I am in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have a demonic beast clone!

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Slaying the Cultivators of Tianque Fortress! A Bountiful Harvest!

"The Mist Serpent... As expected, it has a guardian beast, and a high-level level one at that." Zhou Ding's eyes turned slightly cold.

If an ordinary cultivator were to discover the Mist Spirit Fruit and rashly approach it, they would most likely be severely injured or even killed instantly by this lurking "assassin".

But now, the balance of power has reversed.

Zhou Ding controlled Xiao Jin, who was lurking deeper underground, and silently approached the shadow.

At the same time, he also unleashed his golden blade, its golden body emitting a sharp golden light, ready to strike.

When Xiao Jin moved directly beneath the Mist Serpent, less than three feet away, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Ding's eyes!

"Let's do it!"

Underground, Xiao Jin suddenly sprang up!

Covered in the dark light of the Black Spirit Claw, the right forepaw, like a soul-reaping scythe from hell, tore through the soil from bottom to top and viciously stabbed at the relatively soft belly of the Mist Serpent!

At the same time, Zhou Ding's golden blade transformed into a golden rainbow, tearing through the thick fog and piercing straight at the mist-hidden serpent's raised triangular head with lightning speed!

"hiss--!"

The venomous snake only realized the danger when it was about to attack!

It let out a sharp, short screech, its body instinctively twisting and springing forward, trying to dodge or retaliate.

But how can one deal with two perfectly coordinated attacks from the ground and the air at the same time in such a hurry?

"Pfft!"

The dark claw blade pierced through the scales on its abdomen without any resistance, penetrated deep into its internal organs, and churned fiercely!

Meanwhile, the golden blade's sword light pierced through the poisonous mist it hastily spewed out and the ice shield it had condensed, precisely stabbing into its head!

The excruciating pain lasted only a moment.

This cunning, high-level level demon beast didn't even get a clear look at the attacker before it was instantly killed by the double blow. Its massive body lay limply on the ground, blood gushing out and staining the fallen leaves under the tree red.

Zhou Ding quickly stepped forward and carefully picked the pale blue Mist Spirit Fruit, which exuded a sweet fruity fragrance and had flowing cloud patterns on its surface, and put it into a jade box to store it away.

Then, he began to skillfully process the corpse of the Mist Serpent: collecting the still-warm demon blood, peeling off the intact snake skin, taking out the emerald green snake gall, and prying off the two venomous fangs that carried a faint fishy smell.

"A great start, not bad." Zhou Ding was in a good mood.

The materials from the Mist-Hidden Serpent, combined with the Mist Spirit Fruit, are quite valuable.

He continued to control Xiao Jin to explore.

Under the all-round scanning of the Earth Listening Technique, many treasures buried deep underground or cleverly concealed by fog have nowhere to hide.

Not long after, Xiao Jin dug out a fist-sized, milky-white crystal from a crevice in the rock strata, with wisps of mist slowly flowing inside.

"Mist Crystal!" Zhou Ding's eyes lit up.

This is an even rarer and better item than the Mist Spirit Fruit. It is an auxiliary material for refining top-level illusion-attribute and concealment-type magic weapons, and even some special magic treasures. It is extremely valuable!

It's a rare sight for outsiders, and I never expected to find something here in this Cloud Mist Valley.

After putting away the mist crystal, Zhou Ding's interest in exploring grew even stronger.

……

Half a day later, Zhou Dingcai walked out of the valley shrouded in thick fog, completely satisfied.

With the combination of Xiao Jin, the "underground radar" and the "assassin," he was like a fish in water in Cloud Mist Valley.

During this time, he easily killed three high-level level one mist snakes that were trying to ambush him or guard the spiritual medicine, picked four mist spirit fruits, and found another slightly smaller mist crystal.

"Such a harvest in just half a day..." Zhou Dingqing counted the spoils in his storage bag, his heart filled with anticipation for this forbidden area trip.

It's dangerous, but the feeling of finding treasures everywhere is truly captivating.

He took out the map jade slip again and studied it carefully.

The closest marked resource point to Cloud Mist Valley is "Blackwater Pool," about fifteen miles away. It is said to be rich in a water-attribute spiritual herb called "Blackwater Lotus," which has miraculous effects on cultivating water-attribute techniques or refining certain pills.

After determining the direction, Zhou Ding concealed his aura, used his lightness technique, and sped towards the Blackwater Pool.

With Xiao Jin moving underground in sync and continuously using his geosound ability to keep watch, he didn't need to worry too much about ambushes from the ground or the air.

About an hour later, Zhou Ding successfully arrived near the Blackwater Pool.

This is a dark pool surrounded by low hills. The water is as black as ink and bottomless. Some withered branches and fallen leaves float on the surface, giving off a faint smell of decay and coldness.

Using Xiao Jin's geomantic abilities, Zhou Ding quickly "saw" a black herb with three thick lotus leaves and a black lotus bud at the top of a shallow, sheltered spot near the pool. It was the Black Water Lotus!

Judging from its shape and spiritual energy, it is at least 350 years old and is one of the main ingredients for refining the Foundation Establishment stage pill "Mysterious Water Pill", making it quite valuable.

However, Zhou Ding did not take immediate action.

In the sensory imagery fed back by the Earth Listening Technique, about ten feet behind the Black Water Lotus, behind a huge black reef half-submerged in the pool, there was a faint but clear fluctuation of life and spiritual power of a human cultivator!

This person concealed his aura exceptionally well, almost blending into the chilling atmosphere of the rocks and pool, lying motionless like a venomous snake patiently waiting for its prey.

The old black water lily happened to be located within the best field of vision and attack range in front of his ambush point.

"Barecloth?"

Zhou Ding sneered inwardly: "As expected, in this blood-red forbidden land, the most dangerous and deadly creatures are never the demonic beasts that follow their instincts, but rather the cunning human cultivators who are also 'treasure hunters'."

Relying on his superior spiritual sense and Xiao Jin's ability to hear the earth, Zhou Ding, like a hunter with a full view of the map, silently bypassed the front and slowly approached the black reef from the dense bushes at the side and rear.

His divine sense was firmly locked onto the figure behind the reef. The other party seemed quite confident in his concealment skills and was unaware of the approaching death.

Xiao Jin had already retreated into the mud at his feet, his dark claws poised to strike.

When Zhou Ding's true form stealthily approached the reef to within five zhang, exactly in the opponent's blind spot, a murderous glint appeared in his eyes!

"kill!"

The moment the thought was transmitted, Little Gold, which had been lurking in the mud, suddenly burst out of the ground!

The dark, gleaming claw blade aimed straight for the opponent's lower body!

At the same time, Zhou Ding's main body darted out like a cheetah, and the golden blade transformed into a dazzling golden rainbow, piercing straight into the crevice of the reef!

The cultivator behind the reef clearly hadn't expected the attack to come from both underground and behind him. In his haste, he only had time to activate a layer of protective spiritual light and summon a small black shield to block in front of him.

"Sizzle!"

"clang!"

The Black Claw easily tore through the fragile protective aura, leaving a deep, bone-revealing blood groove on its leg.

The golden blade struck the hastily summoned black shield with a deafening clang of metal against metal!

The small shield flashed with spiritual light, but was cleaved by the immense force and sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the cultivator's chest!

"Pfft!" The cultivator coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with horror and resentment. Before he could use any other means or shout, Zhou Ding's second sword followed like a shadow, piercing his throat.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The hunter who meticulously set the trap never understood how he was found and killed so precisely.

"A cultivator from Tianque Fortress." Zhou Ding recognized his origins from his attire.

He quickly collected the other person's storage bag, dragged the corpse to a distance, and launched a fireball spell to incinerate it.

Opening the storage bag, one finds over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, three ordinary spirit herbs in a jade box, and a black, crescent-shaped, and thin as a cicada's wing curved magic weapon.

Black mist swirled around the blade, accompanied by the faint sound of howling winds.

"A top-tier magic weapon, the Yin Wind Blade..." Zhou Ding played with the small knife for a moment. It felt icy cold to the touch. As soon as he poured some magic power into it, the blade emitted a wailing sound, and the black aura intensified, making it appear sinister and cunning.

"It's quite a useful tool for ambushes; no wonder this person dared to set up an ambush here."

Zhou Ding was in a good mood after unexpectedly acquiring a top-tier magic weapon.

But this experience also made him more vigilant.

If it weren't for his powerful spiritual sense and the assistance of Xiao Jin, an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator would likely have been ambushed and killed by this Tianque Fortress cultivator if he had been careless.

"I must be more careful from now on," Zhou Ding warned himself.

After finishing up the mess, he calmly walked to the edge of the pool and carefully picked the three-hundred-year-old black water lotus.

Subsequently, with Xiao Jin's assistance in the investigation, he found two younger Black Water Lotus plants and several clumps of accompanying water-attribute auxiliary herbs in several other hidden corners of the Black Water Pool.

Thus, after only one day in the Crimson Forbidden Land, Zhou Ding's storage bag already contained more than ten various spiritual herbs of considerable age, two rare mist crystals, several sets of demon beast materials, and a top-tier magic weapon, the Yin Wind Blade.

The harvest was so abundant that it surpassed what an ordinary cultivator could obtain in several days or even the entire journey.

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