NOVEL WEB Chapter 182.2
Hu Yan and Hei Yin immediately sacrificed their magic weapons to fend off the mad ape.
The Moon Wheel in Hu Yan’s hands blocked each of the Nascent Soul demon cultivator’s attacks whenever activated. Hei Yin, on the other hand, injected his true essence into the Wind Demon Pestle, releasing strikes imbued with the Nascent Soul’s power. The two worked together—one defending, the other attacking—barely managing to hold their ground against the Mad Ape.
Meanwhile, other wolf demons and fox demons fired cold arrows at the mad ape, disrupting his vision. They also kept an eye on each other, ensuring no one would steal the Emperor’s Essence Grass amidst the chaos.
As the battle raged, another demon cultivator attempted to take advantage of the confusion and sneak closer to snatch the grass. However, without exception, these opportunists were struck down by both warring sides.
“Wait for me here,” Li Tianyan said, seeing the moment was right. After speaking to Cheng Qi, he used the Hidden Wood Technique and vanished into a patch of weeds.
“Young master, don’t worry. If it doesn’t work, we won’t force it,” Cheng Qi reassured him, watching the weeds rustle as Li Tianyan disappeared.
“It’s fine,” Li Tianyan replied confidently.
The Hidden Wood Technique would only last for a quarter of an hour, so Li Tianyan did not hesitate. He waved at Cheng Qi with the grass stems and then slipped into the dense weeds, making his way toward the Emperor’s Essence Grass.
Cheng Qi focused his senses and realized that, if not for their connection, he wouldn’t have been able to detect where Li Tianyan was hiding. This realization put his mind at ease.
Not long after Li Tianyan set off, two more demon cultivators tried sneaking closer, immediately drawing the attention of others. In contrast, Li Tianyan remained hidden in the grass, undetected.
However, hiding in the grass wasn’t entirely safe. Li Tianyan dodged left and right, narrowly avoiding fists, wind blasts, and sword strikes falling nearby. Watching from a distance, Cheng Qi’s heart raced with worry. He clutched the grass beneath him so tightly it was nearly ripped out by the roots.
Li Tianyan narrowly dodged another barrage of flying arrows, then sped forward to escape. Although the battle around the Emperor’s Essence Grass was fierce, both sides were careful to avoid damaging it, making it less dangerous as he approached.
When Li Tianyan neared the spiritual grass, he discovered that no weeds surrounded it, leaving him exposed. He cautiously extended his Hidden Wood Technique’s grass stems, trying to reach the precious plant.
Cheng Qi watched intently through the light mirror; his gaze fixed on Li Tianyan’s every move. He cheered him on silently, though he remained vigilant, keeping an eye on the surrounding demon cultivators.
Meanwhile, Hu Yan and Hei Yin, who had been fighting the Mad Ape for some time, began showing signs of decline. Their repeated use of magic weapons had drained their true essence.
Noticing their weakness, the Mad Ape grew even more violent, unleashing his full Nascent Soul coercion. With a furious roar, he launched a devastating punch at the six-tailed fox, Hu Yan. However, a sly glint flashed in her eyes.
As the Mad Ape’s attack neared, a soft whip suddenly wrapped around Hei Yin, dragging him to stand in front of Hu Yan.
Caught off guard, Hei Yin was immediately engulfed by the Mad Ape’s immense Nascent Soul aura. The wolf fang pendant on Hei Yin’s chest—a Void Refining stage life-saving treasure—activated in response to the fatal attack. A surge of overwhelming energy burst forth, instantly obliterating the Mad Ape. His Nascent Soul was shattered into countless fragments.
“Damned fox,” Hei Yin muttered through gritted teeth, his expression dark as he touched the now-expired pendant.
“The Mad Ape is dead. What’s there to be angry about?” Hu Yan teased with a smug smile, clearly enjoying Hei Yin’s frustration.
Before Hu Yan could revel in her triumph, a grey fox demon cried out, “Sister Hu Yan, the spiritual grass is gone!”
“What?!” Hu Yan and Hei Yin whipped around in shock. Their eyes darted to where the Emperor’s Essence Grass had been, now replaced by a small pit.
Hei Yin’s ears twitched as he listened intently. Suddenly, he struck at a patch of grass with his palm and shouted, “Someone’s hiding in the grass!”
Chaos erupted. The nearby grassland became the target of widespread destruction as the demon cultivators launched attacks to prevent anyone from escaping.
Li Tianyan, realizing the danger, quickly found himself cornered. Just as capture seemed inevitable, Cheng Qi appeared out of nowhere. He threw a handful of talismans, and the entire Tiger King’s territory became shrouded in dense, swirling mist.
Hu Yan recognized the tactic immediately and screamed in fury, “How dare you show up again!”
Li Tianyan wasted no time. Using the cover of the mist, he dashed toward Cheng Qi’s location, scooped him up, and fled. Moments later, two powerful attacks crashed into the spot where they had just stood, missing them entirely.
When the mist cleared, Hu Yan’s twisted expression reflected her growing hatred. “They’ve escaped again!”
Hei Yin’s face darkened further as he scanned the area and declared, “The Tiger King’s body is missing.”
Apart from the spiritual grass, the Sky-Eating Tiger King’s corpse—a prized trophy containing the blood of the White Tiger—was also gone. Hei Yin had targeted it as a consolation prize, hoping to obtain its inner pill, but his plans had been thwarted.
In the end, the only thing Hu Yan and Hei Yin salvaged was the Mad Ape’s corpse. Hei Yin claimed the demon king’s body and inner pill, while Hu Yan took the spoils from other defeated beasts and monsters. Both left the battlefield, bitterly unhappy.
Though they had gained something, the debacle made them the laughingstock of the demon clans. Fighting the demon king for so long, only to be outsmarted by two human cultivators, was a humiliation neither could accept.
Determined to exact revenge, Hei Yin and Hu Yan ordered their forces to comb Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, vowing to find the culprits.
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Far from the chaos, Li Tianyan and Cheng Qi hid inside the Qiankun Realm. There, Li Tianyan began digesting and absorbing the death energy harvested from the battlefield.
Having practiced the technique before, he now manipulated the death energy with ease. Within two days, he completely refined the energy from the lesser monsters. However, the potent death energy of the Mad Ape proved too overwhelming to digest immediately. Li Tianyan condensed it into a dense sphere and sealed it within his Dantian for safekeeping.