As Lu Yuan accepted the mission, he immediately set off toward the specified location. The mission briefing indicated that the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils should be somewhere around the Taihang Mountains.

The Taihang Mountains lay two provinces away from Mount Hua, a vast expanse of continuous peaks. Rumor had it that a small cultivation sect resided within these mountains, but Lu Yuan paid it no mind; he mounted his sword and flew directly toward Taihang.

Reaching the airspace above the mountains, he observed the dense, verdant foliage. Lu Yuan slowed his descent, hovering in the void and taking a long drink from his flask.

The prompt only mentioned the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils being located here, but offered no further details on their precise whereabouts, leaving the search entirely to him. The Taihang Mountains were riddled with famous scenic spots.

Lu Yuan searched left and right, passing one famous location after another, yet he failed to find the people he sought. He inwardly grumbled about his poor sense of direction.

Just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the sky above him abruptly darkened, and a rolling, oppressive aura, thick with baleful energy, instantly enveloped him. Lu Yuan remained unhurried, standing firm in the empty air.

Immediately, thirty-six phantom figures materialized beside him. These thirty-six phantoms were all half-human, half-demon hybrids.

What they clearly shared was an aura of supreme, overwhelming power. The Thirty-Six Scattered Devils.

“Hah, you must be the genius, Lu Yuan, from the North Peak of Mount Hua,” spoke one of the thirty-six shadows. This individual possessed two prominent horns, and a fierce golden light radiated intensely from between his brows.

He was clearly at the absolute peak of the Seventh Stage of Longevity—the Great Completion of the Golden Core—having pushed his cultivation to the limit. The boundless golden light he emitted indicated that with just a slight push, he could ascend to the Eighth Stage of Longevity.

However, reaching the Eighth Stage of Longevity was far from simple. Breaking through to the Eighth Stage, which involved the tempering of the spiritual sword, was notoriously difficult.

Otherwise, why would one only achieve the rank of Sword Immortal after breaking through this stage, remaining short of true Sword Immortal status until then? Lu Yuan looked closer and noticed that fully half of the thirty-six figures glowed with golden light between their brows, evidence that they had successfully formed their Golden Cores, though the intensity of this light varied between them.

What a formidable group, these Thirty-Six Scattered Devils. It was astonishing—more than half of them possessed cultivation at the Seventh Stage of Longevity.

The remaining half were likely at the Sixth Stage, with the weakest barely scraping by at the Fifth Stage. “You truly have courage, daring to venture into the Taihang Mountains,” one of them remarked.

“Indeed, this mountain range is the territory of us, the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils.” “This is courting death.” “The genius disciple from Mount Hua’s North Peak. We hear his greatest accomplishment was slaying Blood-Shift Sword Immortal Si Nan.” “Right, Blood-Shift Sword Immortal Si Nan.

At least half of us here could defeat Si Nan with ease. Does he truly believe he can stand against so many of us alone?” “This is what they call the arrogance of youth.” “Hahahaha!

This time, we get to feast on a genius’s flesh and blood! Infuse his essence into my body, absorb his intellect into my mind, hahahaha!” exclaimed the Heaven-Devouring Star among the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils, whose greatest pleasure was consuming geniuses and devouring their vitality.

“He courts death by seeking it.” “Annihilate him!” “Perfect timing. We received orders from Venerable Yuan Ling to kill Lu Yuan.

We were worried about finding you, but now, killing you will be a major achievement,” stated the Heaven Gang Star among the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils. Listening to their tone, they seemed allied with Venerable Yuan Ling.

Yet, this was hardly surprising; the nature of the Scattered Devils—neither fully human nor fully demon, purportedly created through forbidden arts—aligned perfectly with Venerable Yuan Ling’s obsession with researching various arcane techniques. After listening to their posturing for a while, Lu Yuan finally understood: they were actively hunting him.

“Perfect. You seek me, and I seek you.

You’ve appeared automatically, saving me the trouble of searching.” His casual words dripped with absolute confidence as his hand settled onto the hilt of his sword, drawing a flash of cold light. In that instant, an avalanche of attacks descended, a mix of spells and sword techniques.

Blazing fire that shook the heavens roared down like a river of molten sunset—the supreme spell, ‘Lava Cataclysm.’ Countless spikes of refined iron erupted from the ground—the supreme spell, ‘Thorns of Myriad Earths.’ Furthermore, one devil whose brows blazed gold unleashed the forbidden wind-element spell, ‘Heavenly Annihilation by Wind Motion.’ This spell possessed the terrifying ability to completely pulverize anything within a defined spatial area, living or inanimate. On top of these, more than a dozen other distinct spells rained down, each horrifying and terrifying; the weakest was a supreme-grade spell, interspersed with at least five forbidden-level arts.

Simultaneously, an uncountable number of sword techniques were unleashed, displaying every conceivable style. One practitioner employed the most dreadful technique from the subterranean demons: the Extinction Sword.

This sword art forged sword energy from the essence of the slain, slaughtering countless beings whose life force was converted into restless spirits; the more spirits, the stronger the sword, making it a forbidden technique. As this Extinction Sword struck, ten thousand ghosts wailed, and the heart demons encroached, threatening total annihilation.

Another used the seventh move of the South Sea Immortal Sect’s signature technique, the Thirteen Fatal Strikes; such a paramount art being wielded here invoked doom and soul-searing terror. Even the other sword arts, while perhaps less cataclysmic, were close behind in lethality.

Such an overwhelming barrage of swordsmanship and magic erupted all at once. How potent!

An attack like this would instantly bury a cultivator at the Seventh Stage of Longevity, and even an Eighth Stage cultivator would likely choose flight over confrontation. For Lu Yuan, it meant certain death.

Believing him doomed, the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils erupted in roaring laughter. Die!

Die! Die!

Their concentrated, ferocious killing intent solidified into repeated syllables of death. It was at this precise moment that Lu Yuan moved.

The Five-Colored Sword Dao above his head activated. Faced with such an onslaught, Lu Yuan felt the terror and knew he couldn't fully withstand it passively, so he engaged the Five-Colored Sword Dao while simultaneously drawing forth his swords, Yang Wu and Zhen Yue, both wielding them in impossible, fluid configurations.

Every move, every strike, was infused with myriad sword intents. A single sword stroke carried the power equivalent of more than ten previous strikes.

The great advantage of merging multiple sword intents into a single technique was the ability to easily shatter incoming attacks. For instance, if the enemy cast a fire spell, Lu Yuan’s water-elemental intent within his sword strike could neutralize it, while the remaining intents could follow up for the kill.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan’s physical form danced nimbly amidst the torrent of incoming assaults. Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Boom! Lu Yuan felt the Five-Colored Canopy above his head shudder slightly.

The enemy’s offensive was immense, but Lu Yuan paid it no heed, pressing his own assault. The Yang Wu and Zhen Yue swords exhausted the profound subtleties of swordsmanship, felling enemy after enemy.

“Die,” Lu Yuan twisted his hand, and the Zhen Yue Sword trailed a streak of blood-red light, slicing clean through the throat of the Heaven Kui Star. In that instant, swirling clouds of blood billowed around him.

Lu Yuan knew that all Thirty-Six Scattered Devils had perished by his hand. He rarely killed, but confronting such demonic fiends as these, sparing them would only allow them to continue harming the world.

These thirty-six figures had undoubtedly sacrificed countless cultivators to refine their magical treasures using malevolent souls. Finally defeating them all, he began to sift through the spoils of battle.

Lu Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow. His opponents had been terrifyingly strong.

Had his Five-Colored Sword Dao not protected his physical form, he would surely have been severely wounded. Challenging so many foes simultaneously was indeed an immense feat, but thankfully, it was concluded.

Of course, such a difficult undertaking guaranteed equally rich rewards. Setting aside the eventual remuneration from the Cloud-Emerging Immortal Realm, these thirty-six individuals, most possessing cultivation at the Sixth or Seventh Stage of Longevity, would certainly carry substantial spiritual resources.

He stood to profit immensely from this encounter. Lu Yuan began cataloging his findings, and the initial count stunned him.

He had acquired twenty-five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. Good heavens—twenty-five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

He recalled that one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone equaled ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. This windfall was understandable, given the formidable strength of the Thirty-Six Scattered Devils; such power demanded commensurate resources.

Before this, Lu Yuan possessed only one and a half Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. Gaining twenty-five in one go was an astronomical profit.

In addition, he secured thirty-two Great Soul Stones, another invaluable prize. Oh, and ten Giant Spirit Beasts.

There should have been more, but many of the Scattered Devils had self-detonated their beasts in their final moments, leaving nothing behind for Lu Yuan. And then there was… Lu Yuan found a series of books detailing various evil arts, alongside a collection of thirty-seven contaminated, wicked artifacts.

These malevolent treasures would fetch a high price on the open market, yet many were intrinsically linked to the essence of the slain spirits. As a cultivator dedicated to the Immortal Way, Lu Yuan could not, for the sake of profit, allow these evil items to flood the world and cause further harm.

A cultivator, by definition of the character 'Immortal' (), must possess immortal dignity. Resorting to unethical means for material gain was never his way.

With that resolve, Lu Yuan utterly destroyed the priceless evil cultivation manuals and the thirty-seven wicked artifacts. His material gains were somewhat reduced, but his spirit felt profoundly peaceful.

This venture had yielded considerable success: twenty-five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, thirty-two Great Soul Stones, and ten Giant Spirit Beasts. Such a haul was magnificent enough to warrant a return to the Cloud-Emerging Immortal Realm.

Completing this task would surely leave many in the Immortal Realm utterly astounded.