Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

Holding the map of the outer realms that he had received for free from the Frontier Demon Subduing Division, Ning Xiu immediately followed the map's instructions and headed towards the place where Fang Jingzhou had last appeared in the Four Symbols Continent.

According to intelligence, Fang Jingzhou would be passing through a place called Beimen Town with the Vermilion Bird Blood. In order to retrieve the Vermilion Bird Blood, the Demon Subduing Division sent a team to intercept and kill Fang Jingzhou.

However, the demon-slaying team was later wiped out, and no news came back. It seems that Fang Jingzhou had foreseen this and prepared a countermeasure in advance.

In order to find out the whereabouts of the missing Fang Jingzhou, Beimen Town is a must-investigate place, as only this place contains clues about Fang Jingzhou's whereabouts.

It's unknown how many Demon-Subduing Officers have chosen to head to Beimen Town after receiving the Demon-Subduing Summoning Order. Perhaps the clues have already been explored to the point of exhaustion. However, Ning Xiu currently has no further clues or ideas, so he can only choose to obediently head to Beimen Town.

Beimen Town is located about 900 li from the border city wall. With the speed of the dragon, Ning Xiu was almost there in less than a day.

However, the price of this forced march was the sheer number of monsters they encountered along the way. Although it didn't affect Ning Xiu much, it showed that this outer region was indeed not as safe as the territory within the Great Shang Dynasty.

In Dashang, at least you won't be attacked by evil spirits in broad daylight on the road.

"After another fifty li, once we round this mountain, we'll see Beimen Town," Ning Xiu said, gazing at a large mountain not far away.

However, at that moment, the Demon Buddha, who was sitting on the black lotus platform and half-flying in the air, suddenly stopped and took the initiative to warn, "Something is coming."

Along the way, they encountered many evil spirits. Generally, when evil spirits appeared, they were dealt with by the dragon. The Demon Buddha did not utter a sound from beginning to end.

The fact that the Demon Buddha suddenly spoke at this moment meant that the thing approaching was definitely not ordinary, and Ning Xiu immediately became serious.

It is said that even a first-class expert cannot be considered absolutely safe in this outer land.

boom!

Not long after the Demon Buddha spoke, a series of rumbling sounds came from behind the mountain. With a tremor, a huge red-skinned eight-tailed ape poked its head out from behind the mountain.

This eight-tailed ape had multiple different colors in its eyes, a heavy demonic aura emanating from its body, and its fur moved without wind, exuding a terrifying pressure.

Roar!

The moment the monster appeared, the dragon immediately became agitated and restless, raising its head and roaring as a threatening warning: if the eight-tailed ape dared to make a move, a fierce battle would ensue.

The strength of a dragon is roughly between the second and third ranks, while the eight-tailed ape in front of Ning Xiu is a true second-rank ape. Having lived in the outer realms for many years, it has grown to such strength, so how could it fear the threat of a dragon?

Immediately, the eight-tailed ape climbed up the mountain and circled around from behind, completely exposing its body to Ning Xiu and his group.

This eight-tailed ape was at least three zhang tall, with extremely strong muscles all over its body, leaving no doubt about the power it could unleash.

However, if it were just an eight-tailed ape like this, it certainly wouldn't be enough to make the Demon Buddha speak up for it, which means that the impending danger is not just this one.

Upon arriving in the outer realms, the Demon Buddha, whom Ning Xiu had summoned to help, served as his guard. Naturally, when danger arose, there was no reason for Ning Xiu to act first.

He directly grabbed out with one hand, transforming it into a giant Buddha's palm, and grabbed at the head of the eight-tailed ape, trying to seize the initiative and crush the ape monster's head directly.

The eight-tailed ape felt the pressure approaching and immediately roared, clamping its legs around the mountain while raising its hands to meet the giant Buddha's palm that was descending.

However, the Demon Buddha possessed first-grade strength, and even a casual strike from him was beyond the Eight-Tailed Ape's ability to withstand. In just one move, the Eight-Tailed Ape's head exploded on the spot under the Buddha's palm.

[Defeat monsters to gain +6000 General Proficiency]

It was at this moment that the Eight-Tailed Ape's body suddenly underwent a strange change.

From the hole in its blasted head, a blood-red worm slowly emerged. The worm swayed incessantly in the air. The eight-tailed ape should have been dead and unable to move long ago, given the extent of its injuries.

But its body is still moving freely.

“Blood God Worm!” Ning Xiu blurted out.

Although he had never left the Great Shang territory in his daily life, he had read quite a few of the strange tales recorded in the Demon Subduing Bureau about demons and evil spirits from other realms.

Among them is a very special kind of monster called the Blood God Worm.

Its physical body is very weak, but it can grow extremely powerful by parasitizing other life forms and absorbing nutrients.

The Blood God Worm has an extremely high potential. The stronger its strength, the stronger its vitality. At the same time, its ability to entangle is unparalleled. If it is cultivated well, it is very likely to gain a powerful ally comparable to a first-rank master. Many Demon Slayers and demons have tried to cultivate the Blood God Worm.

However, the difficult outcome quickly led them to give up.

Firstly, the Blood God Worm reproduces very slowly and in very small numbers, making it difficult to find an adult Blood God Worm or its eggs even in the outer realms.

Firstly, the Blood God Worm is a monster without intelligence. Even if it grows to the first rank, it has no thoughts or feelings. It is a true killing machine that will poison any living creature it sees.

This makes it virtually impossible for anyone to tame a Blood God Worm into their own pet and have it fight for them.

Among the many strange tales collected in the Demon Subduing Bureau, the most powerful Blood God Insect ever recorded was only at the fourth rank. The one Ning Xiu saw before him could be considered a record-breaker.

"So this is the reason why the Demon Buddha issued the warning. There is actually a Blood God Worm residing in the body of this Eight-Tailed Ape!" Ning Xiu exclaimed in horror.

The Blood God Worm is a very dangerous monster. A fourth-rank Blood God Worm once tormented a third-rank Demon Subduer, forcing him to use every means to escape. Now, there is a second-rank peak Blood God Worm.

No one can say for sure how powerful they really are.

Fortunately, the Demon Buddha possessed first-grade strength; otherwise, Ning Xiu would probably be considering whether he should turn tail and run away right now.

The Blood God Worm quickly crawled out of the Eight-Tailed Ape's body. The moment it left the body, the Eight-Tailed Ape's body was like a puppet with its strings cut, rolling directly down the cliff and falling to the foot of the mountain.

A blood-god worm, over five zhang long, clung to the surface of the mountain, and segments and mandibles began to emerge from its body.

According to the records in the outer realm investigation notes of Fumowei, the Blood God Worm has three stages: egg, larva, and adult.

However, no one has ever mentioned that the Blood God Worm could grow segmented limbs and mandibles. Clearly, the Blood God Worms encountered by those who made the records were not powerful enough to detect the next stage of the Blood God Worm's transformation.

Ning Xiu, however, is now truly experiencing it firsthand.

No one knows what terrifying methods the Blood God Worm will employ at this stage.

The Demon Buddha struck first, taking out the Five Directions Ghost King Pestle, which he had never used since he acquired it.

This item was painstakingly crafted by Huang Tianfei, a demon from the Black Heaven Gate, using a great deal of effort and materials. It possesses extraordinary power and is a supremely precious and extremely evil artifact.

As the Demon Buddha wielded the Five Directions Ghost King Pestle, the five black iron skulls on the pestle instantly spewed out large amounts of black mist, transforming into five giant ghost king statues, wielding magical weapons such as tridents, hooks, sharp gears, and ghost head knives, and attacked the Blood God Worm.

The appearance of this supreme treasure naturally created an extraordinary spectacle, and the Xiahou region was instantly filled with wailing and lamentation.

It was as if countless wronged souls were about to crawl out from underground, with a fierce momentum.

The five ghost kings charged towards the Blood God Worm, raising their respective magical weapons and striking the worm's body. The Blood God Worm instantly exploded, splitting into countless pieces that scattered across the mountains.

But an anomaly also appeared: all the scattered pieces began to wriggle and start to come together again, seemingly intending to merge back into one.

There was no record of a Blood God Worm with such strength in the Demon Subduing Division, so Ning Xiu couldn't figure out its exact strength for the time being. If it really had the ability to heal itself after being shattered, then he could only try to see if he could completely annihilate it.

Seeing that his Five Directions Ghost King Pestle was not working well, the Demon Buddha also became concerned.

He unleashed the true power of the Five Directions Ghost King Pestle, throwing it into the sky. The five skulls immediately spewed out a large amount of billowing black flames, which then fell to the ground.

They began burning the remains of the Blood God Worms, attempting to destroy them completely.

Ning Xiu witnessed firsthand how the fragments became shriveled and withered under the scorching flames, but even so, it could not stop the fragments from converging in the same direction.

Finally, braving all the black flames, the fragments of the Blood God Worm fused together once more. However, the Blood God Worm had now transformed into a charred, irregular sphere, stuck motionless on the mountainside, as if it had truly been burned to death.

But for some reason, Ning Xiu felt that the more he looked at it, the more uneasy he felt. The round object looked exactly like a... cocoon!

After having this thought, Ning Xiu immediately had a bad feeling: what if the Blood God Worm started to evolve again after this ordeal?

Since the discovery of the Blood God Worm, this monster has never had a fixed appearance.

With each different grade, the appearance of the Blood God Worm undergoes a significant change.

No one can say for sure what exactly causes the Blood God Worm to evolve, but at this moment, the black cocoon in front of Ning Xiu looks exactly like a worm cocoon.

Furthermore, without any indication from the proficiency panel, Ning Xiu was perfectly certain that the Blood God Worm was not dead.

"Go all out!" Ning Xiu immediately shouted.

The Demon Buddha nodded, suddenly stood up, and stepped off the black lotus platform. His entire body expanded, and his black monk's robe also grew to a height of sixteen feet. He summoned the Five Ghost Kings' Pestle and held it in his hand, heading straight for the black cocoon.

This was the first time Ning Xiu had seen the Demon Buddha get serious. In the past, the Demon Buddha would always sit on the black lotus platform and attack from a distance, crushing enemies one by one as easily as ants. But this time, things were different.

The black cocoon remained motionless, but upon closer inspection, one could clearly feel something throbbing inside. The Demon Buddha raised the Five Directions Ghost King Pestle high, carrying raging black flames as it smashed towards the black cocoon.

Five demon kings appeared behind the demon Buddha, each with a ferocious and malevolent expression.

Under Ning Xiu's gaze, the Demon Buddha slammed his pestle onto the surface of the black cocoon, and numerous cracks subsequently appeared at the point where the Five Directions Ghost King's pestle landed.

It's not broken!

Ning Xiu was surprised, not expecting the Blood God Worm's cocoon to be so tough that even a top-tier Buddhist and Taoist master like the Demon Buddha, along with a supreme evil weapon, could not inflict a fatal blow.

If the Blood God Worm were to break free of its cocoon, things would be disastrous.

The Demon Buddha roared, and this time he raised the Ghost King Pestle with both hands, stabbing the black cocoon with the sharp end of the handle. This time, the black cocoon's defense was useless.

The Five Directions Ghost King Pestle pierced into the black cocoon in an instant, and a lot of dark red blood seeped out from the opening, staining the mountainside.

"Chirp chirp!"

A sharp insect chirp echoed from inside the black cocoon, followed by a sharp pincer piercing out from within the cocoon, its pointed tip aimed directly at the Demon Buddha's neck.

This attack was incredibly powerful; even with the Demon Buddha's physique, it might not be able to withstand it completely if it hit him.

Immediately, the Demon Buddha dodged to the side, grabbed the pliers, and exerted force in an instant, preparing to break them in two.

But unexpectedly, more long pincers emerged from within the black cocoon, stabbing at various parts of the Demon Buddha's body and sealing off any possible escape routes. It was clear that the Demon Buddha had no intention of giving him a way out.

Buzz!

A pair of huge white insect wings silently struggled to break out of the black cocoon.

[113] The spine of the Blood God Worm

hum!

Twelve sharp, giant pincers pierced towards the Demon Buddha's body, but just as the pincers were about to strike, skulls immediately appeared on the Demon Buddha's body, each opening its mouth to bite the pincers, blocking the attack from the Blood God Worm for the Demon Buddha.

It was at this time that pairs of white insect wings kept breaking out of the black cocoon, and the evolutionary momentum intensified. As a result, the entire black cocoon became covered with cracks and could burst open at any moment.

No one could have imagined why the Blood God Worm would suddenly evolve again, but the cause was probably related to the Demon Buddha's attack on it using the Five Directions Ghost King Pestle.

Under Ning Xiu's watchful gaze, the black cocoon crackled and popped, finally unable to withstand the internal pressure any longer, and burst open completely.

A terrifying shockwave shot into the sky, dispersing the clouds and leaving the sky clear and cloudless.

Ning Xiu had never seen such a display of power from any person or evil spirit since joining the Demon Subduing Division.

As the black cocoon dissipated, the Blood God Insect, which was about ten feet long, covered with a metallic bronze-colored carapace, had eighteen pairs of insect wings on its back and twelve pincers on its abdomen, immediately came into Ning Xiu's view.

Compared to its original enormous size, the Blood God Worm is now significantly smaller, but the aura it exudes has become even more astonishing, and its strength has increased by an unknown number of realms with this evolution.

When Ning Xiu faced the Blood God Worm that had broken out of its cocoon, he felt a sense of oppression as if he were facing a god, making him want to turn around and run away.