Several months later.
Just as Ao Dian had said, a toad spirit ca to Cloud Piercing Peak.
The toad spirit transford into a humanoid shape but was barely over three feet tall, even shorter than the Turtle Chancellor.
Dressed in an earthy yellow Taoist robe, its limbs remained webbed due to its crude Art of Transformation.
Yet it walked with an imposing air. Upon arriving outside the cave, it declared that it was following the orders of the Jade Fang Demon King to inquire about the causes of death of the four great demons.
Ao Dian had been waiting for so ti and, using infighting as an excuse, stuffed a hundred-year-old Spirit Ginseng into the hands of the toad spirit. The once haughty toad spirit imdiately smiled so widely that its eyes could no longer be seen, repeatedly praising Ao Dian for his sensibility.
From then on, Mo Cloud Cave and the surrounding four peaks, as well as the Yan River in the mountains, all beca Zhou Yi's territory.
Zhou Yi focused on cultivating in the cave, studying formations, the Lightning thod, and refining dicinal pills and Magic Artifacts.
In the blink of an eye.
Ten years had passed.
...
Early in the morning.
The dew had not yet dissipated.
Located on the mountainside, Cloud-Rubbing Stockade had expanded several tis and now housed thousands of families.
Wooden houses and bamboo huts, simple yet sufficient to shelter from the wind and rain.
Stone walls built from nearby rocks enclosed the area, with only one gate for entrance and exit; young and strong villagers patrolled the walls to prevent beasts from causing chaos.
The lower intellect of the beasts ant they acted on instinct and did not follow the Demon King's rules.
Humph! Ha! Humph! Ha...
The rhythmic chanting erged from within the stockade, deep and powerful, both coordinating with breathing techniques to temper their strength and to keep nearby beasts at bay.
After morning exercises.
Niu Yong and the strong young n of the village took up their weapons and bows, leaving the stockade and entering the jungle to begin their daily hunting and gathering.
The boundless mountains not only lacked plains, but they were also strewn with rocks. Initially, the human villagers' food consisted of wild fruits but as their martial arts cultivation progressed, particularly after conditioning their sinews and bones with Beast Blood, their diet gradually shifted to wild and demonic beasts.
While the strong n went out to hunt, the won and children in the village also had their tasks, weaving hunting nets and sharpening weapons; everything was geared towards better hunting.
Even with their bodies tempered, those who ventured out to hunt often fell prey to beasts.
Children under ten practised with wooden swords and spears, imitating moves and forms convincingly.
Only young Jin Ang, after consuming so dried at in the morning and saying a word to his mother, ran up the mountain trail towards the peak.
The peak soared a thousand zhang high, with a rugged mountain path.
Jin Ang leaped nimbly through the mountains without a hint of fatigue; he had blazed this mountain trail over three years.
An hour later.
Finally reaching the top of Cloud Piercing Peak, Jin Ang saw the Golden Eagle Demon King and his face lit with joy, as he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"My respects, Lord Demon King."
"You are fifteen minutes early today."
Zhou Yi was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, with a vast expanse of clouds before him as a great sun erged from their midst.
Ever since he beheld the sunrise over the sea of clouds five years ago, Zhou Yi would ascend each morning to rest for a mont, relax his mind, and ditate on the ways of heaven.
"Unfortunately, I haven't realized anything!"
Zhou Yi didn't force his enlightennt; his current peaceful and leisurely cultivation life already left him extrely satisfied.
Jin Ang spoke respectfully, "Sir, I was lucky yesterday during practice, and my Qi-Blood entered my bones making my Qinggong a bit faster."
"Not bad."
Zhou Yi smiled and nodded. He had encountered Jin Chen three years ago and imdiately noticed his exceptional talent. Ordinary people don't reach the skin-mbrane realm until ten years old, as their bones are not yet fully ford, and forcing martial training can result in hidden injuries.
Yet Jin Ang secretly practiced and, within a few months, stepped into the skin-mbrane realm, successfully strengthened his sinews within a year, and had now begun Bone Tempering.
"This is a Bone Tempering Pill, much more effective than the usual dicinal Decoction. Take one pill a day, and when you've finished, co look for this king again."
"Thank you, Sir."
Jin Ang bowed and accepted the pills, then took out a Beast Skin Bag from his embrace, looking sowhat shy.
"Sir, this is dried at my mother prepared, to thank you for your guidance."
Zhou Yi waved his hand, drawing the Beast Skin Bag over, took out the dark at, and tossed it into his mouth to chew.
"It's a bit salty, tell your mother to use less salt next ti you bring so."
"Hehe, got it."
Jin Ang's face brightened with a smile, and he sat cross-legged like Zhou Yi on the edge of the cliff, starting to recount the happenings in the village.
There are good and bad, life and death; the struggles of humanity within the Great Mountain Range ant that death seed more like an inevitability. The living wouldn't linger on sorrow, but would instead continue to fight vigorously with swords and knives in hand.
Zhou Yi listened very attentively, comnting from ti to ti.
Having experienced an information explosion in his previous life and the changes of the National Dynasty, then living for three hundred years in the Cultivation World, his every word struck to the core.
Jin Ang ticulously recorded every word, knowing that upon returning to the village, he would need to ponder repeatedly to fully understand the anings.
Noon-ti.
The mountain top was left with only Zhou Yi, who, after a mont of silence, took out the divination sticks.
Zhou Yi, after centuries, could not fail to see that Jin Ang was extraordinary; perhaps he was a convergence of the destiny of humanity in the Great Mountain Range. Although not as formidable as Xiao Zhadan, he would still stir up no small commotion.
The divination stick landed steadily without change.
"A moderate fortune, not bad!"
Zhou Yi was satisfied as he retrieved the divining sticks, knowing that providing so protection was the utmost he could do, and that it was necessary to avoid trouble if it truly arose.
Returning to Mo Cloud Cave.
The Tortoise Pri Minister, knowing that Zhou Yi had left seclusion, hurriedly reported the recent changes in the mountains.
"A green fish demon has co to the Yan River; Ao Dian followed the Demon King's order and yielded the downstream section of the river to it..."
"The Golden Eagle patrols the nearby thousand miles; there have been no large-scale battles recently..."
The upper echelons of the demon tribes were lax in their territorial governance, continuous skirmishes broke out below—one either fought for territory or Spiritual dicine, or simply because of mutual animosity.
In the past few years, a bear demon from the south, seeing that the black tiger was the sa color as itself, led its demon soldiers in an attack.
The result was that the bear demon was captured after its defeat. Not to ntion the black tiger's strength was overwhelming due to its Heterogeneous Bloodline, its troops were equipped with Magic Artifacts and weapons, which created a one-sided battle from the start.
The black tiger brought the captured bear demon to Mo Cloud Cave to ask for instructions on how to deal with it.
"Before advancing to Golden Core, one must act cautiously. Gathering too many great demons under your command will surely draw the attention of the Jade Fang Demon King."
Zhou Yi, intent only on quietly cultivating, had no interest in territorial disputes, so he made a pot of bear soup.
The fall of the bear demon deterred its neighbors; later frictions among the demon soldiers were restrained by the local great demons.
The Tortoise Pri Minister presented a cloud-patterned Jade Token and said, "My Lord, this is an invitation from Ao Dian. You're invited to attend the birthday banquet of the Dragon Lord at Greenwave Pond. What do you wish to do?"
Zhou Yi pondered for a mont before shaking his head.
"I won't go."
"This subordinate shall take his leave then."
The Tortoise Pri Minister had anticipated this, which is why he reported it last. Other demon tribes would take pride in such an invitation, but their wise Immortal Lord was extrely cautious, not even attending the banquet despite the Jadescent Nectar.
Zhou Yi transford into a beam of light and sank a hundred zhang into the ground.
"Continue in secluded cultivation."
...
In the blink of an eye, twenty years passed.
Zhou Yi broke through the middle stage of Foundation Establishnt, naturally and effortlessly overcoming the minor bottleneck.
"With this progress, it will only take a little over a hundred years to reach the peak of Foundation Establishnt! After five resets and re-cultivations, what I originally thought was a waste of two hundred years now appears to be accumulated potential released in a burst, making up for the slow progress in the beginning."
There might be people in the world aware of such a thod of cultivation, but only Zhou Yi could put it into practice.
"Continue the cultivation."
That day.
Zhou Yi awoke from his cultivation, and as routine, he cast a minor divination spell.
Spending a year's duration, he got a moderate fortune.
Spending ten years' duration, he got a moderate fortune.
Spending a hundred years of lifespan, the divination stick fell from the cylinder, shining light that revealed two characters.
——Five Poisons.
"An extrely auspicious fortune!"
Zhou Yi was not pleased but rather alard, frowning for a mont before summoning the Tortoise Pri Minister.
"Are there any places in the nearby mountains related to 'Five Poisons'?"
"Five Poisons... There is one place."
The Tortoise Pri Minister produced a jade slip, which contained intelligence gathered by Zhou Yi's subordinates over the past thirty years about the surrounding areas.
"My Lord, a thousand miles to the west there is a place called White Bone Cave, inhabited by a brood of Five Poison Spiders. The leading old spider has not long ascended to great demon status, but it has under its command tens of thousands of small spiders, each incredibly venomous and aggressively fearless, giving them formidable strength!"
"So it's an insect demon."
Zhou Yi thought for a mont, realizing that the extrely auspicious fortune of the divination must refer to the White Bone Cave.
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