I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

Zhou Yuan carefully put the genuine piece of Brahma into his storage bag, his mind churning with thoughts.

"In the future, I will try to obtain the Heaven-Supporting Demon Art cultivated by the Barbarian Beard, as well as the Great Jin's body-refining technique, the Bright King Technique... and with this Brahma Saint Art, the three will be combined to form the Brahma Saint True Demon Art..."

He murmured to himself, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

That was the future he had planned for himself.

Now, he needs to do what's in front of him first: stay in this sea area for five years and hunt down enough monsters.

Then I went back to Biling Island to try and break through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

……

Three months later.

Zhou Yuan arrived above an island that was four hundred miles in circumference.

The island is covered with lush vegetation, and a towering volcano stands in the center, its summit often shrouded in smoke.

Looking into the distance, many red flying beasts circled in the sky above the island, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds, ranging from level four to level six, drawing red trails in the sky.

As soon as Zhou Yuan flew to the island's shore, he sensed the powerful demonic energy emanating from the island's center—

The aura of an eighth-level demonic beast!

A smile played at the corners of his lips.

Finally, he encountered another powerful demon in human form. An eighth-level demon core would be enough to save him some time when he was trying to break through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

He stopped hiding and rushed straight onto the island.

……

The crater of the island's highest peak.

Hundreds of red birds were circling above the crater when they suddenly sensed a terrifying human presence approaching. They panicked and let out sharp cries.

Deep within the crater, a red figure soared into the sky!

The figure hovered in mid-air, facing off against Zhou Yuan from afar.

It was the image of a middle-aged man in red, with a burly build, fiery red hair, fine red down on his face, a nose that protruded like a bird's beak, and a pair of large red wings that fluttered slowly behind him, surrounded by a blazing demonic aura.

This is a level eight transformed demon.

Red Feather Beast.

Although it has taken human form, it still retains many characteristics of a demon beast.

Clearly, this is only the first stage of transformation; it's still a long way from completely shedding its demonic form.

"Human, how dare you trespass on my territory!"

The crimson-feathered beast spoke in a sharp, piercing voice, its vertical pupils coldly fixed on Zhou Yuan.

"Leave immediately, and I will forgive and forget. Otherwise—"

"hehe."

Zhou Yuan chuckled, interrupting him.

"I've come here to borrow your demon core."

The Crimson Feather Beast's pupils constricted sharply, then it flew into a rage!

"court death!"

With a flap of its wings, it was about to pounce.

However, Zhou Yuan was even faster.

He formed hand seals, and his magical power surged within him!

Thousand Swords Technique!

Two breaths later—

Tens of thousands of golden sword lights suddenly appeared in the sky!

Each of those sword lights was about ten feet long, golden and incomparably sharp, densely covering the sky for hundreds or even thousands of feet in radius, blotting out the sun, a truly magnificent sight!

The crimson-feathered beast looked up and its pupils shrank dramatically!

But it was, after all, a level eight transformed demon. Though startled, it remained calm. Its arms instantly transformed into two sharp, crimson claws, and with a flap of its wings, it charged toward Zhou Yuan!

It wanted to rely on its speed and the strength of its demonic body to get close to Zhou Yuan, and then unexpectedly kill him with a single claw!

"go!"

Zhou Yuan raised his hand and pointed downwards.

Ten thousand golden swords poured down like a torrential rain!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

The sword light roared, covering the sky and the earth!

The Crimson Feather Beast roared, its body surging with red light, and charged straight at the rain of swords!

The golden swords struck its body, producing a clanging sound of metal clashing, and sparks flew everywhere!

Its red feathers were as hard as iron, and they actually withstood most of the attacks!

However, the speed was still slightly affected.

However, the lower-ranking birds behind it were not so lucky.

Those level four or five red birds were like paper in front of Jin Jianyu.

Where the sword flashed, blood splattered! Birds were pierced by the golden sword, letting out mournful cries as they fell from the sky!

Some were pierced through the head by a single sword and died on the spot; some had their wings cut off and spun into the sea; some were struck by several golden swords at the same time and exploded into blood mist in mid-air!

In an instant, mournful cries echoed across the sky, and red feathers and blood rained down, staining the sea below a dark red!

"Kill my people—you're asking for death!"

Seeing its clan slaughtered, the Crimson Feather Beast's eyes instantly turned blood red, and it was enraged to the extreme!

It flapped its wings wildly, forcefully passing through the rain of golden swords, and pounced towards Zhou Yuan!

However, the next moment, it was shocking.

Because Zhou Yuan on the other side made a hand seal again.

Ten thousand golden swords hung in the sky once more!

It covered an area of ​​hundreds of square feet, nearly a thousand feet in diameter!

"Let's see how many more times you can unleash such a powerful spell!"

The Crimson Feather Beast gritted its teeth and roared, its body surging with red light, and once again forcefully passed through the group of golden swords!

Although its scales were sturdy, it was still damaged by two consecutive attacks from the Thousand Swords Technique, leaving countless fine wounds on its body, from which red blood seeped.

But it was, after all, a level eight transformed demon, and this level of injury was not enough to make it retreat.

However, Zhou Yuan had no intention of engaging it in close combat.

He retreated rapidly, simultaneously patting the spirit beast pouch at his waist—

A massive black shadow roared out!

A beast-like creature has appeared!

The enormous tiger-shaped demonic beast hovered in mid-air, its body emanating a dense aura of death, its blood-red eyes coldly fixed on the Crimson Feather Beast. The blood-red crack on its forehead was slightly open, as if it might open at any moment.

When the Crimson Feather Beast saw the Beast Demon, a hint of fear flashed in its eyes.

It could sense that the monster emanated an aura that instinctively made it feel dangerous.

Without further hesitation, it abruptly transformed into its true form—

A giant bird, several dozen feet long, appeared in the sky!

The giant bird was entirely crimson, its feathers burning like flames, and its pair of golden vertical pupils stared coldly at Zhou Yuan.

It opened its enormous beak, and a terrifying demonic power gathered within its mouth.

"puff!"

A mouthful of molten, crimson liquid spewed from its mouth, transforming into a thick pillar of fire that shot straight toward Zhou Yuan!

The pillar of fire was extremely hot, and wherever it passed, the air was distorted and deformed, as if even space itself was about to melt!

"To refine demonic fire to this level, it's truly remarkable."

Zhou Yuan made a comment, then retreated rapidly, creating a distance of several hundred feet between himself and the Crimson Feather Beast.

He didn't take action himself, but watched from a distance.

The beast-like creature lunged forward, its massive body glowing with a layer of gray light, blocking the lava pillar!

"laugh--!"

The molten metal collided with the ash, producing a piercing corrosive sound!

That liquid fire was truly formidable.

The beast's protective shield lasted for less than three breaths before it was melted through!

The crimson liquid fire was poured directly onto the beast-like creature!

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The beast's body was burned by the liquid fire, its skin and flesh were torn apart, large pieces of flesh were melted away, revealing its white bones!

The scene was shocking!

However, the next moment——

The burned flesh and blood were regrowing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

New skin and new scales, and it was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye!

"An indestructible body?!"

Red Feather Beast was shocked!

It never expected that this monster would possess the legendary immortal body!

This level of injury is nothing to it!

In that moment of shock—

The blood-red crack on the beast's forehead suddenly opened!

A gray beam of light shot out at an astonishing speed!

The Crimson Feather Beast tried its best to dodge, but the gray beam of light was just too fast—oh dear.

Although it avoided vital areas, it was still grazed at the junction of its left leg and abdomen!

"ah--!"

The Crimson Feather Beast let out a piercing scream!

That gray light contained a terrifying, deathly power; the moment it came into contact with the light, its life force began to drain away at a visible speed!

The once bright red and powerful claws instantly turned grayish-white and withered, like dead wood!

When the Extreme Yin Ancestor was struck by this light of annihilation, he was forced to have his nascent soul leave his body!

Although the monster's body was strong and it could withstand the attack for a while, the injury continued to spread!

Fear flashed in the Crimson Feather Beast's eyes.

"You wait! Human!"

"This sea is the domain of our demon race. Your fate will be terrible!"

It uttered a harsh threat, flapped its wings wildly, transformed into a streak of red light, and fled frantically into the distance!

Its speed was indeed astonishing; it flew thousands of feet away in no time!

Zhou Yuan watched the red dot of light recede into the distance, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

Previously, he thought it best to keep some trump cards up while venturing out into the open sea, in case he encountered a level nine transformed demon.

Therefore, he kept the Twelve Divine Thorns of the Court unused when dealing with the Crimson Feather Beast.

The distance is too great now; the Twelve Assassins of the Divine Court simply cannot reach them.

"We can't let you fly away once you've got your cake and cooked it..."

Zhou Yuan locked his divine sense onto the Crimson Feather Beast.

"Master, that fellow has been struck by my Deathly Light; he won't get far."

The beast suddenly spoke up: "Moreover, I can sense its location with pinpoint accuracy."

"In that case, lead the way..."

Zhou Yuan nodded. In fact, with his divine sense, as long as the Crimson Feather Beast didn't escape more than three hundred miles away, it wouldn't be able to shake off his pursuit.

……

The beast Xiao led the way, with Zhou Yuan following closely behind.

Three hours later.

The fleeing Crimson Feather Beast slowed down more and more, and its flight path began to become erratic.

The power of death spread within it, constantly devouring its life force.

It desperately tried to suppress the disease with its demonic power, but could only delay it, not eradicate it.

finally--

It could no longer hold on.

A crimson light flew out from its body; that was its essence.

At this moment, the essence, carrying the fist-sized crimson demon core, flew away into the distance!

The Crimson Feather Beast's enormous body, having lost the support of its essence, glided through the air like a kite with a broken string for a distance before crashing down towards a deserted island hundreds of miles in size.

"Bang--!"

With a loud crash, the carcass of the giant bird, which was over ten feet long, slammed into a pile of rubble on the deserted island, kicking up clouds of dust.

……

Half an hour later.

Zhou Yuan and the beast Xiao arrived above the deserted island.

"He's dead."

Zhou Yuan hovered in mid-air, looking at the huge corpse in the pile of rubble below, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

He landed beside the corpse of the Crimson Feather Beast.

This level eight transformed demon died just like that.

However, at that moment, his divine sense suddenly detected something unusual—

Deep underground where the beast's corpse fell, something seemed to be moving.

It sounded like a landslide.