You... You're Nascent Soul Old Monsters!

Who was Ancestor Baitan? A legendary figure at the half-step Nascent Soul stage, a goal countless demons could only dream of reaching. To put it into perspective, even the master of the cultivator market was merely at the false Core stage; upon meeting Ancestor Baitan, the market master would have to respectfully address him as “Senior.” When attempting his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, an unexpected mishap had occurred for reasons unknown. His body perished, his dao was extinguished, his storage ring shattered, and only a single medallion was left behind. Ancestor Baitan had been meticulous in his affairs; he divided his wealth into two portions, keeping one in his storage ring and hiding the other away, accessible only with that medallion. This medallion had been fought over by numerous tribes and changed hands multiple times before somehow ending up buried within the Qiang Insect Tribe. Rumor had it that the treasure vault contained Ancestor Baitan’s cultivation insights as well as his notes regarding mental fortitude prior to the breakthrough. Among Golden Core demons, these two things were priceless treasures, items they would bankrupt themselves to obtain. Those tribes had conducted massive searches for the medallion for a time, but without any leads, the matter had fizzled out. The pawnshop boss never expected the medallion to show up here. Cold sweat began beading on his forehead. Earlier, his thought had been to sell this thing to the market master to seek his protection. Yet when he calmed down and thought about it, once the market master got hold of the medallion, would he really protect him, or would he silence him forever? Wealth stirred the hearts of demons. Even if the market master had a decent reputation, there was no guaranteeing he wouldn't commit atrocities when driven by immense profit. If he didn't sell it to the market master, he dare not sell it to anyone else. “Boss, how many spirit stones is this worth?” Lu Yang waited and waited, but the only response he received was the boss sweating more and more profusely, without uttering a single word. Hearing Lu Yang’s voice, the boss snapped out of his daze and hastily pushed the medallion back. “It's worthless, completely worthless! We don't take it!” This was a scorching potato—taking it meant death. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou found this completely baffling. Such a huge reaction—was Ancestor Baitan truly at the half-step Tribulation Transcendence stage or something? Once the two had left, the boss furrowed his brow tightly and made a difficult decision. “Boss, what are you doing?” the water buffalo clerk called out. “Selling a piece of intelligence to the market master.” The two left the cultivator market and sped along for another half-day. As larger Golden Core tribes began to appear, cultivator markets grew more frequent as well. Without exception, every market understood the rules of the Demon Domain and dared not covet an item that belonged to a Golden Core ancestor. As the medallion was repeatedly shown in various markets, more and more eyes fell upon Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, these two carefree fellows. Yet none of them made a move—they lacked the qualification. Several Golden Core ancestors were already watching the pair, biding their time to slaughter the two and seize the medallion. “Little juniors, it seems you've gotten your hands on something good.” Finally, one Golden Core ancestor could hold back no longer. He revealed his true form—a fierce tiger with a blue face. He hovered in the air, glaring coldly down at the two. Two little brats who couldn't even fly—at best, they were at the Foundation Establishment stage. In the face of the false Core stage, Foundation Establishment cultivators were nothing more than playthings to be toyed with at will. “Fellow Daoist, it isn't very nice to hog all the food for yourself. Senior Baitan's treasure is immense—can you finish it all alone?” Three more Golden Core cultivators appeared, intending to join forces to seize the medallion and split the spoils afterward. “It's the Three Snake Bandits!” The Foundation Establishment onlookers hiding in the dark cried out involuntarily. These three Golden Core cultivators were notorious, murdering and looting without even bothering to conceal their identities. What made it worse was that they were absurdly strong—all three were at the false Core stage, and fighting together, they could take on the late Golden Core stage. “How dare three striped snakes covet something this seat has set his sights upon!” Raging flames erupted in the jungle, and several Foundation Establishment cultivators shrieked as they were burned alive. A male lion with a fiery mane appeared; it was the local overlord, the patriarch of the Raging Flame Lion clan. Following that, one Golden Core cultivator after another showed up. The Foundation Establishment spectators below watched dumbstruck, not daring to draw breath. All the nearby Golden Core experts had arrived! “Does the old lion truly think he controls everything?” “Try me and see!” The Golden Core ancestors glared at one another with hostility, trading verbal threats and unleashing their auras to compete in cultivation realms, attempting to suppress each other in sheer presence. They completely ignored the two eighth-layer Golden Core ancestors below. “They really don't take the two of us seriously at all,” Lu Yang sighed. Never mind that the two of them were currently at the eighth layer of the Golden Core; even if they were only at late Foundation Establishment, this bunch of old geezers wouldn't be enough to cause them trouble. “No point in wasting words, let our hands do the talking!” Paying no heed to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou below, the old geezers began brawling among themselves up in the sky. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou both yawned. The foundations of these old geezers were severely lacking, riddled with glaring flaws, making the fight utterly uninteresting to watch. Pulling any two participants from the Golden Core division finals back then would have resulted in a far better spectacle than this. Or rather, picking any two contestants at random would have been enough to beat this entire mob. “Want one?” Since they had nothing better to do, Lu Yang pulled two fruits from his identity jade pendant. He had bought them at one of the cultivator markets. Novel in appearance, they were said to be a specialty of the Demon Domain. Their shelf life was extremely short and they spoiled easily, but their flavor was top-notch. Meng Jingzhou took a bite, and the juice squirted thirty feet away. “Holy smokes, I have to admit, this tastes amazing! Juicy and super sweet!” Meng Jingzhou was full of praise for the unnamed fruit. Holding his fruit, Lu Yang thought for a moment before casting the Water Parting Technique. In an instant, the fruit turned into dried fruit. He took a bite; though it lost its moisture, it became all the sweeter in return. The two munched on the fruit and dried fruit while waiting for the battle overhead to conclude. After all, they were eighth-layer Golden Core ancestors—how could they take action so casually? True masters always made their move last. By the time they finished a few fruits, the fight was drawing to a close. “Conjure some water and help me wash my hands,” Lu Yang said. After finishing the fruits, his hands were sticky. Meng Jingzhou conjured two spheres of water. The pair washed their hands, stood up, and prepared to make their move. “Heh heh, I never imagined so many people had their eyes on this old man's medallion.” Before the two could act, an aged voice echoed through the jungle, startling the Raging Flame Lion and the others. None of them had sensed the newcomer's presence! “Who is it?!” the Raging Flame Lion roared in fury. He was on the verge of victory! “You covet this old man's belongings, yet you have the nerve to ask who I am?” An old white serpent a thousand feet long emerged, its eyes cloudy, flicking its forked tongue with a hiss. “I am Baitan.” “What?!” “How can this be?!” “Ancestor Baitan, who fell eighty years ago?!” Cries of shock erupted in waves. Whether it was the Golden Core ancestors in the sky or the Foundation Establishment cultivators on the ground, all stared in shock and disbelief at Ancestor Baitan. Ancestor Baitan had concealed himself within another pocket of space, which meant he possessed rudimentary control over spatial power. That was the hallmark of the Nascent Soul stage! Ancestor Baitan was already a Nascent Soul monster! “Not quite the Nascent Soul stage. I merely failed my breakthrough eighty years ago and gained a few negligible benefits,” Ancestor Baitan smiled modestly, though no one dare take his words as true humility. Gaining spatial power despite failing a breakthrough—what terrifying innate talent was this! “With so many Golden Cores, it's enough for me to refine a furnace of Infant Metamorphosis Pills! Combined with the treasures unlocked by the medallion, I'll have a seventy-percent chance of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage.” Ancestor Baitan flicked his tongue, his gaze dripping with greed. Eighty years ago, his breakthrough had failed, leaving him in dire straits. Fearing his enemies would take advantage of his weakness, he faked his death to escape and preserve his life. To make the ruse thoroughly convincing, he had even left his medallion behind. Unfortunately, the medallion changed hands so frequently that, back and forth, he ended up losing track of it, leaving him in endless regret. That was his hope for a second attempt at breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. Fortunately, Heaven never sealed off all exits. Just yesterday, he heard that two minor demons had obtained the medallion and were asking around for prices. A godsend opportunity! The medallion's appearance was bound to lure out many Golden Core cultivators. Facing so many Golden Cores at once was something even he couldn't withstand, so he had to wait until the battle ended and their auras were thoroughly depleted before showing himself to reap the spoils. “What a calculated scheme! Lurking for eighty years, using these two juniors as bait to lure us into fighting until we're all crippled, so you could reap the benefits.” The Raging Flame Lion glared fiercely at Ancestor Baitan, intentionally stalling for time while secretly preparing a contingency—activating a talisman treasure capable of short spatial hops to escape this place. Ancestor Baitan paid no mind to the Raging Flame Lion's movements. In his eyes, these Golden Core cultivators were already dead men. He had already disrupted the local space; these Golden Core cultivators couldn't possibly escape. This was the gap between a half-step Nascent Soul and the Golden Core stage. It was time to take back what belonged to him. Ancestor Baitan opened his bloody maw and lunged toward Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. “Little brats, obediently hand over this ancestor's medallion! In return, this ancestor will grant you a painless death.” Lu Yang said nothing. He quietly extended a finger as imperceptible sword qi gathered at the tip. Then, he slashed lightly toward Ancestor Baitan. An extremely thin line appeared on the serpent's tongue. *Plop.* A segment of the tongue dropped to the ground, sizzling with smoke—it was intensely venomous. An extremely thin line appeared across Ancestor Baitan's lower jaw. It fell to the ground just the same. “Flying around up there must be exhausting. Why don't you all come down?” Meng Jingzhou chuckled. Activating the Heaven-Shaking Six Forms, he abruptly swung his arm in an arc. Space vibrated violently, and the Golden Core cultivators tumbled out of the air like dumplings dropped into boiling water, overwhelmed with terror. Ancestor Baitan crashed to the ground with a deafening rumble, knocking down countless trees. He had no time to mind the pain across his body; the scene before his eyes terrified him far more. In Ancestor Baitan's pupils, the figures of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou grew larger and larger. Frightened out of his wits, he shrieked aloud, his voice trembling as he shook uncontrollably, a chill welling up from the depths of his soul. “Condensing qi into a sword, shattering the sky with a single punch... You... You're Nascent Soul old monsters!!!” He had thought of himself as the oriole waiting behind the mantis stalking the cicada—the hunter in the shadows. Never did he imagine that these two minor demons were actually Nascent Soul old monsters! “What?! They're actually Nascent Soul old monsters?!” “Why would Nascent Soul old monsters have the leisure for this?!” “Shut your mouth! Do you want to enrage a Nascent Soul old monster?!” Chills ran down everyone's spines. Nascent Soul old monsters were notoriously capricious and all-powerful, every single one of them a great demon who shook an entire region! Lu Yang: “...” Although he had known that putting on an imposing front in the Demon Domain was easy, he hadn't expected it to be *this* easy. Was this the cultivation world in Eldest Senior Sister's eyes?