“Give up,” a disciple interjected at the right moment. “With this kind of Thunder Tribulation, even a cultivator at the Great Ascension stage might not survive. If the Tribulation fails, such a massive Thunder Tribulation could turn a person to ashes. Fortunately, this person isn’t on Gufeng Mountain, otherwise, with dozens of purple Tribulation Clouds striking down, our mountain might be wiped out.”
The hall isolated itself from the clamor outside. Inside, everyone gazed at the distant black clouds, each lost in their own thoughts.
Yue Qin couldn’t help but speak up, “Sect Leader, the older generation of cultivators has long since fallen. Among the new generation, I haven’t heard of anyone with such cultivation. Could this be a demon?”
The demons were always lurking, and the emergence of a prodigy from their ranks would spell disaster for the human world.
“If it is a demon, then they’re quite unfortunate,” Xuan Lingzi coughed lightly. “We have no confidence in withstanding such a Tribulation Cloud. Since the fall of the Demon King, even if a genius has emerged among the younger demons, under a purple Tribulation Cloud, they would surely perish, let alone dozens of them. This isn’t just a Tribulation; it’s a form of torture.”
Yue Qin considered Xuan Lingzi’s words and realized there was truth in them. Such a Thunder Tribulation would be impossible for them immortals to endure, and demons would fare no better.
Realizing this, the calm gaze of Shaoyang Zhenren fell upon the distant rolling Tribulation Clouds. After a long while, he lowered his eyes and spoke softly, “The prodigy has emerged.”
*
The purple Thunder Tribulation continued to strike a particular place on the land of Duzhou, each thunderclap more intense than the last, seemingly endless.
The remaining demons hiding everywhere couldn’t help but turn their attention to the direction where the Tribulation Clouds gathered.
The demons, who thrived in the darkest of places and were born with a fear of lightning, felt their blood boil slightly with each thunderous strike of the furious Tribulation.
It was not an illusion.
In the desolate sandy land, where giant rocks lay exposed and the mountains were barren except for withered trees and dark stones, a demon cultivator on guard, hearing the commotion, looked up at the Tribulation Clouds in the sky.
Suddenly, he heard a sound of flowing water by his ear and was startled. He looked down to see that a drop of spring water had emerged from the long-dry spiritual vein.
The demon cultivator rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
After the death of Demon King Gui Diaotang years ago, the demon realm’s spiritual veins had gradually dried up. Two years ago, the withered veins had shown some signs of life, but only a trace. This trace of vitality had been enough to rejuvenate the long-depressed demon realm, and Gui Yansheng had gathered followers with this renewed vitality.
Now, however, clear, dark water was gushing from the previously dried-up spiritual spring.
The dark stream, carrying pure Demon King’s essence, surged forward and quickly moistened the parched land. Within moments, demons scattered throughout Duzhou felt their inner Demon King’s essence boiling, as if trying to burst forth, filling them with overwhelming power.
In the grand hall, Rong Chun picked up the scattered fruits that had fallen during the chaos, feeling uneasy. Gui Yansheng had been in seclusion for days without a trace, and the young man’s whereabouts were uncertain. In this situation, as an ordinary person, her safety was at risk.
Just then, an excited voice from a demon cultivator broke out: “The spiritual vein! There’s movement in the spiritual vein!”
Rong Chun’s heart skipped a beat. She stood up and looked outside. The demon cultivators gathered at the door of the hall rushed toward the direction of the demon realm’s spiritual vein, their excited shouts echoing through the air.
“The spiritual vein is flowing again! The Demon King has returned!”
*
Boom—
Countless purple lightning bolts descended from the heavens, striking the top of the girl seated in the ice cave.
Bu Jiang couldn’t help but clench and then relax her fists, her eyes fixed firmly on a corner of the abyss.
The purple tribulation had been raging for a full day and night without any sign of abating. If it weren’t for the green shadow of the tree still growing, she would have a hard time confirming whether Zanxing still had any vitality left.
The tribulation lightning, infused with the power of the heavens and earth’s laws, was both surging and violent. Even Bu Jiang herself was not confident in withstanding it all. How much less so for Zanxing, who had no Golden Core? Yet the purple lightning bolts that struck the ice cave seemed to be swallowed by the giant beast’s mouth, roaring fiercely but vanishing silently.
From the depths of the ice cave came the faint, indistinct sound of a beast’s roar, echoing loudly in the silent abyss.
A beast’s roar in the Abyss of Extreme Ice?
Bu Jiang was stunned, suddenly realizing something, her expression changing: “Silver Moon Lion…”
Beside Zanxing, a lethargic fat cat had been lingering. It was said that this cat had a faint trace of Silver Moon Lion blood, but that slight trace of blood was hardly enough to awaken the spirit beast. It was highly likely that the Silver Moon Lion and an ordinary house cat were not much different.
However…
During her time at Gufeng Mountain, Zanxing had often fed the cat with a large amount of elixirs, adding some spiritual energy to the cat. Afterward, in places like Li’er Country, Wufan City, and the Treasure Land, Mimi had never missed a trial. In the end, it even jumped into the Divine Fire Pillar during the Ten Thousand Killing Array and swallowed countless divine fires.
This spiritual nourishment, combined with the experiences of countless trials, might have awakened some latent power within Mimi.
The Divine Fire, though deadly to demons, might not be as harmful to spirit beasts. Being scorched by divine flames and then plunged into the abyss of ice, enduring the trials of both fire and ice, could reshape the beast’s body and awaken its bloodline in a way that other spirit beasts might never experience.
Records in the immortal texts describe that to the east of the Northern Sea, there exists the Silver Moon Lion, resembling a lion with silver fur and snowy feet, living on clouds.
Feeding on clouds naturally includes tribulation clouds.
Just as Bu Jiang was contemplating this, the purple tribulation clouds above suddenly thickened. What had been a night sky turned darker, with the azure flowers closing their petals as if in fear of the overwhelming lightning. The entire ice abyss was shrouded in darkness.
Crack—
A clear, crisp sound echoed from the depths of the abyss.
The ice cave that had remained motionless for days and nights, encasing the girl like a prison, suddenly showed a faint crack on its surface.
Crack, crack—
The tiny crack rapidly spread across the entire ice surface, resembling cracks on a white porcelain dish, extending from the bottom upward.
Boom—
The ice cave seemed unable to hold any longer and shattered. A roar from a giant beast reverberated through the depths of the abyss. Before Bu Jiang could fully comprehend the scene, a blue light shot up from the dark ice cave, followed by a figure riding a giant, silver lion leaping out of the unfathomable chasm. The figure, holding a long, green staff, soared into the sky and then raised the staff high towards the abyss’s ice wall.
The moment the blue light shot up, a tremendous roar echoed through the depths of the Duzhou Continent.
In the forests, countless fierce beasts crouched and recoiled, stunned by the colossal shift in the heavens. The blue light sliced through the clouds, dispersing the layers of tribulation clouds.
Within the ice abyss, the sound of falling stones echoed.
The names etched into the ice walls by mysterious forces shattered completely under the blue light, crumbling into dust.
Bu Jiang felt the enormous stone chains binding her body loosen. She looked up, hearing the continuous cracking of the ice surface. The once silent and grim place of the demons’ extremely cold land began to collapse inch by inch.
The Abyss of Extreme Ice was collapsing.
Bu Jiang, horrified, gazed at the scene above. At the point where the ice abyss met the sky, a woman holding a blue long staff stood, gently stroking the head of the giant, silver moon lion beside her. Countless stars illuminated her face from above. She was beautiful, with a serene expression, and a small sea-begonia flower bloomed on her forehead.
Not black, not red, but blue.
The bloodline of the Demon King had awakened.
The ancient abyss crumbled beneath her feet, while the night sky dazzled with a silver flame.
“The second,” she said.
She had become the second person to emerge from the Abyss of Extreme Ice.
END OF ARC: STAR