In the valley, Shen Hongmei struggled to regulate her breathing.
The Verdant Wood Sect's Foundation Establishment Elder was in a sorry state — her Spirit Robe torn to shreds, her internal organs damaged, and her spiritual energy nearly exhausted.
Facing this Azure Flood Dragon on the verge of Dragon Transformation, she had paid a terrible price.
The Azure Flood Dragon had proven far more powerful than she had estimated.
Not only had it grown dragon wings and dragon claws, but its dragon horns had fully formed as well — only a single step remained before Dragon Transformation.
Had she not laid down a barrier in advance and deployed several of her most treasured Magical Artifacts, she would likely have perished here today.
"At least I finally got what I came for." Shen Hongmei gazed at the Flood Dragon Demon Core in her hand, a flicker of relief crossing her eyes.
This demon core contained the Flood Dragon's lifetime of cultivation and a trace of Dragon Race Fortune — more than enough to help her form her golden core.
Just as she prepared to rest briefly before departing, the barrier suddenly trembled.
Shen Hongmei's brow furrowed. She looked up and saw a figure stumbling into the valley.
It was a young man dressed in laborer's clothing, his cultivation no higher than the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Shen Hongmei relaxed slightly — but then she noticed the young man's alarming condition. His eyes were bloodshot red, his entire body radiating a dense Baleful Ferocity Aura, and strange crimson markings intertwined with frost across his skin.
"Demonization?" Shen Hongmei's heart lurched.
As a Foundation Establishment Elder, she had naturally witnessed cultivators lose their minds from consuming too many demon beast demon cores.
But Demonization this severe — she had never seen anything like it.
At this moment, Chen Yang was completely dominated by his bestial instincts.
In his perception, the world had been reduced to the most primal urges: hunger, slaughter, and the figure before him radiating an enticing spiritual energy.
He moved on all fours, prowling like a wild beast.
He cast a wary glance at Shen Hongmei, then was drawn toward the Flood Dragon's carcass, a greedy growl rumbling from his throat.
The pure spiritual energy contained within the Flood Dragon's flesh and blood stirred the demon cores of various demon beasts within him into a frenzy.
"Stop right there!" Shen Hongmei forced her gravely wounded body upright. "Which peak are you a disciple of? Do you know what crime it is to trespass into an Elder's barrier?"
Chen Yang paid her no heed whatsoever.
Deep within his consciousness, only the most primal craving remained.
He suddenly lunged at the Flood Dragon, opening his mouth to tear into its flesh!
"Insolence!" Though gravely wounded, the dignity of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator was not to be challenged.
She swept her sleeve, and a streak of azure light shot out, blasting Chen Yang back several steps.
Against an ordinary Qi Refining disciple, that strike would have been enough to inflict serious injury.
But Chen Yang merely swayed, then charged again — faster and more ferocious than before!
The power of the Tiger Ferocity surged through his body, rendering him impervious to pain.
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Shen Hongmei's heart filled with dread.
This disciple clearly had only the fifth level of the Qi Refinement Realm cultivation, yet the power he unleashed was no less than that of the seventh level of the Qi Refinement Realm!
And his fighting style was utterly without technique — pure instinct — which somehow made him even harder to deal with.
The two exchanged several blows, and with each exchange Shen Hongmei grew more alarmed.
Though gravely wounded, she was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator — subduing a Qi Refining disciple should have been trivial.
Yet this Demonized disciple was abnormally tenacious; the more injuries he sustained, the more savage he became.
"Just how many demon cores did he consume to reach this level of Demonization..." Shen Hongmei thought, deeply unsettled.
She noticed that his body simultaneously radiated Demon Energy of both fire and ice attributes — a complete violation of natural law.
Fortunately, her injuries had not yet reached the point where she could no longer suppress him.
She unleashed several spell techniques in succession, finally sending Chen Yang flying with a heavy blow.
Chen Yang crashed to the ground, struggled for a moment, then clambered back to his feet.
His bestial instincts told him this woman was not someone he could defeat, so he turned instead toward the Flood Dragon's carcass and began tearing into its flesh with savage abandon.
Seeing this, Shen Hongmei relaxed her guard slightly.
She had already retrieved the Flood Dragon Demon Core; the remaining flesh and blood, while still precious, was nothing compared to the demon core.
This was a perfect opportunity for her to meditate and recover.
Chen Yang was now completely lost in the ecstasy of consumption.
The pure spiritual energy contained within the Flood Dragon's flesh and blood poured into him in a steady stream, easing the agony caused by the conflicting demon cores of various demon beasts within him.
He gnawed ravenously, as though this were the most exquisite delicacy in the world.
As he ate, he suddenly bit down on something hard, producing a crisp crack.
It appeared to be a sachet-like object hidden within the Flood Dragon's flesh — and he had bitten clean through it.
Instantly, a plume of pink smoke billowed outward, and a strange, sweet fragrance suffused the air.
The moment Shen Hongmei caught that scent, her expression changed drastically.
"No — Dragon Musk!"
She had never imagined that this Flood Dragon, already so close to Dragon Transformation in form, had even produced Dragon Musk within its body!
This was a rare treasure unique to the Dragon Race, capable of awakening the most primal desires in any living creature.
Shen Hongmei hastily held her breath and circulated her power, but it was already too late.
A wisp of the fragrance seeped into her body, and she immediately felt a burning heat spread through her limbs, her spiritual energy growing sluggish and unresponsive.
Even more terrifying was the long-forgotten flutter that rose from the depths of her heart.
On the other side, Chen Yang's reaction to inhaling the Dragon Musk was far more violent.
He let out an agonized shriek, the veins across his body bulging, his eyes red enough to drip blood.
The Dragon Musk mingled with the Baleful Ferocity Aura from the various demon beast demon cores within him, producing an unimaginable reaction.
Within the last remnants of Chen Yang's consciousness, a series of hazy images surfaced: Zhao Yanran's smiling eyes, her soft lips, and the silhouette of her being intimate with someone else in his bed that night... These fragments of memory intertwined with the Dragon Musk's potency, igniting the most primal fire within his heart.
Spurred by the fragrance, Chen Yang snapped his head around, his crimson eyes locking onto Shen Hongmei.
The gaze no longer held the simple desire to kill — it was now mingled with something far more primal.
Alarm bells rang in Shen Hongmei's mind, and she urgently forced her spiritual energy to resist.
But she was gravely wounded and under the influence of the Dragon Musk; her spiritual energy circulated fitfully and without ease.
Worse still, she found herself feeling a strange, inexplicable pull toward this Demonized disciple!
"No... this cannot be..." Shen Hongmei retreated with great difficulty, struggling to keep her mind clear.
But the Dragon Musk's potency far exceeded her imagination — and it was especially potent against women of deep cultivation.
Chen Yang advanced step by step, a low rumble emanating from his throat.
His clothing had long since been shredded in the earlier battle, exposing a powerful, muscular frame crisscrossed with crimson tiger markings and frost-white traces — at once unsettling and radiating a savage, untamed magnetism.
Shen Hongmei tried to cast a spell, only to find her fingers had gone limp and powerless.
She tried to summon a Magical Artifact, but her mind was adrift and she could not concentrate.
The Dragon Musk was like the most potent of love poisons, dissolving her will and her cultivation alike.
"Stop... I am an Elder of Verdant Wood Sect's Spirit Sword Peak..." She attempted to use her identity to intimidate him, but her voice came out weak and feeble, carrying a trembling note of vulnerability instead.
Chen Yang clearly understood none of this.
He lunged forward and pinned Shen Hongmei to the ground.
The Foundation Establishment Elder's Protective Spirit Radiance crumbled before him like paper, torn apart with ease.
Rip — Shen Hongmei's Spirit Robe was violently torn open, exposing a wide expanse of skin.
Flushed with shame and desperation, she struggled with all her might — but under the influence of the Dragon Musk, her resistance only seemed like reluctant yielding.
Chen Yang leaned down, his scorching breath washing over Shen Hongmei's neck, carrying the thick scent of blood mingled with the exotic fragrance of Dragon Musk.
Shen Hongmei felt her entire body go weak, the last of her will to resist fading rapidly.
Through her blurring vision, Chen Yang's crimson eyes blazed like two flames, as though they would consume her entirely.