Chapter 64: Snatching Treasure from the Beast's Mouth

  Pang Da Tou gave Hu Gao a map, which completely depicted the terrain of the Dragon Scales Mountain Range. The main body of the Dragon Scales Mountain Range stretched for hundreds of miles, shaped like a sleeping dragon, with its head pointing towards Ning City! However, Ning City was not within the range of the Dragon Scales Mountain Range, but rather seemed to be a pillar spat out by the dragon's mouth.

  While the main vein of the Longjia mountain range is divided into two regions on either side, marked with four different colors on the map, Huoyan Valley is indicated by a red area. According to Qi Hong, all the demonic beasts in Huoyan Valley have fire attributes. Hu Gao guessed that the reason for marking this region with red color on the map was not because of its high danger level, but rather because the fire attribute inside Huoyan Valley was relatively strong.

  And then there are three other regions with yellow, brown and blue colors, plus the green color of the main mountain range. Put together, aren't they the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth?

  Hu Gao thought his guess was a bit ridiculous, because he had been in the Totem Continent for so long and had never heard of anything related to the Five Elements or Chinese legends, except for himself and the old fellow inside the blue jade pendant.

  He had thought too far, Hu Gao shook his head and focused on the present. The fat-headed man instructed himself to go to a place marked with a small white fork on the map, which was a lone peak called Huo Zhi Peak, located at the edge of Flame Valley, near Longtou.

  Originally, Hu Gao thought the red color of Flame Valley represented a danger zone and planned to bypass it, enter Longtou first, then circle around to Huo Zhi Peak.

  But now, judging from the information provided by Qi Hong, it seems that he was completely wrong, and maybe the dragon's head is a more dangerous area.

  Now, Hu Gao decided to enter Flame Valley, for the sake of the Black Fire Lotus that could purify his body, and also to reach the Fire Origin Peak.

  At this thought, Hu Gao's heart couldn't help but stir.

  Is it that Fat Head knew that the Black Fire Lotus was born in Flame Valley, and it would be useful to himself, so he called himself to go to Huo Zhi Peak in Flame Valley?

  What exactly did he call himself? Hei Huo Lian or Hei Huo Lian Peng?

  No, no, these two things, Fat Head can buy at any time, and will not sell himself, let alone let Hu Gao enter the Dragon Slaying Mountain Range.

  In an instant, Xiao Wu suddenly interrupted Hu Gao's train of thought.

  "Boss, there are two late-stage first-tier demonic beasts fighting up ahead. However, neither of these demonic beasts have a demonic core within them. Do you want to go take a look?"

  Hu Gao shook his head decisively: "No elixir of immortality? What's the point of going then, it's a waste of time, not going..."

  "It's still Old Big Brother who is wise, I don't want to go either. However, these two demon beasts seem to be fighting over a fruit, I don't know what that fruit is for, it feels like its value is only slightly inferior to the Black Leaf Grass we got last time, but if it can't provide me with dragon energy, getting it would be pointless."

  Xiao Wu had an indifferent attitude, anyway they hadn't entered the depths of the Longji Mountain Range yet, and the truly valuable treasures hadn't appeared either.

  "Good grief, prodigal son..."

  Hu Gao really wanted to slap Xiao Wu flying, the black leaf grass obtained last time was not worth much on the surface, at most it was equivalent to 200,000 to 300,000 gold coins, but after being refined by a Dan master into a dan medicine, its value increased by more than tenfold.

  These seemingly worthless elixirs on the surface, once passed through an alchemist's hands, their value would skyrocket. And yet this guy had such a nonchalant attitude about it.

  Hú Gāo didn't waste any time and sped off in the direction that Xiǎo Wǔ pointed, completely concealing his aura.

  "Big brother, I..."

  "Stop talking, be careful not to expose our whereabouts and attract the monster to destroy the fruit."

  Hu Gao didn't give Xiao Wu a chance to continue speaking, and Wushuang Sword was already tightly grasped in his hand.

  When his yuan force cultivation was only at the sixth stage of Condensed Shadow Realm, it would take at least ten minutes to traverse this distance, even if the terrain was a dense forest, it wouldn't exceed fifteen minutes. Now that his cultivation has broken through to the peak of the seventh stage of Condensed Shadow Realm, Hu Gao felt that his speed had increased by more than double, with only the sound of wind in his ears, he arrived at the scene in less than six minutes.

  "Roar!"

  "Boom... Boom..."

  Two tall and majestic beasts appeared in front of Hu Gao, roaring at each other as they launched their most ferocious and terrifying attacks. Many trees were broken and uprooted by their collision, and both of them had many scars on their bodies.

  These two monsters were a black bear and a giant snake. The black bear was over three meters tall, its fur was pitch-black, and its pupils glowed with a bloodthirsty light. With one swipe of its paw, it could knock down a tree that a person could wrap their arms around.

  The giant snake was also six or seven meters long, its body covered in earth-colored scales that gave off a dazzling golden light. It would occasionally open its massive mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, which made the black bear wary. Its long tail, like a steel whip, would lash back and forth, creating sudden gusts of wind that sent grass and trees flying.

  Judging from the fierce aura emanating from them, they have absolutely reached the level of a late-stage First-Order. This is not something that an ordinary high-ranking Condensed Shadow Realm martial artist can withstand. Only a martial artist at the peak of the Eighth Order Condensed Shadow Realm can break through the defenses of a late-stage First-Order demon beast.

  Hu Gao stopped one hundred meters away from the two demonic beasts, quietly watching the two demonic beasts in front of him, clicking his tongue in surprise. However, after a moment, his gaze began to sweep other directions.

  This search did not last for too long, his gaze was fixed on a tree top over ten meters high.

  To be precise, it was on a bright orange fruit at the top of the tree.

  He could feel that there was a strange energy fluctuation emanating from the fruit, and when this energy was transmitted, he could clearly sense that the yuan force fluctuations in his body became more active.

  But he didn't know what kind of fruit it was and whether it could be eaten raw or not.

  But one thing is certain: this must be no ordinary fruit, and it may even be a valuable treasure.

  Would rather miss out than let it go! Must get it no matter what!

  Hu Gao looked at the two demonic beasts that were still fiercely fighting, these two guys are currently fighting intensely, looking like their strengths are not much different, it's hard to distinguish between victory and defeat.

  "Let them keep fighting like this, who knows what other unexpected events might happen. I'd better go and settle it myself, then pick the fruit and leave? Never mind, they're still some distance from the fruit, I'll just go pick it first and then leave."

  After the sprint just now, Hu Gao had a clearer understanding of his speed. After weighing it slightly in his heart, he made a decision to take the shortcut through the fruit forest, saving energy from dealing with two demon beasts without demon cores.

  Hugao didn't think much, his body flashed out like lightning, quickly approaching that orange-red fruit.

  The fruit grew on the top of a large tree, and the distance from him was only about thirty meters, slightly farther than the two monsters were from this tree.

  Hu Gao wasn't sure if he could pick the fruit and leave before the two demonic beasts reacted, but he didn't care either. At worst, he would just exert some effort and kill them all.

  "Roar!"

  "Hiss!"

  Hú Gāo had apparently underestimated the two demonic beasts' attachment to the orange fruit. Almost as soon as he began to approach the large tree, they reacted one after another, and then let out a loud roar, suddenly pouncing towards the big tree.

  "These two beasts, are they really looking to die?" Hu Gao looked at the two demon beasts with some annoyance, he had no intention of making a move against them, but they insisted on coming to him.

  "Hmm? Is there someone else?"

  At this moment, he suddenly moved in his heart and looked towards a direction not far away.

  Just now he clearly felt that there was a subtle wave of breath in this direction, and this breath was quite strong.

  The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and Hu Gao decided to ignore this person for the time being and focus on getting the fruit first.

  His speed was ultimately much faster than the demon beast, and he arrived at the foot of the tree first. He then tapped his toes on the ground, jumped high into the air, stretched out his right hand, and seemed to be about to pluck the fruit into his hands.

  Below, the two monsters finally arrived under the big tree and saw the situation. They were furious and one of them, a black bear, slapped its thick palm against the tree trunk, while the giant snake jumped high into the air, ready to launch a powerful attack on Hu Gao.

  "Crack!"

  A black bear's massive paw slapped the tree, a giant with a trunk as thick as a man could wrap his arms around. The tree snapped without any suspense and fell to one side.

  "You think this can stop me? You're underestimating me too much."

  As the giant tree collapsed, the fruit fell in another direction. Suddenly, a loud and frightening gust of wind rose from behind, mixed with a pungent smell. Hu Gao remained calm and serene, his feet treading on air as he channeled his Chi, his speed increasing like a shooting star, dashing towards the treetop. His hand shot out, grabbing a fist-sized orange-red fruit in his palm.

  "It's really good stuff!"

  As soon as he grasped the fruit in his hand, Hu Gao clearly felt the yuan force inside his body surging violently, knowing that this orange-red fruit was by no means an ordinary object, but had no idea what its specific effect was.

  Hú Gāo wasn't worried either, since Xiǎo Wǔ said that this fruit was not much inferior to Hēi Yè Cǎo. He believed that after being refined by the alchemist of the Hú family, it would immediately become a precious elixir like Qīng Tǐ Dān.

  "Roar!"

  Behind him, a sharp roar rose, shaking the void and spreading in all directions. The giant snake's six or seven meter long body suddenly rose four or five meters high, opening its bloody big mouth and pouncing on Hu Gao.

  "You little snake, you still want to bite your grandfather? Well, I'll teach you a lesson."

  Hu Gao's icy gaze swept back, the Wuxin sword suddenly emerged from its scabbard, and a burst of sword energy quickly formed a storm of sword energy, strangling the void, and blasting onto the giant snake's head.

  "Ding..."

  The python's head was surprisingly hard, and the storm of sword energy was unable to leave even a slight mark on it. Instead, a series of crisp sounds rang out, and its already blood-red pupils became even more ferocious. Hu Gao's strike had thoroughly stirred up its ferocity.