Chapter 481: Chapter 481: Familiar Evil Demon

One night passed, nothing happened.

When Li Rui awoke from his rest, Yuan Qing had already prepared the mountain beast, and the four of them continued forward together.

"Mr. Yuan, do you often come to the mountains?" Li Rui asked while sitting on the ride.

"Not often, about once every two to three months. We come to reduce the number of evil demons on the mountain and check for any anomalies."

"Why not eliminate them all?"

Yuan Qing said, "It’s not unwillingness, but inability. As you follow me into the mountains, you will soon see that there are too many evil demons ahead, and they can’t be completely eliminated, no matter what."

Li Rui thought that Jingyang Academy only had a low presence but wasn’t weak. They were still quite a significant force within the Secret Realm World. If they couldn’t clear all the evil demons from Ghost Cry Ridge, then it indeed posed a challenge.

Yuan Qing further explained, "Years ago, the founding masters of the academy wanted to eradicate all evil demons, but over time, they never succeeded. There was even a past incident where Evil Qi overflowed, causing devastation to creatures at the mountain base."

What he referred to was the time before Li Rui and the others were pulled into the Illusion Realm by Cen Lanjing. The impact of the Evil Qi overflow from Ghost Cry Ridge was too great, leading the academy to decide to build the Demon Suppression Tower.

Recalling the events in the Illusion Realm, Li Rui asked casually, "Mr. Yuan, do you know Zuo Qiutian?"

"Who in the world doesn’t know him?" Yuan Qing replied.

Li Rui chuckled, "Indeed, but what I meant was if you have any understanding of him that’s different from others?"

Yuan Qing turned his head to look at him again, "To be honest, Brother Li, Zuo Qiutian’s real name is Zuo Liang. He was once a disciple of the academy and was my master’s junior. But this past isn’t mentioned by him and is rarely known. How did you learn about it?"

Li Rui contemplated for a few seconds and answered, "I’m also an old acquaintance of Zuo Qiutian."

He didn’t mention Cen Lanjing because that old man had specifically said not to bring himself up.

Yuan Qing nodded, "Brother Li, you truly are a young hero."

Li Rui was modest for a couple of sentences, and then the group traveled in silence.

The mountain beast moved quickly, and they even encountered some patrol disciples from the academy midway. Seeing Yuan Qing personally leading a few strangers up the mountain, those people seemed a bit surprised.

"Senior brother, the Evil Qi from Ghost Cry Ridge has been surging recently, be extra cautious," someone warned.

However, Li Rui and the others were determined not to give up, and Yuan Qing didn’t stop them, continuing to lead the way forward.

As expected, the further they went, the more evil demons appeared, and the sinister feeling grew stronger.

Even though it was daylight, with bright skies overhead, on Ghost Cry Ridge, even a few steps ahead was shrouded in darkness.

Finally, as they climbed a high peak, the evil demons in the darkness couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Roar—"

With a roar, a large group of dark shadows rushed out, surrounding them from different directions.

"Woo—"

The mountain beast sensed the threat and attempted to make a noise to drive away the enemies.

Although they were usually trained by the academy, they still showed obvious anxiety, as they were just animals.

Li Rui calmly observed the threatening charge from the darkness for quite a while without any action, as he found the things emerging from the darkness somewhat familiar.

These evil demons on Ghost Cry Ridge were entirely black, with incomplete forms, exuding a twisted aura from top to bottom.

Just as the academy referred to them, they were called evil demons because it was really impossible to determine if these beings were Yin Sha spirits, demons, or spirit monsters.

They seemed not to belong to any race outside Ghost Cry Ridge.

"Hey, what are you waiting for, hurry up and take action."

Cheng Mingyue’s shout woke Li Rui, but Yuan Qing was the first to act. This current sacrificial chief of the academy wielded his sword, striking with a gleam of sword light, reminiscent of Wei Xun’s style.

However, the spontaneity and grandeur of the Demon Suppression Bureau’s commander were different from Yuan Qing’s Sword Intent, which was more elegant and effortless, as if the weapon in his hand was not a sword, but a pen.

Seeing him take action, Li Rui didn’t move, because he could tell that just these few strikes were enough to handle the threat ahead.

Although there were quite a number of evil demons, nearly a hundred emerged in no time; their strength wasn’t particularly formidable, only about the level of 60, ordinary creatures, and Yuan Qing at world NPC level swiftly dealt with them all.

These evil demons were pierced by the sword light, dissipating into wisps of black smoke, returning to the darkness, restoring calm to the surroundings.

"Mr. Yuan, impressive skills."

Li Rui complimented him.

Yuan Qing smiled slightly, "Let’s move quickly forward. If we linger here, they’ll return soon."

And so the group set out again.

Li Rui inquired, "Mr. Yuan, are all the evil demons on this mountain similar to the ones we just encountered?"

"They should not differ much."

"Are they spirits?"

Li Rui asked again, "I didn’t sense any Evil Qi."

Yuan Qing responded, "They’re certainly not spirits. As to what they are, I don’t know, only that their origin is related to Earth Thunder."

"Related to Earth Thunder?!"

Cheng Mingyue questioned, "That’s impossible. Isn’t that a spell from the Upper Realm? Look at Divine Thunder snakes, so bright and clear. How could Earth Thunder be so sinister?"

Li Rui said, "No, if it’s reversed, wouldn’t the effect be similar?"

His Reverse Yin and Yang could transform other Thunder Skills into opposite attributes. If Earth Thunder was reversed, causing such a situation, it would be understandable.

Yuan Qing couldn’t help but glance at him, appearing curious, but didn’t ask. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Li Rui just furrowed his brow, continuously pondering what those incomplete creatures emerging from the darkness really were.

"Brother Gui, can you use your skill to try entering the darkness?" he asked.

Guan Gui certainly wouldn’t refuse. He immediately used Ghost Inquiry, sending summoned beings filled with rolling Evil Qi into the darkness on Ghost Cry Ridge.

Shortly after, he said, "The connection broke."

Clearly, the link between him and those little ghosts was severed.

It was something even more ’dead’ than Evil Qi.

That’s what Li Rui thought to himself.

Continuing forward, more evil demons appeared, but for the four of them, they weren’t a problem. However, as they went deeper into Ghost Cry Ridge, the numbers increased, delaying a lot of time.

When the sky darkened again overhead, the scene ahead finally changed, no longer slowly rising, but starting to slope gently downward.

Here, new evil demons appeared again, but this time, due to subtle changes in their appearance, Li Rui finally realized why he felt familiar.

They seemed very similar to those unknown creatures encountered during the ascension process in the Ascension Hall when changing occupations and advancing.