Chapter 138: The Arrival of the Bull Demon King

A beam of light shot from Yuan Wuji's fingertip straight toward the Daoist priest lying on the ground. The Daoist, who had just looked like a dead dog, was now able to stand up. However, having witnessed Yuan Wuji's terrifying strength, the recovered Daoist did not dare to make any rash moves and simply stood submissively to the side.

"He is now at your beck and call."

Hearing Yuan Wuji's words, Mingyu immediately instructed the Daoist, "Bring out all the scriptures from your Daoist temple."

The Daoist was well aware of what had happened to him; his life was now in Mingyu's hands. Besides, he was the only one left in the Single Character Temple, so what if he handed everything over to Mingyu? The old Daoist had died at Yuan Wuji's hands, which, to him, was almost a release.

"Understood."

Before long, the Daoist had gathered all the scriptures from within the Single Character Temple and handed them over to Mingyu. Mingyu kept only the scriptures related to cultivation, directly discarding all the others.

Was the Blood Nourishment Technique missing?

Scanning through the scriptures brought out by the Daoist, Yuan Wuji did not find the Blood Nourishment Technique. Could it be on the old Daoist himself?

The old Daoist's mind had been shattered by the invasion of Yuan Wuji's powerful divine consciousness, making it impossible to extract any further information from his brain.

Although Yuan Wuji looked down upon the Blood Nourishment Technique, he noticed certain similarities between it and the Myriad Demonic Fiend Heart, and he wanted to use the technique to see if he could further strengthen the demonic heart.

Yet, the Blood Nourishment Technique did not seem to be on the old Daoist either. It appeared the old Daoist had kept an ace up his sleeve. As for the younger Daoist, he had never even learned the Blood Nourishment Technique, let alone know its formulas.

"There should be quite a few magical artifacts inside the Single Character Temple. Go inside and search; you are bound to find some treasures," Yuan Wuji reminded Mingyu and Xika.

"Alright." Hearing Yuan Wuji's words, Mingyu and Xika rushed into the Single Character Temple without stopping.

Just as Yuan Wuji prepared to follow them inside, a sudden wave of divine sense transmitted straight into his sea of consciousness.

Something happened at the Fiend Cloud Cave?

This stream of divine sense came from a puppet; only the puppets could contact Yuan Wuji through divine sense.

"Village Chief, I have matters to attend to and must leave first. You will have to return to White Village on your own." Leaving behind these words, Yuan Wuji executed the Ground-Fearing Golden Light divine art and hurried toward the Fiend Cloud Cave.

Before the village chief of White Village could even utter a word, Yuan Wuji had already vanished right before his eyes. However, left on the ground were several gold ingots that Yuan Wuji had left behind for them. Moreover, now that they had the cultivation methods from the Single Character Temple, he believed the villagers of White Village would soon embark on the path of cultivation. Hopefully, they would not disappoint him when the time came.

The Bull Demon King had come to the Fiend Cloud Cave? As expected, once he learned of the Fiend Cloud Cave's purpose, the Bull Demon King would not simply give it up. Unfortunately, neither would he.

Before even approaching Hao Mountain, Yuan Wuji could already feel a suffocating wave of demonic aura rushing toward him. It seemed the Bull Demon King had brought along a large contingent of demon soldiers, determined to take the Fiend Cloud Cave by any means necessary.

In front of the gates of the Fiend Cloud Cave, eight puppets stood in a neat row, confronting the Bull Demon King and True Immortal Ruyi. As for Hu San, he was cowering timidly behind the eight puppets.

"You belong to the Divine Ape King. Old Bull has no wish to make things difficult for the Divine Ape King, so you had best surrender the Fiend Cloud Cave."

"We obey our master's command to guard the Fiend Cloud Cave. If you want it, you must step over our dead bodies."

The eight puppets showed not a hint of fear, standing steadfastly in front of the Fiend Cloud Cave without retreating a single half-step.

The Bull Demon King frowned involuntarily, unleashing the oppressive aura of his Taiyi True Immortal cultivation base upon the eight puppets. The puppets possessed only the cultivation of Celestial Immortals and were no match for the Bull Demon King. Under the immense pressure, their bodies began to bend continuously, yet still they refused to back down.

"If you do not step aside, Old Bull will scatter your souls right here and now."

The only response the Bull Demon King received was the unyielding figures of the eight puppets, which filled him with both anger and a shred of admiration.

"You are courting death."

The Bull Demon King's aura instantly erupted, blasting all eight puppets backward. The sent-flying puppets crashed heavily against the mountain wall, vomiting blood as countless bones within their bodies shattered.

With the shelter of the eight puppets removed, Hu San was fully exposed to the Bull Demon King's sight.

"Well, well, Hu San, you certainly enjoy playing the traitor," the Bull Demon King said, the corners of his mouth curling into a sneer.

Since Hu San was still safe and sound within the Fiend Cloud Cave, he must have relayed everything that happened at Thunderclap Mountain to the Divine Ape King. If the Divine Ape King also took an interest in Thunderclap Mountain, things would become rather troublesome.

"Hu San, you two-faced fence-sitter, let me teach you a lesson!" The speaker was True Immortal Ruyi, who had already despised Hu San and naturally refused to show any courtesy now that the Bull Demon King was backing him up.

Wielding the twin hooks in his hands, he launched a fierce attack directly at Hu San.

*Clang!*

The one who blocked the strike for Hu San was not Hu San himself, but the eight puppets. Although they had been severely injured by the Bull Demon King's aura, Yuan Wuji's command was for them to guard the Fiend Cloud Cave, and Hu San was counted as part of it. Naturally, the puppets would not allow Hu San to be harmed. Thus, the moment True Immortal Ruyi made his move against Hu San, the eight puppets simultaneously launched a counter-offensive against him.

"How dare you..."

Before True Immortal Ruyi could finish his sentence, he was kicked flying by a massive foot belonging to one of the puppets.

Having previously been severely injured by the Bull Demon King, the puppets were unable to unleash their full strength when attacking True Immortal Ruyi; they could only kick him away without being able to inflict genuine injury upon him.

"You can still stand? It seems I underestimated you."

Even the Bull Demon King had not expected the eight puppets to rise again. He knew all too well how devastating his previous attack should have been to cultivators at the Celestial Immortal realm. Continuing to fight would only worsen their injuries until they inevitably perished.

"Bull Demon, if you want the Fiend Cloud Cave, you must step over our bodies. If you cannot get past us, you had better run away quickly, or else when our master returns, you won't even have a chance to escape," a puppet said, clutching his wounds. Even though the injuries were grave, they refused to fall until the very last moment of their lives.

"What on earth did the Divine Ape King give you to make you follow him so blindly?"

"Even so, since you block my path, you must die."

This time, the Bull Demon King did not use his aura to blast them away; instead, he stepped forward personally, preparing to completely annihilate the eight puppets.

Seeing that the Bull Demon King was about to strike, Hu San began to grow uneasy. After all, the eight puppets had blocked True Immortal Ruyi's attack specifically for his sake, which was why they had caught the Bull Demon King's attention. If they died at the Bull Demon King's hands, Hu San had no idea how he would ever face Yuan Wuji.

The selfless rescue by the eight puppets delivered a profound shock to Hu San's heart. He understood the law of the jungle in this cruel world all too well, and since he had no prior bond with the puppets, the fact that they were willing to lay down their lives for him—perhaps driven by Yuan Wuji's orders—still left him utterly stunned to his core.