Taotie

"Hand it over, and I can guarantee no one dies~" the Demon Lord said with a vicious grin.

"No way." Ye Mo refused sharply.

"Then don't blame me for doing this the hard way!" The Demon Lord immediately merged with his demon spirit. His powerful aura forced everyone except Shangguan Ye back.

"So strong! Nie Li, he's gotten much stronger!" Yu Yan said solemnly.

"Yeah. Judging by that aura, he's at least at the Heavenly Fate Third Realm. Shangguan's aura should be at the Heavenly Fate Realm too, but I can't sense his exact realm." Nie Li glanced toward Shangguan Ye.

"Heavenly Fate Third Realm? That's your confidence?" Shangguan Ye could not help laughing. The Demon Lord's strength was only equal to his own when he had finished the trial.

Shangguan Ye unleashed his full strength, and the overwhelming aura sent everyone flying back again.

"Heavenly Fate Eighth Realm? Impossible! How could you advance so quickly?!" The Demon Lord's CPU temperature skyrocketed. He had clung to life through the Spirit Dwelling for so long and had finally found a Supreme Body, yet after encountering Shangguan Ye, he had suffered setback after setback. Losing his mind for a moment, the Demon Lord charged at Ye Mo to snatch it by force, but Shangguan Ye seized the opportunity and blasted him straight into the ground with a Skyfall Rasengan.

"Damn it!" The Demon Lord slowly crawled to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth. After taking Shangguan Ye's attack, he regained his senses.

"Ye Mo! You'd better hide that thing well! I'll definitely come back for it!" The Demon Lord transformed into a streak of light and fled.

"Shangguan, aren't we pursuing him?" Nie Li stepped forward and asked.

"Don't chase a cornered foe. If that guy really risked his life, he'd still be troublesome. There'll be plenty of chances to deal with him later," Shangguan Ye explained.

"That's true. With so many people here, we can't look after everyone either."

"Lord Ye Mo, may I ask what exactly the Demon Lord wanted?" Shangguan Ye knew that the man wanted a Demon Spirit Stone, but he did not know what kind of demon spirit it contained.

"Alas." Ye Mo let out a long sigh and extended his hand. A Demon Spirit Stone glowing with a crimson light slowly appeared. As everyone drew closer to inspect it, they saw a strange-looking Monster Beast sleeping within.

"Huh? What kind of demon spirit is that? It's so ugly." Xiao Xue looked disgusted.

"Come to think of it, I don't recognize this Monster Beast either. This Demon Spirit Stone has been passed down through generations of City Lords, so the Progenitor should know more about it." Ye Mo looked toward Ye Yan.

"Uh, although I passed down this Demon Spirit Stone, it didn't originate from me." Ye Yan shook his head.

"Then where did this Demon Spirit Stone come from?"

"That happened many years ago." Ye Yan raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle and began reminiscing.

"Back then, when the five of us Legendary Spirit Masters led the surviving humans in flight, this Monster Beast suddenly appeared and devoured many of our fellow people. Even the five of us joining forces could not harm it in the slightest. We thought we were doomed, but then a senior stepped in. In only a few moves, he subdued and killed the Monster Beast, extracted its demon spirit, and made this Demon Spirit Stone. Unfortunately, that senior seemed somewhat mad. He kept muttering, 'The Infinite began without beginning; only beginningless is endless.'"

!!!

The moment those words were spoken, Shangguan Ye and Nie Li were both utterly shocked.

Ten large characters appeared in Shangguan Ye's mind: The Infinite began without beginning; only beginningless is endless. Then, fragmented insights followed.

"Is this... the insight of that soul body? That's right, that guy was Emperor Kongming's inheritor. I absorbed him, so I became the new inheritor. Does that mean Nie Li and I are destined to fight?" Shangguan Ye looked at Nie Li, and a rare trace of anxiety appeared on his face.

At that moment, Du Ze's pupils suddenly became golden vertical slits, and his voice turned extremely deep and resounding.

"Hey, old man, was that old fellow you mentioned white-haired and dressed in rags?"

"Hm?" Ye Yan froze for a moment, but Nie Li promptly explained.

"Progenitor, don't misunderstand. The Sky Qilin Demonic Beast is speaking."

"So that's it. Just as you said."

Nie Li suddenly pieced many things together.

"According to Sister Yu Yan, the Black Flame Tower was left behind when two great experts fought. One died and the other was injured. Those two should have been Emperor Kongming's inheritors. The survivor was that old man from the Black Prison World. It now seems that he was also the one who saved Progenitor Ye Yan and suppressed the Sky Qilin Demonic Beast. Luckily, I was still weak at the time. Otherwise, I would have already died back then." A chill ran down Nie Li's back.

"So no one knows this Monster Beast after all?" Lu Piao complained resentfully.

Only then did everyone come back to their senses and begin examining the Monster Beast again.

"I don't know it either." Nie Li shook his head, and everyone turned to Shangguan Ye.

"It looks like a Paoxiao: a sheep's body, tiger teeth, a human head and arms, but its eyes are under its armpits... If I'm not mistaken, this should be Taotie," Shangguan Ye said slowly.

"Taotie?" Everyone looked puzzled. Clearly, they had never heard of it.

"Taotie is one of the four great ancient ferocious beasts. It is gluttonous by nature, extremely vicious, and grows stronger by constantly devouring," Shangguan Ye briefly explained.

"I see. Then I understand now. The Demon Lord must have cultivated the Demon Spirit Devouring Great Law. That Cultivation Method has immense side effects, but paired with a Supreme Body and this Taotie, it's simply a match made in heaven. Fortunately, he didn't succeed today." Nie Li breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ye Mo, I think we should give this demon spirit to Little Ye. Keeping it around will always be a danger," Ye Yan suggested.

"That works." Ye Mo handed over the Demon Spirit Stone.

"I happen to have a good way to deal with it." Shangguan Ye picked up the Demon Spirit Stone and examined it repeatedly.

"What way?"

With a thought, Shangguan Ye brought everyone into the Mountain River Space. It was the first time Ye Yan, Ye Mo, and Ye Zong had entered this place. Pure, abundant Soul Power instantly poured into their bodies. The three sat cross-legged and absorbed it, and their strength improved slightly in only a short while.

"I never imagined that Little Ye's Sea of Soul would actually be an entire world. What an eye-opener," Ye Mo exclaimed after opening his eyes.

"Haha, let's not talk about that for now. Let's begin." Shangguan Ye took out the Demon Spirit Stone and began fusing with it. Before everyone's eyes, Taotie's massive figure slowly appeared.

Roar!

The moment Taotie landed, it threw back its head and roared, venting its dissatisfaction. Then it looked at everyone, opened its huge mouth, and a powerful suction force began pulling at them.

"Everyone, hold steady!"

Shangguan Ye waved his hand, and the Space Law instantly enveloped everyone. Taotie's attack failed, so it turned and charged at Shangguan Ye, determined to swallow him whole. Just as Taotie's enormous jaws were about to reach Shangguan Ye, a massive golden dragon tail lashed down from the clouds and sent Taotie flying. It smashed through countless mountains along the way. The Golden Saint Dragon King's dragon head slowly emerged from the clouds, its ten-thousand-zhang body continuously rolling within them.

Taotie slowly rose to its feet and shook its head. Once it saw its opponent clearly, it remained fearless and opened its mouth to bite. The Golden Saint Dragon King flew out and instantly coiled around Taotie. With a slight exertion of force, the immense pressure made Taotie suffer unbearably. It opened its mouth and roared, and the Golden Saint Dragon King fired a golden sphere of light into Taotie's mouth.

Boom

Taotie's body instantly swelled from the tremendous energy before going limp. Suddenly, vines rose from the ground one after another, pierced into Taotie's body, and began absorbing it.

As the Divine Tree continuously absorbed Taotie, it began to change as well.

Its originally towering trunk began shrinking. Branches sprouted from it, dark-red leaves grew one after another, and many strange demon patterns appeared along the trunk. It looked like a corrupted version of the Bitter Love Tree.

"Shangguan, nothing will go wrong, right?" Nie Li asked.

"It'll be fine." Shangguan Ye walked up to the Divine Tree, and it lowered a branch to rub against him.

"Not bad."