White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 19: Robbery
The edge of the dark, abyss-like pit is a stone wall that has been worn smooth, with bloodstains etched into the stone that cannot be concealed even after years of wear.

The terrifying giant python coiled on the stone wall, its hard scales rubbing against the stone surface. The snake's body was at least tens of feet long, and the pair of pale yellow vertical pupils on its head stared at the lightning and thunder in the sky, occasionally flicking out its tongue as thick as a human body.

The crow lay dormant in the deep pit. In its hundred years of life, it had never seen such a vast thunder. It knew that today was its tribulation of transformation, an opportunity that it had only obtained after a hundred years of arduous cultivation.

Once it survives this tribulation and transforms into a human, it will become a great demon in Yunze Mountain, occupying more territory, having more food, and living a longer life.

Thinking of this, it couldn't help but raise its head to look at the sky with ambition in its snake eyes, and its fear of thunder weakened a bit.

……

Not far away, in Blackwater Village, the water of the sacred lake in the eyes of the villagers surged, and a giant river turtle awoke from the bottom of the lake. Its shell was covered with moss, giving the turtle a bluish-black color.

It gazed at the distant gathering of dark clouds and thunder, and spoke in human language: "Another demon is about to undergo tribulation and transform into human form."

I just don't know if it will work this time. More than twenty years have passed since I fell asleep; has anything new happened in the mountains?

On the bank beside the giant tortoise sat a little boy with braids, who replied with a grin: "Old Master, you slept for quite a while. A few years ago, news came from the Tiger King Mountain Lord in the north that his cultivation had advanced to a higher level. Some of the lesser demons from Tiger King Village boasted that they would unify Yunze Mountain. But there has been no movement yet."

Besides that, nine years ago, a group of ordinary people from the foot of the mountain built a stronghold on Yunze Mountain called Black Stone Stronghold. A little over a month ago, they found a spirit from somewhere and made it the village god.

Oh, by the way, a village on the other side of the mountain was massacred. I wonder if it's related to the village god of Black Stone Village. I heard it alarmed the imperial court down the mountain, and the official rumor is that it's a rabies plague. I wonder if any demon hunters will come.

"Hmm... things are getting more and more chaotic down here." The giant tortoise's aged voice carried a calm smile, its expression unaffected by these events. It simply said, "Let's see if this long snake has a chance of survival. It dares to use the character 'dragon' to guard the village, so it must be harboring the dream of transforming into a dragon."

If it can survive today's tribulation and cultivate for another four hundred years, it might truly one day become a dragon!

……

Nestled in a verdant valley is a village, and behind the village stands a towering, ancient pine tree, a hundred feet tall and as large as a small mountain. Its umbrella-like canopy of pine needles covers an area of ​​several hundred feet in radius. This tree is the sacred tree of Ancient Pine Village and the ancestral tree in the hearts of the villagers.

Among the branches and leaves of the ancient pine, there are many bouncy and lively plant spirits, jumping and making noise on the ancient pine like little children.

"Grandpa, that giant snake is about to undergo its tribulation!"

"Grandpa, will that wicked snake come back to cause trouble for us after it survives its tribulation?"

"Grandpa, should we prevent it from successfully passing the tribulation?"

……

A human face appeared on the trunk of the ancient pine tree and scolded, "Stop making so much noise, you're going to deafen us."

"Living beings cultivate, defying fate and seizing life. Since they suffer heavenly tribulations, they cannot simultaneously endure human tribulations. Besides, this snake demon's transformation is actually quite beneficial to me. What do you little brats know?"

……

On Skull Mountain, a giant gray eagle folded its wings and landed on the mountaintop. Cang Shen called out from afar, "Brother Wu Xiang, I have come to pay my respects!" Bai Wu Xiang was surprised, but still left his cave and came to the barren mountain. He asked with a smile, "Why has Cang Shen come to my cave?"

"Hehe, Brother Wuxiang, I have come here today for something that would benefit both of us." Cang Shen's tone was unusually calm as he pointed to the lightning and said, "Black Stone Village and Black Dragon Village have a long-standing feud, and I also have a deep grudge against that old black snake. Whether it succeeds in its tribulation today or not, it will be severely injured and at its weakest."

If the two of us join forces, we might be able to wipe out this Black Dragon Stronghold in one fell swoop, eliminating this great threat to our hearts. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Upon hearing this, Bai Wuxiang did not immediately respond, but shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult. That black python demon is full of blood and energy and has a strong soul. Even if this tribulation will most likely end in failure, my bewitching technique will be of little use."

"Oh? How did you determine that this demon would fail, Brother Wuxiang?" Cang Shen asked curiously.

"Hehe, perhaps it's just my intuition."

Bai Wuxiang smiled and looked towards the northwest, where a fierce aura soared into the sky, and human corpses and flesh turned into bloody light. In his eyes, which could see all kinds of auras, this black python demon had consumed too much human essence and flesh, and had already acquired evil power. It would most likely not be able to survive this tribulation of lightning.

"If we miss this opportunity, I'm afraid we'll never have such a good chance again!" Cang Shen said, still unwilling to give up.

"Hehe, it's not necessarily a bad thing to give it a try." Bai Wuxiang said, "However, Brother Cang, you'll need to take the lead, and I'll assist you from the side. If the two of us join forces, we still have a good chance of defeating that black python!"

"This..." Cang Shen pondered for a moment and replied, "Then I need the demon's corpse, flesh, and snake gall afterward. I also need half of the blood offerings from the village."

“No problem, I only need their remains!” Bai Wuxiang replied with a smile.

Bai Wuxiang had never had a good impression of his neighbor, Wulongzhai. In fact, the deaths of the Bai family were partly due to the actions of Wulongzhai, since Xiaoqu Village was their stronghold.

Furthermore, the two villages are too close to each other, and they are in competition for both water resources and living space. Sooner or later, a major conflict will break out. Since that's the case, why not take this opportunity to resolve this problem in advance?

He would never allow Bai Wuxiang to fight alone. After all, the opponent was an ancient demon who had been around for hundreds of years, while he was just a spirit who had cultivated for a few years. Even with the Vengeful Spirit Pearl, the amount of resentment and demonic power that would be consumed in a fight would be enormous, and there was no guarantee that he would win.

However, if we add the eagle demon Cang, the two are natural enemies, and the black snake demon is also greatly weakened after undergoing its tribulation, then it still has a good chance of winning.

Even if it fails, it can still severely injure the snake demon, allowing it to recuperate for twenty or thirty years, thus bringing a period of peace to oneself.

Moreover, Wulong Village has existed for over a hundred years, and there must be quite a few corpses there. If they could all be moved to Skull Mountain, it would be very beneficial for enhancing one's own cave dwelling.

Most importantly, with the Azure God leading the charge, he naturally had nothing to fear.

"Boom~"

Thunder rumbled, and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the sinister, smiling faces of Bai Wuxiang and Cang Shen. The lightning finally struck, hitting the giant crater in Wulong Village.

　I'll update again around 10 PM.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)