Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

The next second, the white-robed swordsman's eyes narrowed, and he instantly conjured a white light robe that enveloped his entire body.

"You are a worthy opponent!" The white-robed swordsman smirked and added, "I'll make sure you die knowing why. I am He Weihai, an elder of the Tianxing Sect. In your next life, remember to steer clear of this name."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the white-robed swordsman who called himself He Weihai leaped into the air and transformed into a streak of light, charging towards Gou An.

In the blink of an eye, he closed in from dozens of feet away, and at the same time slashed at Gou An's neck with his sword.

Gou An did not stop charging his right hand against the Divine Iron Hammer, and quickly manipulated his Demon Appearance Robe to cross his arms and form a spiritual energy shield.

Clang!

A crisp sound rang out.

He Weihai slashed at the shield of the magic robe with his sword. Although he failed to cut through the robe directly, the immense force of the sword still sent Gou An flying backward.

Just as He Weihai was preparing to press his advantage, Long Youzi, who was far away, took the opportunity to remotely control seven flying swords to launch a sneak attack on He Weihai.

He glanced back and parried several flying swords with ease.

At the same time, he unleashed several sword energies at Long Youzi, who was so frightened that he quickly dodged to a greater distance.

When He Weihai turned back to look at Gou An, Gou An just happened to push out a palm with his left hand, releasing a violent black wind that came straight at him.

"Using this trick again?" He Weihai sneered, flicking his wrist to prepare to use his sword energy to pierce through the black wind once more.

Just as the sword energy successfully sliced ​​through the first half of the black wind, a sound like a dragon's roar came from within the black wind.

A colossal python, hidden within the black wind, opened its massive jaws and lunged at him.

He Weihai was completely unprepared for this scene and could only retreat in a panic, while simultaneously unleashing several sword energies.

However, when these sword energies struck the python, they only left a few white marks.

The next instant, the giant python bit down on He Weihai, but was held up by the magical robes that He Weihai had conjured, preventing the python from closing its mouth.

"Bite him to death!" Gou An ordered the giant python from high above.

The giant python bit down hard, and He Weihai struggled to hold on.

"Damn beast!"

He Weihai suddenly roared, and the white light shone brightly on the robes covering his entire body, becoming extremely dazzling.

The python's mouth was stretched wide, and in the end, it had no choice but to spit out He Weihai.

Having escaped his predicament, He Weihai was no longer as composed as before. His hair was disheveled, and he looked somewhat embarrassed. His robes had also completely disappeared.

At that moment, Gou An fell from the sky and landed right on the giant python's head.

"Big Black, whether you can get enough to eat depends on your skills!" Gou An squatted down and patted the giant python's head.

The giant python spewed black smoke from its nostrils in response, then twisted its body and lunged at He Weihai again.

At the same time, the giant python opened its huge mouth and spewed out a large number of black thorns, densely packed, several times more domineering than the black wind released by Gou An.

Upon seeing this, He Weihai raised his sword and gathered his strength, causing a large amount of spiritual energy to condense into flying swords on both sides of his body.

As he pointed his sword forward, these spiritual energy swords immediately transformed into streaks of light and shot forward, colliding perfectly with the black thorn whirlwind spewed out by the giant python.

Rumble!

The sound of the collision was like thunder in the sky.

The black thorn whirlwind was shattered by the rain of swords, and the giant python immediately coiled up, while another gust of black wind enveloped its entire body.

The giant python transformed into a black tornado, heading straight towards the rain of swords.

The rain of swords struck the whirlwind, but all of them were deflected.

"Damn it!" He Weihai frowned upon seeing this. He hadn't expected the monster in front of him to have such terrifying defense, actually able to withstand his sword formation!

Before he could react further, the giant python, enveloped in black wind, pounced on him again.

Not only that, Gou An stood on the top of the giant python's head, and a large number of black demonic energy missiles gathered on both sides of his body, which he launched a long distance ahead of time.

He Weihai could only fly backward, while at the same time, he once again condensed a spiritual energy shield on his horizontal sword to block all the missiles fired by Gou An.

The battle turned into a chase!

Gou An, standing atop the giant python's head, launched a pursuit against He Weihai, who fought and retreated, becoming increasingly exhausted.

The giant python itself possessed strength comparable to a Golden Core cultivator, and with Gou An's assistance and Long Youzi's restraint from a distance, it was even more formidable.

He Weihai was at a disadvantage.

After chasing each other for a long time in the skies above the Monster Mountain Range, Gou An's right hand had accumulated enough power to power his divine iron hammer.

"It's time to end this!"

Gou An gripped the divine iron hammer tightly, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to He Weihai.

Just then, Long Youzi slipped into the forest below and suddenly leaped into the air, throwing out a rope magic weapon that bound He Weihai's ankle.

"Hmm?" He Weihai looked down and immediately sensed something was wrong.

He was just about to break free, but that momentary delay had become extremely fatal.

Before He Weihai could react, the giant python had already pounced!

He had no time to dodge and was swallowed whole by the giant python.

This surprised Gou An, who had been charging up his hammer for a long time but hadn't even managed to throw it yet!

"What's going on?" Gou An looked at the ground and saw Long Youzi holding a rope.

At this moment, the other end of the rope was still inside the python's mouth.

"Master, quickly make your spirit pet open its mouth, don't break my treasure." Long Youzi tugged at the rope in his hand, not getting closer, clearly somewhat afraid of the black python.

Gou An patted the giant python's head: "Big Black, can you spit it out?"

Gou An wasn't worried about Long Youzi's rope magic weapon; rather, he wanted to see if he could pick up some spoils from He Weihai.

An elder of a sect like him must possess many treasures.

It would be a pity if it were swallowed whole by the giant python.

"Spit it out, spit it out first!" Gou An hurriedly patted the python's head again to urge it.

The giant python reluctantly strained its mouth and then spat out a mouthful of liquid onto the ground.

What He Weihai vomited out was no longer human. His clothes were completely corroded, and most of his flesh had dissolved. He was like a pile of rotten flesh, barely clinging to life, with only his last breath remaining.

Gou An landed on the giant python's head and saw that He Weihai had become like this, and immediately felt nauseous.

They wanted to find some kind of storage bag on him, but they had no idea where to start.

It looks like these things have been completely digested by the giant python's powerful stomach acid.

"What a pity!" Gou An shook his head helplessly.

At this moment, the only thing that still had some effect on He Weihai, this Golden Core cultivator, was the Golden Core in his chest's dantian.

Just as Gou An was about to step forward and dig out the golden pill, He Weihai kept opening his mouth and making indistinct syllables, as if he wanted to say something.

Gou An stepped forward and asked suspiciously, "What else do you want to say?"

"I...you..." He Weihai could no longer utter a complete sentence: "It was...sent...to kill..."

Gou An was completely confused. He shook his head and was about to put away the divine iron hammer and take out his knife when...

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the air, and Gou An's hair stood on end. He instinctively flew backward to avoid it.

Sure enough, the next second, a beam of red light suddenly shot from a distance and struck He Weihai, who was lying on the ground, in the chest.

Immediately afterwards, He Weihai's body seemed to explode, turning into a human bomb, with flesh fragments flying everywhere.

Long Youzi, who was a little too slow to dodge, was thrown away by the aftershock of the explosion and crashed heavily into the nearby forest, covered in blood and unconscious.

"Who?" Gou An immediately looked up at the sky warily, his hand gripping the divine iron hammer tightly as he continued to gather strength.

That attack just now precisely struck He Weihai's golden core and detonated it using some unknown method.

Then Gou An saw a figure suddenly appear in the sky. Upon closer inspection, Gou An realized it was a one-eyed tiger demon wearing red armor.

Based on Hongyue's previous description, Gou An immediately recognized the other party.

"Are you the Protector of the State of Jinyang?" Gou An frowned immediately.

It's very strange that this blind tiger is here at this time, especially since it's at this particular moment.

Considering the indistinct words He Weihai uttered before his death, Gou An suddenly had a bold guess.

He Weihai was actually tricked into coming here by Blind Tiger using some unknown method, with the aim of testing his true strength.

And it just so happened that he killed He Weihai, who had the cultivation of the Golden Core stage, thus proving that he was capable of killing his younger brother, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

That proves that Gou An lied during the Ancient Tower Trial!

These thoughts flashed through Gou An's mind, and he immediately felt uneasy.

After all, the Jin Yang Mountain Lord in front of us is a great demon with a primordial spirit!

"Right, Master Gou!" The blind tiger's figure hovered in mid-air, looking down from above.

"Yes, yes, it's me!" Gou An quickly smiled ingratiatingly, pretending nothing had happened: "The Protector of the Nation has arrived, that's wonderful! There were cultivators from the Heavenly Star Sect who broke in nearby, and they were just chasing us."

With a flick of his wrist, Gou An transformed the giant python back into a bracelet and wore it on his wrist.

The giant python is no longer as useful against the blind tiger in front of it, since its large size makes it an easy target.

"Don't worry!" Blind Tiger whispered, "There's no one else around here."

Upon hearing this, Gou An, unsure of the other party's intentions, quickly flattered, "Of course, of course! With the Protector of the Nation here, how could those disciples from cultivation sects dare to approach?"

"Master Gou, although your cultivation is only average, you seem to possess quite a few skills!" The blind tiger stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Gou An: "Not only have you not yet condensed your Golden Core, but you've also managed to condense your Dharma Body, and you even carry a rare wild beast as your spirit pet!"

"It's just a small skill, how can it compare to protecting the country?" Gou An smiled awkwardly, and unconsciously took a step back after feeling the powerful pressure emanating from the other party.

"You're quite capable!" The blind tiger's face was extremely gloomy: "Killing the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, that's a great skill anywhere."

"Guardian, you've misunderstood!" Gou An quickly explained, "I didn't kill the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord. The skills I just displayed were all learned after returning from the secret realm. I also accidentally subdued this giant python while searching for herbs."

Gou An was telling the truth, but Blind Tiger clearly didn't believe him.

"If you hadn't obtained some fortuitous opportunity from the secret realm, how could you have subdued this giant python?" Blind Tiger couldn't help but ask.

This left Gou An speechless for a moment.

The most important thing in subduing the giant python is the divine iron hammer in your hand. Without this thing, you can knock the python unconscious with one blow and you really can't subdue it.