The Hundred Bend Gorge was a wondrous land — mountains and rivers, desolate valleys and open plains, it had everything.
The scenery was beautiful as a celestial realm; one could almost call it a world unto itself. It had Spirit Medicine, Yuan Medicine, Mystic Medicine, wild beasts, Fierce Beasts, and demon beasts.
At the very top of the food chain, demon beasts ruled as kings, dominating this stretch of territory. And demon beasts needed to cultivate too, so they required Yuan Medicine and Mystic Medicine.
To make the Yuan Medicine and Mystic Medicine serve their intended purpose, whenever they discovered Mystic Medicine, they would not hunt it down right away. Instead, they would drive it to a special location, seal it in, and wait for it to reach full maturity before consuming it.
However, there was always a stretch of time each year when humans would intrude into this world. Their intrusion shattered everything here and broke the natural order, so to the demon beasts, humans were nothing more than invaders — and they themselves were the guardians.
Right now, somewhere in the Hundred Bend Gorge, there stood a fortress. Inside it was packed with Mystic Medicine. Even from outside, one could feel the immense power of mystic energy and the fragrance of the herbs. This was an absolutely enormous treasure.
But this treasure was not so easily claimed, because outside it, hundreds of demon beasts were gathered in dense formation. Every single one was at the Xuan Wu Realm, and their cultivation ranged from the first level of Xuan Wu all the way to the sixth.
Among them, a three-meter-tall humanoid demon beast had cultivated to the seventh level of Xuan Wu. The muscles across its entire body were like armor, and it held a massive pointed hammer in one hand. It sat upon a throne assembled from human bones, yawning casually.
Around this demon beast, the others — still in their bestial forms — were reveling and celebrating, as if rejoicing over yet another victory against the humans.
"Damn it, I really want to go slaughter those beasts right now."
"Wait.
Several kilometers outside the fortress, in a dense forest, hundreds of disciples had gathered. Most of them were from the Lingyun Sect, though there were many from other sects as well. They were preparing to launch their final assault on the fortress.
"Look — Senior Brother Feng is here." Suddenly, a contingent appeared — Lingyun Sect cultivators, led by a fair-faced young man with an air of arrogance about him.
The moment this young man appeared, he caused a sensation. Not only the Lingyun Sect disciples, but even those from other sects all fixed their gaze upon him. Some of the female disciples, in particular, revealed expressions of adoration.
This young man was named Feng Hao — the second disciple of the Lingyun Sect. Though only the second disciple, his talent and cultivation were far beyond what disciples of other sects could match. He was a sixth-level Xuan Wu expert, one of the most outstanding young cultivators in all of Qingzhou.
"Miss, would it be possible for us to join you and fight those demon beasts together?"
By now,
For instance, at this moment, Chu Feng and the pockmarked man were being assessed for their strength by a female Lingyun Sect disciple — she was evaluating whether they qualified to share in the Mystic Medicine inside the fortress.
But as soon as Feng Hao appeared, the young woman's gaze was wholly drawn to him, and she paid no attention whatsoever to Chu Feng or the pockmarked man.
Then again, one could hardly blame her — compared to Feng Hao's almost feminine features, the pockmarked man was incredibly ugly. Any girl would rather not spare him a second glance.
"Look over there — Senior Brother Dugu is here."