At the location of the main force of the three sects, Mo Bufan looked at the demon beast horde in the distance and revealed a smile.
If nothing unexpected happened, Zhang San had already been surrounded by the demon beast horde and had no way to escape.
Qin Mengya furrowed her brows slightly as she gazed at the twenty-eight vanguard disciples rushing toward them, sinking into deep thought.
“This is the Netherworld Mountain Secret Realm’s first trial? It is actually this terrifying.”
Zhao Ming looked into the distance. More than a hundred demon beasts roared and began to move, like an earthquake.
He sighed inwardly. If he had entered alone, he would probably have been surrounded and killed by the demon beasts. Even his dao protector would have had difficulty rescuing him. There were simply too many demon beasts.
“This is somewhat challenging.” Luo Bin looked at the beast horde in the distance and revealed a faint smile.
The more dangerous the Netherworld Mountain Secret Realm was, the greater the fortuitous opportunity it represented.
Li Shu, however, had a solemn expression. He asked the vanguard disciples, “Why are there only twenty-eight of you? What happened to the other two?”
“Zhu Zhuang and Zhang San were trapped by the demon beast horde. Their life or death is unknown,” a dao sect disciple replied.
Everyone’s hearts sank, and they felt a sorrowful sense of sympathy for those in the same plight.
Cultivation was simply like this. The slightest carelessness would result in the body perishing and the Dao disintegrating.
“If their life or death is unknown, then there is still a possibility that they are alive. Go and slay the demon beasts.”
Qin Mengya unexpectedly spoke first. Blue spiritual power surged around her as she prepared for battle.
She did not know Zhu Zhuang’s situation, but as for Qin Hao, as long as he had brought along the token she had given him, he definitely had hope of surviving.
“Junior sister, you mustn’t.” Mo Bufan spoke up to stop her, his expression somewhat anxious. He continued, “Our most urgent task is to investigate the truth of the Netherworld Mountain Secret Realm. The demon beast horde is too powerful. We must not provoke it.”
“Hahahaha!” Luo Bin burst into loud laughter at this moment. Shaking his head at Mo Bufan, he said, “You still want to investigate its truth? Can’t you see the large words in the sky? If we don’t slay the demon beasts, we probably won’t be able to investigate it clearly even in our entire lifetimes.”
After Luo Bin said this, everyone looked toward the sky.
After seeing the conspicuous words in the sky, everyone understood that if they wanted to obtain the fortuitous opportunity of the Netherworld Mountain Secret Realm, they had to pass the trial before them.
However, a hundred and fifty demon beasts, with three ninth layer of qi refinement demon beasts leading them, still made everyone uneasy. This was already comparable to a small-scale beast tide.
Most of the cultivators present were at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refinement. If they fought a small-scale beast tide head-on, the death rate would definitely be high.
Mo Bufan glanced at Luo Bin, his feelings unclear.
“Then let’s do this. Luo Bin, Mo Bufan, and I will slay the three leader demon beasts. The rest of you will clear out the attendant demon beasts,” Li Shu said.
“I have no problem with that. I just don’t know whether Mo Bufan has a problem with it.” Luo Bin glanced at Mo Bufan with a half-smile.
This made Mo Bufan somewhat furious. How could he tolerate being told he was incapable in front of Qin Mengya?
“I have no problem with it. Brother Luo is worrying unnecessarily.”
“That’s good.” Luo Bin burst into laughter again, then came to Mo Bufan’s side and patted him on the shoulder.
After the assignments were distributed, everyone began approaching the demon beast horde.
Qin Mengya charged at the forefront. Worried about Qin Hao’s safety, she unleashed her full firepower, revealing her powerful cultivation level without the slightest concealment. This shocked Luo Bin and the others.
Judging solely from Qin Mengya’s aura, there was already no difference between her and an early foundation establishment cultivator.
However, Qin Mengya was not yet a foundation establishment cultivator.
“So this is the Nine Nether Demoness, the possessor of the Primordial Nether Sacred Physique?” Luo Bin thought inwardly, involuntarily speeding up.
He did not want to be outdone by a woman.
Seeing how anxious Qin Mengya was, Mo Bufan felt even more resentful. However, after giving it some thought, he realized that Qin Hao was likely doomed after being surrounded by so many demon beasts, and his heart relaxed considerably.
Zhao Ming did not follow the main force to slay the demon beasts because he felt somewhat restless.
He kept feeling as though a pair of eyes was watching him from the shadows.
“Is it an illusion, or is there some difficult-to-detect danger here?”
Zhao Ming tightly gripped a bead in his hand. At the critical moment, he could crush the bead to obtain a protective barrier. The bead would also send a signal to his dao protector, allowing the dao protector to learn immediately that he was in danger and come rescue him.
Even so, Zhao Ming still felt that something was wrong.
Among the demon beast horde, a wild bull looked around with shifty-eyed suspicion. This wild bull seemed to possess intelligence, and the direction it looked toward most often was where Zhao Ming stood.
Seeing that Zhao Ming had not moved, the wild bull let out a roar. Its pair of hooves ruthlessly kicked a fire sheep beside it, killing the fire sheep instantly. Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, it transformed into a dried corpse.
The wild bull that had kicked the fire sheep to death then transformed into a fire sheep and continued searching for a new target within the beast horde.
Holding the Gentleman’s Sword, Li Shu slaughtered his way through the demon beast horde. The attendant demon beasts could not last more than three exchanges against him. Li Shu’s target was very clear: the ninth layer of qi refinement leader fire ram.
However, while killing the demon beasts, Li Shu discovered something unusual. There were actually some dried corpses among the demon beast horde.
These were the dried corpses of demon beasts—wild bulls, white horses, and fire sheep.
From the looks of it, they seemed to have been subjected to an evil technique and drained dry while still alive.
“Could it be that one of the disciples of the three sects is practicing an evil technique?”
There were quite a few cultivators who practiced evil techniques, but most of them were universally despised demonic cultivators. The disciples of the Seven Great Sects of the Ten Thousand Mountains were strictly forbidden from practicing evil techniques. Once discovered, their cultivation level would be crippled, their core sea destroyed, and they would be cast down into the mortal world.
The only person Li Shu knew who practiced an evil technique without being punished was Zhao Ming.
Therefore, Li Shu felt some disgust toward Zhao Ming.
But Zhao Ming was not participating in the killing of the demon beasts now, which meant that someone else had drained them dry.
“I’d better not discover you. Otherwise, I will slay you without mercy!” Li Shu snorted coldly, and the Gentleman’s Sword in his hand moved even faster.
………
“Congratulations, host. You have devoured a fourth qi refinement layer demon beast. Your cultivation level has increased, and you have obtained five devouring points.”
“Congratulations, host. You have devoured a fourth qi refinement layer demon beast. Your cultivation level has increased, and you have obtained five devouring points.”
“Congratulations, host. You have devoured…”
Qin Hao’s mind was filled with the System’s machine-like notification sounds.
Qin Hao’s current identity was that of a galloping white horse.
After being surrounded by the demon beasts, Qin Hao had originally planned to rely on his physique to forcefully carve out a path through the bloodshed.
However, following the System’s prompt, Qin Hao discovered a clever trick: devour a demon beast, then transform into its appearance. Relying on Myriad Transformations, even the leader demon beasts could not see through the fact that Qin Hao had transformed into a demon beast.
With this, Qin Hao was practically like a fish in water.
He wantonly devoured among the demon beast horde, and his current cultivation level was already close to the perfected ninth layer of qi refinement.
If he devoured all a hundred and fifty demon beasts, breaking through to the foundation establishment stage would not be difficult.
“Why has Li Shu come over here?”
Qin Hao’s heart jolted as he watched Li Shu wield the Gentleman’s Sword and kill his way directly toward him.
He immediately sent out a Sword Qi with a backhand strike.
Qin Hao leaped and easily dodged it, which piqued Li Shu’s interest.
This white horse is interesting. It can actually dodge my Sword Qi.
Li Shu decided to test this white horse. It would not be too late to look for the leader fire ram after Slaying this white horse.