Chapter 2464: Heavenly Buddhist Monk Yuanxiao

Half a year later, in a vast, dense black forest.

A colossal red lion was locked in a fierce battle with a giant silver dove. The red lion spewed flames from its mouth, turning an area thousands of miles in circumference into a sea of crimson fire, with flames reaching skyward.

The giant silver dove flapped its wings continuously, unleashing countless silver electric arcs.

A series of thunderous explosions echoed, and powerful shockwaves spread outwards, splitting the ground apart. Neither creature seemed to gain the upper hand.

After more than half an hour, tens of thousands of miles of land had been reduced to scorched earth. The red lion's body was covered in wounds and emitted a burnt smell. The giant silver dove circled erratically high in the sky, showing signs of being burned.

After circling for a moment high above, a colossal thundercloud, thousands of miles wide, suddenly appeared in the sky. The sky darkened instantly, and countless silver electric arcs became visible within it.

A sky-shattering roar of thunder erupted, and tens of thousands of silver lightning bolts streaked across the firmament, pouring down like torrential rain, directly at the red lion.

The red lion sensed danger, and a brilliant fiery glow erupted from its body.

Tens of thousands of silver lightning bolts struck, engulfing an area thousands of miles wide in dazzling silver lightning.

After a while, the lightning dissipated, revealing a massive crater in the ground. The red lion had vanished.

The giant silver dove flapped its wings, the thundercloud slowly dispersed, and it transformed into a streak of silver light, flying upwards, disappearing into the horizon.

More than an hour later, a mound of earth rose from the scorched ground, and Wang Changsheng and four others emerged from underground one after another.

"We actually encountered a seventh-tier demonic beast," Li Long exclaimed. "Fortunately, Junior Brother Wang discovered it in advance, otherwise, we would have been in big trouble." Seventh-tier demonic beasts roamed the desolate land, and the Demonic Spirit Disk couldn't detect their presence. Fortunately, Wang Changsheng's powerful spiritual sense had allowed them to discover seventh-tier demonic beasts multiple times in advance, earning him the recognition of Li Long and the other two.

Wang Changsheng's spiritual sense was even stronger than Li Long's, allowing him to detect the traces of seventh-tier demonic beasts in advance.

"Indeed!" Qin Rong agreed, nodding. "It's a good thing we hid underground in advance. If we had faced a seventh-tier demonic beast head-on, it would have been difficult for us to escape using evasive techniques." They had been in the desolate land for more than half a year, and the Dual-Pupiled Rat had led them to many spiritual herbs aged eight to nine thousand years. Wang Changsheng, relying on his powerful spiritual sense, had detected seventh-tier demonic beasts in advance, avoiding danger multiple times. If not for the seventh-tier demonic beasts, they would have reached their destination much sooner.

"The seventh-tier demonic beast has left," Li Long urged. "Let's continue on our way! The sooner we get the Blood-Scaled Ganoderma, the sooner we can return." With a flick of his sleeve, a constantly shimmering golden scroll flew out from his sleeve, instantly expanding and floating in mid-air.

"Two Void Refinement cultivators are approaching," Wang Changsheng said, frowning as he gazed towards the distant horizon.

His spiritual sense detected two powerful auras flying towards them. They could be human cultivators or other races. Since entering the desolate land, they hadn't encountered any other cultivators or alien races.

Wang Changsheng could sense their auras, indicating they were not far. There wasn't enough time to set up a formation.

Liu Sen conjured a two-foot-long azure jade Ruyi scepter. Runes flickered on it, exuding astonishing spiritual energy.

He gently waved the azure jade Ruyi, and a surge of azure light swept out, enveloping all five of them.

With a flash of azure light, the azure aura dissipated, and they vanished from sight.

If they were human cultivators, there would be no problem, but alien races were a different matter.

Soon after, two streaks of light flew in from the distant horizon, stopping above where Wang Changsheng and the others were hidden. The lights dissipated, revealing a tall, slender young man in a golden robe and a monk in an azure monastic robe.

The young man in the golden robe had a fair complexion, sharp sword-like brows and starry eyes, and several colorful pouches hung from his waist. It was Lin Bue.

The monk in the azure robe had a round face and large eyes, a fair complexion, and a benevolent appearance, wearing a string of azure Buddhist beads on his chest.

"A battle between seventh-tier demonic beasts?" Lin Bue's eyes were filled with doubt and surprise. They had been drawn by the sounds of the battle.

The azure-robed monk looked towards a certain spot in the void, his eyes glowing with azure light. He pressed his palms together and said, "This poor monk is Yuan Xiao. Greetings to you five fellow Daoists."

Lin Bue's expression darkened. He looked towards the same spot in the void, his face full of wariness.

An azure light glowed in the void, and Wang Changsheng and the four others appeared.

"I am Li Long of Zhenhai Palace. We mean no harm; we simply assumed you were an alien race, which is why we used our spells to conceal ourselves," Li Long explained.

"I am Lin Bue. Greetings to you five fellow Daoists." Upon hearing the words "Zhenhai Palace," any unease Lin Bue felt immediately vanished, and he quickly introduced himself.

"I am Liu Sen. I know Master Dinghui of Baofo Temple, but I haven't heard of a Master like you there. Master Yuan Xiao, to be able to detect us, your divine abilities are considerable! May I ask, Master, are you not from the Profound Spirit Continent?" Liu Sen asked politely.

"This poor monk hails from the Heavenly Buddha Sect, located in the Sky Sun Desert Sea. It's quite normal for Fellow Daoist Liu not to have heard of me," Monk Yuan Xiao explained.

"The Sky Sun Desert Sea!" Wang Changsheng had read records about the Sky Sun Desert Sea in ancient texts. The Sky Sun Desert Sea was a vast desert, a territory controlled by alien races. The texts had not mentioned the Heavenly Buddha Sect.

Li Long and the other two exchanged glances. This was the first time they had heard of this sect. The Sky Sun Desert Sea was too far from the Profound Spirit Continent, and none of them had ever been there. Their knowledge of the Sky Sun Desert Sea was limited.

"Fellow Daoist Li, please be careful. We've encountered several Lizardfolk at the Void Refinement stage and were almost ambushed by them," Lin Bue warned.

The Lizardfolk were one of the five major races on the Profound Spirit Continent, an established power. However, they had been in decline in recent years, and conflicts with humans were relatively rare.

"Lizardfolk! Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist Lin," Li Long expressed his gratitude.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Li, have you encountered any Seven-Colored Deer?" Lin Bue asked politely.

Li Long thought for a moment and said, "Seven-Colored Deer? In a grassland over a hundred million miles from here, we encountered a few Seven-Colored Deer. However, their escape speed was too fast. You might try your luck there."

"Thank you for the guidance. We have other matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave." After Lin Bue finished speaking, he and Monk Yuan Xiao transformed into two streaks of light and departed.

Li Long conjured a shimmering golden scroll, and with a flick of a magic incantation, the golden scroll instantly expanded. The five people hopped onto it one by one.

With a flash of golden light, the golden scroll transformed into a golden streak of light, tearing through the air, and disappeared into the horizon.

More than two months later, they appeared in a continuous range of lush green mountains.

Wang Changsheng and the four others stood in an open clearing. In the distance, there was a majestic peak over ten thousand zhang tall.

The mountain was overgrown with weeds. According to their intelligence, the Blood-Scaled Ganoderma was inside a cave halfway up the mountain.

The Dual-Pupiled Rat crawled out from Wang Changsheng's embrace, its eyes glowing brightly.

A wisp of Wang Changsheng's spiritual avatar attached itself to the rat, allowing him to clearly see a massive cave halfway up the mountain. Inside the cave were numerous demonic beast skeletons, and in a corner, more than ten blood-red ganoderma plants were growing. The surface of the ganoderma had faint golden patterns, closely resembling golden scales.

A gigantic ape lay in a corner, fast asleep, its eyes tightly closed.