This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 70 Must Tribute Be Paid to Cross the River? The Fish Demon's End
Upon hearing this, Liu San'er on the shore also panicked.

I just found the rope, but haven't had a chance to throw it yet...

Suddenly, an unimaginable force violently pulled the rich young master out of the river!

Its entire body flew uncontrollably into the deep water.

Immediately afterward, before even falling into the water, a dark shadow surged rapidly upward from the bottom!
boom!
A golden fish nearly ten meters long, with a mouthful of fangs, took a bite right away!
Snap!
Its enormous body splashed up waves.

After a splash of crimson dissolved on the water's surface, everything gradually returned to calm...

At this moment, Liu San'er on the shore stared wide-eyed, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted to say something, but his empty eyes had lost all their light!

Immediately afterwards, he turned around instinctively, wanting to run.

But he found that his legs and feet were completely out of his control, trembling and powerless just like his hands...

"Young...Master, the fish demon...ate him..."

After finally uttering those few words, Liu San'er realized that he was probably doomed this time!

What just happened deeply shocked Liu San'er and dealt him a lifelong blow to his spirit...

Half an hour later, Liu San'er appeared in Longxu Village, covered in soot and dirt.

His whole body was covered in bruises.

I wonder how many times he fell down on that short stretch of road!
Finally, Liu San'er, who had arrived in the village, felt a little bit of safety.

His empty eyes turned fearful and uneasy!
"Fish demon!"
There's a fish demon in the Dragon Beard River! The fish demon is eating people!

Seeing Zhong Bai and the others walking towards him, Liu San'er felt as if he had seen a savior. He scrambled and crawled until he reached Zhong Bai and the others.

With a thud, Liu San'er knelt down.

"Dear Taoist masters, please save me!"

"There's a fish demon in the Dragon Beard River! My young master... he was swallowed by the fish demon! Blood! It's all blood!"

As he spoke, Liu San'er tried to hug Zhong Bai's leg, but Zhong Bai frowned upon seeing this.

Just as I was about to tell him to stop, the doors of the houses in the village, which had been tightly closed, opened one by one.

"That's... Liu San'er from Old Liu's family?"

The villagers were buzzing with discussion, and beside Zhong Bai, Master Qian Yuan roughly understood what had happened.

He then said in a deep voice, "Liu San'er, is that right?"

You said there's a fish demon in the Dragon Beard River ahead?

Don't be afraid, just let go.

"It's just a mere minor demon; since we're passing by, we'll simply take care of it while we're at it!"

Master Qian Yuan spoke very calmly. He had been to the Dragon Beard River thirty years ago, and there were no demons lurking there at that time.

Even if there were any now, they'd probably be nothing more than minor demons...

Upon hearing Qian Yuan Zhenren's words, Liu San'er, in a daze, released Zhong Bai's thigh.

"May I ask where you Taoist priests come from?"

Just then, an old man from the village slowly strolled over, leaning on his cane.

Master Qian Yuan did not underestimate him.

"We come from Maoshan!"

Upon hearing this, the old man blinked and then shook his head, clearly not believing it.

"Alright, no matter where you come from, what I have to say is that this Liu family kid must have really encountered a fish demon."

Six people have died in our village this month. They want to cross the river...sigh...

The fish demon could speak human language and only allowed fishing across the river after offering sacrifices of cattle and sheep.

I urge you all, if you want to cross the river, you'd better do as I say...

A few days ago, a Taoist priest claiming to be a disciple of Maoshan ignored warnings and drowned in the river.

Upon hearing this, Master Qian Yuan's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, not because of the fish demon, but because someone had impersonated a Maoshan disciple and disgraced Maoshan.

Fortunately, it was Maoshan who took the lead. If other Taoist sects heard about this, Maoshan would lose face big time.

"They demanded cattle and sheep as tribute from us..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is the first time I've ever seen something like this in my hundred years of cultivation. I really want to see what kind of fish demon this Dragon Beard River is all about!"

After saying that, Master Qian Yuan ignored the villagers, who were acting out of kindness.

Without stopping, we headed straight for the Longxu River.

As Maoshan passed through the village, Longhushan soon arrived as well.

The old man's same rhetoric left Zhang Qingyun speechless, wanting to laugh yet also feeling a pang of sadness...

More and more Taoist and Buddhist masters and disciples gathered in front of the Longxu River.

Longxu Village has boats, though they are not large, they can still ferry dozens of people across the river at a time.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Brother Qian Yuan, I heard that the fish demons in the Dragon Beard River demand tribute before allowing people to cross the river. What do you think about what will happen later..."

Seeing Zhang Qingyun Zhenren approaching, Qian Yuan Zhenren felt utterly helpless.

Beside him, Zhong Bai stared intently at the river in front of him; if one were to smell it, one could detect a faint stench of blood in the air.

"Master, may I go and meet this little demon in the river?"

Zhong Bai's request made Master Qian Yuan somewhat conflicted, but after considering Zhong Bai's strength at the seventh level of Qi Refining, he simply let it go.

"In that case, you go and kill this fish demon first!"

Zhong Bai's face lit up with joy; this was a demon-slaying spot!

Moreover, it can clearly tell everyone that Maoshan does not have such useless people who die in the river.

With permission granted, Zhong Bai transformed into a bolt of lightning and arrived at a small boat, his true essence concealed within him, making him appear like an ordinary fisherman.

With one foot pushing off the shore, he shot into the deep water like an arrow. In just a few minutes, the water in front of Zhong Bai churned violently, and a huge golden fish head emerged from the surface, causing Zhong Bai's restrained true energy to become restless.

"You want to cross the river even without offerings?"

"Then I'll use you as a treat for myself!"

Speaking human language and refining the horizontal bone clearly indicate that this is the late stage of the demon soldier realm.

As the fish demon leaped out, its massive body soared into the air, intending to smash the small boat Zhong Bai was standing on, along with him, into the river.

However... this time the fish demon miscalculated.

In just a moment, endless lightning gathered in Zhong Bai's palm.

A series of thunderclaps resounded, and the fish demon in the air could only watch helplessly as the lightning struck its own abdomen.

With a deafening roar, lightning enveloped its body. As the scales on its abdomen shattered, the lightning surged into its body and began to wreak havoc.

A heart-wrenching scream easily reached the ears of the people on the shore, even though it was hundreds of meters away.

Seeing this, Master Qian Yuan could hardly suppress the smile on his lips.

Yes, this is his disciple!
"Impressive, impressive! Brother Qian Yuan, I never expected that Junior Nephew Qianhe was actually cultivating the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique. No wonder he is so terrifying at such a young age!"

Master Zhang Qingyun, standing to the side, sighed with emotion.

If he initially thought Zhong Bai was just a higher level of cultivation, now he truly acknowledges Zhong Bai's talent.

The masters and disciples from other sects all gazed at the battle unfolding on the river.

Each of them had their own thoughts, but they all shared one thing in common: they all felt that Zhong Bai's thunder magic was somewhat terrifying!
The observation from the riverbank could not affect the battle in the river. When Zhong Bai's lightning pierced the fish demon's abdomen, the fish demon's fate was already sealed.

First came the thunder, then Zhong Bai's aura of blood and qi emanating from his body. A punch weighing ten thousand jin slammed heavily into the wound that had just been shattered by the thunder, and the punch sank into its abdomen. Zhong Bai's positioning was very accurate, aiming straight for its heart.

As his internal organs shattered instantly, the fish demon spat out a blast of frost at Zhong Bai in a fit of rage.

"With qi and blood forming a protective aura, how can mere cold air possibly work?"

Zhong Bai was not afraid. As the cold air enveloped him, it also fell into the river. The originally flowing river water began to freeze rapidly around the small boat.

The moment the ice formed, the immense downward pressure from the fish demon caused the ship to shatter, along with the newly formed ice, into pieces.

Zhong Bai fell into the water...

[Slay a late-stage demon fish demon and gain 800 Demon Extermination Points]

Current Demon Extermination Points: 800

From the perspective of the shore, Zhong Bai was struck by lightning and then smashed into the river by the fish demon.

Only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and Buddhist masters, using their divine senses, could discern that the fish demon was powerless to resist.

Sure enough, after falling into the river, the fish demon, which had been sinking to the bottom, felt its life rapidly slipping away.

As the crimson blood stained the river surface, the fish demon's body quickly surfaced.

Although Zhong Bai was soaked, he remained calm and composed. He held the demon core he had just taken out in one hand, then stomped hard on the fish demon's body. Using the momentum, his body transformed into a bolt of lightning and suddenly returned to the shore.

At this time, a perfect-level lightning escape technique would be especially suitable for Zhong Bai.

Upon arriving before Master Qian Yuan, Zhong Bai ignored the still-dripping water droplets and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

He said in a deep voice, "Reporting to Master, this disciple has punished the fish demon and has come to report back!"

"Hahaha, okay!

"Disciple, go and rest for a while. It's just a little fish demon. We'll continue our journey after a short rest!"

"Disciple, please obey your master's orders!"

Zhong Bai quickly arrived among the Maoshan disciples. As his blood and qi surged out, his soaked clothes began to dry rapidly.

Before half an incense stick had burned out, Zhong Bai was as if he had never been in the water.

Playing with the demon core in his hand, Zhang Zhiwei of Longhu Mountain came to Zhong Bai's side when he boarded the ferry.

"Fellow Daoist Qianhe, you have truly remarkable skills. You have so easily killed a late-stage demon soldier fish demon that could speak human language."

Alas, I wonder when I will be able to live as carefree and at ease as you, fellow Daoist…

The envy in Zhang Zhiwei's eyes at this moment was genuine; he truly envied Zhong Bai's terrifying cultivation speed.

Zhang Qingyun just told him that Zhong Bai is now at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Heaven knows that Zhang Zhiwei's Dao heart almost collapsed when he heard this news.

How long has it been since they parted?

Zhang Zhiwei could not understand, nor could she comprehend.

In response, Zhong Bai maintained his usual smile and said, "Why should Fellow Daoist Zhang worry about these things?"

Just now, it was only because that fish demon underestimated me, thinking that I was just a mortal fisherman, that it leaped over and gave me the opportunity.

"If it doesn't give me the chance, even I, this humble Taoist, dare not guarantee that I could kill it in the Dragon Beard River."

That's true. If this fish demon keeps avoiding battle and hiding in the deep water, Zhong Bai really won't be able to do anything about it.

Fortunately, Zhong Bai was lucky.

Having said that, Zhang Zhiwei seemed to understand, but he roughly realized where the difference lay between himself and Zhong Bai: luck!
Yes, that was the only reason he could find to comfort himself...

Playing with the demon core in his hand, Zhong Bai returned it to his Qiankun Ring as the ferry reached the other side.

That fish demon was just an appetizer; what's coming next is the most terrifying!

Beimang Mountain!
Although they didn't know the exact strength of the Corpse Refining Demon Heaven Sect, the fact that the sect possessed hundreds of jumping zombies and a silver-armored zombie king in just one Ghost Wolf Mountain stronghold suggested that their mission would not be easy to annihilate.

"Although this journey is not easy, it is a good opportunity to obtain a large number of demon-slaying points."

As the saying goes, risk and reward go hand in hand, so it's worth a try!

Zhong Bai mentally encouraged himself.

After leaving the Longxu River, the group arrived at the foot of the Beiman Mountains in just one day.

Please vote for me! Please subscribe!!! Waaaaah, 13,000 words in four chapters! Please, kind readers, have pity on this poor kid!
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(End of this chapter)