Yang Zhen also saw the Demonic Beast squad below.
As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his senses were particularly sharp, and he easily discerned that among the Demonic Beasts below, three with more complete humanoid forms and surging demonic aura had already reached the Condensed Core Realm, making them Grand Demons.
The Cultivation Realm of Demonic Beasts was classified according to the state changes of their Serpent Core.
After plants, birds, beasts, and other flora and fauna awakened their intelligence, they began absorbing the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon, generating demonic aura within their bodies.
The demonic aura circulated through their meridians and condensed into a Serpent Core within their dantian.
At first, the demonic aura was thin, and the condensed Serpent Core was gaseous—this stage was known as the early Body Tempering Stage.
With further cultivation, the demonic aura grew more abundant, the Serpent Core became substantial, turning liquid—this marked the Mid Body Refining Stage.
Upon yet further cultivation, as the demonic aura’s concentration continued to rise, the Serpent Core would solidify from liquid to a soft, ball-like solid—this was the late Body Tempering Stage.
As cultivation continued, the Serpent Core within would keep increasing in size.
The ultimate size of a Demonic Beast’s Serpent Core depended on its own bloodline and spiritual veins.
When the Serpent Core in a Demonic Beast reached its individual peak, that would be the day the Lightning Tribulation descended.
If the Demonic Beast survived the Lightning Tribulation, the Serpent Core would become fully solid, forming a hard sphere.
This was known as the Condensed Core Realm—from a Lesser Beast to a Grand Demon—equivalent to the Foundation Establishment realm for human cultivators.
Yang Zhen had not expected that upon just entering the Beast Territory, he would run into three Condensed Core Realm Grand Demons at once.
Demonic Beasts of this level of cultivation were usually the chiefs or direct descendants of each territory or cave mansion.
He had originally planned not to alert the local Demonic Beasts, to seize Lin Xue quickly, reclaim the Foundation-building Pill, and immediately return to Xichuan, all unnoticed.
Who would have thought that before he could even catch that demon girl, he would run straight into these leader-class monsters—three of them at that—leaving Yang Zhen deeply frustrated.
No matter what, catching that little demon girl came first!
He absolutely could not allow her to escape into that squad of Demonic Beasts.
If she did, he would truly be powerless to do anything.
Yang Zhen’s face turned ruthless, and he stretched out his hand, reaching forward to grab.
A giant, illusory hand appeared out of thin air in mid-air, following his movement and clutching down, instantly grabbing Lin Xue in its grip.
Got her!
Joy flashed across Yang Zhen’s face as he drew his hand back.
The shadowy giant hand mirrored his movement, gripping Lin Xue and pulling her toward him.
Lin Xue suddenly felt her body tighten as the illusory giant hand closed around her and lifted her from the back of the Immortal Crane.
She was shocked.
She hadn’t expected the Ancestor of the Yang Family to know such a technique.
The expression on her face froze in an instant.
In the next moment, the Lin Xue tightly grasped by the illusory hand had already transformed into a burning Paper Doll Substitute.
Lin Xue’s true form appeared ten steps away on the back of the Immortal Crane.
She had earlier bound a Paper Doll Substitute with her demonic power and, at the crucial moment, activated the Paper Substitute Technique to escape Yang Zhen’s grasp.
However, the Immortal Crane was swift, and after Lin Xue’s true form slipped from the demon’s grasp, only a small part of her snake tail touched the crane, while most of her body was left suspended in mid-air.
Her lower body had suddenly shifted from legs to a snake tail, something she still wasn’t used to.
Lin Xue failed to regain her balance and stumbled, falling backwards off the Immortal Crane.
And this was hundreds of meters above the ground.
Lin Xue watched helplessly as she toppled headfirst, reaching out in vain to grasp something, but caught nothing.
Her mind went blank in an instant.
It’s over—this height will be the end of me.
Though she was a Demonic Beast, her body was still of flesh and blood. From such a height, she’d be reduced to nothing but a bloody pulp.
She hadn’t died at the hands of the Ancestor of the Yang Family, but would now end up dashed to pieces.
Of all the transmigrators, her death would probably be the most ridiculous.
She looked on in despair as she plummeted downwards.
Suddenly, a large hand stretched out from the back of the Immortal Crane, appearing before her eyes.
Zhang Zongnian leaned out, extending his hand toward her.
Lin Xue instantly grabbed that hand.
Her entire weight was now hanging from that arm.
Zhang Zongnian’s face twisted in pain. He gritted his teeth hard, letting out a muffled, agonized growl from his throat.
Only now did Lin Xue realize she was clinging to Zhang Zongnian’s injured right hand.
When Yang Zhen had reached out with his demonic hand, Zhang Zongnian had sensed emptiness at his side and saw Lin Xue seized by the illusory giant hand.
In his panic, he forgot his right hand was already broken and instinctively reached out with it to grab Lin Xue, trying to stop her from being captured.
The next moment, Lin Xue reappeared.
His right hand directly made contact with Lin Xue, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body.
Immediately after, he saw Lin Xue struggle, then topple backwards, about to fall from the crane’s back.
Zhang Zongnian’s mind buzzed in shock.
At such a height, she would surely die if she fell.
Though his right hand hurt terribly, he didn’t hesitate to lean out and extend his hand toward Lin Xue.
Lin Xue grabbed his right hand just in time.
Zhang Zongnian was struck by a wave of splitting, soul-piercing pain, as if it would drill straight through his skull.
His body shuddered violently, and he nearly passed out on the spot.
But he grit his teeth, stubbornly holding on, and with all the strength he could muster from his right arm—stitched back together by his senior brother—he managed to pull Lin Xue back onto the crane’s back.
Only after regaining her footing did Lin Xue realize she was drenched in cold sweat.
Her heart pounded violently in terror and lingering fear.
Luckily, Zhang Zongnian had pulled her back.
But his right arm had suffered severe injury, and with her pulling on it like that, wouldn’t it only worsen?
She turned to look at Zhang Zongnian beside her.
His face was deathly pale, sweat the size of beans rolling down his forehead, his whole right arm trembling uncontrollably, fresh blood seeping from his sleeve—he was clearly in dire condition.
He managed to force a smile at Lin Xue.
Before Lin Xue could say anything to him, a fierce gust of wind assaulted them.
She turned her head to see, in mid-air, a pair of colossal, illusory hands parting left and right, descending with the force of slapping mosquitoes, aiming at her, Zhang Zongnian, and the Immortal Crane below them.
Seeing he couldn’t seize Lin Xue with one hand, Yang Zhen simply stretched out both hands, striking from both sides.
Let’s see where you can run now, little demon girl!
He had planned to capture Lin Xue, force her to reveal the whereabouts of the Foundation-building Pill, and then kill her.
But now, with three Grand Demons watching, there was no time for drawn-out schemes. He had to settle things quickly before they could intervene.
The Foundation-building Pill was such a vital item; surely this little demon girl wouldn’t entrust it to anyone else and would keep it on her person.
If he killed her and took her corpse, he could examine her storage pouch after returning to Xichuan, or if that failed, use Soul Searching on her spirit.
At that thought, he no longer held back, spreading both palms wide and intending to crush Lin Xue and Zhang Zongnian in one blow.
As the two massive palms closed in swiftly, Lin Xue’s face turned deathly pale.
This time, there was no way to escape using the Paper Substitute Technique.
She exchanged a glance with Zhang Zongnian; in each other’s eyes, they saw only despair.