Chapter 55: That skill level indeed still leaves much to be desired...

"Alright then, let's find an inn nearby to rest for a while."
"Yay! Big brother, you're the best!"
At these words, Wangquan Zui instantly cheered with joy, her energy miraculously revived on the spot.

Speaking of hatred toward humans among the four great demon realms, Beishan likely held the most extreme resentment.
This was because Beishan had once been human territory, ruled by the Northern Mountain's Demon-Taming Kingdom.
The most renowned invention of the Demon-Taming Kingdom was the Mother-Child Demon-Taming Talisman.
Once a young demon was implanted with a child talisman, humans could effortlessly control the demon's life and death using the corresponding mother talisman.
The most vicious aspect of this talisman was that no matter how strong a demon became in the future, even ascending to the rank of a Demon Emperor, as long as the mother talisman was destroyed, the demon could not escape the fate of utter destruction.

Consequently, during the rule of the Demon-Taming Kingdom, humans treated the demons of Beishan as personal slaves, beating and scolding them at will, wielding absolute power over their lives and deaths.
Therefore, after the rebellion broke out and the Northern Mountain's Demon Emperor, Shi Kuan, shattered the talismans, the unbridled demons naturally harbored an intense hatred for humanity.
Back then, wherever the rebel forces of the Demon-Taming Kingdom went, demons slaughtered humans on sight, even advancing as far as the heartland of the One Qi Dao Alliance.
As a result, within the borders of Beishan, one could hardly find a single human being.

As for Southern Country, while the demons there did not hate humans as intensely as those in Beishan, Southern Country had always revered demons above all else.
Thus, to the demons, humans here were merely beings at the very bottom of the hierarchy, unprotected by any laws.
Fortunately, the territory of Southern Country was vast enough that humans could only try to live as far away from demon domains as possible.
If they were discovered by demons, the lucky ones might encounter those who did not slaughter the innocent and would be dragged back to perform hard labor.
As for the unlucky ones, they could only pray to the heavens and hope they wouldn't end up as a meal on a demon's plate...

"Are you sure there's an inn around here?"
After searching for a long time without finding so much as an inn—let alone any trace of human habitation—Li Quzhuo couldn't help muttering in frustration.
"After all, this is Southern Country. Even if we find one, there's an eighty percent chance it's run by demons," Yang Qingyuan shook his head.
"Ah... What should we do then? Are we destined to sleep out in the open and roam the streets from now on?" Wangquan Zui cried out with a pitiful expression.

"It won't come to that, and it doesn't matter if it's run by demons. Just wear our masks and slightly simulate the fluctuations of demon qi; ordinary demons won't be able to tell we're human."
"How about this, let's split up and search. Once anyone finds something, use the Thousand-Mile Tracking Talisman refined by Quzhuo to signal each other's coordinates," Wangquan Bawei proposed.
"Alright, then I'll go with Qingyuan," Wangquan Zui nodded.
"Little sister, you..." Wangquan Bawei cast a helpless glance at Wangquan Zui.
They always said grown-up daughters were bound to leave, but what did she mean by clinging to Qingyuan all day long when she wasn't even married yet?
"Boss, then I'll go with my brother."
"Fine, looks like I'm the only one left all alone." Wangquan Bawei sighed helplessly.
"All alone? Not necessarily. Who knows, you might just meet your destined other half right here in Southern Country." Yang Qingyuan smiled, a mysterious curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Since when did you learn to banter like this kid Quzhuo, Qingyuan?"
"Believe it or not, it's up to you."

Yang Qingyuan shrugged, then casually chose a direction and led Wangquan Zui away.
After flying for a few kilometers in the chosen direction, a massive poisonous barrier suddenly blocked their path.
"This is... Southern Country's poison array?"
Wangquan Zui frowned, stepping on her flying sword to inspect it closely.
"Strange, this place doesn't look like the dwelling of a demon king, why is it protected by a poison array of this scale?"
Yang Qingyuan reached his hand into the barrier, briefly testing the potency of the toxic miasma.
"Xiao Zui, wait for me outside, I'll go in and take a look."
"Alright, but how are you going to get in?"
Faced with Wangquan Zui's skepticism, Yang Qingyuan didn't answer directly. Instead, he simply took a step forward and flew straight into the billowing poisonous fog.
"Qingyuan!"

Wangquan Zui was startled by his action.
She knew very well that these toxic miasmas were not ordinary poisons; they were demon venoms mixed with the secret techniques unique to Southern Country.
Even a Daoist priest with profound magical power would gradually dissolve into pus within three breaths if directly exposed to it!
"I'm fine, wait for me, I'll be right back."
"Oh, okay..."
Hearing that Yang Qingyuan's tone inside the toxic fog seemed completely normal, Wangquan Zui finally let go of the heart that had been hanging in her throat.
She then remembered that when they set off, Yang Qingyuan had mentioned his body was immune to ordinary demon venoms.
"Is this what he calls ordinary demon venoms?"
With that thought, Wangquan Zui decided to test the anti-poison sachet refined by Li Quzhuo against the toxic miasma.
The moment the sachet touched the poisonous fog, the spiritual power sealed inside instantly turned purple.
Clearly, the demon venom had penetrated the sachet's defense and corrupted the magical power within.
Seeing this, Wangquan Zui silently tossed the sachet away.
"As expected, Big Brother was right; Senior Brother Li Quzhuo's artifact-refining skills still leave much to be desired..."

Inside the toxic miasma, relying on his body's absolute immunity to all poisons granted by practicing the Eight-Nine 玄 Gong, Yang Qingyuan pushed deeper into the fog and successfully crossed through, arriving at the interior of the array.
Below, a large crowd of humans was being driven by demons to labor away, hauling stones cartload after cartload toward an unfinished tall building at the very center of the array.
Smack!
With a flick of a lesser demon's wrist, its whip lashed fiercely across the back of an elderly human, instantly leaving a bloody red welt.
"Hurry up! If you mess up the Great King's construction schedule and incur his wrath, I'll kill you all on the spot!"

Witnessing this scene, Yang Qingyuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
With this familiar scenario and dialogue, could he possibly have stumbled right into Wangquan Bawei's romance side quest?