At the exit of the secret realm, a crowd seethed with anger. That young demon king was utterly detestable—acting with reckless abandon, his arrogance unchecked, as if none of them were worth his notice.
Not just the others, even the sect leaders wore dark expressions, itching to smite him with a single slap. How preposterous!
“He dares to stay inside? Pure nonsense! Trying to lure us in to hunt him down—how childish.” An elderly woman clad in golden feathered robes sneered. She was the matriarch of the Golden Luan Clan.
The sect leaders’ eyes darkened with fury. Humiliated and mocked in public by the young demon king—Huang—their faces burned with shame. A murderous aura swirled around them, shrouded in mist.
The gathered heroes buzzed with heated discussions. Today’s events were explosive—a mere youth provoking sects and defying authority with such audacity!
Without a doubt, this was the beginning of a storm. In the days to come, the young demon king Huang would become the focal point of sect discussions, a rising figure in the upper realm.
Each spatial node concealed a chaotic void, fraught with danger. A single misstep could lead to annihilation of both body and soul!
Fortunately, the Demonic Blood Ghost God Tree accompanied them. Deep in cultivation, it could shift between human and tree forms. Now, it took the guise of an old man in black robes, summoning a dark glow to shield them from the spatial turbulence.
Traversing such unstable passageways was perilous.
“Whoosh!”
Here, space twisted, riven with massive fissures. A single misstep could sever limbs.
“Hiss!”
Shi Hao sucked in a cold breath. As they advanced through the unstable passage, they spotted the corpse of a thousand-zhang-long Azure Flood Dragon—far surpassing the Divine Flame Realm—yet its upper half had long been severed by a spatial rift, its fate unknown.
They pressed forward swiftly, surrounded by hazy mist, as if stepping into primordial chaos.
“Careful!”
Ahead, blades of light—manifestations of spatial laws—could shred even deities. Nearby lay scattered bones, remnants of those who had perished in the void.
A quarter-hour later, Shi Hao jolted. Within a massive spatial rift, they glimpsed a black ancient ship, stained with blood, adrift in the endless void.
For reasons unknown, the sight sent a wave of dread through them, nearly suffocating.
The oppressive aura was overwhelming. Even beings as strong as them felt shadowed by death, as if their demise was imminent.
“What is that?” the fifteenth grandfather frowned.
“Silence!” The Demonic Blood Ghost God Tree tensed, its hairs standing on end. Without a word, it guided them swiftly away from the rift.
Only after what felt like an eternity did it exhale, its body drenched in cold sweat.
“I once heard the Yuan Tian Supreme Being say that when traversing the void, the most feared sights are blood-stained black ships, mist-shrouded chaos halls, and the terrifying spectacle of flying immortals,” the tree explained.
Those three phenomena were ancient and unfathomably sinister. Even veteran sect leaders who encountered them would perish without exception.
Today, they had witnessed one—a blood-stained black ship. A stroke of “great fortune” indeed! Thankfully, they had kept their distance, or disaster would have struck.
“Among billions of living beings, few ever see such things. We’ve experienced an extraordinary journey.”
The rest of the journey passed without incident. Though the void remained unstable, they emerged unscathed, following the path linked to the spatial node until they reached its end.
In a flash of white light, they broke free from another unstable node, stepping into the outer world.
Scarlet magma filled their vision, its scorching heat threatening to reduce them to ashes. A volcanic range sprawled before them, waves of heat and the pungent stench of sulfur thick in the air.
This was a desolate land—barren, lifeless, with only smoking craters and rivers of molten rock.
“Farewell, both of you. This place is no haven for me,” the Demonic Blood Ghost God Tree said. As a plant, it found the environment unbearable.
“Farewell, Elder!” Shi Hao clasped his fists, watching as it vanished into the distance.
“So we’re out,” the Great Devil God murmured, as if in a dream. Moments ago, they had been in a minor realm within the Five Elements Province. Now, they were likely millions of miles away.
Where were they? Still in the same province? The grandfather and grandson were clueless, with no sense of their location.
“This place suits me. It feels… comfortable,” the Great Devil God said before diving headfirst into a volcanic crater, sending molten rock splashing.
Shi Hao gasped. His grandfather was truly fearless, plunging straight into boiling magma!
“Grandfather, are you alright?”
With a splash, the Great Devil God resurfaced, as if soaking in a bath, his face flushed and steam rising from his hair.
“I’m fine!” he declared. Having consumed the Demon Lord’s True Blood, he had been plagued by lingering yin energy, which he suppressed with strong liquor.
In the secret realm, he had practiced thunder techniques, easing his suffering further. Yet, the root cause remained. Strangely, soaking in magma brought him relief.
“Grandfather, I’ll find you divine-grade Monkey Wine!” Shi Hao vowed. Only such a treasure could purge the yin energy entirely.
“No rush. Since cultivating the Thunder Emperor’s techniques, my body feels lighter. I’ll recover in time,” the Great Devil God assured.
Shi Hao nodded. “True. First, let’s scout this place, then we’ll seclude ourselves to master the second golden page’s secrets.”
They set out to explore the area, determined to uncover their whereabouts.
This was a vast, desolate plateau spanning over a hundred thousand miles, sparsely populated. After traveling tens of thousands of miles, they finally encountered some mortals.
Life here was harsh. Powerful beings were rare, as the land lacked spiritual herbs, lakes, or verdant mountains—far from a cultivation paradise.
The barrenness was staggering. The endless plateau held no major sects.
“The Demon Province!”
They had arrived in the Demon Province. The distance from the Five Elements Province was unimaginable. The locals knew nothing of other provinces—to them, one province was an unfathomable expanse, impossible to traverse in a hundred lifetimes.
Eventually, they met a few low-level cultivators who shed some light.
The Demon Province earned its name from ancient times, a land of endless warfare and slaughter, steeped in malevolence.
The barren plateau spanning over a hundred thousand miles was the result of an ancient battle. A primordial powerhouse had once exhaled a breath of flame, incinerating everything.
The grandfather and grandson were stunned. What kind of power could scorch a hundred thousand miles with a single breath?
Moreover, the Demon Province wasn’t just named for its warlike history. Another reason was the presence of the Demon Sunflower Garden within its borders.
Shi Hao’s expression darkened.
His feud with this faction ran deep. In the lower realm, they had fought to the death. The descent of the Seven Gods had also been orchestrated by them.
In the Yuan Tian Secret Realm, he had even slain one of their young elites!
Though this region was desolate, the Demon Province as a whole was rich in spiritual energy, home to many great sects and divine landscapes—especially around the Demon Sunflower Garden, where celestial essence flowed year-round.
This barren plateau was but a corner of the province, rarely visited by powerful beings.
The grandfather and grandson were pleased. This was the perfect place for secluded cultivation—no matter how much noise they made, no one would notice.
“Pity we’re so far from the Five Elements Province, separated by dozens of regions. Returning won’t be easy,” Shi Hao sighed.
A single province dwarfed the eight domains of the lower realm combined, spanning tens of millions of miles at minimum.
In recent days, lightning had crackled across the volcanic range, a spectacular sight.
The grandfather and grandson cultivated in peace, undisturbed. Amid billowing smoke, boiling magma, and sulfurous fumes, they sat cross-legged atop volcanic craters, thunder swirling above them as they deciphered the second golden page.
Before the Great Devil God floated a purple grass, wreathed in lightning. Before Shi Hao stood a slender emerald bamboo, crackling with thunder.
These were priceless treasures plucked from the Immortal Tomb, accelerating their mastery of thunder techniques.
This wasn’t Shi Hao’s first benefit. Now, with his grandfather, he used two of the three remaining plants to unlock the second golden page’s secrets.
The Thunder Emperor—a figure shrouded in mystery, rumored to be an immortal. His legacy was profound, his techniques unparalleled.
The two golden pages were priceless, containing the pinnacle of thunder arts. Their revelation would drive sects to madness.
Over days, the purple grass and emerald bamboo dwindled as lightning enveloped the duo, encasing them in cocoons of crackling energy.
Two days later, thunderbolts tore through the sky, collapsing volcanoes and sending magma geysering.
“Success!” Shi Hao’s eyes snapped open, lightning symbols flashing within them, sharp and piercing.
Beneath him, earth-yellow energy coalesced—a manifestation of thunder. Behind him, wings of light and shadow unfurled, also woven from lightning!
His comprehension of thunder had reached terrifying heights. The Thunder Emperor’s techniques were now etched into his soul, their myriad transformations and mysteries mastered.
Shi Hao felt that if he returned to the Yuan Tian Secret Realm, he could slaughter all challengers with thunder alone, no need for the Kun Peng’s arts.
This technique rivaled the Kun Peng’s, a supreme legacy that shook the ages!
Soon, the Great Devil God emerged, his gains equally immense.
“Grandfather, I wish to join the Three Thousand Provinces’ Genius Battle. They say unparalleled opportunities await. All elites, including the first-generation prodigies, will gather there,” Shi Hao said, eager to seize destiny.
“Child, I’ll remain here in seclusion. If you seek me, return to these volcanoes,” the Great Devil God replied, intent on further cultivation.
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