearing below, the beast wave had reached, centering on the Dragon Horn Turtle, which had failed to transform and was nearing death. Various sizes and shapes of Barbaric Demons packed the clearing tightly.

There was also a group of ten men, dressed in black armor, wielding Spirit Soldiers, who had also hurriedly arrived, but in the face of so many Barbaric Demons, these ten did not dare approach. They hid far away in dense woods, whispering and discussing something amongst themselves.

At that moment, on the central clearing of the beast wave, the Dragon Horn Ghost had turned into a corpse. Its belly was slit open, still oozing green blood. Seeing this scene, the horde of Barbaric Demons let out a clamor, and a massive noise surged to the heavens, causing Wang Xiaoqiang, hovering in mid-air, to feel his ears buzzing, so he immediately directed the Patterned Beast to fly a bit higher.

A three-eyed spirit ape, towering over thirty feet tall, emerged from the crowd, stretching out its furry gigantic claw and screeching. Suddenly, the cacophonous cries of the demon savages fell silent.

Clearly, a tenth-level demon barbarian held considerable deterrence. Obviously, this monstrously large three-eyed ape must be the overlord of these woods.

The three-eyed ape stopped the frenzied beasts, moved to the corpse of the dragon horn turtle, and squatted down like a human. It reached into the gash in the turtle's belly, fumbling around. When it couldn't find what it was seeking, this three-eyed creature showed a frantic fury. Its sharp claws wildly tore into the turtle's stomach, turning it into a mushy mess of flesh, and still not finding what it wanted, the ape's frenzied state became apparent as it astonishingly spoke human words, "The demon core has been stolen. Who stole the demon core?"

As it spoke, it suddenly turned its head, its gaze sweeping over the crowd. It first scanned the demon savages with two of its eyes, then activated its third eye. This third eye, located on its forehead, was twice as big as the other two eyes,

From that eye, a fierce white light shot out, extremely bright and intensely piercing, nearly penetrating the bodies of the demon savages. Under that beam of light, all the demons appeared transparent, revealing everything inside them.

Even with the third eye activated, the ape still couldn't find the demon core, and its frantic emotion finally erupted as it howled to the sky, roaring,

"Who is it? Who is it? Who is it?"

These three roars shook the area for miles, causing the lower-level demon savages to cower to the ground, whimpering softly.

Hearing this cry, the ten men dressed in black armor hidden in the dense forest appeared exceedingly panicked, desperately fleeing in the opposite direction.

Wang Xiaoqiang rode the patterned beast, following them from high above.

After running for the duration of an incense stick, those ten black-armored men met up with another group and stopped fleeing. Both groups gestured and discussed something with each other.

To avoid exposing his target, Wang Xiaoqiang guided the patterned beast downward.

Jumping down from the patterned beast, a thought crossed his mind, and the beast transformed into a ghostly shadow that returned to his body.

With the patterned beast retracted, Wang Xiaoqiang stealthily approached a tree not far from the group to observe.

From a distance, he could only make out their general shapes. In addition to the ten initially sighted men in black armor, there were thirty more black-armored individuals. These forty black-armored men, when gathered, also grouped in tens and stood in batches, even forming a faint formation. They all held weapons in their hands.

Besides these forty, there were five people dressed in robes, four of whom were men and one a woman.

From the position they stood, it was apparent these five were the leaders.

Wang Xiaoqiang quietly watched these forty-five figures, wondering:

Could it be a hunting party from a cultivation family?

Hunting parties from cultivation families often involved a group emerging from their lairs, sometimes hundreds at a time, sometimes just a few dozens. They moved quickly, entering the forest to slay demons and retrieve cores, continuously moving and rarely staying long in the woods. However, these forty-five people didn't seem like they were hunting.

If not hunting, then what were they doing?

Wang Xiaoqiang quickly rushed into a nearby patch of forest. From this place, he could see them clearer, but still couldn't distinguish their faces.

Just then, the group began to move, forming up and marching toward the direction where the dragon horn turtle had transformed into a dragon.

The ten previously fleeing black-armored men led the way at the front.

Twenty black-armored men flanked both sides, guarding the five robe-clad individuals.

The remaining ten black-armored men followed behind.

Just by this formation alone, it was clear this was a party even more strictly organized than a martial family.

And the identities of those five robe-clad people were clearly quite prestigious.

Seeing them about to move further away, Wang Xiaoqiang followed behind the group.

The team had marched for a while when suddenly, one of the black-armored men dropped out of formation.

As Wang Xiaoqiang drew closer, he saw the man approach a tree to undo his trousers, clearly intending to urinate.

At that moment, Wang Xiaoqiang could see the man clearly: dressed in black armor, he was also holding a spirit soldier in his hand.

This equipment clearly surpassed that of the typical cultivation family and most likely belonged to a guard from some City Lord's family.

To clarify the identity of this group, Wang Xiaoqiang hastened toward the man who was urinating.

The main group was just ahead, and the man seemingly had no guard up. As Wang Xiaoqiang approached him from behind, the man became alert only at the last moment. In his panic, he didn't even pull up his trousers but merely gestured with his right hand, attempting to raise a Spiritual Energy Protective Shield.

Before the shield could fully form, thirty strands of Spiritual Energy silk, like serpents, wrapped around him, binding him tightly like a white dumpling. He circulated his Spiritual Power, struggling desperately to expand the cocoon of Spiritual Energy light. However, despite his best efforts in the Solidification Realm, he was ultimately overwhelmed and exhausted. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.