Chapter Eleven: The Swarm of Bats

At the very moment when the Heavenly Steed Trade Guild began its hunt, Liuchou also set his own plan for hunting demons into motion.

The five demon corpses brought by the lone-eyed wolf were all refined into elixirs, including the one from a demon beast that had reached the Transformation realm. In total, five pills were obtained—once again the same five varieties: Foundation, Vitality, Shadowfix, Mindcongeal, and Clarity. No new elixirs appeared, which all but confirmed that the Body-Refining Elixirs produced by the Chenyin Vessel contained only these five types.

The only difference was that the Transformation-realm demon produced a second-grade elixir, and by a strange twist of fate, it was another Clarity pill.

As for the others, there were two Vitality, one Shadowfix, and one Mindcongeal, all first-grade.

Just as fortune may return after misfortune in the human world, so too can prosperity lead to decline. After the lone-eyed wolf, Liuchou spent an entire day searching, only to find he could not act in any of the caves he had originally targeted. Three were already empty, and in the last, a family of three sable beasts had moved in—both parents in the Transformation realm, and even the cub could speak, making him dare not lift a hand.

In the end, Liuchou could only return to his cave in frustration, swallow the pills, and prepare to face even stronger demon beasts the next day.

With the elixirs consumed, his power advanced yet again. His body remained at the peak of Speech, but his strength reached mid-Condensation, and his speed matched that of a Transformation beast. In all, his abilities were now fully sufficient to take on Transformation-level demons.

Even after swallowing the second-grade Clarity pill, there was no significant change.

The next day, Liuchou found two more demon lairs suitable for hunting. Because his memories had awakened, he chose to forego traps for now and engaged his foes head-on, honing those long-unused killing skills buried deep in his memory.

In his previous life, Liuchou had deliberately sought out several instructors to refine his combat skills: special forces trainers, underground boxing coaches, retired marine officers, and reclusive assassins. It is no exaggeration to say that he had mastered the essence of killing, only falling short of perfection due to physical limitations.

But in this life, endowed with a monstrous physique, how could he not strive to take full advantage?

The battles went smoothly. After two fights, all his combat memories had resurfaced, making him reacquainted with the sensation of blade piercing flesh, of fists meeting bodies. He gained a new awareness of his own lightning-quick reflexes and peerless senses. It would not be an exaggeration to say that even blindfolded, he could face a slightly weaker opponent with only his unique hearing and intuition.

Of course, facing an equally matched foe, blindfolded combat would still be extremely dangerous…

That day, he obtained two first-grade Foundation pills, refining his physique up to mid-Condensation.

He left the region of Jagged Rocks Ridge and found three demon beasts, only one of which had reached Transformation. The other two were at Condensation. These three became his sparring partners, and this time, he chose to unseal the Jiachen Vessel for their corpses.

Upon unsealing, the Demon-Refining Vessel revealed a new function:

“Jiawu Vessel… Sealed… Unusable…
Jiachen Vessel… Qian-Kun Crucible… For refining Essence Pills… Idle… Usable…
Jiayin Vessel… Threefold Cauldron… For Body-Refining Elixirs… Idle… Usable…”

“There remain four units of spiritual essence in the Jiawu Vessel, with three hundred and thirty-nine more needed for unsealing…”

It seemed, too, that the character for 'Chen' was now illuminated on the vessel’s inscribed copper mirror.

Liuchou quickly calculated that unsealing the entire Jiawu Vessel would require three hundred and forty-three units of spiritual essence—meaning at least thirty or forty more demon beasts, by rough estimate. He immediately gave up on further unsealing and turned his attention to the Qian-Kun Crucible’s use.

Though his supply of Condensation-realm beasts had run dry, he still had numerous demon corpses. With a thought, he began to store them inside, only to discover that the vessel’s capacity had greatly increased—it could now hold seven or eight corpses with room to spare, whereas before, even three or four would fill it.

It seemed that unsealing a new vessel meant opening up a new section of the Demon-Refining Vessel, increasing not only its functions but also its capacity.

So, Liuchou simply stored every demon corpse he had on hand and began refining Essence Pills. He thought to himself, though these beasts lacked demon cores, they were at least of the Speech and Spirit-Gathering realms—if not quality, then quantity might suffice for a pill.

Sure enough, an Essence Pill was produced, but he was somewhat disappointed to see:

“Spirit Essence Pill, ungraded.”

Turning the pill over in his hand, he finally tossed it into his mouth and swallowed.

This pill felt entirely different from the Foundation, Vitality, and other elixirs. Soon after ingestion, he immediately sensed the ambient air thick with motes of primal energy, like moisture in mist, gradually streaming into his body.

At first, the energy entered through the crown of his head, but as the pill dissolved and was absorbed, the influx grew stronger, spreading through his meridians and energy points, and at last, pouring madly in through every pore. Once inside, the energy quickly fused with the pill’s particles, circulating rapidly through his body.

Drawing on inherited demon memory, Liuchou sat cross-legged and began to guide the energy through his meridians, cycling it through the body and gathering it in his chest and abdomen.

The process was not long but drained much of his strength. When the influx finally ceased, he found a warm, grayish mass in his chest and abdomen—the result of gathered primal energy. At the same time, he realized his demon power had increased considerably, rising from Spirit Initiation to Spirit-Gathering!

This, then, was a pill that enhanced demonic power.

Demon power was the most essential aspect of becoming a true demon. Without it, no matter the strength of the body, one could hardly ascend beyond a mere beast. Many such creatures existed in the world: ferocious and violent, yet forever stuck at the level of wild animals, destined either to be refined into spirit beasts or destroyed by cultivators for materials.

With the Demon-Refining Vessel now able to enhance demonic energy, its functions were essentially complete—at least until Liuchou fully became a demon, he would ask no more of it.

At last, the time had come to seek vengeance against the monkey demons.

Feeling at ease, Liuchou realized his belly was empty—the Spirit Essence Pill had also drained much of his strength, and unlike the body-refining elixirs, it offered no nourishment. This was an awkward situation: all the demon corpses had been used, and he was left with nothing to eat.

With no other choice, Liuchou went out to find food, determined to fill his belly before anything else.

With his current strength, he could now roam the outskirts of Plum Mountain unafraid. As long as he didn’t risk his life in combat, he would always have the chance to escape—this was the way of demon beasts. Except for the Blood Moon night, most demons would not fight equally matched opponents to the death, instead hunting weaker prey or even common animals for sustenance.

After thinking it over, Liuchou found there were no more known demon lairs within dozens of miles. He decided to head for the monkeys’ cave at Jagged Rocks Ridge and move his plan for revenge to tonight.

The monkeys’ lair was a vast cavern, its broad mouth plunging dozens of yards deep. The tribe usually gathered here, storing food, only scattering to smaller nearby caves during the Blood Moon to hide and resist its seduction. This was Liuchou’s target.

Following the ridge, he soon arrived near the monkeys’ cave, intent on locating the sentries. Suddenly, he caught the strong scent of blood. Before he could investigate, a dark shadow shot from the nearby gloom like lightning. A hand reached for him with such force that Liuchou was knocked to the ground.

It was a night bat!

Night bats were demon beasts of incredible speed, though physically frail. This one had only reached the Speech realm, but its swiftness and ambush caught Liuchou off guard, giving it the chance to grapple at close quarters.

The two demons rolled and fought. Suddenly, Liuchou’s arm struck like a hammer, elbow slamming into the bat’s neck so hard it nearly fainted. Instinctively, the night bat bit down, its four sharp fangs sinking deep into Liuchou’s arm!

But as it tried to pull away with its prize, it found the flesh in its mouth had turned as hard as iron. With a violent jerk, it ripped out two of its own fangs!

The pain was near-fatal for the bat.

It loosened its grip in agony. Liuchou seized the opportunity, sprang up, grabbed his bone blade, and thrust it into the gaping mouth.

With a wet squelch, blood spattered Liuchou’s chest and body.

He licked the blood from his lips, and with a thought, stored the bat’s corpse in the vessel. After scanning the area, he darted into the cave, following familiar passageways deeper inside.

The cave reeked of blood. As he went, lone night bats occasionally attacked—clearly, this place had become their hunting ground. The monkeys stood little chance. Though Liuchou regretted not being able to personally wipe out the monkey tribe, if he could kill two or three Condensation-level night bats, it would suffice.

Thus, what he sought now was the bat king of this new tribe.

After felling several bats, Liuchou began to tire and decided to leave—at least for now, to find a place to devour a couple of bat corpses and recover before returning.

He began to gather the slain bats when he suddenly heard sounds from a nearby side tunnel. Only then did he realize he was near the entrance to the largest cavern. Driven by curiosity, he slipped inside.

Blood and mangled remains littered the cave, most belonging to monkeys, with a few night bat corpses as well. At the far end, two or three night bats circled a burly monkey, swooping and tearing at it.

This monkey was huge, nearly the size of Wolf Yan, and had reached the Condensation realm. Now it crouched against the stone wall, emitting low, furious roars, its claws flailing at the air in vain as the bats’ nimble flight left it bloodied and its strength fading.

Three Condensation-level night bats would have posed no threat under normal circumstances, but with his strength depleted, Liuchou’s first thought was to retreat. He turned and dashed for the exit.

But as he rushed through a side passage, before he could turn, two more bats burst out from another tunnel, crashing into him and biting down hard. Exhausted and beset from both sides, Liuchou found himself unable to shake them off.

The bats drove their fangs into him, gnawing at his tough hide, but no matter how hard they tried, they could only draw beads of blood, unable to tear away any real flesh.

After all, the physique of a mid-Condensation demon beast was far beyond anything a mere Speech-realm night bat could match.