41: Ungrateful? Chen Dedao strikes back!

If a person lacks morality, what is the difference between him and a salted fish without dreams?

A person cannot stand without virtue; this applies to Chen De.

Chen De couldn't believe it; if he were to lack morality, it would be more unbearable than killing him.

Didn't he achieve his current accomplishments precisely because of his morality?

Chen De walked while pondering.

Unbeknownst to him, Chen De found himself already out of the Vortex Forest.

After a period of silence, Chen De understood that this was Heaven's will, for him to find another place to eliminate evil and bring peace.

It told Chen De that there were many other places waiting for him to save.

Chen De understood that benefiting the world was his mission, and since that was the case, he would no longer be sentimental.

Under Chen De's previous actions, the Silver Scale Rhino King likely wouldn't be able to cause trouble for a short time.

Without the oppression of the Silver Scale Rhino King, the Monster Beasts in the Vortex Forest would probably have an easier time.

Moreover, when Chen De left, he had almost emptied the Vortex Forest of its spirit herbs.

He had completely eradicated the root of all evil that had plagued the Vortex Forest for many years.

It was just that the primary culprit had not yet been eliminated. Although Chen De really wanted to root out evil, his strength didn't quite allow it.

However, being able to make the Monster Beasts' lives a little better still made Chen De very happy for them.

Since they were already living so well, Chen De felt there was no need to disturb their peaceful lives.

In the end, Chen De, who had done so many good deeds, was homeless.

Well, if he was homeless, then so be it!

Chen De suddenly cheered up.

Anyway, the things he, Chen De, did were not for himself, nor for fame or profit.

At this point, what more could Chen De be dissatisfied with?

Everything Chen De had done could be called heroic.

But heroes are always lonely; perhaps it was only at this moment that Chen De truly understood this deeply.

Leaving the Vortex Forest, Chen De walked deeper into the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

The Vortex Forest was also part of the Monster Beast Mountain Range, but only its outer perimeter.

The Monster Beast Mountain Range spans one-third of Qingyun Prefecture and borders the Ten Thousand Mountains.

And the Ten Thousand Mountains is the true stronghold of the Demon Race, where it is rumored that the most powerful experts of the Demon Race all reside in its deepest parts.

In front of the Ten Thousand Mountains, even the entire Monster Beast Mountain Range is insignificant.

But in the outer reaches of the Monster Beast Mountain Range, places like the Vortex Forest are countless.

Chen De didn't know where he should go, so he decided to take things as they came.

As long as the difficulty of survival in the place he went wasn't too excessive, Chen De felt he could accept it.

Along the way, as Chen De ventured deeper, the Monster Beasts he encountered became increasingly powerful.

Individual low-realm Monster Beasts were almost nowhere to be seen; those that were present were in groups, accompanying the stronger members of their clans when they went out.

Chen De even encountered quite a few Demon Origin Realm Monster Beasts, though their realms weren't very high.

Perhaps due to the harsher survival conditions here, these Monster Beasts didn't seem to have the habit of collecting spirit herbs.

Along the way, Chen De killed several Demon Origin Realm Monster Beasts, but he didn't gain many spirit herbs.

It was even less than the spirit herbs Chen De obtained from the Monster Beasts in the Vortex Forest.

This is not to say that the resource output of this place is less than that of the Vortex Forest.

On the contrary, judging by the general cultivation of the Monster Beasts here, it was immeasurably higher than in the Vortex Forest.

Clearly, to sustain such enormous consumption, the resource output here must be substantial.

It was probably the harsh living environment here that caused these Monster Beasts to immediately refine spirit herbs as soon as they obtained them.

They had no intention of keeping them, because in such a place, one more point of strength meant one more point of security.

Not using spirit herbs and keeping them only served to increase the spoils of war for enemies after one's death.

Chen De also knew that to gather enough spirit herbs from these poor creatures, he would probably have to kill quite a few.

However, Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, and Chen De was a soft-hearted person by nature, so he was naturally unwilling to stain his hands with blood.

As Chen De walked, he saw a Monster Beast bullying a weaker one, kicking it around like a ball for fun.

It was laughing loudly, "It's an honor for Grandpa to fancy your things; how dare you not hand them over obediently.

Then Grandpa will play with you properly!"

The one laughing was a lion-like Monster Beast, with flames seemingly burning around its body at all times, looking very mysterious.

The surrounding Monster Beasts, even some stronger than it, all gave it a wide berth when they saw it.

And the weak Monster Beast being kicked around was being bullied so badly it was an unbearable sight; it was on the verge of death.

However, it didn't even let out a scream or a plea for mercy, appearing incredibly stubborn.

Unfortunately, Chen De could only express his helplessness in the face of such a scene; even he couldn't change this natural law of survival of the fittest.

Although Chen De was pained and wanted to help it, he lacked the ability to do so.

Therefore, after a calm glance, Chen De was about to withdraw his gaze.

Just then, Chen De's peripheral vision suddenly caught something.

The small Monster Beast seemed to be clutching something in its arms, something it refused to let go of even in death.

Chen De focused his gaze: it was a mid-grade spirit herb.

For some reason, Chen De suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of righteousness.

What rules? What laws? To see injustice and not act is cowardice!

If he didn't do such a good deed of righteous bravery, wouldn't he, Chen De, become a coward?

Even if Heaven could forgive him, Chen De himself couldn't get past his own conscience.

Chen De's morality, his status as the ceiling of morality, would not allow Chen De to do such a thing.

Chen De acted for no other reason than to right a wrong and draw his sword to help!

Thus, Chen De acted, and with one move, he finished off the bullying Monster Beast.

The surrounding Monster Beasts, seeing that someone actually dared to act, all fled faster than the last.

That Monster Beast never expected, even in death, that in the territory of its own clan, there would actually be a demon who dared to oppose it, and even dared to kill it!

Then, Chen De looked down at the small Monster Beast, covered in wounds from being kicked.

The small Monster Beast was tiger-like, golden all over, though its golden fur was somewhat dulled by the bloodstains covering its body.

The small Monster Beast saw that Chen De had saved it and was looking at it.

The small Monster Beast said nothing, but clutched the item in its claws even tighter, then turned and tried to run.

This was a spirit herb its mother had obtained after being severely wounded while hunting, and the small Monster Beast had secretly snuck out to gather it with great difficulty.

Unexpectedly, it was targeted by another Monster Beast. That Monster Beast originally had the support of its clan and did not lack cultivation resources.

It just happened to come across it and wanted to play, but when the small Monster Beast refused, it became enraged and severely punished it.

But for the small Monster Beast, this was its mother's life-saving spirit herb; it would never hand it over no matter what.

Moreover, the killing intent and murderous nature of the Monster Beast that later saved it were so strong that it made other demons shiver.

It could be said that any Monster Beast encountering him, if weaker than him, would likely face a near-certain death.

For Monster Beasts, intuition is often very accurate.

So the small Monster Beast felt that the Monster Beast who saved it was probably not a good thing either.

Thus, it seized the opportunity and quickly fled.

Seeing this, Chen De was somewhat annoyed.

He saved it not for the spirit herb in its arms; besides, even if he wanted it, as its savior, what was wrong with it giving it to him?

Chen De saved it purely out of an inner sense of justice!

Seeing the small Monster Beast's behavior truly disheartened Chen De.

So a claw-blade slashed towards the small Monster Beast, instantly cutting it in half.

Its lower body had already fallen to the ground, while its upper body was still rushing forward.

Immediately following, its upper body also fell to the ground, and the spirit herb was forced to drop out.

In a daze, the small Monster Beast looked at the spirit herb in front of it, enduring the severe pain to move its body, wanting to grab the spirit herb.

But the righteous Chen De was one step ahead, taking the spirit herb in his hand and eating it in front of it.

The life-saving spirit herb it had prepared was just gone?

Then, seeing that it was not yet dead, Chen De didn't even look at it, casually stomping its head to a pulp.

Why that small Monster Beast valued that spirit herb so much, preferring death over letting it go, and why it ran when it saw Chen De.

These things didn't concern him, nor were they related to Chen De, but that spirit herb was indeed beneficial to Chen De.

Of course, Chen De's action was still for righteous bravery, and had no relation whatsoever to that spirit herb, not even a tiny bit.

Chen De never thought of gaining any benefit from it.

Because true justice seeks no reward!

Then, Chen De came to the corpse of the lion Monster Beast.

After its death, this Monster Beast was no longer arrogant; its eyes were full of disbelief, and the flames on its body no longer burned.

Chen De went forward to investigate. Just now, those Monster Beasts much stronger than this one were all extremely wary of it, not daring to offend it, even giving it a wide berth when they saw it.

This Monster Beast certainly didn't have that ability, so he, Chen De, wanted to see what was going on.