My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

Chapter 340: Liang Jingru Gave Me the Courage

Yang Guang had no way to argue back and looked at Qi Yuan, saying, “So now... the demon blood should be enough, right? Shouldn't we retreat from Mount Shu Yao?”

“Not enough, far from enough,” Qi Yuan shook his head.

“This amount of demon blood isn’t nearly enough for me to defeat my great enemy. While there’s plenty of demon blood here, I have to take advantage of it!”

Yang Guang was completely at a loss for words.

An Qiao also remained silent, finally asking, “Mr. Qi, are you planning to stay here and engage in guerrilla warfare to obtain more demon blood?”

“Something like that,” Qi Yuan nodded.

Naturally, he wasn’t planning guerrilla warfare but rather a direct sweep.

“Well...” An Qiao hesitated for a moment before saying, “Maybe we should leave first. Otherwise, staying here would just... hold you back, Mr. Qi.”

An Qiao was speaking the truth.

With her late Qi and Blood realm strength, encountering a Jade Blood realm demon would be the end for her.

If Qi Yuan was going to engage in guerrilla tactics, her presence would likely lower Qi Yuan's efficiency.

“What you’re saying makes sense,” Qi Yuan nodded. Then he glanced at the three people present, focusing on Yang Guang. “Can you still kill a hundred Jade Blood realm demons?”

O... one hundred?

Yang Guang's expression looked more miserable than crying.

A hundred Jade Blood realm demons would overwhelm him.

“I... can’t.”

“It seems your kidney deficiency is still quite severe. Go back with An Qiao and the others.” Qi Yuan looked at him with disdain.

Who could understand the irony? Hiring a bodyguard who seemed sturdy and strong, but it turns out he's suffering from kidney deficiency.

“Cough, cough...” Yang Guang was at a loss for words.

An Qiao looked at Qi Yuan and said seriously, “Mr. Qi, please prioritize your own safety. If things become untenable, please retreat promptly!”

However, at this moment, an unexpected childish voice spoke up, “Mr. Qi, while you’re here slaying demons in Mount Shu Yao, you might need someone to take care of you. I, Hou Mushi, am willing to stay and look after your daily needs!”

Hou Mushi’s young face showed a resolute determination, as if he had been grappling with this decision for some time.

An Qiao and Yang Guang looked at Hou Mushi in surprise, seemingly astonished by his courage.

Qi Yuan, on the other hand, remained calm. “I have high standards for food. Three dishes and one soup, can you manage that?”

“...” Yang Guang.

“I can!” Hou Mushi’s face lit up with excitement.

Seeing this, An Qiao didn’t say anything more.

Initially, she wanted to remind Hou Mushi that staying on Mount Shu Yao could mean certain death.

She also couldn’t understand why Qi Yuan would want to bring along a burden.

Of course, she really couldn’t comprehend Qi Yuan’s thinking.

Sometimes, even Qi Yuan himself couldn’t understand his own thoughts.

A quarter of an hour later.

An Qiao and Yang Guang's figures vanished.

Inside the mountain cave, only Qi Yuan and Hou Mushi remained.

Looking at the dark night outside, Hou Mushi, if he said he wasn’t afraid, would be lying.

However, he still clutched his knife tightly, standing guard at the entrance of the cave.

Since the southward migration began, the nearby cities have faced dire circumstances.

Almost all the young men of Zhenyang City had died in battle.

Currently, a third of those guarding the city walls were child soldiers, and another third were elderly soldiers with white hair.

The elderly couldn’t enjoy their twilight years, and the children couldn’t grow up.

This was the reality of Zhenyang City.

However, compared to other cities that had fallen to demon territories, Zhenyang City was relatively fortunate.

Unlike the local hordes of demons who, upon seeing a city, would swarm over, massacre the inhabitants, and turn the bodies into rations, the leader of Mount Shu Yao seemed to have a bit more “vision.”

Rumor had it that, following the military advisor’s suggestion, they laid siege to Zhenyang City, treating the people inside like livestock.

This way, when they wanted to eat meat, they would send demon soldiers to snatch people.

To them, the human jerky from Zhenyang City was an endless supply.

Unlike other demon territories that exhausted their resources by fishing with a net, leaving nothing behind.

When other demon territories lacked population and human snacks, they would still capture people from Zhenyang City to sell to other demon territories in exchange for resources.

In other words, Zhenyang City was like a livestock farm and treasure trove for Mount Shu Yao.

Hou Mushi held his knife, occasionally glancing into the cave.

Inside the cave, he could hear Qi Yuan making strange noises as if pretending to be a robot.

Hou Mushi had many thoughts in his mind.

“If only I could keep consuming demon blood like that…”

Of course, he was just thinking.

Just then, a noise came from the cave, and Qi Yuan got up and walked out. He looked at Hou Mushi with a regretful expression. “What a pity, you don’t know how to play the suona. Otherwise…”

Qi Yuan thought of the times in the Canglan and Fanxin Realms.

Whenever he went to battle, he always had a suona band accompanying him.

When the suona sounded, there were no corpses left.

“Ah?” Hou Mushi was momentarily stunned, then said, “Sir, if you mean the suona, I can play it. My grandfather used to perform funeral services.”

Qi Yuan's eyes lit up.

“It seems fate has guided you to stay here.”

With a wave of his hand, a suona appeared.

Of course, this suona wasn’t something Qi Yuan carried around but was conjured through his magic.

“I have a task for you. Whenever I’m slaying demons, stand by and play the suona... understand?”

“Ah... okay!” Hou Mushi was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded in agreement.

...

Three days later.

In the demon camp on Mount Shu Yao.

A peacock clad in purple looked furious. “Are you all useless? A single human... hasn’t been caught in three days, and nearly a hundred demon soldiers have been killed?”

The peacock’s eyes were full of anger.

Nearly a hundred demon soldiers had fallen.

This was a significant loss for the demon camp.

Every time they attacked Zhenyang City, only a few demon soldiers were injured, sometimes even with zero casualties.

But now, a single human had caused the deaths of nearly a hundred demon soldiers. This was the greatest loss Mount Shu Yao had ever suffered.

“That one’s strength is formidable... likely just below the Twelve Generals!” said a demon with its head lowered, a trace of fear in its eyes.

In Mount Shu Yao, there was one leader, three generals, and twelve deputies.

The Twelve Generals were all at the late stage of the Jade Blood realm, and they weren’t ordinary late-stage Jade Blood realm demons.

“Hmph.” The peacock woman snorted coldly.

She was a general, a terrifying demon at the Yao Ying level.

“I want to see his corpse within three days!” the peacock woman ordered coldly.

At this moment, a tall man walked in, dressed in the attire of a white-clad scholar. His voice was cheerful.

“Why the anger, General? The terrain of Mount Shu Yao is complex, making it difficult to find a late-stage Jade Blood realm human cultivator.”

This white-clad scholar was the strategist of Mount Shu Yao.

Seeing him, a trace of emotion appeared in the peacock’s eyes.

“But these demon soldiers are just lazy and cowardly. If we sent a few more demon generals, wouldn’t capturing him be easy?”

“The man’s strength is not the problem; the challenge is finding him. Dispatching a large number of demon soldiers to search for one person is unwise,” the strategist said.

The peacock nodded.

Currently, the leader was refining a demon weapon.

Most of the demon soldiers needed to stay at the camp to prevent any unexpected incidents.

“So, to solve this problem... I have a method, but it requires the general’s approval,” the strategist said, looking at the peacock’s face with a gentle expression.

“The strategist is indeed clever. Please, go ahead!” the peacock promptly said.

“I’d better explain it myself!”

At this moment, a burly man with a strong presence walked in.

He had a peculiar smile on his face, clearly not someone to be trifled with.

“A human?” Seeing the newcomer, the peacock’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

If it weren’t for the strategist being there, she would have probably attacked him immediately.

“General, I have a magical artifact that can detect the precise location of any human within a hundred-mile radius.

I can lead the way and bring the demon generals to kill that man.

However... I have a request!”

This burly man was none other than Zhou Yuan.

“What’s your request?” the peacock asked.

“I want to meet the flower demon, Man Luo!” Zhou Yuan revealed his purpose. “After killing Qi Yuan, I need something from him!”

That “something,” of course, was the Genius Alliance’s token.

As for the flower demon, Man Luo, she was the key to completing his mission.

The peacock’s pupils contracted slightly, then she glanced at the strategist. Seeing no change in his expression, she smiled, “I can grant you that condition.”

The strategist was quite concerned about the flower demon, Man Luo.

He didn’t oppose Zhou Yuan meeting her, which meant he had agreed.

However, once he met the flower demon, Man Luo, if he wanted to leave... that wasn’t happening.

That was the peacock's intention.

And Zhou Yuan’s thoughts were similar.

Once he saw the flower demon, Man Luo, and completed his mission, he could return to the base and wouldn’t fear the demons playing any tricks.

The strategist looked at Zhou Yuan, “Thank you for your help.”

Zhou Yuan smiled, “Don’t worry. With my magical artifact, he has nowhere to hide!”

Zhou Yuan felt a bit regretful.

Unfortunately, Yang Guang didn’t come along.

Otherwise, this time, he could have used the demons’ power to not only kill Qi Yuan but also Yang Guang.

As Zhou Yuan spoke, he took out a compass from his Qi and Blood space.

Holding the compass, he dripped a drop of blood onto it.

Immediately, a bright light flashed on the compass.

The peacock looked at the compass, her eyes filled with greed.

If she could get it, wouldn’t that mean... she could find food no matter how well it was hidden?

Zhou Yuan chanted some incantations, and the blood light on the compass grew brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, Zhou Yuan stopped, the blood light disappeared, and he looked shocked.

“There’s someone within a mile of us!”

The compass pointed to someone five hundred meters away.

“And... they’re heading this way quickly... they’ll be here soon!”

Zhou Yuan was astonished.

The peacock and the strategist were equally baffled.

This was one of the demon camp’s strongholds, with three hundred demon soldiers and a general guarding it.

Who would dare approach this place? Were they looking to die?

However, before they could react, a thunderous voice echoed through the valley.

“No need to trouble yourselves to find me. I came directly... Am I thoughtful or what? Aren’t you touched? If you’re touched, why not... give me your demon blood?”

The voice arrived just as the person did.

A hundred meters away, a man in a blood-red robe appeared calm, holding a long, straight wooden stick.

That stick seemed to be stained with blood, appearing eerie.

“It’s you, Qi Yuan!” Zhou Yuan looked strange, not expecting Qi Yuan to appear here.

The peacock’s eyes filled with shock and anger. “Who gave you the courage to come here?”

Despite her words, a deep sense of apprehension lay hidden in her eyes.

Something unusual was definitely afoot.

“Liang Jingru gave it to me,” Qi Yuan said, holding his stick calmly.

“Who is that?” The peacock immediately looked around, as if trying to find that person.

The other demons also looked around cautiously.

“No sense of humor at all. It seems I need to merge with you and modify you a bit,” Qi Yuan said, stepping forward.

The wind blew, making his blood-red robe flutter.

Seeing this, Hou Mushi was both excited and shocked.

These days, he had followed Qi Yuan around, hunting demons.

Qi Yuan seemed like an invincible war god, killing gods when they blocked his path and killing Buddhas when they stood in his way.

Demons that the people of Zhenyang City feared like scorpions were as fragile as paper in Qi Yuan’s hands.

Now, Qi Yuan was directly attacking a stronghold, and Hou Mushi had followed him without hesitation.

“A mere Jade Blood cultivator dares to be so arrogant? Monkey General, take him down!” The peacock shouted.

A monkey demon reluctantly stepped forward.

This monkey demon was short but very stout and nimble.

It was also one of the Twelve Demon Generals of Mount Shu Yao.

Normally, it wouldn’t fear a fight.

But now, with Qi Yuan actively attacking alone, it seemed suspicious.

Still, it charged forward.

“Your life is mine!”

With a roar, the monkey demon’s body swelled, its skin color changing, and it became a terrifying blue-faced demon with fangs.

“Is this fate?” Qi Yuan held his stick, looking at the monkey demon.

Then, his figure flickered.

Heaven-Slashing Sword Technique!

A mighty sword strike—no, more accurately, a stick strike—descended from the sky.

The strike was too fast, too fierce.

A single strike carried the aura of an unparalleled sword.

The powerful monkey demon had no chance to resist under this strike.

It was crushed to death with one blow.

One blow to kill one of the Twelve Demon Generals, gaining five hundred drops of demon blood.

Qi Yuan smiled, “All of you, come at once. I’m in a hurry.”

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan’s heart shook.

Qi Yuan’s strength was beyond his expectations.

Originally, he thought he could overpower Qi Yuan.

But now, it seemed he was far from Qi Yuan’s match.

In fact, within ten moves, he would surely lose!

He felt fortunate he hadn’t gone looking for Qi Yuan alone but had chosen to cooperate with the demons.

At this point, the peacock felt relieved. “So that’s your trump card? Being at the peak of the Jade Blood realm is indeed strong, but unfortunately... you’re still not qualified to be arrogant!”

Qi Yuan’s attack was terrifying, instantly killing the monkey demon.

But it also exposed his strength.

The peacock had figured out Qi Yuan’s power level.

At her command, the three hundred demon soldiers at the stronghold stepped forward.

These demon soldiers, in various forms, wore different leather armors and wielded weapons, coming together to form an intimidating force.

If such a force, led by the peacock, were to attack Zhenyang City...

Zhenyang City wouldn’t stand a chance.

Hou Mushi, not far away, felt a surge of fear in his heart.

But Qi Yuan, in his blood-red robe, showed no fear.

“Only three hundred demon soldiers? A small scene.

Strike up the music!”

How many enemies had he killed in the previous worlds?

Countless.

He had faced three thousand enemies of the same level simultaneously.

What did a mere three hundred demon soldiers amount to?

He grinned, his eyes filled with a chilling smile.

“Kill, kill, and destroy everything in sight!”

Qi Yuan, holding his stick, charged into the demon horde like a demon god.

At that moment, the shrill and mournful sound of the suona began to play.