Chapter 361 - 360: Elephant Demon King

"Thank you, Benefactors," Ku Ming said after a moment, pressing one hand against the wound on his chest. His voice carried genuine gratitude, but the sorrow in his eyes had not disappeared. "Without your assistance, this humble monk might have fallen into the same fate as his junior brothers. I owe you both a debt that I shall not forget."

"Save your breath for later," Lin Yuan replied, turning toward the expanding fissure above the gorge. His expression remained serious as he reached out and caught Bai Qingyue and Ku Ming by their arms, preparing to move before another spatial collapse could trap them.

"The sky is still falling, and we have already wasted enough time here. We can mourn the dead once we reach a place where the ground beneath our feet is not about to disappear."

Bai Qingyue glanced once more at the severed heads before following Lin Yuan into the air. Her expression was solemn, and the Heaven and Earth luck surrounding her body shimmered faintly as she silently offered a prayer for the fallen cultivators.

Ku Ming followed behind them, his Indestructible Karmic Wheel rotating steadily as he used its Buddhist light to shield the group from the worst of the spatial turbulence.

The gorge collapsed almost immediately after they departed.

The cliffs on either side of the pass folded inward, and the ground beneath the fallen demons split apart before disappearing into the black void. Their remains were swallowed by the expanding spatial fissure, leaving no trace of the battle behind.

Lin Yuan did not look back, because he understood that the Sacred Grounds were rapidly approaching a point where even a moment of hesitation could prove fatal.

They tore through the crumbling landscape, crossing broken valleys and avoiding enormous fragments of rock that had been lifted into the air by the unstable spatial laws.

The central jade plaza gradually emerged in the distance, its ancient structures still visible through the haze of dust and distorted light. Yet as they drew closer, Lin Yuan’s expression became increasingly grim, because the scene unfolding around the plaza was far worse than anything they had encountered during their journey.

The sanctuary had become a slaughterhouse.

The once-pristine jade plaza was littered with the broken bodies of the Nine Provinces’ greatest young cultivators. Ancient pillars had been shattered, the ground was stained with blood, and fragments of powerful artifacts lay scattered among the ruins.

Several formations that had once protected the plaza were still flickering weakly, but their defensive runes had been damaged beyond repair. The air was thick with the lingering traces of demonic energy, and the oppressive silence was broken only by the distant rumble of the collapsing realm.

Lin Yuan’s gaze swept across the devastation, and his eyes gradually narrowed. He recognized several of the figures lying among the ruins, including cultivators whose names had been widely known throughout the Nine Provinces.

Some had been killed by direct physical attacks, while others appeared to have suffered the destruction of their Primordial Spirits. The sheer scale of the slaughter made it clear that the enemy standing at the center of the plaza possessed enough power to overwhelm even the most talented young experts.

The twin-Dao Fruit cultivator lay dead beside a shattered pillar, her body surrounded by fragments of the formation she had apparently attempted to activate before her death.

Not far away, the enormous human giant who had once displayed ten arms had been torn completely in half, his massive frame lying motionless among the broken jade tiles. The sight caused Ku Ming’s expression to darken, because the fallen cultivators represented the future of the human world, and their deaths would leave a terrible gap in the younger generation.

At the center of the devastation stood a nightmare made flesh.

The creature resembled an enormous elephant demon, its heavily armored body towering above the surrounding ruins. Its thick hide was covered in layers of dark scales, and two massive tusks curved outward from its head, their surfaces stained with the blood of its enemies.

Yet its most horrifying feature was the ten enormous arms sprouting from its back and shoulders. Each arm possessed its own muscular structure and wielded a different demonic weapon, allowing the creature to attack and defend from multiple directions simultaneously.

"The Ten-Armed Phenomenon..." Ku Ming whispered, his expression growing grave. "The Demon Realm has produced an expert capable of combining the physical dominance of the elephant lineage with the martial versatility of the Ten-Armed phenomenon."

The Elephant Demon King stood amid the corpses with a relaxed posture, as though the slaughter surrounding it were nothing more than an ordinary pastime. Its ten arms moved independently, occasionally adjusting the weapons they held while its crimson eyes examined the ruined plaza.

When Lin Yuan and his companions descended from the sky, the demon slowly turned its massive head toward them, and a cruel smile spread across its fanged mouth.

"The human anomaly and his bitch," the Elephant Demon King rumbled, its voice shaking the remaining jade tiles. It studied Lin Yuan for a moment before its eyes moved toward Bai Qingyue, and its grin widened.

"The Ten Thousand Devil Kill Order has practically delivered you straight into my hands. I shall mount your heads upon my tusks and present them to Lord Bai Sha. Perhaps he will reward me with a place among his most trusted subordinates."

As it spoke, the demon raised one of its primary arms, revealing a dark, semi-translucent sphere held within its massive claws. The sphere shimmered with spatial energy, and something enormous could be seen struggling inside it. A familiar roar escaped from the trapped creature, causing Lin Yuan’s expression to change as he immediately recognized his Rank 8 Golden Immortal Beast.

"I caught your little pet trying to flee," the Elephant Demon King said, squeezing the sphere slightly. The beast inside roared in pain as the spatial lock tightened around its body, preventing it from breaking free. "It put up a decent struggle, but it was far too weak to escape my grasp. Once I have finished dealing with you, I shall discover whether a Golden Immortal Beast tastes any better than human meat."

Lin Yuan’s deep purple eyes became completely devoid of warmth!