Kitsune-yama, where the headquarters of the Oni-ō-kyō sect is located.

  "Squeak, squeak!" The familiar cry echoed through the dimly lit corridor as a sinister figure emerged from the shadows. On his shoulder, Xiao Hui was holding onto a large wine sack, taking a few sips before cleverly tying up the opening and letting it hang down. The wine sack had a long rope on it, tied around the monkey's body like a harness, so it wouldn't fall off.

  The demon's face was expressionless as he walked forward, looking in the direction of Bi Yao's icy stone chamber. Xiao Hui seemed a bit tired, yawning and leaning against his shoulder. The surrounding area of Huo Qi Mountain was desolate, with few wild fruits to be found. After returning here, Xiao Hui spent most of his time sneaking into the Ghost King Sect's cellar to steal some wine to drink. Having not seen him for a few days, he seemed to have gained some weight again.

  The demon king walked slowly, but on the way, he rarely met ordinary disciples of the Ghost King Sect. He frowned slightly, as many disciples in the Ghost King Sect had been gathered together a few days ago and led out of the mountain by the Ghost King himself. As for where they went, he was not clear, but what was strange was that this seemingly very important matter, the deputy sect master did not know, while the ghost lady who followed the ghost king for many years, Mr. Gui, including the newly joined Qing Song Daoist, and many of the Ghost King Sect's elite personnel he knew, all stayed in Huqi Mountain.

  The Demon King took a weak team, with a large number of people but less than half the strength of the Demon King Sect, to somewhere mysterious. Gu Lian was also confused. However, Mr. Gui, You Ji and others remained silent, so Gu Lian wouldn't ask more questions. What he cared about most wasn't where the Demon King was going or how important this matter was, but rather Bi Yao who always came first in his eyes.

  And he soon arrived in front of the Ice Stone Chamber.

  The entrance was quiet and deserted, and You Ji was not here either. The place where the mysterious woman was usually seen most frequently was the Ice Stone Chamber, but since then, the atmosphere in the Gui Wang Sect seemed to be somewhat off, and she came here less often.

  Gui Li stood at the door for a moment, composed himself, and then pushed open the door and walked in. As soon as he entered, he saw a white and slender figure standing beside Bi Yao. Gui Li was taken aback, initially thinking it was You Ji, but quickly realized that You Ji always wore black clothes, this wasn't her. Indeed, when the woman in front heard the sound of the stone door, turned around to look at him, there was no black veil covering her face.

  But it's Xiao Bai.

  Gui Li was shocked, since the great witch's spell "Soul Summoning" failed, he left Fox Hill with a heavy heart and never saw Xiao Bai again. Although from the scenes of Gui Wang meeting Xiao Bai those few days, he knew that Xiao Bai and Gui Wang were old acquaintances, but he didn't intend to ask about it.

  At this moment, Xiao Bai saw Gui Li, his face was also slightly stunned, and then he showed a faint smile, saying: "It's you."

  The demon king had a past relationship with Xiaobai, and Xiaobai had also helped him in saving Biyao, so he still felt a bit grateful. He nodded his head and said, "Hello." At this time, the little monkey Xiao Hui who was lying on the demon king's shoulder also excitedly chirped twice at Xiaobai.

  Xiao Bai smiled at Xiao Hui and then looked at Gui Li, saying: "Are you here to see Bi Yao?"

  The ghost slowly walked up, and Bi Yao's beautiful and serene face appeared before him once again. His voice gradually became low and husky as he said, "Yes."

  Xiao Bai quietly watched as the man sat down beside Bi Yao, then gazed at the body lying on the ice stone platform, motionless. She let out a soft sigh, shook her head, and retreated silently, leaving only Gui Li alone facing Bi Yao in the stone chamber.

  It wasn't until after a long while that the heavy stone gate opened once again, and Gui Li slowly walked out of the icy stone chamber. His expression seemed to have grown even more haggard. He had just taken a few steps out of the chamber when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Not far away from him on the passageway outside the chamber, the white figure of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox still stood patiently waiting for him.

  Xiaobai looked at him and sighed, saying: "Seeing Biyao like that, you must be very sad, it's really hard for you."

  The ghost shook his head and said, "I'm fine."

  Xiaobai walked up to him and patted his shoulder, saying in a low voice, "Don't lose heart, there's still hope."

  Gui Lie's body shook, he turned his head to look at her, slightly opening his mouth, but Xiao Bai saw his expression and had already smiled wryly: "Don't ask me, I don't know what to do either right now?"

  Gui Li's face suddenly darkened, and he silently turned around, just about to take a step, when suddenly his mind buzzed with a loud noise. He only felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and in an instant, his entire body was icy cold. The chilly energy within his meridians surged up violently. Gui Li's shock was no small matter; the eerie, chilling aura currently wreaking havoc inside his body was none other than the familiar power of the Blood-Drinking Bead. However, ever since he had made great progress in his cultivation after studying the Three Volumes of Heaven's Book, this chilly energy had gradually been suppressed by him and no longer caused any trouble. He didn't know what had happened today, but suddenly it had burst out like this.

  In less than a moment, under Xiao Bai's astonished gaze, Gui Li's face lost all its blood color, looking as if it was shrouded in a layer of frost. Moreover, within a three-foot radius around his body, he was gradually enveloped by an eerie dark green glow emanating from his body, which had a faintly ferocious and bloody aura.

  Xiao Bai's face changed color, and he stretched out his hand to support Gui Li, but as soon as his hand touched the dark green glow, he suddenly felt a surge of demonic energy rushing towards him from the glow. Xiao Bai furrowed his brow, retreating three steps before avoiding the demonic energy. Meanwhile, the little grey creature that was originally perched on Gui Li's shoulder had also discovered something was amiss and jumped off Gui Li's body, landing behind Xiao Bai, opening its three eyes wide as it stared at its master in a daze.

  The ghost's face showed a painful expression, his sleeve suddenly moved, and a cold breath flashed by. The Soul-Devouring Rod slid out, but it didn't fall to the ground, instead floating in front of him, slowly rotating as if using its strange and icy gaze to stare at the man who had possessed it for many years.

  The flickering dark green aura was unstable, and the air was filled with an eerie atmosphere. Xiao Bai's face turned pale, his eyebrows furrowed, but this bloodthirsty demonic energy was actually emanating from Gui Li's own body. Even if he wanted to help Gui Li get rid of this sudden demonic energy, its root cause lay within Gui Li's own body - how could he possibly take action? For a moment, Xiao Bai was also at a loss.

  Just as Gui Lie's face turned paler and seemed to be struggling for breath, a warm, pure yang red light suddenly shot out from his chest, instantly repelling the cold yin energy. Gui Lie's face changed, and he sat down with difficulty, his body flashing with golden and cyan lights simultaneously as the two major true methods within him took effect. The "Xuanhuo Mirror" pure yang fire grew more vigorous, gradually suppressing the cold yin energy, but by the time Gui Lie fully recovered, half a time period had already passed.

  At this moment, Gui Li was already soaked from head to toe. When he opened his eyes, what he saw was Xiao Bai's concerned gaze.

  The demon smiled wryly and said nothing, slowly standing up. Xiaobai looked at him and whispered, "Is it the Blood-Drinking Bead?"

  The fierce ghost picked up the Soul-Devouring Devil Stick that had fallen to the ground at some unknown time, took a deep look at it, and then put it back into his sleeve once again.

  Xiaobai's eyes flickered, and she suddenly took a step forward, saying: "Don't think that just because you don't say it, others won't know. The evil and demonic energy of the Blood-Drinking Bead has already begun to backfire on you. Over these ten years, the vital energy and blood in your body have long since become cold and poisonous due to being with this evil object day and night. You were only able to narrowly escape death because you were lucky enough to obtain one of the few treasures in the world that can counter the Blood-Drinking Bead - the Xuanhuo Mirror. But... " Her face seemed somewhat pale, and her voice became desolate, "Can you be sure you'll be able to escape next time? Will you be able to escape again?"

  Gui Li stood there all along, his haggard face expressionless, quietly listening to Xiao Bai's words. After a while, he said softly: "I'm not confident, but what can I do?"

  Xiao Bai's teeth clenched, and she bit her lip in anger. "Don't pretend to be stupid with me, you must know! Now the only way is to immediately get rid of this evil object, then take the Xuanhuo Mirror to a place with extreme yang energy, use the earth fire to activate the Xuanhuo Mirror and infuse pure yang into your body. This is the only way for you to survive!"

  Gui Li looked at Xiao Bai for a while, then suddenly smiled. That smile seemed to have a few points of unbelievable innocence, as if it was the simple and pure young man from ten years ago.

  Then he slowly turned around, as if powerless, and slowly walked away with the support of the wall. Xiao Hui immediately ran to his master and jumped onto Gui Li's shoulder in a few quick movements.

  Xiaobai stared blankly at the resolute yet fragile figure, suddenly shouting: "You want to die, don't you? You're actually thinking of dying in your heart, right?"

  The ghostly figure paused for a moment, but didn't turn around or say anything. After a brief moment, he continued walking forward.

  "Hey, you think you can just die and get away with it? You owe so many people in this world and you haven't paid them back yet, do you think you can just die and be done with it? No way! If you don't listen to me, fine, I'll go myself. I'll go find the true method of the 'Eight Trigrams Mysterious Fire Formation' and let you save yourself. Remember this, Biyu is still lying in the Ice Stone Chamber, she hasn't woken up yet, so even if you want to die, you can't!"

  "You can't, you can't, you can't..." In the long and narrow corridor, a faint echo came from afar. The ghostly face was pale, his body slowly straightened up, but in the end, he still didn't turn his head back to take another look.

  ※※※

  Dense forests, quiet valleys, the morning of Snake Valley was originally a peaceful and serene place. However, at this moment, the ground gradually trembled, the stench grew heavier, and the countless snakes that had been gathering and moving along the edge of the valley suddenly disappeared, as if they had vaguely sensed something. All these animals hid.

  A black cloud of smoke appeared in the distant mountain valley, rapidly surging towards the Poisonous Snake Valley, a thick and choking breath spreading through the air, growing louder and louder until it became a deafening roar that shook the mountains!

  Getting closer and closer!

  "Ahhhhh..."

  Suddenly, countless monsters emerged, like evil spirits and ferocious souls rushing out of the nine hells. Their blood-red eyes and sharp fangs gleamed as they let out piercing howls and charged forward. All sorts of bizarre and grotesque creatures gathered into an unstoppable torrent, a fierce and malevolent flood that no one could withstand or survive. Even the trees on both sides of the road were rapidly engulfed by the torrent, amidst the deafening roars that shook the heavens.

  Without hesitation, the torrent rushed into the Valley of Venomous Snakes, like a black tide suddenly pouring into a green ocean. In every corner of the forest, terrified snakes were thrown out, desperately struggling in the torrent, but without exception, they were instantly submerged. Even the colorful poisonous mist in the forest could not stop this terrible beast tide. The dozen or so beasts at the forefront fell to the ground and died, but countless more beasts trampled over their companions' bodies, unstoppable. A strong gust of wind quickly dispersed the colored venomous fog, blowing it away into the sky above the forest.

  In the black tide of demonic beasts, there were four or five powerful demonic beasts that were dozens of times larger than ordinary monsters, leading their subordinates in a fierce charge. And at the entrance of the Snake Valley, countless monsters continued to emerge endlessly.

  The entire Valley of Venomous Snakes is now seemingly trembling. Everything looks as if it's the end of the world.

  At the other end of the Valley of Venomous Snakes, the Ghost King standing at a high place took a deep breath. Although he had already witnessed the ferocity of the beast demons, the scene before him still made his complexion change. He calmed himself down and pondered for a moment, then looked towards the forest in the north of the Valley of Venomous Snakes again. Under the morning sunlight, there was a faint reflection of flashing light in that forest.

  The devil king's mouth slowly revealed a cold smile: One day, you will all know who the final winner is.

  He shouted in his heart, and the expression on his face gradually became harder. Bi Yao was gone, so he would use Tian Lai to make up for it!

  He slowly turned around, behind him in the dense forest, were the disciples of Gui Wang Zong, packed tightly together, their battle intent soaring. Gui Wang gazed at the people in front of him, countless eyes fixed on his face.

  At that moment, who knew his feelings?

  The slowly rising arm seemed to have become heavy, the distant howling and gradually loudening terrified cries seemed to have also reached here, the Ghost King's face suddenly changed again, then he heavily swung down the raised arm.

  The arm is like a knife, cutting through the world with a sharp blade, severing the last warmth, tearing apart past dreams. The sound brought out by that arm in the wind seems to pierce the chest like a fractured bone!

  Countless people, behind his majestic figure, let out a fervent and thunderous roar, raising the sharp blades in their hands as they charged down the mountain, their clothes fluttering, the strong wind howling, the trees in the forest swaying back and forth, as if also dancing wildly. The Demon King stood amidst the surging crowd, like an unyielding and icy rock, unmoving. He turned his head to look towards the northern forest, where another commotion was brewing, gradually spreading outwards.

  The Demon King laughed, and in this sea of people rushing to their deaths, he suddenly burst out laughing loudly. The laughter was so piercing that no one dared to ask him a single word. Only the morning sun, which had just risen, still carried a faint warmth as it rushed towards this crazy world of mortals!

  ※※※

  Seven days later, a group of Orthodox disciples who set out from Qingyun Mountain under the entrustment of Daoxuan Zhenren, Pu Hong Shangren and Yun Yi Lan, leaders of the Orthodox School, arrived in the southwest. As it was a matter of great importance, all three major sects sent their most capable disciples. Coincidentally, these people had already known each other for some time.

  Xiao Yicai, Lin Jingyu and Lu Xueqi of the Qingyun Gate, Fasheng and Fashan of the Tianyin Temple, Li Xu and Yan Hong of the Fenxiang Valley, a total of seven people, set out from Mount Qingyun with great caution, hiding during the day and traveling at night, trying to avoid conflicts with the beast demons on the road as much as possible, rushing all the way to the southwest, hoping to find out why large numbers of beast demons suddenly gathered in this place.

  When these Orthodox disciples had just set out, although they clearly knew that this journey was extremely dangerous, but for the sake of all living beings in the world, not a single one of them had any intention of retreating. However, after the seventh day of their departure, everyone's complexion turned pale, and they remained silent day and night, including Xiao Yicai, who was best at speaking, Ding Li's Fahsiang, and even Li Xu, who had been wanting to talk to Lu Xueqi all along, fell silent.

  The farther south you go, the more dire the situation becomes. Either entire villages and towns are littered with corpses and bleached bones, or one village after another is deserted and reduced to ashes. No one knows why these monsters insist on setting fires and slaughtering people with such cruelty, just as no one knows when this calamity will finally end.

  The mournful cry of a lonely ghost seems to echo forever across the vast and desolate land of the south, telling tales of sorrow and woe.

  After entering the southwestern region, the group became even more cautious, but they were now facing a huge problem. Firstly, they couldn't find any local residents, as all the civilians had either fled north before the arrival of the beast demons or had been killed in the disaster. As a result, these righteous sect disciples had no way to ask locals about the movements of the beast demons. On the other hand, most of the beast demons didn't understand human language, and even if they risked capturing some of them, all they got were angry roars and struggles, so how could they get any information out of them?

  Helpless, the group discussed and finally had to follow Xiao Yicao's suggestion, taking a risk to secretly follow the beast demons. Wherever there were more beast demons gathered, they would go there to see what these beast demons wanted to do. Thus, they tracked in the southwest for three days and three nights, during which they were almost discovered by some beast demons with keen senses several times. Fortunately, Xiao Yicao, Fa Xiang, Lin Jingyu, and others were extremely intelligent people, and each time they narrowly escaped at the critical moment of life and death. However, despite this, they still had no gains.

  Just as they were about to lose hope, unexpectedly, they found a mad disciple of the Demon Sect in a forest where the beast had passed through. After careful inquiry, or rather, patient coaxing, they gradually learned that the beast's large-scale entry into the southwest was actually a major battle with the Demon Sect, and the result of the war was a crushing victory for the beast. The three major factions of the once-arrogant Demon Sect were almost completely annihilated in this great war.

  This news immediately made everyone's eyes widen in shock, and among the crowd, Lu Xueqi, who was standing farthest away, turned especially pale!

  Looking at the poor man who had shrunk into a ball, constantly muttering "monster, monster" in his mouth, and suddenly shuddering all over his body from time to time, the madman's sharp cry cast a heavy shadow on the hearts of the seven people.

  Xiao Yicai coughed and looked at Fa Xiang, saying: "Brother Fa Xiang, the current situation is more or less clear to us all. What do you think we should do?"

  The monk's eyebrows were tightly locked, and he looked at the poor man who had shrunk to the ground with a sigh, saying: "Amitabha Buddha, sin, sin." After a pause, the monk slowly said, "Everyone, in fact, we have already known the purpose of this trip. I think it's better for us to return to the mountain first and report the current situation to several masters before doing anything else."

  "Absolutely not!"

  Suddenly, a clear and cold voice came from the side, and everyone was shocked. The person who spoke was actually Lu Xueqi, who had been the most silent and taciturn throughout the journey. Fa Xiang was somewhat surprised and said: "Lu Shimei, do you have any other insights? Please speak."

  Lu Xueqi's face was still very pale, but her voice was extremely calm as she said lightly: "Everything we know now is from the mouth of this demon sect disciple who has been scared out of his wits. Moreover, when he spoke just now, he was all over the place, repeating himself and contradicting himself in many places, so much so that a lot of it was our own guesswork. If we were to consider our task complete based on just this, I think it would be inappropriate."

  The Dharma sank into silence, and everyone looked at each other in dismay. After a moment, the Dharma nodded and said: "You're right, Lu Shimei's words are reasonable, I was too impatient just now."

  Xiao Yicai hesitated for a moment, then said: "Lu Shimei's words make some sense, but we've been searching day and night in the southwest these past few days, yet we haven't found any clues at all. Are we going to continue searching like this from now on?"

  Lu Xueqi's mouth moved, but she didn't say anything. Obviously, she couldn't think of a good solution to the current dilemma either. Just then, Li Xu, who had been glancing at Lu Xueqi from time to time, suddenly took a step forward and said, "I have an idea that might offer some hope."

  Everyone was shocked, and even Lu Xueqi looked at Li Kun several times. Fashang Xi said: "Really, Brother Li, please speak."

  Li Qian took a deep breath, forcing himself not to look at Lu Xueqi's gaze, and said: "I just listened carefully to this madman's words, and he mentioned a place name several times, called 'Dú Shé Gǔ' (Poisonous Snake Valley), does anyone know if you noticed?"

  Xiao Yicai nodded and said, "Not bad, I also noticed. This Poisonous Snake Valley has been heard of before, it is said to be a valley in the depths of the southwestern mountains, where countless poisonous snakes gather, and there is also highly toxic miasma in the forest, which can kill people instantly. No one dares to enter this forest, and after years have passed, no one knows the specific location of this valley anymore."

  Lin Jingyu suddenly said: "Brother Li, don't tell me you think the great war between the demon beasts and the demonic sect is taking place in this legendary Poisonous Snake Valley?"

  Li Kan nodded and said decisively, "That's right. Based on my inference, the final battle will take place in the Valley of Venomous Snakes. What's more, I think that the Valley of Venomous Snakes might be the headquarters of one of the three major factions of the Demon Sect. If we can find it, we'll naturally be able to figure out whether this madman is telling the truth or not."

  Yan Hong, who had been silent all along, suddenly said: "But Shixiong, it's been many days already. Let's not talk about whether we can find that poisonous snake valley for now. Even if we do find it, the scene there may not be preserved in its original state..."

  Li Xuan said coldly, "Junior sister, have you forgotten that those cruel beast demons will indeed set fires and eat people, but after setting fires, there will also be ruins and broken walls. The beast demons eat people, but they don't eat bones!"

  Everyone's face changed, and Yan Hong's face turned pale after hearing it. She suddenly felt nauseous and vomited, apparently the various tragic things they had seen on this road had already pushed this woman to her psychological limit.

  Li Kan sighed, and stopped talking. Fahsiang and Fahshan simultaneously whispered Buddhist scriptures in a low voice. Xiao Yi shook his head and walked over to Yan Hong's side, softly comforting her for a few sentences. After Yan Hong's expression gradually calmed down, he turned around and slowly walked to the demonic sect disciple who was still crouching on the ground, trembling slightly, and squatted down beside him.

  "Do you know where the Venomous Snake Valley is?" Xiao Yicai tried to make his voice softer, with a hint of gentleness, but the demonic sect disciple's body trembled and buried his head even lower, without saying a word. Xiao Yicai asked three more times in succession, but the demonic sect disciple seemed to have turned deaf, without any reaction.

  Xiao Yicai slowly stood up and looked at everyone. No one spoke. Xiao Yicai sighed and said, "What to do?"

  Li Xuan, who was standing by, furrowed his brow and suddenly took big strides to walk up to the demonic sect disciple. He lifted him up with one hand and loudly asked: "Where are those monsters killing people?"

  That demonic disciple's body shook violently, and in an instant, a look of extreme fear appeared on his face. He opened his mouth wide, and after a moment, he let out a sharp scream. But Li Xu was as hard-hearted as iron, tightly grasping him without letting go, shouting loudly: "Where are those monsters that kill and eat people?"

  "Ah!......"

  The Mo Sect disciple, deeply trapped in fear, trembled all over, his teeth chattering, his eyes filled with terror, but his head involuntarily turned towards the north. Li Xun's gaze condensed, and he hastily asked, "Is it at the northern border?"

  That demonic sect disciple suddenly tilted his head, and his entire body went limp. Everyone was shocked and rushed forward to check on him, only to find that his pupils were dilated, and upon checking his nose, he had stopped breathing, and was actually dead.

  Li Xun slowly put down the corpse, stood up, and faced north. Everyone followed his gaze to that expanse of forest in the distance. Although it was a clear day, there seemed to be a blood-colored cloud hovering above it.