Chaos and monsters begin with the red dragon's clone.

The two money bags were made of unremarkable, dusty gray cloth, but they were heavy. They were taken from the three-bearded man and Guo Lie's accomplice, respectively. The bags contained standard-issue coins, mostly in the denomination of 100 coins. Zhang Xun counted them briefly and found a total of more than 30,000 coins.

"Good! It's a pleasant surprise that we didn't find an opportunity to deal with Geng Ping on this trip up the mountain."

Zhang Xun was delighted.

This harvest was similar to Liu Biao's, and he wouldn't have to worry about money until he broke through to the second realm.

This money was all taken from Guo Lie and his gang, and it's estimated that they didn't bring it all with them. The two men with the three-pronged mustache didn't bring much money with them to the transaction either, which is a bit of a pity.

"And then—this is it!"

Zhang Xun carefully put away the money bag, placed the miniature statue wrapped in black cloth on a tree branch, and examined it with a much more serious expression.

Whether it was Liu Biao, the guards of Jia's caravan, or Guo Lie and his ilk—people who lived on the edge of danger—they all said that the Holy Child statue of the Rebirth Sect had the effect of protecting against demonic possession. Clearly, there's no smoke without fire.

Not to mention the strange sense of dread he felt from the child statue in the black sedan chair during the last Rebirth Cult's parade, all of which indicated that this thing was eerie and dangerous.

Zhang Xun broke off a twig and carefully lifted the black cloth, revealing a small, incomplete clay sculpture of a child. It was still smooth, covered with tiny cracks, missing pieces here and there, as if pieced together from fragments, with an innocent face and a joyful expression.

It still carried an unsettling, eerie feeling, sending chills down one's spine, but it was far less intense than the black sedan chair that paraded through the streets. It was more subtle, almost imperceptible.

Zhang Xun stared for a while, then his tense heart slowly relaxed.

"This smaller one may not be as well-made as the one that was paraded in the street, but no matter what, it's still quite remarkable."

"Not to mention, during the transaction, Guo Lie and his gang also mentioned that the Rebirth Sect has a unique tracking method that can track this thing."

"To avoid being tracked, it's best to destroy it."

Seeing no one around, Zhang Xun grabbed the miniature statue of the Holy Child and was about to climb down the tree.

Suddenly I was startled.

Suddenly, the miniature statue of the Holy Child in his hand felt cold. A chilling sensation surged out, penetrating his skin and drilling straight into his hand. Before he could react, it had already rushed into his mind, which was divided between the volcano and Dongluo Town, manifesting as a small wisp of pure black mist.

"This is!?"

"What happened?!"

Zhang Xun was shocked and looked at the pure black mist in his mind. Fortunately, he did not feel any other abnormality in his body or mind, so his heart gradually calmed down.

Even the red dragon's brain spirit in his mind expressed a thirst for that pure black mist.

A craving similar to that for food.

"This is!?"

Zhang Xun was surprised, and a thought struck him. He looked at the miniature statue of the Holy Child in his hand again, and it seemed to have lost some of its luster.

That eerie feeling that sent chills down your spine has disappeared, and it looks just like an ordinary statue.

He vaguely understood something.

"As expected, this pure black mist is the source of the ghosts and eerie sensations."

"Now it seems that it was extracted from my red dragon avatar?"

"The Rebirth Sect sells statues of the Holy Child, and Guo Lie and his group just now had contact with them, which shows that it's not a problem for ordinary people to come into contact with them."

Zhang Xun pieced together the various details from his memory. In addition, the pure black mist in his mind did not cause any discomfort. On the contrary, the red dragon's brain soul felt an increasing craving. Although there was no record of this situation in the bloodline inheritance, it was said that energy-type foods with a food-like texture were very beneficial to the growth of dragons.

Zhang Xun's eyes flickered as he made up his mind.

The next instant, in his mind, the phantom of the red dragon opened its mouth and inhaled, drawing the small wisp of pure black mist into its belly.

…………

Swish.

In the crater, within the dark rock cave, a pair of lava-like eyes suddenly opened, their light shining brightly.

"Delicious! Good stuff! My intuition was right, it's very nourishing and delicious!" After swallowing the pure black mist, the young dragon felt hot all over, its dragon blood flowed faster, and the stomach of the magic furnace received a great deal of energy, rumbling and writhing.

During this period, the young dragon mostly alternates between digging holes and eating soil. Only when practicing skills or taking crucial actions will the red dragon's body stop moving so that the human body can concentrate.

Meanwhile, the dragon's belly was filled with soil it had dug out, and it was slowly digesting it.

Now, his stomach is writhing wildly, and the bellyful of soil is being rapidly digested and transformed into nutrients for the dragon's growth. These nutrients are then transported throughout his body by the dragon's blood, nourishing his dragon form.

The young dragon quickly got up. The cave was dark and nearly half a zhang high and wide. The young dragon curled up and lay down near the earthen wall at the end of the excavation. A pile of soil had already been dug in front of the earthen wall. It crawled over, opened its mouth, and began to eat frantically.

This soil tastes better than ever before.

This was the first time Zhang Xun had felt himself growing rapidly through eating, and it felt wonderful.

The pure black mist provided by the miniature holy child statue has, in a short time, surpassed the growth progress of the past few days.

Normally, the growth of a young dragon into a juvenile dragon takes years, but with enough high-quality food, the growth rate can be accelerated. He originally intended to find food from the creatures in the foggy outside world—but unexpectedly, before the passage was even dug, another food source that could accelerate growth appeared.

The young dragon crunched on the dirt, its bright, lava-ball-like eyes gleaming: "The Rebirth Cult is mysterious and powerful, and they have a unique method for tracking the Holy Child Statue. If we want to obtain the Holy Child Statue, we must first gather information and make sure everything is foolproof before taking any action."

"Otherwise, given our current limited strength in our human form, if we were to be targeted by the Rebirth Sect, we would be in grave danger!"

"Regardless, it's still good news—we've found a way to accelerate the growth of the Red Dragon's body!"

"Okay, right. As for the human body, let's hurry down the mountain and leave the scene of the crime."

*

*

in the afternoon.

Two figures, one in black and one in white, rushed past and stopped at the foot of Gongjia Mountain.

This is an ordinary-looking middle-aged man and woman. The man is wearing a white pointed hat, a white linen coat, and white cloth shoes. He has two white marks on his face, about the thickness of a finger. One mark runs vertically from his forehead down to his nose, lips, and chin, while the other runs horizontally from his cheek to the other ear. The marks intersect to form a cross, giving him an unknown, strange, and eerie aura.

The middle-aged woman wore a black hat, black clothes, and black cross markings, and held an old, dark brown stone compass in her hand.

If wealthy believers who frequently visit Chaotian Temple were here, they would surely recognize the black and white man and woman as the Yin-Yang protectors of the Gouli branch of the Rebirth Sect. Their status is second only to the altar master who oversees affairs in Gouli Town. In other towns, they would be a level above the regular incense masters.

At this moment, the two men, with solemn expressions, hurriedly arrived at the foot of this ordinary hill without even bringing their subordinates.

The woman with black marks glanced at Gongjia Mountain, held an old compass in her hand, and closed her eyes.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and said in a deep voice, "This is definitely the location. The connection with the holy statue disappeared here."

"Walk!!"

Without saying a word, the man with white marks gave a shout and sped off up the mountain.

The two moved with incredible speed, far exceeding that of ordinary Body Tempering Stage 2 cultivators. With a few leaps, leaving behind several afterimages, they vanished from sight…