Chapter 759: Chapter 754: Scorched Earth Dog Demon
The interior of Demon Bone Dao is far more expansive than the entrance.
The ground is covered with blood-red soil, which feels slightly soft underfoot, leaving clear footprints.
Looking up at the Bone Dao’s dome, one can vaguely see ring after ring of massive white bone joints. These white bone joints stretch for tens of kilometers, with varying cross-section diameters, yet even the narrowest sections have a diameter of several kilometers.
Just from a single bone joint, one can imagine the colossal beast that must have blocked out the sky, and only after its death could have transformed into such an enormous region like the Heart Demon Continent.
Within Demon Bone Dao, rare and luminous plants grow densely, transforming what should be a pitch-black pathway into a dream-like haze of light and shadows.
Through the distant interplay of shadows and light, ghostly flames can be vaguely seen dancing.
"Master, be cautious, the Underworld is the territory of demons, so this Demon Bone Dao you’re walking through is not a path for human passage, but for demons and demon beasts! Try to conceal your presence here, and don’t stand out too much."
The final warning came from Illusion within the Heart Image Space.
Bai Pu responded with a nod and remained silent.
He quietly advanced and soon reached a fork in the path within the Bone Dao. Bai Pu released the Gray-spine Fire Rat to locate Dongbo Cheng’s position.
The Gray-spine Fire Rat’s tracking technique is unique, relying not on scent but on a mysterious sense. It opened its mouth and expelled a wisp of cyan airflow, which vaguely formed into a Cyan Dragon pattern before being reabsorbed by the Gray-spine Fire Rat.
The Gray-spine Fire Rat crawled forward, leaving a charred arrow on the ground.
"Is it tracking based on Dongbo Cheng’s Cyan Dragon Oath?"
Bai Pu found it quite intriguing. He placed the Gray-spine Fire Rat back into the Flame Blade Princess’s necklace and continued along the charred arrow.
Along the way, demons occasionally crossed his path.
This area is the boundary between the Red Annihilation River and the Sea of Eternal Night; the demons passing through the Bone Dao are sometimes shrouded in black aura, but more often burn with flames.
The former mostly belong to Black Emperor’s cohort, while the latter are the fallen Red Emperor’s followers.
These two types of demons often engage in conflict, confirming Bai Pu’s suspicion that the Demon Emperors are not monolithic.
Those under Black Emperor are more organized and elite compared to Red Emperor’s followers, who despite their large numbers and fighting on home turf, seem rather disorganized.
Most of these demon factions are weak, with ordinary and elite templates as prevalent.
The truly formidable ones are some neutral demon lords!
For example, Bai Pu encountered a two-headed Wolf Demon, its body ablaze with Demon Fire, one head awake while the other slumbered, exuding a powerful aura with each breath.
Bai Pu’s helmet, with its "strong enemy detection" ability, scanned thoroughly, confirming that this two-headed Wolf Demon’s combat power was on par with Flame Blade Princess Zhu Lingyan, a genuine demon lord!
Perhaps due to its cumbersome size, it wasn’t as capable in battle as Flame Blade Princess, but much stronger than those ordinary and elite template demons.
Other demons sensibly bypassed and avoided the activity range of the two-headed Wolf Demon.
This two-headed Wolf Demon remained indifferent to the skirmish between the Red and Black Emperors’ demons, assisting none.
Bai Pu couldn’t help but think there are probably many neutral demons in the Underworld like the two-headed Wolf Demon, or wild monsters as they might be called.
They do not fall under the command of the Four Great Demon Emperors, aimlessly wandering the Underworld or lazily hibernating.
Bai Pu quietly bypassed, moving stealthily at the edge of the two-headed Wolf Demon’s activity range.
It’s uncertain if the two-headed Wolf Demon noticed Bai Pu, the human. The awake head merely glanced in Bai Pu’s departing direction before reclining once again.
"Whew..."
Bai Pu breathed a sigh of relief.
The two-headed Wolf Demon wasn’t unmanageably powerful; Bai Pu simply wished to avoid unnecessary trouble...
Yet, trouble often finds its way—
A pack of dog-shaped Skeleton Demons, nose to the ground, pursued Bai Pu!
Information on such dog-shaped Skeleton Demons was included in the data from Illusion, quickly surfacing in Bai Pu’s mind.
[Scorched Earth Dog Demons], pack dwellers, individually ordinary templates but acting together.
The collective combat power of a dog demon pack surges significantly; dozens can equate to the combat strength of warrior template demons.
In case of a large pack of hundreds, elite [Scorched Earth Hunters] may emerge; packs of thousands might even see the rise of a [Scorched Earth Hunting King]!
A large pack led by a Scorched Earth Hunting King is no less troublesome than a demon lord.
Bai Pu faced a pack of hundreds of dog demons.
"Traveling through convenient paths like Demon Bone Dao indeed comes at a price."
Bai Pu sighed, observing the snarling pack, their jaws exuding molten rock aura, as he prepared for battle.
Compared with the sprawling Demon Bone Dao, other parts of the Underworld are interconnected by caves of varying sizes and dark rivers, making navigation extremely tricky and often leading to many detours.
However, just as Bai Pu engaged the dog demon pack, a squad of Awakened emerged from another bone path intersection.
Bai Pu immediately recognized the trio as Awakened rather than native martial artists, not because of their appearance or attire deviating from the natives, but by the weapons they wielded.
The tall male Awakened at the front wielded a warhammer.
The female Awakened in the middle held a scroll, dressed as a Demon Control Master.
The slender male at the rear wore sharp steel claws on both hands.
This odd style of weaponry starkly contrasts with the curved blades favored by natives.
Under the influence of World Mystery, natives do not find these weapons incongruous, but Bai Pu, being an Awakened himself, could more accurately discern.
Similarly, Bai Pu’s combat posture with a Dark Gold Tower Shield and Doomsday Blade Short Spear was swiftly identified by the trio as characteristic of an Awakened.
The dog demon pack paid no mind, quickly attacking at the sight of fresh prey, including the newly arrived trio.
"Hey there, friend!"
The female Awakened clutching the scroll called out loudly in Heart Demon World’s human lingua franca while defending against the dog demons with her team, "We mean no harm, how about teaming up against these demons? Our captain is ’Ashes’ Rein, a Major General of Gaia Group!"
The warhammer-wielding man, evidently Ashes Rein, nodded slightly at Bai Pu.
"Alright."
Bai Pu did not introduce himself, remaining wary of unknown Awakened due to the potential hostile stance of Yazd people in the Heart Demon World.
After agreeing with "Alright," Bai Pu continued, "You three have great teamwork, joining might just be in the way. Let’s eliminate the dog demons separately, and we can talk once the battle’s over."
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