Black qi entered his body, and Ye Yun immediately felt a tingling pain as if his body were being pricked by needles. Ye Yun discovered that this black qi was different from the black qi absorbed by the black ants that emerged from the living earth. It looked not only blacker but also less ethereal and seemed to carry weight.
"Senior, what exactly is this? Why does my whole body feel numb and slightly painful, like being pricked by needles?" To be honest, Ye Yun was a little panicked. This was not the virtual world of a game in the Heavenly Dao; this was the real world with no system prompts and no respawns.
"I didn't expect your pet to be so loyal. Don't worry, this black qi is the refined essence of dispersed demonic qi. It has already surpassed the category of demonic qi and belongs to demonic essence, which has a body-tempering effect on living beings."
Xue Daoguang's words left Ye Yun stunned. However, the pain in Ye Yun's body quickly subsided. Ye Yun did feel a slight improvement in his physical strength and power, but this improvement was almost negligible for him at this stage.
"Quantitative change can lead to qualitative change." As if sensing Ye Yun's thoughts, Xue Daoguang said with a smile.
"Alright, compared to this, I'm more concerned about the black ant's improvement." Ye Yun smiled faintly. Having been reborn for less than a month and reaching his current strength, Ye Yun was already quite content.
With a thought, Ye Yun's divine sense swept out, encompassing a radius of over thirty miles. This was a passive ability he had when his strength reached 20% of its manifested form, but the range of his divine sense left him unsatisfied.
"Hmm? I didn't expect there to be a small town at the entrance of this great rift valley? No wonder someone could discover me." A thought flashed through Ye Yun's mind, and his body rapidly moved towards it.
In the center of the town stood a colossal statue, a hundred meters tall. The statue was clad in a cloak, and its entire face, except for two eyes glowing red, was a tranquil black, appearing like nothingness from afar. A long, somewhat tattered cape, golden and silver armor, coupled with the greatsword on its back and its robust physique, exuded an imposing aura that instilled a sense of awe.
"This is Da Yan. He followed my grand-master into this place back then. I was fortunate to survive that battle. I didn't expect that after this guy achieved the status of Demon Emperor, the great canyon he cleaved with his sword would become a sacred land for their demon race's sword cultivators," Xue Daoguang sighed, looking at the statue below.
"Someone is coming up. Black ant, go." Ye Yun calmly looked at the statue below and the few black dots rising from the ground. He immediately spoke to the black ant, while his own body slowly descended onto the head of the statue in the center of the town.
"Humans? My Emperor was right. There must be a spatial barrier leading to the human world around here, otherwise, humans wouldn't come here from time to time." At this moment, a deafening voice boomed from the depths of the great rift valley. Countless black qi surged out of the valley and gradually condensed into the shape of a middle-aged man in the air.
Apart from the two large horns on his head and the fleshy tendrils on his face, he looked no different from a human.
"So this is what the demon race looks like?" Ye Yun exclaimed in surprise as he watched the rapidly approaching black shadow. What kind of monster was this?
"It seems Da Yan already knows about the spatial node here, but he doesn't know the exact location. I didn't expect him to specially dispatch a Demon General to guard it. Kid, it looks like your journey won't be smooth sailing this time," Xue Daoguang said with a grave expression, watching the town gradually being enveloped by black qi.
"In this world, whether things go smoothly or not is ultimately decided by strength." Ye Yun drew the long sword from his back. This was the first time he was using a weapon in the real world.
"I am General Ba Shan, the rotating Demon General under the command of Demon Emperor Da Yan. Da Yan's Four Divisions, arise! Battle!" The demon race did not rush towards Ye Yun as he expected. Instead, it stopped about a mile in front of him. He held a round token in his hand, which, amplified by his demonic energy, suddenly erupted with immense pressure. Ye Yun's face changed dramatically, and he almost knelt under this pressure.
"Da Yan's Four Divisions! Battle! Battle! Battle!" The pressure flashed and vanished, and the entire town underwent a tremendous transformation. Centered around the statue, countless demons emerged from the ground, their demonic qi surging. Deep ravines, tens of centimeters deep, suddenly appeared on the ground, crisscrossing each other, with demonic blood boiling within them.
"This... this is the Spirit Slaughter Formation! Hurry and leave!" Xue Daoguang, who had previously sunken into silence, suddenly shouted. However, it was too late.
The demonic blood flowing in the ravines suddenly soared into the sky, weaving into a blood net that emitted a scarlet glow, covering an area of over ten kilometers.
"Senior, what is the Spirit Slaughter Formation?" Ye Yun looked at the blood net that had formed in the sky, feeling immensely curious about this formation that could even alarm Xue Daoguang.
"The Spirit Slaughter Formation is a unique formation used by the demon realm against beings of foreign races. This formation requires the sacrifice of the vital blood of one hundred thousand demons, and then a formation master can use this vital blood to set up the Spirit Slaughter Formation."
"The greatest function of the Spirit Slaughter Formation is to restrict creatures of other races from using any energy other than demonic energy. For example, human true essence, the demon race's demonic power, and so on."
"This type of formation is usually only set up in large cities. I didn't expect Da Yan to be willing to spend the vital blood of one hundred thousand demons for such a small town."
Xue Daoguang rattled off a lot of information, but after hearing the function of the Spirit Slaughter Formation, he lost interest. Because if he couldn't use his true essence, he didn't even know how he would fight the opponent.
Most importantly, not being able to use true essence meant he couldn't fly, and he was currently standing a hundred meters in the air.
Therefore, after Xue Daoguang explained its function, Ye Yun didn't hesitate and jumped down from beneath the statue. Only by having his feet on the ground could he feel somewhat secure. Simultaneously, he gathered true essence onto the long sword in his hand. The previously dim sky was suddenly filled with light, and the dark clouds turned reddish.
"It's useless. Thanks to this demonic land, the blood net is impervious to all attacks," Xue Daoguang sighed. The demonic blood had been eroded by demonic qi for countless years, and it could be said that demonic blood itself was the essence condensed from demonic qi.
Whoosh...
The enormous blood net descended. The black ant seemed to sense Ye Yun's predicament, flapped its wings, streaked across the sky like an afterimage, and pounced on Ye Yun, knocking him to the ground.
What the...
Ye Yun stared at the black ant pressing down on him, his mind a complete blank. Had he just been sexually assaulted by a beast? And it was a male at that?