The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Before the cave.

Bai Yuan looked at Elder Pei apologetically. "Daoist, would it be possible for me to enter the cave alone?"

Elder Pei said, "I need a reason."

Bai Yuan said nothing more, letting out only a low grunt.

And then, a miraculous scene unfolded!

A layer of fine, soft white fur appeared on Bai Yuan's body. It grew longer and longer until he had transformed into a great, white-haired, barefoot ape.

An ordinary person would have fainted from fright at such a sight.

But how could Elder Pei be an ordinary person?

A rare look of amazement crossed his face. "A Demon Hunter... the Demon Performance Technique... a Zhu Yan... Impressive skills."

In a mere instant, he had seen through the nature of Bai Yuan's transformation.

Unlike the sects of the Northern Territory, which knew nothing of Demon Hunters, the Dragon Tiger Sect was a great sect with ten thousand years of history. They had even fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Demon Hunters against the Demon Race, and their understanding of them ran far deeper than that of other factions.

Elder Pei was naturally aware of the three branches of Demon Hunting: Demon Seeking, Demon Taming, and Demon Performance.

"Donor Bai, you have impressive skills."

Elder Pei praised him with sincere admiration.

The abilities Bai Yuan was now displaying were stunning, even to him.

Taken individually, none of Bai Yuan's abilities—be it his saber techniques, poison arts, or other skills—could be considered top-tier. Of course, that was by the standards of a Grandmaster like Elder Pei.

But when all his skills were taken together, he was a truly unique existence in all of Xuan Yang.

At Elder Pei's level, one naturally discards the notion that specializing in too many things leads to failure.

The Li Royal Family, for example, even had practitioners who would deliberately suppress their cultivation realm. They did this for the sole purpose of building an exceptionally solid foundation.

A similar practice existed in the Dragon Tiger Sect.

Elder Pei himself had cultivated countless Cultivation Techniques.

Of course, he had only cultivated most of them after reaching the Divinity realm. Back when he was at the Zhigan realm, the number of Cultivation Techniques he practiced was likely a mere fraction of Bai Yuan's total.

Elder Pei understood Bai Yuan's intent.

"Alright. Go on."

Bai Yuan's Demon Performance Technique had reached the peak of perfection; not even a great demon could recognize him as a human. Perhaps he could actually make a discovery.

"Thank you, Daoist."

Bai Yuan bowed deeply.

He harbored no ill intent, but he was still moved that Elder Pei was willing to take a risk and allow him into the cave alone.

As a Zhu Yan, Bai Yuan strode into the cave.

There was no source of light in the cave, and it wasn't long before he was enveloped in pitch darkness.

Fortunately, Bai Yuan had already broken through to the Zhigan realm and could perceive his surroundings without relying on his eyes.

The cave entrance wasn't very large; after transforming into the Zhu Yan, Bai Yuan had to stoop to squeeze through.

He walked for about a hundred zhang before the tunnel suddenly opened up.

A cavern, a full ten zhang across, appeared before his eyes.

Not far away, a peculiar demon lay prostrate on the ground. It looked somewhat like a deer, yet not a deer; like an ox, yet not an ox. It bore a slight resemblance to the legendary Divine Beast Qilin.

The corners of Bai Yuan's mouth lifted into a slight smile.

Elder Pei had said a demon with Qilin Blood was imprisoned in this cave. 'This must be the great demon right in front of me,' he thought.

The body of the Qilin-like Great Demon trembled imperceptibly.

Bai Yuan keenly sensed the change.

The great demon's movements grew more pronounced. Soon, eyes as large as bronze bells snapped open, and it slowly rose to its feet.

Bai Yuan hadn't noticed when it was lying down, but now that it stood, he saw the great demon was a full three zhang tall—a head taller than even Bai Yuan in his Zhu Yan form.

"A Zhu Yan?" the great demon said slowly.

"A Qilin," Bai Yuan responded in kind.

The great demon's mood lifted instantly at being called a Qilin by what it perceived as a pure-blooded Zhu Yan. It couldn't remember the last time something had made it this happy.

Before its imprisonment, it had always been taunted as a mongrel whenever it fought other demons, a fact that had always been a sore spot.

"Zhu Yan, how did you become so weak?" it asked in confusion.

In its memory, Zhu Yan were ferocious fighters, both loving battle and excelling at it.

It had once been thrashed by a male Zhu Yan for teasing a female, and the memory of those heavy fists still made it ache.

But the Zhu Yan before it now was different.

Weak. Far too weak!

It would only take ten stomps of its hoof—no, eight—to trample this Zhu Yan to death.

It wouldn't kill this Zhu Yan, though. If this one died, it would have no other demon to talk to.

It couldn't even remember the last time it had spoken to another demon.

'Damned humans!'

Bai Yuan put on a furious expression. "It was those damned Daoists! They used their insidious tricks to ambush me! Qilin, were you also ambushed by those Daoists?"

"Daoists?"

The great demon looked puzzled.

It thought hard for a long moment. It seemed to recall hearing that term once, in some detestable, weak Human Race tribe.

'But aren't those Daoist things the kind you can crush with a single stomp?'

Bai Yuan noticed the Qilin Great Demon's confusion.

'This Qilin Great Demon has obviously never met a Daoist before.'

'This means the rumors might be wrong. This Qilin Great Demon wasn't captured by the first Grand Celestial Master. There must be another reason for its imprisonment here.'

Bai Yuan decided to probe the Qilin Great Demon a little more.

'Demons are so much simpler,' he thought. 'When they meet one of their own, they aren't full of ulterior motives... not like humans.'

"Qilin, you weren't captured by Daoists?"

The Qilin Great Demon was completely won over by the repeated address of "Qilin," not doubting Bai Yuan's identity in the slightest.

After all, it was impossible for a human to possess such a pure Zhu Yan bloodline.

"It was a human, but not a Daoist. An utterly terrifying human. He knocked me unconscious with a single palm strike and trapped me here. He said I was to guard this place for him, and that later, another human would come who would grant me my freedom."

"!!"

Bai Yuan was stunned.

'To knock out a Tier Eight Great Demon with a single palm strike... What kind of terrifying power is that?'

'I saw Elder Pei and Yan Shao'an kill a Tier Eight Great Python Demon, and even two Divinity Grandmasters couldn't do it with such casual ease.'

'Doesn't that mean that human expert was a peerless master at the Martial Saint level?!'

The more Bai Yuan thought about it, the more shocked he became.

"Qilin, do you have any idea what that human told you to guard?"

The Qilin Great Demon shook its head. "He didn't say. He just told me a human would come here eventually."

"..."

'Another human...'

Bai Yuan couldn't help but wonder, 'Don't tell me... that person is me?'

He was rendered speechless.

'I can't believe I've run into someone who speaks in riddles. Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell me the secret of the Divine Mansion directly, instead of being so cryptic?'

He suddenly had a startling thought.

'Or maybe... the human that mysterious expert mentioned isn't me, but the true Demon Seed?!'

The Qilin Great Demon spoke again. "What's it like outside now? Are the other demons as weak as you?"

Bai Yuan said, "The Human Race are the masters of this land now. We of the Demon Race can only hide in the mountains and forests, barely clinging to life."

Hearing this, the Qilin Great Demon grew furious. "Those damned humans!"

Bai Yuan declared, "Qilin, I've come to rescue you! Together, we will revitalize the Demon Race and make the Demon Race great again!"

The Qilin Great Demon's expression was stirred. "Make the Demon Race great again!"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!