Chu Lingwei looked at the monstrous dog before her. Around it lay hundreds of corpses of female cultivators, each with a gaping hole in their chest. Its features were ferocious, and they must have suffered immense pain before dying.
This was truly a beast.
The seventh-tier spirit beast exuded waves of pressure, causing the air in the entire cave to descend repeatedly.
"Kill it."
Chu Lingwei stared at the monstrous dog with killing intent. Having killed so many female cultivators, its fate would be the same.
Shui Yi stepped forward and with a gentle palm strike, the seventh-tier spirit beast, before it could even react, collapsed to the ground.
As the seventh-tier spirit beast fell, another monstrous dog in a different cave, which was about to rush out, suddenly stopped its actions and retreated backward like a madman.
"This is bad."
The Phantom Cat jumped out of the spirit beast pouch, looking at the seventh-tier monstrous dog that had died before them.
"This monstrous dog seems to be a young king."
"Monstrous dogs have kings?" Chu Lingwei had read extensively from the spirit beast compendium. Monstrous dogs were merely gregarious spirit beasts, extremely ferocious, and considered humans their enemies.
"It has been thousands of years since a young king appeared, so people have long forgotten that monstrous dogs could give birth to young kings," the Phantom Cat said. They could already feel the entire mine shaking violently.
"Do those monstrous dogs know their young king is dead?"
Chu Lingwei turned her head and looked at the female cultivators behind her. Her gaze sharpened, and with a wave of her right hand, she directly collected the young king monstrous dog into her storage bag, concealing its aura.
"There must be a reason why they appeared here," Chu Lingwei said quickly. They couldn't let those monstrous dogs appear here.
"The barrier is inside."
The Phantom Cat found a formation and jumped onto it. Its entire body immediately disappeared before Chu Lingwei and the others.
Chu Lingwei turned her head, thinking of the female cultivators who had just entered. "Shui Yi, temporarily set up a barrier for those female cultivators to protect them."
They still needed some time to find a way to lure the monstrous dogs away. Chu Lingwei did not want any accidents to happen.
After Shui Yi set up a barrier for the female cultivators, she stepped into the formation and came to Chu Lingwei's side. A surge of demonic energy rushed towards them.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass here?"
Chu Lingwei looked at the demon floating in mid-air. Its voice was like the hissing of insects, extremely unpleasant.
"This is not your territory, is it?"
"Oh, you can see me?" The demon's voice held a hint of surprise.
"Why can't I see you?" Chu Lingwei looked around. All the minerals here had been cleared out. "Or, have you reached some kind of cooperation with the owner of this mine? You provide them with good things, and they provide you with cultivators?"
"You little brat, don't you know that speaking incorrectly has consequences?" The demon's demonic energy intensified as it listened to Chu Lingwei's words. "How could foolish cultivators like you cooperate with me?"
"Since that's not the case, don't blame me for being impolite."
Chu Lingwei drew out the Ice Jade Frost Sword and thrust it towards the demon.
"You have courage. You are the first person to dare point a sword at me." The demon sensed the sword intent coming from behind it, and its body dispersed like smoke, its laughter echoing throughout the cave.
"So, it's not even a demon."
Chu Lingwei retracted her sword, her eyes filled with disappointment.
"Are you mocking me?" The demon heard Chu Lingwei's voice and moved forward again, appearing before Chu Lingwei, looking terrifying.
As it got closer, Chu Lingwei was certain that the demon before her could no longer be considered a demon, but merely a wisp of a demonic soul, devoid of any demonic power and unable to attack anyone.
"I'm not mocking you, I'm just disappointed."
Chu Lingwei retracted the Ice Jade Frost Sword. No wonder the people outside hadn't noticed the demonic energy here. A remnant soul, if it didn't dissipate on its own, would be hard for others to make it disappear.
Those with lower cultivation could not make it dissipate, and those with higher cultivation were too lazy to bother.
"How did you appear here? Ever since the outside was occupied by those monstrous dogs, no one has entered here." The demon looked at Chu Lingwei. It had not seen anyone appear here for a very long time.
Even when there were cultivators outside, no matter how hard it tried to get them to enter, it failed.
"Senior, do you know why those monstrous dogs appeared here?" This demon arrived even earlier than the monstrous dogs, so it should know the situation here.
"Do you want to know?" The demon floated before Chu Lingwei. "As long as you help me deliver a message, I will tell you how to make these monstrous dogs retreat."
"Then forget it."
Chu Lingwei shook her head. She didn't want to deal with demons.
"Shui Yi, let's go."
A demon that was about to dissipate on its own, Chu Lingwei had no time to quibble with it, and quickly moved forward with Shui Yi.
"There is nothing you are looking for in here. If I don't tell you, you will never find the root cause in your lifetime, and those monstrous dogs outside will soon rush out."
The demon followed Chu Lingwei and whispered in her ear, "You are not the only one who has entered here. Every time a cultivator enters here, the result is the same. Those monstrous dogs outside rush out, causing countless cultivators to perish, and then they are driven back in here, and more cultivators enter to slaughter the monstrous dogs..."
"You mean, these monstrous dogs can never be completely eradicated?"
Chu Lingwei quickly analyzed the meaning of its words from its speech.
"As long as you help me deliver a message, I will tell you everything." The demon's voice was filled with urgency. "I can tell you the reason for the appearance of these monstrous dogs and how to make them disappear forever."
"Why should I believe you?"
Chu Lingwei quickly began to analyze. The demon's figure flickered, sometimes faint, sometimes solid. It was deliberately acting as if it were powerful, when in reality, it should dissipate very soon.
"You just killed the young king they chose. It won't be long before they rush out, and all the cultivators outside will be torn to shreds by these monstrous dogs."
The demon's voice sounded in Chu Lingwei's ear again. "There is something inside the bodies of these monstrous dogs that can amplify their power by several times. Even those in the Heaven Integration realm are no match for them."
"Tell me first, what message do you want me to deliver?"
Chu Lingwei's heart stirred, feeling a bit annoyed at her impulsiveness. She should have spared the life of that seventh-tier monstrous dog earlier.
"You just need to go and tell my master that I, your servant, could not protect him as he grew." The demon's voice turned sorrowful. "I have failed my master's command."
Chu Lingwei was surprised and looked at it. "Who is your master?"
"He is my master," the demon replied.
"What is his name?"
"He is my master, I cannot speak his name directly." The demon raised its head, its eyes filled with reverence and adoration.
"If you don't tell me his name, how can I help you deliver the message?" Chu Lingwei's face darkened.