Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Celestial Fire Demon Cave, Poisonous Fire Daoist Venerable, Demon Moon Flower
A few days later, Su Bai was given three days off.
’It’s time to head to that small Demon Cave!’
After quickly tidying up, Su Bai changed into some ordinary clothes and left the prison.
...
"HYAH!"
On a desolate, empty plain, a speeding carriage tore across the landscape.
"WHOA!"
A short while later, the coachman cracked his long, black whip, bringing the sturdy horse to a halt.
GULP.
The coachman, dressed in black robes, looked around at the desolate scenery with a slightly panicked expression. He raised a hand to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead.
Then, he respectfully addressed the passenger inside the carriage.
"Young Master, we’re here."
If the passenger hadn’t paid so much, he never would have taken this job!
The scenery here was just too creepy!
"Alright."
A young man’s voice came from inside the carriage. A moment later, a handsome youth leaped out.
He looked at the desolate surroundings, a pleased expression on his face.
’This is the place, no doubt about it!’
This person was none other than Su Bai!
"Here, your payment."
Su Bai casually took out ten silver taels from his robes and handed them to the coachman.
Upon seeing the silver taels, the middle-aged coachman’s eyes lit up. The desolate scenery suddenly seemed to transform into a golden, splendid vista!
He no longer felt scared; in fact, the place now seemed almost charming!
After stowing the silver taels, the coachman put on a warm smile. Then, he looked ahead and asked with some curiosity.
"Young Master, where is your home? It seems to be nothing but wasteland ahead. I don’t see any buildings."
"Heh... My home is just up ahead. You just can’t see it."
With that, Su Bai simply flickered away, heading forward on his own.
GULP.
Hearing Su Bai’s words and watching his departing figure, the middle-aged coachman felt his scalp tingle with fear!
’Could it be... I just gave a ride to a wandering ghost?’
The thought couldn’t help but pop into his head.
He instantly felt as if he had just taken a trip to the Ghost Gate and back!
"Ancestors, protect me! Daoist masters, protect me!"
Then, with a few panicked shouts, the middle-aged coachman fled as if for his life, immediately urging the carriage away from this place.
Watching the coachman’s frantic escape from the shadows, Su Bai couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was a small bit of amusement in his otherwise boring life.
WHOOSH!
Su Bai’s Divine Spirit was now strong enough to cover a radius of ten li. He channeled his dense True Qi and rushed forward at high speed.
He was currently on a barren mountain plain, fifty li outside the Great Xia Imperial City.
The area was remote and uninhabited, often shrouded in a lingering mist and swirling with Demonic Qi.
Therefore, very few people ever chose to come here.
The Martial Artists of the Demon-slaying Bureau had once discovered a small Demon Cave here.
Years ago, a meteor had fallen from the sky here, annihilating countless living beings. For this reason, the Demon Cave was also known as the Celestial Fire Demon Cave.
Through the Black Nether Wolf’s memories, Su Bai learned that both it and the Second-Level Demon Fiend that had died previously were born in this very Celestial Fire Demon Cave.
Although the Celestial Fire Demon Cave was small and didn’t cover a large area, it had somehow given birth to several Fifth-Level Demon Fiends.
And a Fifth-Level Demon Fiend’s power was comparable to that of an Extraordinary Realm Martial Artist!
These few Demon Fiends were the very targets Su Bai intended to hunt.
’The Demon Qi here is dense. The deeper I go, the more terrifying the demonic aura becomes.’
Su Bai’s figure flickered, his speed incredibly fast.
He was already at the Extraordinary Realm Third Level of cultivation, had trained in multiple Body Techniques, and even possessed a Fifth-Grade Divine Technique—Red Gold Speed.
As a result, with a single flash, Su Bai could cross dozens or even a hundred zhang. His speed was significantly faster than that of many Innate Realm Grandmasters.
The Celestial Fire Demon Cave was watched over by the Demon Suppression Bureau, so on a normal day, no Demon Fiends dared to emerge and cause trouble.
But no security is perfect. Some Demon Fiends still managed to escape the Demon Cave through various means, going on rampages and killing people before ultimately being hunted down and captured by the Demon Suppression Bureau.
After traveling for about a dozen li, Su Bai finally caught sight of the Demon Cave.
The Celestial Fire Demon Cave took the form of a black mountain range, stretching for over a dozen li.
On the scorched black ground, one could often see all sorts of shattered human and beast bones, as well as the massive skeletons of unknown creatures.
The area around the black mountain was saturated with dense Demon Qi. Above the peaks, one black, deep vortex after another swirled ominously.
They emanated a terrifying aura.
VMMMM!
Su Bai activated his Demon Taming Technique and opened his "Demon-Gazing Eye"!
Instantly, he saw all sorts of Demon Fiends within the distant Demon Cave, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they roared up at him.
Among them, the auras of a few Demon Fiends made even Su Bai feel a trace of danger.
Evidently, these Demon Fiends with powerful auras were the Fifth-Level Demon Fiends!
’Something terrifying seems to be hidden beneath this black mountain!’
Following that, Su Bai’s Divine Thoughts continuously penetrated downward into the black mountain. After reaching a depth of about one li, his Divine Thoughts were blocked by some kind of Restriction, unable to go any deeper.
And what lay within that Restriction sent a chill through Su Bai’s Heart Spirit!
He guessed that this Restriction was likely set up by the upper echelons of the Demon-slaying Bureau for the purpose of sealing something away.
As for why the higher-ups of the Great Xia Dynasty hadn’t cleared out this Demon Cave, one reason was that it would require a huge investment of manpower and resources, and the gains wouldn’t be worth the losses.
Another reason was likely their fear of disturbing whatever that thing was.
After a moment’s thought, Su Bai continued forward.
Before long, a few Second-Level Demon Fiends that resembled wild boars blocked his path, roaring ferociously at him.
"A little interesting."
With Su Bai’s current cultivation, a casual wave of his hand could unleash a blast of Sword Qi and kill these few Demon Fiends.
But after thinking for a moment, he decided to release the Demon Fiends he had previously captured, letting them come out for some fresh air and a warm-up.
"Come on out! Black Nether Wolf!"
With a thought, a massive black wolf inside Su Bai’s Demon Taming Space obeyed his command and emerged from it.
...
「Twenty to thirty li away from Su Bai.」
An old, white-bearded man in a green Daoist Robe was holding a black Dao Talisman. From the talisman, streams of green poison fire shot out, striking several Second-Level Demon Fiends before him.
ROAR!!
Amidst waves of roaring, the wolf-like Second-Level Demon Fiends all collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.
In a short moment, the Second-Level Demon Fiends were burned to ashes by the poison fire.
WHOOSH!
The Daoist took out a green Jade Bottle. With a flick of his finger, a pool of black blood on the ground was drawn into it.
"The Demon Power from these few Demon Fiends isn’t bad."
After finishing the collection, the Daoist showed a pleased expression.
"As expected of the Poison Fire Daoist. A single wisp of your poison fire holds such might. Truly terrifying!"
Beside him, a Martial Artist from the Demon Suppression Bureau, dressed in black and with his hand on his saber’s hilt, praised him with a smile.
"Brother Ning, you flatter me."
The Poison Fire Daoist stroked his beard and smiled.
The black-robed Martial Artist was none other than Ning Fengyun, the man from the Demon-slaying Bureau who had come to investigate the Second-Level Demon Fiend Su Bai had slain last time.
Ning Fengyun just smiled and didn’t say anything more.
They continued forward, and soon, the two of them stopped before a black cliff face.
"So many Demon Moon Flowers!"
Ning Fengyun’s expression was one of excitement as he looked at the black flowers blooming on the cliff face.
"Don’t move recklessly!"
Just as he was about to step forward and pick them, the Poison Fire Daoist beside him suddenly stopped him.
