Soon, bursts of angry roars echoed from the depths of the cave. Clearly, these demonic beasts had also heard the earlier piercing screams. Instantly, the demonic beasts in the valley seemed to boil over, surging towards the cave, intending to tear Zhou Yan to shreds.
"This is bad! These guys have all come out!"
Zhou Yan frowned. With so many demonic beasts converging, even if he killed them all, he would likely expend a great deal of his vital energy. Moreover, even if he narrowly survived, he probably wouldn't escape unscathed.
"Since that's the case, I can only retreat!"
With this thought, Zhou Yan didn't hesitate. His figure flickered, and he directly left the area, heading back towards the village. His cultivation was only at the early stage of Qi Condensation. While he could overpower these wild beasts with brute force, doing so would be too wasteful of his stamina.
After all, he still needed to search for herbs and race against time to improve his cultivation.
"Huh? What's that?"
However, just as Zhou Yan had traveled a short distance, he saw a dazzling purple flame suspended in mid-air in the southeast direction of the valley, emitting a scorching aura.
"Fire Spirit Crystal!"
Zhou Yan's eyes lit up, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
The "Xuantian Nine Forms" contained a fire-element sword technique called "Blazing Sun Burning Heaven"!
This was a True Martial-tier sword art! Its power was immense. If cultivated to a profound level, it could even summon the blazing sun in the sky to incinerate the eight desolate regions, truly a domineering technique.
"Good stuff!"
Zhou Yan's eyes gleamed. Without hesitation, he immediately unleashed his movement technique and rushed towards the Fire Spirit Crystal. Along the way, he encountered attacks from various demonic beasts. However, these beasts were not very intelligent. Even though Zhou Yan concealed his aura, they still pounced on him without regard, and were all struck down by Zhou Yan's counter-attack.
He killed many demonic beasts along the way, reaping substantial rewards. Soon, he approached the location of the Fire Spirit Crystal. However, at that moment, Zhou Yan's body trembled. A strong, fishy stench assaulted his nostrils. Immediately, a colossal, pitch-black creature, easily two zhang tall, silently appeared beside him. It raised its head, its icy eyes gazing indifferently at him.
"Black Bear?"
Upon clearly seeing the appearance of this behemoth, Zhou Yan was stunned.
This black bear looked almost identical to the black bears depicted in movies. The only difference was that this black bear exuded a dense aura of malevolence, clearly having experienced countless battles, its killing intent exceptionally strong.
"Roar~~"
The next moment, the black bear let out a sudden, ferocious roar. Its body erupted with potent speed, like a tank, charging directly at Zhou Yan, creating a violent gust of wind that sent shivers down one's spine.
"As expected of a fifth-tier demonic beast, even more powerful than the giant python before!" Zhou Yan's eyes sharpened, daring not to be negligent. His figure moved swiftly, narrowly dodging this sweeping attack. Then, he clenched his right fist and punched towards the black bear's abdomen.
*Bang~*
A dull collision sound echoed. Zhou Yan's right fist landed heavily on the black bear's flank. However, Zhou Yan's expression changed slightly, feeling a tremendous force transmit through his fist, causing his tiger's mouth to go numb.
"Such tough fur!"
Zhou Yan cursed inwardly. The black bear's fur was like steel plates. Even with his full power, he couldn't penetrate it.
*Swish swish swish...*
Just then, the sound of breaking wind arrived. Seven or eight figures flashed by and landed beside Zhou Yan.
These individuals were dressed in uniform clothing, with a lotus flower emblem painted on their chests, clearly indicating they were members of the Lotus Sect.
"Haha, we finally found you!"
A burly man with a full beard grinned, "Brothers, capture this kid and hand him over to the Sect Master!"
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh...*
As the words fell, a group of people charged forward, attempting to capture Zhou Yan.
"Hmph! Ignorant ants, since you seek death, I shall fulfill your wish!"
Facing the encirclement of these people, Zhou Yan's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the true qi within him churned, and in an instant, a torrent of boundless true qi surged out, condensing into a spectral sword blade beside him. The blade was peerlessly sharp, emanating a piercing sword intent, and it directly slashed towards the group.
*Chichichi....*
Before these people could react, they were cut by the sword blade, blood splattering. In the blink of an eye, a large portion of them fell. The remaining ones were terrified and fled in panic, wishing they had been born with more legs.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Looking at the fleeing figures, Zhou Yan was slightly taken aback, then shook his head. "It seems it was my imagination. Those people just now didn't seem to be the surrounding demons."
He shook his head and prepared to continue on his way. But suddenly, a cold glint flashed, and then, a spear pierced Zhou Yan's neck, drawing a spray of blood.
"Heh heh, I thought this mission would be easy. I didn't expect your strength to be not bad either."
A faint voice slowly sounded.
"Who!"
Zhou Yan's pupils constricted, and he reacted instantly, drawing his saber and slashing. A sharp saber qi struck the black spear, and immediately, fine cracks appeared on the spear's surface. Then, with a cracking sound, the entire spear shattered into pieces, turning into a flurry of wooden splinters.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this, Zhou Yan's brows furrowed. He looked up at the person who had ambushed him.
It was a man in a green robe, with a face like fine jade and a tall, upright posture, exuding an air of scholarly refinement. However, his eyes were filled with a cold, sinister glint that inspired awe.
This man in the green robe was none other than the Sect Master of the Lotus Sect, Zhou Yan's enemy!
"Zhou Yan, we meet again!"
The man in the green robe's lips curled into a cold arc as he strode forward.
"Your Lotus Sect's information is truly well-informed. You've tracked me all the way here so quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan's brow furrowed, his tone indifferent. He ignored the man in the green robe and strode towards the direction of the Fire Spirit Crystal.
The environment here had completely piqued his interest. Perhaps there were some rare heavenly treasures here.
"Heh heh..."
Hearing this, the man in the green robe couldn't help but chuckle sarcastically. "It seems you, kid, recognize our Lotus Sect."
Zhou Yan did not reply. His footsteps didn't falter as he walked directly to the remains of the black bear and began to search its body. However, to his regret, the black bear carried nothing on its person except for a piece of clothing.
"It seems it wasn't a demonic beast from this forest," Zhou Yan muttered to himself.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon a black iron牌 hanging behind the black bear's head. He reached out and took down the black iron牌.
"This is..."