inspire-indiana Chapter 204: Heaven is ruthless
Chapter 204: Heaven is ruthless
After Ye Xiaobai and Tuntian finished dealing with the three leaders of the Crescent Moon Gang, they hurried off in a certain direction.
An hour later, Ye Xiaobai asked curiously, "Senior Devouring Heaven, where are we going?"
"We need red flower fruit right now, don't we? I remember there's an oasis nearby that just happens to have the spiritual herb we need!"
"Senior Devourer is indeed quite familiar with this place!" Ye Xiaobai couldn't help but exclaim.
"I came here once a few hundred years ago, but things have changed a lot. Several oases are gone. I wonder if the oasis we're going to next is still there," Tuntian said calmly.
His gaze drifted into deep thought, perhaps as he recalled something from the past.
……
"Xiao Tian, I heard there are a lot of red flower fruits ahead. These are one of the important ingredients for refining seventh-grade Xuan Yuan Pills. We're going to be rich!"
"A spirited young man said excitedly."
"Old Lu, don't be too happy yet. There are still several seventh-tier desert scorpions nearby. Are you sure you can handle them?" a robust middle-aged cultivator said from the side.
These two were none other than the Five Elements Venerable and Devouring Heaven in their youth.
"Xiao Tian, why are you so timid? Don't we still have you? If the two of us join forces, dealing with a few scorpions will be a piece of cake!" the boy said confidently.
"Old Lu, of course I'm fine, I'm just worried you won't be able to withstand the venom of those scorpions!"
"It's alright, I've already prepared the antidote! Just watch how I perform!"
"Listen up, you stinking scorpions inside! Your Grandpa Lu is short of some spiritual herbs for refining pills. If you know what's good for you, hand them over obediently, or don't blame your Grandpa Lu for being ruthless later!"
Upon hearing this, several seventh-tier venomous scorpions flew up into the sky shortly afterward to see what was going on.
In mid-air, there was only one spirited young man, already at the late stage of Core Formation, and a seventh-tier demonic beast, though it had already taken human form. However, they were not afraid of the five seventh-tier poisonous scorpions present.
"Where did this brat come from, looking for death here?" one of the five scorpions shouted loudly...
After a while.
"These five scorpions are indeed troublesome. Fortunately, my alchemy skills have improved a lot recently, and I have already refined a high-grade antidote pill. Otherwise, the scorpion venom would be really hard to cure!" There was some blood at the corner of the boy's mouth, showing that he had suffered some pain.
"Enough talk, let's run away quickly. You severely injured five seventh-tier poisonous scorpions and even stole half of their spiritual herbs, yet you escaped unscathed!" a middle-aged cultivator remarked.
"Xiao Tian, it's all thanks to you!" the boy said with a smile.
"Old Lu, I only held off two scorpions, and you actually managed to take on three and still gain the upper hand. You're a monster!"
"Xiao Tian, don't be modest. I could tell you weren't using your full strength! Otherwise, you could easily take on three of them!"
"After all, they are all demonic beasts. I don't have any life-or-death feud with them, so there's no need for us to fight to the death!"
"I knew you'd be like this. Come on, let's not talk anymore, let's find a place to refine pills!"
……
Upon seeing the monster camp not far away, Ye Xiaobai and Tuntian stopped and carefully observed the situation of the camp.
Two enormous stone pillars stood on either side of the entrance, carved with gray scorpions several meters long. The two guards were also common desert scorpions, their strength already at the fourth rank.
"Senior Devourer, what do you think? Should we just charge in?" Ye Xiaobai asked in a low voice.
"I'm fine with you just charging in, but I'm afraid you'll go in vertically and come out horizontally!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiaobai's heart tightened immediately; this seemingly ordinary camp was actually extremely dangerous.
"Then how do we get the spiritual herbs we need?" Ye Xiaobai was at a loss.
"I did refine a disguise pill before, but unfortunately it can't transform you into a demon beast, otherwise we could have blended in."
"Good idea, but don't overthink it, just come in with me!"
"Just swaggering in like that?" Ye Xiaobai asked in astonishment, his eyes wide.
“That’s right, have you forgotten what my true form is?” Devouring Heaven said as he strode toward the camp not far away.
"The real body? The Sun-Devouring Divine Hound? Oh, so that's how it is..." Ye Xiaobai suddenly realized.
Ye Xiaobai then quickly followed behind Tuntian.
In a short while, the two arrived at the entrance of the camp.
"Entrance fee: 200 low-grade spirit stones!" The gatekeeper beast spoke first.
Tuntian gave Ye Xiaobai a look, and Ye Xiaobai quickly took out 200 low-grade spirit stones and respectfully handed them to the gatekeeper beast.
After confirming everything was in order, the gatekeeper beast made way for Ye Xiaobai and his companion to enter the camp. It also reminded them, "Senior, it seems your pet isn't being controlled by any magical artifact. Be careful, don't let it escape!"
"Hmph!" Tuntian snorted coldly, ignoring the other party's warning, and continued striding towards the camp.
Seeing that Devouring Heaven ignored the warnings, the gatekeeper monster had no choice but to obediently guard the gate.
Upon entering the camp, one sees a small square where many monsters are sitting on the ground, selling their wares.
Before he could even see what was being sold, Ye Xiaobai could already smell the scents of various demonic beasts, especially some low-level ones, which, unlike human cultivators, did not pay attention to their own hygiene.
Even from a great distance, I could smell a strange stench, along with a suffocating odor—all sorts of unpleasant smells.
If it weren't for the need to find spiritual herbs at the camp, Ye Xiaobai would have liked to leave immediately.
At this point, Ye Xiaobai had no choice but to quickly hold her breath and try to minimize her exposure to these strange smells.
Tuntian, on the other hand, appeared quite composed, and even took the time to look around at what was on the stalls.
Ye Xiaobai had no choice but to bite the bullet and watch from the side.
Most of it consists of the meat of wild animals, and some rare herbs from desert regions.
After taking another step, Ye Xiaobai was immediately taken aback by the scene before him—a fifth-order poisonous scorpion, its right hand holding a chain as thick as an infant's fist, and on the other side of the chain was a male cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.
At this moment, the Qi Refining cultivator was already disheveled, covered in wounds, and had a vacant look in his eyes. He was crawling on the ground like a dog.
This is the story of humans enslaving beasts! Humans enslave monsters, and monsters enslave humans in return.
This must be the cruel side of the cultivation world. As a human cultivator, Ye Xiaobai was furious. He clenched his fists, thinking about what he could do. He looked around and realized that he was in the territory of demonic beasts. Ye Xiaobai immediately calmed down and knew that he could not act rashly.
"There's nothing we want here, let's go!" Devouring Heaven's voice rang out.
"Mmm!" Ye Xiaobai replied subconsciously.
When Tuntian and Ye Xiaobai reached a place with fewer demonic beasts, Tuntian said indifferently, "What? Can't stand seeing humans enslaved by demonic beasts?"
"I..." Ye Xiaobai didn't know how to answer for a moment. The world of cultivation was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, but today he had only seen a cruel corner of it.
"Heaven is ruthless; we can only follow its ways."
"Isn't cultivating immortality going against the will of Heaven?" Ye Xiaobai suddenly thought of this question and asked in return.
"Hmph, isn't going against the heavens still within the scope of the Heavenly Dao?" Devouring Heaven sneered.
"This..." Ye Xiaobai was speechless.
"Alright, we can think about this later when we have time. Let's get down to business first."
"Important business? Right, finding red flower fruit!"