Yang Hong and the other demonic beasts retreated. After a careful reconnaissance, he
was assured that no more demonic beasts were in the vicinity of the small
basin. He then settled down in the clearing by the waterfall and began searching
through his storage space for items.
First, clothes. Three pieces of first-tier magical artifact brocade shirts, one
pair of pants. Two pieces of second-tier magical artifact brocade shirts, no
pants.
This was all the clothing. For demonic beasts, clothing was perhaps the most
useless thing. They had tough hides and strong scales.
Magical artifacts were slightly more numerous. Eighteen pieces of first-tier,
seven pieces of second-tier, and one piece of third-tier. All of them were
weapons, and heavy ones at that – hammers, axes, maces, and the like. Yang Hong
suspected this was the tiger demon's specialized collection, as not a single
normal sword or saber magical artifact was found.
Only the third-tier magical artifact was a bit special: a small iron shield with
very intricate patterns. Judging by the patterns and design, it was exquisite,
and the aura emanating from the shield felt ancient. It was likely an ancient
human artifact.
Besides magical artifacts, there was a large pile of various ores, fifty-three
pieces in total. And that was it. This was all the tiger demon Hu Li possessed.
By all appearances, it was a poor demon, with nothing Yang Hong cared about.
"Then there's only one possibility," he mused. "This tiger demon must have had
a special status, or a formidable backer."
"It seems for the time being, I need to lie low." Something that a sixth-tier
demon king would eagerly search for must have a reason. Ruling out treasure
hunting, it was likely that the deceased demon had a problematic identity.
Yang Hong decided not to leave Gai Zhu Mountain for now. He would recover
completely from his injuries before considering leaving the mountain. After all,
the most dangerous place was often the safest. This was where he had killed the
tiger demon, and the area had been thoroughly searched by the demon race several
times. Those demons would never expect him to still be hiding in Gai Zhu
Mountain.
With his decision made, Yang Hong began transplanting spiritual plants. He
wanted to conceal the small basin first. Yang Hong could now perform infusions
eight times daily. One infusion was fixed daily for the Iron Bark Birch, and the
other seven were for fourth-grade spiritual plants. The first to be transplanted
into the small basin were seventeen fourth-grade spiritual plants.
After transplanting those seventeen fourth-grade spiritual plants, Yang Hong began
searching all over the mountains for more fourth-grade spiritual plants. He needed
them to set up formations.
The first formation was the Maze Formation, with sixty-four formation nodes.
Although it was only a first-tier formation, when Yang Hong completed it and stood
on the surrounding mountains looking down at the basin, all he saw was lush
forest. Upon entering, one would be affected by the formation's power and could
only wander in circles on the surrounding mountains. Without at least fourth-tier
strength and some knowledge of formations, it would be impossible to enter the
small basin.
It took Yang Hong over half a month to gather those sixty-four fourth-grade
spiritual plants. During this time, he noticed that the intelligent demonic
beasts seemed to have received orders and had all left Gai Zhu Mountain within a
radius of 260 li. Furthermore, Yang Hong discovered traces of a formation at the
foot of Gai Zhu Mountain, encircling the entire mountain. This discovery made him
nervous yet also greatly relieved. Yang Hong might not be able to leave for a
while, but the demonic beasts likely wouldn't enter either. This would allow him
to act more freely.
For the next three months, Yang Hong darted all over the mountains, collecting
spiritual plants and hunting wild beasts to enrich his diet. Besides wild
beasts, Gai Zhu Mountain also had a small number of low-level demonic beasts
without much intelligence. These demonic beasts were very delicious ingredients.
Stone slab bull demon meat, iron pot stewed pig demon, charcoal-grilled rabbit
demon, lamb demon soup… The abundant spiritual energy resulted in abundant
produce. After three months, Yang Hong had gained twenty pounds; there was simply
too much delicious food.
Of course, he did not forget his main task. He set up a second-tier Soundproof
Formation with forty-nine nodes, and a second-tier Breath Concealment Formation
with fifty-six nodes, all using third-grade spiritual plants. For the third-tier
Spirit Gathering Formation, with its sixty-five hundred and sixty-one nodes, he
used second-grade spiritual plants. The remaining spiritual plants were gradually
transplanted to the small basin and the surrounding mountains. He planned to set
up a few more Spirit Gathering Formations to attract and stabilize the spiritual
energy of Gai Zhu Mountain.
While searching for spiritual plants, Yang Hong discovered another top-grade
spiritual plant. It was a thorny fifth-grade vine spiritual plant – the Dense
Wood Flower Vine. A strange spiritual plant covered in thorns, but not poisonous,
blooming with small white flowers and emitting a jasmine-like fragrance.
Transplanting this Dense Wood Flower Vine took Yang Hong three days and cost him
an axe magical artifact before he could dig it out by the roots. While transplanting
it, Yang Hong was pricked many times. It was then that he realized the power of
the Dense Wood Flower Vine. Although not poisonous, its thorns were incredibly
sharp and could easily pierce Yang Hong's skin. Yang Hong's skin was so tough that
even a self-detonating Golden Core cultivator couldn't harm it. A mere vine that
could pierce his skin one hundred percent of the time was truly formidable. Yang
Hong already envisioned refining the thorns of the Dense Wood Flower Vine into
needle-like magical artifacts, which would undoubtedly be terrifying. It should
be able to pierce the body of a fifth-tier Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
Yang Hong planted this Dense Wood Flower Vine above the small waterfall. He
divided the vines and continuously cultivated them along the surrounding mountain
ranges. His objective was clear: to use the flower vines to completely encircle the
small basin, serving as the first line of defense.
However, Yang Hong's plan encountered another unexpected turn.
"Ding~ You infused the Dense Wood Flower Vine with 600 days of true essence. You
received a hundredfold return, yielding 60,000 days of cultivation."
"Ding~ The Dense Wood Flower Vine has accumulated enough energy and is about to
evolve..."
As the system prompts ended, dark clouds quickly gathered above Yang Hong's head.
"Hmm~ Is it going to rain again? Has Yu Liu Island entered the rainy season?"
Seeing the clouds gathering overhead, Yang Hong paid no mind. He was used to it.
He had been on Gai Zhu Mountain for eight months, and starting last month, the
island had frequently experienced sudden thunderstorms. They arrived quickly and
departed just as fast. The only trouble was that the small basin had been flooded a
few times. Seeing the thunderstorm approaching again, he decided not to descend
the mountain immediately. He ducked under the Dense Wood Flower Vine, preparing to
wait for the rain to pass before going down.
However, this time he was mistaken.
"Rumble~"
A bolt of lightning struck the Dense Wood Flower Vine, and the residual energy
directly hit him.
"It's true that you shouldn't hide under a tree when it's raining. Got struck,
didn't I?" Although the lightning made his newly grown short hair stand on end, it
did not cause him any significant damage.
One lightning strike was an accident, two were a miracle, but three consecutive
lightning strikes meant something was wrong.
"Tribulation! Is this my tribulation? Am I about to break through?" Being struck
repeatedly, Yang Hong was overjoyed rather than alarmed. He remembered how Monk
Zhuan Jing had endured his lightning tribulation in the Great Sui imperial palace,
which was similar, with only thunder and no rain, and continuous lightning
strikes. He quickly put away his clothes. He only had five shirts and one pair of
pants; he couldn't afford to have them destroyed by the tribulation lightning.
Thirty-six bolts of tribulation lightning struck consecutively. Yang Hong thought
the tribulation was over, but to his surprise, the lightning continued to fall.
After seventy-two bolts, all of Yang Hong's hair was once again destroyed, but the
tribulation lightning was still descending.
"Pfft~ This tribulation lightning is powerful!" After eighty-one bolts, the sky
finally cleared. Yang Hong had sustained some injuries.
"It seems my departure time will be extended again. I will..."
"Holy cow! What the hell!"
Just as Yang Hong was about to savor the joy of his breakthrough, a soft white
light suddenly illuminated his vision, and a graceful figure appeared before
him, leaving him momentarily bewildered.
"Little demon Dense Wood Flower Vine greets Master!"
A clear female voice startled Yang Hong.
"You're a flower demon? Was the heavenly tribulation just now your form
transformation tribulation? Damn it, put on some clothes." Yang Hong was still
amazed but seeing that the Dense Wood Flower Vine was still naked, he quickly
handed her an elongated second-tier magical artifact brocade shirt. He also
quickly put on his own clothes before looking at the woman again.
"This is unbelievable! I was just farming, and I ended up growing a great beauty!"