After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

Xu Ruheng reached out to the ground, trying to get up, but as soon as he exerted force, he sensed something was wrong. He cut through the snow and was shocked to find a frozen corpse underneath, with half of its head smashed. The only remaining eye of the corpse was open, and perhaps because the eyeballs were frozen, the eyeballs were even reflecting a faint light.

Xu Ruheng screamed and slid his legs back and forth to escape the corpse. But after sliding back a few meters, Xu Ruheng felt something was wrong behind him. He turned around and saw a human body with its upper body missing.

Xu Ruheng tried to scramble away, but his tense nerves exhausted his last bit of energy. He moved his hands a few times, then his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

Xu Ruheng's chest felt like a broken bellows, weakly and pitifully throbbing as large flakes of snow covered his body, slowly stealing away the last bit of warmth from the young man.

Xu Ruheng, who had completely lost the ability to move, rested for a while, then turned back to look at the two corpses he had just dug out.

Xu Ruheng had a feeling that he might be the next one among them.

I too will be frozen here, dead, unknown and untraceable.

With this thought, Xu Ruheng began to feel that his body was no longer cold, but rather began to feel hot.

A strange piece of knowledge arose in Xu Ruheng's mind.

Before a person freezes to death, they may experience a brief moment of lucidity, feeling their body warm. This is because their nerves are completely frozen and unable to accurately provide feedback or sensation.

Therefore, people who freeze to death usually die after taking off their clothes (because they feel too hot).

Xu Ruheng felt his body getting hotter and hotter.

Am I going to die?

Am I going to die?

An unprecedented fear swept over Xu Ruheng's entire body; the higher the temperature, the further life was from Xu Ruheng.

My body started to feel hot, almost burning.

Xu Ruheng wanted to take off his clothes.

……

"No! No! No!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

"Help! Help! Someone please save me!"

"Anyone will do! Please, please save me!"

Xu Ruheng screamed as he got out of bed. The old man opened his eyes, covered in sweat, and after his vision returned, he looked around.

The surrounding environment was the bedroom of a luxury suite, where several bodyguards sitting in chairs stared blankly at him.

Xu Ruheng touched his forehead; his hand was sweaty. Looking down, he saw an electric blanket under the old man, probably from the bodyguard shop.

Xu Ruheng: "..."

No wonder it's so hot.

One of the bodyguards stood up.

"Master, you..."

Xu Ruheng shook his head.

"I had a nightmare, but it's nothing."

Xu Ruheng lay down again.

The dream he just had was probably too unforgettable; Xu Ruheng still remembered every detail of the moment he was about to freeze to death.

Heavy snow fell, the wind was biting cold, and there were two human skeletons beside me.

"I just want to live..."

Xu Ruheng choked up a little.

So, you'll forgive me, right?

Xu Ruheng wept uncontrollably, crying like a child.

"You are an auspicious beast, willing to sacrifice for us mortals, right?"

"I just want to live, I just want to live..."

……

The entrance to the Vermilion Bird stronghold.

Zhou Yan drove an SUV, carrying Su Xiaowan and Chongba, down the hill from the stronghold.

The wind carrying an abnormal, fishy smell from the Ten Thousand Miao Mountains hit Zhou Yan's face, making him truly realize that this was the Ten Thousand Miao Mountains, where even the smell in the air was so eerie.

However, with Bai Ze's abilities, Zhou Yan easily bypassed several dangerous mountains and drove all the way to the ruins of an ancient witch clan's dwelling.

All four forbidden zones have traces of human habitation, and in many places, texts and pictures have been preserved.

The Chi You Palace that Zhou Yan visited in the Abyss Underworld was an example, but that Chi You Palace was too well preserved. The ruins of the Wu Clan that Zhou Yan has now arrived at are completely permeated with the taste of time.

The ruins were made of large stones, each covered with patches of moss, vines, and various small insects, showing that the area had been naturalized for a long time.

Zhou Yan parked the SUV outside the ruins, then carried Su Xiaowan inside, with the Chongming Bird on his shoulder.

The houses surrounding the ruins had collapsed, but further in, several stone houses remained intact, and some even had one or two stone statues in front of them.

Zhou Yan looked at several stone statues, and they were all actually statues of the "Li Ju" deity.

The Jiuli tribe was divided into nine brothers who ruled over each other. Li Ju was one of Chi You's brothers. If nothing unexpected happens, this ruin may be the place where Li Ju's tribe lived in the past.

But why has the place where the ancient witch tribe lived become ruins?

Zhou Yan was actually quite curious. Whether it was Kunlun Immortal Palace, Penglai in the North Sea, the Abyss Underworld, or the Ten Thousand Miao Mountains, they all seemed to have traces left by gods, Buddhas, and immortals. What happened here that caused these places to become forbidden zones for humans?

Furthermore, the Awakened Ones seem to have appeared a hundred years ago, and these forbidden zones for humanity definitely existed a hundred years ago. In other words, there is a gap between the mythological era and the modern era.

What happened during this period of disruption?

Severing the connection between heaven and earth?

The Dharma-ending Age?

Spiritual energy depleted?

Of course, there's no need to rush these things. Zhou Yan estimates that once his awakening level is high enough, reaching over 60% like Jiu Feng's, his omniscient ability will allow him to learn about what happened during the gap era.

Zhou Yan suddenly stopped, and a chill ran down the spine of the young man.

Following this feeling, all sorts of grotesque insects began to crawl out of the surrounding stone houses.

Zhou Yan scanned the area and the omniscient ability replied that it was a subspecies of Gu worm.

Gu worms are monsters bred by the Wu tribe through raising gu and feeding them poison. This ruin has been neglected for hundreds or thousands of years. The originally terrifying poisonous insects have naturally developed over a long period of time, and their unnecessary strong toxicity has degenerated, becoming a subspecies with weak toxicity.

Zhou Yan had sensed the danger of this place before coming here, but the danger level was not high. It was probably because the toxicity of these subspecies was not enough to kill him.

However, the sight of tens of thousands of insects surrounding him and encircling him still made Zhou Yan's scalp tingle.

Zhou Yan patted the Chongming bird on his shoulder. The Chongming bird shook itself, raised its neck, and changed its cooing sound in front of Zhou Yan into an extremely loud rooster crow.

The dense swarm of subspecies of Gu worms around him paused for a moment, then receded like water a second later. Zhou Yan saw that the awakening level of the Chongming Bird had increased by 2%, reaching 16%.

The Chongming bird flew off Zhou Yan's shoulder. This bird had eaten a lot of beef with Zhou Yan, so it hadn't become picky about food. It didn't mind the disgusting Gu worms around it, and would stick its head out and catch one with each flight of its leg.

They were having a great time catching them.

These bird-like mammals have always been the nemesis of these poisonous insects. In "Journey to the West," the scorpion demon that stung Sun Wukong so badly that he ran away in terror was even able to sting the Buddha, who looked incredibly fat and whose cultivation was higher than his weight. This angered the Buddha so much that he ordered the eighteen Arhats to capture her.

This scorpion demon, who could make both Sun Wukong and Buddha weep, was easily subdued by the rooster, Pleiades Star Lord.

The Peacock King also has the ability to repel insects and detoxify.

The oppressed Chongming Bird easily turned the ruins into a buffet, devouring the insects.

Zhou Yan glanced at the Chongming bird and walked to the altar on the ruins.

On the altar were several polished stones with ancient characters written on them. Normal people couldn't understand these characters, but Zhou Yan used his omniscient ability to look at them, and a passage of text appeared.

"Emperor Yan's wife is really beautiful. Li Tan invited me to capture Emperor Yan and have his baby. Ancestor, please give me a message, should I go or not?"

Zhou Yan: "..."

Chapter Four Evil

Ten thousand Miao mountains, ten thousand years mountain range.

Wansui Mountain Range is a relatively safe mountain range in the Shiwanmiao Mountains. If you walk along this mountain range, as long as you are careful, you don't have to worry about accidents, and you will also find plenty of good things.

For this reason, many awakened beings who come here to search for treasure cheered "Long live the mountain range!" and that's how the Long Live Mountain Range came to be.

Two SUVs loaded with daily necessities drove over a hill in the middle of the Wansui Mountains.

In the SUV behind, Xu Ruheng, pale-faced, looked around at his surroundings and occasionally spoke to Lin Daoan, the demigod awakener driving beside him, a refined-looking man with glasses who looked like a lawyer.

“I’ve walked outside this 100,000 Miao Mountains before. The people who were with me died so quickly back then. They just fell to the ground and wouldn’t get up. I was so scared that I swore I would never come to this place again in my life, but then…”

Xu Ruheng shook his head.

Ah, life.

Any vow seems so powerless in the face of the ridiculous word "life".

Lin Daoan, who was driving, smiled reservedly.

"Don't worry this time, Fang Xiong and I are here now..."

Sitting in the back seat, the man with a ferocious expression smiled, his pupils dilating rapidly as he laughed, like a savage beast.

"It will definitely protect your safety, Mr. Xu."

Xu Ruheng said weakly.

"Hopefully."

The vehicle drove from morning till night, encountering few people along the way, but several attacks by monsters. However, with two demigods present, these monsters were easily dealt with, and everyone waited for nightfall without incident. Afterward, the group got out of the vehicle and began to set up tents and light a campfire.

Only Xu Ruheng took a deep breath and, while being kept far behind by the two demigods, began to walk deeper into the Wansui Mountains.

Xu Ruheng had been in the Ten Thousand Miao Mountains for a week. On the first day, he set up the equipment and invited a guide. On the second day, he spent half a day finding the route and headed towards the Wansui Mountain Range in the afternoon. It took him a day to reach the Wansui Mountain Range. On the fourth day, he began to explore the Wansui Mountain Range.

Three days passed, and Xu Ruheng did not encounter the auspicious omen he hoped for.

Today, Xu Ruheng couldn't hold back any longer. Even late at night, he didn't rest at his own camp. The old man began to fight for a future with his life.

The darkness before Xu Ruheng's eyes continued to deepen.

Perhaps modern people have spent too much time in the city and are unaware that it gets dark quickly and deeply in the wild. When night falls, without any moonlight, it's no exaggeration to say that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

It was dark today, but there was still some moonlight. When Xu Ruheng walked into the forest, he could barely make out some things in the moonlight.

But as the vegetation in the mountains became denser and the tree canopies blocked the moonlight, the visibility of the surrounding environment dropped to its lowest point.

Even at the lowest setting, the unfamiliar wilderness at night is filled with all sorts of strange insect chirps and the rustling sound of something stepping on the leaves. Looking around, you can also see some things faintly glowing in the darkness in the distance.

The unknown has captured Xu Ruheng. The old man, who has lived a life of luxury in the human world for decades, finds himself so old that he is terrified just by walking at night.

Various images began to flash through Xu Ruheng's mind. Xu Ruheng thought about his past, about Chang'an Mountain outside the Ten Thousand Miao Mountains, and about his smooth and wonderful life after leaving Chang'an Mountain.

"what!"

Xu Ruheng yelled, because the visibility had dropped to the limit, and he didn't see the small slope in front of him. He stepped on it and fell to the ground.

The ground in the wilderness was not flat, and Xu Ruheng was an old man with weak health and osteoporosis. When he fell, he clearly heard his legs make a dull thud as if they were not bearing weight, and then the intense pain in his legs made him weakly cry out.

……

A week ago, at Xu Ruheng's home, in the guest room.

Xu Ruheng asked the old blind man.

"Sir, you said the Nine-Colored Deer is in the Longevity Mountains, but what if I can't find it?"

The old blind man pondered for a moment and then responded.

"This nine-colored deer is kind by nature and likes to help those who are suffering and in distress. If you do not encounter it for a long time, you can travel alone and find an opportunity to injure yourself, the more serious the better. If the nine-colored deer is nearby, it will surely come to save you."

Xu Ruheng nodded without saying a word.

……

Xu Ruheng groaned for several minutes, then lowered his head. Through the faint moonlight, he saw a large gash on the spot where he had fallen, with broken bone spurs cutting through his flesh.

Open fracture.