"Hmm, thank you for the warning, old man."

After the old farmer had walked away, Luo Qingyao looked at those mountains before taking a stroll through the nearby valleys and slopes.

As night fell,

mist rose in the mountain forest, making everything damp. The summer night brought high temperatures, creating a heavy atmosphere.

Oil lamps lit up in the mountain village.

Luo Qingyao arrived at the village entrance and saw a large, unknown tree with lush foliage, beneath which hung a decaying wooden sign that read "Xiaogou Village."

She stepped into Xiaogou Village, and the coldness in her eyes blurred into a haze.

Sounds of family gossip drifted between the houses, while distant fields were filled with the croaks of frogs and the screeches of insects. Together with the gentle winds, they composed a melody of the mountain village that one couldn’t help but be immersed in. After walking a bit, Luo Qingyao encountered the old farmer she had met during the day. Holding an oil lamp, his labor-worn face was cast in a dim, yellow glow, appearing serene and simple, giving a sense of peace in the night.

"Young lady, don’t wander around. Come rest at my home."

A coarse female voice came from the house, "Old man, who’s outside?"

"A young girl from the city, sightseeing. It’s dark now, so I invited her to rest." The old farmer called into the house.

Luo Qingyao nodded slightly, "Thank you, old man."

Upon entering the house, she was greeted by the aroma of home-cooked meals. The elderly couple was about to have dinner and kindly invited her to join. She politely declined, citing that she’d already had dry rations.

The couple prepared a room used for storing miscellaneous items for her.

At night, Luo Qingyao leaned against the wall, holding her sword with closed eyes, quietly waiting for something.

Just past midnight, the noisy summer night suddenly fell into dead silence, and all sounds vanished instantly. It was as if the entire space had been sliced open, slowly oozing a bloody scent.

Luo Qingyao suddenly opened her eyes, which gleamed like sharp swords. She whispered to herself, "It’s here." She drew her sword, creating a beautiful sword flower, and swiftly, cleanly cut open the space in front. Once the space restored itself, everything had changed.

All the houses in the small mountain village began to shake violently.

It wasn’t the earthquake-like trembling, but rather a wriggling like live flesh.

Outside, came the hoarse and sinister voice of the old farmer, "What an extraordinary young lady has arrived."

Luo Qingyao cleaved the entire house in two with one sword, leapt into the air, and looked down, only to see a monstrous entity with a human head, pig body, cow hooves, and dog tail emerge from the ruins. It was the same old farmer.

Luo Qingyao’s eyes turned icy, "Demon Dao, so you thought no one would know while you secretly practiced the Beast Creation Skill deep in the mountains?"

The old farmer let out a malevolent laugh, "You’re on your path; I’m on mine. We were never on the same path, yet you insist on bringing justice?"

The other villagers in the small mountain village came outside one by one.

Each of them was utterly distorted, no longer fully human in appearance. Heads, bodies, limbs, internal organs, always had one or two parts grafted from other livestock: the five animals of agriculture—cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens. Farmers raise these five animals, gaining the protection of the Immortal Farmer Skill, making them easier to rear.

A certain Demon Dao power targeted this Heaven-blessed fortune and developed the Beast Creation Skill. Through grafting, smelting, and amalgamating, they combined livestock with ordinary people, merging human destiny with Heavenly fortune to cultivate demonic arts.

The Beast Demon Dao, one of the eight great Demon Dao forces of the Southern Celestial Land, was led by the Beast Demon Lord.

The small mountain village wriggled faster and more intensely until it fully shed its exterior disguise.

Even Luo Qingyao, with her determined heart, couldn’t help but shudder at the sight. The entire mountain forest over a hundred-mile radius was a nightmare-like scene of humans tormented by the Beast Creation Skill. They were naked, pressed together, presenting a horrific tableau. Heads, torsos, limbs, genitals, internal organs of six creatures—human, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens—randomly mixed and reassembled together. Even more horrifying, they all fused into one, forming a massive "Beast Furnace Cauldron."

Luo Qingyao felt her spirit suffer a tremendous shock, her stomach churning with waves of nausea.

How many humans and animals were needed to create that hundred-mile-wide beast furnace?

Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions?

She no longer wished to think about it as her gaze nearly transformed into sword light.

Demon Cultivator!

An abominable demon cultivator deserving of heaven’s wrath!

A flash appeared between Luo Qingyao’s eyebrows, and thirty-nine flying swords instantly flew out. Over the past twenty years, the number of flying swords she could command had increased from eleven to thirty-nine. The fierce sword light wove into a Sword Qi Array in the air, fiercely bearing down on the Beast Demon Dao.

The Beast Demon Dao merely sneered, making no attempt to dodge.

The sword qi howled past but failed to inflict any harm.

Screams erupted from a part of the vast beast furnace. Luo Qingyao quickly looked over and instantly saw a large amount of mangled flesh flying, all shredded by her sword qi.

Her brows furrowed instantly.

The Beast Demon Dao laughed sinisterly, "Every sword you strike on me becomes their death sentence. Do you still want to try? Come on, if you’re not afraid of bearing the guilt of slaughtering innocents, then try."