Not Telling You Is for Your Own Good

Cang Chen and Chi Li exchanged a glance, their eyes overflowing with a cunning gleam.

Chi Li spat a blast of fire from its mouth toward the spiritual orb, and the demonic energy clinging to the orb instantly shrank back.

Hehehe~

What it carried was the Fire of Nirvana, unique to the Fire Phoenix clan and ranked in the top ten of the Divine Fire Rankings. This demonic energy was no match for it.

Soon, the flames formed a dense net, wrapping completely around the spiritual orb and leaving only a tiny exit.

As the temperature gradually rose, the demonic energy covering the spiritual orb began to stir restlessly.

Then, Cang Chen controlled the water ball to draw near the spiritual orb. The water ball carried pure water spiritual energy, and the demonic energy, seemingly finding an outlet, rapidly surged toward it.

Before long, the demonic energy on the spiritual orb was completely driven out by the Fire of Nirvana.

Chi Li looked excitedly at the water spiritual orb, which now had not a single trace of impurity, a grin spreading across its face.

Swish—

The spiritual orb was swept into Chi Li's storage bag, without leaving a trace of its aura behind.

The two beasts immediately retreated toward the dense forest. Without the spiritual energy provided by the spiritual orb, that demonic energy would soon disperse in all directions.

These demon beasts had already been lured and coerced by the demonic energy. Since the dispersing demonic energy could no longer find a medium to store itself, it would choose to enter the bodies of those who bore its scent, making them grow increasingly violent.

This itself wasn't terrifying; what was terrifying was the demonized magical beast deep within the forest. It possessed immense strength, and it would likely require a cultivator at the Golden Core realm or above to subdue it.

Only...

...that was not their concern!

Cang Chen and Chi Li were not the type of spirit beasts to meddle in others' business. They didn't have a good reputation in the upper realm to begin with, and they much preferred to just watch the chaos unfold.

In any case, they had already obtained the treasure, and they needed to leave before that magical beast realized what had happened. Otherwise, the two of them might not be able to escape.

Fortunately, there was absolutely no demonic energy left on the spiritual orb, making it impossible for anyone to track their scent. If worst came to worst, they could just hand the spiritual orb to Jiang Lu and have her put it in her storage space.

The existence of that space was certainly not something ordinary cultivators or demon beasts could perceive.

Just as they ran back to the first line of defense, they heard a roar coming from deep within the forest—ten thousand times more wretched than the previous cries!

The demonic energy had dispersed and entered the bodies of the demon beasts!

They exchanged a glance, accelerating their escape even further.

Swish—

Deep within the forest, a massive demon beast suddenly snapped its eyes open. Its deep pupils slit, bloodshot and completely crimson.

The terrifying aura around its body surged continuously, carrying layers of oppressive weight. The surrounding chirps of insects and birds ceased instantly, leaving only the heavy breathing of this powerful demon beast echoing in the area.

The aura of the spiritual orb—

...had vanished...

It glared gloomily toward the dense forest. Damn it!

It had obtained this spiritual orb by chance. Unfortunately, it had already turned into a demon and could not absorb its energy. However, it was able to taint the spiritual orb with its demonic energy, using it to control low-level demon beasts.

Every once in a while, a demon beast riot would occur in the cultivation world. This was because the powerful demon beasts deep in the forest were advancing in rank, and their immense strength would drive away the surrounding demon beasts.

With pressure rolling out layer by layer from the inner regions to the outskirts, the outer demon beasts would begin to riot.

This time, it had merely wanted to conduct an experiment, using demonic energy to control their actions. Now, it seemed to have failed!

The outside world remained unaware of its fury, but other demon beasts of similar strength merely sneered in disdain. Did it really think they didn't know what this old thing was planning? It truly treated those cultivators like fools.

As rivals, they naturally had the mindset of watching a good show. If it came to helping, they wouldn't even dream of it.

Roar—

Roar—

Roar—

Roars that filled the sky echoed from the outskirts of the forest. The cultivators sitting on the ground scrambled to their feet, their faces filled with terror. What was going on?

What a terrifying sound.

Jiang Lu snapped her eyes open, her brow furrowing slightly. She quickly stood up and looked in the direction of the sound.

Why did the demon beasts suddenly start roaring, and how could such a terrifying sound be heard from so far away?

The surrounding cultivators were startled by this sudden development. One by one, they gripped their dharma treasures, watching the direction of the sound with vigilant eyes.

“What's going on? What a terrifying sound.”

“Those demon beast roars... it's definitely not as simple as hundreds or thousands of them. I suspect there are tens of thousands!”

“Tens of thousands!”

“Yes! And they are demon beasts that have already entered a frenzied state! They have lost their consciousness entirely now, acting completely like controlled puppets, and their attack power is several times what it used to be.”

“Then... then... what do we do?”

They were only cultivators in the Qi Condensation realm. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would have no way to stand against these demon beasts!

Tens of thousands... that was enough to cover a tenth of the forest's outskirts!

“Someone has already sent word to the City Lord. This is probably not something we can stop on our own. We must seek help from those major forces!”

“That would be for the best, but by the time they arrive, we might already...”

Fear was written all over everyone's faces. A demon beast tide was different from a demon beast riot; during a demon beast tide, they made no distinction between friend and foe.

Jiang Lu watched the various expressions of the crowd, her heart sinking.

She lightly rested her hand on the pouch at her waist. Why hadn't those two fellows returned yet?

Her sixth sense told her that this matter definitely had something to do with them. She only hoped they wouldn't get hurt.

“Master, Master!”

Just as she was lost in thought, the voices of Cang Chen and Chi Li echoed in her mind, and their figures immediately appeared.

Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, the red and yellow figures quickly slipped back into her pouch.

Jiang Lu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They were finally back.

“What did you two go off to do?”

Jiang Lu asked within her sea of consciousness.

“Master, Master, we discovered something major outside...”

Chi Li and Cang Chen chimed in one after another, telling Jiang Lu everything they had just seen and heard. They didn't care for that cliché of "not telling you is for your own good."

All misunderstandings stemmed from that so-called "for your own good."

They believed Jiang Lu was not someone of weak resolve, so it was better to tell her so she could prepare in advance.

“What!”

“Demonic energy!”

Jiang Lu's pupils dilated. She was no longer a clueless novice; she knew all too well how deeply detested demonic energy was in the cultivation world.

It was hard to define whether the entity deep inside was a magical beast or a demonic cultivator.

However, just as the two of them thought, Jiang Lu knew that the current situation was no longer something they could face, and she had no idea when reinforcements would arrive.

It would be best if the others discovered the anomaly of these demon beasts on their own. It wasn't that she was cold-hearted, but the anomaly of these magical beasts absolutely could not be voiced by a mere mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator like her.

“I heard a magical beast riot has broken out in the dense forest near Xijiang City. Third Senior Brother, let's go take a look.”

From a spiritual boat in the sky came a soft voice, carrying just the right amount of gentleness and curiosity.