Chapter 1658: Black Merchant's Journey

Rumbling! The earth shook as the White Tiger, fully recovered from its injuries, slowly rose to its feet, its colossal twenty-zhang body swaying. The fearsome might of the great demon, afflicted by the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, swept through the area like a terrifying tide.

It glanced down at Jiang Fan, a hint of arrogance flashing in its eyes, and raised its head high. But its tail obediently extended in front of Jiang Fan, allowing him to step onto it.

Heh, it even has a tsundere trait!

Jiang Fan instantly teleported to the top of the White Tiger's head, standing there and surveying the vast Primeval Hunting Ground. A mount experiencing the Five Decays of Heaven and Man was nearing the realm of infinite power.

Jiang Fan's gaze sharpened. "The Central Plains is in disarray, and heroes vie for supremacy. The Ceasefire Stele, my Central Plains will claim that too!"

A deep horn blast suddenly echoed across the hunting ground, as if announcing a major event.

The White Tiger's muscles immediately tensed, its body slightly lowered, and wariness showed in its tiger eyes. Jiang Fan stared into the distance. He could sense an immeasurably vast surge of vital energy in the depths of the hunting ground. It was the aura of ancient blood demons! The aura of countless ancient blood demons in activity!

Listening to the lingering sound of the horn, Jiang Fan understood: it was a warning to all participants that the ancient blood demon tide had appeared. The most crucial moment of contention had arrived!

At this moment, the White Tiger extended a claw and drew on the ground. Jiang Fan looked down. The drawing was crude, but fortunately, barely discernible. The first drawing showed an upright lizard, with many, many dots drawn next to it with a claw.

Jiang Fan asked, "Are you saying there are many ancient blood demons?"

The White Tiger nodded its large head and even raised a claw, giving a thumbs-up.

A vein throbbed on Jiang Fan's forehead. "I'd rather not be praised for my intelligence by someone simple-minded."

Then he looked at the second drawing. It was a scythe, without many dots behind it, but with a skull drawn instead. Jiang Fan stroked his chin and said, "There's something that uses a scythe? Is it the third type of ancient dark creature? Are they very dangerous?"

The White Tiger nodded repeatedly, confirming all three of Jiang Fan's guesses. Jiang Fan was somewhat curious about the difference between this last type of ancient dark creature and the ancient giants and blood demons. He looked at the final drawing. It was a circle with an 'X' drawn inside.

Jiang Fan frowned and said, "You mean that place is forbidden territory?"

The White Tiger nodded its head again, its eyes now showing not wariness, but fear. Jiang Fan also became serious, saying, "No matter. We just won't go there. Now, let's head to the ancient blood demon tide."

The White Tiger nodded and shook its entire body. Transparent ripples emanated from its black tiger stripes, spreading outwards. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into thin air, entering stealth mode.

Jiang Fan was momentarily stunned. If he hadn't had a connection to its soul, sensing it directly beneath him, he wouldn't have been able to detect its presence at all. No wonder this sly creature could always flash-pounce on people! Before, it had approached Qi Qi without Qi Qi even noticing. This stealth ability was truly exceptional!

Alright, since the White Tiger was in stealth, he would go into stealth too. He immediately recited the "Selfless Dust Purification Technique" silently and vanished into the air.

The man and the tiger, using their stealth, quickly made their way into the depths of the hunting ground. A massive volcano, piercing the clouds, came into view from a distance. Layers of crimson lava spewed from the volcano, flowing down towards its base.

Wait! Jiang Fan's eyes narrowed. That wasn't lava; it was ancient blood demons! Group after group, countless ancient blood demons! Their sheer numbers caused them to pile up, making them look like rolling lava from afar.

The powerhouses scattered across the hunting ground gathered around the volcano. A rough count showed that their numbers had dwindled from the initial eighty-plus to sixty. Everywhere in the grounds were fierce creatures even more dangerous than the ancient blood demons, forcing all participants to this location. Thus, these sixty people were all that remained. In less than an hour, over twenty people had fallen. Many had perished at the jaws of fierce creatures, but it was likely that quite a few had also died at the hands of other powerhouses from various realms.

Now, facing the surging ancient blood demon tide, even those participants who had intended to hide and survive until the hunt's end were forced to fight.

The White Tiger scratched the ground twice with its claw, then turned its head to look at Jiang Fan for instructions. Jiang Fan shook his head and said, "Not yet. My domain will be most effective in the mid-to-late stages of the battle. For now, let's deal with the extra small divine rings I have."

He kept ten, which was enough to spare. He would sell the remaining twenty-nine. Just as Jiang Yitian had said, this was one of the few opportunities to interact with various realms. Why not take advantage of it to exchange for resources he and the Central Plains needed?

He scanned the entire area, pinpointing a dozen or so individuals who were vigorously slaying ancient blood demons. They were all ambitious to contend for first place, and thus naturally most desired divine rings to replenish their domains.

Suddenly, he saw a dazzling display of sacred light at the front line of the blood demon tide. A handsome young man with snow-white wings spread them, and countless feathers transformed into a torrential downpour, unleashing upon the beast tide. Any Blood Demon King struck by the feathers instantly melted into sacred light from the inside out!

Immediately after, he released more feathers. After three consecutive releases, his wings folded, and the five small angels hovering above his forehead appeared tired and weak. Evidently, he had just used something similar to a human domain, and it could only be activated three times. The destructive power inflicted could only be described as incredible. A thousand-zhang radius fan-shaped area in front of him was utterly cleared. In a brief moment, forty Blood Demon Kings evaporated on the spot! This was equivalent to a central tribal army of the Celestial Realm!

Although the Blood Demon Kings appeared in hordes, which allowed so many to be annihilated by three strikes, the overbearing restraint of the Angel Race's sacred aura on ancient dark creatures was clearly evident. No wonder the Northern Celestial Realm, despite being fragmented to this day, has stood for ten thousand years.

Jiang Fan's eyes flickered. His first trading target was Yun Wanxiao!

Jiang Fan rode the White Tiger, knocking aside ancient blood demons as they went, heading directly for Yun Wanxiao. Yun Wanxiao held a holy bone sword forged from white bone, easily severing the head of an ancient blood demon in front of him. Before the bone sword, the Blood Demon King's hard body was like tofu. However, it didn't cause the Blood Demon King to explode with sacred light from the inside out upon contact, unlike the Angel Blade.

Sensing movement behind him, he spun around sharply. As if he could sense who the invisible person in front of him was, his sharp gaze instantly softened. "It's you. It's good that you're alright. Come, stay behind me. I'll protect you until the hunt ends."

Jiang Fan revealed himself. He didn't get too close, maintaining a distance of ten zhang, and said, "Junior unexpectedly obtained a small divine ring. I wonder if it's of any use to senior?"

He took out a small divine ring. Yun Wanxiao looked up, an uncontrollable flicker of joy appearing in the depths of his pupils, but he quickly suppressed it, saying softly, "This is a unique law of a special sage. It can replenish the domains of the human race, the innate bloodlines of the Asura race, and the holy source of our Angel race. It can even replenish the origin of ancient dark creatures. You've found a treasure." He suppressed his desire and spoke very calmly.

Jiang Fan feigned ignorance, "Is it that valuable? Then I'll give it to senior."

A ripple passed through Yun Wanxiao's eyes, and suppressing his emotions, he said, "Is that acceptable?"

Jiang Fan said, "As senior said, our three realms are closely connected, and we should naturally help each other. I have no chance of ranking first, so this item is naturally useless to me. Giving it to senior is most appropriate. I just have a small request."