Volume 1, Chapter 174 – Bashan

A giant tree came crashing straight toward the mountainside and into Shi Lan’s path.

Shi Lan raised a hand and sent out a blast of fist force, snapping the tree cleanly in half. She frowned as she looked past Tianbai at the massive black shadow charging after it, shoving over mountains and trees alike, barreling in with ferocious momentum.

In a few quick bounds, Tianbai darted to Shi Lan’s side and dropped to its knees, panting heavily.

“Your Majesty.”

Jinhong hovered quietly at Shi Lan’s side, perfectly silent.

After looking the black bear over twice, Shi Lan turned her gaze to Tianbai and waited calmly for its explanation.

The aura on that black bear was even more terrifying than that of an Earth Fiend Realm peak demon beast. Clearly it had already stepped into the Heavenly Astral Realm, its strength far from ordinary.

But with that level of strength, it should not have had any chance of survival before Jinhong. Why had Tianbai lured it here?

When the black bear saw Shi Lan standing at the cave entrance halfway up the mountain, it instinctively panicked and hurriedly tried to dig in its paws to stop. But because its body was too large and its inertia too great, and because its heart was in a fluster, it lost its balance and slammed headfirst into the cliff face.

Boom.

Countless chunks of shattered rock tumbled down the mountainside, and the entire mountain shook violently.

“Your Majesty, this black bear is…” Tianbai took a moment to catch its breath, then quickly spoke up and explained the cause and effect.

Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts all had their own territories, or hunting grounds, ranging from several hundred to over a thousand li across. Under normal circumstances, clashes were not particularly frequent.

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Ever since Shi Lan had ordered the hunting of Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts, however, in just a few short months, Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts within ten thousand li of the area had started dying again and again.

After Tianbai slaughtered all the Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts near the Ximu Mountain Range, it had no choice but to search farther afield.

Such a large number of demon beasts dying was bound to draw the attention of some higher-ranked demon beasts. This black bear was one of them.

The black bear’s name was Bashan. It belonged to the mountain bear clan and was a subordinate under the Cangyue Demon King, with strength at the early Heavenly Astral Realm. Because it possessed an innate divine ability, it had quite a fearsome reputation in this region.

After revealing Bashan’s identity, Tianbai began to explain why it was being chased by Bashan. With just a few brief sentences, Shi Lan more or less understood what had happened.

Tracing things back, the root cause still lay with her.

The number of Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts that had died recently really had gone a bit too far.

Bashan crawled out of the pile of rubble and shook its head. Then it suddenly shivered and looked up at Shi Lan halfway up the mountain. After feeling the crushing bloodline pressure radiating from her, it hesitated for a moment, its expression turning wary as it spoke.

“Honored Demon King, has this Profound Jade Leopard been slaughtering demon beasts on such a scale under your orders?”

Bashan had had its eye on Tianbai for some time. When ordinary demon beasts fought and killed one another, high-level demon beasts generally did not interfere.

Survival of the fittest and the rule of the strong was an iron law passed down from ancient times. Devouring the flesh and blood of other living beings to strengthen oneself was only natural.

Tianbai was different. After killing its prey, it did not hurry to devour them. Instead, it hid the corpses, then continued on to hunt the next demon beast. Only once it had accumulated enough would it bring them back to its lair, then head out again immediately to continue hunting.

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This did not look like it was trying to increase its own strength. It looked more like pure slaughter for its own sake.

So after shadowing Tianbai for a while, Bashan had shown itself, intending to capture Tianbai and force it to explain why it was doing this.

Those threats it had shouted earlier were nothing more than it putting on a show. Demon Kings had many matters to deal with. How could they possibly have the leisure to concern themselves with the life and death of a few Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts?

What Bashan had never expected was that behind a single Profound Jade Leopard, there would actually be a shapeshifted Demon King, and the bloodline pressure on her body was even more terrifying than that of the Cangyue Demon King.

Shi Lan’s appearance made Tianbai’s behavior become somewhat puzzling in Bashan’s eyes. Was this Demon King here to seize territory? Or had this entire affair been aimed at the Cangyue Demon King from the start?

Thinking of this, the wariness in Bashan’s eyes deepened.

Hearing the black bear’s question, Shi Lan felt a slight tangle in her heart. Kill it or not…

That was the question.

As she thought, Shi Lan sized Bashan up from head to toe, weighing things in her mind.

Being stared at by those purple-misted eyes made a chill crawl up the back of Bashan’s head. It could not help shuddering, regret filling its heart. If it had known there was a Demon King here, it would never have chased Tianbai over even if you beat it to death.

Seeing that Shi Lan still did not speak, Bashan slowly backed away and said in a low voice, “Honored Demon King, I did not know this Profound Jade Leopard was your subordinate. I beg you not to take offense.”

Shi Lan still did not say a word.

Time passed breath by breath. Bashan’s heart grew heavier and heavier. It could feel Shi Lan’s gaze moving over its body, her eyes extremely strange.

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“Scram.”

After a long moment, Shi Lan spat out a single word, then turned and went back into the cave.

Bashan let out a long sigh of relief and did not dare linger even for a heartbeat. It turned and crashed into the forest, rumbling away into the distance.

Such a big bear paw… I wonder what it tastes like.

Listening to the sounds fading behind her, Shi Lan could not help thinking this with a hint of regret.

Starting a conflict with a shapeshifted Demon King really would not have been wise. Samsara’s energy was limited, and after several rounds of expenditure, it was best to save when she could.

Even if she had Samsara kill that Demon King, who knew what other great demons might be drawn out afterward? This was, after all, the Boundless Demon Domain. It was better to keep a low profile.

Seeing Shi Lan let Bashan go so casually, Tianbai secretly rejoiced. Things had indeed gone just as it had expected.

Once back in the cave, Shi Lan carefully asked Tianbai about the Cangyue Demon King.

Tianbai did not know much about this Demon King, only that it was a terrifying great demon over seven thousand years old and unfathomable in strength.

After all, when it had still been nursing, the Cangyue Demon King had already been a Demon King. The gap between them was simply too great. In the past, Tianbai had only ever heard that such a powerful existence was out there and had never thought to learn more.

“Tone it down from now on. Don’t be as conspicuous as before,” Shi Lan said after thinking it over.

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Once Tianbai left, Shi Lan pulled up the system panel and opened the mission interface.

【293/1000】

In just a few months, they had slaughtered over a hundred Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts. That really was a bit excessive and was bound to attract attention.

Looking at the much-increased number, Shi Lan felt little joy. The system had only given her one year to complete the task of killing a thousand Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts. More than half that time had already passed, and now she had to hold back and move more cautiously. The pace would only slow further.

At this rate, completing the mission was almost impossible. How could she be happy about that?

…

Over the next few days, because of Shi Lan’s instructions, Tianbai became much more low-key. It no longer slaughtered Earth Fiend Realm demon beasts as wantonly as before and only acted once or twice on occasion.

Although Shi Lan wanted to lie low and make her gains silently, avoiding unnecessary trouble, that did not mean others thought the same way.

Boom!

A sonic boom exploded in the sky above the Ximu Mountain Range, jolting Shi Lan out of her cultivation. A terrifying pressure descended from the heavens and blanketed the entire range.

In an instant, everything went silent. Within a hundred li, the sounds of insects and birds vanished in a heartbeat, as if the dead of winter had suddenly arrived.