Chapter 73: Demonic Serpent. After Yao Jun and Guo Luo left Yang Yuhuan, they continued to travel deeper into Zhenya valley, spending several days before they reached the core of Zhenya valley. They managed to reach the core without much trouble, mostly thanks to the directions given by Sirius, as well as by hiding inside Yao Jun's gate whenever a Demonic beast came too close. “We seem to be getting closer to where it lives.” Guo Luo spoke out as she looked at Sirius, who was not far ahead of them. Lately, they had started finding tracks that indicated that there was a serpent type Demonic beast that lived in the area, something Sirius had affirmed when he managed to catch the scent of a serpent type Demonic beast. Guo Luo could not understand what Sirius was saying, but she had gotten better at reading his expression and body language, allowing her to have a rudimentary understanding of what he wanted to convey. Yao Jun nodded his head in response to her words, they were indeed getting closer. Sirius had just told him that the scent of the serpent type Demonic beast was getting stronger and stronger, so they were probably getting close to it's lair. They were of course not going in completely blind, they had managed to get some clues about the serpent type Demonic beast that they were hunting. They found several scales that had broken off it's body as it slithered across the ground. Using these scales, they could manage to approximate it's full strength. If they were not wrong, this serpent type Demonic beast's strength was between the peak of the 1st Mortal Earth, and the early stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth. “Has he found it's lair?” After carefully making their way forward for another two hours, Sirius stopped in his tracks and refused to move closer, prompting Guo Luo to speak out. She had gotten a better understanding of what he wanted to convey, but it was still best to make sure. “Yes. It's lair is located in a cave about 15 kilometers ahead of us. It seems to be sleeping at the moment. How do you want to proceed?” Yao Jun circulated his Qi into his eyes and peered into the distance, following Sirius's directions. About 15 kilometers ahead of them was a large hill, a cave digging into the hill. There were several more broken scales outside of the entrance of the cave, and Yao Jun could see the serpent curled up inside the cave. “Can you determine it's strength?” Since they had found it's lair, the next step would obviously be to determine if this Demonic beast was something that they would be able to kill. Guo Luo could not see it, so she would have to rely on Yao Jun to determine it's strength. “It's in the transitory stage between the peak of the 1st Mortal Earth and the early stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth.” From what Yao Jun could see, the Demonic beast was stronger than a normal cultivator at the peak of the 1st Mortal Earth, but still weaker than someone at the early stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth. It was strong, but it should still be possible for them to kill it. “How does it's defenses look? Does it have any wounds?” Since it's strength was not at an impossible level, the next step was to find out if it had any weaknesses that they could exploit to make the fight easier. “It is entirely covered in tough scales. As for wounds, it has one large scar on it's back that seems to be from a rather recent wound, so the scales there should be weaker than the rest of it's body.” Yao Jun let his eyes roam around the part of the serpent that he could see, spotting a large scar on it's back, a little bit away from it's head. The scar seemed fresh, small traces of blood still visible at the edges of the scar. “Can we carry out the original plan?” Guo Luo had already put forth a plan when they first found traces of the Demonic beast, Yao Jun had agreed to the plan as it was a rather safe plan. But Guo Luo still decided to ask once more, as it was best to get confirmation. “There should not be any problem as long as we can lure it out of the cave.” Yao Jun scanned the area in front of the cave for a short moment before he spoke. The area in front of the cave was devoid of any trees, but filled with large rocks. The area provided lots of space to move, as well as several places that could be used as cover should it drag out. “Then we first need to do that, do you think my illusions can trick it?” Guo Luo knew that her illusions would most likely not do the trick, but she still had to ask, as she was rather unwilling to send Yao Jun out to be the bait. He would only have to lure it out of the cave and make it follow him, but there was after all no telling what could go wrong. “Doubtful. Most Demonic beasts use Qi to located their enemies. While your illusions are very lifelike, they do not give off any Qi.” Yao Jun shook his head, just like Guo Luo expected. Her illusions were simply too weak as they were now. They could fool humans most of the time, but they were useless against most Demonic beasts. They also did not have any attacking power, meaning that she would have to be the one to deal the damage in a fight. “So we have to use someone as bait after all.” Guo Luo couldn't help but sigh as she spoke. She knew that there was no way Yao Jun would let her be the bait. Sirius was a good choice as bait, since he was specialized in speed, but she also knew that Yao Jun was the best choice as bait, which is why she sighed. “I'll be the bait. It will be easier for me to lure it out, and once it has fallen into the trap, I will be the one who can make it away the easiest.” Just as Guo Luo expected, Yao Jun did not hesitate to be the bait. But she also knew that his words were correct, he was the best choice. Since the plan was to lure the Demonic beast into his Demon God's Gate, him being the bait was the best choice. Yao Jun did not waste any more time, waving his hand and causing Guo Luo and Sirius to fall into his gate. After they both entered the gate, he started walking towards the open area in front of the cave. The plan was to make the Demonic beast fall into his Demon God's Gate, allowing them to gang up on it inside the gate. They chose to do this because it meant that they could also use Little Thunder and Little Gray during the fight, giving them an even greater chance at victory. The reason Yao Jun did not want to bring it into the gate while it was still in the cave was because there was not as much room inside the cave as there was in the area in front of the cave. If things went wrong and they needed to quickly escape out from his gate, if they ended up inside the cave, with the serpent hot on their heels, they would have less space to dodge inside the cave. “Greetings, I presume you don't feel like just joining me of your own accord?” Yao Jun stood in the open area outside the cave, one of the large rocks not far from his right side, as he shouted towards the cave. Most Demonic beasts that reached a certain level of strength could understand human language. Yao Jun did not know if this Demonic beast did, but since his goal was only to lure it out, it did not matter much. After his words rang out, the serpent inside the cave slowly raised it's head to look at Yao Jun, it's eyes scanning him with a curious gaze. After it scanned him for a short moment, it uncurled it's body and started slithering towards the exit of the cave. When it uncurled it's body, Yao Jun finally manged to see the serpent in all it's glory. The serpent was between five and six meters long, it's scale completely black in color. It had two eyes that were a deep amber in color. It's head was triangular in shape, with a small spike sticking up at the tip of it's nose, as well as a row of spikes sticking up at both sides of it's head. A thin layer of scale covered skin covered the lower parts of these spikes, only revealing their sharp tips. Just before the serpent left the cave, Yao Jun was shocked to see a cover of black smoke suddenly cover the serpent, it's body suddenly vanishing into the ground. Yao Jun suddenly felt a terrifying sense of danger appear at his right side, and without giving it much thought, he jumped towards the left. Immediately after he jumped, the shadow that the large rock to his right cast suddenly wriggled, and the large serpent flew out from the shadow, shooting towards Yao Jun with it's jaw wide open, long and sharp teeth lining it's entire jaw. It's jaw did not open like a normal jaw. While the upper part of it's jaw was normal, the lower part of it's jaw split in two, each side going their separate directions. What seemed to be black and red tongues moved around within it's mouth. After Yao Jun jumped to the left and landed, he laid down on the ground and looked at the serpent. The serpent was still flying through the air at full speed, it's body slowly sinking towards the ground as it moved towards him. Seeing this, Yao Jun's mouth curled up into a smile. When the serpent was right by him, a black gate appeared beneath his body and he sunk into the black gate. The serpent had already lost it's momentum, so it was already falling towards the ground. Without any way of moving, it fell into the gate after Yao Jun.