The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 104 Encountering a Guardian Spirit While Hiking into the Mountains

"The Queen said that humans should become like our demon race, not that we should become like humans. It's not a disgrace," said the Spirit Wing Clan elder.

“That’s right, some of you will have to become human,” the Queen said.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! This is a disgrace!" said the Spiritwing Clan elder.

"Shame my foot! You all know it's shameful, so why don't you find a way to improve your cultivation and kill them all then? Do you think I turned you into humans? It's because your strength is too weak, and I'm afraid you'll be killed by human cultivators. Think about it, if you become humans and help human cultivators kill our own kind, what will they think? Will they still kill you? They might even give you pills to help you cultivate. I sent you to infiltrate, not to die. This is the only way. Those who don't want to die, remember this: you are humans, not demon beasts. Once they're gone, we'll kill those who have become humans. This is a calamity for our demon race; we can't escape it," the Demon Queen said to the demon beasts.

"Your Majesty, what about those low-level demonic beasts? Should we kill them all to prevent them from turning into humans and ruining Your Majesty's grand plans?" said the tiger clan elder.

"No need," the Demon Queen explained. "Those with low cultivation levels, no spiritual awareness, and unable to speak will remain demon beasts. Human cultivators won't gain anything from killing them; our demon race's cultivation isn't gained by killing our own kind. Those with spiritual awareness, high cultivation levels, and the ability to speak must become human. Remember, you are human; you are here to help human cultivators kill demon beasts. You are also victims. You must cultivate good relationships with those human cultivators. Once they leave, I will arrange for someone to bring you back. This is the only way. Think about it: if we don't use this method, how much will our demon race suffer? Our territory will likely shrink by half, and our population will likely decrease by half. This is the only solution I can think of."

The leaders and elders of the demon beasts fell silent.

……

Carrying the Xuan Tian Sword, Su An entered the Hundred Thousand Mountains. She could already fly on her sword, but she chose to walk, as flying on a sword in the desert would be tantamount to suicide. Her decision to enter the Hundred Thousand Mountains on foot served two purposes: to gain experience and to see if there were any opportunities within the mountains.

After traveling for two days, Su An finally saw the monster. It was a rabbit, but it was clearly not an ordinary rabbit; it must have been a monster.

"Halt! Who are you? Why are you trespassing on my Ten Thousand Mountains?" A man's voice rang out, but Su An looked around and didn't see anyone.

"Are you human or demon?" Su An asked the air.

"Of course I'm a person, are you blind?" the man replied somewhat angrily.

Su An looked at the rabbit in front of him, then looked around to make sure no one was there. He looked at the rabbit again and said, "You can talk?"

"Nonsense, of course I can talk. I've already said I'm a person, can't you see me?" the man said again.

Su An carefully examined the rabbit with her spiritual sense and discovered a small figure inside its body—the figure of a man. Su An was shocked. She remembered the figure she had seen in her spiritual sense when she was in the Eastern Continent last time. Could this be the legendary spiritual sense?

The Xuan Tian Continent has five continents: the Eastern Continent, the Western Continent, the Southern Continent, the Northern Continent, and the Central Continent. After many hardships, Su An finally traveled from the Eastern Continent to the Central Continent, crossed the desert, and arrived at the Ten Thousand Mountains.

"You can see the image inside me?" the man asked in surprise.

"Yes, I see. You are a cultivator?" Su An asked somewhat uncertainly.

"That's right, I am a cultivator. My name is Bai Ze, and I am the guardian of the Ten Thousand Mountains. My job is to protect these mountains and prevent demonic beasts from harming humans," the man replied.

"Guardians?" Su An asked in confusion.

“Yes, Guardians, in this vast mountain range, besides ordinary demonic beasts, there are also some powerful demonic beasts and some demon cultivators. They have profound cultivation and can transform into human form to go out and harm humans. Therefore, we Guardians are responsible for watching over them and preventing them from going out,” Bai Ze explained.

"Then, are your guardians demonic beasts or humans?" Su An asked again.

“We guardians are neither demons nor humans. We are spirits, without physical bodies, but we have consciousness. Our mission is to protect this vast mountain range,” Bai Ze replied.

“Spirit? Spiritual consciousness?” Su An murmured to himself.

“Yes, spirits, spiritual consciousness. Our existence is to protect this vast mountain range and prevent those powerful demonic beasts and demonic cultivators from going out to harm humans,” Bai Ze said again.

Su An looked at the rabbit in front of him, then at Bai Ze's figure, and thought to himself, "So there are spirits. What about me? Am I a spirit too?"

"Um, could you come out and let me see what you look like?" Su An said to Bai Ze.

“No, I can’t come out. I can only talk to you in my spiritual consciousness. My physical body no longer exists. I am a spirit, without a physical form,” Bai Ze replied.

"Oh, then, could you tell me if there are any opportunities or treasures in these Hundred Thousand Mountains?" Su An asked.

"Opportunities and treasures certainly exist, but it depends on your luck and fortune. There are countless opportunities and treasures in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, but not everyone can encounter them. It requires both your strength and luck," Bai Ze replied.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me all this," Su An said.

"It's alright. I hope you can find the opportunities and treasures you're looking for in these Hundred Thousand Mountains," Bai Ze said.

"Yes, I will, thank you." Su An said, then turned and left.

Bai Ze watched Su An's departing figure and thought to himself, "This woman is not simple. She can actually see me and communicate with me. It seems that she has quite a bit of good fortune."

Su An left the rabbit and continued deeper into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, hoping to find an opportunity, a treasure, and improve her strength.

The Ten Thousand Mountains are teeming with demonic beasts, including many powerful ones and demon cultivators. Although Su An possessed considerable cultivation, she dared not be careless. She cautiously searched for opportunities and treasures within the Ten Thousand Mountains.

After walking for a long time, Su An finally saw a treasure land. The spiritual energy there was rich and gathered into a cloud of spiritual mist. Su An went in and found that there was actually a spiritual spring inside. The spiritual spring was overflowing with spiritual energy. Su An was overjoyed and quickly sat down cross-legged to begin cultivating.

The spiritual energy from the spring continuously flowed into Su An's body, and her cultivation level was constantly improving. Su An felt her strength increasing little by little.

Just as Su An was cultivating, a demonic beast suddenly rushed out and pounced on her. Su An sensed the danger and quickly opened her eyes. Seeing the demonic beast charging at her, she quickly got up and dodged its attack.

This demonic beast was a tiger, and it was very powerful. Su An dared not be careless. She took out her magic weapon and attacked the tiger.

The tiger was not to be outdone. It opened its mouth wide and lunged at Su An. Su An quickly dodged, and at the same time, her magic weapon attacked the tiger. The tiger let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground.

Su An breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the tiger lying on the ground, thinking that this tiger was indeed very strong. If he hadn't been cultivating, he probably wouldn't have been its match.

Su An ignored the tiger and continued to sit cross-legged to cultivate. She wanted to absorb all the spiritual energy here to improve her strength.

And so, Su An cultivated in the spiritual spring for a day and a night, finally absorbing all the spiritual energy, and her cultivation level was raised to a new height.

Su An opened her eyes, feeling the surging spiritual energy within her body. Her heart was filled with joy. She stood up, stretched her body, and felt full of power.

Su An looked at the tiger lying on the ground and wondered what to do with it. Killing it seemed a bit cruel, but if he didn't kill it, it would definitely attack him when it woke up.

After thinking it over, Su An decided to kill the tiger. After all, it was a demon beast, and he wasn't a saint, so there was no need to be merciful to it.

So Su An took out his magic weapon and attacked the tiger's head. The tiger's head immediately lolled to the side, and it died on the ground.

Su An put away the magic weapon, looked at the tiger's corpse on the ground, and thought, "This tiger's fur is quite good, I can sell it for money. As for the rest, I'll just leave it here. Anyway, I don't lack food."

Su An skinned the tiger, then left the Spirit Spring and continued deeper into the Ten Thousand Mountains.