Stellar Transformation-Chapter 176 - 8 Qin Yu Returns 13 Black City
Deep in the Hidden Dragon Continent, over two million miles into the Primordial Wilderness.
The Dragon Rock Lion, its entire body a dark red, was over a hundred meters long and several dozen meters tall, covered in dark red armor that resembled rocks. Its neck sported six sharp, thick spikes, and on its forehead sat a golden horn.
At this moment, the Dragon Rock Lion that Qin Yu had seen before charged around like a peerless fierce beast, thundering furiously—
Even the finest Flying Sword would not hope to pierce the Dragon Rock Lion’s several meters thick armor. "Boom, boom, boom~~~" The Dragon Rock Lion roared, its golden horn flashing a terrifying light. Wherever its dark red afterimage passed, Flying Swords shattered, screams abounded, heads flew, limbs and flesh scattered across the sky, blood sprayed...
"Divine Beast, it’s a Divine Beast, run quickly."
A Cave Void Realm protector from the Green Dragon Palace shouted loudly, his face twisted gruesomely, his eyes filled with terror.
...
In terms of size, there was an even more terrifying creature than the Dragon Rock Lion—the Nine-Headed Snake, more accurately called the ’Nine-Headed Dragon’, with a body spanning over a hundred meters and each of its nine heads was over a dozen meters long.
The Nine-Headed Snake attacked in all directions, its power even more fearsome than the Dragon Rock Lion.
"Ssss~~~"
The cold eyes of the Nine-Headed Snake swept over the leader of Green Dragon’s tens of thousands-strong force, a Cave Void Mid Stage protector. A swift afterimage flashed, and one of the dozens of meters long necks coiled around the protector immediately.
"Crack~~" The Cave Void Mid Stage protector had no strength to resist and died on the spot.
The nine heads, each over a dozen meters long, attacked in every direction, its tail sweeping across the area, shattering bodies. Even within the Cave Void Realm, the Flying Swords could only leave a white mark on the Nine-Headed Snake.
...
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Demon Beasts completely surrounded the tens of thousands of Demon Cultivators from the Green Dragon Palace, none could escape. Inside, the Divine Beast slaughtered and outside, countless Demon Beasts besieged them.
In less than half an hour, the forces assembled by Green Dragon were completely annihilated.
...
The Nine-Headed Snake moved, transforming into a thin man over three meters tall, but this man had nine snake heads, looking terrifying.
A Divine Beast, after passing the Sixty-nine Heavenly Tribulations, could transform into a creature with a human body but an animal’s head, the so-called ’half-human transformation’. Only after passing through the Ninety-nine Tribulations could it fully become human. The Nine-Headed Snake was a highly formidable Divine Beast, its cultivation having surpassed the Cave Void Realm.
"Lord Xue, the troops from Green Dragon Palace have been wiped out," the Nine-Headed Snake said respectfully.
In front of the Nine-Headed Snake, surprisingly, was a snow-white cat, a cute little snow-white cat. However, this snow-white cat had golden eyes. At this moment, the Snow Cat nodded its head and spoke in a human voice, "Jiu Shou, remember, those who dare to intrude, kill them without mercy."
"Yes, Lord Xue," the Nine-Headed Snake replied respectfully, not daring to hesitate.
The Snow Cat nodded, "Jiu Shou, I must report this matter to the higher authority. You arrange for someone to dispose of the bodies." After speaking, the Snow Cat moved, and suddenly, a white frosty chill swept across dozens of meters, then the Snow Cat disappeared.
Seeing the Snow Cat disappear, the Nine-Headed Snake finally let out a long breath.
The strength of the Snow Cat was beyond his imagination, and the ’higher authority’ mentioned by Snow Cat filled the Nine-Headed Snake with fear.
******
Thousands of miles from where the forces under Green Dragon were killed, a deep cave stretched vertically down, its depth unknown to anyone.
"Ahh~~~"
Screams echoed continuously through the deep cave, reaching out from its depths.
Outside the cave, the leaders of two groups turned pale. Both leaders took out their Communication Orders, sending messages to the leaders who had entered the cave. However, no matter how they communicated, there was no response.
One message after another, but none who entered the cave could send a reply.
"Listen up, people of Penglai Immortal Domain, this Deep Cave was first discovered by our Purple Flame Demon Prison. If it weren’t for your dispute with us, sending down thousands of people, our Purple Flame Demon Prison wouldn’t have suffered such great losses. I will surely report this matter to Prison King Yida," declared the leader of the Purple Flame Demon Prison, an old man in a black robe, to the Penglai Immortal Domain’s young leader in a green robe.
The young man in the green robe sneered, "Discovered first by your people? It should be my people who discovered this secret place first, but your people killed him to silence him. Fortunately, he had already sent a message beforehand, or we wouldn’t have known about this. The loss of thousands from my Penglai Immortal Domain will also be counted against you."
With over a third of their strength lost.
Neither the old man in the black robe nor the young man in the green robe could explain the matter, so they could only shift the blame onto each other.
The old man in the black robe sneered, "The people of your Penglai Immortal Domain are quite skilled in lying, each one of you so deceitful. I am tired of talking; I will report this matter to Prison King Yida." The old man in the black robe began to directly issue orders through his Communication Order.
The young man in the green robe also took out his Communication Order.
******
In a small city near the Qin Dynasty bordering the Primordial Wilderness, within a luxurious residence.
Leaders of six powers from the Overseas Cultivation World gathered here, searching for the Black Jade Box in the Primordial Wilderness was a task for their subordinates. These high-ranking leaders preferred to either roam and relax on Hidden Dragon Continent or quietly engage in cultivation.
However, at this moment, everyone was gathered here.
In just a few days, the entire Green Dragon force of over ten thousand had been wiped out; Penglai Immortal Domain and Purple Flame Demon Prison had each lost a third of their people. Such a tremendous loss unseen in ten years, how could it not shock the six leaders?
Six thrones.
Qin Yu sat in one of the seats, with Hou Fei and Hei Yu standing behind him. The other five seats were occupied by Azure Dragon, Three-eyed Demon, Di Long, True Master Yan Xu, and Prison King Yida. At this moment, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
"Azure Dragon, what exactly happened? How did all your people die, not even one escaped?" Three-eyed Demon still couldn’t believe it.
The Azure Dragon sighed, but there wasn’t much sorrow in his eyes, for the forces dispatched to search were merely those close to the Hidden Dragon Continent; the core forces of the Green Dragon Palace remained untouched, so their deaths did not concern him greatly. However, from today onward, he would no longer have anyone in the Primordial Wilderness to search for the Black Jade Box.
"Now that I’ve lost my people, I might as well share this news with you. Deep within the Primordial Wilderness, over two million li away, lies a vast black city. Inside that city, there are at least hundreds of thousands of Demon Cultivators," declared the Azure Dragon with certainty.
The faces of those present changed.
Hundreds of thousands of Demon Cultivators? Although the manpower of any one of the six forces exceeded that number, their main bases were not here in the Primordial Wilderness, where their forces scarcely numbered more than ten thousand.
"The forces inside the black city are just a part, outside the city, and a domain dozens of times larger than the city’s area is teeming with Demon Cultivators, the least of whom are at the Golden Core Stage. The numbers even exceed a million," the Azure Dragon spoke gravely.
Qin Yu and the others inhaled sharply.
Over a million?
This estimation might still be conservative at best, as it became evident to everyone that the domain surrounding the black city must be under its control. Such a power, potentially boasting two to three million adherents, was no weaker than the forces of the Green Dragon Palace by any measure.
"Then how exactly did your people die?" the Three-eyed Demon pressed.
However, most had already guessed it was probably that enormous power behind their demise.
"That day my protector from the Green Dragon Palace, along with his subordinates, meticulously searched for traces of the Black Jade Box and thus reached that domain. A minor Golden Core Demon Cultivator within that domain dared tell my people, ’Enter the domain, and it’s kill without mercy,’" the Azure Dragon said, his face showing a flicker of annoyance.
Who was he, the Azure Dragon, to be spoken to by others in such a manner?
Moreover, with the Dragon Palace backing him, he naturally feared nothing.
"I ordered my people to merely search for the Black Jade Box and not to harm anyone without cause," the Azure Dragon suddenly exploded in anger, "Yet just moments after they advanced, countless Demon Cultivators surrounded them from all directions, and Divine Beasts also appeared; in just a moment, my forces were completely annihilated."
Everyone fell silent for a long while.
"Gentlemen, do you recall one odd characteristic of the Primordial Wilderness?" Qin Yu suddenly said.
True Master Yan Xu and others looked at Qin Yu while he smiled, "Normally, one could encounter Demon Beasts within a hundred li in the Primordial Wilderness, but when our people began their search, besides initially encountering Demon Beasts and losing quite a few men, later on, they saw not a single one. Do you all remember?"
"Indeed," Di Long said gravely, nodding, "We ventured two million li deep and saw not a single Demon Beast. Now it seems... probably that black city instructed all Demon Beasts to gather near the city, avoiding direct confrontation with us."
"Hmph."
True Master Huo Tian, standing behind True Master Yan Xu, snorted coldly, "With the strength of that city’s forces, merely the Demon Cultivators are already a match for the Green Dragon Palace. We did not dispatch many men here; why would the forces of that city be frightened of us? Why insist on having all their Demon Beasts gather near the city?"
"Frightened? Just because they avoided direct confrontation with us, does it necessarily mean they are frightened? The wisdom of you Cultivators is always so low," Yida scoffed coldly.
"Yida!" True Master Huo Tian was furious, "Don’t go too far, the Deep Cave was originally discovered by people from my Penglai Immortal Domain. Yet your people committed murder to silence others, wanting to monopolize the Deep Cave. Hmph, that’s going too far."
Yida remained silent, but Jiao Jiu next to him chuckled, "Huo Tian, you still have that foul temper."
"Where is Miss Situ?" Qin Yu suddenly asked with a smile.
Qin Yu thought this matter was amusing. Xun Feng from Su Yan City actually persisted in pursuing Situ Xue, which naturally infuriated her. Yet, Qin Yu helped, convincing Situ Xue to spare Xun Feng’s life.
For the sake of Situ Xue, Xun Feng had traveled all over in the past ten years, but...
Alas, unrequited love is like flowers interested in the stream that cares not. Although Situ Xue felt uncomfortable with a man pursuing her, how could she, a Demon Cultivator in the early Kongming stage, ever agree to a mere mortal’s pursuit?
"Situ? She is in the Primordial Wilderness," Yida suddenly bit his lip, blood seeping out.
Azure Dragon frowned. Being familiar with Yida, he knew that biting his lip meant he had made a major decision. Azure Dragon promptly laughed and said, "Yida, True Master Yan Xu, is this Deep Cave merely a dangerous place worth such contention?"
Yida suddenly spoke, "There’s something I need to tell everyone. The ninth Jade Sword is very likely in that Deep Cave, unfortunately, this Deep Cave is far more dangerous than the locations hiding the other eight Jade Swords."
The locations hiding the Nine Swords were all different, each more dangerous than the last, and this ninth one happened to be the most perilous.
"Are you sure?" The Three-eyed Demon doubted, "Could it be... do you have some ulterior motive?"
Yida sneered, "Three-eyed, I’m giving you face by sharing this information and yet you doubt me. Just don’t go if you don’t want to. This information was personally sent back by Situ; she sensed that familiar aura in the Deep Cave."
Familiar aura?
Speaking of the familiar aura, everyone knew what it was.
It was certainly the aura of the Immortal who arranged the treasure hiding places, the one who left behind the aura at the Nine Sword Immortal Mansion. Given Situ Xue’s stature, she naturally had seen the Black Jade Box, and initially, the restrictions on the Black Jade Box were lifted by Yida, Situ Xue, and Jiao Jiu together.
The crowd no longer doubted.
"Tomorrow, people from my Purple Flame Demon Prison will depart for the Deep Cave. As for whether the rest of you go, I can’t control that," Yida said, his lips curling into a cold but strangely sinister smile.
"Go, of course we’ll go. It would be too disappointing not to take a look, especially after investing so much effort," Azure Dragon said first, and the Three-eyed Demon added, "If Azure Dragon is going, I naturally will too. I must obtain that ninth Jade Sword."
True Master Yan Xu smiled and said, "The cave was first discovered by the people of my Penglai Immortal Domain, so naturally our people will go."
"If everyone is going, my Nine Evil Hall will certainly join as well. But... don’t forget, everyone, that the Deep Cave has already claimed the lives of thousands from both Purple Flame Demon Prison and Penglai Immortal Domain. This is not exactly a lucky place," Di Long said, arms crossed over his chest with a laugh.
Qin Yu stood up and turned to leave.
"Everyone, my Star Palace will also be joining tomorrow, but... let’s not forget why that mysterious city gathers all Demon Cultivators around it," Qin Yu said as he walked away.
And with Hou Fei carrying the Black Stick and Hei Yu behind him, they too left.
(End of Chapter One~~~~ Yesterday, Fang Qie really had a tough time, with less than three hours of sleep, exhausting both mind and body. Today is somewhat better... Yes, there will be a second Chapter today!)
(To be continued. For further details, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM, with more Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
