Chapter 303 : The Sacred Beast's Plight
Chapter 303: The Sacred Beast's Plight
"Saintess?"
Chen Ming found it a bit odd. How could there be a Saintess on Elysium Island? Moreover, her cultivation didn’t seem very high.
Logically speaking, in those great powers, anyone who could be called a Saintess would surely possess considerable cultivation.
He activated the perspective of his Yin Spirit and scanned the surroundings. There were no hidden Divine Repository Realm experts nearby.
Of course, in this world, some experts could indeed hide their Divine Soul, but on a place like Elysium Island, it was unlikely anyone would act with such caution.
Just as Chen Ming was pondering, that "Saintess" had already been caught up to. After all, her cultivation was one layer lower, and she was injured, making it impossible to truly shake off her pursuers.
Once one’s strength reached a certain level, even the slightest difference in cultivation could be insurmountable.
Monsters like him, who could slay a First Grade while still in Second Grade, were incredibly rare throughout history.
After the First Grade intercepted the woman in white, he didn’t strike immediately. Instead, he said, “Saintess, hand over the item and come with us. Don’t worry, our master won’t harm you.”
The woman in white gripped her sword tightly, her expression icy and sorrowful. “Don’t think I don’t know what you're scheming. I will never betray the Holy Master!”
With that, she moved the sword to her neck.
She was actually about to take her own life.
The First Grade was shocked and tried to stop her, but just then, his vision blurred. Suddenly, a man appeared beside the woman in white and pinched the blade between two fingers.
This sudden change startled everyone present.
The way this man appeared was truly strange. With their eyesight, they couldn’t even see how he had arrived. It was as if he had teleported there.
“Who are you?”
The First Grade felt his hair stand on end, instinctively sensing a tremendous danger—just like facing a Divine Repository Realm expert.
“The one who’s going to kill you.”
As the unremarkable middle-aged man spoke, the First Grade’s heart clenched. His first reaction was to flee—as far as he could.
But it was already too late—
He felt a sudden chill in his chest as blood sprayed before his eyes. His limbs were torn apart. Soon, he was consumed by eternal darkness.
...
【You killed a LV96 enemy and gained two million experience points.】
Chen Ming casually cut down that First Grade, along with the two nearby Third Grades.
Unknowingly, killing First Grades had become as easy for him as slaughtering chickens.
After finishing off the trio, he turned to the stunned woman in white and said, “Young lady, there’s no need to end your life. These thugs can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Th-thank you, young master, for saving my life—”
The woman in white seemed to awaken from a dream upon hearing his words, quickly expressing her gratitude, though her voice trembled slightly.
“This isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s leave first.”
Chen Ming said, and the two departed without even bothering to clean up the corpses.
A short while later, the two arrived at a secluded valley.
Chen Ming halted and said, “No one should come after us for now. May I ask for your name, young lady?”
The woman in white gazed at him and suddenly asked, “Benefactor, you’re not from the island, are you?”
“Indeed. I only arrived a few days ago. The one who brought me here tried to forcibly take my token, so I had to kill him. Now I’m hiding all over the place.” Chen Ming didn’t hide the truth and asked curiously, “How did you figure it out?”
The woman in white brushed her slightly messy hair and replied, “If you were from the island, you’d recognize the clothes I’m wearing.”
“Right, I heard them call you Saintess earlier. You must hold a high position on the island.”
“Saintess? I’m just a maidservant who serves the Holy Master, nothing more.”
Chen Ming probed, “The Holy Master you mentioned—is that the rumored Island Guardian Sacred Beast?”
It was precisely because of this guess that he had stepped in to save her earlier.
Thinking it through, on Elysium Island, anyone referred to as “Saintess” was most likely connected to that sacred beast.
Though it was amusing that the sacred beast had its “Saintesses” address it as Holy Master.
The woman in white corrected him reverently, “On the island, everyone respectfully calls the Holy Master Honored Ming Sage.”
Chen Ming followed local customs and asked, “Those three earlier—what faction were they from? To dare lay a hand on you, are they not afraid of offending Honored Ming Sage?”
The woman in white said anxiously, “Those people must be outsiders. No one on the island would dare disrespect the Holy Master. Now that the Holy Master is still asleep, they must be trying to get the token from me that grants entry to the Holy Master’s resting place—to harm the Holy Master.”
Chen Ming said, “Honored Ming Sage is supremely powerful. Those clowns won’t succeed.”
“I’m worried about Caiyun—she also serves the Holy Master. Those people will definitely go after her too… I have to get back quickly.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Alright.”
...
Not long after, on a hillside several miles away, a middle-aged man in purple robes received a report and furiously shouted, “What? She got away? Trash! You can’t even catch a Second Grade!”
“Why get so worked up, Senior Brother Li?”
Beside him, a young woman in red robes, exuding an exotic aura, spoke. A red crescent moon adorned her forehead, adding to her mystique. “She’s just a maidservant of that hybrid phoenix. It won’t change the outcome.”
The purple-robed man said irritably, “What do you know? That Ice-Fire Phoenix is currently suffering from the clash of two opposing bloodlines—it’s at its weakest. If we startle it now and it escapes into the Underground Fire Vein, it’ll be near impossible to capture.”
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Elysium Island was in internal conflict and had no time to spare. On top of that, the Ice-Fire Phoenix was undergoing backlash. He couldn’t allow even the slightest hiccup in their plan.
If they succeeded in capturing this Divine Beast at the peak of the Divine Repository Realm, he would surpass the others and become the next Holy Son!
The red-robed woman smiled and said, “If Senior Brother Li wastes more time here, it really might escape.”
“Let’s go!”
With a wave of his hand, the man surnamed Li led his group into the valley—the resting place of Elysium Island’s guardian sacred beast.
The red-robed woman followed behind, harboring some disdain toward this Senior Brother Li.
If he couldn’t even control his own temper, what was the point of being strong?
The Demonic Transformation Branch and the Blood Demon Sect were both part of the Cult of Eternal Life. Though they claimed to share the same lineage and goals, in truth, they merely banded together to oppose the rest of the world.
What’s more, she wasn’t from the Blood Demon Sect at all—she was an emissary from the Moon God Cult.
Speaking of which, the current situation of the Demonic Transformation Branch was even more tragic than that of the Blood Demon Sect, because there were hardly any demon beasts left in this world.
All the exits from the Monster Realm had been blocked by the Heaven's Punishment Hall, and in the human world, every slain demon beast meant one less. After thousands of years, they were nearly extinct.
The Demonic Transformation Branch made the same choice as the Blood Demon Sect—go overseas!
On some remote islands across the sea, demon beasts could still occasionally be found, and there were also some that lived beneath the sea.
Because of this, the Demonic Transformation Branch had managed to survive overseas.
This time, both sides joined forces. The Demonic Transformation Branch would help the Moon God Cult seize Elysium Island, while the Moon God Cult would help the Demonic Transformation Branch tame the sacred beast on the island.
Since ancient times, any beast that could be called a sacred beast possessed extremely noble bloodlines. After reaching adulthood and awakening their bloodline power, they would possess strength equivalent to the Divine Repository Realm.
The bloodline of this Ice-Fire Phoenix was even more extraordinary, actually bearing both ice and fire attributes.
Logically, an Ice Phoenix and a Fire Phoenix were natural enemies. The fact that they could even combine was already bizarre enough. That they could produce offspring was even more unimaginable.
As this Ice-Fire Phoenix continued to grow, the power of its bloodline became increasingly potent, and the conflict between the two irreconcilable forces intensified.
Thus, every once in a while, the phoenix would suffer the consequences of its clashing bloodline powers—its strength would be greatly diminished, and it would be in immense pain.
And this was precisely the opportunity for that man surnamed Li from the Demonic Transformation Branch to subdue it.
Originally, with so many experts on Elysium Island and its natural barriers, it was almost impossible to forcefully invade the island.
The internal strife on Elysium Island provided such a perfect opportunity.
…
On the other side, Chen Ming and the White-Clad Woman entered the underground rock layers through another even more concealed passage, winding deeper underground through a twisting tunnel.
He found that the environment here was somewhat similar to the Fire Origin space beneath the Sea-Calming King’s Mansion. The power of fire origin was extremely dense, forcing the White-Clad Woman to circulate her ice-attribute Gang Origin to protect her body.
"Miss, how much farther do we have to go?"
Chen Ming had just asked when he felt the ground tremble slightly.
He asked, “What’s going on?”
The White-Clad Woman’s expression changed. “This is bad—something’s wrong on the Holy Lord’s side!”
Anxious and flustered, she immediately quickened her pace.
Chen Ming followed behind and asked, “Just who would dare harm Lord Ming Sheng?”
“It must be the Moon God Cult!”
The White-Clad Woman said worriedly, “The Holy Lord once warned that the Moon God Cult was full of ambition and advised the Island Master not to have too much contact with them, but the Island Master wouldn’t listen…”
So, that sacred beast could speak?
Chen Ming was a little surprised. Could it be… it had already taken human form?
The cultivation system of demon beasts was different from that of humans. In the demon race, taking human form was equivalent to the Fate Palace Realm.
The Transformation Realm was already a great demon.
No, that couldn’t be right. If it was a fully transformed great demon, how could the Moon God Cult dare provoke it?
Could it be that the Moon God Cult had deployed a Fate Palace Realm expert just for this beast?
According to that Old Daoist Wang Chenzi, once a martial artist reached the Divine Repository Realm, they were considered able to perceive the Mandate of Heaven. They could clearly sense the passing of their lifespan.
Each time they took action, their lifespan would decrease accordingly.
Suffering an injury could shorten their life by several years, even over a decade.
Thus, after reaching the Divine Repository Realm, martial artists cherished their lives and would not act unless absolutely necessary.
Even more so for the Fate Palace Realm.
So in the human world, there were still occasional rumors of Divine Repository Realm experts making a move, but sightings of Fate Palace Realm experts in action were extremely rare.
The demon race was different. Born with lifespans ten or even a hundred times longer than humans, they had far fewer such concerns…
“No, judging from how worried this White-Clad Woman is, that sacred beast must be in a very weak state.”
That was Chen Ming’s guess.
Otherwise, he really couldn’t imagine how such a transformed great demon, fighting on its home turf, could be under threat.
Unless… it was a legendary Primordial Embryo Realm expert.
As Chen Ming pondered this, he suddenly sensed two immensely powerful auras—one ice, one fire.
He only used his Yin Spirit to “glance” at them, and his soul felt like it was being scorched—then frozen—and then burned again…
It was practically a hell of ice and fire!
He dared not look further and withdrew his Yin Spirit into his Niwan Palace, only to feel that one side of his body was burning while the other side was freezing cold to the bone.
“No… it’s not two forces—it’s one force!”
He realized something was wrong. These two rampaging forces of extreme ice and fire were actually a single entity.
This power felt like it could lose control at any moment.
It was that sacred beast!
Chen Ming was stunned.
Previously, Du Caiyue had said that this sacred beast bore the powers of both ice and fire. He had assumed it could perfectly switch between the two like himself.
But in reality, the two forces in its body were fundamentally incompatible.
To think that, even in such a berserk state, the beast hadn’t died—it was a testament to how resilient demon beasts were. If it were a human, they would’ve exploded long ago.
“No wonder the Moon God Cult dared to target it—they must’ve known about its condition all along.”
Chen Ming tried to alleviate the discomfort caused by that one glance, while thinking.
Then, he sensed two more powerful auras.
“Divine Repository Realm!”
One of them cultivated the Blood Demon Grand Art, likely someone from the Moon God Cult.
As for the other, their aura was violent, but oddly familiar. Who could it be?
Chen Ming dared not look at the two with his Yin Spirit again and could only sense their presence through their auras.
Soon after, an even more powerful and more violent aura emerged.
“Who is this now? Their power seems related to that previous person’s—similar in some way, but also different…”
As he was thinking, the path ahead suddenly opened up into a vast space.
Not far ahead, at the center, there was a fire pool. A gigantic, majestic bird was soaking in it.
This bird had one wing of flames, the other of ice crystals. It had to be the sacred beast with both ice and fire attributes.
At the moment, it was clearly in a bad state. It was trapped in a massive net, with a giant black bear pinning it down from above. It was struggling desperately.
“Hahaha, it’s actually a great demon close to transformation!”
A purple-robed man stood by the pool, laughing maniacally. “Stop struggling, it’s useless. This is the Demon-Binding Rope, an ancient treasure. Once a demon is bound, it’s hard to escape.”
“Now, you’re mine! Obediently fuse with me!”
As he spoke, a drop of golden blood condensed at his brow.
“Demonic Transformation Grand Art!”
Chen Ming immediately recognized the secret art used by the purple-robed man. In a flash, everything made sense—no wonder this person’s aura felt familiar earlier.
No wonder the Moon God Cult dared to act against the sacred beast guarding the island—turns out someone from the Demonic Transformation Branch was involved.
To someone from the Demonic Transformation Branch, this sacred beast was truly priceless.
Now, the sacred beast was in real danger.
Chen Ming sighed inwardly, and a retreating thought arose.
After all, the Demonic Transformation Branch was the nemesis of the demon race. This sacred beast had been ambushed, bound by the Demon-Binding Rope, and was being suppressed by a bear equivalent to the Divine Repository Realm.
Not to mention, there was also a Divine Repository Realm Protector from the Moon God Cult at the side.
Even if he made a move, there was little chance of victory.