The moment the Great Skeleton Demon transformed into Jade Soil and spiritual herbs, Ren Xiaoyao's fingertips, which had been brushing against his brow, abruptly stopped. The touch on his fingertips still retained the slight numbness from the burning of the Dao Punishment Lightning, but a strange tremor quietly spread from his brow, as if a dormant seed had been suddenly awakened, trembling gently beneath his skin.
Within that wisp of warmth, just dispelled by the lingering remnants of the Dao Punishment Lightning, lay a faint yet strangely familiar aura—neither the venom of a vengeful spirit nor the chill of the Netherworld, but rather like an ancient essence dormant for billions of years, hidden deep within the folds of a great demon's primordial resentment, like a spark encased in layers of ice. That aura carried the vastness of the Beginning of Chaos, yet also carried an indescribable sense of vicissitude, as if it had witnessed the grandeur and sorrow of the collapse of heaven and earth and the reversal of the Star River.
Only at the moment when his body and soul were completely destroyed did this wisp of energy break free from its restraints and, like a wisp of silk, enter his consciousness. It was as if a door sealed for eternity had been quietly pushed open, and the ancient energy slowly spread in his sea of consciousness. Wherever it passed, the walls of his sea of consciousness rippled, and the fragments of memories that had been condensed over countless years trembled slightly.
The moment that aura touched his spiritual consciousness, it was as if an ancient bell tolled deep within his sea of consciousness. The resounding bell caused ripples to spread through the Chaos Current that had just broken through his body. The tiny specks of light suspended within the energy trembled, like pebbles thrown into a lake. Each speck of light resonated, as if responding to that call that transcended eternity. As the specks of light collided, they intertwined to form blurry runes, seemingly telling some forgotten secret.
"This aura..." Ren Xiaoyao's eyes flashed with golden light like thunder, and deep within his pupils, it seemed as if Golden Lightning had exploded. The boundless spiritual power that was about to burst forth when he broke through to the Chaos Realm suddenly condensed. The golden light flickered in his pupils, reflecting the surprise and doubt in his heart. His fingertips clenched unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white from the force.
That aura was far beyond what ordinary Demonic Creatures could possess; it seemed more like the imprint left by some ancient being that existed since the World Creation. It subtly attracted the Chaos Current within his body, yet also carried a hint of defiant repulsion, as if two old friends of the same origin but strangers were confronting each other from afar, testing each other's strength. The repulsion was tinged with wariness, as if guarding against something; the attraction concealed a resonance, as if confirming some kind of fated connection.
He looked down at the newly sprouted golden spiritual herb. The lightning dewdrops on the herb's leaves reflected the flow of Spiritual Qi around them. The light patterns on the surface of the dewdrops changed with the flow of Spiritual Qi, wriggling like living things. The rise and fall of each light pattern was in sync with the pulse of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Upon closer inspection, the light patterns even faintly overlapped with the direction of the blood vessels in his palm.
At the end of that trajectory, a faint gray line extended northwestward along the earth's veins. The aura flowing within the gray line was of the same origin as the strange aura from before, as if an invisible Spirit Vein lay hidden deep within the earth, drawing his senses in, even causing his soul to tilt slightly in sync with the direction of the gray line. It was as if an invisible hand was gently tugging at his mind from afar; the tugging sensation was not intense, yet like a persistent leech, it could not be shaken off.
"Is this the lair?" Ren Xiaoyao tapped his toes, and a golden ripple spread across the Jade Soil beneath his feet. As the ripples spread, tiny spiritual herbs swayed, as if bidding him farewell. Golden light flowed within the ripples, casting long shadows of the herbs, like a reluctant farewell. Dewdrops fell from the blades of grass, creating tiny craters in the Jade Soil, which were instantly smoothed out by the golden ripples.
His figure transformed into a golden rainbow and soared into the sky. As the golden rainbow pierced the sky, it left a faint trail of light, instantly tearing through the clear sky. The trail of light lingered in the air for a long time, like a golden ribbon connecting heaven and earth, with tiny specks of light flowing on the ribbon, like crushed stars.
Behind him, the pillar of light piercing the heavens and earth continued to slowly revolve. The Sun, Moon, and Stars Phantoms within the pillar descended like migratory birds returning to their nests, merging into the resonant energy of the Spirit Mountain and rivers. The mountains trembled slightly from the resonance, and the vines on the cliffs swayed accordingly, dewdrops rolling down and striking the rocks with crisp sounds. His figure had long since vanished into the horizon, following that wisp of energy towards the deepest part of the Dark Abyss. The resonance between the pillar of light and the mountains and rivers was like a silent song, gradually fading away behind him, yet its lingering echo reverberating deep within his soul.
The further northwest one goes, the denser the yin energy in the earth's veins becomes. The rocks underfoot gradually change from bluish-gray to jet black, as black as solidified ink, absorbing most of the light. With each step, one can feel the bone-chilling cold emanating from the rocks, as if stepping on Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice. The cold energy rises from the soles of the feet, but is instantly incinerated by the Chaos Current when it touches the dantian, turning into a wisp of white vapor that rises from the top of the head.
Thick black mist seeped from the cracks in the rocks from time to time. After landing, the black Yin Qi condensed into wisps of yin energy, which felt as cold as ice to the bone. Even the golden light around him rippled slightly. When the golden light collided with Yin Qi yin energy, it made a soft "sizzling" sound. The sound was like ice and snow melting, but it also carried the fierce clash of two forces. The Yin Qi was burned into green smoke by the golden light. Countless fragments of souls drifted in the green smoke. Upon closer inspection, they were all blurry human face outlines.
Along the way, countless white bones piled up into mountains, some thousands of feet high. Unresolved resentment lingered in the gaps between the bones, coalescing into grotesque ghost faces. Eerie green flames flickered in the eye sockets of these faces, but as they approached the golden light surrounding Ren Xiaoyao, they instantly turned into wisps of smoke—ironclad evidence of the Great Skeleton Demon's countless years of devouring life. Each wisp of smoke carried a faint sigh, a sigh tinged with relief and resentment. The sighs, ethereal Ruyan, dissipated in the wind of the Dark Abyss. Where the wind passed, a soft "crack" echoed from the bone mountains, as if bones were moving in the shadows.
After traversing countless Dark Abyss, a strange valley suddenly appeared ahead. The valley seemed to be a forgotten corner of heaven and earth, exuding a deathly stillness that isolated it from the world. Even the sound of the wind seemed to stand still, with only the clear echo of one's own heartbeat reverberating in one's ears.
The pile of white bones at the edge of the valley stopped abruptly at the cliff, as if blocked by an invisible barrier. The air at the barrier was slightly distorted, and faint purple light patterns could be seen flowing within. In the center was a clearing with a diameter of a thousand feet. The soil of the clearing was a strange dark purple color, and when you stepped on it, you could feel a slight elasticity, as if you were stepping on the skin of some kind of giant beast. Tiny specks of light occasionally emerged from the soil, dissipating upon contact.
In the center of the open space stood a colossal tree, its trunk so thick that it would take over a thousand people to encircle it. The tree pierced the sky, like a Mysterious Iron supporting the heavens, casting its shadow over the entire valley. The shadow on the ground stretched out like the outline of a giant beast, and the space at the edge of the shadow was slightly distorted, making it impossible to see the true boundary of the shadow.
The tree had no leaves or flowers, its branches twisted like coiled dragons, each branch covered with protruding knots, resembling the skeleton of a giant beast. These knots varied in size and were arranged in a pleasing pattern, as if containing some mysterious rhythm. Touching them lightly with a fingertip, one could feel the knots pulsating slightly, like the beating of a heart.
The bark is covered with Primordial Chaos patterns, which sometimes converge and sometimes disperse, like the imprint of the Great Beginning of Heaven and Earth slowly flowing. In the flow, tiny specks of light can be seen shuttling through the patterns. The specks of light are like stars, flickering uncertainly in the Primordial Chaos patterns. If you listen carefully, the specks of light make a faint "tick-tock" sound as they shuttle through, which is subtly synchronized with the flow of time in the world.
Each branch pierces the sky, yet vanishes into Void at the towering heights, as if connecting to an unknown dimension beyond the Three Realms. From this Void, tiny streams of Chaos Current occasionally drift down, nourishing the giant tree like sweet rain. The trajectory of these drifting streams resembles the most beautiful arc in the world, and where the arcs intersect, translucent petals can be faintly seen quietly blooming, only to disappear in an instant.
Most remarkably, deep within the tree trunk, a faint, seven-colored light flowed, within which one could see the illusory images of mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, the sun, moon, and stars, as if nurturing countless worlds. This caused the surrounding Chaos Current to swirl around it as if in worship, forming a visible Spiritual Energy Vortex. The rotation speed of the vortex varied with the brightness of the light, sometimes as fast as a cascading waterfall, sometimes as slow as a flowing spring. The world within that light seemed to truly exist, where Mortals experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death, and where cultivators attained enlightenment and ascended to immortality. It stirred a longing in one's heart, and for a moment, one even felt a desire to leap into it.
" The Chaos Mother Tree!" Ren Xiaoyao's pupils shrank sharply, his heart surging with shock, and he even missed a beat. These four words landed heavily in his mind, bringing unparalleled shock. The Chaos Current within his body surged violently at this moment, as if it wanted to break out of his body and throw itself into the embrace of the Mother Tree.
Legend has it that the Chaos Mother Tree was the first Innate Spirit Root born at the beginning of World Creation, capable of nurturing the purest Chaos Qi and bearing the imprint of the Origin of All Things. Its fruit can enable Mortals to instantly become immortals, and its sap can allow cultivators to break through the barriers of their cultivation realm. Every legend highlights its divine and extraordinary nature. Ancient books contain only a few words about it, yet every word is like a pearl, drawing countless cultivators to spend their entire lives searching for its traces.
Such a divine object had disappeared from the world millions of years ago, yet it appeared here! This sudden encounter left him momentarily dazed, as if he were in a dream. He subconsciously pinched himself, and the clear pain told him that everything before him was real.
The aura he had just sensed from the Great Skeleton Demon emanated from the roots of this mother tree—clearly, the demon's ability to coalesce from millennia of resentment was entirely due to the nourishment of the Chaos Power emanating from the mother tree, allowing it to cultivate its power within the Dark Abyss. The resentment and Chaos Power intertwined, forming such a bizarre force. The cycle of cause and effect, so that's how it is. His doubts vanished at this moment, only to be replaced by a new question: Why was this Chaos Mother Tree present in the Dark Abyss?
Just as he approached within a hundred feet of the mother tree, the space at the edge of the valley suddenly twisted violently, like a piece of paper crumpled by an invisible giant hand. Unstable spiritual light flickered at the folds of space, as if it would collapse at any moment. The twisted space was like a broken mirror, reflecting bizarre and grotesque scenes, with countless blurry shadows struggling within it, emitting silent roars.
A dark shadow, obscuring the sky, tore through the void. The gale it created upon landing sent boulders flying, instantly covering half the valley. The howling wind, like the roar of a wild beast, caused the boulders to crash against the rock walls with a series of rapid sounds. The Ancient Runes on the rock walls were activated by the impact, glowing with a pale red light that countered the shadow's aura.
The dark figure resembled a giant wolf, but it had nine heads, each the size of a small mountain. The hair on its heads stood up like steel needles, gleaming with a metallic sheen. Each hair was as sharp as a blade, gleaming with a cold, chilling light in the dim light. Tiny Space Fragments were wrapped around the hair, making a crisp "clinking" sound when they collided.
Black saliva dripped from its mouth, and when it fell to the ground, it corroded a bottomless Black Hole. From within the Black Hole, countless wails could be faintly heard; they were the cries of the Remnant Souls of Living Beings it had devoured. The wails were extremely shrill, chilling to the bone, and causing a sharp pain to the soul, as if being pierced by countless needles.
Surrounded by a gray, all-consuming aura, it even absorbed light, creating a distorted darkness on its surface, within which tiny Space Fragments occasionally flashed. That darkness seemed capable of devouring all hope, bringing endless despair; those who approached would involuntarily recall their most painful memories, their minds instantly shattered.
"Awooo--" The nine heads roared simultaneously, the sound causing rocks to fall from the valley walls. The sound of the rocks crashing together echoed like thunder in the valley, making the air tremble. The roar contained boundless anger and domineering power, as if declaring its sovereignty. Wherever the sound waves passed, the ground cracked open with spiderweb-like fissures, from which dark red liquid seeped out, as if the earth was bleeding.
" Ren Xiaoyao, this tree is my protected object, how dare you touch it?" The voices of the nine heads were all different, some ancient and creaking like old trees in the wind, others sharp like tearing silk cutting through iron, yet all carrying the same unquestionable domineering air, as if they controlled the rules of this world. Each word was like a heavy hammer, striking the air and creating layers of sound waves, mixed with gray air currents that swept towards Ren Xiaoyao.
Ren Xiaoyao's eyes sharpened, and the Chaos Current within his body instantly boiled like water in a pot. Golden light surged around him, dispelling the surrounding darkness by three feet. His gaze was sharp as a knife as he fearlessly met the nine heads, a cold smile curving his lips as if mocking their overestimation of their abilities.
He shouted in a deep voice, " Chaos Gluttonous Demon!" These three words carried Righteous Awe, like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath, piercing through the surrounding darkness. As the words landed, golden ripples spread out in layers, shattering the gray sound waves.
The Chaos Gluttonous Demon, a ferocious beast renowned Three Realms Ancient Times, feeds on the Chaos Power. Legend has it that its stomach is an independent Small World, capable of containing all things from three thousand Small World, and it particularly enjoys devouring Innate Spirit Root. Its fearsome reputation is known to all in the Three Realms, and even the Buddhas frown when they mention it.
Ancient texts record that this creature once swallowed a Bodhi Tree from the Western Pure Bliss World, enraging the Tathagata Buddha, who personally intervened to suppress it. However, he was unable to completely destroy it and could only seal it in the endless void. Its formidable power is evident.
Unexpectedly, such a ferocious beast, which only exists in ancient books, would be guarding the Chaos Mother Tree here. There must be an unknown reason for this. Ren Xiaoyao was filled with doubts, but he dared not be careless in the slightest. He quietly formed hand seals, ready to deal with the opponent's attack at any time.
Before Ren Xiaoyao could think it through, the Gluttonous Demon had already launched its attack. Its movements were as fast as lightning, giving no one time to react. The eyes of its nine heads turned ferocious at the same time, and its mouths grinned, revealing its gleaming white fangs.
Its leftmost head suddenly lunged forward, its massive mouth opening wide. A suction force a hundred times stronger than the phantom of the Chaos Cauldron erupted abruptly, as if the entire valley had become its mouth. The Spiritual Energy Vortex in the valley instantly reversed, even uprooting the rocks beneath Ren Xiaoyao's feet, turning them into a stream of stones that flew towards its mouth. The space along its path was slightly deformed by this suction force, forming visible folds. The suction force was like a Bottomless Abyss, threatening to devour everything in the world. Even light was bent under this suction force, forming eerie arcs.
Ren Xiaoyao snorted coldly, his hands forming hand seals like weaving through flowers, the traces left by his fingertips leaving a faint golden light, and the illusory image of the Chaos Cauldron reappeared behind him. His movements were fluid and graceful, carrying a natural Daoist charm, each hand seal containing the simplest and purest principles of the Great Dao.
This time, however, it was no longer a blurry phantom. The dark golden patterns on the cauldron's body lit up completely, as if countless stars were burning within them. Starlight flowed along the patterns, illuminating the entire cauldron as if it were cast in gold. The starlight was dazzling and brilliant, seemingly able to illuminate the entire Dark Abyss. The light contained a warm power that calmed the mind.
Three Thousand Great Dao Runes swirled around the mouth of the cauldron, emitting a buzzing Dao sound that echoed through the valley, forming rings of golden sound waves that actually withstood the Taotie's suction force. The Dao sound was like celestial music, containing a calming power; wherever the sound waves passed, the gray air currents melted away like ice and snow, revealing the original color of the space.
The flow of stone stopped a foot in front of him, instantly shattering into dust. The dust transformed into tiny Spiritual Energy Particles within the golden light. These Spiritual Energy Particles, like mischievous sprites, leaped and danced in the golden light. As they collided, they condensed into tiny lotus flowers. After blooming, the lotus flowers transformed into even purer Spiritual Qi, merging into Ren Xiaoyao's body.
" Dao Punishment Lightning!" With a flick of his finger, the Purple-Gold Lightning that had previously shattered the great demon coalesced once more. This time, it was as thick as a giant dragon, its Dragon Head held high, its body coiled, and countless " Evil-Suppressing " runes dancing within the lightning arcs, like countless golden tadpoles swimming in lightning water. Each rune exuded a sacred aura. The thunderous Dragon Qi, as if it could judge all evil in the world. When its eyes opened, two beams of golden light shot out, illuminating every corner of the valley.
The lightning, carrying the power to tear apart Primordial Chaos, struck towards the very center of the gluttonous demon's head. Wherever it passed, a long white streak was cleaved through the space, revealing Void within it. Its power was unstoppable, determined to utterly destroy the evil before it. A dense Destructive Aura filled the air, causing the surrounding Chaos Current to tremble.
The gluttonous demon, however, showed no fear. Its middle head opened its massive maw, spewing out a cloud of gray mist that instantly enveloped the lightning. Its eyes were filled with disdain, as if mocking the lightning's overestimation of its power, and a mocking smile even played on its lips.
It swallowed the lightning whole, a huge bulge forming in its throat that slid down its neck. The bulge rolled in its throat as if a living creature were struggling within it, and wherever the bulge passed, the gray fur stood on end, gleaming with a dangerous light.
A deep, rumbling sound came from its belly, as if a thousand horses were galloping inside, causing its massive body to tremble slightly. The thunder echoed in its belly, but could not break through the barrier. In the end, it turned into tiny electric currents that seeped out from its pores, forming a faint layer of electric light on its surface.
Then it let out a burp, exhaling a wisp of green smoke, within which tiny sparks of electricity crackled. The burp carried a hint of contempt, as if boasting of its power, and its nine heads shook simultaneously, as if mocking Ren Xiaoyao's incompetence.
All nine heads simultaneously revealed mocking smiles. The head on the far right grinned, revealing sharp fangs. "This little bit of lightning isn't even enough to fill my teeth!" The smile was full of provocation, igniting a burning rage within one, as if the blood in one's veins was being ignited and roaring through one's veins.
Before he finished speaking, the nine heads of the Gluttonous Demon simultaneously spewed out gray streams of energy. The streams of energy were like nine long gray dragons, rushing towards Ren Xiaoyao. The Dragon Head opened, revealing ferocious faces, and the dragon claws swung, tearing through space with a hissing sound.
The airflow spread out in a fan shape, gnawing jagged gaps into the space it passed through. Unstable spiritual light flickered at the gaps, as if they might be annihilated at any moment. The destructive power of the airflow was astonishing; everything in its path was devoured, even hard rocks were instantly reduced to Void, leaving only faint gray marks.
It even devoured most of the Chaos Qi emanating from the Chaos Mother Tree, transforming it into a denser gray energy that flowed back into itself, intensifying the darkness around it and making the eyes of its nine heads even more ferocious. Its power continued to grow, and its aura became increasingly terrifying, causing the temperature in the valley to plummet as if it had instantly plunged into an ice cellar.
Upon seeing this, Ren Xiaoyao's fighting spirit surged like a raging fire, and the golden light around him took on a scorching heat. His fighting spirit was like a blazing flame, determined to turn all obstacles into ashes. His hair danced in the golden light, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, locked tightly on the nine heads of the gluttonous demon.
He took a step forward, his figure merging with the illusory image of the Chaos Cauldron behind him. He transformed into a stream of dark golden light, within which the patterns of the Chaos Cauldron could be seen rapidly flowing. Each Dao Patterns seemed to come alive, stretching and contracting in the stream of light, releasing even more powerful Chaos Power. The stream of light moved extremely fast, tearing through space with a sharp whistling sound. The air in front of it was compressed into a transparent barrier, exploding with a deafening roar the moment it collided with the gray airflow.
He charged towards the gray current, shouting, "Since you enjoy devouring, then taste the true flavor of Chaos Power!" His voice, carrying golden light, resounded like thunder in the valley, the sound waves causing ripples in the gray current. The devoured Chaos Qi trembled slightly within the sound waves, as if trying to break free.
The moment the cauldron collided with the gray airflow, heaven and earth seemed to stand still. Time seemed to freeze at this moment, and even the air stopped flowing. Only two extreme forces were confronting each other, forming an invisible barrier that divided the valley in two. The scenes on both sides of the barrier were completely different - one side was dazzling with dark gold light, and the other side was churning with gray air as black as ink.