CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 100: THE GREAT BATTLE ERUPTS, HALF-STEP DEMON CORE REALM (5,000-WORD CHAPTER)

Standing atop the peak outside Kugu Ridge, Lu Yu gazed into the distance at the Kugu Ridge.

From here, the stark contrast between Kugu Ridge and the surrounding environment was apparent; it was lush with green trees on this side, but beyond the boundary of Kugu Ridge, it was all barren, hideously jagged black ridges, with black strange trees continuously spewing black smoke.

"Are we standing too far away? If monsters emerge, we won’t be able to reach them in time," Zeng Longyue said, looking at Lu Yu’s back.

Zheng Fangying glanced at the others down the mountain and whispered to Zeng Longyue, "How about we go find them? They did invite us before, they might let us join the team."

"No way!" Zeng Longyue refused flatly. He had already declined their invitation before; going over now would be akin to begging them to let him join, which would be too embarrassing.

To mask the fact it was a matter of pride stopping him, Zeng Longyue explained, "Didn’t you notice? He’s wearing the Divine Weapon Pavilion disciple’s attire. Although the color has changed and the emblem is missing, the clothes are definitely those of the Divine Weapon Pavilion disciples."

"A Divine Weapon Pavilion disciple?" Zheng Fangying was taken aback, looked at Lu Yu carefully for a few moments, and asked, "How did he become a disciple of the Divine Weapon Pavilion? Can players really join the Divine Weapon Pavilion?"

"I don’t know either," Zeng Longyue said, "but we can learn the way to join the Divine Weapon Pavilion from him."

"Would he tell us?" Zheng Fangying doubted Lu Yu would share such valuable information with them.

Yu Xiaoman knows Lu Yu, and even Yu Xiaoman wasn’t allowed to join the Divine Weapon Pavilion. How could two strangers get such valuable information from him?

"We’ll have to figure something out now," Zeng Longyue shrugged, indicating he hadn’t yet come up with a way to fish the information out of Lu Yu.

Lu Yu glanced at Kugu Ridge in the distance, then turned to Yu Xiaoman and asked, "What exactly does your task entail?"

"Let me see." Yu Xiaoman made a few gestures in the air and said, "Reach the Yinming Cold Pool and let Fei Feng absorb the soul power at the bottom of the Yinming Cold Pool to help Fei Feng restore its soul power."

"The Yinming Cold Pool is a land of yin qi gathering; the ghostly rat demons usually appear around the Yinming Cold Pool."

After reciting the general task details and hearing that the Yinming Cold Pool was the target, Lu Yu slightly relaxed. Not having to participate in the chaos among players was certainly a relief.

"Land of Yin Qi Gathering?" Lu Yu looked toward Kugu Ridge. It all looked gloomy, not a hint of a specific land of yin qi gathering apparent.

Lu Yu had seen in his basic knowledge of formations that there was a secret technique called the Qi Observation Technique, capable of observing terrain feng shui, ley line directions, incense prosperity... Unfortunately, that secret technique was only held by the aristocracy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and it wasn’t even recorded in the Divine Weapon Pavilion.

"Seems like we can only catch a ghostly rat demon to lead the way," Lu Yu thought, looking at the Ling Family team below Kugu Ridge.

The migration of monsters was a big deal, never had there been an artificial relocation of monster habitats—they always moved of their own accord. Maybe there were human factors influencing the move, but having a family like the Lings "escort" the monsters was truly a first for Tianfeng Province.

The person with the highest cultivation overseeing the Kugu Ridge monster migration incident was an elder from the Ling Family at the Core Formation Realm, Ling Yuyan’s third uncle. Alongside him were many Ling Family disciples and martial cultivators recruited to assist in "escorting" the monsters.

Ling Yuyan entered Kugu Ridge to meet the Fire Feather Pheasant.

Since the disappearance of the Shadowless Dog King and the Heavenly Poison Centipede Demon, all monsters within Kugu Ridge had submitted under the Fire Feather Pheasant, making it the undisputed ruler of Kugu Ridge.

However, she was still very wary of the great demons within the inner parts of Kugu Ridge and Zhou Chisheng; both were formidable beings beyond her ability to contend with. She longed to leave Kugu Ridge.

But she understood that if she left Kugu Ridge without permission, there was a high chance of being targeted by the powerful figures in Beifeng City, which was very dangerous.

Now, with the help of the Ling Family, the foremost family in Beifeng City, she was naturally proactive, especially since Luohuang Slope’s environment was very conducive to her training; she was very pleased with the relocation site chosen by the Ling Family.

The Fire Feather Pheasant and Ling Yuyan emerged from Kugu Ridge, followed by a dense crowd of monsters.

The size disparity among monsters was tremendous, and just by looking, it was impossible to determine exactly how many there were in that crowd.

"They’re coming out," Lu Yu said, spotting a fiery red figure soaring through the sky.

Yu Xiaoman quickly stood on tiptoe to look towards Kugu Ridge and, seeing Ling Yuyan flying out with the Fire Feather Pheasant, paused for a moment and asked, "Is that my mentor?"

She couldn’t see clearly and wasn’t sure, so she asked Lu Yu to confirm if she was mistaken.

"If you mean the female mentor we saw at the training camp last time, it should be her," Lu Yu replied.

Under the Fire Feather Pheasant’s command, the monsters lined up in a straight line, following the Ling Family guide out of Kugu Ridge.

Every now and then, a monster tried to break from the line, but they were "physically persuaded" by the martial cultivators surrounding the team to return to formation.

Under the intimidation of the Fire Feather Pheasant, major chaos was averted; after reaching the demon qi realm, monsters generally gained some awareness and understood right from wrong.

The demon qi realm corresponds to the Qi Cultivation realm, the demon might realm corresponds to the Yu Qi realm, the Qi Sea realm corresponds to the Demon Spirit realm, the Core Formation realm corresponds to the Demon Core realm... As for the Body Refinement realm, it corresponds to the demonization realm, implying a beast not yet fully transformed into a monster.