The Divine Crocodile had actually chased them all the way from the Desolate Ancient Star to this world — everything was growing increasingly murky and impossible to unravel. Ye Fan even began to suspect that the eighteen levels of hell suppressed beneath the Great Thunder Sound Temple had been opened entirely, which led him to think of that black vicious ghost.
Exactly what manner of things had followed them as they crossed the void to arrive in the Northern Dipper Star Territory — at this point it was truly impossible to say.
Though they were eager to leave Feathered Immortal Valley immediately, they were reluctant to miss the moment when the Demonic God Flower bloomed. Only in that brief instant would its miraculous effects reach their absolute peak.
So they waited, and half a month passed. Throughout all those days, the large black dog was busier than anyone else. It personally went to dig up iron ore, forging itself a flat-bottomed pan and intending to fry a fried egg.
However, it smashed away at the shell for half a day with stone slabs and could not crack it open, which sent it into such a rage that it forged a large pot instead, filled it to the brim with water, threw the Divine Crocodile egg in, and declared it would eat a boiled egg.
One had to admit this truly was a divine egg — not one bit inferior to the Phoenix Bird egg. The group reached the same conclusion: when fully grown, it would become a Demonic Sage.
The eggshell bore powerful Dao markings, and someone had laid divine law chains upon it, sheltered by the protection of heaven and earth. The large black dog was frenzied with frustration, fiddling with it for days without managing to break it.
“Confound it — defying this Emperor, are you? I refuse to believe I cannot eat this egg!” It wanted to destroy the egg completely and was preparing to throw it into the Divine Maiden Furnace to roast it.
Pop!
At that very moment, the Demonic God Flower opened one petal, releasing streams of auspicious splendor. Earth-light, fire-light, wind-light, and water-light all surged and cascaded downward in countless threads, falling upon the Phoenix Bird divine egg.
The rich fragrance suffused the air. Everyone looked over. Ji Ziyue moved close to personally watch over it, fearful that some accident might befall the golden Demonic Sage egg.
Pop!
Another petal bloomed. A thousand streams of auspicious splendor, ten thousand shafts of rosy light — breathtakingly beautiful. The Phoenix Bird egg was illuminated in even more resplendent brilliance, various ripples expanding outward as it let out soft, continuous chiming sounds.
Not far away, the Divine Crocodile egg the Black Emperor had been tinkering with began to tremble — violently, with tremendous force — as a coldly venomous energy seeped out.
“This aura — it is the very thing that took so many of our friends’ lives back then. I will stomp it flat.” Pang Bo sensed that energy and his eyes went wide. He extended his big foot and stomped relentlessly.
“Woof! That is this Emperor’s scrambled egg — do not dirty it!” The large black dog bared its teeth in fierce displeasure.
“Keep a sharp eye on it, all of you — do not let anything go wrong. The Lightning Phoenix Bird’s divine egg is at a critical juncture. If the Divine Crocodile breaks free and creates complications, that would be unnecessary trouble.” Ye Fan cautioned.
“Trust this Emperor to manage things. This is my meal — how could it possibly escape?” The Black Emperor said, borrowing the Divine Maiden Furnace from Yan Yixi, truly intending to cook the egg through and eat it.
Pop!
Another wisp of the Demonic God Flower’s petal bloomed, transforming into a gust of auspicious energy that poured into the golden divine egg. From within came the sound of soft, murmuring chirps — like a small child whispering and making demands in a spoiled way.
Ring after ring of ripples spread outward. The golden egg grew ever more sacred and luminous. Myriad markings appeared in sequence, all branded onto the shell in unison, resonating with the Great Dao.
Everyone was entranced. This Demonic God Flower truly had extraordinary effects. Even now it was branding Dao origins — strand upon strand — into the Phoenix Bird egg, cleansing its blood, innate constitution, and divine nature, rendering them ever more pure.
The Black Emperor was instantly consumed by envy and resentment, desperate to take its place. But alas, its old bones had no means of receiving that kind of baptism — it was only effective for young, fledgling demonic spirits.
Crack!
Suddenly the Divine Crocodile egg split open. A streak of golden light shot out, hurtling toward the Demonic God Flower — intending to snatch it and flee!
The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. The Black Emperor had been lost in its own thoughts, completely unprepared, not yet having managed to throw the egg into the Divine Maiden Furnace.
Smack!
Ji Ziyue acted. Her slender jade fingers tapped the streak of golden light, halting its momentum.
And what surprised everyone most was that the Phoenix Bird divine egg also struck back — though it had not yet broken free of its shell, it was possessed of extraordinary spiritual intelligence. It launched itself forward and slammed heavily into the golden light, fierce and unrelenting.
Shing!
The golden light changed direction and tried to escape — but it had no chance of success. Ye Fan stepped forward and brought a foot down, pinning it to the ground.
A piercing, anguished shriek rang out, filled with hatred — ear-splitting beyond measure, like something transmitted from the deepest abyss. The sound was deeply frightening.
At that moment everyone finally saw it clearly. This was a golden Divine Crocodile roughly half a foot in length, without any limbs — something sinister about it. Its pair of eyes was filled with a fierce and savage light, vaguely terrifying. It was nothing at all like a newborn hatchling.
“Even more vicious than the small crocodiles from back then!” Pang Bo stepped forward. Memories surfaced of the Divine Crocodile boring in and out of over a dozen classmates’ skulls, and he stomped furiously with righteous indignation.
“Damn it all. This Emperor’s fried egg — this Emperor’s scrambled egg with rice — how did it come out early? Fine then, as a compromise, roasted baby crocodile it is.” The Black Emperor said.
“And you have the nerve to bring that up. Your carelessness nearly caused a disaster just now.” Ye Fan chided it.
The Phoenix Bird divine egg settled back down and descended once more to the root of the Demonic God Flower, drawing in the power of the Dao without cease. Countless runes were branded into the eggshell, which grew more crystalline by the moment. Vaguely, through the shell, a tiny creature could be seen stirring within.
Pang Bo took hold of the small golden Divine Crocodile, about to throw it into the Divine Maiden Furnace. At that moment the large black dog suddenly changed its mind. “Right — how could this Emperor have forgotten? This is a Demonic Sage embryo of incomparable rarity in all the world. It cannot be destroyed like this!”
“What do you intend? To leave behind a great future disaster?” Ye Fan issued a stern warning. There was absolutely no possibility of leaving this Divine Crocodile alive.
“You misunderstand me. Would this Emperor ever leave behind a source of calamity? What I mean is — a Demonic Sage embryo is a marvelous material for forging an external avatar. By supplanting its elemental spirit and taking its place, one could even make it one’s own primary body.” The large black dog spoke, and with every word its eyes grew brighter.
The group looked at one another, utterly unable to imagine what it would look like for a dog to transform into a loathed Divine Crocodile.
“Do not destroy it. This is an avatar of incomparable rarity in all the world. In the future it can become a Demonic Sage. If this Emperor takes possession of it, one day it will be invincible under heaven!” The large black dog was completely overcome with excitement. Its vexation over not qualifying as a young spirit vanished entirely.
The Divine Crocodile let out a piercing shriek, yet how could it possibly resist the large black dog’s terrifying divine will? It was nothing but a newborn hatchling. It was snuffed out cleanly on the spot.
The Black Emperor’s elemental spirit was a miniature little black dog that burst out from between its brows. The sight of it filled Ji Ziyue’s eyes with sparkling stars, and she desperately wanted to pet it — nearly making the large black dog spit up blood. It dove quickly into the Divine Crocodile’s body.
“Wahaha… this physical body is magnificent! In the future it will certainly be able to become a Saint — and with this Emperor’s previous experience added to that, advancing to become a Great Sage and even a Quasi-Emperor is not out of the question!” The small golden crocodile blinked its eyes and let out the large black dog’s arrogant voice. The strangeness of it was beyond all description.
“Damn it — the sight of this creature makes me want to stomp on it.” Pang Bo said, and with a slap brought his foot down on it.
“Woof! Damn it! Boy, I’ll kill you! Woof! Woof! Woof!” The small golden Divine Crocodile wagged its tail and hollered from under his foot.
The group all burst out laughing together.
“Woof! You cursed sky — that bird egg, absorb slowly! Leave some for this Emperor!” The large black dog was frantic, wriggling free from under Pang Bo’s foot. Having no time to settle the score with him, it charged toward the Demonic God Flower and competed with the golden egg for Dao energy.
At that moment the Demonic God Flower was fully in bloom, trailing tens of thousands of threads of Dao-light, all of which poured into the golden bird egg and transformed into chains of divine law and the most fundamental essences concerning the Dao.
The large black dog’s avatar — the small golden crocodile — charged forward and began absorbing alongside the egg, but had ultimately arrived one step too late. The greater portion had already been absorbed by the egg. It obtained only a small fraction.
Pop!
A soft chime rang out. The Demonic God Flower crumbled apart, reduced to fine powder, and drifted away with the wind just like that.
Simultaneously, the golden divine egg cracked open. A tiny creature murmured, spread its down-covered wings, and took flight — swaying and teetering, an entirely bewildered air about it.
Everyone was transfixed. This was a little creature no larger than a fist — fluffy all over with golden, glistening down, round and plump, brimming with spiritual energy. It hopped onto Ji Ziyue’s arm and called out with continuous chirping sounds, enormously affectionate.
“Damn it — that stupid bird is the one that snatched this Emperor’s Dao fruit.” The small golden crocodile reared up on its hind legs, absolutely seething with resentment.
Crack!
An arc of lightning flew over and struck it. The Divine Crocodile immediately went belly-up, its whole body smoking, toppling over right there. The small Phoenix Bird was indignant. It fluttered down and stepped on the crocodile’s belly, repeatedly opening its beak and spitting out bolts of lightning.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!” The large black dog let out howls of anguish. This physical body truly could not take a beating — after all, it had never been cultivated before. It was so furious it nearly launched an elemental spirit attack, which would have been the ultimate loss of face: being stepped on by a newly-hatched chick and electrocuted, something that had never happened to it once in all its life.
“Not bad at all — the Demonic Sage egg is even somewhat superior to this Divine Crocodile.” Everyone around them expressed admiration. Not a single person sympathized with the Black Emperor.
“That is because it absorbed the greater part of the Demonic God Flower’s potency. Infuriating, this Emperor!” The large black dog freed itself, and its elemental spirit returned to its primary body. It extended one great paw and lifted the half-foot-long Divine Crocodile by the tail the way one would pick up a dead fish. “It is far inferior to the physical body the Undying Emperor helped me consolidate in the Dao. In the future it can only serve as an avatar — being stepped on by a stupid bird like that is just too humiliating!”
Indeed, this wretch was endlessly greedy. Its own primary body was already so enormously powerful, having had its Dao foundation built with the Undying Emperor’s help — yet it still craved reincarnation, coveted the Demonic God Flower, and truly deserved a good beating.
“Chirp, chirp…” The small Phoenix Bird murmured softly. Its entire body was wreathed in golden lightning, and it looked fluffy, round, and brimming with spiritual intelligence. It circled around Ji Ziyue, swaying from side to side, very affectionate with her. The essence energy of heaven and earth flowed into its body of its own accord, as the Dao resonated in response.
A Demonic Sage! Everyone was astonished. As long as it could grow up normally, the absolute minimum it would achieve was the level of a Demonic Sage — that was the unanimous judgment of everyone present.
“The Demonic God Flower has dissolved, but its root is still here. Could it be dug up and taken away? Perhaps it might bloom a second time someday.” Ji Ziyue said.
“Forget it. For a flower like this to bloom even once is extraordinary. The ancient Demonic Sky Palace once cultivated a specimen, and after waiting a full fifty thousand years, they never saw it produce a second bloom.” The Black Emperor shook its head.
Ji Ziyue paid no attention to this and personally dug it out, carefully transplanting it into a jade cauldron. “I believe there are miracles in this world.”
The group had lingered here for half a month, and at last they departed Feathered Immortal Valley. Without delay they set out to cross over toward the ancient forbidden wilderness.
The domain gate opened. They emerged within the primordial old-growth forest outside the restricted zone of life, standing atop a tall mountain and gazing out across the four directions.
By now they each possessed the All-Seeing Heavenly Eye and could see to distances far beyond ordinary sight. The nine magnificent holy mountains standing at the heart of the forbidden zone were clearly visible. Like nine true dragons lying in repose, they were majestic and imposing, vast and grand — connected together, radiating an awe-inspiring might capable of suppressing all of antiquity.
This was a restricted zone of life. Anyone who entered would grow old and die. In the end they would become a handful of yellow earth. None could withstand the grinding of time. Not even Saints dared to set foot inside.
BOOM!
A sound like a mountain crumbling and the earth splitting apart rang out — the tremendous roar of the Great Dao, like an entire star domain disintegrating. The primordial old-growth forest outside the restricted zone of life shook violently, and scattered leaves fell like rain.
Chain upon chain of divine order, rule upon rule of heaven and earth’s laws, thread upon thread of Dao-light — they erupted deep within the ancient forbidden wilderness, and a hundred million rays of divine brilliance surged skyward!
“What? Someone is fighting a great battle atop the holy mountains!”
“What has happened? Who is it? How could anyone dare to fight a great battle inside the restricted zone of life?”
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, the Monkey King, the Black Emperor and the others were all dumbfounded. At this very moment, a world-shaking battle was being waged above the ancient abyss, its shockwaves reaching even here!
A terrifying battle. The power involved was horrifying beyond measure — as though the flow of time itself was being disturbed.
Tens of thousands of divine order chains pierced through heaven and earth. Like a phoenix reborn from the flames, they shot out endless brilliant divine feathers, planting themselves between the heavens and the earth — brilliant, resplendent, illuminating the sky above!
Who was this person? Ye Fan and the others were all dumbfounded. This was a restricted zone of life. Any cultivator who entered would immediately be reduced to an ordinary mortal body, unable to draw upon any laws of heaven and earth whatsoever. How could a world-shaking battle of this magnitude have erupted here?!