Seven-pattern yao? Comparable to a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse? So, yaos are ranked by patterns? Even Nascent Soul realm yaos have appeared. This could be troublesome.

If Lin Zheyu had a choice, he would not have come to this space-time node. The longer such nodes existed, the more dangerous they became. Now, even a Nascent Soul realm yao had appeared. But the appearance of that old man had given Lin Zheyu a strong sense of danger, leaving him no choice.

It shouldn't be a big problem. Those two weren't particularly strong, yet they still dared to go in. There's no reason I shouldn't. If the sky falls, the strong will hold it up. As long as I'm careful, it should be fine, Lin Zheyu pondered.

After finishing a table full of food, he left the tavern. Along the way, Lin Zheyu noticed quite a few cultivators with concealed but powerful auras, all seemingly here for adventure. After leaving Ruyang City, he wandered through the market outside the city. This market already resembled, to some extent, the legendary immortal markets. Many people were selling dharma artifacts, talismans, medicinal pills, and more. Demand had created opportunity, and this mundane market was gradually transforming into an immortal market.

So many people are collecting herbs and yao's flesh and bones, and the prices are quite high. No wonder so many cultivators have gathered here, Lin Zheyu thought as he strolled along. Many stalls were buying herbs and yao remains. If captured alive, the price would be even higher.

Lin Zheyu wandered around and shook his head slightly, thinking, "All of these are rare yao demons and herbs."

This money doesn't seem easy to earn.

After all, it involved risking one's life, so high prices were only natural.

"Maps for sale! Dangerous zone maps of the demon god barrier! Maps for sale..."

A loud shout caught Lin Zheyu's attention. The map seller was a young man with ordinary strength, around the second stage of Qi Refining realm.

Lin Zheyu walked over and asked, "Is it accurate?"

"Guaranteed accurate! If it isn't, you can come back and find me!" the man said, patting his chest.

"How much?" asked Lin Zheyu.

The man's eyes lit up as he answered quickly, "Five low-grade spirit stones."

"Fellow Daoist, I have maps too. Only three low-grade spirit stones!" another young man chimed in enthusiastically.

"Damn it, you're playing it like this?"

"Fellow Daoist, I only want two spirit stones!"

"Hmph, I'll sell for one!"

"You win!" said the newcomer. He snorted coldly and turned to leave.

"I'll take one," Lin Zheyu said with a faint smile.

Their acting was so poor that he saw through it at a glance. They were clearly partners, working together to trick him. But Lin Zheyu did not mind. It was only one low-grade spirit stone after all. He only needed the map for reference. He had not been inside the demon god barrier many times, and its conditions changed unpredictably. No map could be fully accurate. At best, it could serve as a guide.

The young man accepted the spirit stone and said respectfully, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist, thank you!"

Lin Zheyu examined the map carefully. It was indeed quite detailed. Dangerous zones, territories of powerful beasts, and even the central space-time node were all marked.

"Not bad," muttered Lin Zheyu. After imprinting the map into his mind, he put it away.

Besides maps, some people specialized in selling secret information. Whether it was true or not was unknown, but the prices were low. Lin Zheyu spent forty-eight spirit stones to buy a pile of miscellaneous information. He treated all of it as reference material.

In the marketplace, three figures watched Lin Zheyu's departing back with cold smiles.

"This kid looks like a fat sheep with no backing. Should we make a move?" the man on the left said with a vicious grin.

"Anyone who dares enter the demon god barrier alone isn't weak. Be careful you don't get overturned in a gutter," the bald man in the middle said, shaking his head.

"What's there to be afraid of! Anyone buying information here usually has no strong backing. Their strength can't be much either," the man on the right said with a cold, dismissive laugh.

In this world, true powerhouses were never lone wolves. Without strong backing, one simply could not obtain enough resources to reach great heights. If someone had support behind them, they would not need to come here to gather information.

"Feng Jin is right! Yutian, you've really grown more timid with age. You got played once by someone pretending to be weak, and now you don't even dare act? If you're too scared to make a move, you might as well quit and go farm spirit fields," the man on the left mocked.

"Exactly. In this era, where are there any strong wandering cultivators? Real powerhouses all come from major forces or great families. If you ask me, this guy doesn't look that strong," Feng Jin continued to urge.

If the two of them acted alone, it would not be safe. It would be better to convince Chai Yutian.

"Fine! But this time, you follow my lead. If things go wrong, we withdraw immediately," Chai Yutian said calmly.

"No problem," Feng Jin replied.

"Tch, fine, we'll follow you," Fang Rong, on the right, shrugged indifferently.

"He's leaving. Follow him," Feng Jin said in a low voice when he saw Lin Zheyu moving off.

Their figures moved as they quietly followed Lin Zheyu into the forest.

***

"One, two, three, four... eight. Four groups, eight people in total. Heh!"

After leaving the market, Lin Zheyu pushed his Perception Domain to its limits and discovered four groups secretly tailing him. He shook his head slightly. Whether in martial cultivation or the cultivation world, there were always plenty of ill-intentioned people.

A bit too many. But they don't seem to be making a move yet. Are they planning to act inside the demon god barrier?

They followed him carefully, thinking they were well hidden, unaware that Lin Zheyu had already discovered them. Four groups were a bit too many. After some thought, he gave up on other ideas. The risk was too high.

Boom!

He stomped hard with his foot. A thunderous boom rang out as his speed surged instantly, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's perception.

"Hiss!"

"What the hell!"

Several cries of shock rang out.

"Are we still chasing?" Fang Rong asked hesitantly.

"Chase my ass. With that kind of speed and strength, going after him is just asking to die," Chai Yutian said, his expression grave, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

Fortunately, they had not rushed to act. Otherwise, they might have suffered another loss. The other groups were also startled by Lin Zheyu's sudden burst of speed and left with lingering fear.

***

After confirming no one was following, Lin Zheyu slowed down. The entire forest was filled with demon puppets and yaos. He had encountered quite a few along the way. But in broad daylight, both yaos and demon puppets were heavily suppressed and remained hidden, not roaming freely.

Lin Zheyu checked the direction and thought to himself, "It's just ahead!"

The space-time node was quite far from Ruyang City, nearly three hundred kilometers away. Even from a distance, Lin Zheyu could sense a sinister and evil aura emanating from the forest.

Suddenly, a streak of eerie light shot out from the forest. Lin Zheyu shifted sideways in an instant, dodging the light, while his blade flashed and slashed toward the dense forest beside him.

Sensing danger, a figure burst out from the forest. After dodging Lin Zheyu's strike, it did not retreat but instead charged straight at him.

"Hm?" Lin Zheyu let out a soft sound of surprise.

He rarely saw immortal cultivators take the initiative in close combat. Only barbarian totem warriors typically closed in like this. Though surprised, Lin Zheyu felt no fear. Compared to melee, he was more wary of the strange techniques cultivators possessed.

Whoosh!

A fierce gust swept in. The charging figure rapidly transformed. Its human arm suddenly swelled, turning into a long, fur-covered limb. The arm howled through the air, its hand bristling with sharp claws as it slashed toward Lin Zheyu.

Lin Zheyu's thoughts stirred.

"Ancient yao!"

The information he bought at the market mentioned them. Ancient yao had allied with the Nine Nether Sect. They were a race of yao formed from beasts that had cultivated into sentience. Lin Zheyu had not expected to encounter one before even entering the demon god barrier. This place was indeed more dangerous than he had imagined.

Bang!

The opponent was fast. The strike slammed heavily into Lin Zheyu's chest. His expression did not change, not even a flicker in his brows. He gave a cold smile. At the instant the claw landed on his chest, his blade came down in a flash. He intended to end it quickly. This was Nine Nether Sect territory, and a prolonged fight might attract stronger foes. He chose to take the hit and kill his opponent in one stroke.

The blade sank in from the shoulder and pierced straight to the heart, right before the opponent's shocked eyes.

What a tough physique, Lin Zheyu thought in surprise.

The moment his blade struck, he felt immense resistance.

Bang!

Another claw strike came. The ancient yao quickly recovered, enduring the intense pain. A terrifying, eerie glow gathered on its claws as it thrust toward Lin Zheyu's abdomen. He took the hit head-on. True origin surged wildly within him as he exerted force with both hands. With a sharp sound, he split the creature completely in two.

The ancient yao widened its eyes, staring at Lin Zheyu in disbelief. It shouted, "You...! You're a barbarian?"

It could not understand how Lin Zheyu had taken two full-force blows and still remained unharmed. The dense golden runes flickering across Lin Zheyu's body made it mistake them for some kind of barbarian totem.

Thud!

Seeing that it was not dead, Lin Zheyu raised his blade and struck again. With a dull sound, the fur-covered head fell and rolled away into the distance.

"Ugh, that hurts like hell..." Only after killing it did Lin Zheyu let out a low groan of pain.

This ancient yao was not particularly strong, roughly at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. Even so, taking two direct hits was not easy. The wounds were not deep. Even his abdomen only had a small hole pierced through. But the areas struck by the ancient yao flickered with an eerie glow, preventing Lin Zheyu from healing.

A hissing sound continued as large amounts of true origin surged toward the wounds. Within a few breaths, the eerie energy completely dissipated. The wounds began to heal at a visible rate.

Lin Zheyu let out a slight breath of relief. As long as they could heal, it was fine. Though strange, it was far inferior to the Netherfrost Flame he had encountered before. Back then, he had needed the help of Origin Force to completely expel it. This eerie energy, however, could be worn down with sufficient true origin.

After briefly tending to his injuries, Lin Zheyu grabbed the items from the ancient yao and dashed into the forest. With the Primordial Concealment Technique running at full power, his speed surged once more as he rushed toward the demon god barrier. Though the forest was full of danger, as long as he did not encounter experts at the Golden Core realm or above, he believed he could handle it. After all, Golden Core realm experts were considered powerful anywhere.

Lin Zheyu did not believe that the Nine Nether Sect and the ancient yao could afford to station large numbers of Golden Core realm experts in ambush throughout this forest. Before long, a pitch-black barrier appeared before him. The barrier itself had no color, but the ink-dark space within made it appear black. Without hesitation, he moved and passed straight through it, entering inside.