The next morning, Fang Hong woke up early, closed the Immortal Cave's stone door, and set off in high spirits.
He stepped onto his leaf-shaped Spiritual Artifact and flew west, heading towards the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest.
…
Three hours later, Fang Hong successfully arrived at the edge of the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest.
He dared not fly recklessly in the air. This ancient forest was full of dangers; who knew if a powerful Demonic Beast might suddenly appear in the air and treat him as a living target?
So, he put away his flying Spiritual Artifact and cautiously walked deeper into the forest…
According to cultivation books, the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest is divided into the edge zone, the middle zone, and the core zone.
The zones are separated by hundreds of miles, and the strength of Demonic Beasts varies greatly between them.
The Demonic Beasts in the edge zone are all First-Level, equivalent to the Qi Refinement Stage level.
The middle zone is the territory of Second-, Third-, and Fourth-Level Demonic Beasts, whose strength is comparable to human Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators.
As for the core zone, that is the territory of Fifth-Level Demonic Beasts, whose power can rival Core Formation Cultivatorss.
With Fang Hong's current early stage of foundation building strength, he didn't even dare to think about entering the core zone.
Fang Hong's goal was clear: to enter the middle zone and hunt Second- and Third-Level Demonic Beasts.
The spirit pills refined from these Demonic Beasts would definitely be more effective and greatly beneficial for his cultivation advancement.
As he journeyed, the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest indeed lived up to its name.
Fang Hong had already encountered many Demonic Beasts, but they were all First-Level Demonic Beasts. He instantly killed them in one encounter, collected them into his demon gourd, and refined them into spirit pills.
Fang Hong was now very much looking forward to entering the middle zone and hunting the Demonic Beasts there.
His goal was to find those Second- and Third-Level Demonic Beasts. These Demonic Beasts were at most early stage of foundation building and Middle Stage level in strength. With his Blue Lightning Flying Needles and a large number of talismans, he was confident he could kill them.
As for Fourth-Level Demonic Beasts, they were comparable to Foundation Establishment Stage Late-Phase Cultivators. Fang Hong couldn't deal with them currently and could only run if he encountered them.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
Fang Hong finally arrived at the middle zone, and at this moment, he was met with his first Second-Level Demon Beast, the "White-Faced Spider."
This White-Faced Spider was enormous, about ten feet long, with a white face like a grotesque mask, and eight long legs covered in bristles, looking particularly terrifying.
As soon as the White-Faced Spider saw Fang Hong, it instantly attacked, spitting out a large amount of viscous spider silk, like a huge net, covering Fang Hong, attempting to capture him.
Fang Hong's eyes narrowed, and his figure flickered instantly.
Now that he was at the early stage of foundation building, his magical power had greatly increased, and his reaction speed was several times that of the Qi Refinement Stage, easily dodging the sudden ambush.
Immediately after, Fang Hong unhesitatingly pulled out two Thunderclap talismans from his Storage Pouch and injected magical power into them.
With two "whoosh, whoosh" sounds, the Thunderclap talismans transformed into two bolts of lightning, accompanied by a "sizzle" of electric current, striking the White-Faced Spider fiercely.
Hit by the lightning, the White-Faced Spider's body stiffened abruptly, letting out a painful screech, its eight legs flailing wildly on the ground, its movements sluggish for a moment.
Fang Hong seized this excellent opportunity and decisively unleashed his Blue Lightning Flying Needles.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…"
Three Blue Lightning Flying Needles shot like lightning towards the White-Faced Spider's eyes, its weak point.
The Blue Lightning Flying Needles were extremely fast, drawing three arcs of electricity in the air, instantly piercing through the White-Faced Spider's body.
With several "thud" sounds, the White-Faced Spider's eyes were pierced by the flying needles, and green blood splattered out.
It let out a tragic cry on the ground, and after a few body twitches, it fell silent.
Fang Hong quickly retrieved his Spiritual Artifact, hurried to the White-Faced Spider's corpse, took out his demon gourd from his Storage Pouch, and slowly absorbed the White-Faced Spider's corpse into it.
Afterward, he skillfully put away the demon gourd. The entire sequence of actions was smooth and flowing, without any hesitation.
Having completed all this, Fang Hong let out a long breath, a faint smile on his face.
His first Second-Level Demon Beast was acquired, which greatly boosted his confidence.
Afterward, Fang Hong cautiously moved through the mountain forest.
He used his Divine Sense to cover a radius of several tens of feet around him, meticulously searching for Demonic Beasts he could hunt…
The Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest indeed did not disappoint him; its Demonic Beast resources were extremely abundant.
In just one morning, he had hunted twenty Demonic Beasts, including fifteen Second-Level Demonic Beasts and five Third-Level Demonic Beasts.
When facing Second-Level Demonic Beasts, Fang Hong, relying on his skilled combat techniques, could often find the opponent's weakness in one encounter, easily hunting them with almost no difficulty.
But when encountering Third-Level Demonic Beasts, he needed to expend more magical power and talismans.
During the hunting process, Fang Hong also encountered Fourth-Level Demonic Beasts.
Every time he saw them, Fang Hong immediately slapped a Speed talisman on himself and fled, not wanting to fight them at all, as it would be a thankless task…
Thus, Fang Hong's hunting plan proceeded very smoothly, and the spirit pills accumulated in his demon gourd grew more and more numerous.
Time flew by, and as evening approached, the sun gradually set in the west.
Fang Hong looked at the sky and weighed his options.
For safety's sake, he still decided, as before, not to spend the night in the mountain forest.
No one knew what terrifying Demonic Beasts might appear in the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest at night, and an unexpected ambush would be very troublesome.
He exited the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest and, stepping onto his flying Spiritual Artifact, flew towards "Ten Thousand Demons City."
Ten Thousand Demons City was only fifty li away from the ancient forest, and flying with a Spiritual Artifact wouldn't take long for a round trip.
Soon, the outline of Ten Thousand Demons City appeared in his sight.
This city was much larger than Qingxia Town, where he had once stayed. The city walls were tall and thick, several tens of feet high.
People came and went at the city gate, making it very lively.
Fang Hong landed at the city gate, put away his flying Spiritual Artifact, and strolled into the city.
He curiously looked around and found that the buildings in this city were tall and magnificent, and the number of various trading streets and shops far exceeded those in Qingxia Town.
Moreover, most of Ten Thousand Demons City's residents were Cultivators, predominantly Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators, with Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators only occasionally encountered, and mortals making up a small minority.
Clearly, this was a city dominated by Cultivators, which could be seen from the shops within the city: talisman shops, Spiritual Artifact shops, pharmacies, materials shops were everywhere…
With curiosity, Fang Hong entered various shops to look around, hoping to buy good items that would help him, but after browsing, a hint of disappointment appeared on his face.
Most of the items sold in these shops were basic goods that didn't offer much help to his current strength improvement.
In the end, he only bought three thousand blank talisman papers, Intermediate talisman ink, and an Intermediate talisman brush.
His talismans were running out, and he needed to draw a new batch.
When hunting Demonic Beasts in the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest, talismans were indispensable protective tools. With talismans in hand, killing Demonic Beasts would be easier.
After buying his items, Fang Hong began to look for a place to stay.
He inquired in the city and learned that an inn named "Warmth" had a good reputation.
Following the directions of passersby, Fang Hong arrived at this inn.
The innkeepers were a couple, both at Qi Refinement Stage Fifth-Layer cultivation, warm and hospitable. Seeing Fang Hong enter, they quickly greeted him.
After Fang Hong explained his purpose, the innkeeper showed him a guest room.
The guest room was clean and tidy, simply furnished yet felt very comfortable.
Fang Hong was very satisfied and rented a guest room at the inn for twenty spirit stones a month.
With his current wealth, renting for a few years was not a problem at all.
Fang Hong needed to train in the Ten Thousand Demons Ancient Forest, and a stable base was indispensable…