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

As a combination of a corpse and a demon beast, the Beast Demon possesses an indestructible body.

Not only does it possess formidable melee combat abilities, it can also unleash a lifeless, deathly light.

Its combat power far exceeds that of an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The Gale Beast is incredibly fast and its attacks are fierce.

The two joined forces and managed to suppress Lan Mei, who was in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, in a short period of time.

This left her struggling and in grave danger, forcing her to focus entirely on defense and leaving her no time to think about anything else.

Zhou Yuan ignored Lan Mei and focused his attention on Lan Du, who was charging towards him head-on.

"Boy, prepare to die!"

Seeing his sister entangled, Blue Poison roared and increased his speed, throwing a punch that solidified into a deep blue poison gas with a pungent stench.

Zhou Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but his mind raced.

The Great Geng Sword Formation!

Thirty-six Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords shot out once more, instantly splitting into hundreds of golden sword lights that formed a sword curtain in front of them.

"Clang clang clang—!"

Blue fist energy slammed into the sword curtain.

The sharpness of the Gengjin sword energy steadily restrained the corrosive power of the poisonous aura.

Blue Poison was slightly startled.

The opponent's sword formation is clearly extraordinary.

"Let's see how many hits you can take!"

Blue Poison unleashed its ferocity.

His fists lashed out like a storm, unleashing a continuous barrage of blue poisonous energy upon the sword formation.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out several beams of dark light, which turned out to be three strange flying shuttles that were completely black and covered with barbs. They emitted a nauseatingly sweet and pungent smell and attacked Zhou Yuan from tricky angles like venomous snakes. They were obviously poisonous.

Zhou Yuan's sword technique changed, and hundreds of sword lights seemed to come alive, splitting and combining to attack. Sometimes they condensed into a sword shield to block the fist energy, and sometimes they dispersed to kill flying shuttles.

Sword light clashed fiercely with poisonous energy and flying shuttles, sparks flew and poisonous gas filled the air.

However, Blue Poison quickly realized something was wrong. His poisonous aura was far less effective at corroding the golden sword light than he had expected!

His three poisoned shuttles, however, had already lost their luster and were damaged under the onslaught of the sword light.

"Damn it! What kind of flying sword is that?!"

Blue Poison was both shocked and furious. His famous poison skills and poison treasures were now much less effective!

"Is that all you've got?" Zhou Yuan's voice was icy. Seizing the moment when the other's mind was slightly distracted due to the poisoned shuttle, his sword technique suddenly changed!

Hundreds of sword lights suddenly converged, transforming into a huge, dazzling golden sword rainbow that stretched across the sky, carrying a sharp aura that could cut through everything, and slashed down at Blue Poison!

This sword strike contained the sharpness of thirty-six Gengjin flying swords and the killing intent of the Great Geng Sword Formation, making it far more powerful than the previous scattered attacks!

Blue Poison's expression changed drastically. Sensing the terror of this sword strike, he dared not take it head-on. He retreated hastily while simultaneously slashing his chest with both palms.

A thick, dark blue poisonous mist surged out, condensing in front of him into an incredibly heavy blue shield covered in strange runes!

"boom--!!!"

The golden sword rainbow slashed fiercely at the Shield of Ten Thousand Poisons!

The poison shield trembled violently, its surface runes flashing wildly, emitting a piercing "sizzling" sound, as it was rapidly worn down and eroded by the sharp, metallic energy contained within the sword rainbow!

The stalemate lasted for less than two breaths—

"Snap!"

The Shield of Ten Thousand Poisons shattered with a deafening roar!

Although the golden sword rainbow had dimmed considerably, its momentum remained undiminished, still slashing towards Blue Poison's chest!

Blue Poison let out a strange cry, and a layer of fine blue scales suddenly appeared on its body. It crossed its arms to block and desperately turned to the side.

"puff!"

Blood splattered!

The blue scales shattered, and his arms were slashed open with deep wounds that exposed the bone. His chest was also cut open by the aftershocks of the sword energy.

"ah--!"

Blue Poison let out a painful groan, and fear finally showed in its eyes.

The power of this sword formation far exceeded his expectations! This young man is definitely not an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator!

Moreover, it seems the opponent hasn't gone all out yet!

He began to consider retiring.

My sister is entangled by two transformed spirit beasts and can't break free for the time being. I'm also seriously injured. If we continue fighting, I'm afraid my chances of survival will be slim.

"Trying to leave?" Zhou Yuan could easily see through his intentions, and his eyes flashed with a sharp look.

He no longer simply used sword formations. He raised his left hand, spread his five fingers, and in his palm, a ball of lightning the size of an egg, pure and crackling with pale golden arcs, condensed out of thin air.

It is indeed the Divine Thunder that wards off evil!

"go!"

Zhou Yuan flicked his finger, and the pale golden lightning ball transformed into a thin bolt of lightning, shooting towards Blue Poison, who was retreating, at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Blue Poison was already injured and in a state of panic.

Caught off guard by the sudden lightning attack, he only had time to activate the blue mist to protect himself again.

However, the tiny, pale golden arc of electricity, upon contact with the deep blue poisonous mist on his body, reacted like a scalding knife cutting into butter, producing a sizzling sound. The poisonous mist was purified and dissipated at an astonishing speed!

The electric arc's potential remains undiminished.

It pierced through the thin poisonous mist in an instant and struck the wound on Blue Poison's chest!

"ah--!!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the sky!

The Divine Thunder that Wards Off Evil is extremely yang and powerful, and is specifically designed to overcome all evil spirits and demonic energy.

The pain was indescribable, a hundred times worse than all the injuries he had suffered before combined!

The poison gas around him surged and dissipated violently, his aura plummeted instantly, and he seemed as if his bones had been removed. Go down.

"A...a warding-off-evil divine thunder?!"

"You...how could you have...?"

Take advantage of his illness and kill him!

A cold light flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes, and the vast power of his divine sense in his sea of ​​consciousness erupted!

The poison gas around him surged and dissipated violently, his aura plummeted instantly, and he seemed as if his bones had been removed. Go down.

"A...a warding-off-evil divine thunder?!"

"You...how could you have...?"

Take advantage of his illness and kill him!

A cold light flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes, and the vast power of his divine sense in his sea of ​​consciousness erupted!

"The Twelve Stabs of the Divine Court!"

Twelve invisible and intangible yet extremely sharp and concentrated divine sense spikes silently and instantly traversed space.

Then it pierced fiercely into Lan Du's sea of ​​consciousness, whose defenses had been greatly weakened due to the intense pain and the erosion of the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning!

"Uh...ah..."

Blue Poison shuddered violently, his eyes rolled back instantly, and he made an unconscious hoarse sound.

All movement, thought, and even pain ceased at this moment!

He stood frozen in place like a puppet, his face still showing extreme horror.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Yuan pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed at the stiff Blue Poison in mid-air!

A condensed azure sword light flashed by.

"puff."

Blue Poison's enormous head flew off in response.

The headless corpse swayed and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

A miniature nascent soul, resembling Lan Du but filled with resentment and terror, had just escaped when it was grabbed by Zhou Yuan's prepared divine sense hand. Before it could even self-destruct, it was annihilated in a burst of spiritual light with a "poof".

Lan Du, the elder of the Lan twin demons, has fallen!

"Brother—!!!"

On the other side, Lan Mei, whose shoulder was being struck by the deathly light of the beast demon and whose life force was rapidly draining away, and who was being forced into a sorry state by the wind blades of the Gale Beast, witnessed her brother's tragic death and let out a shrill scream of extreme grief. Her eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and she looked like she was going crazy.

"I will avenge you!!"

She let out a shriek and used the force of the attack from the beast-like creature to fly backward.

At the same time, she rapidly formed a strange and complex hand seal with both hands.

The pink light around him suddenly intensified, and his aura became violent and unstable.

A pinkish light enveloped a miniature Nascent Soul, about an inch tall and identical to Lan Mei, but with a face full of resentment, which suddenly burst forth from Lan Mei's crown!

The moment the nascent soul left the body, it suddenly became blurry, and then—

"Buzz!"

A strange fluctuation occurred in the space.

The pink nascent soul, along with the flowing light that enveloped it, vanished into thin air!

The next moment, it appeared on the horizon a thousand feet away, and with another flash, it completely disappeared from Zhou Yuan's sight!

Nascent Soul Secret Technique - Teleportation!

This is a forbidden technique used by Nascent Soul cultivators in dire straits to burn their Nascent Soul essence in exchange for a brief spatial jump. The cost is extremely high, and it may even damage their Dao foundation, but the effect of escaping is excellent.

A mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator spared no expense to use this technique; its teleportation distance and speed were beyond what even Zhou Yuan, with his Wind and Thunder Wings, could match.

"The nascent soul leaving the body...that's quite decisive."

Zhou Yuan frowned as he looked in the direction where Lan Mei's nascent soul had disappeared, but he did not give chase.

He summoned the Gale Beast and the Beast Demon back into his spirit beast pouch, and then took the corpses of Lan Du and Lan Mei, along with their storage pouches, into his hands.

A quick glance at the two demons' storage bags revealed that they indeed contained many demonic treasures.

The haul included spirit stones, various materials, and jade slips containing secret techniques of demonic arts—a very fruitful collection.

Zhou Yuan quickly cleaned up the battlefield and then returned to the place on the island where the two demons had taken human form.

Now all we need to do is wait for the two demons to take shape.

As time passed, only the howling sea breeze and the ebb and flow of the tide remained on the island.

In the valley where the first sea rhinoceros beast to undergo tribulation was located, the huge cocoon of light, interwoven with earthy yellow and light blue, gradually slowed down the speed at which the light flowed on its surface, and finally stabilized completely.

The cocoon of light undulated slightly like breathing, and then fine cracks spread out from its top.

"Click..."

A slight cracking sound rang out, and a gap appeared at the top of the cocoon. A large hand covered with rough, earthy-yellow skin, bulging muscles, and calluses emerged from the gap, grabbed the edge of the cocoon, and tore it apart forcefully!

With a "rip," the cocoon of light was completely torn open.

A tall and imposing figure stepped out and stood firmly on the valley floor.

This man appeared to be around thirty years old, nearly ten feet tall, almost half a meter taller than the average person. He had broad shoulders and a thick back, and his muscles were sculpted like rock, exuding an explosive sense of power.

He had a rugged face, high cheekbones, thick eyebrows, big eyes, thick lips, and short, needle-like hair that stood on end.

Most strikingly, in the very center of his forehead, there was a single horn, about three inches long, spiral-shaped, with a sharp tip, and shimmering with an earthy yellow metallic luster.

The skin has a healthy bronze color, but fine, tortoise-shell-like patterns are faintly visible on the joints, neck, and other areas.

He was shirtless, with only a simple, tough animal hide covering his lower body, exuding a heavy, steady, and majestic aura, like the earth and mountains.

It was the sea rhinoceros beast after it had taken human form.

He looked down with some curiosity at his hands, which were completely different from his previous ones, and then moved his neck and limbs, as if he was still getting used to this new human body.

Immediately, he raised his head, his gaze piercing through the thin mist of the valley, and landed precisely on Zhou Yuan, who stood with his hands behind his back on a distant boulder.

But more than anything, there was a deep-seated awe, helplessness, and a hint of... deeply hidden gratitude.

As an eighth-level transformed demon beast, it has developed intelligence and its wisdom is no less than that of humans.

He knew perfectly well that the human "master" before him had played a decisive role in enabling him to get to where he was today, to possess this body and to embark on a broader path.

It was the other party who provided ample cultivation resources and bestowed upon him that precious Frost Marrow Pearl, helping him withstand the most fatal heavenly lightning strike.

Otherwise, given his original resources, even if he could trigger a heavenly tribulation, the probability of successfully transforming into human form would be less than one in ten.

However, he also clearly sensed the restrictions deep within his demon soul that were already intertwined with the origin of his divine soul.

These restrictions, like invisible shackles, firmly bind his life and death to the person before him. With a single thought, the other party could obliterate his soul, rendering a thousand years of arduous cultivation futile.

Freedom? It seems so pale and laughable when life and death are in the hands of others.

Resentment? Perhaps.

But compared to being utterly destroyed, it seems... surrender is not unacceptable.

Moreover, he had already witnessed only the tip of the iceberg of his master's power and mystery.

Following such an existence, perhaps... the future is not necessarily bleak.

The tall and imposing "Sea Rhinoceros" stood there silently, its heart churning with a myriad of thoughts colliding and intertwining.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Zhou Yuan's calm voice suddenly broke the silence of the valley.

He wore a faint smile, his eyes clear, as if he could see through all the struggles and considerations in the other person's heart.

The sea rhinoceros's body trembled almost imperceptibly as it met Zhou Yuan's seemingly calm eyes, which contained an invisible pressure.

The last shred of hope and hesitation in my heart melted away quickly, like ice and snow under the sun.

He took a deep breath, like a mountain inhaling and exhaling, stepped forward, knelt on one knee facing Zhou Yuan, lowered his head with its single horn, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice, with the texture of rock:

"It's decided, Master! The Sea Rhino is willing to follow you closely and serve you faithfully!"