I proved immortality with thunder magic.

The Trial Grounds.

Meanwhile, Zhou Tai chased after the fleeing demon and soon saw the demon's master.

It was an elderly man in black with white hair, who looked to be over seventy years old, with many wrinkles on his face.

He seemed to be in a bad state; his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were sunken, as if he had been injured by someone.

Zhou Tai knew that he had depleted his own vital energy in order to suppress the backlash from the demons.

He knew from the moment he saw the demon that the old man in black must be from the Demon-Controlling Sect, one of the six demonic sects of the Ba Kingdom.

It is said that each disciple of the Demon Extermination Sect, starting from the Qi Refining stage, will use the sect's unique secret method to refine their own natal demon.

This kind of natal demon, which is refined using secret methods, does not have a physical form at first and is not very powerful. It needs its master to nourish it with their own blood and magical power over a long period of time and refine it with secret methods to make it stronger and stronger.

Moreover, the Demon-Suppressing Sect has many different types of innate demons, and each innate demon possesses different abilities.

However, these innate demons all have one thing in common: they have strong resistance to physical attacks and ordinary elemental magic attacks.

Because of this characteristic, disciples of the Demon-Slaying Sect are practically invincible during the Qi Refining stage, with few cultivators of the same level being their match.

However, refining such a natal demon is not all good; there are also many disadvantages.

Firstly, because it requires a long-term investment of qi, blood, and mana to nourish the disciples of the Demon Extermination Sect, their cultivation speed and physical qi and blood will be slowed down and weakened, and may even affect their success rate in establishing a foundation in the future.

Secondly, once the natal demon is injured, it will immediately require them to provide vital energy and magical power to heal it; otherwise, it will severely retaliate against its master.

It is no exaggeration to say that every year, disciples of the Demon-Suppressing Sect die from the backlash of their natal demons, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators and Purple Mansion cultivators have died as a result.

Moreover, it is said that the longer this innate demon is nurtured, the greater its harm becomes.

The Demon Extermination Sect has never had a Nascent Soul stage True Monarch in its history, which is said to be related to the practice of refining and raising one's natal demon.

Even so, due to the powerful combat strength brought by the innate demon in the early stages, almost no one in the Demon Extermination Sect would give up this secret technique.

Zhou Tai guessed the enemy's origin from the appearance of the monster earlier, and seeing that the monster had been injured by him, he chased after it without hesitation.

However, just as he was about to finish off the white-haired old man in front of him, the other party's words surprised him.

The white-haired old man stretched out his hand, looking at him with a panicked expression, and shouted, "Fellow Daoist, please hold on! I am willing to hand over my trial token and serve you!"

Seeing this, Zhou Tai paused for a moment, then shook his head slightly and said, "A boring trick!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and threw out a Thunder Spear Talisman.

Although the enemy was already injured, he was still an old demon with the cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining, so we still had to take him seriously.

Upon seeing the lightning spear composed of blue and white lightning appear, a look of madness flashed in the white-haired old man's eyes.

"You bastard, you forced me into this!"

With a frenzied roar, he recklessly poured his own life force and magical power into the demon within his body, summoning the demon once more.

The reappearing demon, nourished by the white-haired old man's abundant blood and magical power, not only had all its injuries healed, but also appeared much stronger than before.

But when the white-haired old man urged it to defend against the incoming lightning spear, it turned around and glared at its owner with eyes full of resentment and unwillingness, and reluctantly opened its mouth to spit out a black beam of demonic energy to meet it.

Boom!

The moment the lightning spear and the pillar of demonic energy collided, they immediately exploded violently, like water and fire colliding.

The intense lightning and the dark demonic energy clashed and clashed with each other, but in the end the lightning prevailed, blasting the demon behind it away.

Just then, a black flame serpent suddenly crossed the battlefield and pounced on Zhou Tai.

Zhou Tai seemed to have anticipated this, as the Azure Cloud Shield instantly emitted a verdant glow to protect him from behind. He then unleashed a magic talisman that transformed into a flaming spear that shot towards the Black Flame Demon Serpent.

boom!

The moment the flaming spear touched the black flame serpent, it triggered a violent explosion, turning into a sky full of flames that engulfed the black flame serpent.

But at that moment, Zhou Tai's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly activated his protective magic artifact with a low shout.

A hazy yellow light shield had just risen when it was quickly shattered by a dark light, which then struck Zhou Tai.

The powerful impact knocked him to the ground instantly.

As he struggled to his feet, supporting himself with his hands, he glanced at the thing that had knocked him over.

What appeared to be a black, magical nail artifact, resembling a coffin nail.

Looking at the dark, magical nail, and then glancing down at the tiny holes in the animal hide inner armor on his chest, Zhou Tai felt a wave of fear wash over him.

Fortunately, he was wearing a first-grade high-quality animal hide inner armor, otherwise he would have been seriously injured if not killed on the spot!

The thought that he had almost died on his very first day filled Zhou Tai with both shock and anger.

He looked up at the white-haired old man in the distance, his eyes wide with disbelief, and roared angrily, "You old thief, prepare to die!"

Before the roar had even faded, he waved his hand and threw out a Thunder Spear Talisman and a Thunder Strike Talisman.

Seeing the lightning spear rapidly forming and the lightning descending from the sky, the white-haired old man was terrified and hurriedly cried out, "Bat God, save me!"

As he shouted, he also threw out several magic talismans, which transformed into a demonic shield and an earthen-yellow light barrier to protect himself.

The demon that had been blasted away by the lightning spear, despite its desire to devour the white-haired old man, had no choice but to pounce on the falling blue-white lightning, as its life was intertwined with his.

When Zhou Tai saw that his opponent was actually playing a war of attrition against him, a cold smile immediately appeared on his face.

He knew, of course, that these cultivators participating in the trial were not easy to deal with, but if they were to compete with him in terms of magical talismans, he didn't believe anyone could beat him.

His expression hardened immediately. He first threw out three lightning strike talismans to deplete his opponent's defenses, and then threw out a chain lightning strike talisman.

Boom boom boom!

As bolts of lightning struck one after another, the white-haired old man was filled with despair.

He didn't even have time to activate any more spells before he was blasted into a charred corpse.

With his owner dead, the monster let out a mournful howl and vanished into black smoke.

"Hmph, you heretics, you deserve to die!"

Zhou Tai looked at the charred corpse on the ground, let out a cold snort, quickly took the useful items from the body, and then kicked the corpse into the swamp not far away.

He then left the scene as quickly as possible, deliberately taking a long detour back to the shelter.

The commotion from the fight just now was quite significant; it could probably be heard for miles around. He couldn't guarantee that no one would be drawn to it.

Once back in his sanctuary, Zhou Tai released the Thunder-Patterned Frog Yuanbao as a guard while also having the Clawed Wind Owl Laifu patrol the surroundings, especially the area where the previous battlefield had been.

He himself took the time to check the harvest.

Because he was killed by a series of lightning strikes, the white-haired old man's storage bag exploded on the spot, scattering its contents all over the ground, and many items were destroyed on the spot by the lightning strikes.

However, the trial token is a specially made item that a Qi Refining stage cultivator cannot damage, so Zhou Tai found it very easily.

After putting the item away, he turned his gaze to the magical nail that had almost killed him.

This thing is truly powerful; it was able to break through the light barrier and protective shield of the Azure Cloud Shield, making it truly extraordinary.

Unfortunately, this item is clearly a demonic artifact. Zhou Tai's lightning-attribute magic power, when poured into it, not only failed to unleash its power, but it might even damage the artifact if used too often.

He could only examine it for a moment before putting it away.

He can't use this thing, but if a knowledgeable demonic cultivator comes across it, he can definitely sell it for a good price.

As far as Zhou Tai knew, some underground trade fairs in Heng Kingdom would occasionally be frequented by demonic cultivators who had infiltrated in disguise, or by cultivators who were interested in demonic items.

Conversely, in the Ba Kingdom, cultivators' possessions can also be monetized.

Aside from this magic nail artifact, the other magical artifacts possessed by the white-haired old man were all damaged and of little value, so Zhou Tai didn't bother with them and simply buried them on the spot.

Although his storage bag is quite spacious, he doesn't need to carry all kinds of trash.

The white-haired old man's original magical talismans and other items were either used up or destroyed, as were his elixirs.

Although Zhou Tai felt it was a bit of a pity, he would not change his tactics because of it.

For him, staying alive was the most important thing. As for the things on the enemy, it would be best to keep them if possible, but it was okay if they were destroyed.

Besides, the white-haired old man didn't leave nothing behind; he left at least a hundred spirit stones, enough to buy his Chain Lightning Strike Talisman.

Yes, demonic cultivators also use spirit stones as currency, and even demonic formations can be activated with spirit stones.

So-called demonic cultivators, when they cultivate, also need to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine it, and their magical power is also divided into the five elements.

However, compared to cultivators of immortality, demonic cultivators can refine not only the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but also demonic energy.

The magical artifacts and treasures used by demonic cultivators are usually crafted by incorporating demonic energy.

It is said that demonic energy has two origins: one is brought by demons from outside this world, and the other is formed naturally within this world.

Many powerful cultivators believe that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is divided into pure and impure. The pure is what is commonly referred to as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while the impure is demonic energy.

Therefore, demonic cultivators cannot be completely eliminated, nor can they be completely eliminated, because their refining of the turbid energy in the world is itself helping this world.

Zhou Tai was just a minor Qi Refining stage cultivator. Whether demonic cultivators should exist in this world was not his concern.

All he needs to know is that killing the demonic cultivator now will benefit him.

Having witnessed the destructive power of the lightning talisman against demonic cultivators tonight, he felt even more confident in achieving his goal for this trial.

If he encounters other demonic cultivators in the future, he just needs to focus on his own defense and not give the enemy any opportunities like he did tonight.