Chapter 548: Chapter 548

It was said that after Xu Song accepted Zhouyang’s entrustment to investigate the source of the demons, he returned in a panic after only a short time.

"What happened? What caused Fellow Daoist Xu to be in such a panic? What’s going on up front?"

Zhouyang’s heart sank, and he hurriedly asked about the situation.

Upon hearing Zhouyang’s words, Xu Song urgently exclaimed, "It’s difficult to explain in a few words. In short, Fellow Daoist Zhou, hurry and escape, there’s no time to delay!"

Upon hearing this, Zhouyang’s face changed dramatically.

He knew Xu Song’s personality well, understanding that this person was definitely not one to fear trouble nor one to exaggerate.

Thus, he hesitated only briefly before deciding to follow Xu Song’s advice.

However, before he could take action, he seemed to have discovered something, his face turned pale as he sighed deeply and said, "I’m afraid it’s too late!"

Almost as soon as he uttered these words, the distant black desert sea suddenly exploded, and from within emerged a demonized "Sand Worm" demon beast covered in black magic patterns. The aura it emitted faintly showed signs of surpassing Tier Five!

Most notably, atop the head of this "Sand Worm" demon beast grew a black horn half a meter long.

For some reason, Zhouyang’s heart began to thump wildly upon seeing the black horn, causing him to breathe unevenly.

Just then, as he was observing the demonized "Sand Worm," the demon beast resolutely launched an attack on him.

The demonized "Sand Worm" opened its mouth wide, and a massive suction power enveloped Zhouyang, intending to swallow him whole.

This was the innate devouring divine technique of the "Sand Worm" demon beast. Once sucked into the mouth, one would instantly be ground up and swallowed by the saw-like teeth inside.

Some Golden Core Stage cultivators met their end this way, because they didn’t see the "Sand Worm" demon beast hidden in the desert sea and were swiftly ambushed without time to react, swallowed into the mouth.

However, Zhouyang at this moment was several thousand meters away from the demonized "Sand Worm" and he had faced "Sand Worm" demon beasts before, so he was already prepared.

Thus, when the demonized "Sand Worm" launched its devouring divine technique, he was forced to move several dozen meters but quickly stabilized his position. Then, with a wave of his hand, a ball of golden flames flew towards the demonized "Sand Worm" following the suction.

The demonized "Sand Worm" was not foolish, recognizing the formidable nature of the golden flames, it halted its divine technique halfway and spewed out a black dust cloud extinguishing the flames instantly.

At the same time, those black magic patterns on the demonized "Sand Worm" suddenly emitted a bright black light, transforming instantly into countless black demonic eyes.

At this moment, all the black demonic eyes opened wide and in a flash, thousands of demonic beams shot towards Zhouyang.

Without thinking, Zhouyang instinctively injected magical power crazily into the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl," activating the "Qianyang Celestial Fire Shield" to protect himself.

The golden flame shield enveloped Zhouyang within, and the black demonic beams fell upon the shield without affecting it in the slightest.

The "Qianyang True Flame" is known for its extreme strength and positiveness, naturally countering demonic power. As long as Zhouyang’s magical power doesn’t deplete, this level of demonic power is insufficient to breach the shield to harm him.

However, the situation was unfortunate.

Zhouyang was already consumed by a large amount of magical power after being swept into the "Black Sand Storm," and then further besieged by countless demons. His magical power had already reduced to less than thirty percent of its peak.

Now forced into a magical power depletion contest with the demonized "Sand Worm," even though the opponent consumed power multiples of him, he still could not match the opponent!

So after holding out for a while, seeing no signs that the demonic eyes on the demonized "Sand Worm" would close, Zhouyang realized he needed to resort to thunderous means to take it down.

As for why he had to take down the demonized "Sand Worm" rather than flee, it was obviously because he couldn’t outrun it.

Even if the demonized "Sand Worm" wasn’t a Tier Six demon beast, it would definitely be the top Tier Five demon beast. In Zhouyang’s current state, a chasing game with the opponent was truly a path to certain death.

Therefore, if he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to kill or severely injure the demonized "Sand Worm," rendering it incapable of pursuing him.

Understanding this, Zhouyang immediately waved his sleeve and summoned the "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber."

The "Taiyin Soul-cutting Saber" was an ice attribute spiritual artifact that didn’t perfectly align with Zhouyang. At most, he could unleash eighty percent of its power.

However, what he valued wasn’t the divine technique attached to this artifact, but its inherent strong armor-breaking ability.

When dealing with those "Sand Worm" demon beasts before, he relied on this saber to cut through the thick hide of the beasts.

This time, as he swung the saber, the silver saber light descended from the sky like a crescent moon, crashing onto the demonized "Sand Worm."

The result shocked Zhouyang.

The silver saber that had effortlessly breached the defenses of "Sand Worm" demon beasts before, this time merely left a white mark on the demonized "Sand Worm," failing to penetrate even the outermost skin defenses!

"How could this be possible!"

Zhouyang opened his mouth wide, unable to suppress his astonishment.

He somewhat incredulously raised the silver long knife again and slashed at the demonized "sand worm," but the result was the same—it couldn’t break through its defense.

At this moment, the demonized "sand worm" seemed to be enraged by him. The black horn on its head flashed with black light, suddenly releasing a black demonic light, like sword energy, shooting towards Zhouyang.

The originally unmovable golden flame shield under the bombardment of the magical eye light of the demonized "sand worm" shattered instantly like an egg hit by a stone due to a small sword-like black demonic light attack.

Immediately, dozens of beams of magical eye light, without the barrier of the shield, struck Zhouyang’s body, causing him to fall towards the ground in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, the massive body of the demonized "sand worm," with an agility completely disproportionate to its form, suddenly disappeared from its original spot, then emerged from the desert sea where Zhouyang was falling, opening its mouth to swallow him.

"You wretched beast dare!"

Zhouyang shouted loudly, swinging his fist, and a cyan-gold dragon shadow roared furiously as it plunged into the wide-open mouth of the demonized "sand worm."

Then he twisted his body in mid-air, borrowing power to fly backward over a hundred yards, finally landing on the sand below.

But just as he steadied his footing, the demonized "sand worm" that had taken a punch from him had already calmed the fluctuations within its body and charged at him once more.

At this point in the battle, Zhouyang realized that if he relied solely on his own strength, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to this demonized "sand worm" demon beast today.

"Seems like I have no choice but to use that item!"

He sighed in his heart, his face full of reluctance.

The item he referred to was naturally the "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman granted by Master Xuanji, Lu Xuanji, during his time in the Kunxu Realm.

It was crafted by Lu Xuanji after his cultivation reached the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, powerful enough to injure even an Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator; any being below the Nascent Soul Stage was almost impossible to survive this strike.

Since obtaining this item, Zhouyang treated it like a treasure, intending to save it for the most dangerous moments, even hoping never to use it.

But today, with the formidable demonized "sand worm" demon beast and in such a poor state, it was impossible for Zhouyang to triumph without using this treasure, nor could he escape the pursuit alive.

With a long sigh from his mouth, Zhouyang waved his hand and activated the purple jade talisman.

In an instant, a purple divine thunder of overwhelming might was released in response, striking the demonized "sand worm" in the blink of an eye.

With this attack landing, the gigantic demonized "sand worm," even without managing a scream, had most of its massive body destroyed by the terrifying power of thunder, leaving less than a tenth of its remains to fall onto the sands below.

After activating the "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman, Zhouyang’s magical power was nearly depleted, leaving him unable to perform even the basic "Soaring Through the Clouds" divine technique. He had to summon the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle to carry him.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, what exactly happened ahead? And how did this damned demonized ’sand worm’ demon beast come about?"

On the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle’s back, Zhouyang, looking pale, gazed at the equally weakened Xu Song, asking angrily about the cause.

He was very dissatisfied with Xu Song attracting the demonized "sand worm." If not for Xu Song leading it here, he wouldn’t have wasted the invaluable "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman.

If Xu Song didn’t give him an explanation today, he would absolutely not let him off easily.

Xu Song, understanding the anger in his words, quickly replied after hearing him: "It’s a Demon Realm Passage! Another massive spatial rift ahead, it should lead to the legendary Demon Realm!"

"The demons you killed earlier, Fellow Daoist Zhou, were beasts and ordinary animals in the Sea of Death transformed by demonic qi corrosion. This demonized ’sand worm’ demon beast also mutated into a demon beast by absorbing the pure demonic qi emanating from the spatial rift!"

"Plus, the reason your magical power consumption increased while flying and fighting in the Sea of Death is also due to the spatial rift’s appearance, causing the surrounding area to draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, resulting in the spirit-draining effect!"

Zhouyang looked at Xu Song with a face full of shock, almost doubting he heard it right!

"Don’t speak nonsense!"

"The Demon Realm Passages of this world were all completely sealed and sealed by great cultivators of ancient times. How could one suddenly appear here?"

"Moreover, if it were truly a Demon Realm Passage, it would certainly be guarded by a Tier Six demon. How could you have spied on it and returned alive?"

Zhouyang came back to his senses and looked at Xu Song with confusion and anger, his eyes filled with astonishment and rage.

Regarding "Demon Realm Passages," he understandably knew more than Xu Song.

Because during his time in the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, he had once entered a Secret Realm "Sealed Demon Cave," where a "Demon Realm Passage" was sealed.

Thus, he was very clear that even if the "Spirit Realm" still had those "Demon Realm Passages" that couldn’t be closed, they must have been sealed by the Tribulation Crossing True Immortals from ancient times, and were under the watch and suppression of major powers.

If there truly was such a "Demon Realm Passage" in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, how could it be that no strong individuals were guarding it?

However, facing his doubts, Xu Song shook his head repeatedly and said loudly:

"No, Xu would not dare to speak lightly of such a major matter!"

"Although Xu does not know where the spatial rift came from, Xu can assure you with his life, the other side of that rift is definitely the legendary Demon Realm!"

"Only the legendary Demon Realm could emit such pure demonic Qi!"

"If Fellow Daoist Zhou doesn’t believe, you can go and see for yourself."

Go and see for yourself?

Zhouyang’s expression changed, and a flash of hesitation crossed his eyes. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on noⅴelfire.net

He was unwilling to believe Xu Song’s words, only temporarily unable to accept this shocking news.

But if Xu Song’s words were true, what if he encountered a Tier Six demon on the other side?

Without the "Profound Sun Purple Sky Divine Thunder" jade talisman, he would have no strength to resist such an existence.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Zhou, there should not be any Tier Six demons there, otherwise, when you were using [Qianyang True Flame] to slaughter demons earlier and killed a demonized [Sand Worm], it would have already come to deal with you!"

Seeing the worry in Zhouyang’s heart, Xu Song softly spoke to strengthen his confidence.

He knew that if Zhouyang did not see that "spatial rift" with his own eyes, this matter would remain a knot in his heart, difficult to resolve.

"There is no rush for this matter!"

"Even if it is as you say, without Tier Six demons, with our current state, even a single [Sand Worm] could easily deal with us."

"Let’s retreat first and investigate after we’ve recovered."

After pondering for a moment, Zhouyang decided it was better to be cautious. Immediately, he collected the corpse left by the demonized "Sand Worm" and rode away on the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle.

Seven days later, Zhouyang, in a recovered state, returned to the place where he killed the demonized "Sand Worm" under Xu Song’s guidance and flew toward the location of that "spatial rift."

After flying over a thousand miles, he saw the "spatial rift" Xu Song had mentioned from several hundred miles away.

Seeing the "spatial rift" for the first time, Zhouyang understood why Xu Song was so certain that this "spatial rift" led to the legendary "Demon Realm!"

From a distance of several hundred miles, less than a hundred feet above the ground, a pitch-black rift nearly thirty feet long and five feet wide appeared in the sky.

Every once in a while, pure demonic Qi, black as ink, would seep from the rift and be absorbed by countless demons gathered around it.

Looking from afar, Zhouyang saw that centered around the "spatial rift," at least ten thousand demons were gathered, all transformed from various demon beasts and wild beasts of the desert sea.

He even saw three demonized "Sand Worms," each over a thousand feet long, yet they did not emit a stronger aura than the one he slew seven days ago, merely equivalent to Tier Five high-grade demon beasts.

Even so, it was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Fortunately, the demons were focused on absorbing the demonic Qi from the spatial rift, and being several hundred miles away, Zhouyang had Xu Song cover his aura with Yin Qi, so as not to alert the demons.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, you can see it too. If that spatial rift doesn’t lead to the legendary Demon Realm, how could such pure demonic Qi continuously spill out?"

Xu Song pointed to the spatial rift from afar, claiming his innocence.

Listening to his words, Zhouyang remained silent.

In fact, upon seeing the demonic Qi seeping from the spatial rift, he believed Xu Song’s words.

Even in the "Sealed Demon Cave" back then, he had not seen demonic Qi of such purity.

This wasn’t surprising; the "Demon Realm Passage" in the "Sealed Demon Cave" was sealed by an array, and the demonic Qi in it was more generated by that small pocket world itself.

Using the "Separation Fire Golden Eye," he observed and saw that around the spatial rift, within several hundred miles, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was almost nonexistent, filled instead with a faint black demonic Qi.

This indicated that the region had become a "Land of Absolute Spirit," transformed into a Demon Land that nourishes demons.

And as time progressed and the demonic Qi seeping from the spatial rift increased, the area of the Demon Land would expand.

If no one sealed the spatial rift and purified the demonic Qi in the Demon Land, it was likely that after several millennia, the entire Boundless Sea of Sand would transform into a Demon Land!

At this moment, Zhouyang felt fortunate that the spatial rift had opened in the uninhabited "Sea of Death."

Otherwise, if this were to appear in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, the number of demons gathered below that spatial rift would be far more than just ten thousand.

"Let’s go, we must hurry back to the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm. The news of this spatial rift must be quickly reported to those Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. Only they have the means to close and seal this rift!"

Zhouyang cast a deep glance at the pitch-black spatial rift and called Xu Song, turning to leave the place.

Strictly speaking, only a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal can truly handle something like a spatial rift.

Under normal circumstances, only a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal can break the space of the "Spirit Realm" and create a spatial rift.

Simultaneously, under normal circumstances, a torn spatial rift would soon be repaired by the Heaven and Earth Laws of the "Spirit Realm" itself and would not persist indefinitely.

However, a spatial rift that exudes demonic qi, such as this one, is connected to another, more advanced world. Just relying on the strength of the Heaven and Earth Laws of the "Spirit Realm" is insufficient for its repair. It requires the aid of a powerful individual capable of maneuvering the Heaven and Earth Laws to repair and smooth it out.

Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, through their comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Laws, even if unable to break them and tear space, still have hope of assisting in the repair of a spatial rift with their power.

However, not many Nascent Soul Stage cultivators can achieve this; at the very least, it requires a Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul "Half-Step True Immortal" to possibly succeed.

And Zhouyang happens to know someone of this caliber!

He firmly believes that Master Xuanji, Lu Xuanji, the Supreme Grand Elder of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, would never stand idly by as the Demon Realm’s tentacles reach into the "Spirit Realm".

More than a month passed in this manner, and after countless times getting lost, Zhouyang finally traversed the entire "Sea of Death" and returned to the region of the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

Once back in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, things became much easier. Zhouyang just needed to head east, using oases found along the way to determine his location.

If that wasn’t feasible, he could fly to the western slopes of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range and head north or south from this landmark to find his position.

With his Golden Core Stage cultivation, in the absence of threats like "Sand Worm" demon beasts and "Black Sand Storms," it wouldn’t take him half a year to fly across the entire Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

In reality, a month and a half later, Zhouyang returned to the Rhino Horn Continent Oasis!

At this time, it had been nearly sixty-six years since Zhouyang led the Zhou Family cultivators to the Westernmost Cultivation Realm, and in a few months, he himself would turn three hundred.

Over sixty-six years, the Zhou Family had almost completed the development of the entire Rhino Horn Continent.

As soon as Zhouyang entered the Rhino Horn Continent, he noticed many signs of mortal activity on the oasis. These activities by mortals extended to the outskirts of the Rhino Horn Continent, indicating that the Zhou Family had reached a very high level of development for this oasis.

In the past, at this point, Zhouyang would undoubtedly not rush to reunite with his family and kin but instead inspect the state of the clan first.

His past experiences taught him that only by not informing anyone could he truly see the world as it is from the outside.

However, now, with many concerns weighing on his mind, he had no time to deal with these matters.

Even if he wanted to reorganize the clan, he would have to wait until he returned from helping Lu Xuanji with affairs in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm before considering it.

Thus, he quickly manifested in the sky above Lingxi Peak, forcefully announcing his return with the golden auspicious clouds beneath his feet.

"Soaring Through the Clouds" as the signature divine technique of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, serves as the best reference point for identifying Golden Core Stage cultivators for low-tier cultivators.

"Look, look, what is that!"

"Golden clouds, could that be the divine technique of Soaring Through the Clouds, mastered only by Golden Core Ancestors?"

"The elder on the clouds looks so familiar; I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere. Do you have this feeling too?"

On Lingxi Peak, some low-tier Zhou Family cultivators working and cultivating outside noticed an unexpected golden cloud in the sky. Their attention was immediately drawn, setting aside their activities to discuss the matter.

Most of these low-tier cultivators were young people with low cultivation. Elder Zhouyang, the Supreme Elder of the Zhou Family, had been away for more than sixty years, so they had only seen his portrait in the ancestral shrine and not met him in person. It was not surprising they didn’t recognize him.

However, the Purple Mansion cultivators and Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of the Zhou Family who were cultivating in the mountain caves, having sensed the deliberate release of Golden Core Stage aura by Zhouyang and came out to investigate, recognized him at once.

"This is our Zhou Family’s Supreme Elder Zhou Yuan Yang, now returned as a Golden Core cultivator. Why aren’t you kneeling in reverence!"

The Zhou Family’s Purple Mansion cultivator in charge of Lingxi Peak was Zhou Guangxiang and Xiao Ying, while Zhou Guangxiang sat in the Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.

Upon seeing Zhouyang return, Xiao Ying, already full of excitement, turned into a streak of blue light, rushing into Zhouyang’s embrace.

Meanwhile, Zhou Guangxiang contained his excitement and sternly reprimanded the clansmen discussing their elders privately, loudly announcing Zhouyang’s identity with joy.

Instantly, the entire mountain erupted in fervor.