Wu Yu had yet to receive any message talismans from the others, so it seemed like the others had yet to be attacked by demons.

Nangong Wei was slightly too far from him. If Li Chuxue did not come, Wu Yu may have no choice but to deal with the demon on his own.

Just from their short confrontation earlier, Wu Yu could tell that this demon was not easy to deal with. However, he was not too worried either. This was a good chance to get some practical training. After all, there would not be an opportunity for such an exciting mortal battle back at the Shushan Immortal Sect! The final insights gained from such a battle would clearly be different.

Wu Yu guessed that Nangong Wei would probably come over, but she should take some time. On the other hand, Li Chuxue would probably not be as anxious. After all, she was in charge of the center region, and she may actually even want some misfortune to befall Wu Yu as well. Beishan Mo had probably given her some special instructions regarding this.

Weng!

At this crucial moment, the demon's body started to change at a speed that was discernible to the naked eye. From his body grew a pair of fleshy, pitch-black wings, and with a strident screech, a giant bat had appeared before Wu Yu's eyes in no time at all. As the bat flew to the sky, one could see many ghastly lines of blood on his body. The ominous expression on his face was exceptionally terrifying.

So this was an old bat demon!

The enemy did not utter a single word. He wanted to end things quick, so he attacked Wu Yu swiftly and violently. Ever since he transformed, the old bat demon relentlessly let out ear-rending screams. He spread out his fleshy wings to hide the sky and cover the earth, completely shrouding Wu Yu in a heavy atmosphere.

This Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea demon had already attained a deep level of dao enlightenment. Wu Yu had fought with many demons back at the Supreme Hunting Ground. However, none of those demons, not even the Metallic Stone Immortal Monkey, had the might and depth of cultivation that this old bat demon had.

The crucial thing was that this opponent used the terrifying Natural Mystique of demons right off the bat!

The old bat demon brandished both his wings and opened his mouth to spit. In an instant, an endless amount of black smog surged from his mouth and immediately diffused outward to engulf the entire place. It was as though the entire world had been flooded with this smog in just the blink of an eye. Within the confines of this smog, Wu Yu's vision was totally blocked off. This formed a specific region that Wu Yu had to break out of. Wu Yu definitely had to escape from this soon, or else he would be trapped in something like Xiao Huanshan's Heart of Earth. In such a restrictive region, he would be under his opponent's strict control.

The old bat demon was hiding in some corner as he demonstrated this Natural Mystique. All of a sudden, he let out waves of frightening and sharp screeches. These screeches were ear-piercing to the point of passing through one's spirit. Even the Shushan disciples who were out of the smog region were severely affected by these screeches. They immediately grabbed their heads in pain and fell to the ground with faces as white as sheets. It went without saying that the wretched sounds of these screeches were even more focused in the center of the smog region. Wu Yu was taking the full brunt of a lethal attack from this old bat demon!

A sonic attack!

It was clearly impossible to defend against these sharp sounds. Even covering one's head was useless, so Wu Yu's face turned pale as he bitterly withstood the attack with his valiant determination!

"Keke." The old bat demon's sharp, bitter sound continued to fulminate. Under such a piercing pain, Wu Yu truly had no way of attacking at all. He did not even have a chance to attack either. The moment he lost focus, this sonic mystique would penetrate his body even more, causing the complete collapse of his mental fortitude, and perhaps turning both his ears deaf forever.

"What a strong Natural Mystique. It looks like I have to use my ultimate move now." Wu Yu was not afraid. Even though he was on the verge of death, he thought of a solution in the blink of an eye.

Under these harrowing effects, he plucked out 10 golden hairs and blew them forcefully into the wind. These 10 hairs instantly transformed into his likeness. Each doppelganger drew out their own spiritual immortal treasures that were all longswords. All of a sudden, they rushed forward to locate the old bat demon. This was not that difficult a task since all they had to do was trace back the source of the sound.

This was the first actual demonstration of the Unshackled Doppelganger's true might. The objective this time was to attack and kill the enemy.

10 versions of Wu Yu suddenly made their move. They were all manifestations of Wu Yu's hairs, so the sonic attack from this old bat demon did not really affect them that much. After they had appeared, they quickly traced the old bat demon's tracks and made a decisive attack!

"Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique!"

10 versions of Wu Yu who were at around the ninth tier of Jindan Dao and above in strength suddenly demonstrated their Heaven Earth Void technique. The Heaven Earth Void technique immediately erupted, and 10 streams of sword qi suddenly slashed toward the body of the bat demon that was very close to them. The bat demon immediately let out a scream. However, the scream this time was not an attack, but an actual scream of anguish. Upon suffering the devastating blows of the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique, he was dazed and felt a piercing pain in his spirit. His mind went blank, and it went without saying that his Natural Mystique could no longer be maintained.

The entire region of smog suddenly dissipated!

The sonic attack that had trapped Wu Yu immediately vanished. Even though his ears still hurt, Wu Yu had at least gained back the freedom to move. This was an opportune moment that had to be seized. Wu Yu immediately summoned the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Column and activated the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Design to swiftly suppress the demon in the center of it all. The bat demon started to convulse in pain.

Wu Yu drew out his Moon Waltzing Clear Sky Sword as well. Without a second word, he rushed into the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment and pierced through bat demon's head with a single strike of the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique. The bat demon started to scream in pain and flail frantically within the confines of the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Columns. It was a shame that Wu Yu's actual killing method was too hard to withstand, so after a few more miserable shrieks, the bat demon abruptly died. His two eyes rolled back in his head and his head drooped down. There was no longer any sign of life from him.

Even though there were not many wounds on his body, his spirit had already been scattered, and he had completely passed away.

Wu Yu could finally heave a sigh of relief. He removed the Nine-Directional Demon Imprisonment Column and let the bat demon fall to the ground with a resounding thud that caused dust to rise into the air.

Wu Yu walked over and found a Sumeru Pouch on the bat demon's body. These demons would usually conceal their Sumeru Pouches in their actual flesh to make it difficult to find, but this was not enough to hide it from Wu Yu.

When he opened the Sumeru Pouch, he found a significant number of Inner Sea Essence Pills in it. If each Inner Sea Essence Pill was worth around 1,000 merits, then there was over 20,000 merits within.

Immortal medicines were the most liquid currency in the entire divine continent. Even though demons tended to have poor immortal medicine refining abilities, there were some who could do so, and a few were even experts. Furthermore, these demons often killed others and looted their treasures, so they would often carry many valuables in hand.

"Sure enough, in the world of dao, killing and stealing treasures is the fastest way to get wealthy. It's much faster than any of the methods to earn merits in Shushan."

Of course, this was also the most risky option.

These 20 Inner Sea Essence Pills would last Wu Yu for quite some time.

As he collected the Inner Sea Essence Pills from the bat demon, he could feel quite a few gazes on him. Some were from the Shushan disciples in the mine. They still had yet to fully recover from the shock of what had happened, but they were filled with gratitude and respect for Wu Yu.

As for the other gaze, Wu Yu looked into the distance to see none other than Li Chuxue. She was wearing a long, white dress and stood as though she was floating in the air. Her dress billowed in the wind, looking as though a fairy had come to visit the mortal world.

Her eyes still had a look of astonishment in them, as though she could not understand how exactly Wu Yu had managed to slaughter the bat demon. The battle between Wu Yu and the bat demon had actually been quite short, lasting only a few moments, so Li Chuxue did not really arrive that late. Of course, if it had been Nangong Wei and Beishan Mo who had met with a demon instead, she would have arrived twice as fast.

She probably did not arrive here immediately because she wanted to observe if any demons had arrived near the two of them.

"Big Brother!" Just as Wu Yu noticed Li Chuxue, a nine-colored blaze surged forward from behind her back to appear before Wu Yu. As soon as Nangong Wei appeared, Li Chuxue's radiance was completely subdued. Nangong Wei had a slightly anxious expression as she widened her eyes. Only after examining the scene did she relax slightly. As she turned to look at the bat demon, she remarked with surprise, "This bat demon seems to have been at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. He was actually killed by you?"

"I was just lucky," Wu Yu replied.

The others had not received Wu Yu's core-tail talisman, but they had also heard the commotion from the battle. However, Li Chuxue had instructed them to continue guarding their original spots just in case the demons took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Li Chuxue walked forward and took a quick look at the bat demon. With an indifferent tone, she addressed Wu Yu, "Don't be so ruthless next time. At least leave the enemy in a state where they can still talk so that we can interrogate them."

Wu Yu smiled and replied, "Senior Sister Li sure knows how to crack a joke. I almost lost my life, so how would it have been possible for me to leave him in a state where he could still talk? Just showing a bit of mercy would have gotten me killed instead. If you want the enemy alive next time, you should be sure to come quicker."

This shut Li Chuxue up. After all, Nangong Wei was still here. She could sense Nangong Wei's unhappy gaze on her, so she declined to argue with Wu Yu any further. Instead, she went forward to examine things further and said, "A demon of such caliber has to be a prominent one. Check if there's anything that reveals his identity in that Sumeru Pouch you've retrieved."

Wu Yu looked through the pouch, and sure enough, there was a black plaque in it. The plaque was an ordinary piece of metal, but it dripped with coagulated blood. There was an ominous aura about it, and just staring at it was enough for one to feel a severe sense of uneasiness.

"This seems to be a demon working under the Crimson Blood Demon," Li Chuxue remarked.

"What?" Wu Yu was surprised for a moment. He naturally knew of the Crimson Blood Demon. That demon made of blood filth was an entity that was perhaps even stronger than Li Chuxue.

Li Chuxue furrowed her brow and continued to expand on her words. "Don't worry. The Crimson Blood Demon's domain is quite far from here. These blue jade mines are not enough to arouse her interest. Even if she dares to come, there will be others who will deal with her. All we have to do is guard this area. This bat demon was probably acting independently. Don't think too much of it. Let's head back to our original positions and continue to keep a lookout."

After this, she hurriedly returned to where she came from. She was probably worried that demons might have attacked from other directions.

"Big Brother, did you discover anything?" Nangong Wei noticed with her acute senses that Wu Yu's expression had changed.

Wu Yu shook his head. He had returned to Shushan from the Crimson Blood Demon's domain, so he naturally knew that it was far from here. He also did not feel that the Crimson Blood Demon would care about obtaining these blue jade mines. The Crimson Blood Demon was someone who hung around the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu, so it was likely that she would disregard a place like this altogether. However, this had reminded Wu Yu of the curse insignia that the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu had placed on him. This was what made him lost in thought for a brief moment.

"Nothing's wrong. You can head back first. If there's anything of note, we can keep in touch with the core-tail talismans," Wu Yu replied.

"Alright." Nangong Wei was slightly more relaxed after noticing that Wu Yu had not sustained any injuries.

Wu Yu needed some space of his own to ponder about the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu's objectives.