I Haven't Boarded Yet!

Meanwhile.

Crack, crack!

Outside the Five-Colored Altar, countless armored bodies blanketed the ground as tens of thousands of Divine Crocodiles battered the barrier of light. More sounds of shattering rang out, and in mere moments, over a hundred little crocodiles broke through.

Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and the others kept swinging their Buddhist artifacts. Buddhist light surged, bells rang without pause, and flames occasionally shot skyward. Any little Divine Crocodile caught by their blows either had its scales shattered or was reduced to charcoal.

A vast swath of corpses littered the ground. Blood soon stained the altar red, and its pungent stench drifted across it. Red, white, and black added even more colors to the Five-Colored Altar beneath their feet.

At the same time, the blood on the altar kept turning into motes of light that streamed into the Eight Trigrams Diagram overhead. Before long, everyone noticed, and excitement lit their faces.

"Kill them! The more we kill, the better! The blood of these Little Divine Crocodiles can activate the Eight Trigrams Diagram. Then we can escape this place and avenge our dead classmates!"

The Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram in the sky grew clearer and clearer, its radiance shining. After countless transformations, it was about to light up completely and open the Starry Sky Ancient Road.

Boom!

But at that very moment, an overpowering aura shot skyward from the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple. A colossal creature burst out, his icy demonic aura surging. All of Mars trembled!

In an instant, everyone's soul shuddered. His aura alone left them suffocating, and they nearly collapsed onto the altar.

"This..."

Two blood-red moons appeared amid the sandstorm, rapidly drawing closer from the distance!

Everyone felt as though they had plunged into an ice cellar. Were they going to die on Mars today?

Clang!

The giant bronze coffin on the altar suddenly gave a resonant tremor. The two blood-red moons in the distance immediately stopped advancing. Instead, he sent his descendants forward to probe.

Rustle, rustle...

Outside the Five-Colored Altar, tens of thousands of little Divine Crocodiles gathered in a dense black mass, pierced the barrier of light, and rushed onto the altar.

Countless little Divine Crocodiles surrounded the group, charging in without fear of death. Even as everyone kept swinging the relics of the gods in their hands, people continued to fall amid the tide of crocodiles.

Blood sprayed everywhere, the red and white painfully stark.

Even Jiang Zhu, who lay on the ground as a "corpse," was not spared. Several little Divine Crocodiles bored through his "dead body," while others scurried around inside him, feasting heartily. The pain made him bare his teeth and contort his face, clawing at his heart and lungs, but he could not move.

Demon-Refining Pot, oh, Demon-Refining Pot, if you don't activate soon, I'm going to die. If I die, what will my little sister...

The divine artifact possessed a spirit. Soon, a stream of information flowed into Jiang Zhu's mind.

Usable material detected. Collect?

Overjoyed, Jiang Zhu stopped his wandering thoughts.

"Collect!!!"

With a thought, he intercepted a minuscule portion of the little Divine Crocodiles' blood drifting toward the Eight Trigrams Diagram. In mere moments, faint motes of light appeared on the tail of the true dragon totem mark on the Demon-Refining Pot, so faint they were impossible to notice without close scrutiny.

At the same time, a secret technique entered Jiang Zhu's mind.

True Dragon Transformation?

This was an origin secret technique derived from the Demon-Refining Pot. By using the true dragon source blood within his body, he could transform into a dragon at the very source of his being. Even if the True Dragon Immortal King of the Immortal Ancient Era descended, he would consider Jiang Zhu a dragon.

Still, mine could only count as a little Divine Crocodile Transformation, couldn't it? As Jiang Zhu pondered, he used the Demon-Refining Pot to circulate the refined crocodile blood throughout his body.

"Transform!"

Wherever the blood flowed, the little Divine Crocodiles eating him from within were suppressed by its bloodline. Unable to withstand the pressure, they burst out of his body one after another.

Once the Origin Blood had circulated throughout his body, Jiang Zhu suddenly vanished from where he lay, leaving only a little Divine Crocodile in his place.

This little Divine Crocodile differed slightly from the others. He was just over a palm long, with scales as black as ink and as hard as diamond. He was none other than the transformed Jiang Zhu.

The little Divine Crocodiles that had bored out of him were now utterly baffled, but they still stared venomously at the same spot.

Jiang Zhu raised his head and swished his tail, adjusting to his new body. After the Origin Blood's repairs and transformation, all his injuries had vanished. As he swung his tail, he felt unprecedented strength erupting within him.

His little Divine Crocodile body was as hard as diamond and could soar through the sky and burrow through the earth.

The next instant, Jiang Zhu vanished from the spot, launching himself like a javelin.

Bang!

In the blink of an eye, two little crocodiles' scales exploded, their hardest part-their heads-pierced clean through. Red and white splattered in every direction.

Jiang Zhu did not stop. Moving like lightning, he darted and twisted toward the other little Divine Crocodiles, still using his rock-hard head to pierce them one by one.

Soon, the little Divine Crocodiles that had nearly killed him were slain by him instead. Their blood was drained dry and refined inside the Demon-Refining Pot.

Origin Blood streamed out of the Demon-Refining Pot and circulated throughout his body. Jiang Zhu's little Divine Crocodile body grew longer and sleeker, his scales a little harder.

Without stopping, Jiang Zhu charged toward the giant bronze coffin on the Five-Colored Altar.

Right now, boarding this interstellar train was his only way off Mars. Otherwise, he could only eat sand on Mars and exchange blank stares with the Crocodile Ancestor.

Whoooo...

Just then, the Crocodile Ancestor struck. A demonic wind swept past, suppressing the sandstorm that filled heaven and earth. Howling like ghosts and wailing like wolves, it spread black mist across all of Mars.

From within that surging black mist, an enormous black hand reached out toward the Five-Colored Altar. The hand was immense beyond measure; its fingers alone were twenty to thirty feet long, tipped with pitch-black, sinister claws that gleamed coldly.

Though this Peerless Demon had been suppressed for over two thousand years, his emergence still shook heaven and earth. His might was beyond compare.

At that moment, the Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram overhead finally took complete shape. Its eight trigrams shone with dazzling light, revealing a vast, mysterious passage. No one knew where it led; its interior was utterly black.

That was the Starry Sky Gate, and everyone's hope of escaping this place!

A force wore away at the Crocodile Ancestor's outstretched hand. At the same time, the nine enormous dragon corpses pulling the giant bronze coffin suddenly trembled, releasing a powerful draconic aura. Every Divine Crocodile on the Five-Colored Altar was cowed by it, prostrating on the ground and shivering.

As Jiang Zhu charged toward the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, he suddenly felt as though a mountain had landed on his back. Before he could react, he was pressed flat against the altar.

He could only watch as Ye Fan and the others retreated into the coffin. The Crocodile Ancestor struck again, easily breaking through the dim barrier of light and reaching for the ancient bronze coffin.

Clang!

The black hand seized the giant bronze coffin with a metallic clang. Everyone's heart sank. This Peerless Demon possessed heaven-surging magical power. With the Buddha nowhere to be seen, who could stop him?

As terror gripped them, the Crocodile Ancestor's black hand recoiled as swiftly as if fleeing snakes and scorpions. Glistening demonic blood fell onto the altar like a small river, blooming with streaks of blood-red radiance. It was the Crocodile Ancestor's blood. He had attacked the giant bronze coffin, only to be injured by its backlash.

Suddenly, a figure nearly two meters tall appeared on the Five-Colored Altar. His demonic aura soared into the sky, black mist roiling around him. Only his eyes, like two blood-red moons, were visible; his appearance remained obscured.

At the same time, he unleashed an unrivaled demonic art, attempting to hold the Taiji Eight Trigrams Diagram overhead in place.

"I &%#@!"

Jiang Zhu's little mouth was practically coated in honey, but there was nothing he could do. He could not undo his Divine Crocodile Transformation beside the Crocodile Ancestor, return to human form, and charge toward the giant bronze coffin.

Wouldn't that be serving himself up as a meal to the Crocodile Ancestor?

Jiang Zhu could only flee the Five-Colored Altar with the other little Divine Crocodiles and watch helplessly as the light from all the Buddhist artifacts enveloped the Crocodile Ancestor. The Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin rose into the air. After a dragon corpse gave the Crocodile Ancestor a tail-slap, they broke through the blood-red seal and vanished into the Starry Sky Gate.

"I haven't boarded!"

At the thought that Ye Fan would not return for decades, and that he could only spend those decades exchanging blank stares with the Crocodile Ancestor's blood-red, lantern-like eyes, sorrow welled up within him.

"I haven't boarded yet!!!"