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

Zhou Yuan did not rush to investigate the anomaly underground.

He first summoned a silver flying sword and carefully cut up the corpse of the Crimson Feather Beast.

Those broad red wings, sharp, iron-like claws, and a hard beak.

He also took everything from the feathers and bones that contained pure fire-attribute spiritual power... He didn't let any valuable parts go untouched.

The carcass of the giant bird, whose wingspan was over ten zhang, was dismembered by him, leaving only a pile of useless remains.

After doing all this, he used the Earth Escape Technique, and his body slowly sank into the ground.

……

Dozens of feet underground.

Zhou Yuan located the area where the landslide had just occurred.

It was a passage blocked by rubble, about ten feet wide, deep and unknown, leading nowhere.

On part of the stone wall of the passage, faint traces of runes can still be seen—remnants left by the restriction.

"There are remnants of protective barriers... Could this be the ruins of some ancient cultivator?"

Zhou Yuan's heart stirred.

He carefully examined the remnants of the restrictions and found that although they looked extraordinary, they were too old, and the erosion of time had caused them to lose most of their power.

Otherwise, given the exquisite nature of this restriction, it would not have collapsed simply from the fall of an eighth-level demonic beast.

Zhou Yuan did not delay any longer and began to break the restrictions.

He made hand seals and cast spells, precisely striking the key points of the restriction with his magical power.

The remaining restrictions were like withered branches before him, peeled away and broken layer by layer.

Two hours later—

"Boom—"

The last barrier shattered, and a heavy stone door slowly opened.

……

Behind the stone gate was an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling.

It was covered in dust and the air was murky, clearly indicating that no one had been there for many years.

Zhou Yuan scanned the cave with his divine sense and found that it was quite large, with multiple functional areas such as a main hall, a quiet room, and a pill-making room.

Strangely, no human remains or artifacts were found.

He searched the cave carefully and finally found an animal skeleton in a spacious side hall.

The skeleton was silvery, emitting a faint silver glow even in the dim cave.

The skeleton is not completely preserved, but its outline is clearly visible.

It was the skeleton of a winged demon beast, because Zhou Yuan saw the pair of wing bones that were several feet wide when spread out.

Zhou Yuan approached, squatted down, and examined it carefully.

His divine sense probed in.

Some discoveries were made: the wing bones actually contained astonishing lightning power!

"The power of lightning..."

Zhou Yuan wondered to himself, "Could this be the remains of a Lei Peng?"

Lei Peng, a spirit bird of heaven and earth, has a flight speed that ranks among the top ten of all high-level spirit birds!

When he spreads his wings and uses Lightning Release, it's almost like lightning and fire, incredibly fast!

If these really are the bone wings of the Thunder Roc, then they will be extremely useful!

If it is refined into a magical artifact of the spirit wing type, his escape speed will be extremely terrifying in the future!

A glint flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes as he carefully put the silver skeleton into his storage bag.

……

However, at this very moment—

Two hundred miles away in the sky, a crimson light was rapidly flying away.

That was the essence of the Crimson Feather Beast, carrying its fist-sized crimson demon core, and it was turning back towards this deserted island.

It is unwilling to accept this.

Its physical body remains on that island; it wants to go back and retrieve it.

I still want to seek revenge on that human!

Behind it followed a streak of blue light.

Within that light was a colossal creature!

The giant beast was over ten zhang in size, with the upper body of a bird and the lower body of a fish, making it extremely strange in appearance.

It has wings that are about ten feet wide and two pairs of extremely sharp claws. Its belly is covered with fish-scale-like scales that are about an inch in size, shimmering with a blue light and exuding a terrifying demonic aura.

This is also an eighth-level transformed demon!

"Brother Feng, my physical body is right ahead! The human cultivator who killed me must still be nearby!"

The Crimson Feather Beast's spirit transmitted its voice to the giant beast, its voice filled with hatred.

"Don't worry, Brother Chi," the giant beast spoke in a deep voice, "I, Feng hope, will definitely avenge you!"

It paused, then changed the subject: "But I can't just help you get revenge for nothing, can I?"

The Crimson Feather Beast's spirit trembled, sensing an impending doom.

"I know..." it said through gritted teeth, suppressing its unease. "If Brother Feng ever needs any orders, I, Chi, will gladly die for you!"

"hehe."

The giant beast let out a soft laugh.

"I've recently been thinking of brewing a pot of Azure Flame Wine, but I'm missing one key ingredient."

The Crimson Feather Beast's spirit was instantly terrified!

Azure Flame Wine—of course it had heard of this legendary spirit wine!

The brewing of this wine requires a demon core of the Transformation stage as the main ingredient!

"Brother Feng, we are both from the Feathered Clan—!"

It screamed in terror and desperately tried to activate its demon core to escape.

however--

The giant beast flapped its wings suddenly, covering a distance of over a thousand feet in an instant!

A sharp, giant claw reached out and precisely seized the crimson demon core!

"rest assured."

The giant beast gripped the demon core tightly, its voice tinged with mockery.

"I've taken your demon core, and I'll naturally avenge you."

"I've taken your demon core, and I'll naturally avenge you."

It laughed loudly, flapped its wings again, and instantly covered a thousand feet, continuing to fly towards the deserted island.

……

Not long after, Zhou Yuan, who was in the ancient cultivator's ruins, also sensed the abnormality in the outside world.

Although he was dozens of feet underground, and the cave's restrictions limited his divine sense to some extent, his terrifying divine sense, far surpassing that of the late-stage Nascent Soul realm, still allowed him to clearly perceive the situation dozens of miles away.

"Another level eight demon cultivator has arrived?"

Zhou Yuan frowned.

Without further delay, he used the Earth Escape Technique again to quickly return to the ground.

……

On the deserted island, beside the remains of the Crimson Feather Beast.

The beast stood with its head held high, its blood-red eyes fixed on the sky.

In the sky, the azure light was getting closer and closer, and a powerful demonic aura descended like dark clouds.

Zhou Yuan emerged from underground and landed beside the beast-like creature.

He looked up and saw the giant beast circle in the sky once, then flash with a blue light and transform into human form.

The demon cultivator wore a long blue robe, and his head was still that of a bird. His eyes were small and green, and he had a pointed, horny nose. The rest of his body was just like a human's.

He hovered in mid-air, looking down at Zhou Yuan and the beast demon.

His gaze lingered on the beast-like creature for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"A beast demon? This corpse aura is so dense, does such a legendary creature actually exist?"

The demon cultivator muttered to himself.

His gaze then turned to Zhou Yuan.

"Human, was it you who killed Akabane?"

His voice was hoarse and low, carrying a scrutinizing tone.

"Um."

Zhou Yuan nodded, his expression calm.

He looked at the demon cultivator and said calmly, "What, do you want to avenge him?"