Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Advance means death, retreat means death.

How should he choose? In fact, Cao Wenjin quickly found the answer in his heart.

Although he had made his choice, it was not easy to reach that step.

"Golden-Horned Rhinoceros," with the magical artifact refined by the Demon King for protection, was still no match for Cao Wenjin, yet it greatly delayed its defeat.

By the time Cao Wenjin employed all his means to finally break through the "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros's" defense and decapitate it, nearly two hours had passed since the war started.

At this time, after two long hours of battle, the soul beasts transformed from the "Beast Soul Talisman" of the Yellow Sand Sect had long since exhausted their soul power and were blasted by Tier Four Demon Beasts. The Tier Four Puppet Beasts were also nearing the depletion of spirit stone energy due to prolonged combat.

Li Zhennan and the Chen Family Ancestor, in order to hold another "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros," were disregarding the consumption of their primordial qi and risking their lives. Li Zhennan even went so far as to use a burst secret technique that severely affected his lifespan.

When Cao Wenjin finally killed a "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros" and rushed to support, the two were already as pale as if they had been fished out of water, drenched in sweat.

However, the two still couldn't rest because, as the "Beast Soul Talismans" and some Tier Four Puppet Beasts successively lost their effectiveness, some Tier Four Demon Beasts, without opponents, began helping their companions besiege Guo Shuyun, Luo Yunqing, and other Purple Mansion Cultivators. Some vassal clan Purple Mansion Cultivators had even fallen under the demon beasts' attacks.

"Finally succeeded?"

Hundreds of miles away, Zhouyang felt one of the Fifth-Tier Demon Beast's auras suddenly vanish, and finally, the tension he held eased a bit.

In any case, with the death of a Fifth-Tier Demon Beast, even if this expedition couldn't achieve complete success, there would at least be some account.

However, just as he relaxed slightly, his expression changed drastically.

Because, as the two hours passed, those scattered Tier Three Demon Beasts finally began to gather back. In his view, more than five Tier Three Demon Beasts suddenly appeared, including two rare "Fire Rhinoceros Beasts."

"Prepare to meet the enemy!"

Zhouyang's expression changed, and he quickly called out to Huang Yi to greet the enemy.

In secret, he transmitted an order for Huang Yi to retreat first if he couldn't hold on.

Up till now, the number of Tier Three Demon Beasts that died under his sword had exceeded ten. This achievement was already outstanding relative to his cultivation level.

At this moment, even if he withdrew unable to fight, he could claim he tried his best, not fearing any confrontation with others.

Meanwhile, after Cao Wenjin slew that "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros," back in the depths of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range on a towering peak, a scale-armored demon ox over a hundred meters long suddenly opened its huge eyes like water tanks, looking toward Rhino Horn Continent.

"What's going on? Why did Brother Jin Jiao's son's soul token suddenly break? Who on earth killed it?"

"No, I must get to the bottom of this matter. Brother Jin Jiao once did me a favor, and though his son left the Broken Cloud Mountain Range with his mate's tribe, he's still my nephew. I can't let him die unclear!"

The scale-armored demon ox murmured towards Rhino Horn Continent, speaking in human words.

As it referred to itself as "this King," its true identity was not hard to guess.

This scale-armored demon ox was surprisingly a Tier Six Demon King, with divine techniques akin to a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator!

At that moment, after deciding to investigate the circumstances surrounding the "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros's" death, the scale-armored demon ox immediately spat out a golden feather, whispered a few words with it, then triggered the feather, causing it to transform into a golden light and disappear in front of itself.

In less than a quarter of an hour, a golden light suddenly fell from the sky, landing not far from the scale-armored demon ox, revealing a giant golden eagle with a wingspan of thirty to forty meters.

This giant golden eagle landed, quickly folding its wings, lowered its head, and saluted the scale-armored demon ox, speaking in human language: "Golden Roc greets Fire-Scaled King, what important task does the Fire-Scaled King have for me?"

"Golden Roc, you once begged this King for two Spirit Awakening Pills for your offspring, owing me a favor. Now it's time for you to repay this debt."

Covered in red scales, the "Fire-Scaled Demon King" focused its eyes on the golden eagle in front of it, speaking in a deep voice like thunder: "You head to Boundless Sand Sea Rhino Horn Continent, investigate the circumstances around the death of the Golden Horned King's descendant. If this matter doesn't involve other demon kings or human Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, bring me the culprit's head!"

"Golden Roc understands, I will not disappoint the Fire-Scaled King!"

The golden eagle responded sharply, then spread its wings, swiftly turning into a golden light soaring into the sky, disappearing from the "Fire-Scaled Demon King's" sight.

"This Gold-winged Thunder Eagle's cultivation has remained at the Tier Five Top Grade for many years and is the close confidant of the [Mountain-Relocating Demon King]. Its strength surpasses that of ordinary human Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivators by far, and its speed is so swift that even I find it hard to keep up. I've sent it to investigate this matter, whether successful or not, to repay Brother Jin Jiao's kindness from back then!"

"Fire-Scaly Demon King" muttered a few words while gazing in the direction of the disappearing golden giant eagle, then withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and fell back into slumber.

In the end, "Golden Horned Demon King" has been deceased for over two thousand years. Even though he had been kind to me, "Fire-Scaled King," I repaid most of the kindness when I helped his descendant clans relocate from the Broken Cloud Mountain Range. The remaining bit of gratitude certainly wasn't worth my personal involvement.

The scene unfolding far in the Broken Cloud Mountain Range was naturally unknown to the many human cultivators on Rhino Horn Continent.

On Rhino Horn Continent, the war, following the demise of a "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros," not only showed no sign of subsiding or ending but rather became even more intense.

The remaining "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros," due to the death of its mate, went mad and directly spewed out its demon pill as a weapon to attack. Cao Wenjin, fearing damage to the demon pill, found himself forced to adopt a defensive entanglement approach to deplete the "Golden-Horned Rhinoceros's" magical power.

The Tier Four Demon Beasts, due to the death of their "King," were filled with sorrow and fear, yet their hatred toward the human cultivators who killed their clan king drove them to attack all visible human cultivators crazily.

The cries filled with grief and anger from these high-tier demon beasts spread, resonating with and inciting the Tier Three demon beasts.

In no time, the entire Rhino Horn Continent was in chaos.

All demon beasts seemed to have been cast with "Beast Blood Frenzy" magic, their eyes blood-red as they launched desperate attacks on any human in sight. The kind of frenzy where even the killer of countless demon beasts like Zhouyang grew uneasy.

He slaughtered demon beast after demon beast until he was down to less than thirty percent of his magical power before finally ceasing his obstruction of these frenzied charging demon beasts.

With just a movement, he swiftly flew out of the demon beasts' sight, landed on the ground, and cast the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" to suppress his breath to the level of a Qi Cultivation Cultivator, successfully removing himself from the battle temporarily.

After leaving the battle, Zhouyang thought it over but didn't immediately hide to find a place to recover his magical power. Instead, he headed toward the direction the two "Thunder Rhinoceros Beasts" had come from earlier.

Before departing, Cao Wenjin had mentioned that all things obtained on this expedition to Rhino Horn Continent could be claimed for oneself. Now that all the Tier Three demon beasts on the oasis had been drawn here, their lairs were empty—prime time for treasure hunting.

If he waited until the war ended entirely to search for treasure, it might not be as easy to get hold of any good treasures found.

Certainly, Zhouyang wouldn't be the only cultivator holding such thoughts.

However, many cultivators didn't possess a concealing breath secret technique like the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" as Zhouyang did, and could only choose to escape via Earth Escape or opt for Sword Flight detours.

These two methods definitely couldn't avoid the Tier Three demon beasts' perceptions like Zhouyang could, so if one encountered demon beasts like "Thunder Rhinoceros Beast," one's survival truly depended on personal skills and fate.

After advancing several hundred miles, Zhouyang noticed fewer Tier Three demon beast auras and thus ended the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," taking to Sword Flight.

He flew swiftly past several places where spiritual qi was concentrated without stopping until discovering a valley with spiritual qi density comparable to a Tier Three Spiritual Vein, where he then descended in Sword Light.

This valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one, appeared, geologically speaking, to be a feng shui treasure land; the spiritual qi within the valley was even richer than that at Jade Spring Peak of the Zhou Family.

Such a spiritual qi-concentrated treasure land naturally wouldn't be devoid of demon beasts.

While in the air, Zhouyang noticed several rhinoceros herds residing outside the valley, with over a dozen Tier Two Rhinoceros Demon Beasts gathered within, restlessly lowing.

As these Rhinoceros Demon Beasts lowed, their gazes frequently fixed on the direction of the "Holy Mountain," clearly worried about the situation there.

Upon discovering the powerful aura of a human cultivator—him—landing in the valley, the already tense and anxious Rhinoceros Demon Beasts suddenly reacted like lit firecrackers, instantly exploding.

But just a handful of firecrackers; exploding wasn't going to harm Zhouyang in the slightest.

He released his Flying Sword and slew all dozen Rhinoceros Demon Beasts before hurriedly beginning his search of the entire valley.

The area with the densest spiritual qi within the valley was in the southeastern direction, where two Tier Three Spirit Woods, "Thunder Woods," over thirty zhang tall, were growing.

The presence of these two "Thunder Woods" indicated that the Tier Three demon beast previously residing in this valley must have been the "Thunder Rhinoceros Beast."

Ordinarily, in places where thunder-element demon beasts reside, surrounding mineral stones and plants, having been affected by the beasts' aura for years, tend to transform into thunder attribute minerals and spirit woods upon elevating into spiritual objects.

These thunder attribute minerals and spirit woods are ideal materials for refining thunder attribute magical artifacts, array plates, and array banners, typically worth several times more than ordinary Five Elements attribute minerals and spirit woods.