Chapter 3523: Chapter 3523: Digging

Although it was known that Stage One to Thirty-two on the Other Shore were also full of danger, it was only dangerous for the fragile Souls of Light.

If one could enter the Other Shore in physical form, they were more likely able to deal with the troubles thrown at them. This was why Other Shore Realm warriors used to be tough enemies for Other Shore creatures in the past.

Therefore, ever since Zen entered the Other Shore in his physical form, he had rarely encountered any unsolvable problems.

In fact, Stage One to Thirty-two on the Other Shore could be seen as a huge training ground. The training started with Stage One, was complicated by the Soul City and the Land of Bone Tribulation, and ended in the Eternal Scroll Painting.

But the Three Purities Stage was a completely different story.

Horrible creatures lived here. To enter meant putting one's life in danger.

While it was true that the Three Purities Stage was extremely dangerous, the rewards it offered were extremely tantalizing.

For instance, after Eastern Emperor Taiyi reached the Eternal Realm, he had taken back a batch of Other Shore Tokens from the outermost Grand Pure Realm. These alone were enough to greatly enhance the Holy Soul Realm masters of the entire Oneness Sky Palace to a higher level.

Moreover, countless secrets were hidden in the Supreme Pure Realm and the Jade Pure Realm — secrets which, when discovered, were bound to enlighten and strengthen their finders.

But even the outermost Grand Pure Realm was much more dangerous than the lower stages on the Other Shore.

Although the Primeval Lord of Heaven had been to the Land of Diabolic Demons, he had never plunged into the Diabolic Earth. Thus, he decided to question the other human heroes to glean any information about it. Finally, he got the answer from Gonggong, the God of Water.

There were a total of three death lands on the periphery of the Grand Pure Realm, and among them, the Land of Diabolic Demons was considered the most dangerous one.

“If I am now under the Land of Diabolic Demons, then that'd mean...” Zen trailed off as he studied his surroundings. Suddenly, he looked up. “I would need to dig out a path upward to leave.”

It wasn't difficult for Zen to dig out a passageway through hundreds of miles of normal soil.

“Things are not that simple,” the Primeval Lord of Heaven interrupted with a shake of his head. “The bodies of the Diabolic Demons are formed from the Diabolic Earth. This bloody Diabolic Earth is a part of their bodies.”

“You mean, this whole place is alive...?”

Sizzle!

Before Zen could even finish his sentence, a scarlet liquid suddenly gushed out towards him from the wall of the small cave he was in. As the blood streamed out onto the mud, faces made of blood red soil appeared all around him, one by one.

Then, in addition to the blood red faces, sinuous arms and sharp claws also burst forth from the muddy ground.

Just moments earlier, Zen had thought there was nothing extraordinary about this soil — boy, he was wrong!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Zen snapped into action. Swinging his fists towards the faces that emerged from the soil, bloody mud splattered everywhere violently.

However, it seemed to be futile. With every face Zen bashed in, more took its place.

Everything was happening in a blur. All Zen could see was the horrible faces and sharp claws that constantly materialized around him.

“Gah, gah, gah...”

The Diabolic Demons made creepy sounds as they extended their sharp claws towards Zen from all directions.

“Go to perdition!”

Zen shouted, clamping a considerable number of slender arms under his armpit. Then, he spun around violently.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sickening sound of the earth-formed arms spinning rang throughout the soil. Then, a blue light flashed in Zen's right hand as he summoned a long sword from his Sumeru Space. As he brandished the sword, sharp sword radiance filled up the narrow space. Ṝ𝐀ɴổꞖÈṣ

Initially, this cave was as narrow as a human's breadth. But, with Zen swinging his massive long sword around, it wasn't long before the cave walls crumbled to make more room. After a few moments, the cave was around ten feet high. The Diabolic Demons continued to attack him from the walls, but Zen was quicker than them, slashing at them before any could get close.

“These Diabolic Demons are not that strong... I'll manage.”

Zen suddenly pointed his long sword upwards, his sword radiance shooting into the ceiling of the cave.

All the Diabolic Demons that appeared from above were minced to shreds by the sword radiance. In this way, Zen also paved a passageway spanning several hundred feet long.

“Be careful. There will be more powerful Diabolic Demons on the way ahead,” the Primeval Lord of Heaven warned.

The safer forbidden lands within Stage Thirty-three had long been cleared and eliminated by the Element Spirit Civilization or other civilizations. All races that were able to survive for over a thousand chaotic eras had their own unique strength and survival methods.

Back then, Gonggong had encountered great dangers when he explored the Diabolic Earth alone. He had been left with no choice but to turn his body into formless water that seeped deep into the earth. He had finally managed to flow into a hidden river in the bottom of the ground and that was how he escaped alive. Yet with Zen, instead of acting stealthily like Gonggong did, he actually faced the danger head on!

After Zen had drilled around several thousand feet in, he noticed the Diabolic Demons emerging from the walls in the distance were much larger than the ones he had just dealt with. Moreover, their thin and long bodies had a faint gray color shining on the surface. Zen narrowed his eyes, he knew what this meant: both their attacking and defensive abilities were much stronger.

However, they still weren't enough to stop Zen. He just pushed onwards, slaughtering anything that blocked his path.

Meanwhile, on the surface of the Land of Diabolic Demons, a huge, triangular flower petal suddenly unfolded. In its center sat four black Diabolic Demons.

Pop!

A pillar of bloody red mud suddenly emerged from the soil and rose until it connected with the head of the black Diabolic Demon sitting in the front. This demon blinked as he absorbed the information being sent to him through the mud pillar.

After a while, the Diabolic Demon grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. “A worthy prey is here.”

“Is it an Eternal Realm warrior?” another Diabolic Demon asked excitedly.

“Yes,” the Diabolic Demon in the lead nodded, smiling mischievously.

“What's the level of the creature's bloodline?” the third Diabolic Demon asked.

The first one shook his head. “I don't know. He has a strong body, and he hasn't yet used the power of his bloodline. I bet his bloodline is quite powerful...”

There was a reason why the Three Purities Stage was dangerous even for Eternal Realm warriors.

Devouring one made the aboriginals here stronger. While they couldn't obtain the abilities of the bloodlines, the more Eternal Realm warriors they devoured, the stronger they became. Moreover, this kind of enhancement was permanent. Not only would the current generation grow stronger, but so would their children and the generations to come.

The Diabolic Demons were notorious for their cruelty on the periphery of the Grand Pure Realm. There were a great number of Eternal Realm warriors who had died in the Land of Diabolic Demons. Even so, the Diabolic Demons were still not qualified to gain a foothold in the Supreme Pure Realm.

The four leaders of the Diabolic Demons were eager to become stronger. They would never let potential prey slip through their fingers.

“Then don't hesitate. Let's kill him,” the fourth Diabolic Demon stood up immediately, raising his hands towards the outside of the huge petal.

On the scarlet earth, thousands of Diabolic Demons rose at their leaders' command. Then, they dove back into the earth, heading straight for Zen.

The thick earth was as soft as water to the Diabolic Demons. Following their subordinates, the four leading Diabolic Demons also plunged into the earth.

Zen, who was still deep in the Diabolic Earth, sped up his digging, but he was still unable to confirm where exactly he was underground.

He didn't know that he was digging towards the very center of the Land of Diabolic Demons, nor did he know that a large army of Diabolic Demons were closing in on him from every corner.