Of course, since Chu Du had invited Fang Yuan to act and personally go to Crazed Demon Cave to recruit someone, he had included in his letter some methods for Fang Yuan to defend against the demonic sound, as well as the patterns behind its varying intensity.
"No matter what, I have to make the trip."
The conflict between Chu Du and the Hundred Legs Heavenly Lord over the Black Mortal Grotto-World had its roots in Fang Yuan himself. On top of that, his interests were tied to Chu Du's, and the raid on Iron Eagle Blessed Land had involved him as well. In short, his connections ran deep.
Fang Yuan moved with decisive speed, setting out immediately.
Through the super Gu formation, he teleported out of Langya Blessed Land and headed straight for Crazed Demon Cave.
Nothing unexpected happened along the way.
More than ten days later, Fang Yuan halted in midair, gazing down at the landscape below.
On the flat, yellowish earth there yawned an enormous cavern. Its opening was nearly circular, with a radius of a hundred thousand zhang. Inside the cavern grew a dense rainforest, its colors a patchwork of yellow and green. The roars of desolate beasts echoed out from time to time, and great flocks of featherless怪 birds burst into the sky, their crimson bodies reminding Fang Yuan of the prehistoric pterosaurs of Earth.
A scene of primal wilderness.
Fang Yuan descended, and the cavern grew ever larger in his field of vision until it filled it entirely.
His altitude continued to drop until his figure was swallowed by the colossal cavern's rainforest.
Once inside the rainforest, a stifling, humid heat enveloped him from head to toe.
The trees were lush with foliage, yet the sunlight blazed with fierce intensity. Vines hung from trunks one after another, or intertwined with each other, sometimes leaving Fang Yuan scarcely room to set foot.
Squeak, squeak, squeak…
In the distance, packs of strange monkeys—covered entirely in gray fur—chased one another through the treetops.
Suddenly, a motionless "vine" lunged upward, snapping open a blood-red maw. A gale erupted, and in an instant dozens of gray monkeys were sucked into its belly.
It was a predatory tree python, a desolate beast that had just caught its prey.
The gray monkey troop erupted into chaos, shrieking wildly. Their cries attracted the troop's king—also a desolate beast.
The tree python retreated steadily. It had already eaten its fill and achieved its goal; there was no need to fight the monkey king.
Gray monkeys were not a vengeful species by nature. Seeing the python withdraw on its own, the monkey king let out a few roars and growls but did not pursue.
But at that very moment, a piercing sound suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.
"That's bad—the demonic sound." Fang Yuan hurriedly activated his Gu insects, following the method Chu Du had instructed, to shield his ears from the demonic sound's invasion.
Ordinary methods could not block the demonic sound.
But Chu Du's technique was clearly tailored specifically for this purpose, and its effect was immediate. Fang Yuan felt the demonic sound vanish, as though it had never existed at all.
The monkey king's roar and the tree python's hiss, however, came through clearly.
Disturbed by the demonic sound, the two desolate beasts—previously on the verge of withdrawing from each other—now attacked one another as though driven mad.
This was no longer a fierce battle. It was a fight to the death.
The two beasts tangled together, rolling and thrashing in every direction. The surrounding dense forest collapsed in swathes, and countless creatures perished miserably.
The monkeys nearby had also gone berserk. Not only did they attack their own kind with frenzied abandon—some even began to self-mutilate, hurling themselves against hard rocks or clawing out their own eyes.
The rainforest, once peaceful and serene, erupted into total chaos. Beast roars filled the air, and countless living beings sank into madness, slaughtering one another indiscriminately. Dust and smoke rolled in thick clouds, and a heavy, acrid stench of blood pervaded everything.
Fang Yuan maintained his clear-headed composure.
But around him, countless birds and beasts attacked him—even the ants at his feet, the bees and butterflies buzzing past his ears launched suicidal assaults against him.
"So this is Crazed Demon Cave…" Fang Yuan sighed inwardly, activating his Gu to shield himself.
With his mind clear and an arsenal of powerful techniques at his disposal, surviving in this maddened environment presented little pressure.
After all, the frenzied creatures around him were not targeting him specifically. They attacked at random, lashing out indiscriminately.
The demonic sound lasted for a short while, then vanished without a trace.
The noisy, uproarious rainforest fell silent.
The beasts that had been lively and running about just moments before now lay scattered in death across the forest floor. Mutilated corpses and severed limbs dotted the rainforest everywhere. In some places, blood pooled into temporary streams, irrigating the earth and providing rich nourishment for the countless toppled trees, which then rapidly regrew.
In the distance, the two desolate beasts that had fought to the death had both perished.
The tree python's thick yet sinuous body was wound tightly around the monkey king's frame, coiled several times over, the final loop cinched around the monkey king's neck, crushing its cervical bones.
However, in its death throes, the monkey king had also split the tree python's belly wide open. The monkeys it had just swallowed, though once more exposed to daylight, were all already dead.
The tree python lingered on, barely alive. After the demonic sound receded, a trace of clarity returned to its eyes—but soon they dimmed completely.
It had lost all life.
Fang Yuan's heart stirred. He rushed to the battlefield and swept the two fallen desolate beasts into his own immortal orifice.
"If I were you, I wouldn't bother with such futile effort. Every living thing in Crazed Demon Cave—whether it be birds, beasts, Gu insects, or flowers—has no practical value whatsoever. Even these desolate beast corpses can't be sold in Treasure Yellow Heaven, because the Dao marks on their bodies are all tangled and scrambled beyond use." A voice suddenly spoke.
"Who goes there?" Fang Yuan was instantly alert.