Chapter 231: Exile

"It seems you two junior brothers have grown bored with cultivation lately, lacking the drive to improve your realms. That's why you've started concerning yourselves with such trivial matters."

"Since that's the case, why don't the two of you junior brothers go and gain some experience at the border between the continent and the Demon Realm?"

"Senior Sister, this isn't quite..." Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou tried to protest, but their Senior Sister, without a word, grabbed each of them by the collar. Like picking up two small rabbit cubs, she casually flung them away.

The two felt the scenery shift instantly, finding themselves airborne, hurtling southward at an astonishing speed – or rather, being flung in that direction. The landscape changed so rapidly that they couldn't even begin to calculate their velocity. They merely caught glimpses of flying boats and powerful cultivators, all flashing by in an instant. This left the passengers on the flying boats and the cultivators themselves utterly bewildered, secretly speculating about the cultivation level of these two figures whose speed was so astounding. *Thump!*

They landed with a thud, sprawling head over heels, heads down, feet flailing skyward, thoroughly entangled in vines.

"I feel like my body's falling apart," Lu Yang groaned, struggling to his feet. His entire body ached as if it had been taken apart and clumsily reassembled.

"Where are we?" Meng Jingzhou asked, surveying their surroundings. He noted the dense jungle, the abundance of rare plants, and the oppressive humidity.

"Didn't Senior Sister say she wanted us to gain experience at the border of the Demon Realm? This must be it."

Lu Yang pointed out some local specialties. "Look, these are all things rarely seen on the continent: this is Golden Coin Flower, this is Flowing Cloud Grass, this is Ten Thousand Green Wood, and this is a snake demon whose cultivation realm I can't discern... huh?"

Several snake demons, entirely dark green with triangular heads, appeared in their line of sight, hissing their tongues as they rapidly slithered towards them.

"Run!"

Unable to discern the snake demons' cultivation realms, they dared not be careless. They ripped themselves free from the vines, landed with a tumble, and took off running. This group of snake demons looked formidable; they weren't particularly afraid if they were merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, but what if they were stronger?

"Little brothers, don't run! Come play with us sisters," a snake demon cooed, her voice human and sensuously alluring, sending tingles down their spines.

"Sisters will surely make you feel heavenly~" "Come and play~"

They looked back to find the snake demons had transformed into human form. With captivating and seemingly delicate appearances, clad in revealing attire, they clearly were not from virtuous backgrounds.

"No, no, you're too ugly," Meng Jingzhou politely refused.

The snake demons froze for a moment upon hearing this, then erupted in fury, accelerating their pursuit.

Fortunately, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were no slouches; when it came to escaping, they feared no one, their legs pumping incredibly fast.

Unfortunately, misfortune struck: without warning, they both plunged into a swamp.

With the snake demons closing in, Lu Yang declared decisively, "This won't work. Let's use the Ground Shrinking technique to escape."

"What about me?"

"Stand still and form a Ground Prison!" Lu Yang quickly drew a circle around Meng Jingzhou, and before Meng Jingzhou could even react, he found himself confined within a makeshift ground prison.

Lu Yang then activated Ground Shrinking, pushing the ground prison—and its captive, Meng Jingzhou—as he fled. "Can these two spells really be used in conjunction?"

The snake demons behind them were utterly dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what had just transpired. By the time they extended their divine sense to search for the two, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had already vanished beyond their detection range.

"Are we really that terrifying?" the snake demons wondered, exchanging bewildered glances. They had intended to earn spirit stones in the human realm by using their bodies, but to their surprise, humans proved to be far more strong-willed than anticipated, fleeing at first sight. Even more incredibly, when the snake demons offered to "play," their targets only ran faster.

They were of the Jade Heaven Green Snake clan, a species renowned for such endeavors within the Demon Realm. Now, attempting to expand their business into the human territories, they hadn't secured a single client.

"Perhaps we should apply to human brothels instead of trying to 'do business' out here? I've heard many sisters do that," another snake demon inquired.

"But didn't they say humans also enjoy outdoor activities? Plus, there are no taxes out here."

"I just don't get it."

***

Meanwhile, Lu Yang continued his frantic sprint, pushing Meng Jingzhou along, his legs pumping with the agility of a fish.

"Are we far enough?" "We should have escaped."

They both emerged from the ground at the same time, only to see the massive foot of a giant elephant descending towards them. Behind it was an entire herd of elephants, their eyes bloodshot and their tusks over three meters long—clearly not creatures to be trifled with.

Lu Yang swiftly dragged both himself and Meng Jingzhou back underground.

When they peeked out again, they saw a demon beast, part tiger and part leopard, sprawled on the corpse of a deer demon, feasting heartily.

The two humans and the demon beast stared at each other for a stunned moment. Then the beast roared, and they quickly burrowed underground once more, fleeing for their lives.

Finally, the two managed to crawl out of the earth, now leaning on makeshift crutches, bearing the marks of yet another unknown ordeal.

"This isn't training; this is practically..." Before the word "exile" could be fully uttered, Lu Yang cut him off.

"Don't talk nonsense! This is Senior Sister's training for us!" Lu Yang, far more cautious than Meng Jingzhou, worried that Senior Sister had a way to monitor them. He frantically winked at Meng Jingzhou, fearing that angering Senior Sister would only bring them further torment.

Meng Jingzhou suddenly caught on and quickly corrected himself: "Discov... she discovered our realms were unstable, so she wants us to fight and seek opportunities for breakthroughs here!"

"Where are we going? We can't stay here forever, can we?" Lu Yang asked, trudging unsteadily and feeling the profound difficulty of survival.

"Don't panic. Since this is the junction between the Central Continent and the Demon Realm, there must be large cities here! My family told me that the Great Xia Dynasty established six cities in this area to guard against the demon race. One of my uncles is even stationed in one of them!"

"Hm? What's that on your arm?" Lu Yang noticed a small, black worm wriggling on Meng Jingzhou's arm, thick at the head and tapering towards the tail. He had no idea when it had gotten there.

"It's a leech!" Meng Jingzhou yelped, frantically shaking his arm, but the leech clung to him as if glued, refusing to be dislodged.

"Don't panic, I heard these things are afraid of fire. Watch me burn it! *Pah!*" Lu Yang spat a wisp of Samadhi True Fire, lightly scorching the leech. The creature instantly shriveled, released its grip, and fell from Meng Jingzhou's arm.

Both had kept their divine sense active, but they had only been wary of large demon beasts. They never expected that even common insects in this area required such vigilance.

While the leech wouldn't have breached Meng Jingzhou's defenses, Meng Jingzhou, having been pampered since childhood, found the experience physiologically unsettling.

After burrowing into demon beast lairs seven times, being besieged by demon beasts five times, forced into combat with them four times, and crawling out of a demon beast's belly once, the two finally emerged from the dense forest and saw a city constructed by humans.

They were disheveled and limping, with streaks of demon beast saliva still clinging to their hair.

On the city gate tower, the three large characters "Demon Suppression Pass" gleamed, exuding an inexplicable pressure that filled them with an odd sense of security.

"May Senior Sister bless us, we're finally out!" they exclaimed, pressing their palms together and looking skyward in gratitude for their Senior Sister's unexpected mercy.