The Quest for Immortality

As the sun set in the west, night descended.

Refining Demon Mountain shed its blanket of twilight, losing the clarity of day, becoming deep and oppressive.

The night wind was chilling, the ground crept with insects and serpents, occasionally Monster Beasts lowly murmured, unknown dangers lurking in the darkness.

Fortunately, Xun Ziyou was at the Late Golden Core Stage.

Mo Hua followed behind him, without encountering any danger along the way.

The two employed movement techniques, using the cover of night, arriving at the dense forest’s depths, where a blood creek babbled, turning into a White Bone Beach.

It was just 7:00 PM, the moonlight seemed like ice, casting an inexplicable chill over White Bone Beach.

Yet, no trace of demon cultivators was nearby.

The two waited in the vicinity.

They waited until 22 p.m, when suddenly a demonic wind arose, spreading a pungent scent of blood.

Mo Hua perched on a tree, looking down to see shadowy figures emerging within the dense forest under the cover of the Divine Tao Array.

These shadows, cloaked in black robes, seemed both human and monster, some standing on two legs, others crawling on all fours, emerging from the forest’s darkness, gradually gathering by White Bone Beach.

The cold moonlight revealed them, one by one, like Evil Ghosts crawling out from Purgatory, chilling to behold.

After a moment, another batch of demon cultivators arrived.

These demon cultivators, some dragging, some carrying, some shoulders heaving blood-soaked Monster Beasts’ corpses or limbs.

These beasts seemed freshly hunted.

They discarded these Monster Beasts on the White Bone Beach.

A group of demon cultivators began gnawing at the flesh of these Monster Beasts by the creek.

The scene was exceedingly gruesome.

Xun Ziyou felt discomfort, turning to glance at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua’s expression remained unchanged, as if he had anticipated the scene, or perhaps had become accustomed to such events.

Xun Ziyou was somewhat incredulous.

This child... how is he so composed?

Could it be that he’s witnessed even bloodier or more chaotic scenes?

So young, what has he experienced?

While Xun Ziyou was astonished, he suddenly noticed the Taixu Token was active, his Divine Sense delving to see Mo Hua sending a message:

”Elder Xun, let’s change locations, we can eavesdrop.”

Xun Ziyou was startled, looking up at Mo Hua giving him a look, nodding towards another side.

There was a taller tree on the other side.

Beneath the tree were three demon cultivators, seemingly having eaten their fill, reverted from demonization, clothed in black robes, gathered and chatting away.

Xun Ziyou was somewhat disconcerted.

This child probably isn’t eavesdropping for the first time.

Judging by his bearing, he must be an eavesdropping ”veteran”...

Xun Ziyou sighed, nodded in agreement.

The two moved with stealth, from the treetop here, quietly stepping to the other side’s branches.

Upon landing, raspy voices indeed rose from below.

”Not tasty...”

”The Monster Beast’s meat is too dry and tough, chewing is hard work.”

One demon cultivator still chewing something, his voice low like a beast, ”If only there was human meat to eat, it’s tender...”

”Dream on! In this Refining Demon Mountain, it’s all Sect Disciples, how can you eat them?”

”It’s not impossible, just do it stealthily... Earlier I picked up leftovers, a disciple of unknown sect got lost in the mountains, I seized the chance, killed him, tore him apart and ate him alive, the skin and flesh were indeed tastier than Monster Beasts, even the bones were crispier...”

A demon cultivator reproached: ”The master said to act low-key, cause less trouble.”

”It’s fine, no one around, others don’t know how he died.”

Amidst the noise, another voice spoke:

”What a pity, if only there were female disciples, females are even more tender...”

A demon cultivator couldn’t help but curse: ”You damn it, you want to eat them?”

A sinister and ear-piercing laugh sounded, ”Play them to death first, then eat them, it’s all the same...”

Upon hearing these words, Xun Ziyou’s heart instantly surged with killing intent.

Mo Hua immediately tugged at his sleeve.

Xun Ziyou halted his expression momentarily, then clenched his teeth, forcibly suppressing the killing intent within.

Below, several demon cultivators continued chatting in hushed tones.

”Indeed, I’m mingling in the mountains daily, eating Monster meat, drinking Monster Blood, living like a Monster Beast, I’ve damn near forgotten I’m human...”

”...Been trapped here too long, if I don’t vent to reclaim some human nature, I’ll truly become like those monster brutes.”

”It doesn’t help.”

Another demon cultivator sneered, ”Since you started the Demon Technique, your humanity begins to wither, it’s futile.”

”Playing with women?” He snorted coldly, ”After a while, no matter how beautiful the woman, she’ll seem just a lump of raw meat to you.”

”In your mind, you’re thinking solely about how to skin and devour her, no other desires will exist.”

A nearby demon cultivator cursed him, ”You damn it, you’re too deep into demon territory.”

”So fucking disappointing...”

”Ignore him, he’s been a demon cultivator for a hundred years, no longer knows how to write the word ’human’.

The previous demon cultivator chuckled coldly, indifferently declaring:

”Once you all have cultivated demons for a hundred years, you’ll know I’m right.”

”Humans are just another kind of Monster Beast, all concepts of gender, beauty or ugliness, are just lumps of decaying meat, as long as it can be eaten, nothing else matters...”

Then these demon cultivators conversed more on this topic for a while.

Later, more demon cultivators gathered.

As numbers increased, the conversation became more disjointed.

Mo Hua listened and grew somewhat muddled.

Some time after, finally a demon cultivator mentioned a word Mo Hua cared about.

”Valley of Ten Thousand Demons...”

A relatively young voice, with palpable emotions, seeming not deeply demonized, humanity still somewhat intact, spoke:

”In two days, we’ll enter the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, within a year, we can’t come out for ’wild hunts’.”

”If you perform well inside, you’ll be released early to get some fresh air.”