Why had Xiang Shaoyun gone missing? Naturally, that was because he had left the group by himself. Even before arriving, he had already made his own plans. His main goal at the Battle of Towns was to train and temper himself, not honor and glory. If he stayed with the Martial Hall Palace disciples, whatever difficulties he encountered would be shared with the other disciples. It would be pointless then.

It was not that Xiang Shaoyun was an uncooperative person, but his priority right now was to grow as fast as he could. No matter what danger he encountered, even if his life was on the line, he wanted to face it himself.

Don't worry. If you guys encounter any danger, I will do my best to help, Xiang Shaoyun thought as he looked at the Martial Hall Palace above a boulder not far away.

Only after the Martial Hall Palace set off did he start moving as well. 

Apart from gold serpentine crocodiles, goldsteel stones and gold serpent fruits can also be found in the Golden River Valley. These are the actual treasures here, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.

The goldsteel stone was a king-grade material. Each of these stones was extremely tough and was excellent for equipment forging. If he could find some, they would be worth no less than high-grade spirit medicines.

As for the gold serpent fruit, it was even more extraordinary. It was capable of helping one form metal energy within one's body. The lowest grade this fruit could be was mid-grade spirit medicine. It also had the chance to become high-grade spirit medicine or even greater. Even Transformation Realm cultivators would covet something like this.

The main goal of the youths participating in the competition was to slay gold serpentine crocodiles. However, they all wished they could obtain some of these treasures as well. Before they arrived, the elders of the numerous academies had already briefed their respective disciples about all this.

Some also suspected that a huge secret was hidden inside the Golden River Valley, and this secret could answer the question as to why everything was gold in color. Unfortunately, many experts had already investigated and none of them could understand what was going on. As time went on, everyone moved on.

Xiang Shaoyun traveled on a remote path that very few disciples used. Because the path was filled with wild weeds and concentrated trees, visibility was low, making it a rather dangerous path to take. After all, with such low visibility, it was very hard for one to react to any danger in time.

Thus, very rarely did people select to travel on this path. But that was what Xiang Shaoyun did. 

The most dangerous place is also the best place to temper myself. I need to break through into the eighth stage as soon as possible, Xiang Shaoyun pondered to himself as he traveled.

At this moment, Little White was already perched on his shoulder, lazily stretching his body.

"Boss, the aura of this place gives me an extremely intimate sensation. I love this place," Little White said.

"The aura here is intimate with you? Are you sure?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment.

Demonic beasts had keen senses. Xiang Shaoyun was sure Little White must have discovered something.

"There, it is coming from the depths over there. Boss, can we go there? But I can also sense a thick demonic aura there," Little White said as he pointed in a certain direction.

"Sure. Just lead the way. Even if there is a Demon King, I am still going to try my luck," Xiang Shaoyun said, his battle intent surging.

They then headed toward the depths where Little White had pointed to. The depths were supposed to be the forbidden zone for disciples like them. Even Transformation Realm cultivators would not dare casually enter. In fact, the King Realm experts from Cloud Margin City had warned them about it before they had set off. It was unlikely for them to lie about this.

But Xiang Shaoyun’s strength boosted his courage. Thus, he was willingly heading straight toward danger. Not long after he started moving again, a figure leaped out from a bush. A massive jaw opened above him at a speed so fast any ordinary person would not be able to react to it.

Xiang Shaoyun seemed to have seen this attack coming a long time ago. He stepped to the side and chopped at the back of the attacking beast with his hand.

Bang!

Xiang Shaoyun's body had gone through the baptism of lightning. Every inch of his body was now extremely tough. A chop of his hand was capable of slicing even stones apart. To his surprise, this beast's body was actually even harder than stone.

The beast crashed onto the ground because of the attack, its appearance finally revealed clearly before Xiang Shaoyun. It had the head of a snake and the body of a crocodile. It was about three meters long, and its scales were gold in color. This was a rather odd looking beast.

It was a gold serpentine crocodile, the target of the disciples in this competition. This one was at the Intermediate Demon level. 

After taking Xiang Shaoyun's attack, numerous cracks had appeared on the surface of its head. But it was still alive.

It stood up again and whipped its tail at Xiang Shaoyun. With the sharp spikes on its tail, being struck by this tail wouldn't be fun at all. Against such a powerful attack, Xiang Shaoyun merely raised his foot and stomped down. He used 80 percent of his strength, causing the gold serpentine crocodile's tail to burst apart by the stomp.

The gold serpentine crocodile wailed in pain and tried to bite Xiang Shaoyun in retaliation. However, Xiang Shaoyun raised his foot and stomped down again, turning the gold serpentine crocodile's head into mincemeat.

Just like that, an Intermediate Demon level gold serpentine crocodile was stomped to death by Xiang Shaoyun. The jade plate he was carrying immediately reacted. A string of information was also transmitted to his brain: Killing a third-stage Intermediate Demon gold serpentine crocodile, 30 points awarded.

For this competition, Minor Demons would only grant a low amount of points. Even killing a ninth-stage Minor Demon would only earn one five points. Minor Demons below the ninth stage would give even fewer points. On the other hand, Intermediate Demons gave more. One could obtain 10 points from killing a first-stage Intermediate Demon, 20 points from a second-stage Intermediate Demon, and so on. 

As for Great Demons, one could obtain 200 points for killing a first-stage Great Demon, 300 points for a second-stage Great Demon, and so on. Thus, the higher the cultivation of the demonic beast, the more points one would be rewarded for killing it.

"Thirty points? This is merely the start," Xiang Shaoyun mumbled. He then continued traveling. But his travel was no longer peaceful. More and more gold serpentine crocodiles appeared. He started slaughtering his way as he traveled.

"Come! More!" Xiang Shaoyun said even as he severed the head of a gold serpentine crocodile with his Golden Wolf Sword.

Minor Demons and Intermediate Demons were hardly a match for Xiang Shaoyun. Thus, he traveled amid slaughtering, his body drenched wet with blood, looking like a grim executioner. With all the killings, the stars within him started pulsing at a greater intensity. The bottleneck of the seventh stage seemed to be swaying, as if he could now enter the next stage at any time.

Suddenly, five late-stage Intermediate Demon gold serpentine crocodiles appeared in Xiang Shaoyun’s vision. Behind them was a stalk of shiny gold orchid. The five gold serpentine crocodiles did not give Xiang Shaoyun any time to even think, as the moment he appeared, they pounced on him from five different angles.

Xiang Shaoyun did not fear these five beasts, but he could sense that an even more powerful demonic beast was approaching.