Li Nanzhu quickly scanned her surroundings, her gaze landing on several protruding rocks and low-hanging vines near the stream.
She rummaged through the storage bag at her waist. A spark of inspiration struck her, and she whispered, "I have an idea! Seventh Senior Brother, can you use your sword qi to lure that crocodile over here?"
Though Duan Xianxing didn't understand her reasoning, he nodded without hesitation. "Leave it to me!"
He leapt into the air, sweeping his long sword. A sharp arc of sword qi slashed toward the head of the crocodile-shaped demonic beast.
The beast roared in pain, its massive body lunging toward Duan Xianxing in a fury.
"Now!" Li Nanzhu swiftly pulled a talisman from her storage bag. With a flash of spiritual energy from her fingertips, the talisman transformed into a streak of light and stuck to the crocodile's back.
The crocodile stiffened for a moment as if hit by a sudden stimulus. Its eyes turned blood-red, and it abruptly changed direction, charging straight into the swarm of spirit-siphoning fire ants!
Liu Qingyang was surprised. "What talisman did you use?"
"A frenzy talisman. It can enrage a demonic beast for a short time," Li Nanzhu said at a rapid-fire pace. Fortunately, the Library Pavilion had plenty of books on talismans, and she had studied many obscure ones; otherwise, she would have been truly helpless against these pests.
"The crocodile’s hide is thick and tough. The fire ants won't be able to chew through it immediately, but the ant queen will definitely be provoked."
Before she finished speaking, the crocodile had already crashed into the swarm. Its massive tail swept across the ground, crushing a patch of fire ants instantly.
The ant queen let out a piercing screech. The crimson swarm crawled onto the crocodile's body like a rising tide, biting frantically.
The crocodile rolled and struggled in pain, but in doing so, it crushed a large number of fire ants into the mud.
The two sides were instantly locked in a chaotic struggle, blood splattering everywhere.
"While it's a dog-eat-dog world for them, let's get out of here!" Duan Xianxing waved excitedly.
The four of them immediately hugged the edge of the stream and moved fast, bypassing the battlefield.
Li Nanzhu looked back. The spirit-siphoning fire ants' attention was entirely occupied by the crocodile. The ant queen had even joined the fray herself, her sharp mouthparts piercing into the gaps of the crocodile's scales.
In its rage, the crocodile clamped its jaws down on the ant queen's torso, tearing at her wildly.
"Diverting the disaster toward others—brilliant move, Fellow Daoist Li!" Liu Qingyang couldn't help but praise her.
Zhu Yinxi suddenly paused. "Wait, there's a fork in the road ahead."
The stream split into two branches here. One flowed northeast with a gentle current, while the other headed southeast with rapid water and jagged rocks along the banks.
Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "Which side do we take?"
Zhu Yinxi closed his eyes to sense the area for a moment, then pointed southeast. "The spiritual energy fluctuations are weaker this way. There should be fewer demonic beasts."
Without hesitation, the other three immediately followed the direction Zhu Yinxi indicated, moving at top speed.
Just as they stepped onto the path along the southeast branch, a world-shaking explosion thundered behind them.
A violent shockwave of spiritual energy swept toward them. Zhu Yinxi raised a spiritual energy barrier with a flick of his hand, barely blocking the flying debris.
Once the dust settled, the original battlefield had been turned into a massive crater. Most of the spirit-siphoning fire ants were dead or injured, and the surviving workers were dragging the queen's mangled remains as they fled in panic.
Duan Xianxing sucked in a breath. "That crocodile had a hell of a temper... it actually self-detonated its demonic beast core." He looked lingeringly fearful. "Good thing we ran fast enough to stay out of the blast zone."
Liu Qingyang’s expression was grave. "The commotion from a core self-detonating is too loud. I’m afraid it will attract even more troublesome things."
As if to confirm his words, the distant sky suddenly darkened. The shadow of the Golden-Feathered Thunder Roc glided over the canopy, its sharp cries drawing closer, while the sounds of more restless demonic beasts echoed from further away.
Li Nanzhu made a snap decision. "Into the water! The thunder roc has excellent vision, but it will be affected by the mist and spray!"
Just as Liu Qingyang was about to use his water-repelling bead, Li Nanzhu said urgently, "The thunder roc can sense spiritual energy fluctuations! Your water-repelling bead emits too much energy! Let me!" Before she finished, she slapped several water-repelling talismans onto everyone’s robes, and the four of them quickly dove into the stream.
The moment the cold water submerged them, the thunder roc's talons skimmed the surface, kicking up plumes of water several meters high.
They held their breath and moved underwater until the thunder roc's cries faded into the distance. Only then did they surface for air.
"Cough, cough... Junior Sister, why did you even have water-repelling talismans ready?" Duan Xianxing wiped his face.
Li Nanzhu blinked her wet eyes. "I drew them last night while I was on watch. Just in case."
Liu Qingyang laughed. "It seems my water-repelling bead is useless now."
Zhu Yinxi looked toward the distant water, which was gradually calming. A slight smile touched his lips. "Now, we can finally travel in peace."
The four continued along the southeast branch. The stream grew swifter, and the rocky banks on both sides became steeper.
Suisui perched on Li Nanzhu’s shoulder, its joints trembling slightly as if it were on high alert.
Suddenly, an unusual ripple appeared on the water's surface ahead. Immediately after, a dark shadow lunged out of the water.
It was a massive, bright green python with cold reptilian eyes. Corrosive venom dripped from its fangs, and its aura had clearly reached the Golden Core initial stage!
"A jade-phosphorus water python!" Zhu Yinxi’s expression tightened as he stepped back. "Watch out for its venom. If it touches you..."
Zhu Yinxi’s gaze swept over the others.
"...your only reward will be having to eat one of Third Junior Brother's detoxification pills."
!!!
The three who were already on guard felt a sudden shiver. They weren't joking—who would want to eat that pill? At the thought, their gazes became even more determined. No matter what, they could not get poisoned!
The python hissed, its tail slamming the water to launch several arrows of venomous water toward them!
"Back up!" Liu Qingyang shouted, condensing a fire shield in his palm. The venom hit the flames with a sizzling, corrosive sound.
Duan Xianxing took the opportunity to leap into the air, his sword carving a sharp arc as he aimed directly for the python’s heart!
However, the python reacted incredibly fast. Its body twisted, narrowly avoiding the vital spot, and it spat out a cloud of poisonous mist.
Li Nanzhu reacted quickly, throwing out a clearing wind talisman. With a surge of spiritual energy, a gale rose, blowing most of the mist away.
"Its scales are too hard! Ordinary sword qi can't break through!" Duan Xianxing frowned as he landed.
Zhu Yinxi's eyes darkened. He held his jade flute to his lips and blew a clear, sharp melody.
In an instant, the surrounding water vapor condensed into countless tiny needles, raining down on the python's eyes, mouth, and other weak points!
The python thrashed in pain, its tail sweeping across the bank and shattering the rocks.
Li Nanzhu saw her opening. Holding a thunder-fire talisman between her fingers, she threw it. "Seventh Senior Brother, make it look up!"
Duan Xianxing understood immediately. He blurred into motion, his sword light pressing toward the python’s lower jaw.
The python indeed jerked its head back to dodge. In that split second, Li Nanzhu controlled the thunder-fire talisman to fly precisely into its gaping maw!
Boom!
The talisman exploded inside the python. Lightning and fire intertwined, and the python rolled in agony. Its body slammed frantically against the water, the chaotic spiritual energy nearly knocking the others back!
"Now!" Liu Qingyang formed hand seals again, and a blazing pillar of fire erupted from the ground, trapping the python within.
Zhu Yinxi’s water needles condensed once more. This time, they all pierced into the python's wounds. Under the combined assault of water and fire, the giant snake finally let out a mournful cry and crashed heavily into the water, motionless.
Duan Xianxing let out a long sigh of relief, shaking the water droplets off his sword. "Nice coordination!"
Li Nanzhu smiled and took out several spirit-returning pills from her storage bag to distribute. "We've used a lot of energy. Let's recover first."
Liu Qingyang took the pill and sighed. "If I had encountered this beast alone, I'm afraid I would have had to run for my life. Though I might have been able to wear it down with magic tools, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory at best. With the four of us working together, it wasn't too difficult."
Zhu Yinxi put away his jade flute and looked into the distance. "However, we shouldn't linger. The noise of the battle might attract other demonic beasts. We need to leave as soon as possible."
After a brief recovery, the four collected the python's corpse and continued along the stream.
They were even more cautious this time, and Suisui remained vigilant of their surroundings.
However, just as they thought they were temporarily safe, a low roar echoed from the woods ahead.
A massive black-patterned tiger stepped out slowly. Its golden beast pupils locked onto the four of them, and its body surged with demonic power—it was also at the Golden Core initial stage!
Duan Xianxing gripped his sword. "Didn't they say demonic beasts have their own territories? It feels like they don't have any borders at all! A new beast every two steps—what the hell!"
Despite his words, he didn't stop moving, quickly coordinating with the other three to fight the tiger.
Zhu Yinxi’s face was grim. "I’m afraid this is still related to those evil cultivators. They must have accomplices, and they’ve likely already reached the inner-middle region of the Forest of Demonic Beasts. Otherwise, the territories wouldn't be this chaotic."
"Those damn evil cultivators again, making everything a mess. If I catch them, I’ll tear them to pieces!" Liu Qi gritted his teeth, clearly loathing the evil cultivators.
It made sense. After all, his goal for this trip was the star-patterned iron. Now, because of these evil cultivators, not only could he not get the iron, but as a refinery master, he also had to keep fighting alongside the others. Who wouldn't be cursing in this situation?
Fortunately, this beast was only at the Golden Core initial stage. With the four of them working together—especially with Zhu Yinxi at the mid-grade of the Golden Core stage—they quickly killed it.
"I can't... I need to rest." Duan Xianxing panted. Fighting two Golden Core stage beasts in a row was exhausting, even for a sword cultivator.
Zhu Yinxi looked around. "Fair enough. Given this chaos, we should restore our spiritual energy first. At this rate, we'll likely encounter more beasts if we keep going. We should find a place to rest nearby."
"Look ahead!" Duan Xianxing suddenly pointed.
A cliff appeared at the end of the stream, where the water formed a small waterfall.
On the stone wall beside the waterfall, there was an inconspicuous cave entrance.
Zhu Yinxi sensed it carefully. "The spiritual energy fluctuations in that cave are very weak. It shouldn't be occupied by a beast."
"Great!" Li Nanzhu's eyes lit up. "We can rest for a bit and study our next route."
The four carefully climbed the stone wall and crawled into the cave.
The space inside wasn't large, but it was enough for them.
Liu Qingyang took out a night-luminescent pearl for light, while Zhu Yinxi skillfully set up a concealment array at the entrance.
As they were surveying the cave, Li Nanzhu’s fingertips brushed against a patch of slippery moss, revealing several faint scratch marks beneath.
"This is...?"
"These marks..." Liu Qingyang used the light from the night-luminescent pearl to observe them. "They are claw prints from a saber-toothed rock bear, but they’re at least a month old."
The group fell silent for a moment. To make a Golden Core stage beast abandon its nest and flee...
"Rest first. Thinking too much won't help," Zhu Yinxi said, rubbing his brow, clearly exhausted.
"Oh, right, look at this." Duan Xianxing seemed to remember something and pulled the core of the tiger they just killed from his storage bag. "I dug this out while I was at it. See if you can find anything wrong with it."
Zhu Yinxi took the core, inspected it closely, and shook his head. "I can only tell that the remaining power in this core is somewhat violent. I can't see any other issues."
"Well, there's no rush for the moment." Li Nanzhu placed a stealth stone down again. "We can only take it one step at a time. I have no idea what those evil cultivators are up to, controlling beasts and causing such a massive disturbance..."
Meanwhile, in a part of the forest not far from them, a group of people was fleeing in a pathetic state.
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