The Ancient Emperor hadn't even had time to react before his body was instantly enveloped in blood-red light. The spiritual energy within him fell into disarray, and he couldn't even release his magic treasure.
"Six Desires, you little brat! What are you doing?!"
The Ancient Emperor's eyes widened like copper bells as he roared toward Devil Lord Six Desires.
Devil Lord Six Desires curled his lips into a faint smile. "A mere Early Spirit Severing Realm ant is naturally useful for buying this lord some time."
"You're not worthy of obtaining the things in the Ancient God Land."
With the Desolate Beast already upon him, the Ancient Emperor had no choice but to bite through the tip of his tongue and spit out a mouthful of scarlet blood. He gathered all his energy before him, trying only to withstand the Desolate Beast's attack.
Yet this Desolate Beast had long since reached the peak of the Late Spirit Severing Realm. Against it, the Ancient Emperor, a mere Early Spirit Severing Realm ant, had virtually no means of resistance.
A sharp hiss rang out. The Ancient Emperor's body was pierced in an instant, and scorching blood sprayed out like a fountain.
"You damned bastards!"
The Ancient Emperor staggered backward two steps. Looking toward Devil Lord Six Desires and the others, who were already far away, he rapidly moved his fingers and roared, "Even if I have to self-destruct, I'll make sure every one of you bastards is reduced to ashes!"
"Explode!"
The Ancient Emperor's fingers danced rapidly before his chest. In the blink of an eye, the Nascent Soul within him began to swell, then exploded amid everyone's stunned gazes.
The roar of the Nascent Soul's self-destruction erupted across the Ancient God Land. Golden flames, wrapped in wild spiritual energy, collapsed and burst forth like a sun gone out of control, hurling away every layer of rock within a hundred li.
The low-level Desolate Beasts that couldn't escape in time were crushed into dust by the waves of light, without even a wail left behind.
Though Devil Lord Six Desires was already several li away, the shockwave still sent his blood and energy surging. He whipped around, a flicker of alarm in his eyes.
"Damn old bastard, he actually self-destructed! Isn't he afraid of making the Ancient God Land collapse?!"
Before he'd finished speaking, a sharp surge of spiritual energy suddenly came from the heart of the flames. Before self-destructing, the Ancient Emperor had attached the last trace of his soul to a broken fragment of a magic treasure. It became a faint golden streak that shot straight for Devil Lord Six Desires' back.
The golden streak arrived in an instant. The defensive artifact at Devil Lord Six Desires' waist automatically lit up, forming a blood-red barrier, but the soul's all-or-nothing strike pierced straight through it.
Devil Lord Six Desires grunted, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he staggered half a step. The golden streak, meanwhile, was struck by the blood-colored spiritual energy the moment it touched the barrier, and dissipated completely into the air.
In the distance, the flames gradually faded, leaving behind only a bottomless crater. The residual warmth of the Ancient Emperor's spiritual energy lingered at its base.
After a brief period of chaos, the demonic beasts once again converged toward the direction Devil Lord Six Desires had gone. This time, though, their eyes held a little more fear of death.
Devil Lord Six Desires spat out a mouthful of scarlet blood. Looking at Meng the Hunchback and Devil Lord Duanmu Ji, he snapped, "Damn the Ancient Emperor! What do we do now?"
After the Ancient Emperor's self-destruction, the space in the first trial changed. Countless cracks appeared, and any cultivator who touched one could be swallowed whole.
Duanmu Ji crushed the magic treasure in his hand, gritted his teeth, and said, "Every man for himself. See you in the third trial."
Before Devil Lord Six Desires could react, Duanmu Ji used the energy of his magic treasure to vanish in an instant. He had already entered the second trial.
Devil Lord Six Desires and Meng the Hunchback were, after all, powerhouses from a thousand years ago. After a brief exchange, they too released their magic treasures and flew straight toward the passage to the second trial.
Seeing that the others had already left, Luo Chuan slowly came to a stop. He glanced sideways at the Desolate Beast catching up to him and snorted.
"A mere beast at the peak of the Late Spirit Severing Realm dares to act insolently before me?"
Luo Chuan raised his right hand slightly beneath his sleeve. The silver-white Jade Flute shot out, transforming in midair into a flying dagger that hurtled straight toward the Desolate Beast.
This Desolate Beast had only reached such strength by borrowing a corpse. As long as Luo Chuan killed the parasite inside it, he could destroy it outright.
A thunderous boom rang out!
The moment the flying dagger pierced the Desolate Beast's body, the parasite within had no chance to resist. It instantly crumbled to dust and vanished into thin air.
Luo Chuan twitched his fingers, extracting the dragon marrow from the Desolate Beast's body and storing it in a medicine bottle. He'd give it to Liu Mei and A-Dai when he returned.
With the Desolate Beast slain, Luo Chuan reached the entrance to the first trial. All he had to do now was enter and he could easily pass through it.
If he remembered correctly, entering the first trial had something to do with yin and yang and the Five Elements.
Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—five different trials in all, each with dangers entirely unlike the others. Passing through any one of them would take him straight to the second trial.
Luo Chuan rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes, thinking, If I remember right, Nado's storage bag from back then should be in the earth-element trial.
In the original story, Nado was a cultivator from the Five Elements Planet. His strength had once reached the Ascendant Realm, but after suffering severe injuries, his cultivation had fallen until he was only at the Yingbian Realm.
Nado had originally planned to find a magic treasure in the Ancient God Land to repair himself, but Duomu and the others pursued him relentlessly. In the end, he left his storage bag behind in the treasure pavilion within the Ancient God Land.
For a powerhouse in the Ascendant Realm, a storage bag was dispensable. But inside this one was a Star Disk—the essential item that would help Nado return to his home planet.
He would need a Star Disk himself when he traveled to other planets in the future, so getting his hands on it was the best choice.
As for Nado coming to demand it back someday, that would depend on whether he had what it took.
With that thought, Luo Chuan appeared in the earth-element trial. He released his divine sense at the same time, enveloping every living creature in the area.
The Earth-Element Land wasn't nearly as peaceful as he'd imagined. Yellow sand swirled everywhere, along with countless demonic beasts and many towering tornadoes a hundred meters high.
Looking closely, he saw that the tornadoes were made entirely of demonic beasts. Every time they beat their wings, they created several sandstorms of different heights.
Xu Liguo wore a mournful expression. Seeing the tornadoes bearing down on him, he cursed inwardly, "It's over. This time, I'm really done for. If I'd known, I would've fought him to the death."
"A mere Golden Core or Nascent Soul Realm beast dares to act insolently before me? Die."
Luo Chuan ignored the sweeping tornadoes and thrust out his right hand. A surge of tremendous energy blasted forth, smashing into the very center of the tornado.