"Hoo—"
As if understanding Bai Shengyi's words, the flames surged. In the blink of an eye, orange-red light blazed like a sunset on the ground, illuminating the area and revealing a dark red sky.
"Roar!"
A furious roar erupted from the center of the flames. Bai Shengyi, who had been watching intently, saw the sky above quiver and undulate with the roar, much like a human belly breathing.
"Shengyi, are you not inside a great demon's belly?"
The Reincarnation Brush was momentarily surprised, then dismissed the thought. "No, no, there are no such great demons in the Divine Revelation World. Even if there were, they would have transformed into human form long ago."
In the Divine Revelation World, beast races were divided into demon beasts and spirit beasts. Spirit beasts were beasts without sentience; no matter their cultivation level, they remained in their beast forms. Demon beasts, however, possessed intelligence, could understand human language, and transform into human form. For instance, the Thousand Demon Pavilion, where the demon king Lin Qingyu resided, was a gathering place for the majority of demon races.
Cultivators in the Divine Revelation World generally distinguished demon beasts by their ability to transform into human form. However, the Reincarnation Brush, with its gradually recovering memories, knew that among spirit beasts, there were many that possessed intelligence but could not transform into human form. These spirit beasts were known as great demons. Unlike demon beasts, which lived in groups, these great demons were solitary and rarely appeared in populated areas.
"Not in the Divine Revelation Continent, but this is the Universal Minor Secret Realm, and a newly formed one at that." Who knew what was inside?
Bai Shengyi's brows were stern as she formed a hand seal. "Go!"
The flames soared skyward, directly burning towards the heavens.
"Roar!"
If Bai Shengyi's initial burst of fire towards the most perceived presence felt like scorching the eyes of the entity behind her, then this current burst of fire felt like stepping directly onto its vital point. Countless tentacles, disregarding the searing flames, swarmed forward, furiously charging at Bai Shengyi once more! Kill her! They clearly felt an unprecedented danger, unleashing their full strength, wishing to put Bai Shengyi to death as quickly as possible.
"Precisely what I intended!" Bai Shengyi wielded the Heavenly Mechanism Sword and charged forward. As the tentacles soared towards her, she swung the sword with all her might! The sword light, centered on her, spread with overwhelming power, stirring up a mighty gale. As the wind swept past, both the red maple trees and the tentacles turned to ashes under the sword's glow! In an instant, the area of red maple trees was razed to the ground, leaving only a pool of blood and a man.
"Uncle-Master!"
Yue Miaomiao could no longer wait and rushed over with Lan Xuerou.
"Uncle-Master, are you alright?" Yue Miaomiao examined Bai Shengyi, only to find her clad in an orange-red robe, making it impossible to tell if she was injured. Bai Shengyi was not injured, but her spiritual energy was severely depleted. She shook her head. "I'm fine. Are you two?"
"Sister and I are fine." Lan Xuerou noticed someone nearby and walked over, exclaiming, "It's Qiu Wei." She examined him. "He's not dead, just missing an arm. He's probably fainted from the pain." Lan Xuerou frowned slightly, then fed Qiu Wei a pill before standing up and asking, "Uncle-Master, what do we do now?"
Although the red maple forest and the tentacles had been dealt with by Bai Shengyi, perhaps due to the river of dark red blood, Lan Xuerou felt the place was no safer than the black maple forest outside.
"Wait."
"Wait?" Lan Xuerou looked over in confusion. She saw Bai Shengyi holding a battered blue longsword, poking at the bloodstains on the ground. The sword was rusty and mottled, creating a stark contrast with Bai Shengyi's fair hand. But that wasn't what captivated Lan Xuerou the most. She watched as Bai Shengyi effortlessly, as if without much effort, stuck the sword into the bloodstains, leaving only the hilt, and her mouth hung open in surprise. If she hadn't noticed how hard the ground was like stone when she first arrived, she might have thought Bai Shengyi was sticking it into tofu!
"Uncle-Master, what are you doing—" Before Yue Miaomiao could finish speaking, she stumbled and almost fell to the ground. "Why is the ground shaking all of a sudden? Is it an earth tremor?"
"No," Bai Shengyi said, pushing Yue Miaomiao towards Lan Xuerou. "You two, don't wander around. Wait for my command. When I tell you to run, run quickly."
Lan Xuerou and Yue Miaomiao hadn't fully understood Bai Shengyi's intentions when, centered on the blue sword, the ground instantly cracked open into a huge chasm! Strangely, the chasm wasn't like the fissures from an earth tremor; instead, it was like a bursting blood vessel, spewing out a continuous stream of black blood.
"Sister! Look quickly..." Yue Miaomiao's voice was hoarse with shock. Lan Xuerou followed her gaze and saw the orange-red sky burning with an inextinguishable fire. It turned out that what they had thought was daylight was actually the illumination from the flames! As the two stood stunned, the sea of fire poured down like a reverse waterfall. Bai Shengyi actually stepped onto the sea of fire, leaped upwards, and swung her sword towards the sky!
"That fire... the fire was made by Uncle-Master?" Yue Miaomiao's jaw nearly dropped in shock. Lan Xuerou's expression was also complex. Was this the power of a Mahayana cultivator? Even with her cultivation suppressed, she was this formidable, possessing the power to reach the heavens? Fortunately, she and Miaomiao had intended to befriend her from the start, otherwise... Before Lan Xuerou could continue her thoughts, she saw Bai Shengyi flick the tip of her sword, thrust it upwards, and with the might of one man standing against ten thousand, she slashed straight at the dim, long sky!
"Swoosh—"
It sounded like leather being torn. Bright white light suddenly pierced through the darkness! Bai Shengyi immediately instructed Lan Xuerou, "Run! Get out from here!" Even Lan Xuerou, slow-witted as she was, sensed something was wrong. Her heart tightened, and she immediately pulled Yue Miaomiao and flew upwards into the sky. As they were about to leave the ground, she hesitated for a moment but then brought Qiu Wei along. After all, it was a life. Since she had encountered him, she couldn't possibly abandon him here.
Meanwhile, outside.
"Senior Brother Jing Lan, Senior Brother Chen Yi, why can't I find that so-called Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma at all?" Rong Xuelan, having risked great danger searching the "small mountain" back and forth multiple times, was throwing a tantrum. She said unhappily, "Could the information you have be false?" As she spoke, she cast a meaningful glance at Yun Youyue, clearly implying that Yun Youyue had spread this information specifically to deceive everyone. However, Jing Lan had scouted the area with Yun Youyue earlier. Even if he hadn't, he wouldn't believe Rong Xuelan's words. He smiled gently. "How could it be? Junior Sister Xuelan, Lan can confirm that this information is definitely true." After all, he and Yun Youyue had seen the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma with their own eyes. If it hadn't been unripe, he would have already clashed with Yun Youyue then, and there would be no need to delay until now. But it wasn't too late.
"I suspect the Sky Swallowing Beast has woken up once and hidden the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma," Yun Youyue said, walking from the front with a deep voice. "It's very likely hidden beneath its belly." Chen Yi, however, had a different opinion. "Rumor has it that the Sky Swallowing Beast can swallow the sun and moon. Could it have swallowed it into its stomach?" Jing Lan shook his head and said gently, "Before the Cold Pond Blood Ganoderma matures, it cannot be separated from the nourishment of chaotic energy. It must still be within the secret realm." Rong Xuelan couldn't interject into their conversation. Seeing the two of them, along with Yun Youyue, talking animatedly, with their gazes fixed on Yun Youyue and completely ignoring her carefully adorned self, she turned pale with anger and stomped her foot fiercely.
"Ouch!" Rong Xuelan's foot suddenly lost its footing, and she slid to the ground. Seeing this, she said weakly, "Senior Brother Jing Lan, Senior Brother Chen Yi, I've twisted my ankle. Could you help..." Before she could finish speaking, her body swayed uncontrollably, the ground began to shake, and then it lifted upwards. Then she heard Jing Lan's astonished voice. "Not good! The Sky Swallowing Beast is awake!"