Yu Ci stared at the demon, pondering for a moment.
Suddenly, he smiled, disregarded it, and ascended straight upward. Before long, he left the shadowy region behind. Finding a relatively clean crevice in the rocks, he carved out a space large enough to fit one person. Curling up inside, he began a long-overdue rest.
The situation was simple: instead of chasing after unknown problems, it was better to solve the immediate one.
He just needed to get some sleep.
Unconsciously, time passed.
At this moment, Yu Ci no longer had to rack his brain over things he wasn’t good at, nor did he need to maneuver under the sharp claws and fangs of demons. Fully relaxed, the ear-piercing roars of beasts outside became a soothing lullaby.
Time flowed on, and Yu Ci lost track of how long he had been resting. When his body reached a certain point of recovery, he naturally woke up.
Upon waking, feeling refreshed and full of strength, he didn’t move right away. Instead, he held the "Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror" and carefully refined it for a while. He converted all the True Qi within him into "innate Qi", bringing himself to peak condition.
However, calling it "peak" was an overstatement. The damage to his muscles and bones from what he now called the "Flying Heaven Sword" wouldn’t heal so quickly, and he still felt occasional soreness when moving his body. This sensation would likely linger for a few more days.
Fortunately, luck was on his side. As Yu Ci’s thoughts extended into the map, the demon was still in a state of "sleep," and its surroundings hadn’t been disturbed. This allowed him to calmly observe the demon’s condition.
At a glance, Yu Ci was shocked.
Was this truly the same demon as yesterday?
If not for the identical location, posture, and details matching his memory, Yu Ci might not have recognized it. The demon’s appearance had changed dramatically. Its once angular head had become narrow and sharp, and its bulging muscles had smoothed out. The entire body seemed to have slimmed down. Upon closer inspection, even the skeletal structure beneath the muscle appeared to have deformed.
Just as he was contemplating what it had turned into, the demon opened its eyes.
Yu Ci saw that the demon’s lone, once-round eye—previously as large as a bronze bell—had become narrow. The yellow pupils stood vertically, emitting a cold gleam as they shifted within the eye socket. Then the demon stood up. According to the "Divine Map", its previously short and stocky body had grown over two feet taller overnight, appearing slender and elongated.
Though its form was vastly different from a human’s, the eerie presence it now radiated was unmistakably reminiscent of that sinister Snake-like Monk!
Yu Ci hissed through clenched teeth. He was now certain—this demon had indeed been possessed. And the one controlling this body was most likely the same monk Zhen De from before!
However, Yu Ci had only heard stories of cultivators possessing others, limited to exchanging souls. Even if the soul was replaced, the body typically remained unchanged. But what was going on here? If Zhen De had such strange methods, how had he been so easily cut down before?
New doubts swirled in Yu Ci’s mind, but there was no time to dwell on them. Without hesitation, he darted out of his hiding place and headed toward the demon's location. In an instant, he re-entered the shadowy region.
Within the "Divine Map", the demon was also on the move. After its bodily transformation, it was in much better condition than yesterday. While it no longer looked as bulky or powerful, its labored breathing and intermittent coughing had greatly subsided. Overnight, the harsh environment of "Sky Rift Valley" no longer seemed to trouble it.
The demon now moved with clear purpose, swiftly heading north. Despite its altered appearance, it still retained the aura of a demon. In a world where racial distinctions among demons were vague, no other demon seemed to question its presence. Aside from evading a few volatile and aggressive beasts, the demon encountered little resistance, which made it hard for Yu Ci to keep up.
For two whole hours, the pursuit continued, covering nearly 300 miles along near-vertical cliffs—a truly astonishing speed.
During the chase, Yu Ci passed the battlefield where Tu Du and the other demons had fought the day before. The rocks were scorched black, the area in disarray, and the cliffs were littered with demon corpses. However, there was no sign of the "Sun Soul Banner". From the traces left behind, it seemed that the old demon had been forced to retreat downward by a powerful enemy, suggesting an unfavorable outcome.
Yu Ci wasn’t above taking pleasure in others' misfortunes.
Before long, the demon ahead came to a halt.
It stopped at the boundary between the shadowy region and the upper canyon. The terrain here was unusual—a large ledge jutted out from the cliff, stretching over a hundred miles like an eave embedded in the towering wall.
Compared to the vastness of "Sky Rift Valley", this ledge seemed insignificant. Yet, for an ordinary person, it was wide enough for eight horses to gallop side by side.
Although this spot was within the shadowy region, the number of demons here was surprisingly sparse. Within a radius of several dozen miles, only a few scattered creatures could be found—a rather peculiar sight.
The demon stood at the edge of the ledge, gazing down at the mist below, seemingly lost in thought. After a brief pause, it moved again, continuing northward.
From ten miles away, Yu Ci observed the scene through the "Divine Map", which revealed the full expanse of the canyon’s topography.
This part was clearer to him than it was to the "demon."
So he noticed it first—a section about half a mile long, shaped like a rain eave, had split open twenty miles ahead of the "demon." This wasn't a natural formation but rather the result of immense force tearing it apart, and it had happened recently—the broken edges of the rocks still looked fresh.
Similar marks were scattered along the surrounding cliffs, indicating the aftermath of a fierce battle. Judging by the destruction, it seemed that at least two cultivators on the level of Core Refinement had fought here, with their clashing energies leaving such devastation.
The "demon" soon discovered the area, but it showed little interest in the battle remnants. Instead, it focused on tapping and probing the intact cliffs, as if searching for something.
“Could it be a treasure?”
That thought was, of course, just a joke. Yu Ci had heard the rumors surrounding the Sky Rift Valley, but he had never taken them seriously.
Those so-called "treasure" rumors were better described as baseless gossip. Some spoke of massive caches of talismans and elixirs hidden by ancient sects, while others mentioned the legacy techniques of a powerful figure or even the "True Form Immortal Cocoon" left by a fallen True Immortal. Supposedly, one could abandon their body and transfer their spirit into these remains to gain instant immortality.
These tales were inconsistent, contradictory, and lacked any credible evidence, dismissed by anyone with discerning eyes. In fact, from what Yu Ci had gathered through conversations with Ming Lan, Zhen Yan, and the monk Yixin, these rumors seemed like part of an unfinished conspiracy aimed at Old Monster Tu or someone similar.
While the treasure was a joke, the underlying conspiracy intrigued him.
Judging by the situation, if the person controlling this "demon" was truly the monk Zhende, there must be some connection with the missing monk Yixin.
Perhaps Yu Ci could uncover some clues from this?
Thus, he decided to join the search. While the "demon" scoured every inch of the area, Yu Ci used his Divine Map, scanning dozens of miles in an instant, a much more efficient method.
Still, after more than half an hour, neither he nor the "demon" found anything.
The "demon" seemed to have a clear goal, while Yu Ci lacked that clarity. Just as he debated bypassing the "demon" to explore the northern, broader area, the "demon" made a move.
It glanced around, found a secluded spot, and concealed itself before sitting down in meditation. Soon, its single eye snapped open, and dark smoke billowed from its nostrils and mouth. The smoke coiled together in midair and took the form of a venomous snake, about two fingers thick and a foot and a half long. Though its scales weren't distinct, its lifelike posture was unmistakable.
Seeing the black smoke snake, Yu Ci had grown somewhat used to such sights. He even had the leisure to speculate, “Is this a spirit? Or simply a curse spell?”
The snake of black smoke circled through the air, expanding and contracting twice, each time sending ripples through the surrounding air. The ripples spread outward, stirring the nearby mist.
Yu Ci realized the trick: it was a sensing technique, using the ripples to interact with the surrounding environment and detect details within a mile radius.
With this ability, the "demon's" search speed increased dramatically. The black smoke snake, unburdened by a physical body, could move freely through the mist with extraordinary speed and precision. Yu Ci wondered, though—if it had such a powerful ability, why had it needed to possess a "demon" and go through the trouble of reconstructing it the day before?
Soon, the black smoke snake reached the central section of the "eave." Yu Ci had inspected this area earlier and found that the battle scars here were even more intense.
At this spot, the black smoke snake seemed to sense something. Its sensing technique intensified, creating ripples so dense they almost seemed tangible, causing the surrounding mist to churn violently.
Then, in an instant, the ripples ceased.
The black smoke snake had found its target. It abruptly turned and darted toward the base of the "eave." Meanwhile, Yu Ci’s mind, connected to the Divine Map, raced ahead, but he found nothing suspicious in the area.
Puzzled, he watched as the black smoke snake slithered about a mile down, stopping before a cliff face. A thin layer of black smoke peeled off the snake, swirling into a complete symbol. In the blink of an eye, the symbol flew toward the cliff, burning itself three inches deep into the rock before vanishing without a trace.
“A Tracking Incense Talisman?”
Yu Ci recognized it but had never used one himself. The talisman was high-level and had little practical use—it merely served as a mark that emitted a special signal for someone else to receive from afar. While it was excellent for tracking, Yu Ci had never had a need for it before.
What surprised him more than the talisman was the implication: this thing had accomplices?
Just as he pondered this, a streak of black light flashed across the Divine Map.
Sponsor Chapters at the Shop: Along with BuymeaCoffee where you can use your local currency.
The Shop section on can be used as a way to make a one-time-payment. I will be creating products in the Shop section with the title of the NovelHubs. It will only have an image as the product, but it will count as the payment for the Sponsored Chapters.
For example: You will buy the product with the title "Flower Stealing Master" to sponsor a chapter for the novel. As far as I know, you can buy the same product multiple times, so you should be able to sponsor as many chapters you want. I hope it was easy to understand.
Introducing CN WN Bundle ($15) for those who prefer to read only CN NovelHubs. This bundle gives you access to all the advance chapters of the Chinese NovelHubs on Goblinslate immediately, and will stay ahead of the regular release for the month! Get it on !
FSM – Four Advance Chapters! ($10)
DCFD – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)
AM – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)
IDT – Two Advance Chapters! ($5)