At the bottom of the deep pond.
At night.
Yibai contemplated the energy within his belly and, after studying it for a while, he couldn't understand what it exactly was.
He only knew that it had appeared after he had digested a monster and gotten stronger.
Since Yibai didn't know the name of this energy, he decided to call it 'demonic power.'
Not long after Yibai obtained the demonic power, he suddenly heard a disturbance from outside the pond.
Boom, boom, boom!
Thunderous noises echoed incessantly outside the pond, as if a heavy rain were about to fall.
'What's that noise outside? Thunder? It feels somewhat unusual.'
Yibai lifted his serpent's head and looked beyond the deep pond. The murky water flow seemed unable to obstruct his vision.
He could see that the weather outside had changed abruptly; a vast expanse of dark clouds had swept in, enveloping a large area.
Yibai looked at the dark clouds and always had a feeling that something was not right.
What was off was not him.
It was these dark clouds.
He looked at the clouds and always had a strong sense of oppression.
Behind this oppressive feeling was a tingling sensation, as if his instincts were afraid of these dark clouds.
This was the first time Yibai had ever experienced such a feeling.
After thinking it over, he decided to leave the water and take a closer look.
Yibai said as he did.
He twisted his serpentine body and quickly headed towards the surface of the pond.
Soon, Yibai reached the surface of the pond.
What met his eyes was the Shi Gandang, standing by the shore like a giant sun in the night sky, emitting light.
Of course, the light emitted by the Shi Gandang was only visible to demons and monsters.
To ordinary humans, this Shi Gandang was no different from an ordinary stone.
However, Yibai was feeling much better than the last time he was in so much distress, as it seemed the suppression from the Shi Gandang had really decreased a lot, even when he got closer it didn't increase much.
This made Yibai's pupils shine.
'Saving humans or killing monsters, one of these can earn virtue, and virtue—this ethereal and elusive thing—has great use in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.'
'With things like Shi Gandang, there are many divine items for humans. If I have enough virtue to ignore these divine items, then if I encounter humans in the future, I can catch them by surprise.'
Almost instantly, Yibai thought of days in the future when he would no longer fear these divine items.
But to get back to the point.
Yibai shifted his gaze from the Shi Gandang, he lifted his serpent's head to look at the sky.
Boom, boom, boom!
At this very moment, within the massive dark clouds, lightning flashed, and thunder rolled, filling the air with a terrifying presence.
And at the center of this thunderous rolling was the heart of the great mountain.
The deep pond where Yibai was located is at the edge of the mountain, so he could only look out at that area from a distance.
Looking at the mountain, he had a vague guess in his heart.
These dark clouds, this thunder and lightning, they were out of the ordinary.
Thunder, lightning, Shi Gandang, humans, the mountain.
These pieces of information...
Seemed to vaguely point towards the Mountain Lord.
"Does transformation bring about the Heavenly Tribulation?"
Yibai looked at the sky full of dark clouds, deep in thought.
He knew that the Great Demon, the Mountain Lord, was at the pinnacle of its Demon Core and on the verge of transformation.
The reason humans had sent people here was because the Mountain Lord was about to transform, so they set up Shi Gandang at various paths down the mountain.
Looking at these dark clouds and this thunder and lightning before him, it was likely the Heavenly Tribulation of the Mountain Lord's transformation.
So, would the Mountain Lord eventually succeed?
Yibai's curiosity was piqued.
According to what Old Tortoise had said, it was unlikely that the Mountain Lord would succeed.
But in reality, it was not clear what would become of the Mountain Lord.
"In the end, it probably failed, after all. The Mountain Lord was too ferocious, feasting not only on humans but on demons as well."
Yibai shook his head; he didn't want a ferocious Great Demon emerging near him.
He watched the sky full of dark clouds for a long time.
The moment after, he prepared to return to the bottom of the pond.
Yibai had not returned when, all of a sudden, he seemed to see something. His snake-like body, which had just begun to move, stopped abruptly.
He looked towards the path leading up the mountain.
In that direction, he clearly saw two very strange figures quickly descending.
These figures were human-shaped, slightly blurry.
But they had no legs.
They floated.
These were ghosts.
Yibai quickly recognized them; weren't they the Mountain Lord's Ghost Servants?
He glanced at the two Ghost Servants.
In his eyes, these two Ghost Servants were exuding a faint Purple Qi.
Yibai pondered.
So that's how it is?
Monster Qi is black.
Human Qi is white.
Creature Qi is gray.
Ghost Aura is purple.
Yibai memorized these energies.
The colors of these energies would be how he would discern the intentions of other beings he encountered in the future.
However, speaking of which,
Why were these two Ghost Servants coming here?
The Mountain Lord was currently enveloped in layers of crisis; how could he afford to send Ghost Servants down the mountain?
Yibai couldn't figure it out.
He turned his head to watch the movements of the two Ghost Servants.
He was not afraid of these two Ghost Servants at all. With his current strength, the two Ghost Servants were too weak for him.
Meanwhile, far away, the two Ghost Servants floated all the way down and quickly arrived at the base of the mountain.
But just as the two Ghost Servants reached the foot of the mountain,
Shi Gandang, standing at the edge of the pool, suddenly emitted a scorching radiance.
The Ghost Servant who was floating in front was swept by the light, let out a shrill scream, and disappeared into a few wisps of white smoke.
This scene made Yibai's scalp tingle.
His soul must have been scattered to the winds.
This Shi Gandang,
Is truly ferocious.
Yibai raised his snake head to look, and at the mountain base's path, the remaining Ghost Servant dared not make any further moves.
He was rather curious about why the Ghost Servant had come down the mountain.
He wondered if he should go over to ask the Ghost Servant what exactly had brought him down.
While Yibai was still pondering,
The Ghost Servant at the mountain base path suddenly bowed to him, performing the etiquette in a very peculiar way, like a refined scholar making a salute.
This made Yibai even more curious.
After some thought, he finally decided to go down the mountain to meet this Ghost Servant and see what he wanted to say.
Yibai twisted his serpentine body, leaving the pool, and his massive form crushed the grass and stones, leaving behind a trace where he had slithered.
Before long,
Yibai arrived at the base of the mountain and encountered the Ghost Servant.
Seeing Yibai's arrival, the Ghost Servant bowed again, then spoke in a very mechanical tone, "By the order of the Mountain Lord, we invite the demons from all directions to gather in Dayin Mountain to hunt the Deity of Dayin Mountain."
Dayin Mountain?
That would be the large mountain right in front of him, correct?
Yibai understood quickly but, in a daze, his vertical pupils flashed with deep shock.
Wait.
What was this Ghost Servant saying?
The Mountain Lord is inviting demons from all over to gather at Dayin Mountain to hunt the Deity of Dayin Mountain?
Mountain God???
Does such a thing exist?
It seems that, for the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the existence of a Mountain God is not strange at all.
On one hand, Yibai was shocked at the existence of the Mountain God; on the other hand, he was shocked at the ambition of the Mountain Lord.
Hunting a Mountain God, this was not something ordinary demons dared to do…