https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-646-Mermaid-s-Tears-Encounter-with-Dao-Lan-and-the-Second-Form-of-the-Hell-of-Samsara/12942515/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-648-The-Demon-Emperor-s-Arrival-the-Mountain-Lifting-Palm-and-the-Stirring-Wind-/12942517/
Chapter 647: Deserving of the Demon Lord's Name, What a Demon Head's Style!
Chapter 647: Deserving of the Demon Lord's Name, What a Demon Head's Style!
Since joining the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly, Luo Chen had undertaken very few missions.
Especially for the most common monster-hunting tasks, he hadn't done a single one.
Therefore, he wasn't very clear about the details of such missions.
At this moment, in the Taiping Fortress, several Zhi Ji True Cultivators spent half a day appraising the monster corpses Luo Chen presented, and when they encountered something they didn't understand, they broke into a cold sweat and frequently took out sound transmission talismans to consult with another expert appraiser who wasn't present.
Finally, they arrived at a conclusion.
For the four monster corpses, selling them to the Demon Hunting Bureau would earn around 2.6 million spirit stones.
Additionally, the converted merit points were also sufficient for Luo Chen to advance from a five-star monster hunter to a six-star one, with some to spare.
This result was within Luo Chen's expectations.
After all, these were four late-stage third-rank Great Demon Kings, each as powerful as a Great Cultivator!
Ordinary people would boast for a lifetime if they could kill just one, let alone Luo Chen who had slain four at once.
The only thing that surprised Luo Chen was the price of the demon king corpses.
On his journey of cultivation, he had encountered numerous monster corpse trades, making him very sensitive to their prices.
For a typical first-rank monster, the price was merely a thousand or so low-grade spirit stones.
For second-rank monsters, the price was around ten thousand spirit stones, and the corpses had to be relatively intact.
Third-rank monsters were expensive, costing hundreds of thousands, and they were further categorized into stages.
Early-stage demon kings had one price, mid-stage demon kings another, and late-stage demon kings were several times or even tens of times more!
Of course, these were the past trading prices for monster corpses in the Eastern Wilderness.
On the North Sea, due to the vast sea area and the endless variety of monsters, the prices were relatively low.
But even so, these were still four late-stage third-rank Great Demon Kings!
Not to mention two million, even if they were sold for seven or eight million in total, it would still be reasonable.
"Two million? Are you joking with me?" Luo Chen asked in a low voice, his unexpressed aura oppressing the others.
Under his pressure, the Zhi Ji True Cultivators shivered, and they turned their pleading gazes towards the silent Dao Lan.
Dao Lan sighed helplessly. "The Demon Hunting Bureau's internal prices for purchasing monster materials are usually half of the external market prices. Haven't you ever inquired about this over the years, fellow Daoist?"
Luo Chen coldly hummed, feeling displeased.
In his heart, he understood why Zhang Jiadi and his wife had risked punishment from the Demon Hunting Bureau to sell the monsters they hunted to the Giant Whale Harbor.
The internal prices were indeed too oppressive.
It wasn't a fifty-fifty split; it was more like a sixty-four or even seventy-three split.
Seeing Luo Chen's displeasure, Dao Lan, who needed his cooperation, further explained, "Although the prices are low, a portion of it can be considered as merit points for advancing your monster hunter rank."
"Moreover, the lost portion can be made up through the discounted internal resources of the Demon Hunting Bureau."
"It's not that low. It's always been like this over the years."
"Furthermore, fellow Daoist, these monster corpses have many defects, so they don't meet the optimal trading price."
"Even if one day you advance to a nine-star monster hunter, you'll receive a bias towards the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly's resources for Nascent Soul cultivation. Compared to that, this loss is insignificant."
Listening to this seemingly rough and belligerent warrior using a familial tone and haggling over every detail to console him, Luo Chen found it quite amusing.
"Fine, fine, just two million. I'm not in the mood to argue with you."
This sum was a huge amount for ordinary Golden Core cultivators, enough to rent an ordinary third-rank spirit ground for a long time.
But to Luo Chen, it was insignificant.
Not to mention the increasing yield of Penghu Spirit Ground over the years, just the 30 million spirit stones he obtained from Bai Zao Mountain Lord's storage bag was already a massive fortune!
That was a truly enormous sum!
Bai Zao Mountain was a major artifact-forging sect, rich beyond measure.
Clearly, Bai Zao Mountain Lord had brought most of his wealth with him on this trip, and in the end, it benefited Luo Chen.
His previous displeasure wasn't about the price but merely a reluctance to be taken advantage of.
Since the rules were like this, he was too lazy to argue.
Dao Lan was surprised, "But isn't it 2.6 million?"
Luo Chen hummed, "The other corpses can be sold to the Demon Hunting Bureau, but I'll take this Oversea Demon Serpent with me!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand and directly stored the withered Oversea Demon Serpent corpse into his Thunder Accumulation Treasure Ring.
The other appraisers exchanged glances, but in the end, no one dared to say another word.
Dao Lan wanted to remind Luo Chen that it was best to use it himself and not circulate it outside the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly, or else he might be punished by the Demon Hunting Bureau.
But he swallowed his words.
Luo Chen had already agreed to sell the Flame-Toothed Shark's teeth to him at an extremely low price, and he had gotten a great deal. It wouldn't be wise to offend him at this moment.
Moreover, the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly strictly managed low-level cultivators, and their constraints on high-ranking monster hunters like him weren't as strong.
Let him be!
After handling this matter, Luo Chen felt no attachment and bid farewell to Dao Lan before returning to his cave abode.
After two days of rest, Luo Chen once again headed towards the Sinking Sea.
During his absence, the name of the Azure Sun Demon Lord had spread throughout the Tranquil Fortress, and the topic of discussion among the loose cultivators was even more heated than when Dao Lan killed the Golden Horned Silver Rhinoceros.
Dao Lan's strength was already well-known within the fortress, and his defeat of the Golden Horned Silver Rhinoceros was merely an addition to his glory.
But the Azure Sun Demon Lord, a Venerable One renowned for his artifact forging skills in the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly, had achieved such a brilliant battle record in his first appearance on the battlefield, which naturally became a hot topic of conversation.
The only thing that left everyone curious was that in all the discussions, there was hardly any mention of the Azure Sun Demon Lord's true methods for defeating his opponents.
Everyone knew he had the strength, but they didn't know what kind of treasure or secret technique he relied on.
...
Above a small island, a lake was shrouded in thick clouds and mist, filled with a sinister aura of ghosts.
Luo Chen hovered high in the sky, and a majestic sun shone dazzlingly, but its radiance couldn't penetrate the ghostly mist below.
Within Luo Chen's body, it was as if there was also a grand sun, constantly emitting its brilliance outwards.
His Primordial Golden Core spun rapidly, and his Primordial Cauldron emitted a dazzling light, channeling his surging spiritual power through a unique array formation, creating the so-called Hell of Samsara in the void.
Below him, over a thousand low-level monsters wailed and cried in agony.
A mid-stage third-stage Demon King, unwilling to accept defeat, lifted its head and roared at the Crimson Robe Daoist. It tried to summon a somewhat awkward flying sword, but it wobbled and fell to the ground, seemingly completely uncontrollable.
Under the suppression of Hell of Samsara, a powerful Demon King might have been able to resist a little.
But these low-level monsters could only be slaughtered.
Even the mid-stage third-stage Demon King couldn't control its demonic power or its treasures.
Desperate, it tried to charge at the Crimson Robe Daoist with its physical body, but the ghostly aura surrounding it was filled with Ghost Kings that flew out from time to time, entering its body and causing it to lose control of its own body.
In this situation, Luo Chen could effortlessly manipulate his Primordial True Fire, refining the still-living monsters.
He burned, refined, and devoured their life force, nourishing himself.
"The price the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly pays for monsters is really too low. It's better to use them to improve myself."
While controlling the Hell of Samsara to suppress the monsters, Luo Chen refined their life force with his Primordial True Fire and even had the leisure to think about other matters.
When the fourth-stage Withering Prosperity True Fire burned everything, landing on the monster that resembled neither a deer nor a sheep, several Ghost Kings hurriedly escaped and flew to the side, awaiting orders.
After about a dozen breaths, Luo Chen slowly retracted his Primordial True Fire.
The Hell of Samsara that had suppressed everything suddenly dissipated.
Luo Chen floated in mid-air, eyes closed, sensing the changes in his body.
"The life force transformed from over a thousand low-level monsters and a third-stage Demon King is still less than half of what a mermaid has."
"Even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Accumulating them will eventually lead to a qualitative change."
On the other side of the Sinking Sea, powerful Demon Kings were hard to find, but low-level monsters were abundant.
After killing them all, there would still be an endless supply on the other side of the Arctic Night Mo's Heaven.
Luo Chen believed that with some effort, he would eventually achieve results, and this process wasn't dangerous for him at all.
The only issue was that Luo Chen discovered that the life force his Withering Prosperity True Fire could nourish was becoming less and less.
This puzzled Luo Chen.
Was it because the monsters' ranks weren't high enough, or had his body reached its limit in carrying capacity? Or perhaps, was it the Withering Prosperity True Fire that was limiting him?
Shaking his head, Luo Chen opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. With a wave of his hand, a black banner fell into his grasp, and the countless Ghost Generals and Ghost Kings, along with the sinister ghostly aura, all poured into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Only then did the scorching sunlight and the burning gazes outside fall upon Luo Chen.
"It's the Azure Sun Demon Lord! He's out!"
"Show some respect, call him Venerable One or Senior Qingyangzi!"
"You don't understand, some big shots have their preferences."
"Never mind that, I wonder how the Demon Lord's battle went?"
As Luo Chen appeared, the burning gazes finally fell upon the lake bed below, now dry and devoid of any water, with only thick layers of monster bones remaining.
There were no monster corpses, only thick layers of ash.
The crowd stared at each other in disbelief, and an incredible guess surfaced in their minds.
Could it be...
"Impossible! The monsters on this island are skilled in formation attacks. Even with the five of them working together, Guo Fengdao and the others couldn't conquer this island. How could the Demon Lord have killed them all by himself?"
"Nothing's impossible. Guo Fengdao and the others aren't orthodox Core Formation Cultivators; they're Pseudo Core Formation Cultivators who advanced by refining Monster Cores. If they couldn't defeat these monsters, why couldn't the Demon Lord?"
"But... there are no remains, not even bones!"
Amidst the exclamations, Luo Chen seemed unaffected.
His gaze fell upon the five Core Formation Cultivators at the front of the crowd.
As his eyes landed on them, the five involuntarily bowed and greeted him respectfully.
"Guo Fengdao pays his respects to the Demon Lord!"
Luo Chen didn't bother remembering their names; they were just Pseudo Core Formation Cultivators. But at this moment, he had a question for them.
Previously, the intelligence report indicated that this group of monster beasts was not on the island, which meant there was a discrepancy in the information.
Next, he still had to hunt down other lower-tier monster beasts, and to prevent similar situations, it would be better to seek clarification from these people.
As soon as he opened his mouth, Guo Fengdao and the others immediately provided him with the latest intelligence on the gathering of monster beasts.
"Frog Mouth Vortex... Blue Green Plain... Xu Liuhai... Three Pillars Canyon..."
He memorized these place names one by one.
These places were all gathering spots for large numbers of lower-tier monster beasts, and the information greatly differed from the distribution map of military forces given by Shen Tu from the Taiping Fortress.
After all, monster beasts wouldn't always stay in one fixed location.
Especially with the hunting of cultivators.
They would also change their locations.
After Luo Chen noted down these places, he nodded to the group in thanks before quickly flying away.
After he left, Guo Fengdao and the others stood together, looking at each other in surprise, unable to utter a word for a long while.
As Core Formation Cultivators, even if they were Pseudo Core Formation Cultivators, they were indeed powerful cultivators with profound abilities.
Therefore, in front of Luo Chen, they could more intuitively sense his formidable strength!
Even though he had suppressed much of his spiritual pressure, the profound and boundless fluctuations of his spiritual power still overwhelmed them.
After a long time, Guo Fengdao finally spoke.
"If he wanted to kill us, it might not even take three moves!"
...
In the following months, Luo Chen frequently appeared on the battlefield of the Sinking Sea, where humans and monster beasts clashed.
Upon arriving at each location, he would first deploy the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to block the sightlines from inside and out.
Then, he would forcefully suppress the lower-tier monster beasts with the Hell of Samsara and refine them using the Primordial True Fire, extracting their life force.
When encountering more formidable Third Stage Demon Kings, he would use a few seals of the Azure Sun Great Hand Imprint, and if he found it troublesome, a single glance of the Illusory Moonlight would easily subdue them.
After he left, it often meant the disappearance of hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of lower-tier monster beasts.
Not a single bone left!
Such domineering and frequent actions shocked and terrified the wandering cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly on the battlefield, eventually leading to numbness and acceptance.
The name Azure Sun Demon Lord, through repeated praises, overshadowed the former title of Azure Yangzi.
Luo Chen naturally sensed the growing reverence in others' eyes towards him.
But he paid no heed and continued as he always had.
However, a Core Formation Cultivator from the Taiping Fortress, carrying orders from Shen Tu, came to inquire about the disposal of the monster beasts' corpses.
Luo Chen brushed them off with vague answers.
With the increasing prestige of the Azure Sun Demon Lord, Shen Tu had no choice but to let him be.
In general, Luo Chen's massive slaughter was a boon for the first defense line.
The slaughter of a large number of lower-tier monster beasts meant that the pressure on the Taiping Fortress was continuously reduced, and who could say anything about it?
On this day, a flying light descended into a turbulent sea area.
Luo Chen looked up and saw three towering peaks standing tall above the vast ocean.
Three surging seas converged in the canyon, yet remained distinct from each other.
Three Pillars Canyon! Connecting the Sinking Sea, the Flowing Ocean, and a dangerous area in the Arctic Sea.
According to the intelligence report, a group of monster beasts numbering over thirty thousand was entrenched here.
Among them, there were no fewer than five Third Stage Demon Kings! There was even a Great Demon King lurking in the sea area on the side of the Three Pillars Canyon facing the Sinking Sea.
Luo Chen's target was not the Great Demon King but the thirty thousand lower-tier monster beasts.
"If I can devour the life force of this group of monster beasts, I will have fulfilled my destiny," Luo Chen muttered to himself before taking a step towards the Three Pillars Canyon area.
Just as he was about to take a step, his movement stopped, and a burly man was striding through the waves with a sword in hand.
It was Dao Lan.
"It's been a long time, Dao Lan," Luo Chen said.
Dao Lan's expression turned slightly stern, and upon seeing Luo Chen's face as red as blood, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
The long sword in his hand couldn't help but tremble, emitting a bloodthirsty desire.
"How is this possible!"
"He has been acting so frequently, and it should consume a lot of spiritual power. Why do I feel that this person is getting stronger and stronger?"
"What about the suppressed boiling blood and vigorous life force?"
"My Golden Lion Saber is more excited to see him than a Great Demon King!"
Dao Lan's heart roared, but he maintained his composure on the surface.
"Demon Lord, it's been a long time. Why have you come to the Three Pillars Canyon?"
Luo Chen smiled slightly and asked in return, "And you?"
Dao Lan frowned, "I came for that Great Demon King Squid."
Luo Chen gave a casual 'oh' and then laughed.
"In that case, you can handle that troublesome fellow, and I'll take care of the rest."
Such audacity?
Dao Lan was surprised for a moment and reminded him, "Other wandering cultivators often come here for monster hunting missions. When you make your move, be mindful of them."
"Haha, do people like us still need to be cautious about these things?"
Luo Chen burst into laughter and leaped into the majestic canyon.
Dao Lan stood behind, looking at the wide-sleeved figure, like a blazing flame, and muttered, "No wonder you bear the name Demon Lord, with such a devilish demeanor!"
(End of Chapter)
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