Chapter 520: Fog Stalker and Lava Eaters~
Where did this fog come from...?
Having entered the valley just after their encounter with the cougar, Chu Yang could not help frowning to himself as a dense fog had suddenly appeared out of nowhere around them after entering the valley crammed in between several large mountains.
Before entering the valley, Chu Yang could clearly remember that there was no fog present. Only when they entered, did this fog appear...
No matter what it was, Chu Yang had a feeling that the fog was not the sign of anything good.
With this in mind, Chu Yang tightly gripped his spear. Prepared in case some sort of demon beast hidden inside the thick fog decided to launch a sneak attack.
Chen Yang and Gui Hu also prepared themselves as they scanned their surroundings in a similar manner as Chu Yang.
Chen Yang frowning more and more as he looked around himself.
"We have to be careful; I think we walked into the domain of a fog stalker..."
Displaying the fact that he was far more knowledgeable about the demon beasts of the Burning Mountain Range than him, Chen Yang had already determined their current situation to some extent after a few seconds.
What a fog stalker was, he had no idea, but Chu Yang was certain that it was not some weak demon beast given how serious Chen Yang and Gui Hu looked.
Whoosh~
Just as he was thinking about the fog stalker mentioned by Chen Yang, Chu Yang felt something moving towards him from his left, as he quickly moved his spear to block it.
Ching~
The sound reverberated through the surroundings, as Chu Yang barely managed to see a pair of sharp claws hit his spear before disappearing into the thick fog surrounding them.
The strength behind the short attack was far more than he had expected, and Chu Yang felt both his hands tremble violently, as he almost lost the grip of his spear.
Even if he had no time to determine the cultivation realm of the attacker, he was certain that it was far stronger than him!
"Looks like it is indeed a fog stalker... We have to get out of here as quickly as possible! Fighting a fog stalker in the fog is simply suicide!"
Hearing the voice of Chen Yang standing just a few meters away from him, Chu Yang could not agree more to the idea of leaving the valley as quickly as possible.
From the single exchange he managed to have with this fog stalker demon beast, Chu Yang already understood that he would not be a match for it. Even if it only attacked him every once every now and then, it would end up consuming all of his qi after only a few such attacks. The difference in their strength was simply way too big!
...
Ching~
"Hah... Why is it only focusing on me...?"
Blocking a pair of claws that had come out from the fog directly in front of him, Chu Yang could not help lamenting as he looked cautiously around himself filled with exhaustion. At this point, they had already been walking through the fog filled valley for close to thirty minutes!
"Isn't it because you are the weakest among us and therefore the easiest pray? Hehe, at least we won't have to worry too much with you around~"
Hearing the annoying voice of the one named Gui Hu echo out beside him, Chu Yang could not help cursing him inside his head. After all, what he said was indeed the truth.
During this time, the fog stalker had attacked both Chen Yang and Gui Hu only once!
He on the other hand, was not that lucky... It had attacked him a grand total of 18 times!
At this point in time, his qi reserves were already close to empty after dealing with the fog stalkers constant sneak attacks. Not only that, but neither Chen Yang nor Gui Hu had any ability to help him deal with the fog stalker.
It's sneak attacks inside the fog was simply way too perfect. Easily avoiding the two...
"Looks like you are in luck, Chu Yang!"
"Hm?"
Hearing the voice of Chen Yang call out to him, Chu Yang looked over and soon felt a wave of excitement rush over him as he understood what he had meant.
A way out!
Whoosh~
Rushing out of the valley before any of the other two, Chu Yang only came to a stop after having travelled a good half kilometre.
Even though the time in the valley did not last for long, Chu Yang had no plans of staying anywhere close to it after getting out!
...
Time passed, a few days after having left the valley, Chu Yang was still making his way through the Burning Mountain Range together with Chen Yang and Gui Hu from the Explorer Union. At this point in time, Chu Yang became more and more amazed at the sheer scale of the Burning Mountain Range.
Other than their earlier encounter with the cougar while making their way over one of the countless mountains that made up the Burning Mountain Range and the fog stalker in the valley, the group of three didn't encounter any other powerful demon beasts along the way.
At most, they encountered a few Peak Foundation Establishment demon beast that Gui Hu quickly dealt with before they even had time to attack them.
Rumble!
Hearing a loud rumbling sound coming from a mountain not too far away, Chu Yang could not help sighing in amazement upon witnessing large amounts of lava suddenly gush out from several large cave-like entrances at the top of the mountain before flowing down towards the base of the mountain where several unique grey coloured rock demon beasts were happily waiting.
As the lava reached the base of the mountain, these weird demon beasts quickly worked together to dig a large hole for the lava to flow into-
Splash~!
Before happily jumping into the lava pool, they had created.
"..."
Watching these unique demon beasts' bath with great enthusiasm, Chu Yang finally understood why it was called the Burning Mountain Range, as these unique demon beasts flung the lava all around them. Launching some of it several kilometers away where it set fire to anything it touched.
Whoosh~
Some of the molten rocks even landed on a tree in front of them-
Fwoosh~!
Setting fire to the tree and the surrounding foliage...
Looking at this, Chu Yang even began wondering how there were still any trees left inside the Burning Mountain Range...
"Never seen a group of lava eaters before?"
"Lava eaters?"
Taken aback by what Chen Yang suddenly said, Chu Yang gave him a questioning look. Clearly not putting together that he was talking about the demon beast currently swimming around in the lava pool they had created.
"The one's over there."
"Ah! Indeed, I have never seen these... Lava eaters before..."
Immediately realizing what Chen Yang was referring to after seeing him point towards the demon beasts swimming around in the lava pool they had made for themselves, Chu Yang quickly nodded his head. Acknowledging the fact that he had not seen a lava eater demon beast before.
"How weird, they are really common here in the outer edges of the Burning Mountain Range. Hard to miss..."
Along with the suspicious Gui Hu narrowing his eyes while glaring at him, Chu Yang could not help smiling a bit wryly. Not knowing what to say.
"He probably just got unlucky and didn't meet any, we didn't meet any either on our way inside. Remember?"
Luckily, Chen Yang came to his assistance before Gui Hu got to asking again.
"By the way, what are the lava eater demon beasts?"
Wanting to make sure that Gui Hu didn't get a chance to ask him something after Chen Yang had finished speaking, Chu Yang quickly asked Cheng Yang.
"What are the lava eater demon beasts? Well... Honestly, I don't really have much of a clue about them myself. All the information about them in our branch only mentions that the lava eaters have something to do with the Burning Mountain Range getting its name and the fact that they consume lava... Not eating anything other than lava!"
Thinking about Chu Yang's question for a short moment before he answered, Chen Yang seemed to suddenly enter a state of deep thought as he tried to recall more information about the lava eater demon beasts.
"If I'm not wrong, there was also something about young lava eaters barely on the Qi Condensation Realm easily consuming lava without any side effects. Other than that, parts of a lava eater demon beast's body can be used for some special potions that increases one's resistance to fire. Maybe there is something other than that, but this is at least what I can remember about the lava eater demon beasts..."
Listening to Chen Yang finish his explanation about the lava eater demon beasts, Chu Yang glanced towards the lava eater demon beasts playing around in the lava pool they had created with great interest.
From the looks of it, the lava eater demon beasts were rather unique. Something he had already expected after seeing them literally bath in lava...
Whoosh~
Moving away from the location where they had seen the group of lava eater demon beast, Chu Yang and the other two soon saw a path out of the seemingly endless mountain range in the distance.