This day, the people of Genan Academy were truly reaping a bountiful harvest.
Watching their points soar, everyone was in exceptionally high spirits.
During this time, Sheng Mo Bai and his group also found them following their guidance. The entire Genan Academy was reunited, and their points had already pulled away from others, so they decided to take it easy.
"From now on, we'll just aim for those precious spirit herbs and ignore everything else."
The others shared the same idea.
Low-grade spirit herbs no longer satisfied them, so it was better to search for the rare ones. Not only would these significantly boost their points, but their reserves would also become much larger.
"Can we rest now then?"
Sheng Mo Bai was the most exhausted among them. Their team's damage output relied entirely on him, and unlike Yan Jiao Jiao and her group, he didn't have the good fortune of encountering multiple groups and fighting several battles along the way.
After finally finding some spirit herbs, they encountered the guardian beasts of the herbs, leading to several more battles.
In short, they were either fighting or on their way to fight.
They could be considered the most unfortunate of the three groups.
Yan Jiao Jiao was somewhat gloating about this, "It's alright, this is also your training. After this, you will only become stronger."
Sheng Mo Bai rolled his eyes.
"Although I have a very good impression of you, Jiao Jiao, and I should agree with whatever you say, to be honest, I really can't agree with what you're saying now. My conscience doesn't allow me to do so."
"Pfft, hahahaha..."
Everyone burst into hearty laughter.
Yan Jiao Jiao also joined in the laughter.
Xiao Hei, nestled in Yan Jiao Jiao's arms, saw the happy smiles on the faces of the men and women before him. He narrowed his eyes and let out a soft snort of cool air from his nose.
These immature younglings were so easily satisfied.
Xiao Hei closed his eyes, about to sleep, but as soon as he shut them, he suddenly sensed something, and all his fur stood on end.
He abruptly opened his eyes and looked towards the darkness.
The surroundings were pitch black, with only the campfire they sat around burning. The firelight illuminated a limited area, but for a demon emperor, his vision could extend far into the distance even in complete darkness.
Yan Jiao Jiao sensed Xiao Hei's unusual mood and quickly soothed him by stroking his back, while also becoming vigilant.
"Something's not right, everyone be on guard."
Everyone immediately stopped smiling.
Yan Jiao Jiao was the most powerful among them, and Xiao Hei was unfathomably so. The others blindly trusted them.
Although they felt nothing at the moment, seeing Yan Jiao Jiao's seriousness and Xiao Hei's fur standing on end like steel needles, their hearts grew heavier.
Even Xiao Hei was like this, which could only mean that the impending danger was terrifying.
Wen Jin Shu and Xiao Su leaned against each other, back to back, their bodies trembling slightly.
They had only recently escaped danger, and now to face peril again, although cultivators were bound to encounter such situations, facing near-death experiences one after another put immense pressure on them.
It was only because of their strong will that others might have already collapsed.
"Hiss hiss hiss—"
A sound resembling a snake's hiss echoed.
Jiang Yi Ling and the others' expressions immediately changed.
"Could it be that snake swarm coming back for revenge?"
Yan Jiao Jiao shook her head with certainty, "No."
She had already released her oppressive aura. Now that her spiritual power was abundant, her aura was even more terrifying. If it were truly those snakes, they would have already scurried away with their tails between their legs, and they wouldn't be steadily approaching.
"The other party is not a beast."
"Be extremely careful!"
With the possibility of it not being a spirit beast, the pressure on everyone intensified.
If it wasn't a spirit beast, then it was man-made.
Clearly, someone intended to wipe them out, deliberately luring something dangerous to deal with them.
"Damn it, they can't win, so they resort to dirty tricks. These people are truly disgusting!"
Everyone's expressions were equally grim.
Yan Jiao Jiao narrowed her eyes, her mind racing as she tried to guess what the approaching entity might be.
Such a terrifying oppressive aura, even though it hadn't arrived yet, made Yan Jiao Jiao's hair stand on end. The self-preservation instinct during impending danger screamed at Yan Jiao Jiao to flee quickly.
But Yan Jiao Jiao knew they couldn't escape.
Let alone so many of them, making escape impossible. Even if she summoned her flying mount, it would take time to land and take off. If the opponent sensed their intention to flee and charged forward, they would be unable to resist.
"What in the world is it..."
The unknown danger filled everyone with dread. They slowly formed a circle, backs against each other, drawing warmth from each other's bodies to calm their emotions.
"Tap."
A slight sound made everyone's hearts jolt. Before they could guess the origin of the sound, the next moment a piercing shriek erupted. Everyone felt their eardrums vibrate, and the disciple of the Wood faction, who had the lowest cultivation, coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"Cover your ears!" Yan Jiao Jiao roared upon seeing this, her spiritual energy transforming into a long sword, which she swept forward forcefully.
The trees, bushes, and grass in front of them were directly cleared away, and the darkness seemed to be dispelled. The hidden entity finally revealed its true form.
It was a creature that resembled a pig and a lizard.
It had a massive body and a pointed head, with a tongue that flicked out like a snake's, producing the "hiss hiss hiss" sound they had heard before.
From its bizarre appearance, some might have mistaken it for a spirit beast, but when everyone's gaze fell upon its feet, their eyes widened in shock.
"Isn't this a demon beast from the demon realm?"
"This is a Ridge Guardian Beast!"
"Is everything alright? How can a Ridge Guardian Beast appear in the Wangliang Secret Realm?"
At the same moment, in various parts of the Wangliang Secret Realm, the appearance of all sorts of demonic beasts caught the disciples of all the academies completely off guard.
The disciples of the Holy Grail Academy were the most panicked.
"What's going on? Why are there demonic beasts appearing!"
Demonic beasts were entirely different from spirit beasts. Having grown up in the demon realm, even their breathing and circulation carried a strong corrosive demonic energy. If one was careless and injured by a demonic beast, the demonic energy would quickly invade the body. Cultivators could not expel demonic energy on their own; it would rampage within the body, and if not dealt with promptly, the dantian could be destroyed!
Demonic beasts never roamed in areas inhabited by humans, and the gates of the demon realm couldn't be opened at any time or place. The Wangliang Secret Realm had existed for so many years without any mention of demon realm gates appearing, yet their generation of disciples entered, and demon realm gates appeared, with so many demonic beasts appearing at once?
All the disciples were stunned for a moment, but they quickly assumed a fighting stance. This was no time for confusion. With the appearance of demonic beasts, it was either them or the beasts that would perish!