Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 194: The Mysterious Realm of Heavenly Demons (Long Chapter)

A kaleidoscope of colors flashed before Li An's eyes, and in the next instant, he had already landed.

This was a gloomy world, with a round moon shining in the sky, allowing him to see the appearance of the earth: everywhere in ruins, mountains collapsing and the ground splitting, vegetation long turned to ashes, like a devastated battlefield!

But the malevolent aura was so thick that it had turned black, and a terrifying spiritual energy permeated the air!

What kind of person had to die to cause such a huge disturbance?

Li An couldn't help but be surprised, immediately unleashing his divine sense to investigate. However, even his divine sense was reduced to a range of only five or six miles in this place.

If it were someone else, they would probably lose their sense perception directly.

Following the direction of the spiritual energy and malevolent aura, Li An suddenly sensed that on the other side of the hill where he was, three other cultivators were approaching!

Two women and one man, all at the True Dan stage!

"What place is this exactly? With such heavy malevolent aura and spiritual energy, could it be the legendary realm of heavenly demons?" One of the slightly older female cultivators spoke up.

"It's very possible! The realm of heavenly demons used to only appear on the night of the full moon, and the entrance is in the extremely malevolent Dead Demon Pool. Normally, no one goes there, so it's no wonder no one has found it..." The middle-aged male cultivator was extremely excited. "Fellow Daoists, we've struck it rich this time, struck it rich!"

All three of them were overjoyed.

Li An's heart moved, and he found a place to hide.

After the three of them passed by, he quietly followed.

"It seems that I'm not the only one who entered this place..." Li An murmured. This was enough to show that there was more than one entrance to the realm of heavenly demons in the outside world.

Now, under the call of the demon army, countless human cultivators were searching everywhere, even venturing into the malevolent areas that had never been stepped foot in before. So it was normal to discover something.

Li An kept a distance of two or three miles from the three of them at all times.

He still had his divine sense to rely on, while the three of them were completely blind.

"There's the sound of water up ahead..." The three of them continued forward, and the black mist formed by the malevolent aura became even denser, with visibility only a few meters ahead. This was an area full of pits and holes.

"These are... fragments of a fourth-grade magical artifact!" One of the female cultivators exclaimed as she picked up a piece of iron, which had already rusted completely but still emitted extraordinary power.

"There's also... this is a bottle of fourth-grade pill, but it's a pity that it has turned into dust. What a shame!" Another female cultivator lamented.

"It seems that this place was definitely a battlefield, where human experts and demon clan members died. These things should be the relics left behind by human experts... Unfortunately, time has passed too long, and most of them have been destroyed." The male cultivator pondered, his eyes shining. "Let's continue searching. As long as we find even one thing, we'll strike it rich!"

They continued forward.

"Ah--" But just a few steps later, the female cultivator who had picked up the fragment of the fourth-grade magical artifact let out a miserable cry. She was struck by an inexplicable miracle, froze in place, and fell down with a thud.

She was dead!

The remaining two people's faces changed drastically.

"There's danger here!" The female cultivator who had picked up the bottle of pill shouted in fear, quickly moving closer to the male cultivator.

"It seems... it seems to be a broken formation?" The male cultivator was also nervous, his cold sweat dripping. After careful examination, he came to a conclusion. "There are still remnants of killing intent in this battlefield..."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and his spiritual power took shape, collecting the storage rings and bags from the deceased female cultivator. "Fellow Daoist He, shall we continue exploring further?"

Although this place was dangerous, it would be a huge loss if they were to retreat directly!

The woman hesitated for a moment before nodding.

The two of them immediately continued forward.

But after only a few steps, another male voice cried out in misery.

Li An's divine sense sensed that the male cultivator had also fallen victim to the formation, with his lower body exploding, and he shouted loudly for help towards the female cultivator.

The female cultivator named He, however, made a move, wanting to snatch the things from the male cultivator's body!

They were originally companions, but now they had turned into enemies!

The male cultivator roared in anger and chose to self-destruct!

Boom!

A true Dan-level cultivator self-destructed, emitting an astonishing power that could flatten dozens of mountains in the outside world. However, in this place, it seemed to be suppressed, only causing the ground to shake within that battlefield.

Not long after, a female cultivator surnamed He emerged from the ruins, walking with great difficulty.

She somehow managed to survive the self-destruction, but she was also heavily injured!

She was about to leave when suddenly a flash of light passed by, and a small sword directly pierced into her body!

The female cultivator was instantly stunned, staring in disbelief.

Are there others here?

She fell to the ground.

Then another flying sword attacked her. She struggled to resist but felt her body stiffen, poison spreading, rendering her unable to move.

Seeing this, Li An took a step forward and quickly approached her, grabbing her throat and activating his demonic technique!

He turned her into a puppet and gained access to her memories.

"Jia Shan's people."

He understood now.

Jia Shan's territory was not connected to Bai Shan's at all. These three people were accidentally involved when exploring a certain dangerous place.

There wasn't much useful information. Li An collected their various storage bags and treasures, and with the puppet in tow, he moved forward.

In front, amidst the black mist, there was the sound of flowing water.

Should he go in?

Li An hesitated.

He could sense that this place must be the death ground of a powerful expert. All the malevolent energy emanated from their corpse, and there were also remnants of a broken killing formation around them.

It was extremely dangerous!

In fact, besides these three people, he also sensed the presence of one or two earlier corpses. Obviously, more than just a couple of people had mistakenly entered this place within the Tian Sha Mountain Range. However, almost everyone who entered here couldn't control their greed and ended up dead.

He wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he carefully surveyed the surroundings.

But these killing formations were advanced, and he couldn't discern much. He could only roughly determine where there were formations and where there weren't.

His level was still not enough!

"Can you help me analyze?" he asked Shangguan Xiaoxiao.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao replied, "It's very mentally taxing. Two pots of sugar beans, otherwise forget it—"

"Deal!"

Immediately, under Shangguan Xiaoxiao's guidance, he surveyed the area and finally found a relatively safe path, zigzagging through.

Although Shangguan Xiaoxiao had already figured it out, Li An remained cautious. Every step he took, he would stop and let the puppet go ahead to explore the way.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a burst of energy erupted, and his female puppet was directly cut in half!

"You said it was safe here!" Li An angrily exclaimed.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao pursed her lips. "It was safe. Your puppet just wasn't fast enough. If it were you, you would quickly move to the right and then pounce forward. Just follow the route I told you and walk ten meters within two breaths, and you can avoid this calamity."

Li An immediately took out the second puppet—Wang Zhongxian, whom he had refined before his final battle with Xiang Wentian.

Controlling the puppet according to Shangguan Xiaoxiao's instructions, the puppet successfully avoided the danger.

But Li An wasn't done yet. He made sure the puppet safely returned to this spot.

After all, if they could enter but not leave, that would be disastrous.

Li An preferred to be slower.

Repeatedly testing, Li An finally ventured several hundred meters into this place.

Along the way, there were many remnants of war—magic tools, pills, materials, etc.—but Li An didn't pick up a single one!

There was no need. Most of these things were broken, and even if there were one or two useful items, they would require taking risks to obtain.

"What is this..."

Deep within the black mist, there was a golden light. As he approached, he discovered it was a small river!

In the middle of the river, there sat a tall corpse. The corpse appeared human, but its hair curled like a lion's mane. Despite sitting down, this "person" was over a meter tall, with a massive frame. However, its body had already withered, emitting a large amount of malevolent energy.

The small river formed a circle, flowing endlessly, seemingly never stopping.

The river water was filled with golden blood!

"The blood of celestial demons... to think that even a place like this would have the blood of celestial demons!"

Shangguan Xiaoxiao was somewhat surprised.

Li An, on the other hand, was instantly shocked!

He knew the art of beast taming, so he was well aware of what the blood of celestial demons was.

Among the demon race, only fifth-rank great demons could be called celestial demons!

The fifth rank was equivalent to the Soul Formation level of humans!

Such individuals were rare in the entire Emperor Yuan Realm, with only a few appearing in thousands of years.

No wonder, no wonder the remnants left here could kill True Dan cultivators like ants... It turns out it was the work of these great demons?

Li An broke out in a cold sweat. If he didn't have someone like Shangguan Xiaoxiao, a giant in the demonic path, with him, if he had even the slightest bit of greed and ventured a little further in, he would probably be dead by now.

At the same time, he gained a whole new understanding of Shangguan Xiaoxiao's strength...

This woman's cultivation was actually above the Soul Formation level?

It could be considered... somewhat terrifying.

Faced with the blood of celestial demons, his heart couldn't help but race.

This thing was the treasure that beast tamers dreamt of.

If one could obtain a drop of it, it could allow a spiritual beast to undergo a transformation, breaking through its limits. A third-rank beast could evolve into a fourth-rank, and a fourth-rank could evolve into a fifth-rank...

This thing could reshape one's life!

And now, there was actually a small river here?!

"Unfortunately, it has been too long, and a large amount of spiritual energy has been lost. Although it appears to be a small river, it only contains the aura of three to five drops of celestial demon blood... Your bird is lucky."

Shangguan Xiaoxiao said calmly.

In Li An's arms, the Azure Flame Divine Sparrow had already emerged, its bird eyes shining as it looked at the blood river.

However, Li An took a deep breath and asked, "Is it dangerous to go over there?"

Shangguan Xiaoxiao: "..."

She once again experienced just how cautious Li An was.

"Yes."

She said calmly, "This blood river was formed by the demon before its death. It should have been left for its descendants, so it connected the demon blood with the surrounding broken killing array. Whoever touches its demon blood will be killed by the array and have their blood taken."

Upon hearing this, Li An's expression became complicated, and he said to the Azure Flame Divine Sparrow, "Be good, let's not go."

He was truly prepared to leave.

No matter how great the opportunity was, it couldn't be forced.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao: "..."

"There is another way."

She suddenly said.

"What is it?"

"Blood Exchange!"

Shangguan Xiaoxiao said, "After the divine bird goes over, for every drop of celestial demon blood it absorbs, it will inject a drop of its own blood into the blood river, thus maintaining the balance between the blood river and the formation."

"What is the success rate?"

"Eighty percent."

Li An frowned.

Eighty percent!

The risk was as high as twenty percent!

"Chirp chirp-"

The Azure Flame Divine Sparrow affectionately rubbed against his hand, eager to try.

"It's too risky..."

Li An hesitated for a moment, but in the eyes of the Azure Flame Divine Sparrow, there was an incomparable desire.

Obviously, the blood of celestial demons was too precious to it.

In the end, Li An gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, you go and try it - I'll wait for you outside."

Upon hearing this, the Azure Flame Divine Sparrow immediately became joyful and spread its wings, flying over.

And Li An retraced his steps and exited.

After all, if an accident really happens, both he and the divine bird will be in danger. If he comes out first, he can still save the divine bird.

Li An remained vigilant, fully activating his divine sense to detect any movement, while also contemplating.

This place is the secret realm of the heavenly demons. Given the current desire of the demon army for this place, it is only a matter of time before it is discovered.

By then, is it possible that Li An will be captured and forced to become a soldier here?

It's hard to say...

Thinking of this, he couldn't sit still and immediately began patrolling the area, silently familiarizing himself with the terrain and planning an escape route in his mind.

But he didn't leave any formations behind. After all, once this place is discovered, the high-level demons will likely come. In front of those figures, if the formations he left behind are discovered, it would be extremely disadvantageous!

After a long time...

He communicated with the divine bird through his thoughts and sensed that the divine bird had come out. He immediately felt relieved and went to meet the divine bird.

The divine bird flew directly into his arms, rubbed against his hand, and then closed its eyes as if falling asleep.

"This... metamorphosis?"

Li An was astonished. He had already sensed that the blood inside the divine bird had completely changed...

It was all golden heavenly demon blood.

Although the current size of the Qingyan Divine Sparrow was similar to that of an ordinary sparrow, its true size was over two meters tall. The blood in that small river should have been absorbed by it, about one-third of it!

One-third, at least containing a few drops of heavenly demon blood.

The main reason was as mentioned by Shangguan Xiaoxiao, over time, the blood became diluted!

Therefore, the divine bird fell into a deep sleep, and this process would be very long, but after the metamorphosis, there might be earth-shattering changes.

"Heavenly demon blood, it really is a good thing..."

Li An sighed. This kind of heavenly demon blood, if placed outside, would probably be enough to exchange for a Transformation Pill!

But this thing is also very dangerous!

Extremely dangerous.

Using it himself would be one thing, but once it is exposed, it would definitely attract a calamity of epic proportions.

After all, it means a chance for Soul Formation stage.

No one would reason with him or talk about morality. As long as they know he has it, whether it's the demon race or human forces, they would directly attack him, kill him, and then seize the opportunity.

Moreover, there is only a small amount of blood left in the Blood River, and he cannot take the next part.

"Time to leave..."

Without hesitation, he cleaned up all traces of his presence and arrived at the place he came from. The Moonlight Passage was still there, and he leaped into it.

In Yunqi Valley, there was a pool of water, and Li An emerged from the pool.

Not a drop of water touched his body.

He looked up and saw that the moonlight was about to fade, and dawn was approaching.

As if nothing had happened, Li An returned to his own cave and silently cultivated.

He checked the belongings of the three True Dan cultivators. There wasn't much of value, mostly just some third-grade talismans and magic tools, with a total value equivalent to more than six hundred high-grade spirit stones.

It can be considered a decent harvest.

...

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

During this half year, there were two full moon nights when the pool had some movements.

But Li An did not enter the secret realm of the heavenly demons again.

In the meantime, he also went out twice to deliver the Jade Skin Pills refined by She Anqi and to inquire about the situation of the secret realm of the heavenly demons from Little Li.

To avoid arousing suspicion.

On this day, Li An was cultivating in Yunqi Valley when he suddenly heard the voice of She Anqi from outside the valley.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, come out quickly!"

Li An immediately walked out.

He saw She Anqi wearing a veil, only revealing a pair of eyes. Obviously, she had not fully recovered, so she didn't want to be seen by others.

"Fellow Daoist She, have you recovered? That's great." Li An was quite happy.

But She Anqi said, "Thanks for your concern, Fellow Daoist. I came here this time because Baishan Master has given orders for everyone to gather... Zhou Libai's side has found the entrance to the secret realm of the heavenly demons!"

Upon hearing this, Li An was instantly surprised.

...

(End of this chapter)