Chapter 495

Chapter 495: Who Did This?

If this demon had previously possessed the strength of the Early Stage of Spirit Transformation, after devouring Ji Yang’s two Battle Soldiers, it now held the power of the Mid Spirit Transformation realm.

This astonished Ji Yang.

Indeed, the demon was not as simple as it appeared.

“Kid, it’s your turn.”

After consuming the Battle Soldiers, the demon turned its gaze towards Ji Yang, revealing a cruel smile.

But in the next moment, a bright silver light flashed before it.

Before the demon could react, its body was once again severed in two.

Ji Yang, having retracted his iron pick, did not rush into action; instead, he once more focused on the demon that had been cut apart.

Though its body had been cleaved in half, no blood flowed out.

As Ji Yang paused, the demon’s body quickly merged back together, returning to its original form.

However, this time, the demon’s face showed some surprise, its eyes fixed on the iron pick in Ji Yang’s hand as it exclaimed in delight,

“Spiritual treasure!”

“Good, good, good! You, a Golden Core stage cultivator, possess such a treasure. If I can absorb it, I will instantly regain my previous strength!”

It had not realized the significance of "Little Gold" while it was dormant, but from the recent attack, it sensed something unusual.

Seeing the demon ecstatic, Ji Yang chuckled softly,

“Truly arrogant.”

Having witnessed the demon’s robust Vitality, Ji Yang no longer held back.

As he activated the essence of the sword, the iron pick in his hand instantly surged with rich essence of the Way.

Feeling the intense threat, the demon’s expression changed drastically:

“Damn, you’re not a Golden Core stage cultivator…”

Before it could finish, a sharp wave of sword energy shredded its body into pieces.

Even in pieces, the demon did not die; the fragments on the ground squirmed, attempting to merge back together.

Ji Yang did not intervene; he continued to watch.

As two fragments were about to fuse again, the remaining essence of the Way surged once more, directly forcing them apart and preventing any reunion.

Seeing this, Ji Yang nodded slightly and then tossed a white fireball infused with True Essence.

“Sizzle!”

After a series of cries and wails, only a few ashes remained on the ground.

Ji Yang’s primordial spirit swept the area, ensuring no traces were left before he resumed mining.

However, at this moment, Ji Yang also gained some understanding of this type of demon.

This demon had an extraordinarily resilient Vitality and possessed exquisite transformation skills, reaching a level of deception that could easily confuse others. Furthermore, it could rapidly absorb spiritual energy to elevate its own cultivation level.

Yet, based on the demon’s awakened realm, they were not capable of limitless ascent.

At this moment, even if this demon absorbed spiritual energy, it could only reach its limit, which was the initial late Void Refinement stage.

Ordinary attacks struggled to kill them, but the essence of the Way was not included in that limitation.

Although Ji Yang easily dealt with this demon at the late Void Refinement stage, the reason lay in the fact that the demon’s strength had not yet returned to its peak.

If an ordinary cultivator faced it without any special means, they might ultimately be devoured by the demon and become a part of its realm.

Yet, even so, it was clear that such demons were quite troublesome.

They did not fear common attacks, possessed strong Vitality, could absorb spiritual energy to rapidly enhance their strength, and had the ability to change their appearance.

No wonder most cultivators feared them as if they were tigers.

If the Cultivation World fell under their control, it would likely not be as prosperous as it is now.

But Ji Yang was not worried; since their last battle ended with the demon’s defeat, it meant that the cultivators held stronger power.

He was not the Sect Master, so these matters were not for him to fret over; he should focus on his mining instead.

Health +1

Agility +1

Spirit +1

…

The wind swept past in the bright daylight, and the years flew by.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, within the Demon Spirit Mine of the Heaven Demon Sect,

A disciple of the Heaven Demon Sect, holding an iron pick, looked radiant as he gazed at a striking piece of high-quality Demon Spirit Ore on the mine wall.

For some reason over the past few years, even though they were digging towards the center of the mountain, the quality of the Demon Spirit Ore did not improve, and high-quality Demon Spirit Ore became exceedingly rare.

Such ores consumed significant resources for a sect like the Heaven Demon Sect.

To enhance the ore quality, the sect had announced rewards; any disciple who mined high-quality Demon Spirit Ore would be granted a certain number of spiritual stones as a reward.

This led many disciples to actively come to the mine, increasing the mining pace.

Unfortunately, high-quality Demon Spirit Ore was still somewhat in short supply.

Now, having mined a piece of high-quality Demon Spirit Ore, he could receive a reward of two hundred spiritual stones, which brought him great joy.

The disciple scanned his surroundings, seeing that no one was paying attention to his mine, and immediately began to dig vigorously.

“Bang!”

After considerable effort, he finally pried down the high-quality Demon Spirit Ore.

Just as he bent down to pick up the ore that had fallen to the ground, he noticed a hollow space.

This space was just where he had dug out the Demon Spirit Ore.

At first, he glanced over and didn’t think much of it.

But then he suddenly froze, realizing that there shouldn’t be an empty space behind the ore. Shouldn’t there be other surrounding ores mixed in?

Coming back to his senses, he quickly looked again.

But inside was complete darkness; he couldn’t help but extend the iron pick into the hollow.

When he saw the tip of the pick go straight in, his eyes widened in surprise; it was indeed empty.

But upon further thought, in such a large mountain, having an empty space occasionally was understandable.

Perhaps there were even higher quality Demon Spirit Ore within?

Excited, the disciple quickly began to dig along the hollow.

“Boom!”

Moments later, as a crash echoed, the world beyond the hollow emerged into view.

But when this disciple saw the scene before him, he screamed in shock.

Before long, Steward Wu also arrived at the location.

Upon seeing the hollow interior of the mine, Steward Wu stood frozen in place.

It turned out that the unusual sound from five years ago was not an illusion! It was real!

Soon, Elder Guan, having heard the news, hurried over; it wasn’t long before an angry shout echoed in the mine:

“Who exactly did this?!”

As the news reached the Heaven Demon Sect, they quickly sent people to investigate the specific situation.

The final conclusion was that this mountain, which could have been mined for another fifty years, had now lost its potential and could only yield for another five years, and that was for collecting scraps.

At this moment, Elder Guan’s face darkened; with such an incident occurring in the mountain, the responsibility fell squarely on him.

Years ago he had come to inspect it but dismissed it since he found nothing unusual. Who would have thought that a moment of carelessness would result in such a huge loss today?