y entered a state of practice called “nothingness and forgetfulness”.The car reached the central area of Jinniu Mountain through flat mountain roads. Hao Zhonghua stopped the vehicle and shouted loudl...Chapter 204: Demonic Beasts

Note from the author: Please leave comments, Xiao Long will read every one of them… Hehe,

A dozen or so young snow lions surrounded Hao Ren.

Aside from having sparred with Qin Shaoyang twice and competed with Su Han once, Hao Ren's practical experience was pitifully scarce.

Although these juvenile snow lions weren't as massive as their adult counterparts, they still reached half of Hao Ren's height and already exhibited a hint of ferocity.

The mature snow lions blocked the only exit but didn't rush to attack Hao Ren immediately, seemingly intending to use him for training the young ones! His heart pounded at an alarming rate for almost a minute! Circulating the five-colored sword qi around his body, he heightened his sensitivity to all senses and kept a vigilant eye on every move of these juvenile snow lions. He was ready to unleash sword qi at any moment!

Up above in the cave's ceiling hung the last millennium seven-colored snow lotus!

If Zhao Kuo couldn't secure this one, he would be done for!

A dozen snow-white snow lions advanced step by step towards Hao Ren.

Hao Ren exerted his strength on both feet and jumped up to release a sword qi strike!

Whiz! The sword qi hit the base of the third snow lotus precisely, knocking it down!

Hao Ren reached out to grab the snow lotus. No matter what, he needed to secure this one first!

Almost simultaneously, a dozen snow lions leaped up as well! Their jumping height was no weaker than Hao Ren's; in an instant, they transformed into aerial predators swooping down towards him!

Fwoosh fwoosh,

Hao Ren fired off his finger sword qi and rolled to the ground immediately upon landing. He dashed towards the passage as swiftly as possible.

The few adult snow lions stood side by side, forming a formidable barrier that sealed off the entrance!

Hao Ren hurled several sword qi strikes at them, but they didn't seem to feel anything from the impact!

Each of these snow lions was equivalent to level Xun in human terms, below which only dragon-kin could be found. Therefore, despite knowing there were still a few mature millennium snow lotuses remaining, the earth dragons guarding this place couldn't retrieve them!

Hao Ren's body struck theirs without any effect; it felt like hitting an elastic wall that immediately bounced him back!

A dozen young snow lions pounced on Hao Ren once more!

Hao Ren's sword氣 (qi) was released again but had lost its accuracy, and it was directly pressed on his chest by the Snow Lion that charged forward!

The splash! Hao Ren fell to the ground, splashing water behind him.

He struggled to get up. The other dozen or so young Snow Lions were also pouncing over!

Although they were young Snow Lions, each one weighed more than an adult person. Although these young Snow Lions had not yet unleashed their spirit beast’s potential energy and resistance, it was comparable to a dragon cultivator of magnitude 7 or above!

The snow lion with its paw on Hao Ren's chest opened its mouth wide.

Hao Ren closed his eyes and thought, this time I'm really done for!

Slurp,

A slippery feeling spread across Hao Ren’s cheeks.

Hao Ren opened his eyes to find that the Snow Lion was licking his face affectionately!

The other dozen or so Snow Lions also obediently sat beside him, scratching his hands and belly!

"Huh" With a mix of panic and confusion, Hao Ren propped himself up on the wet ground.

The Snow Lion that had licked his cheek put its head on Hao Ren’s chest and nuzzled against it affectionately.

Hao Ren tentatively reached out a stiff hand to pat its head in the same way he would pet a puppy. It seemed to enjoy it, closing its eyes softly.

The few adult Snow Lions nearby let out low growls and turned away.

When Hao Ren got up again, these young Snow Lions obediently followed behind him, rubbing against his trouser legs affectionately.

Could it be that they were not trying to attack me earlier but rather wanted to play with me Hao Ren's brain suddenly short-circuited.

He walked outside and the adult Snow Lions had already vanished. Dozens of little snow lions followed closely behind him.

After walking a bit further without encountering any danger, Hao Ren touched his chest to confirm that he was unharmed but couldn’t understand why.

In this way, he walked all the way to the cave exit where another surge of spirit energy rushed towards Hao Ren. These young Snow Lions shyly hid behind him.

They shook their round heads and looked at Hao Ren with black eyes full of anticipation, as if hoping that Hao Ren would take them out.

Hao Ren understood what they meant, but he couldn't carry all of them out. He squatted down and picked the most beautiful one, which was also the one that had pounced on his chest earlier, and petted its paw.

This Snow Lion understood Hao Ren's intention, and in a flash, it leaped into Hao Ren's arms, transforming into a mini snow lion no bigger than two palms.

The ability to change size was an instinct of spirit beasts. Hao Ren held the little snow lion in his arms and saw from afar that there were two adult giant Snow Lions watching him deep within the cave.

"Your parents also hope that I take you out, huh" Hao Ren stroked its small head and placed it in his embrace before using a bit of spirit energy to pass through the entrance of the cave.

Outside, the sun was bright; it was already the second day. Hao Ren had wandered around in the caves, unknowingly spending an entire night!

The two guards were still unconscious on the ground. He didn't know if they woke up and got knocked out again by Su Han during that time. Su Han sat on a large rock nearby with her eyes closed, cultivating. She sensed Hao Ren's emergence and opened her beautiful eyes, asking, "Have you gotten the items"

"Yes." Hao Ren nodded his head. He didn't tell her how dangerous it was to pick the snow lotus since everything had already been smoothly accomplished; there was no need for him to say anything more.

Su Han saw the little Snow Lion in Hao Ren's arms, "Did you also catch a spirit beast"

Hao Ren thought to himself that it wasn't like he caught it but rather it followed him out. However, he didn’t want to explain further and simply nodded.

Su Han looked at the Snow Lion again, "A Grade C Spirit Beast; keeping it as a pet is still pretty good. How many snow lotus did you get"

"Three. There were only three in total inside. The rest of the mature ones weren't seen, so I didn't pick them," Hao Ren said.

"Then there's no other way; we have to go ask the Earth Dragon for the last one." Su Han threw out her long sword and stood on it.

Hao Ren followed suit. He knew that Su Han stayed behind to prevent Qin Shaoyang from coming to take advantage of them, so he felt a bit grateful in his heart.

The sword beam sped towards the main peak of Heavenly Mountain. With a flick of her hand, Su Han tossed out two streams of air that woke up the guards at the cave entrance.

High in the sky, the Snow Lion who had never been outside before was curiously looking around; it curled up in Hao Ren's arms and truly seemed like an innocent little creature.

But only Hao Ren, who had seen its true form, knew how powerful it was. If summoned forth, it might not be defeated by anyone below the magnitude of a quake.

"If your dimensional space is spacious enough, you could keep it there during normal times. But don't put any spirit herbs or elixirs in your dimensional space; otherwise, they'll all be eaten," Su Han kindly reminded Hao Ren.

"Okay!" Not wanting to draw too much attention, Hao Ren threw the little Snow Lion into his necklace and took out the five thousand-year-old snow lotuses from inside before transferring them into Su Han's hands.

Su Han placed the five snow lotuses in her Sumeru Ring. After thinking for a moment, she added, "There was only one spirit beast inside"

"No, there were many of different sizes and shapes. However, none attacked me," Hao Ren replied.

"Then your luck is pretty good; you just happened to have a weaker cultivation level with faint dragon pill aura in your body. Plus, the sword technique you practice is Fragmenting Light Sword Shadow Technique. The spirit beasts guarding the cave thought that you were a Heavenly Mountain Sect cultivator and thus didn't attack you," Su Han turned around while riding her flying sword and said to Hao Ren.

The spiritual beasts are truly pitiful. Their masters had long left hundreds of years ago, yet they remain in the caves guarding the spirit herbs and waiting for their owners to return. No wonder they were so affectionate towards me, a human cultivator.

With no one to feed them, they couldn't leave the cave, so they resorted to eating snow lotuses instead. Hence, all mature snow lotuses have been consumed; the three thousand-year-old snow lotuses at the end of the cave were likely spared due to their sentimental value.

Su Han's white jade longsword sped towards the main peak and reached the summit shortly after.

The flying sword landed steadily. Several elders spotted Su Han's sword light from afar and hurriedly came out to greet him.

"Elders, there are limited snow lotuses in the cave. We have no choice but to request your remaining thousand-year-old snow lotus," said Su Han as politely as possible.

The elders exchanged glances, thinking that Su Han and Hao Ren couldn't enter deeper into the cave, so their words were merely formalities. They had anticipated Su Han's visit to ask for the snow lotuses, thus they presented a golden wooden box that was already prepared.

Su Han opened the box and confirmed it contained the thousand-year-old rainbow-colored snow lotus. Not wanting to shortchange them, she retrieved six dark red pills from her Cintamani ring: "Here are six Nine Transformations Soul Pills. They're very beneficial for breaking through barriers; I won't take yours for free. Consider these as an exchange!"

The senior elder of the Northwest Earth Dragon clan respectfully stepped forward to accept Su Han's six pills, carefully calculating that six precious medicines in exchange for one snow lotus was indeed not a bad deal.

"I have urgent matters to attend to. I won't linger further!" Su Han tossed out her white jade longsword and had Hao Ren stand on it.

"We bid farewell to Special Envoy Su!" The elders of the Earth Dragon clan respectfully bowed their heads.

Su Han, having obtained six thousand-year-old rainbow-colored snow lotuses, didn't have time to confront Qin Shaoyang. She quickly brought Hao Ren back to Donghai City.

During the return journey, Su Han suddenly asked Hao Ren, "Since you ventured deep into the cave, did you see a dark red flower"

"A dark red flower" Hao Ren thought for a moment. In the large cavern at the end of the cave where the thousand-year-old snow lotuses were located, there indeed seemed to be some inconspicuous small red flowers hugging the stone walls.

"Tiny ones, like half a fingernail-sized red flower" Hao Ren asked.

"It seems so," Su Han murmured upon hearing his reply. "These are materials for longevity pills. I'll come back again when there's an opportunity."

Su Han, is there such a thing as a seven-color snow lotus that takes ten thousand years to root, flower, and mature" Hao Ren suddenly asked her.

"Natural snow lotuses wither after a thousand years. I've never heard of what you described, but the former Tianshan Sect was an expert in cultivating snow lotuses. Perhaps the one you mentioned needs special methods for cultivation."

Su Han said absentmindedly.

Hao Ren couldn't press further and put aside his doubts. The information that the Lu sisters had was of top-notch quality, far beyond what Su Han and her group encountered.

Gurgle gurgle,

Suddenly, Hao Ren sensed the snow lion in his medallion's dimensional space rolling on the ground. equivalent to the tremor level, with just a little cultivation, they could recover to the upper quality earth level."Haha... Your skin is very smooth!""Your waist has gotten finer and finer!"They gig...