Chapter 448: Let the Hunt Begin
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The shining bright light from the sea of trees filled the entire Cloud Forest World. At the center of the white light, a giant shadow lay silently on an ancient, giant tree branch. It was a gigantic roc.
It silently stood there as if it was a mountain by itself. It was not much smaller than the Kun Peng when it took its roc form.
However, unlike the Green Roc that was the Kun Peng's roc form, this giant roc was covered with dazzling golden feathers. On its forehead, there were three layers of black feathers. Its two eyes were pitch-black and a demonic, golden light shone from its pupils. It exuded a heavy aura.
While it was smaller, this Golden-Feathered Great Roc exuded a terrifying power that sought to tear the world apart. Its power exceeded even that of the Immemorial Kun Peng.
(Translator's Note: At this point, the author uses 'he' to refer to the roc instead of 'it'. The translation follows the original)
He stood there as if he was the center of the world.
The Golden-Feathered Great Roc was evidently a powerful demon who had reached the Third Level of his Undying Demon Soul.
In the Barren Expanse, he was comfortably within the top 3 of the Ten Demonic Saints in terms of both power and influence. He was one of the few powerful demons of that could rival the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage. He was the leader of the Golden-Feathered Great Roc Tribe, the Golden Roc Grand Sage.
The tree branch underneath its talons brimmed with white light. The white light merged with the Golden Roc Grand Sage into one and under his manipulation, with the dozens of Cloud Forest Trees as auxiliaries, he was able to temporarily control the entire Cloud Forest World.
At this point, the Golden Roc Grand Sage was able to implant his consciousness into the Cloud Forest World and control this entire world for the time being.
It was also he who stopped Liang Pan and the rest from the Divine Lands from coming over. The entire consciousness of the Middle World was used by the Golden Roc Grand Sage to suppress. Even cultivators with the same mastery as him were unable to enter the Cloud Forest World for a while.
Not far away from the Golden Roc Grand Sage, there were two slightly smaller Golden-Feathered Great Rocs as well as a bird-type demon whose entire form appeared to have been covered in a black gas. The three demons were unimaginably giant. When they spread their wings, it was enough to envelop the entire sky. Even when their wings were not spread, their sizes were still astounding.
On the tree branch opposite him and to the right of the Golden Roc Grand Sage stood a much smaller beast. It was winged and had the skin of a porcupine. Its appearance resembled a cow and a tiger. It was a Qiong Qi.
While it was smaller, it emitted a terrible aura from its body and was horrendously terrifying. It was obviously the second strongest demon on-site, other than the Golden Roc Grand Sage who literally controlled the world at that point.
This was naturally the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi. His expression was calm as he looked at the Golden Roc Grand Sage and said slowly, "Emperor Roc, how much time do we have left?"
His attitude was unimaginably respectful, but from the way he addressed the Golden Roc Grand Sage it was obvious that he had bent the knee to him.
This scene, if it happened before Lin Feng and the rest, would have been unimaginable.
He too was a member of the Ten Demonic Saints and while he may not be as powerful, he was still one of the Four Immemorial Fearsome Beasts. His tribe's power could not be underestimated as well. The current Grand Sage of Qiong Qi possessed a Second Level Undying Demon Soul and hence, for him to submit to the Golden Roc Grand Sage was truly astounding.
The Grand Sage of Qiong Qi appeared well and unharmed. He obviously did not submit to the Golden Roc Grand Sage after being forcefully captured. He submitted willingly, and in doing so gave up his pride.
Ordinary powerful demons may choose to willingly submit to stronger beings, such as the bird that was enveloped with a black gas that stood next to the Golden Roc Grand Sage. That was the Sun-Swallowing Condor.
There were many powerful demons that submitted to the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage too.
For these members of the Demonic Clan, while they had formed their Undying Demon Soul, they normally operated alone. They were akin to the human independent cultivators who had chosen to become the sect guardians of major powers. For example, the Stellar Holy Man and the Gambling Holy Man of the Great Qin Empire and the Cheng Yun Holy Man of the Great Zhou Empire.
However, the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi, who was arrogant and terribly brutal, commanded many underlings and was able to proclaim himself a lord in the Barren Expanses. Furthermore, he wielded the terrifying Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation. It was almost unheard of for someone like him to submit to someone else.
Perhaps his situation was similar to the Golden Roc Grand Sage, who sought to fight against the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage. He knew that he was not as powerful as her but yet, he refused to submit. Even if he was chased to the very ends of the Barren Expanses, he would not beg for mercy from the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage.
In comparison to the human cultivation world, the demon world was even more complicated and messy. Every demon was ambitious and wished to dominate over other demons.
The Grand Sage of the Qiong Qi knew that he possessed the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation and was likely to be subjected to containment by the others. Under normal circumstances, he was too proud to submit to bring his entire tribe to submit to someone else.
However, for reasons yet unknown, he chose to submit to the Golden Roc Grand Sage. The Golden Roc Grand Sage too was willing to put himself in such a difficult position and disregard the negative consequences of such an act. Then, he chose to demonstrate his power by casting this powerful spell over the Middle World and await the arrival of the powerful human cultivators who were coming for the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation.
To the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi, he did not harbor any suspicion but instead demonstrated his magnanimity and self-confidence.
Hearing the question of the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi, the Golden Roc Grand Sage's black eyes flashed with a curious, demonic light and he said, "Don't worry, relax and hunt."
He did not reply the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi directly, but regardless whether it was the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi, or the other three bird-type demons, everyone smiled coldly when they heard his words. A powerful demonic power suddenly burst forth and the disappeared
At this time, many bouts of powerful demonic powers burst forth from the sea of white light that used to be the canopy provided by the Cloud Forest Trees.
Lin Feng, who was still far away from the center, felt the sudden burst of demonic power. He thought to himself darkly, "Every single one of them has an Undying Demon Soul..."
However, he could not afford to be distracted right now. his gaze fell upon the light that suddenly appeared by hi side.
The light flashed and a young woman whose long hair hung freely behind her and was clad in white walked out barefooted. Her face was exquisitely beautiful and her smile was captivatingly beautiful.
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed into a slit, "So it's you, Long Ye. Could it be your master, the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage, who now controls this Middle World?"
The person was indeed the demoness Long Ye, whom Lin Feng had encountered earlier on. Her expression did not relax as she said, shaking her head, "My master is still in the Barren Expanses. I am here to do some reconnaissance for my master, but it appears that someone else reached before me."
"Regardless of whether he submits or he joins us, the Grand Sage of the Qiong Qi now works for the opponent and controls this Middle World. I am a prey for them, just like you Master Lin."
Lin Feng stared at her and then asked, "Do you know who is the opponent?"
"Only someone with a Third Level Undying Demon Soul could pull something like this off," replied Long Ye quietly. "Other than the Immemorial Great Demons who had withdrawn from the world, only the Golden Roc Grand Sage and the Purple Sea Dragon King could have done it."
Lin Feng nodded his head as the two names flashed across his mind. These names were famous not only in the Barren Expanses but also in the human realm.
The Golden Roc Grand Sage was the leader of the Golden-Feathered Great Roc Tribe and a powerful demon with a Third Level Undying Demon Soul. Just like the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage, he too was vying for the spot of the Holy Demonic Emperor.
The Purple Sea Dragon King was a powerful demon from the Dragon Tribe. He too had a Third Level Undying Demon Soul. The Dragon Tribe was different from the other demon tribes. Only those who had formed the Undying Demon Soul had the rights to be addressed as a 'dragon king', whereas those from the other demon tribes could be addressed as 'king' after they had formed their Demon Soul.
In the same vein, the Dragon Tribe did not use 'Demonic Saint' as a form of address.
Compared to the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the Golden Roc Grand Sage, the Purple Sea Dragon King was much more reserved. While he himself was reserved, it did not mean that others dared to look down on him. Like the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the Golden Roc Grand Sage, everyone viewed him one of the top three demons of the Ten Demonic Saints.
Long Ye continued, "The Purple Sea Dragon King has always been reserved. It is most likely to be the Golden Roc Grand Sage."
She then said quietly, "The powers of this demon had grown rapidly in the past few years. He is now the de facto king of all bird-type demons. Other than the Phoenix and the Three-Legged Golden Crow, almost all bird-type demons of the Barren Expanses had been united by him."
Lin Feng then said, "I believe some beasts had submitted to him too."
Long Ye smiled, "Yes, but I don't know if the Grand Sage of Qiong Qi had been captured by him or if the entire Qiong Qi Demon Tribe had submitted to his authority. If it is the former, that is still fine as he may not yet possess the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation. If it's the latter, then it's a lot more problematic."
Lin Feng looked at Long Ye and asked suddenly, "How many Demonic Saint level demons came along with you?"
"Including me, three," Long Ye's gaze flashed as she looked at Lin Feng, "Why do you ask, Master Lin?"
Long Ye replied Lin Feng's question swiftly, and then she asked him, "How many Immortal Soul stage cultivators came along with Master Lin?"
Lin Feng said, "Other than me, there are four more."
Long Ye mumbled to herself, "That's still fine, the number isn't enough..."
Lin Feng's pupils dilated as he was about to probe further before he felt a tug in his heart. He quickly moved back.
A blast of blood-red light suddenly landed in front of him. A cold killing aura spread from it and it almost grazed Lin Feng. It destroyed many of the glowing white tree branches.
The flashing white tree branches of these trees had merged with the Middle World. Attacking them was akin to attacking the world itself, and the protective powers of the tree branches were extremely strong, making it difficult to destroy.
The blood-red light did not just destroy the tree branches; it destroyed a piece of the void itself.
Lin Feng raised his head and the first thing he saw was a pair of blood-red eyes that were terrifying beyond belief. It was like a canyon that was filled with blood.
The owner of these eyes was a gigantic black wolf that was almost as big as a mountain.
The giant wolf emerged from the white light given off by the canopy. Every step that it took made it became slightly smaller. Finally, its paws left the ground as it stood up like a human.
His entire body then took on a human shape as he turned into a giant hunk clad in a robe made out of wolfskin.
The terrifying demonic power and the raw masculinity that he gave off made it hard to look at him straight. He was obviously a Demonic Saint with a Second Level Undying Demon Soul.
Lin Feng's face was expressionless as he turned his head to look at Long Ye, who acted as if nothing had happened.
"We have to stop talking," the white-robed girl smiled and waved at Lin Feng. "Don't look at me, Master Lin, my words count for nothing this time."
She pointed to the hunk next to her and said, smiling, "This is my 'uncle' (Translator's Note: Not literal, the 'uncle' is from the same generation of demons as Long Ye's master), the Sirius Grand Sage."