A rustling sound suddenly came from nearby. The vitality Lin Zheyu had released during cultivation was far too powerful, like a sun in the darkness. It had attracted a large number of yaos.

A pitch-black creature appeared, its body covered in savage scales. Its head was triangular, with two small protrusions on top, and behind it spread dense, vicious spikes like a peacock fanning its tail. As it roared, its head jerked, and the spikes shot out, piercing through the air at extreme speed.

With a splash, Lin Zheyu leaped out of the demonic river. His figure split into multiple afterimages as his exquisite movement technique unfolded, effortlessly dodging the dense barrage of spikes.

Rumble!

Golden light erupted from his body. Muscles bulged as Lin Zheyu slammed his right fist down toward the creature's head.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Lin Zheyu froze mid-motion, his fist suspended in the air.

A Demonic Flood-Dragon Bull!

Lin Zheyu immediately recognized the creature. It was a rare yao with traits of both a flood dragon and a savage bull, highly valuable. At the market outside Ruyang City, someone had offered three hundred low-grade spirit stones for it.

"The Demonic Flood-Dragon Bull is valuable all over. If I smash it with a punch, its worth will drop significantly," Lin Zheyu muttered. As he retreated quickly, he tapped his storage pouch, and the Setting Sun saber appeared in his hand.

In an instant, golden saber light spread like a dense net, slashing toward the Demonic Flood-Dragon Bull.

The Demonic Flood-Dragon Bull let out a roar. Its body collapsed like a dismantled machine, crashing to the ground in scattered chunks of flesh. The pieces trembled, attempting to reassemble, but the faint golden energy lingering at the wounds prevented them from coming back together.

Lin Zheyu looked at the writhing chunks of flesh on the ground and marveled inwardly.

This golden energy is truly remarkable.

The golden energy did not enhance Lin Zheyu's strength as much as true origin. Its true power lay in its overwhelming suppression of demonic qi.

"Damn, something big is coming!"

Lin Zheyu's expression changed abruptly as the thin layer of purple-black energy covering his body instantly grew dense.

His body moved like a gale sweeping fallen leaves, gathering the scattered demonic remains into his storage pouch. Then he vanished from the spot at once.

A few breaths later, a terrifying roar shook the entire space, sending massive waves surging through the demonic river. A massive yao over ten meters long leaped through the sky, its overwhelming pressure causing nearby yaos to tremble in fear.

The creature landed where Lin Zheyu had just slain the Demonic Flood-Dragon Bull, showing a human-like expression. In a strange tone, it muttered softly, "Gone again?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Its vast perception spread out, sweeping the entire area again and again, but the earlier aura could no longer be found.

"It wasn't strong, yet it carried an irritating aura... This must be reported to my lord. Perhaps those disgusting bald ones have sent another expert inside," the yao murmured.

Its body bounded upward and vanished into the sky.

"Ahh!" From the direction it departed, several screams rang out. Some unfortunate cultivators had likely been discovered and casually killed.

***

Feeling that powerful aura recede, Lin Zheyu let out a slight sigh of relief. He patted the yao submerged beside him in the swamp and said with a smile, "Thanks!"

This yao's species was unknown, but it was not aggressive. Lin Zheyu's disguise was imperfect, and the stronger the yao, the easier it was to see through it. So he deliberately stayed near a powerful one, using its aura to mask his own. Fortunately, it worked.

"I cannot stay here. I need to move," said Lin Zheyu, then his figure flickered and vanished quickly.

He did not even dare fully expand his Perception Domain, fearing it might attract that terrifying yao again. Just sensing its aura had filled him with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Lin Zheyu moved swiftly through the darkness, reflecting on his strength. He thought, A six-pattern yao, equivalent to the Golden Core realm? What level am I at now? How far am I from the Golden Core realm?

After cultivating so many demon arts and body-refining techniques, his strength had advanced tremendously. With his powerful physique alone, he could easily withstand attacks from the Foundation Establishment realm. Even his past self, using the Blood Burning Saber Technique, could not seriously injure his current body. This showed just how terrifying the enhancement from those techniques was. Even so, he still lacked confidence in facing a Golden Core realm expert.

***

Only after fleeing far away did Lin Zheyu relax slightly. He had consumed 20 units of Origin Force today, and his spirit and soul were fatigued. It was no longer suitable to continue improving. He planned to search within the demon god barrier for valuable herbs and rare yaos. Over the past ten days, he had already gathered quite a few, which could likely be sold for two or three mid-grade spirit stones.

The wind howled in the darkness. In the darkness, purple-black saber light flashed. A yao with over a dozen tentacles and a grotesque, human-like head was effortlessly sliced into pieces. The golden energy within Lin Zheyu carried a powerful and strange aura, one that yaos were highly sensitive to.

When killing yaos, Lin Zheyu did not use this energy. Instead, after collecting the remains into his storage pouch, he used golden energy to erode the flesh and prevent it from reassembling. A normal storage pouch could not withstand a fully restored yao. If it were attacked from within, the restrictions would easily break, ruining the pouch.

The storage pouches he used for yao flesh all had at least ten cubic meters of capacity and were quite expensive. If they were destroyed after a successful capture, it would be a heavy loss.

Just as he was about to pick up the remains and use golden energy to suppress regeneration, his expression suddenly stiffened. A strange energy fluctuation appeared within his Perception Domain.

A streak of dim light suddenly appeared within his Perception Domain, piercing through space and shooting toward him. The moment it appeared, it was already within ten meters. It was too fast and too close to evade.

An ambush!

He twisted his body to avoid a fatal strike while raising his left hand to grab the incoming light.

A sharp sting struck his palm, followed by a surge of force that forced him back a step. Killing intent flashed in his eyes. He flung his hand to the side, sending out a black needle. Golden runes on his palm faded, leaving behind a charred mark that quickly vanished, restoring his skin. Though the opponent's technique was strange enough to bypass his perception, its power was too weak to break his defense.

"Hm?"

A faint exclamation came from the darkness, clearly surprised that the ambush had failed. At the same time, the needle he threw rang out with a sharp clang as a streak of green sword light flashed.

"Hmph!" Lin Zheyu snorted.

A strong killing intent surged within him. The closer something was, the stronger his perception became. As they approached, he detected their auras.

A thunderous roar erupted. Lin Zheyu vanished from his position. The purple-black glow around him disappeared instantly as golden energy surged within, resisting the barrier's demonic qi.

"So fast!" A voice cried out in shock, fear flashing in their eyes.

He quickly retreated, slapping his storage pouch and sending a talisman flying toward Lin Zheyu.

Rip!

The saber light flashed, splitting the talisman in two. The instant it was cut, it exploded with a thunderous boom. Purple lightning engulfed Lin Zheyu, crackling loudly. The man's expression relaxed, a trace of delight and mockery flashing in his eyes. That was a Thunderstorm Talisman. Even peak Foundation Establishment realm cultivators would not dare take it head-on, yet this unknown fellow had actually tried to cut it with a blade.

"Hehe... At this distance, taking a full Thunderstorm Talisman strike, even a peak Foundation Establishment realm cultivator would..."

His voice abruptly cut off, his eyes filling with shock and terror. From within the raging lightning, a tall figure walked out slowly, staring at the man with cold indifference.

With a thunderous burst, the figure vanished and closed the distance instantly, far faster than the man could comprehend.

The blade sliced across his neck. His head flew into the air. In his final moment, a cold voice sounded beside his ear, "Damn it. That actually hurt."

"Not good, retreat!"

The other cultivators who had rushed over saw the horrifying scene. Their expressions changed drastically, and they fled at once.

Too late to run!

They dared to ambush him. There was no way Lin Zheyu would let them escape so easily. This time, he intended to capture them alive and see if he could extract some powerful secret techniques. At the very least, he wanted to know what method they had used to sneak within a hundred meters of him.

Lin Zheyu's Perception Domain was extremely powerful. The closer something was, the sharper his perception became, especially within a hundred meters. Even Qian Baiyan and the others had been detected the moment they entered that range. Yet these people had managed to sneak within it. That was truly unusual.

With a thunderous boom beneath his feet, Lin Zheyu shot forward like a cannonball. His speed kept rising, instantly reaching seven times the speed of sound, rapidly closing the gap with the fleeing cultivator ahead.

"Not good! He's locked onto me!"

The fleeing cultivator's expression changed drastically, fear flashing in her eyes. She slapped her storage pouch, pulling out a blood-red pill. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed it. Instantly, her speed surged again, nearly reaching seven times the speed of sound.

"Hm?!" Lin Zheyu let out a surprised sound.

It was the first time he had seen a cultivator reach such speed, especially one only around the Foundation Establishment realm. Still, it only surprised him slightly. A faint smirk of disdain appeared on his lips. Even before, his top speed had reached seven times the speed of sound. Now that his strength had improved greatly, it was nothing remarkable.

With a thought, golden light burst from his blood and flowed into his muscles, skin, and bones. As the golden energy infused his body, Lin Zheyu felt as if he had been injected with pure power. A surge of energy exploded within his muscles, the purest form of bodily force.

A deafening boom echoed as his speed surged again, instantly reaching eight times the speed of sound.

"How is that possible!" the woman cried, her eyes filled with terror.

She tried to struggle, but it was too late. A cold grip seized her throat. A large hand clamped down like iron, locking her in place.