"roar……"
The already restless third floor was suddenly filled with the roars of wild beasts.
Ultimately, demons who cannot control their own consciousness are not much different from powerful wild beasts.
Behind the massive blood-red stone pillar, Shen Yunhao cautiously peeked out half his head.
Before he could even glance at it a few times, another fluffy white head popped out from under his head, perching on his chin and sneaking peeks.
Shen Yunhao raised his hand and pressed the fox's head back down.
Bai Xiaoruo immediately looked confused: "What are you doing?"
"Weren't you going to sleep? What are you looking at!"
"..."
After a while, the little fox teased, "Why are you getting so worked up? So petty..."
Shen Yunhao ignored him and simply pressed the fox's head that had popped out back in.
Bai Xiaoruo angrily tried to bite him, but Shen Yunhao immediately pinched her mouth shut.
"Hmm??? Hmm—"
"I don't understand what you're saying!"
"..."
Ah, men...
At this moment, the little fox rolled her eyes and pretended to try to crawl out. Just as Shen Yunhao reached out to press her down, she suddenly stuck out her tongue and licked his palm.
"!!!" Shen Yunhao pulled his hand back as if he had been electrocuted, and exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing?"
"Mind your own business!"
The little fox chuckled and then poked its head out to observe the outside world.
"Tch! Aren't you afraid of getting dirty!"
"I don't mind at all, and you're still annoyed? You two-faced jerk..."
"..."
Shen Yunhao had no energy to continue playing around with her; he simply looked solemnly into the distance.
Throughout the entire third level, besides these red stone pillars, there are those neatly arranged huge cages, each containing a demonic beast with a cultivation level of at least Soul Condensation!
The roar came from one of the cages in the middle.
There, the boar monster, which had been imprisoned in the second-level enhanced cage, was roaring with bloodshot eyes at the shadows on the other side of the cage.
"Hiss..."
The next moment, Shen Yunhao saw a huge blue python slowly crawl out of the shadow. The python was as thick as a water bucket, and the part that was protruding was more than a person tall. He didn't know how huge its body was hidden in the shadow behind it. Judging from its thickness, it must be at least ten meters long!
No wonder this cage is much bigger than the ones next to it; it turns out there's such a huge creature inside!
"This python demon... its cultivation is no weaker than the wolf demon from back then! It's at least at the late stage of the Soul Condensation Realm!"
The little fox gritted its teeth, its voice filled with barely concealed anger.
In the outside world, demons at the Soul Condensation Realm are no different from normal humans. They can either continue to cultivate in the deep mountains or hide in the city and enjoy the life of a normal person.
Even if you encounter a cultivator who is exorcising demons, as long as you don't do anything wrong, things usually won't get too ugly.
But here, they will always be treated like wild beasts...
They're not even as good as wild beasts!
Even wild beasts know to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, but the monsters on the third level only know how to succumb to bloodlust and slaughter.
For example, the wild boar demon opposite the python demon was only at the Xuanpo Realm. It was no match for the python demon in terms of size or aura, but it still charged forward fearlessly, without any rationality!
With a sweep of its long tail, the giant python sent the pig demon sprawling and crashing to the ground.
Inside this cage, the python demon showed no mercy and opened its bloody maw to tear at the creature.
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the wild boar was wrapped up into a strip by the giant python, and it's estimated that there are hardly any intact bones left on its body.
Even so, the pig demon was still breathing and was still roaring wildly.
Only at the very last moment of his life did the red light in the pig demon's eyes slowly fade, revealing a sliver of clarity.
Just like the wolf demon before, as the giant python devoured its crimson maw, the pig demon's eyes did not flash with struggle and despair... only relief.
"Damn it! These bastards are not even human! Are we demons only fit to provide them with the pleasure of fighting beasts?!"
The little fox's body trembled uncontrollably, as if it were on the verge of exploding!
Shen Yunhao's expression was also very grim. He raised his hand to cover the fox's eyes, pulled her closer to him, and comforted her, "Don't be too sad. Death may be a relief for them!"
"Hmph!" The little fox shook its head, slipped out of Shen Yunhao's palm, and muttered, "I'm not a child anymore, what's there to cover me up for!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, the giant python swallowed the body of the pig demon that had just died completely, just like a python in the wild eating.
"It actually ate it!"
Shen Yunhao frowned deeply. "This is completely unreasonable!"
"What's wrong?" the little fox asked. "Isn't it normal for pythons to swallow their prey whole? Don't even mention that the pythons here have no consciousness and only instincts; even many of the demon snakes I know enjoy swallowing their prey whole!"
"..."
Shen Yunhao shook his head. "Even if this python demon is naturally fond of devouring, have you ever thought about why the Dragon Blood Sect captured these demons?"
"To... refine the Primordial Essence Pill?"
"That's right! It was for refining the Primordial Essence Pill, but now, the pig demon has been completely swallowed by the python demon, and its demonic essence is gone. How can we refine it now?"
"!!!"
Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoruo froze on the spot. "Oh right, wouldn't that mean the pig demon's demon essence would be wasted?"
"I already found it hard to understand letting them kill each other, but at least reclaim the corpses and demonic essence. Just letting them be eaten like that...?"
At this moment, Shen Yunhao suddenly asked, "Could it be that this python demon can improve its cultivation by refining the demon essence of others? In that case, the Dragon Blood Sect can obtain higher-grade Qi Refining Pills?"
The little fox immediately shook its head. "Refining demon essence can indeed improve cultivation, but this process is not much faster than refining top-grade spirit stones. Moreover, just like normal cultivation, it requires the body to be able to withstand it. Otherwise, as long as you kill enough demons, wouldn't you be able to easily step into the Taixu Realm?"
Whether the body can withstand it refers to whether it can be used repeatedly.
For example, it normally takes a demon five years to cultivate from the early stage of the Soul Condensation Realm to the middle stage of the Soul Condensation Realm.
If consuming a single demon essence at the Soul Condensation Realm can reduce this time by half a year, then according to this logic, if I directly consume ten, wouldn't I be able to break through tomorrow?
Why bother refining the Primordial Essence Pill? I might as well just swallow the demon essence whole.
Hearing this, Shen Yunhao nodded thoughtfully and said, "In other words, letting this python demon devour demon essence can indeed increase its cultivation speed, but it's not worth sacrificing a Xuanpo Realm demon essence for it!"
"That's right. Unless it can immediately break through to the Soul Control Realm after absorbing so much demon essence, it's definitely not worth it. Are we going to keep raising it until it cultivates to the Soul Control Realm before killing the demon and taking its essence? How long would that take..."
However, the instant these words were spoken, a tremendous aura suddenly emanated from the cage in the middle where the giant python was imprisoned.
Shen Yunhao quickly looked over and found that the giant python, which had just finished swallowing the pig demon and was resting, had already shed its skin and its body had become even larger!
"This...this...has it broken through to the Soul Control Realm?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
