Chapter 153 Acquisition and the Pseudo-Nascent Ancient Demon

The yin sword flickered and shifted, bringing a gust of chilling wind. Cao Chengyu and the ancient demon twin sisters entered the crimson fog almost simultaneously.

"Who goes there?"

Mao You and the Three-Tailed Fox exchanged glances. Within the dense crimson fog, human figures were entirely invisible, and they dared not project their spiritual sense either, for this crimson fog possessed a fire poison capable of incinerating the soul.

The numerous scorpion corpses on the ground served as a warning.

The two demons circulated their magical shields and quickened their pace.

The sudden appearance of this mysterious individual filled them with an overwhelming sense of crisis.

Their magical shields sizzled under the erosion of the toxic fog, yet their speed increased significantly until they finally reached the summit of the cliff.

Cao Chengyu was currently staring at the Crystal Fire Jujube, at a loss for how to harvest it.

Its roots were fused with the rock, and the crimson fog on the surface of the fruit was even more intense, glowing so deeply red it seemed as though it might drip blood.

He had attempted to pluck it earlier, but the moment his hand approached, it was eroded to a fiery red hue, feeling as though his hand were being roasted directly over a flame. The pain was excruciating; he could even smell a burnt scent and see his palm shriveling like a charred chicken claw.

When he stepped back and shook his spiritual sense, however, everything proved to be an illusion.

Such a complex and comprehensive poison was truly terrifying.

He had originally intended to try absorbing this deep red toxic fog using his Asuri Poison Pupils, but right then, the two demon sisters arrived.

Cao Chengyu resolutely struck first.

Treasures stir people's hearts; even if a human Golden Core cultivator stood before him with no prior grievances, he would still launch a fierce and unyielding attack to seize it.

The Crystal Fire Jujube was tied to the legacy he had previously obtained from True Monarch Ten-Thousand Snakes—the Immunity to All Poisons physique—which would assist him in digesting the grade-five spiritual fruit, the Hook Serpent Myriad Poison Fruit.

He could also begin practicing the spell-level poison-refining secret technique. With the efficacy of a grade-five spiritual fruit, even if it were not specialized in directly increasing cultivation, it would undoubtedly bring about a massive improvement.

After all, he was only at the late Zifu stage. A Zifu cultivator's spiritual power and soul were in a state of dual cultivation; only when both were thoroughly completed could one be considered at the peak.

Presently, he had barely completed one.

With the lingering benefits of the Hook Serpent Myriad Poison Fruit, coupled with the miraculous effects of the Crystal Fire Jujube for body-refining cultivators, once this wave passed, Cao Chengyu might reach the absolute peak in every aspect except for his soul.

As for his soul, it could be resolved with a Great Evolution Heavenly Demon Pill. Thus, once he obtained the Crystal Fire Jujube, his path to the Golden Core stage was practically within reach.

No matter where one was, a Golden Core cultivator could be called an expert. The only differences between major domains and minor ones lay in combat power, insight, and wealth.

Their status, however, remained largely the same.

Cao Chengyu expanded his sleeve, and two flood dragons surged out. To this day, the original Azure Flood Dragon Sleeve, having been modified over time, had become vastly different.

The azure flood dragons burst from their cavern, nearly fifty meters in length, with distinct scales, ferocious dragon faces, and saliva dripping from their fangs.

Flood dragons were inherently synonymous with supreme malice, acting as venomous monsters in every mythology.

Only after being endowed with the wind's slitting and strangulating power did their ferocity truly begin to manifest.

Mao You and the Three-Tailed Fox were ancient demons. Like humans, they cultivated magical power and souls, their physical bodies being weaker than those of native fierce beasts yet stronger than those of humans.

They were caught in an awkward middle ground.

Right at the start, Cao Chengyu unleashed two nearly fifty-meter azure flood dragons directly at their faces, sending the two demons flying out of the crimson fog in an instant, like ragdolls.

They were weaker than he had expected.

Cao Chengyu hastily began to operate his Asuri Poison Pupils, starting to absorb the deep red toxic fog near the Crystal Fire Jujube.

His pupils flashed with a purple light, and the deep red toxic fog condensed into a thin thread, continuously pouring into the spatial dimension within his eyes.

The internal space of the Asuri Poison Pupils was essentially a reservoir for storing toxins, but this space could slowly fuse all the stored poisons into a single furnace without diminishing their potency.

Toxicity would forever only rise, never fall.

Therefore, Cao Chengyu named it Asuri. To maintain that covert poisoning ability, the barrier of the storage space was kept very thin, making it convenient for the toxins to be covertly deployed.

It also maintained a certain connection with space itself, meaning that the ability to poison via a glance involved spatial displacement. If he were to thicken the barrier, spatial displacement would encounter obstruction.

The last time Cao Chengyu's eyes were affected by toxins, it was because he exerted too much force, causing the storage space barrier to rupture and the toxins to erode his own body.

If he could acquire the Immunity to All Poisons physique, he would be able to store toxins directly within his eyes, allowing his Asuri Poison Pupils to be the first to break through the ultra-grade tier and ascend to an even more powerful spell realm.

As a treasure of heaven and earth, the Crystal Fire Jujube offered far too many and far too great benefits for him.

...

A moment later, for some unknown reason, neither Mao You nor the Three-Tailed Fox continued to enter.

Cao Chengyu paid them no mind and continued to absorb the toxic fog. It took him about the time it takes to burn an incense stick to clear away the deep red toxic fog completely.

He suddenly felt a swelling sensation in his eyes, requiring a long period of time to digest the alien toxins within them.

Just as he stored the Crystal Fire Jujube into a miniature storage space shaped like a black gemstone atop his crown,

the dense crimson fog began to dissipate.

When Cao Chengyu could clearly see the situation,

Mao You, the Nine-Tailed Fox, and the three fierce beasts under their command had actually formed an alliance with the Crystal Scorpions.

There were a total of twelve demons: three in the early Golden Core stage and nine in the Zifu stage.

Understandably, when dealing with humans, demons indeed had reason to join forces. However, the female Golden Core leader of the Crystal Scorpion clan did not look very pleased.

First she was charmed and dazed by the twin sisters, and then she was outmaneuvered by a human.

As the local lord of these lower tiers, she was losing face.

"Hey, human, hand over the Crystal Fire Jujube, and I'll let you die more comfortably."

"..." Cao Chengyu remained silent.

"Sister Jingjing, don't waste words with him. Human cultivators must be put to death by all demons."

"You'er, you stay behind to guard the flanks and prevent this fellow from fleeing. Scorpion Leader and I will take the lead in the attack, and the rest of you will assault that man along with me."

"Understood."

With that, the ancient demon named Fox Jingjing waved her hand, releasing a cyan-blue beam of light.

The scorpion demon, however, seemed to vanish into thin air, slipping into the void and disappearing without a trace.

Strictly speaking, this was Cao Chengyu's first time dealing with an ancient demon, and he had no practical experience with their power.

Thus, his figure suddenly drifted backward, leaving behind a string of afterimages to dodge Fox Jingjing's attack.

The Yin-Yang Xiao flute appeared in his palm; for this battle, he intended to test his newly researched path of musical arts.

This tune was named Unfettered, connecting yin and yang while excelling in crowd control.

It could control living people and corpses through the sound of the flute. Though classified as ultra-grade and standing at the lowest tier of power among his arsenal, under the enhancement of the Yin-Yang Xiao—a grade-four Golden Core magical artifact—its might was boundless.

A low, deep, and resonant flute tune echoed through the mountain forest. Wisps of black Qi overflowed from the Yin-Yang Xiao, swirling around Cao Chengyu's entire body like streaming light.

The ground began to vibrate, avian fierce beasts plummeted from the sky, and human and beast bones that had long since turned to dust crawled out from the earth under the influence of an inexplicable power.

Meanwhile, the bird carcasses that had fallen into a bloody pulp also scrambled back up, their eyes pitch-black with no whites visible.

For a moment, the scene resembled a Xianxia-style zombie horde.

After just a few breaths of time, the number of corpses controlled by Cao Chengyu reached over two hundred, and they lunged toward the demon alliance.

Influenced by the degree of decay, some of these corpses could unleash the strength of the Dao Body, while others were inferior even to Qi-nurturing cultivators.

Noticing this, Cao Chengyu frowned slightly.

The environment had a massive impact on this tune.

Thus, the flute tune shifted, changing from low and deep to high-pitched and fierce. The black Qi overflowing from the Yin-Yang Xiao remained constant, while a massive amount of golden Qi poured out alongside it.

The spiritual power within Cao Chengyu's body depleted rapidly, yet the corpse horde seemed injected with adrenaline, their strength soaring instantly.

The Dao Body corpses gained strength comparable to the Zifu stage, and those at the Spirit-refining and Qi-nurturing tiers all improved by a level.

If he had previously been playing a yin tune meant primarily for awakening and control, then this was the yang tune of Unfettered, focused on amplification and potential activation.

Such activation gave a corpse only a single chance, and before long, they would completely turn to ashes.

Watching the corpse horde being nearly swept away by the demons, Cao Chengyu shook his head. If only he had Mountain Imp Ghost Fire.

Using it to amplify the Unfettered tune would likely yield even better results than the Yin-Yang Xiao.

Judging by the combat power displayed so far, it was utterly chicken ribs.

Before it could be better refined, the path of musical arts was still not ready to be showcased.

Just as he was thinking of stopping the experiment,

a piercing sound suddenly ripped through the air, and a segmented crystal scorpion tail fiercely lunged toward the back of his neck.

With the sting gleaming with a chilling light, it looked as though it was about to pierce through him.

Behind Cao Chengyu, however, a black water shield spun into existence, its surface rotating rapidly and completely absorbing the scorpion's stinger.

"I've been waiting for you."

Knowing full well that the Crystal Scorpion clan's innate divine ability was Crystal Sting, and seeing that she had previously vanished into stealth, he naturally had to keep his guard up.

With her tail absorbed and held fast, the scorpion demon's body was exposed.

Cao Chengyu wore a ferocious smile as his right hand burst forth with intense suction, a flash of spiritual light illuminating the area.

Eight Extremes Mountain-Pulling Hexagram!

It was unleashed instantly.

A complex pattern lit up behind the scorpion demon, resembling a gigantic mountain, directly driving her straight toward Cao Chengyu's fist.

At the same time, he activated the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Power.

The sound of an elephant trumpeting echoed with every punch, and his fist simultaneously transformed into a dharma form. Visually, everyone present heard a single elephant trumpet, followed by the sight of Leader Scorpion being struck squarely in the body by a massive white elephant leg.

Her entire suit of armor shattered instantly, her flesh mangled and her body flattened to a degree.

Cao Chengyu pressed his advantage, unleashing a flurry of blows with both fists. Every punch made her look as though she were voluntarily stepping forward to court death.

Rumbling sounds echoed continuously.

Under the relentless hammering of his dharma-transformed fists, within moments, she was beaten out of human (or rather, demon) shape, relying solely on the tenacious vitality of the demon race to hang on to life.

The exact moment Cao Chengyu intended to deal the fatal blow,

a warning suddenly surged from his soul—a premonition of lethal danger.

He hurriedly retreated a few steps, his gaze locking onto Fox Jingjing. At this moment, she had her eyes closed, seemingly communicating with someone, while the surrounding demons protected her from the interference of the corpse horde.

Something was wrong.

Compared to the rewards of killing these demons, Cao Chengyu trusted his intuition far more; their corpses were not worth him risking his life.

Retreat!

White clouds billowed around Cao Chengyu, transforming into a streak of light that charged fiercely into the heavens. Operating the Locked-Heaven Art at full capacity, his figure vanished into the sea of trees.

Mao Youyou immediately cried out in alarm.

"Sister Jingjing, that guy ran away! He ran away! Should we stop him?"

"Forget it, You'er. Quickly go save Scorpion Leader; if her injuries drag on any longer, her life won't be saved."

"Oh..."

Several demons dug Scorpion Leader's nearly flattened body out from the ground, hastily scattering medicinal powder and spirit liquid to keep her hanging onto life by a thread.

As for why they didn't feed her some pills, Fox Jingjing indicated that she couldn't find where her mouth was anymore...

Not long after Cao Chengyu departed, an imposing figure descended upon the area—none other than the publicly acknowledged strongest member of the Crystal Scorpion clan, Scorpion Wang.

This demon had already reached the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm, needing only to survive the heavenly tribulation to become a true Nascent Soul demon lord.

Against such an opponent, Cao Chengyu would have no choice but to flee.

As soon as Scorpion Wang landed, his expression turned ashen.

"Jingjing?! Who did this?! I'm going to kill him!"

Fox Jingjing stepped forward and said, "A human cultivator did it. His spiritual perception seemed extremely sensitive; the moment I contacted you, he ran away."

"Humans! They truly have bullied us for too long."

"Thank you this time for saving my daughter's life."

"It's nothing, merely my duty. It's just a pity about that Crystal Fire Jujube."