A look of surprise crossed Chu Lan's face.
He had never heard of a Crimson Blood Mad Wolf having a split tail.
However, this was no time to dwell on the matter.
With a thought, Chu Lan slipped back into the Divine Desolation Pagoda.
Seeing its prey vanish once more, the Crimson Blood Mad Wolf was dumbfounded.
Its sharp eyes swept the surroundings, and its nose sniffed vigorously at the air.
Yet Chu Lan's scent remained right here.
Utterly bewildered, the Crimson Blood Mad Wolf had no choice but to retract its blade-like tail for now.
The moment it did so, Chu Lan reappeared.
"Prepare to die, you beast!"
"Crimson Gold Fist!"
Chu Lan hurled a punch straight at the skull of the Crimson Blood Mad Wolf.
Caught entirely off guard, the beast was struck by the blow, its head ringing with stars.
Without missing a beat, Chu Lan followed up by unleashing the perfected martial art, Cloud-Piercing Palm.
Every single attack was aimed squarely at the head of the Crimson Blood Mad Wolf.
No matter how formidable a demonic beast might be, taking such a relentless barrage of blows to the head would eventually kill it.
Not to mention, this particular Crimson Blood Mad Wolf was only marginally stronger than Chu Lan to begin with.
Having dealt with the beast, Chu Lan pulled its carcass into the Divine Desolation Pagoda.
While the flesh and blood of demonic beasts were of little use, their pelts, teeth, and claws were treasures.
These could be fashioned into protective armor and weapons.
Even if sold outright, they would fetch a handsome sum.
"Thank goodness for the Divine Desolation Pagoda," Chu Lan muttered with a sigh of relief.
"Without it, taking down that Crimson Blood Mad Wolf would have been a real headache."
Though he hadn't defeated the beast in a head-on clash, relying instead on the pagoda, only a fool would stubbornly fight to the death when they had such a tool at their disposal.
"Now, I need to hurry and find the Scorching Red Fruit tree."
Chu Lan returned to the spot where he had previously found the Scorching Red Fruit.
He searched the surrounding area thoroughly.
Regrettably, there was no Scorching Red Fruit tree within a hundred-meter radius.
"Perhaps the fruit I found earlier was accidentally dropped by some demonic beast passing by."
A hint of disappointment flickered across Chu Lan's face.
Still, obtaining the seeds of the Scorching Red Fruit counted as a small victory.
With that, Chu Lan set off again in search of other spirit herb seeds.
He did manage to find quite a few.
Naturally, he also encountered numerous demonic beasts along the way.
Some he could dispatch, but others were far beyond his capability.
Facing beasts of the Vein Spirit Realm and Earth Spirit Realm that he could not possibly defeat, Chu Lan had no choice but to retreat into the Divine Desolation Pagoda to bide his time.
Inside the pagoda, Chu Lan planted the very last spirit herb seed.
"All done!"
Looking around at his surroundings, Chu Lan exclaimed, "Such dense spiritual energy!"
"I never imagined that planting so many spirit herbs would make the spiritual energy inside the Divine Desolation Pagoda even more abundant."
Because time flowed differently inside the pagoda compared to the outside world, many of the spirit herb seeds planted today had already taken root and sprouted.
As a result, the spiritual energy within the pagoda had grown remarkably rich.
"Influenced by these spirit herbs, even the Spirit-Gathering Array is recovering its spiritual energy at an astonishing speed!"
Joy surged in Chu Lan's heart.
He had originally intended to use the pagoda merely to cultivate spirit herbs for sale, never anticipating such an unexpected bonus.
"Let's try cultivating!"
With spiritual energy this abundant, practicing cultivation right now might yield extraordinary results!
Chu Lan channeled the Cloud-Lightning Technique to absorb the spiritual energy from the Spirit-Gathering Array.
Supported by such a vast reserve of spiritual energy, even though the Cloud-Lightning Technique allowed him to absorb only sixty percent of it, the sheer volume made up for the rest.
In a mere three months inside the Divine Desolation Pagoda, Chu Lan's cultivation broke through to the Body Spirit Realm Fifth Layer!
"If the spiritual energy continues to accumulate like this, won't my cultivation speed become even faster?"
Chu Lan clenched his fists tightly.
To be honest, he was now reluctant to harvest and sell these spirit herbs.
After all, keeping them accelerated the recovery speed of the Spirit-Gathering Array.
However, while the array was useful in the Body Spirit Realm, its effects would become negligible once Chu Lan advanced to the Vein Spirit Realm.
Unless he could subsequently upgrade the array.
Unfortunately, Chu Lan was no array master, and even if he were to hire one to enhance the array, doing so would risk exposing the existence of the Divine Desolation Pagoda.
"If I get the chance in the future, it would be wonderful to become an array master myself."
With a shake of his head, Chu Lan stepped out of the Divine Desolation Pagoda.
By now, the sky was gradually darkening.
A roar echoed from deep within the Hundred Thousand Li Great Mountains.
The sound sent a jolt of shock straight through Chu Lan.
His face turned pale, and it took a long time before he could move his limbs again.
"What a terrifying roar! Just a single sound carries such horrifying might!"
Chu Lan knitted his brows tightly.
Fortunately, he was not close to the source of the sound, or that roar alone would have obliterated him instantly.
"I need to get out of the Hundred Thousand Li Great Mountains."
Chu Lan immediately set off.
Once night fell over the mountains, far more demonic beasts would pour out in full force.
And those beasts would only be stronger.
Meanwhile, on the outer fringes of the Hundred Thousand Li Great Mountains, Chu Beichuan and his four guards were still searching for Chu Lan.
"Where on earth is that good-for-nothing Chu Lan hiding?"
Chu Beichuan demanded, thoroughly infuriated.
"Young Master, could that fellow have gone deeper into the mountains?" one of the guards ventured.
Chu Beichuan let out a disdainful sneer. "Hmph... a good-for-nothing like Chu Lan would never dare enter the depths of the Hundred Thousand Li Great Mountains!"
Yet the guards couldn't help suspecting that Chu Lan might have indeed fled deeper inside.
Otherwise, how could they have searched the outer perimeter all day without finding a trace?
Of course, another possibility was that Chu Lan had gone somewhere else entirely.
"Search over there!" Chu Beichuan commanded coldly. "I refuse to believe Chu Lan sprouted wings and flew away!"
With that, Chu Beichuan charged forward with his guards.
As luck would have it, the moment Chu Beichuan rushed around, he laid eyes on Chu Lan.
"Chu Lan, you good-for-nothing, you really are here!"
A look of elation washed over Chu Beichuan's face.
"Chu Beichuan!"
Chu Lan frowned.
"Chu Lan, you killed Chu Yun. Neither my father nor any of the elders will ever let you off!"
Chu Beichuan sneered, "If you want to keep your breath, you'd better drop to your knees right now and beg for mercy."
"And hand over control of the North Courtyard's Spirit-Gathering Array to me."
"And what if I refuse?"
Chu Lan raised his chin and offered a faint, mocking smile.
"You killed the First Elder's son. If I don't intercede on your behalf, forget about returning to the Chu Family—you won't even keep your life!"
Chu Beichuan said with a triumphant look on his face.
Convinced that Chu Lan surely feared death and would have no choice but to grovel for his life, Chu Beichuan felt that everything was firmly within his grasp.
"To be frank with you, Chu Beichuan, regardless of the matter with Chu Yun, even if he had never existed, I would never hand over control of the Spirit-Gathering Array to you!"
Hearing this reply, Chu Beichuan's expression instantly darkened.
"Very well, very well. It seems you are truly in a rush to die, Chu Lan!"
Chu Beichuan said in a low, menacing voice, "Do you really think holding control of the Spirit-Gathering Array gives you leverage over me?"
"Take this good-for-nothing down!"