The deep mountains had become a true forbidden land.
Day and night, one could see the blood qi shooting into the sky, and the figure of the blood-colored pig monster perched atop the peak.
The pig monster was refining the potency of the Lifespan Transformation Elixir.
To say it was refining, it would be more accurate to say it was assimilating.
After all, this pill had been formed within its body, forcibly extracted, and now it was simply "returning to its rightful owner."
The pig monster’s refinement of blood qi was slow, and it seemed like it would take a long time, but no matter how long it took, there would come a day when it would be finished.
As time slowly passed, the blood qi around the pig monster became denser and its aura more terrifying.
The faces of all the cultivators in Tongxian City were clouded with gloom.
Elder Yu and the others looked increasingly solemn.
A storm was brewing, and a great catastrophe was approaching.
Yet Mo Hua was utterly puzzled in his heart.
What was a big demon, why had that pig turned into a big demon, and why did the arrival of a big demon signify a catastrophe?
He had never come into contact with these cultivation secrets before.
So, Mo Hua went to ask Elder Yu.
Elder Yu sighed, "The so-called big demon is a term used by Monster Hunters, referring to extremely powerful, non-human forces that can annihilate an entire city or state boundary."
"What level of monster beast qualifies as a big demon, then? Something beyond Second Grade?" Mo Hua asked.
Elder Yu shook his head, "Big demons are not simply classified by grade."
Mo Hua thought for a moment, "Is it based on the grade of the state boundary, then?"
Elder Yu nodded and explained to Mo Hua:
"In a Second-Grade state boundary, a big demon would be Second Grade, in a Third-Grade state boundary, a big demon would be Third Grade... and so on. A powerful monster beast nearing the grade limit of a certain domain is called a ’big demon.’"
"But why could that pig become a big demon?" Mo Hua wondered aloud.
That pig had only eaten an elder of the Qian Family and had even been on the brink of death at one point – so why did it suddenly become a big demon?
"I don’t know that either," Elder Yu said bitterly, "Big demons have always been the stuff of legend. No one can say for certain how they come into being... The last record of a big demon in Tongxian City was two to three thousand years ago."
"Was that big demon killed?"
"No," Elder Yu shook his head, "The big demon was not killed."
Mo Hua was startled, "Then how did it die?"
"It starved to death."
"Starved to death?" Mo Hua was taken aback.
That was a manner of death Mo Hua had not anticipated.
Elder Yu’s eyes held a deep-seated fear:
"It had devoured all the cultivators of Tongxian City, all the monster beasts of Big Black Mountain, and everything edible. Finally, after more than a hundred years without food, it exhausted its blood qi and starved to death..."
Mo Hua gasped, "It ate... all the cultivators of Tongxian City?!"
Elder Yu nodded, "Indeed."
"Couldn’t it be killed?"
If it could be killed, then the cultivators of an entire city wouldn’t have all been devoured..." Elder Yu gave a wry smile.
"Why couldn’t it be killed?"
Mo Hua was very puzzled.
It was just a Second Grade monster beast, and no matter how strong, there was always a way to kill it.
Even if Foundation Establishment wasn’t enough, there was still Qi Refinement, and if Monster Hunters weren’t enough, there were also Taoist Soldiers. So many cultivators working together could surely wear down the big demon, even if it meant a war of attrition...
Elder Yu pointed to the horizon and said, "Do you see that blood qi?"
Mo Hua looked up and saw the towering blood qi of the pig monster over the deep mountains.
"Is it because... the blood qi is too profound?" Mo Hua speculated after a moment’s thought.
Elder Yu nodded, "The attacks of the big demon are only slightly stronger than those of monster beasts of the same grade, but the most troublesome aspect is its blood qi..."
"The blood qi of a big demon is incredibly profound, almost equivalent to tens of times that of monster beasts of the same grade."
Mo Hua felt a chill down his spine as he listened, "The blood qi is that profound?"
"That’s not the scariest part," continued Elder Yu:
"The most terrifying thing is that it can replenish its blood qi by consuming humans. Trying to deplete a big demon with numbers is even more impossible."
"With the profound blood qi of a big demon, hunting one down is bound to be a lengthy battle of attrition, with casualties being unavoidable."
"But once there are casualties, it will replenish the big demon’s blood qi. In such a give-and-take, all cultivators will end up in the mouth of the big demon, eaten alive!"
"Unless no one dies, the cultivators would merely be ’Blood Pills’ for the big demon."