Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Crimson Cloud Pill

"Divine Ape King, I know you've taken the place of King Yu Rong as the lord of the Five Camphor Caves. I imagine you're far more formidable than King Yu Rong ever was. But I, the Bear King, am not someone to be trifled with either. I've come here today demanding an explanation from you. If you can't settle this matter now, it won't end here." The Bear King's tone brimmed with swagger and dominance.

Yet, to Yuan Wuyi, that bluster was nothing more than a fool making a spectacle of himself.

"I've said much the same to the Giant Python King and that human emperor. The Giant Python King's subordinates killed my men, while the humans tried to assassinate my followers in secret. Yet not one of them dared come before me and spout such bravado. Only you, chasing after my subordinate, have the nerve to come to my domain," Yuan Wuyi replied calmly and unhurriedly.

"That's them. But today, if you don't give me an answer, I won't let you off," the Bear King insisted.

"An answer is what you want? Then I'll give you one right now." Yuan Wuyi had no interest in wasting words with this simpleton.

Back when Shui Yu's Water Spirit Blade and the Surging Wave Chainmail were taken, Yuan Wuyi had claimed them all. Now, lacking a weapon that truly suited him, he decided the Water Spirit Blade would do for now.

He drew the Water Spirit Blade, its formidable aura as a top-grade acquired spiritual treasure pressing intently upon the Bear King.

"You dare..." The Bear King had barely spoken when Yuan Wuyi, having no desire for idle chatter with such a mindless beast, allowed him not a word more, launching his assault straight away.

With the attack bearing down, the Bear King had no choice but to draw his own weapon in defense—a massive hammer, barely a mid-grade acquired spiritual treasure, hardly a match for the Water Spirit Blade.

Though both possessed Celestial Immortal cultivation, Yuan Wuyi didn’t even bother to use his divine abilities; his physical strength alone utterly overwhelmed the Bear King. After all, the Bear King’s true form was merely an ordinary bear who, by chance in his youth, had cultivated to this realm. How could he compare to the Arm-Through Ape? And Yuan Wuyi's physical body now even surpassed that of a Loose Immortal of the Grand Unity stage.

The Water Spirit Blade struck the hammer, the force sent the Bear King's legs sinking deep into the earth.

Yuan Wuyi slashed again and again, each blow landing on the great hammer. The Bear King had no strength to resist; his body kept sinking, until everything from the waist down was embedded in the ground. The hammer was covered in cracks—an effect Yuan Wuyi created deliberately, so the Bear King's followers could witness his overwhelming strength.

Most of these followers were merely spirit beasts, barely sentient, and thus revered strength above all. Yuan Wuyi's power was tenfold that of the Bear King; when the Bear King failed, to whom would they pledge allegiance? Instinct would guide their choice.

When Yuan Wuyi drove the Bear King into the earth, the Bear King's followers were so terrified by Yuan Wuyi's ferocity that they dared not advance, only retreating further and further. The Bear King's cultivation and his mighty hammer had always been a display of dominance before them, but now, subdued and buried in the ground, and with themselves neither possessing cultivation nor treasures, a single stroke from Yuan Wuyi would be enough to cleave them in two.

With a crash, the Bear King's hammer was shattered to dust by Yuan Wuyi's blade. Observing the Bear King's followers, Yuan Wuyi saw exactly what he expected—the desired effect had been achieved; there was no further need for theatrics. Had he wished, the Water Spirit Blade could have split the hammer with a single strike from the start.

He pressed the tip of the Water Spirit Blade to the Bear King's brow, its edge drawing a thin line of blood that trickled down the blade.

"Divine Ape King, magnanimous as you are, surely you can overlook my offense. Spare me, I beg you! In three days, I will bring my men and submit to your rule," the Bear King pleaded, the sting at his brow a constant reminder of how little separated him from death.

"I want your pledge now, not three days from now," Yuan Wuyi replied.

"But... How? My army is still in my own territory; I can't pledge on their behalf," the Bear King stammered.

"You've brought plenty of followers. Issue the order now—have your most loyal subordinate relay your command to your brother. Will that suffice?" Yuan Wuyi pressed the blade a little harder, his patience wearing thin. Dealing with fools was ever a nuisance.

"Yes, yes! White Deer, return at once and tell my brother to prepare our troops. We are to submit to the Five Camphor Caves!" The Bear King called out to a white deer amid the followers, his eyes flickering with a peculiar light—something Yuan Wuyi did not fail to notice.

"Divine Ape King, now that the White Deer has gone, what do you say...?" the Bear King ventured, looking at Yuan Wuyi with a complicated expression.

"Your Bear King has already pledged allegiance to me," Yuan Wuyi announced to the hundreds of followers gathered. "Will you also submit and become my subordinates?"

To these followers, whom they served mattered little—it was merely a change of master.

"We are willing to follow you, great king!"
"We are willing!"
"..."

"Vanguard Ram, take these followers and see to their arrangements," Yuan Wuyi instructed the three demons behind him.

Managing these barely sentient followers was no difficult task for Vanguard Ram and his companions; in no time, they led the entire group back toward the Five Camphor Caves.

"Divine Ape King, now that all is done, when will you release me?" the Bear King asked.

"I haven't finished giving you an answer—how could I let you go?" Yuan Wuyi replied.

Terror flared in the Bear King's eyes as Yuan Wuyi drove the Water Spirit Blade straight through his brow, leaving a bloody gash across his skull.

To his dying breath, the Bear King never understood—he had obeyed Yuan Wuyi's commands, so why did Yuan Wuyi kill him still?

"All that cultivation—what a waste to let it dissipate into nothing." The Bear King's little schemes were plain as day to Yuan Wuyi; a single stroke was the most expedient solution.

The Bear King's true form was only an ordinary bear; his rise to this realm was merely a stroke of fortune. Yuan Wuyi, who disdained ordinary beast cultivators, would not have bothered, but the Bear King's cultivation was real, and letting it go to waste seemed a pity.

After a brief pause, Yuan Wuyi acted, employing his innate divine power to drain every drop of the Bear King's essence blood. He had no use for it himself, nor did the Devouring Demon Heart desire it. Instead, Yuan Wuyi refined the essence blood into ten blood-red pills. Unlike Shui Yu's refined blood, which had undergone countless cycles of purification through the Devouring Demon Heart, these pills were merely shaped and condensed under Yuan Wuyi's control. They could not compare to the three pills from Shui Yu, but they retained some effect.

As for the Bear King's primordial spirit, it had already been erased by the Water Spirit Blade as soon as it pierced his brow.

"I'll call them Bloodcloud Pills," Yuan Wuyi mused, weighing the ten crimson pills in his hand. Each pill, forged from the Bear King's essence blood, could enable a lesser demon who had just formed a demon core to advance to the mid-stage. However, there was a side effect: upon consuming a Bloodcloud Pill, the user's blood would boil, and their murderous instincts would be awakened. Thus, the Bloodcloud Pills should be refined in a calm and secure place. If, after ingestion, one entered battle before refining the pill, one's cultivation might rise, but one's reason would be lost, becoming nothing more than a puppet.

The Bear King, who had been driven deep into the ground by Yuan Wuyi's blows, was now reduced to a desiccated corpse. In the earth, a massive hole yawned, as though it had appeared from thin air.