Amidst his thoughts, the Divine Elephant Demon King had already charged close. Lý Vãn secretly sighed, then unleashed a verdant branch – the Yang Zhi Marvellous Treasure. He swiftly waved it.

An azure light immediately manifested. Between heaven and earth, a colossal screen, as if formed to obstruct the void, seemed to descend. The Divine Elephant Demon King's mountain-like body violently collided with this resilient and elastic barrier, rebounding with a resounding crash.

Everyone present was left wide-eyed and dumbfounded, an expression of utter disbelief on their faces.

Initially, upon seeing Lý Vãn appear, these individuals harbored some resentment, believing he was snatching their prey. When Lý Vãn made his move, they tacitly refrained from assisting, choosing instead to watch the spectacle.

Their plan was to wait until Lý Vãn could no longer hold on and called for help, only then would they step in. This way, they could legitimately claim the demon king while also earning a debt of gratitude for their rescue, securing an even better outcome.

They never imagined that this incredibly fierce demon king would be utterly helpless before Lý Vãn.

"Senior Brother, what do we do now?" Everyone turned to look at the burly man who had unleashed the golden chain.

"Observe the changes in silence!" the burly man stated gravely, "This person is not simple; we should not act rashly."

He had instantly recognized that the swift sweep just now was extraordinary, and vaguely sensed that Lý Vãn was no ordinary individual.

The burly man sighed inwardly, "We have misjudged him. If it were truly as he said, that he could injure this demon king and chase it for ten thousand miles, why would he be unable to defeat it and need our help?"

Unbeknownst to them, they misunderstood the full backstory, but their final conclusion was not entirely wrong. Lý Vãn indeed possessed ample ability to deal with this Divine Elephant Demon King.

He was not a battle-hardened cultivator, and formidable demons were not common, but as early as twenty-one years ago, he had once dealt with the Feng Jiu Demon King, which was a valuable experience.

"This beast merely appears strong and possesses a superior innate talent, but it is still far from truly flawless!"

Lý Vãn scoffed disdainfully.

The previous Feng Jiu Demon King harbored an innate obscure ancient text, allowing it to avoid strengths and exploit weaknesses.

This Divine Elephant Demon King was, in fact, not even as formidable as that one.

Lý Vãn had already discerned that this Divine Elephant Demon King merely possessed the exceptionally immense qi and blood along with the vital essence of the Giant Elephant clan; it was not particularly difficult to handle.

Lý Vãn's thoughts moved like lightning. After forcing it back, he once again summoned another magic treasure.

It was the Soul Nurturing Cloth, which he had been diligently cultivating but had never used before!

"Blood Abyss Devil Refining!"

*Whoosh!* The several-feet-long Soul Nurturing Cloth, after being infused with his spiritual power, expanded against the wind. In a brief moment, it transformed into a colossal blood cloud, then, with a crash, enveloped the Divine Elephant Demon King's massive demonic body.

Rolling qi and blood immediately gushed out from the demonic body like a breached dam, continuously flowing into the Soul Nurturing Cloth.

The originally dark red, blood-stained cloth became increasingly vibrant and moist, like cotton fibers saturated with blood.

Clusters of mist-like, yet not misty, blood-red fog rose, filling the air with a腥 stench.

"Ooh!"

The Divine Elephant Demon King let out an agonizing roar, its immense cry shaking heaven and earth once more.

This Soul Nurturing Cloth had always been meticulously nurtured by Lý Vãn, preserved very well. By now, nearly thirty years had passed. Although he still hadn't found suitable materials to fashion a banner pole, thus failing to refine it into the envisioned "Ten Thousand Devil Banner," it was no less potent than any ordinary treasured magic treasure.

Especially when used against enemies with vast vital essence, its peculiar efficacy—devouring flesh and blood and dissolving souls—was perfectly displayed, almost completely countering the Divine Elephant Demon King's strengths.

Not long after, it was clearly visible that its entire body had shrunk by several fen.

The Divine Elephant Demon King sensed danger, and its demonic body abruptly strained, intending to tear the cloth apart with brute force. But with Lý Vãn watching from the side, how could he allow it to succeed? He instantly shone the precious light of his Illusion God Mirror, its dazzling radiance making it impossible for the demon king to even open its eyes.

The power of this treasure had no relation to vital essence or qi and blood; only those with strong spiritual senses could resist it. Clearly, this Divine Elephant Demon King was not one of those opponents with formidable spiritual senses.

After Lý Vãn used the Illusion God Mirror to seal the Divine Elephant Demon King, with a crash, its colossal demonic body lost all support and immediately fell to its knees. Its body stiffened, completely unable to move a single inch.

The few watching cultivators couldn't help but gasp: "What a powerful magic treasure! This must be of the treasured grade, right?"

The burly man nodded: "It must be a treasured grade magic artifact, no doubt. Otherwise, this demon wouldn't be so defenseless. This person himself... his spiritual power is also very strong and potent."

In a flash, the Divine Elephant Demon King's vital essence was siphoned off further. The thick Soul Nurturing Cloth became increasingly beautiful and captivating.

Lý Vãn held his palm high in the air, a massive surge of spiritual power bursting forth, covering the Divine Elephant Demon King's entire body.

Lý Vãn was originally of average-to-above-average aptitude. During his mortal years, even as a registered disciple, he was considered decent. However, after entering Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment, he wasn't particularly outstanding. Fortunately, he managed to form a True Core, and further, by relying on the Primordial Chaos Treasure's dual cultivation method of Qi and Technique, he enhanced the quality of his True Core. Now, his root bone and innate talent had reached a superior level; he was truly a person of talent.

In terms of the quality of his spiritual power, he possessed superior aptitude. In terms of cultivation realm, he was in the late Core Formation stage. In terms of spiritual power strength, he frequently consumed Qi-replenishing and essence-nourishing elixirs, living a comfortable and pampered life...

Although not truly a person of the Dao, he had inadvertently laid down an excellent foundation.

With this raise of his hand, without any suspense, he lifted the Divine Elephant Demon King's mountain-like colossal demonic body.

The Mountain-Moving and Earth-Shaking Grasp!

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Hundreds, even thousands, of black Thunderfire Bombs flew out from behind Lý Vãn. Each streak of brilliant light and wave of fire, carrying the momentum to destroy heaven and earth, completely engulfed the demon king.

Prior to this, Lý Vãn had already taken the opportunity to retrieve the Soul Nurturing Cloth, lest it be shattered along with the explosion.

Before everyone's very eyes, the Divine Elephant Demon King was like a strong man with firecrackers continuously exploding all over his body. The explosions were ceaseless, and flesh and blood constantly splattered from its body. In a short while, it was covered in gore, utterly miserable. It truly lived up to its species' reputation for having a vast surplus of vital essence, as even the continuous violent explosions could not completely destroy it. Nevertheless, its life force was significantly weakened once more.

Lý Vãn was already prepared for such a situation. He formed a hand seal and pointed again from a distance.

*Rumble!*

An explosion dozens of times more violent than before erupted from the Divine Elephant Demon King's throat. It turned out that Lý Vãn, while it was roaring in pain and misery, had stuffed more than a hundred catties of compressed black gold explosives into its mouth!

This explosion instantly transformed into a life-devouring fireworks display. Nearly half of the Divine Elephant's head exploded like a smashed watermelon.

"This is truly too brutal!"

"What kind of divine ability or spell is this? It's actually so formidable!"

The onlookers, cultivators, felt cold sweat pouring down their backs, completely unable to think of anything else.

This scene before their eyes completely surpassed their experience. They felt like ignorant mortals watching immortals fight, a world-shaking, extremely lively spectacle.

"The demon is dead, everyone come over."

The burly man retracted his golden chain, his expression shifting several times. In the end, he called his companions over, with a vague hint of guardedness.

By this time, Lý Vãn had already collected the Divine Elephant Demon King's demonic body. While collecting this demonic body, he first hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered that in the senior's cultivation insights, it was mentioned that Jianmu was a divine tree that could absorb all kinds of primal energy between heaven and earth, whether immortal or demonic, pure or turbid, all could be utilized for its growth.

Originally, he was still worried about not having enough spirit stones to spend, but wouldn't this demon, containing vast vital essence, be the best fertilizer?

"Instead of extracting its flesh and blood essence to refine blood essence, it's better to let Jianmu absorb this demon as fertilizer. Perfect, haha!"

Lý Vãn took out an exquisite snuff bottle from his bosom, poured spiritual power into it, and immediately revealed the true form of the Grand Void Jar. The jar's mouth shot out a beam of azure light towards the Divine Elephant Demon King's corpse, drawing it inside.

Those people watched from afar, not acting rashly. Only after Lý Vãn had put away the demon's corpse did they awkwardly smile and flatter him, saying, "Daoist friend has excellent methods. Such a powerful demon was dealt with in a flash."

Although Lý Vãn wasn't particularly adept at human relations, having met many people, how could he not know that these individuals harbored some resentment? He also didn't want to complicate matters. He laughed heartily and said, "This is thanks to the assistance of you Daoist friends. How about this, according to the customs of the Jianghu, I will offer ten million spirit stones as compensation to you all?"

The few cultivators were slightly stunned: "Ten million spirit stones?"

"Then it's settled. Consider it me taking advantage of you Daoist friends; please accept it." Lý Vãn saw their expressions and couldn't help but smile. He waved his hand, and a full thousand jade crystals flew out from his spatial pouch, landing before them.

Seeing Lý Vãn's generosity, although their faces still carried a hint of coolness, they were much softer than before.

Cultivators wander the Jianghu, constantly adventuring, precisely to seek resources. This "resource" is not ordinary worldly wealth, but the foundation for cultivation, the resource aspect of "wealth, companion, technique, land." Although Lý Vãn "snatched" their prey, he offered compensation, which, no matter how one looked at it, should be satisfactory.

The few individuals silently thought that even if they had killed this Divine Elephant Demon King, skinned it, and sold its various valuable materials, they might not have earned as much. Lý Vãn's actions could be said to have invisibly resolved all their dissatisfaction.

"This person isn't as detestable as I imagined..."

The sword-wielding young woman, who was originally unusually wary of Lý Vãn's appearance, seeing him snatch their prey, had her face completely fallen. But upon seeing him casually toss out ten million spirit stones without batting an eye, she couldn't help but mutter.

"Fellow Daoists, until we meet again!" Lý Vãn finished his business, chuckled softly, and turned to transform into a streak of light, flying towards the distant mountain range.

His two personal guards followed closely behind, quickly disappearing into the misty clouds.

"Ai, why did he leave so quickly?" The sword-wielding young woman huffed, a little displeased.

The burly man laughed heartily: "Junior Sister Hồ, he's already gone. If we can't get his background, then so be it. Let's also leave this place quickly, lest he regrets it later and comes looking for us."

Another person chimed in, "Exactly. From his demeanor, he must be a young scion from some family. Such people are especially capricious; we'd best not provoke them. Let's hurry back."

Amidst their conversation, everyone turned and departed.

This unique rendition of the tale is brought to you solely by truyen.free.