Chapter 156: The Fifth-Order Snow Ape

Heading northward all the way, another five days passed in the blink of an eye. During these five days, with the help of the great lion Lie, they finally managed to subdue a wind wolf demonic tribe totaling six thousand. Among the six thousand wind wolves, nearly three thousand adult wind wolves were capable of being requisitioned!

This number was still far away from the ultimate goal of fifteen thousand, leaving Du Long with no choice but to have the wind wolf pack stay temporarily in their original territory while he continued heading northward to search for other demonic beast packs suitable for human cavalry.

"Hey! How come we haven't even encountered a single low-tier demonic beast around here?!" On this day, while they were traveling boredly, Princess Huofeng muttered with a puzzled expression. Suddenly, she cried out in ecstatic pleasant surprise: "Look quickly! There is actually a snow peak ahead, with the upper half covered in pristine white snow while the lower half is shaded by lush green trees. It is simply so breathtakingly beautiful!"

Following the direction pointed by Huofeng's finger, sure enough, through the gaps of the trees, a picturesque snow-capped mountain could be seen lying horizontally not far away.

"Lie! Hurry over there and take a look! We might just encounter a large number of gregarious demonic beasts!" Huofeng directly issued an order to the great lion. Since this trip did not have a precise destination, Du Long generally would not object to where they headed, as long as the general direction wasn't messed up.

Once the general direction was messed up, in case they mistakenly wandered into the core area of the Demonic Beast Forest in the northwest direction, it would be utterly disastrous, and there would be no guarantee of whether they could make it out alive!

Lie obediently flashed toward the location of the snow peak like lightning. Before long, it carried the three of them to the foot of the snow peak. The scenery here was indeed magnificent; at the foot of the mountain shaded by lush trees, there was also a meadow blooming with vibrant flowers. Looking as far as the eye could see, it was as if the base of the mountain had been covered by a blanket of blossoms, an absolute feast for the eyes!

Yet, such a picturesque meadow exuded a trace of weirdness. In such a vast expanse of fertile grassland, not even a single ordinary demonic beast could be seen!

"Wow!" Princess Huofeng impatiently leapt off the great lion's back like a caged bird released, speeding directly toward the blooming meadow. In just a few leaps and bounds, she dashed into the cluster of flowers and grass, leaving behind a string of silvery, chiming laughter.

"Young Master! Qinglian will go over to accompany the Princess first!" Since the love for beauty is common among young women, Xia Qinglian could not help but exchange a few words with Du Long before flashing toward the flower and grass thicket, soon joining forces with Princess Huofeng.

With a faint smile on his face, Du Long rode the great lion and leisurely approached the two young women. After all, this was the peril-fraught Demonic Beast Forest, and he dared not let down his guard in the slightest.

"Wow! This looks like a thousand-year blood glossy ganoderma! Heavens, isn't this also a thousand-year spirit ginseng?! Husband, come quickly, there are actually so many spiritual medicinal herbs growing here!" Huofeng's ecstatic voice drifted over with the wind, clearly shocked by the numerous spiritual medicinal herbs she had laid eyes upon.

"Growing many spiritual medicinal herbs?!" Du Long muttered in disbelief.

Having traveled all these days, they had only been fortunate enough to stumble upon a few types of medicinal herbs. Aside from the spiritual herb garden within Lie's territory back then, he had truly never encountered spiritual herbs growing in such expansive patches elsewhere.

"Lie! Hurry over and take a look!" As an alchemist, Du Long held a deep interest in spiritual medicinal herbs. Being able to harvest such free spiritual medicinal herbs was also the thing he was most willing to do!

One must know that the various spiritual medicinal herbs sold within the Treasure Pavilion were exorbitantly expensive, which was precisely the reason why countless people were willing to risk their lives venturing deep into the Demonic Beast Forest!

If those adventurous squads were lucky enough to harvest a single high-tier spiritual medicinal herb, the entire team could enjoy lifelong wealth and honor!

Within just a few bounds, the great lion brought Du Long to that patch of flowery grassland to rendezvous with the two women. With merely a single glance, he spotted several precious spiritual medicinal herbs, among which was the thousand-year blood glossy ganoderma worth thousands of gold coins—this was the core principal ingredient for refining third-grade spirit liquid!

"Quickly harvest these spiritual herbs! Spiritual herbs capable of growing in such dense concentration must definitely be guarded by high-tier demonic beasts. We must never linger here for long!" Du Long finally did not let his mind become heated, speaking with a solemn expression.

"Ah! With Lie here, are we still afraid of any other demonic beasts?!" Huofeng asked, looking somewhat puzzled at the solemn-faced Du Long.

"Lie isn't invincible either! In case this herb garden is the territory of a fifth-tier demonic beast, we'll be in massive trouble today!" Du Long had already started harvesting various spiritual medicinal herbs, naturally trying his best to target those relatively high-tier and applicable ones. Each time he harvested a medicinal herb, he directly stored it away inside the Huoyun Cauldron within his dantian space.

"Oh! Understood!" Huofeng also knew the seriousness of the issue, hurriedly giving an affirmative response before starting to help harvest those spiritual medicinal herbs.

Time flowed by, and in a short moment, Du Long had gathered dozens of high-tier spiritual medicinal herbs. Under the guidance of the ring spirit beauty, he exclusively targeted the valuable high-tier ones.

"This is bad! There is a spirit-tier demonic beast on the mountain ahead rushing down with two lesser beasts!" Amidst the tense harvest of the medicinal herbs, the ring spirit beauty suddenly cried out in alarm. Almost simultaneously, an image appeared in Du Long's mind.

At the mid-level of the mountain was a cave. A massive snow ape demon led two smaller-sized snow ape demons as they violently rushed out of the cave mouth, then charged down the mountain amidst continuous angry roars.

To accelerate its speed, the gigantic snow ape demon directly cast aside the two smaller snow apes, soaring through the air and flying rapidly toward Du Long and the others!

Du Long's face turned pale on the spot, and he roared: "Not good! A fifth-tier demonic beast is charging over, retreat quickly!"

Ever since subduing the great lion Lie, they had never encountered a fifth-tier demonic beast within the Demonic Beast Forest. Ordinary fourth-tier demonic beasts simply did not dare to approach Lie. Today was the first time they encountered a fifth-tier demonic beast, and from the imagery transmitted into his mind by the ring spirit beauty, this fellow was evidently coming with ill intent!

Lie did not waste words either. The moment Du Long leaped onto its back, it instantly sprinted at full speed toward the direction of the two women. With their cyclone-tier cultivation realms, once they encountered that fifth-tier demonic beast, they would likely be killed instantly on the spot!

Upon hearing Du Long's roar, Princess Huofeng and Xia Qinglian immediately flashed and bolted back at extreme speed toward Lie. In just two leaps, Lie hoisted them onto its back.

At this moment, the ring spirit beauty had long since removed the heavy weights from the three of them to avoid affecting Lie's escape speed!

Awooo!

An angry howl came from afar and quickly closed in, soon appearing at the other end of the flowery meadow—it was precisely that fifth-tier snow ape demon. Looking at the gigantic fellow from such close range, it stood an impressive twenty meters tall, its blood-red eyes glaring like a fierce and malignant spirit at Du Long's group of thieves who had stolen the medicinal herbs.

Without needing Du Long's reminder, Lie opened its hooves and fled in the opposite direction. There was no need to hide its strength anymore; Lie had long since revealed its colossal form, flying away at full airborne speed.

"Roar! You robbers, forfeit your lives!" The fifth-tier snow ape demon roared angrily, actually uttering human speech as it accelerated in pursuit.

This fellow's flight speed was noticeably much faster than Lie's. Clearly, it was certainly not a newly entered spirit-tier demonic beast; otherwise, how could it possibly outpace Lie, a beast whose specialty was speed?

While fleeing at full tilt, Lie anxiously said, "Master! My speed is not as fast as its. At this rate, it will catch up to us very soon! I will hold this fellow back, you guys escape from this place first, and I will figure out a way to shake off the pursuit!"

Du Long looked back, and sure enough, the snow ape demon had closed in to within a hundred meters. Calculating based on this speed differential, it would be able to catch up in merely a dozen breaths of time.

Once it caught up, by then, all it needed was a casual attack, and even if Lie could withstand it, the three of them would meet a tragic fate!

"Alright then! Lie, don't get bogged down in a protracted battle! The moment you feel you can't beat it, retreat immediately. Even if you can't defeat it, you still possess the ability to escape on your own!" Du Long immediately made a resolute decision. Having two loved ones with him at this moment, he had to act with utmost caution.

Lie did not speak any superfluous words, directly flashing into a valley. Du Long and the three immediately leaped into a dense forest, while Lie stopped fleeing, abruptly turning around and facing the fifth-tier snow ape demon with majestic imposingness.

"Husband! If we just flee like this, will Lie be alright?!" Princess Huofeng asked, filled with worry.

"If we stay, we will only become its burden. Only when we escape can Lie safely extricate itself!" Du Long replied coldly.

Awooo!

Inside the valley outside the dense forest, two gigantic fifth-tier demonic beasts instantly clashed into a fierce battle. Both being demonic beasts renowned for their speed, this fight was executed with exceptional viciousness!

Under the assistance of the ring spirit beauty, a combat scene was transmitted into Du Long's mind. At the battle site, one red and one white gigantic figure were engaged in a crazed struggle. Wherever the two sides passed, trees were instantly blasted into smithereens by overwhelming destructive force!

"Fortunately! That snow ape demon seems to have injuries on its body, and the energy within its body cannot be controlled proficiently yet; otherwise, the great lion would be in deep trouble!" The ring spirit beauty analyzed opportunely.

"That snow ape demon has injuries on its body?!" Du Long asked in confusion.

"That's right! If my estimation is correct, that fifth-tier earth-walking dragon was killed by it! Although it successfully killed the earth-walking dragon, it paid a heavy price in return. It must have been hiding in the cave these past few days absorbing and refining that fifth-tier demonic core while healing its wounds, which is why you had the opportunity to run into its spirit herb garden and harvest medicinal herbs!" The ring spirit beauty replied with a chuckle.

"This..."

Du Long was left speechless on the spot, realizing there were such intricate details behind this. During the time he communicated with the ring spirit beauty, the other two smaller snow ape demons had also arrived at the battle scene, looking somewhat at a loss as they observed the fierce combat.

"You two, quickly go and kill all those detestable humans, leave none alive!" While launching a full-out assault on the great lion, the snow ape demon roared angrily at its two subordinates who had just arrived at the scene and looked somewhat bewildered.

"Yes!" The two snow ape demons acknowledged, then flashed and charged toward the direction where Du Long had escaped.

"Damn it! Run!" Du Long, having already understood the dialogue among the three snow ape demons with the help of the ring spirit beauty, let out a shout, grabbed the two women, and bolted with accelerated strides.

"Husband, what's wrong?! Could it be that Lie can't hold it back?!" Huofeng asked, her little face pale with fright.

"No! The two subordinates of that fifth-tier snow ape demon are pursuing us!" Du Long hurriedly replied, then mentally inquired of the ring spirit beauty: "Linger, what are the cultivation realms of those two snow ape demons?!"

"One is at the fourth-tier early stage, and the other is at the third-tier late stage!" The ring spirit beauty replied urgently.

Awooo!

The great lion Lie let out an angry roar, flashing with the intent to abandon the fifth-tier snow ape demon and charge fiercely toward the two lower-tier snow ape demons!

"Hahaha! You big lion, you still dare to get distracted while fighting with this lord?!" The fifth-tier snow ape demon blocked Lie's path in a flash, swung its gigantic palm, and slapped down fiercely!