"Impossible!" the others cried out in astonishment as well, with Titan shouting the loudest.
"How is it impossible? We barely encountered any obstacles on the way here. Someone probably got ahead of us!" Ning Mozi said grimly, his expression ugly.
"Tch! You're right!" Thinking it over carefully, everyone realized that they had encountered far fewer Demon Beasts and restrictions along the way. That probably was what had happened. They exchanged uneasy looks.
"Could it be Li Xiaoya and Demonfire?" Jin Gangzhan asked gravely, as though something had occurred to him.
"No! It shouldn't be them!" Ning Mozi said firmly. Seeing the others looking at him in confusion, he suddenly showed a look of understanding. Clearly, he knew far more than the rest of them. Sure enough, after a pause, he explained, "The Herb Garden in the Primordial Ruins concerns the development of our entire Heavenly Demon Race. No ancestor would selfishly allow outsiders into that Herb Garden! You can rest assured!" Then he added, "What worries me now is that someone else might have beaten us to it!"
"What? Someone else beat us to it?" the others exclaimed one after another.
"Tch! Never mind! Let's pick up the pace!" Ning Mozi suddenly looked rather disgruntled. Smacking his lips, he sprang forward and glided straight down the cliff. The others hurried after him. Their interests were at stake, so naturally, none of them objected...
Meanwhile, elsewhere!
"Pfft!"
"Boom!" Several pitch-black spikes, hundreds of feet in size yet needle-sharp, instantly pierced a gigantic Demon Beast a thousand feet tall. It resembled an enormous bear, its body covered in golden, steel-needle-like bristles, with a pair of sharp, slender golden fangs...
"Aooo!" The Demon Beast let out an earthshaking roar of agony. Black-purple blood sprayed in every direction, and its enormous arms, hundreds