The Northern Abyss Crab Clan

The Northern Abyss Crab Clan

Xuanji raced through the clouds at full speed toward the vast Demon Tree Forest. With the clouds carrying him swiftly, he caught sight of the boundless, pitch-black forest wreathed in demonic energy after only a few minutes. He immediately used Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend Transformation, turning into a mosquito and flying toward it. He kept his aura concealed and sought a hidden spot as soon as he entered the forest, taking every possible precaution. Though he believed he could hold his own against anyone below the Heavenly Immortal realm, running into a Heavenly Immortal would spell disaster.

He headed north without any particular destination in mind, so he could only search at random. Still, Xuanji wasn't worried. The Six Races of the Eastern Wasteland dominated the region, and with chaos about to erupt, there was bound to be a great commotion. He wasn't afraid he'd fail to find them.

As he traveled, Xuanji took his time, occasionally collecting Demon Trees and plants to bring into the Ancient Wild World. The world had evolved further during this period, and now spanned forty thousand li. With the Sun Moon Pearl in his possession, the laws of Yin and Yang had begun to take shape; embryonic forms of the Sun Star and Moon Star had appeared. He needed only to absorb Golden Sun Flame and Lunar Dark Ice to complete the sun and moon.

Time passed, and before he knew it, more than a month had gone by. Along the way, he had collected countless Demon Trees and plants, ten Earth Immortal Giant Beast corpses, and two Heavenly Immortal Giant Beast corpses. The Ancient Wild World's Heavenly Realm and Netherworld had both grown considerably, and several new metals and kinds of jade had formed underground. Its territory now spanned forty-five thousand li. At last, he saw the northern edge of the Demon Tree Forest—and beyond it, a vast sea, its waves surging as far as the eye could see.

He shuddered. Since arriving in the Primordial World, Xuanji had never seen the sea. The Four Seas lay at the edges of the Primordial World's landmass, and reaching them would be incredibly difficult for someone like him. The Primordial World was simply too vast. Even if his Earth Immortal early-stage Primordial Avatar flew at top speed from the vicinity of Mount Buzhou, it would take at least ten years to reach the Four Seas, assuming he never stopped along the way.

"A sea? I've never heard of a sea existing within the Primordial World's landmass!" Unable to make sense of it, Xuanji hurried forward, astonished. This was the first time he had seen the sea in either of his lives, and he couldn't pass up the chance to explore it. The vast sea was dangerous, but that meant little to a cultivator—especially one with Xuanji's current cultivation and strength. He had no fear of the sea's natural forces; the only things he needed to watch out for were its aquatic monsters and Giant Beasts.

When he reached the shore, a flash of light enveloped Xuanji, and he turned into a tiny crab, no bigger than a thumb. He had the form and essence down perfectly. His true form was a river crab, so transforming into one came easily.

Splash!

Xuanji leaped straight into the sea, sending water flying. The moment he entered, it was as if the world had changed. In the clear, azure waters, aquatic plants grew in abundance, and reefs and coral appeared here and there in a dazzling array of colors. As he swam deeper, he spotted all kinds of aquatic life—fish, shrimp, turtles, crabs, and more—hundreds and thousands of them, in countless varieties.

"How... how could this be? These are ordinary aquatic creatures. Some of them are cultivators, but their cultivation is no more than Qi Induction or Golden Core." Xuanji was deeply shaken. The aura of gods and demons shrouded the Primordial World, and no living creature could escape it. Even aquatic beings, protected by rivers, lakes, and seas, were no exception. The aquatic races should all be Giant Beasts and enormous water monsters by now. After all, the Era of Giant Beasts had only just begun, and it should take at least ten thousand years for new life to evolve. The creatures of the Primordial World were all supposed to belong to the first generation.

Suddenly, Xuanji realized how little he understood about the Primordial World. Nothing was as simple as he had imagined. The Six Races of the Eastern Wasteland had already slipped beyond his control, and now the existence of ordinary creatures and demons had completely overturned his calculations. There had to be some explanation he didn't know about. The aura of gods and demons had shrouded the Primordial World for about a month; it should have been impossible for these creatures to escape the Great Beast Calamity by sheer luck. But how else could he explain the countless ordinary creatures before him?

Xuanji still had plenty of other questions. He had transmigrated to the Primordial World in the final year of the First Era; that could be blamed on bad luck, but how could the first three eras have unfolded in only a single yuanhui? That didn't match what he remembered. According to what he'd learned in his previous life, never mind the Era of Giant Beasts at the dawn of the Primordial World—even the Era of Ferocious Beasts had lasted no less than a thousand, perhaps ten thousand yuanhui. And his own transmigration was another mystery. Had he really just been hit by a car?

"Alas, there are too many mysteries. I can only unravel them bit by bit." With a sigh, Xuanji quickly pulled his thoughts back to the present. He had plenty to deal with: the Six Races, the Three Disasters and Eight Calamities he needed to prepare for, and now this aquatic race in the vast sea.

Rumble! Splash, splash!

Amid the surging currents, a hundred-zhang-long Tiger Shark approached, its Earth Immortal early-stage aura spreading out. Every aquatic creature immediately prostrated itself. Seeing it, Xuanji thought that his Primordial Avatar should be strong enough to kill a Giant Beast with only Earth Immortal early-stage cultivation.

"You lowly aquatic creatures, go to Holy King City at once!" A coarse voice boomed in their minds through telepathic transmission. The Tiger Shark Giant Beast was clearly the one speaking. Beasts needed to refine the horizontal bone in their throats to speak human words; a cultivator with a Primordial Spirit could refine it. But Giant Beasts were different. Their bodies were powerful, and their souls and magical power fused with their flesh. They had no Primordial Spirits, and their only path to the Great Dao was body refinement—to Proving the Dao with Strength. Yet even Pangu's Power and Proving the Dao with Strength had ended in death and nirvana. The descendants of gods and demons were unwelcome in the Primordial World, and were even more worthless than the Wu Race!

"Holy King City? Since when was there a second city in the Primordial World?" Xuanji mingled with the hundred or so crabs gathered together, puzzled. The giant crabs around him were each several meters long, so his tiny form didn't stand out at all.

"Holy King City! I never thought we'd get to see this famous city on the Northern Abyss River!" A common giant crab about a meter long bubbled excitedly under its breath. Xuanji understood crab speech, so he could make out what it said. He was immediately startled. A river? This wasn't a sea, but a river? What kind of river was this, to be so enormous?

Wait! The Northern Abyss? The North Abyss? Kunpeng?

Xuanji had been fascinated by ancient texts in his previous life, so he would never have overlooked Zhuangzi's Free and Easy Wandering. It recorded: "In the northern darkness there is a fish, whose name is Kun. The Kun is so huge, no one knows how many thousand li it spans. It changes into a bird, whose name is Peng. The Peng's back is so huge, no one knows how many thousand li it spans. When it rises in flight, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky." Kunpeng excelled at transformation and understood all things. He had helped the Heavenly Emperor bring order to the world and had been invested as the Nine Heavens Kunpeng, making him one of the most renowned figures in the Primordial World. By combining ancient texts, novels, and myths, Xuanji had figured out that the Heavenly Emperor in Zhuangzi was the first Heavenly Emperor of the Primordial World—Demon Emperor Dijun. Kunpeng had helped him bring order to the world by uniting the demons of the Primordial World. As for the investiture, "Nine Heavens Kunpeng" was merely an honorific; Demon Master was his true title.

"Is this the Northern Abyss? But I'd heard it was a vast ocean. How could it be a river?" Puzzled, he listened closely to the giant crabs around him.

"Yeah, I hear Holy King City is magnificent. It's simply the greatest structure in the Eastern Wasteland—or even the whole Primordial World!" another giant crab said excitedly.

"Hmph! The greatest in the Eastern Wasteland? The greatest in the Primordial World? A mere Holy King City doesn't deserve such praise!" A ten-meter-tall giant crab with early-stage Demon Core cultivation gave a contemptuous sneer at the younger crabs' words, deep mockery plain in its eyes. The ordinary giant crabs around it immediately began asking questions, curiosity piqued.

"Grandpa Crab Three, why do you say that? All the aquatic races of the Northern Abyss praise Holy King City to no end. Many of those lucky enough to see it have called it the greatest city in the Primordial World!"

Hearing his juniors' questions, Crab Three fell into reminiscence, and pride welled up within him. He slowly began, "Here in the Northern Abyss River, we Crab Clan are lower than dirt, only half a step above the Shrimp Clan. Our powerful members have dwindled, and we barely have a few at the peak of the Demon Core realm. But do you know that in ancient times, our Crab Clan was the royal clan of the Primordial World—the greatest clan in all creation? We ruled the Central Region directly, and the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Wastelands all submitted to us. The North Abyss Blood Python Clan, which is so powerful today, was nothing more than a lowly underling of the Crab Ancestor in ancient times. Any one of the Ten Demon Marshals could have killed it with ease."

"The Crab Ancestor? We've never heard of him! The Ten Demon Marshals, on the other hand, are famous throughout the Eastern Wasteland. Even the Six Races have to think twice around them!" The giant crabs all looked confused. The Crab Clan had low intelligence and had only recently gained sentience. Only a handful of powerful members knew anything about ancient times, and Crab Three was one of them. He loved hearing interesting stories, so he had learned plenty about ancient times from a few peak Demon Core experts in the clan.

"In ancient times, the Crab Ancestor was the Demon King of the Primordial World, supreme above all! The Ten Demon Marshals were all his subordinates. Know why the Ten Demon Marshals are cultivating in seclusion now? They say they're waiting for the Crab Ancestor to emerge. Even all ten of them together were no match for the old lord's single move. He could defeat them with a wave of his hand! The Six Races may dominate the Eastern Wasteland now and seem to enjoy boundless glory, but why don't they dare kill or subdue the Ten Demon Marshals? It's because they fear the Crab Ancestor and are keeping a way out for themselves. Though the Crab Ancestor has disappeared, all the powerful experts believe he's merely hiding away to cultivate. If he emerges, he may well dominate the Primordial World once more. Then the Ten Demon Marshals will emerge and follow him—and so will the Fourteen Great Demon Generals." Crab Three was worked up, talking without end. Xuanji, not far away, was equally stunned. He suddenly realized that things weren't as bleak as he had imagined. He had lost the essence of consciousness that controlled his twenty-four subordinates, the Demon Kings, but they might still think he controlled them. What was more, his forceful rule as Demon King must have left a deep impression on them.

"Heh, this is actually good news! Those twenty-four Demon Kings must all be at least Heavenly Immortal by now. If they all submit to me, my strength will increase tremendously!" What an unexpected windfall—truly an unexpected windfall!

"Stay calm. I have to stay calm. My cultivation is still too low. The Six Races must be deeply wary of me. If I reveal myself, I might be able to keep them in check—but if I can't, they'll surely join forces to attack me. My urgent task is to improve my cultivation and stir up a war among the Six Races, weakening their strength. Once they're battered and bleeding, I can emerge and pick up the pieces. If I plan it well, I may yet restore myself as the Demon King of the Primordial World. Heh!" Xuanji suppressed his wild joy and struggled to calm his churning emotions.

"Grandpa Crab Three, is it true? Was the Crab Ancestor really the Demon King of the Primordial World?" Many of the giant crabs didn't believe him. Lowly, weak clans were always prone to exaggerating their past glories, and Crab Three's claims were simply too incredible.

The Demon King of the Primordial World?

What did that even mean?

Seeing that so many giant crabs didn't believe him, Crab Three grew frantic. In his heart, this mattered more than his own life. Anyone who doubted it deserved a fight to the death. But these were his juniors, and he couldn't very well fight them. Frantic and flustered, he tried to think of convincing proof, but came up empty.

Just as Crab Three was growing anxious, a great city could be seen faintly in the far distance. At the sight, inspiration struck him, and he laughed delightedly. "You only know how magnificent Holy King City is, but you have no idea about Demon King City. That's the true main city of the Primordial World, located in the Mount Buzhou Range at the center of the world. It's more than ten times grander and larger than Holy King City. Though it's now in ruins, you can still find a giant statue of the Crab Ancestor there. Even the Six Races wouldn't dare lay a finger on Demon King City. Holy King City may be an exact copy of Demon King City, but would the North Abyss Blood Python Clan dare build it any larger?"

The crabs of the Crab Clan were all stunned. Crab Three spoke with such conviction that he didn't seem to be lying. Could it be that their clan had truly been glorious beyond compare, supreme in the Primordial World?

Xuanji, among the crabs, was also left dumbfounded!