Volume Five: Emerging Prominence - Chapter Fourteen: Clearing the Battlefield

While being bombarded by the artillery-like attacks of the Thunder Behemoth herd from the heavens, Li Chengzhu had already realized that the number of those gigantic beasts was immense. However, it was not until he came to collect the corpses that he discovered the actual population of the Thunder Behemoths far exceeded his imagination. Within a radius of fifty miles, almost every few paces lay a Thunder Behemoth on the ground, either dead or breathing its last.

The bestial roars had lasted for a full eight days before the Thunder Behemoths, having lost their minds, gradually regained consciousness. But by then, it was too late. The living forces of the Thunder Behemoth clan had been utterly depleted. The remaining ones were entirely exhausted creatures, able only to lie on the ground, panting heavily, and glare with copper-bell-sized red eyes as Li Chengzhu and Yuan Mu harvested the lives and immortal cores of their kind.

Those pairs of bloodshot eyes revealed sorrow, anger, and despair, mourning the extinction of their race. Their angry roars were no longer articulate, replaced by a continuous series of gurgling sounds from the depths of their throats.

Although Li Chengzhu and Yuan Mu had killed without blinking an eye on the Red Rock Terrace, those had been foreign invaders killed while defending against external national crises. These Thunder Behemoths, however, were still creatures of the Immortal Realm. By the end of the massacre, Li Chengzhu’s hands had grown soft from killing. Meanwhile, Yuan Mu had always worried about his Dao heart and dared not commit excessive slaughter; whenever his hands itched, he would find seemingly unimpaired Thunder Behemoths to spar with, never killing those on the verge of death.

As Li Chengzhu dispatched the lingering Thunder Behemoths, he comforted himself by thinking that even if he didn't kill them, they wouldn't survive another few days anyway. Their injuries were simply too severe; some even suffered from massive internal hemorrhaging, with black blood pouring from their mouths mixed with fragments of internal organs.

After days of gathering, Li Chengzhu looked at the pile of cyan immortal cores stacked inside his Azure Blood Ring. He estimated there were nearly a thousand of them, a staggering quantity that left him slightly tongue-tied. Though numerous, their quality varied widely; some contained spiritual energy as potent as top-grade Heavenly Mystery Spirit Stones, while others were barely comparable to lower-grade Heavenly Mystery Stones. Because they all came from exhausted Thunder Behemoths, the surfaces of these cores looked somewhat dim and lusterless, yet this still constituted a massive harvest for Li Chengzhu.

Had it not been for the bestial roars, collecting a thousand immortal cores would likely have taken several months.

Boss Li now no longer knew whether he was a lucky star or a harbinger of bad luck.

Upon entering the Immortal Realm, he fortuitously met his master, acquired powerful cultivation techniques, rapidly advanced his cultivation to the early Unity stage, married two immortal wives, and even fathered a chubby daughter—if he wasn't lucky, who was?

Tormented by Gu Linglong for a few months, he was treated as cannon fodder the moment he stepped onto the Red Rock Terrace, unluckily ran into a Six-Winged Angel, was ambushed on the road back to Rainbow City, and upon re-entering the Forbidden Immortal Land, triggered a mass frenzy of Thunder Behemoths—if he wasn't a jinx, who was?

Yet there was always a gain for every loss. Tormented by Gu Linglong for months, he ultimately ended up dragging Gu Linglong down with him, making her obediently become his wife; ambushed on his way back to Rainbow City, he unlocked the God-Slaying Bow to its second form; and this latest beast frenzy was even more rewarding, presenting him with nearly a thousand immortal cores.

Just as Boss Li was muttering to himself about whether he was lucky or ill-fated, the little creature perched on his shoulder let out a squeak. Yuan Mu instantly cast out his Long Rainbow Silk, sweeping it toward a cluster of bushes in the distance.

The black whip, resembling a dragon emerging from the sea, whipped forward with a roaring sound.

With a miserable screech, Yuan Mu flicked his wrist, and a Thunder Behemoth was bound and hurled flying out.

With a heavy thud, it landed right in front of the two men. Just as Li Chengzhu cast out the Nine Heavens Great Luo Cauldron and prepared to strike, he abruptly realized that this Thunder Behemoth was actually a juvenile, only one-fifth the size of the other behemoths, gazing at him with aggrieved, wide eyes.

Li Chengzhu abruptly pinched a spell gesture, and the seven hundred and twenty flying swords of the Nine Heavens Great Luo Cauldron halted right before the young Thunder Behemoth's eyes.

Yuan Mu was slightly startled, likely not expecting the bound Thunder Beast to be underage. With a wave of his hand, he recalled the Long Rainbow Silk into his body.

The young beast exerted strength in all four limbs, struggling to climb up from the ground. It whimpered and cried out at the two men a few times, then turned its head and walked toward the corpse of a nearby Thunder Behemoth. Reaching the head of the dead behemoth, the little juvenile extended its long, barbed tongue to lick the giant beast's muzzle, letting out mournful whines. Receiving no response from its elder after waiting for a long time, the little beast raised its head to look at Li Chengzhu and Yuan Mu.

The two men exchanged glances, neither of their expressions looking particularly pleasant.

Li Chengzhu sighed softly, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go." With that, he summoned his Meteor Sword and sped upward.

On the ground, the little juvenile continued to wail incessantly.

Though Yuan Mu understood the principle that failing to root out the weeds completely would lead to them growing back with the spring breeze, he ultimately could not bring himself to strike down a defenseless young beast.

After a long silence, he sighed. "Forget it, at least leave them a shred of legacy. An entire clan has been wiped out; let it be." Tossing out his flying sword, he closely followed Li Chengzhu's footsteps into the air.

"Whimper..." A desolate cry echoed behind the two men.

Since Li Chengzhu came for the immortal cores and Yuan Mu came for the Mani Bead, the two of them flew aimlessly around the Forbidden Immortal Land. Whenever they spotted an immortal beast below, they would descend to dispatch it, extract its immortal core, and then resume their journey.

However, they never encountered another herd of gregarious immortal beasts; every beast they met thereafter was solitary. Li Chengzhu naturally had no idea that the previous herd of Thunder Behemoths had gathered to select a new leader, allowing him to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

They did encounter a few more Thunder Behemoths, but neither man had any desire to kill them. Firstly, their stock of wood-attribute immortal cores was already more than sufficient; secondly, lingering uneasiness remained in their hearts—if the Thunder Behemoths held any lingering resentment, that grievance alone would be enough to torment the two of them to death.

There was no sunrise or sunset in the Forbidden Immortal Land, and the sky remained a uniform pale white. Yet the two estimated they had been inside for over a month now. During this month, they had gathered no fewer than fifteen hundred immortal cores. This was largely thanks to the Long Rainbow Silk in Yuan Mu's possession. Once this grade-four immortal artifact was deployed, few immortal beasts could break free, leaving them with no choice but to watch helplessly as Li Chengzhu dealt the fatal blows.

Furthermore, with the little creature—a treasure-seeking mouse extremely sensitive to spiritual pressure—even if an immortal beast was hidden ten miles away, the little thing could sniff out the slightest trace and lead the two straight to the target.

Li Chengzhu and Yuan Mu had also encountered powerful immortal beasts. One serpent-like immortal beast had nearly dealt them a devastating blow.

Just as Li Chengzhu was preparing to deliver the fatal blow, this immortal beast suddenly launched a surprise attack, breaking free from the binding of the Long Rainbow Silk. A pillar of ice blasted from its mouth. Had it not been for the little creature's timely warning, Li Chengzhu would have been frozen into an ice sculpture. The towering ancient trees behind him instantly shattered upon contact with that profound glacial Qi, turning into fragments scattered across the ground.

Having encountered an immortal beast capable of breaking free from the Long Rainbow Silk for the first time, Yuan Mu panicked slightly. During this period, the Long Rainbow Silk had been invincible; whenever it was used, no immortal beast could escape capture. Therefore, when the beast spewed its profound glacial Qi, Grand Immortal Yuan Mu had stood there dumbfounded, staring at his immortal artifact and wondering if he had grabbed the wrong item.

It was only when Li Chengzhu let out a furious roar that Grand Immortal Yuan Mu snapped back to his senses.

*Damn it, aren't I just slapping myself in the face?* Grand Immortal Yuan Mu grew enraged as well. Being a late-stage immortal practitioner equipped with a grade-four immortal artifact, he was utterly helpless against a mere giant snake—word of this would be utterly humiliating.

Although the Long Rainbow Silk could not bind this immortal beast permanently, it could entangle it for a while. Yuan Mu seized the gap in its defense to tie it down, and then Boss Li unleashed his three major magical treasures in unison, complemented by Yuan Mu's hula hoop, grinding this immortal beast to death through sheer attrition.

Immortal beasts were not to be underestimated. Having learned from this incident, Yuan Mu discarded his contempt. For a beast to break free of his Long Rainbow Silk meant its cultivation level was at least equal to, if not higher than, his own.

When they had previously encountered the Thunder Behemoth herd and been beaten with zero chance to fight back, they could excuse it as being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But what about now? Fighting two-on-one and still struggling this bitterly? As Li Chengzhu and Yuan Mu exchanged glances, Grand Immortal Yuan Mu's aged face immediately flushed red.

Holding the immortal core dug out from the giant snake's body by the little creature, Li Chengzhu felt an intense chill upon contact. Even with his protective spiritual Qi shielding him, the cold penetrated bone-deep, and within moments, his entire arm went numb. Panicking, he hurriedly tossed the immortal core to Yuan Mu.

Grand Immortal Yuan Mu possessed profound cultivation and wasn't afraid of this small immortal core, but the moment it touched his hand, he knew its value was extraordinary.

The spiritual energy stored within this water-attribute immortal core had already liquefied. The sensation of holding it was akin to pulling a block of ice straight from a refrigerator on the coldest days of winter.

The immortal cores previously gathered here were predominantly wood-attribute, with cores of other attributes appearing only occasionally—a discovery that had left Li Chengzhu slightly depressed. What he needed was a massive quantity of cores of all attributes, especially water-attribute ones, of which he only had two.

Having now discovered such a formidable immortal beast, Li Chengzhu was naturally unwilling to let the matter rest. After a brief rest, he dragged Yuan Mu around this area, hoping to hunt down more water-attribute immortal beasts.

As for the giant snake's physical body, according to Yuan Mu, it should have various useful applications. After all, this was the strongest immortal beast they had encountered thus far.

Li Chengzhu took several liquid-storage bottles from Yuan Mu, collected the immortal beast's blood, and even spared none of its hide.

*This is top-tier material for refining immortal armor,* Yuan Mu muttered incessantly as he gazed at the snakeskin.