On the dark swamp surface, Wu Yu transformed back to his human form from the Immortal Ape form. The demons had escaped, dived into the swamp, and hidden themselves like panic-stricken dogs.
Only the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey, who was on the brink of death, was still being suppressed under the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Columns.
At this moment, Wu Yu"s clothes had ruptured, revealing a golden sauvastika symbol on his back that was s.h.i.+ning brightly.
Wu Yu"s back was facing the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey. When he turned around, he noted that the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey was in a daze and hadn"t recovered.
"Scram!" Wu Yu retracted his Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Columns. When they returned to Wu Yu, they fused together and shrank gradually. Finally, it landed on Wu Yu"s palm like a pencil and was stored inside his Sumeru Pouch.
The Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey rapidly reclaimed his arms and joined them back. Otherwise, it would probably take a long time for him to grow out arms that were compatible with his body proportions.
After completing this step, dismal and embarra.s.sment gleamed in his eyes as he said, "Wu Yu, I"ve fallen into your dao today and lost due to my carelessness. However, we have a long future ahead. We shall wait and see."
Wu Yu took a glance at him before replying, "I"m not at all interested in remembering someone I"ve defeated. The next time we meet, you won"t even be qualified to be my opponent."
"Hehe. You just won by the slimmest margin and yet you are so brazen. You won"t be able to go far!" After completing his sentence, the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey stared coldly at Wu Yu before vanis.h.i.+ng in the blink of an eye.
The Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey was still concerned about how others would view him. If he were to look for stronger demons related to him, Wu Yu wouldn"t be able to handle them.
Just as the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey left, Wu Yu felt movement behind his back. A short distance away, a group of demons in their middle-aged human forms rose from within the swamp and remained suspended in the air. They were wearing loose and black, long robes that seemed to have fused with the entire swamp. One look at them and Wu Yu knew they were powerful demons. Their auras were huge and dense and they had high cultivation levels that exceeded the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey.
He knew that they were the Enforcers of the Sixth Hunting Ground immediately. They rarely showed themselves, and Wu Yu had no idea what their demon forms were.
When they appeared, Wu Yu displayed the 51 Demon Injunction Orders out without a second word. After which, he said, "Everyone, I have collected sufficient Demon Injunction Order. Based on the rules of the Supreme Hunting Ground, I should be allowed to leave this place. Am I right?"
The other party pondered for some time. The truth was that they were just in the vicinity and were watching all the battles. They also witnessed how Wu Yu had turned the tables and clinched the victory.
From among them, a demon stepped forward. He was clearly the leader and seemed to be older than the rest. Below his black robes, Wu Yu could vaguely see that he had a white beard. In a coa.r.s.e voice, the demon said, "You are right."
Having heard this, Wu Yu felt a little more a.s.sured. He kept the Demon Injunction Orders and continued, "My friend Jiu Ying is still in the Second Hunting Ground. I wish to visit him before I leave this place. Can you guys help me and send me to the Second Hunting Ground?"
That leader answered decisively again, "You are really lucky to have completed the mission before we sent you to the Seventh Hunting Ground. However, we are only responsible to send you out of the Supreme Hunting Ground. You have no rights to go to the Second Hunting Ground."
In other words, Wu Yu wanted to bid goodbye, but these demons weren"t agreeable. Moreover, such rules didn"t exist. After all, they still saw Wu Yu as prey.
Wu Yu tried to insist on his stance for a while longer, but his attempts were futile. Having no other plans, he could only say, "Can you guys bring me to the First Hunting Ground? I have made an agreement with Jiang Zhuyue from the First Hunting Ground. All you guys have to do is to send me to the First Hunting Ground and Jiang Zhuyue will bring me out of the Supreme Hunting Ground."
Based on what Wu Yu knew, every Hunting Ground had their own channel to leave.
To his surprise, the other party still shook their head decisively and said, "We are just responsible for sending you out of the Supreme Hunting Ground. As for your personal matters, we don"t care."
For them, this matter was simple and not open for negotiation. It was already the most benevolent gift that they allowed Wu Yu to leave.
"Follow me."
That leader left. The other Enforcers separated themselves to various areas of the Sixth Hunting Ground. As the other party left quickly, Wu Yu had no room for negotiation and could only follow quickly.
As the saying goes: "if you live below other"s roof, you have to lower your head."
The other party was at least at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm, equivalent to an Earth sword rank disciple. Based on strength, Wu Yu had zero chance of competing with him.
The interior of the Sixth Hunting Ground was just like a maze. Wu Yu had been here for over a year but hadn"t seen a mountain. However, Wu Yu saw a mountain after following behind the Enforcer for a few rounds. The black mountain was established on the swamp. Below it, there were nine doors that led to different Hunting Grounds. At the top of the mountain, there was a simple-looking wooden door. The Enforcer opened that wooden door and said gloomily, "If you go out through this, you will be able to leave the Supreme Hunting Ground. Whether you live or die from now on has nothing to do with the Supreme Hunting Ground."
The other party was cold and was uninterested in talking to Wu Yu. Under such circ.u.mstances, Wu Yu couldn"t insist. He quickened his pace and jumped into the wooden door without thinking much. The next instant, the wooden door slammed and closed heavily.
Kacha!
Wu Yu was suddenly pushed by a huge force as he moved ahead.
At this moment, he even doubted if he had really been let go from the Supreme Hunting Ground.
Soon after he was pushed out, he was knocked towards a round circle in front of him. At that instant, he felt as though he had traversed through a different world. Suddenly, his body felt lighter. He landed on a flat piece of land. After spending more than a year in the swamp, this was the first time he felt solid ground.
He instantly looked to his surroundings and noted that he was in a forest surrounded by ancient trees. It was similar to those in the First Hunting Ground, but there were clearly no barriers to be seen. Moreover, the skies above him was clearly indicating that he was in Endless Demon Seas. The endless scent of death and blood tumbled violently around him, shrouding the land and blocking off the sun....
Clearly, he wasn"t in the Supreme Hunting Ground. After spending two years inside, he had finally gotten out.
Wu Yu scanned his surroundings carefully. At the moment, he did not detect danger. Within a large area, there weren"t any signs of life.
There wasn"t an entrance or exit to the Supreme Hunting Ground around. When he came out of the wooden door, it was as though he appeared in this place out of thin air.
Standing on a thick branch, Wu Yu saw endless forests, the tumbling Endless Demon Seas, and no visible edges. He started pondering about his next step.
"Jiang Zhuyue should be aware that I"ve been sent out of the Supreme Hunting Ground. If he still wants to keep his end of the bargain and cares about how others will view him, he should be coming for me. If I don"t have him, a human like me wouldn"t know which direction to go in the Endless Demon Seas....
"Moreover, there will be lots of demons along the way that occupy areas and declare themselves kings. Among which, there will be strong demons who could easily eat me. They wouldn"t possibly ask about my background before doing so!"
At the thought of this, Wu Yu made the decision to stay behind and wait.
However, he had this feeling that more dangers lurked behind the Endless Demon Seas than in the Supreme Hunting Ground. There were all kinds of demons who could easily kill him and not feel wary of Jiu Ying. There might even be demons who might not know about Jiu Ying, who was born not too long ago.
Therefore, Wu Yu had to wait for Jiang Zhuyue.
However, he couldn"t just stay in the open. Wu Yu hid himself first and entered hibernation while keeping an eye on the demons" world.
He was very calm.
However, time was ticking. He was eager to get home, and the thought of getting back to the Shushan Immortal Sect had been lingering for a long time. He was especially missing the people in the Shushan Immortal Sect.
"With my current strength, as long as I can master a Great Dao Mystique, I"ll be a Huang sword rank disciple. However, ordinary Xuan sword rank disciples wouldn"t be a match for me. In one or two years, I might even be able to overtake Baili Feihong.
"Ming Long said that the Great Dao Mystique of the Great Sage, Heaven"s Equal is truly incredible. It"s definitely much better than the Metallic Stone h.e.l.l. As long as I can leave the Endless Demon Seas safely, I"ll definitely return to Shushan and practice my Great Dao Mystique!"
Naturally, these were Wu Yu"s thoughts. As for whether Ming Long was willing to impart to him, that was another matter....
Wu Yu"s patience was gradually wearing thin. After approximately ten days, Wu Yu finally noted someone moving in the forest. Indeed, it was a Moon Chasing Hound. That Moon Chasing Hound looked around, and when he spotted Wu Yu, he changed to his human form and looked at Wu Yu emotionlessly.
"Impressive, Wu Yu. I had not expected you to really complete it! However, it isn"t that you are really powerful. All I can say is that the Enforcers in the Sixth Hunting Ground are too lenient. If it was me, I"d have sent you to the Seventh Hunting Ground a long time ago. That would only be fair," remarked Jiang Zhuyue defiantly.
"No matter what you say, I did manage to get out. Therefore, please keep your promise. I"ll be grateful to you too," said Wu Yu.
"Relax. I, Jiang Zhuyue, wouldn"t lie. There"s no way I will not be able to achieve things that were said in front of so many people. Let"s go!" He was too lazy to speak further as he transformed into a Moon Chasing Hound. Without paying attention to Wu Yu"s speed, he led Wu Yu as they moved within the ancient trees.
Wu Yu had not expected things to go so smoothly. He thought that Jiang Zhuyue wouldn"t appear. Even if he did, he wouldn"t be so agreeable and would even make things difficult for him.
Nonetheless, the Moon Chasing Hound was really fast. Wu Yu had to fully use his physical strength while pivoting off the ground to catch up with him. However, Wu Yu found it hard to maintain it after just half a day. Jiang Zhuyue didn"t really care though. All he did was continue his pace. In a different way, he was teaching Wu Yu a lesson.
In the end, Wu Yu gritted his teeth and managed to keep up.
Several days pa.s.sed and the two of them didn"t converse at all. Jiang Zhuyue didn"t even bother to turn around and look at him.
"Based on this speed, how long do you think we will need to leave the Endless Demon Seas?" asked Wu Yu.
Jiang Zhuyue rolled his eyes and said, "How would I know? Just follow me and keep your words to yourself!"
"Are there other demon factions along the way?" Based on Wu Yu"s understanding, demons often occupied an area and declared themselves king. Ying Huang was just the master of the largest area in the Endless Demon Seas. There were still areas with other masters. Some might not even be under the jurisdiction of Ying Huang. The most famous of them all, who was against Ying Huang, was none other than Zhu Huang.
It was said that Zhu Huang was a Torch Dragon. A Torch Dragon was different from a Scaled Dragon and could be considered to be a real dragon. It was just that its personality was more evil and therefore was not recognized by the true dragons. Eventually, they were discarded from the ranks of the immortal beasts. Nonetheless, they were real dragons. Therefore, their talents and capabilities were all top-cla.s.s in the entire divine continent. His status was just below Ying Huang"s and was the second strongest demon in the divine continent.
1. TL Note: A Torch Dragon is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology where it possesses a human body or head and a dragon tail.