Chapter 622 - 618: Lion Demon
Chapter 622: Chapter 618: Lion Demon
"Yun Qianyue’s father, Yun Yueshan..."
Fang Han muttered to himself.
He recalled Yun Qianyue telling him about her family during one of their conversations.
His prospective father-in-law, Yun Yueshan, had been stuck at the Peak of Fourth Grade for many years, unable to break through to the Third Grade.
This Realm-Breaking Fruit would be a perfect addition to his list of betrothal gifts for the Yun Family.
Fang Han took a Cold Jade Box from his Storage Ring. He carefully plucked the Realm-Breaking Fruit, placed it inside, closed the lid, and returned the box to his Storage Ring.
He straightened up and continued onward.
Over the next hour or so, he found several more precious ores.
There was a fist-sized piece of Star Iron, dark silver all over with fine, starlight-like patterns on its surface, glowing with a cold luster in the sunlight.
"Deposit."
[Wealth: 3,750,000 Gold → 3,810,000 Gold]
A washbasin-sized Purple Essence Ore, deep purple in color and covered with dense, natural crystals.
"Deposit."
[Wealth: 3,810,000 Gold → 3,880,000 Gold]
A head-sized piece of Cold Ice Profound Iron, the color of the deep sea. It was cold to the touch and radiated a faint chill.
"Deposit."
[Wealth: 3,880,000 Gold → 3,960,000 Gold]
Fang Han deposited all the ores. Just as he was about to press on, his steps faltered.
Through the senses of his Netherworld Guide, he detected an exceptionally unique aura a few miles ahead.
It was an intensely rich and unusual fragrance. Even from miles away, the scent drifted clearly to his nose.
And accompanying this fragrance was another aura.
It was scorching, violent, and heavy, carrying the ferocious pressure of an apex predator.
’A First-Grade Demon!’
’Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures guarded by a Demon.’
After a moment of thought, Fang Han sped off in the direction of the auras.
With his current strength, an ordinary First-Grade Demon was no longer a concern.
He moved silently through the ancient trees, covering the few miles in a mere moment.
Passing through a dense thicket of shrubs, a relatively open clearing appeared ahead.
In the center of the clearing grew a peculiar plant.
The plant was about three feet tall and fiery red all over.
Its stalk was as thick as a child’s arm, its surface covered in fine, scale-like patterns that shimmered like flames in the sunlight.
At its tip bloomed a single flower.
The flower was about the size of a bowl and had nine petals, each a fiery, crimson hue.
The edges of the petals were inlaid with a fine golden thread that seemed to flow with a faint, precious light.
In the flower’s center, a crimson mist slowly swirled, like a small, contained flame.
The rich, unusual fragrance emanated from that crimson mist.
"The Longevity Flower!"
Fang Han’s pupils contracted slightly.
The Longevity Flower. He had read about it in the Sect’s records.
It was an extremely rare Low-grade Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, no less precious than the Realm-Breaking Fruit. Its effect wasn’t to enhance one’s Cultivation or break through bottlenecks, but to—extend one’s life.
A single Longevity Flower could extend a person’s life by thirty years.
For older generation Martial Artists whose lifespans were nearing their end with no hope of a breakthrough, these thirty years meant thirty more years to seek that breakthrough, thirty more years of opportunity to change their fate.
Its value was self-evident.
And beside the Longevity Flower, a Demon lay coiled.
The Demon resembled a male lion magnified several times over. It was more than thirty feet long and stood a full ten feet at the shoulder. Lying there, it looked like a small, crimson hill.
Its body was covered in a fiery, crimson mane, each hair seeming to burn as it glowed with a scorching luster in the sunlight.
It had a massive head, and its eyes were dark gold with pupils as vertical as a snake’s.
As it blinked, two balls of fire seemed to burn within its eyes.
The aura it exuded was scorching and violent, carrying a heart-pounding sense of pressure.
STEP, STEP, STEP—
Boldness comes from skill. Fang Han strode toward the center of the clearing.
His pace was steady, his boots making a soft RUSTLE on the decaying leaves.
The crimson Lion Demon’s eyes snapped open.
Its dark-gold, vertical pupils fixed on Fang Han as it let out a low growl.
The roar was like muffled thunder, shaking the surrounding leaves into a RUSTLE.
It shot to its feet, its massive body turning to face Fang Han.
The crimson hairs of its mane stood on end, like a blazing fire.
A wave of scorching heat radiated out from it, searing the decaying leaves on the ground yellow and causing them to curl.
Fang Han didn’t stop walking.
He rested his right hand on the hilt of his Cloud Splitting Sword—which was now chipped from his fight with Qin Yuan—and calmly gazed at the Lion Demon.
"ROAR—!"
The crimson Lion Demon let out a deafening roar, its four paws digging into the ground as its massive body shot toward Fang Han like a crimson bolt of lightning.
It was so fast that it left only a blurry afterimage in its wake.
Its sharp claws tore through the air with a piercing shriek.
Each claw was several inches long and glinted with a sinister, cold light.
Before it even reached him, the scorching wave of heat washed over Fang Han, blowing the hair on his forehead back.
Fang Han drew his sword.
The Cloud Splitting Sword left its sheath, its dark cyan blade revealing a subdued brilliance.
He slashed out.
The sword light flashed like a rainbow, transforming into a cyan-gold bolt of energy. Filled with an edge that could tear through anything, it met the crimson figure head-on.
"CLANG—!!!"
The sword’s edge collided with the lion’s claws, erupting in a deafening clang of metal.
A visible shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact.
The blast wave, like a tide, sent decaying leaves and shattered stones flying into the air.
The surrounding trees were battered by the wave, their canopies shaking violently as countless leaves and branches rained down with a RUSTLE.
The crimson Lion Demon’s forward lunge was stopped dead by the sword strike, its massive body sliding back over a hundred feet.
Its four giant claws plowed deep gouges into the ground, churning up the soil.
The Lion Demon steadied itself and let out an enraged roar.
"WHOOSH!"
With a flicker, Fang Han moved, but not in pursuit.
Taking advantage of the moment his sword had driven the Lion Demon away from the Longevity Flower, he reached out with his left hand, his five fingers closing precisely around the fiery red blossom.
With a gentle tug, the Longevity Flower was plucked.
A mere thought, and the Longevity Flower vanished into his Storage Ring.
From drawing his sword to picking the flower, less than a single breath had passed.
"ROAR—"
In the crimson Lion Demon’s dark-gold vertical pupils, fury erupted as if it were a physical substance.
It let out an earth-shattering roar, and the crimson mane all over its body suddenly flared out.
A torrent of scorching flames erupted from within, engulfing its massive frame.
This was no ordinary fire; it was a bizarre, dark crimson color.
Wherever the flames passed, the air warped and distorted with a SIZZLING sound.
The ground beneath it cracked and blackened, and the surrounding plants were silently reduced to ash.
Fang Han’s expression tightened.
’This Lion Demon is even stronger than I first judged.’
’Judging by the power of these flames, it could go head-to-head with a First-Breakthrough Martial Artist.’
His previous strike had knocked the Lion Demon back, but it wasn’t seriously injured, having only suffered a shallow gash on its right claw.
’Not bad at all,’ Fang Han muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the Lion Demon.
With a roar, the Lion Demon lunged again.
This time, it was even faster.
Its massive body, wreathed in dark crimson flames, shot toward Fang Han like a burning meteor, carrying a terrifying power that threatened to incinerate everything in its path.
It swiped with both front claws, the dark crimson flames solidifying on them and creating sharp, explosive cracks as they tore through the air.
"SWISH—!"
A serious look flashed in Fang Han’s eyes.
He slashed again with the Cloud Splitting Sword.
This strike was even more powerful than the last.
He channeled his Perfection-level Sky-Splitting Sword Technique to its fullest, and his Wind Sword Intent coiled around the blade.
As the blade passed, a pitch-black rift several dozen feet long silently tore open in the air.
The sword light collided with the flames.
"BOOM—!!!"
Amidst the earth-shattering explosion, the sword light cleaved the dark crimson flames in two.
The flames rolled back on both sides like a parted wave.
The sword light, its momentum unchecked, struck the Lion Demon’s chest.
"SQUELCH—"
Blood sprayed into the air.
The crimson Lion Demon’s massive body was sent flying like a broken kite, slamming violently into an ancient tree, so thick it would take several people to encircle it, hundreds of feet away.
"BANG—!"
The ancient tree snapped in half, sending splinters everywhere.
The Lion Demon crashed to the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
On its chest, a gash deep enough to show bone stretched diagonally from its right shoulder to its left flank. Dark red blood gushed out like a spring.
It struggled to get up, but the movement agitated its chest wound, and it let out a painful whimper.
Fang Han advanced, sword in hand.
In the Lion Demon’s dark-gold vertical pupils, the fury was gone, replaced by deep fear.
It watched Fang Han approach step by step, the terror in its vertical pupils growing more intense.
Just as Fang Han came within thirty feet of it, it did something that surprised him.
It lowered its massive head.
The posture was like that of a house dog submitting to its master.
A low whine came from its throat—no longer a roar, but a sound of fawning and begging for mercy.
Fang Han’s steps paused for a moment.
He looked at the trembling Lion Demon with its lowered head, and a thought stirred in his mind.
’It’s quite intelligent.’
He muttered to himself.
He thought of the Sect Leader’s White Tiger mount, which saved a great deal of travel time on long journeys.
’If I could take this Lion Demon as a mount, travel would be much more convenient in the future.’
As for rebellion—
’With my current strength, I could easily suppress it.’
’Even if this Lion Demon had treacherous thoughts, it couldn’t cause any real trouble.’
The only worry was whether he could bring the Lion Demon out of the Secret Realm when the three-day time limit was up.
’Oh, well.’
Fang Han sheathed his sword and looked at the Lion Demon.
"If you are willing to submit to me and be my mount, I will spare your life."
As if it understood Fang Han’s words, the Lion Demon nodded its massive head repeatedly.
Its long, thick tail wagged back and forth like a dog’s, kicking up dust from the ground.
"Very good."
Fang Han nodded slightly, took a healing Jade Dew Pill from his Storage Ring, and flicked it toward the Lion Demon.
"Swallow it."
The Lion Demon opened its great maw, swallowed the Jade Dew Pill, and then lay down meekly, allowing Fang Han to inspect its wound.
Fang Han walked over and pressed the gash on the Lion Demon’s chest. The wound was deep, but it hadn’t damaged its internal organs.
With a Demon’s regenerative abilities, which far surpassed a human’s, it wouldn’t take long to heal completely.