Chapter 170: The Heaven-Devouring Beast

Yun Jiao couldn’t shake the feeling that the fallen Demon King of legend and Lin Ting—the one who had raised the Heaven-Devouring Beast in the Ghost Realm—were connected. But no matter how she turned it over in her mind, the link refused to surface.

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“Girl, what now?” the old man asked helplessly. They had expected the Demon King to know something about Lin Ting, yet the trail had ended abruptly. Where were they supposed to start?

“Let’s head for the Eternal Forest,” Yun Jiao said at once. “Lin Ting fed all the souls of the Spirit-Restoration Kingdom to that beast. That means it’s already fully grown—and a creature that size can’t stay hidden for long. Since he knew we went to the ghost city and that the Spirit King would be released, the only place left for him to flee is the demon realm itself.”

“The Demon King said the Eternal Forest is in the far south. I’ll set up a teleportation array.” She pulled out a bundle of array flags and was just beginning to form the circle when—

A deafening roar split the heavens.

The sound rolled across the entire Demon King City, shaking the air itself. It was as if the cry came from the edge of the world, yet it reverberated right beside their ears, rattling their very souls. The once-clear sky darkened; clouds boiled up, wind howled, and the ground heaved beneath their feet.

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“What’s happening?!”

“T-that—look there!” the old man shrieked, pointing toward the horizon.

Yun Jiao turned—and froze.

A colossal shadow towered in the distance, its bulk like a mountain that reached the heavens, blocking half the sky. Two blood-red eyes hung in the darkness like twin moons. Its body was black as pitch, its outline blurred by storm and dust, but every breath it drew sent tempests rolling through the world.

With each exhalation, gales lashed the earth, tearing at the roofs below.

“The Heaven-Devouring Beast…” Yun Jiao breathed. “It’s here!”

Yuan Jiang and Bai Yu went pale, and even the ever-composed Ye Yuan’s brows furrowed.

Why had the beast suddenly appeared over the Demon King City—and how could it have grown so huge?

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ROAR—

The beast bellowed again, and the heavens seemed to collapse. Winds raged like a tidal wave; trees were uprooted, dwellings ripped apart, the very mountains trembling. In the blink of an eye, half the city lay in ruins.

“Little niece, stay here and raise a barrier!” Yuan Jiang shouted. Summoning his life-bound sword, he soared skyward to meet the monster head-on. It was an ancient creature of legend—even he wasn’t sure he could defeat it. His two juniors were still mortal; they wouldn’t survive a single strike.

Yun Jiao nodded and bent to her task—but the next gust caught her off guard. Her footing slipped, her body lifted from the ground.

Then—her wrist was seized.

Startled, she looked up. Ye Yuan stood unmoving, a mountain amid the storm, his hand firm around hers, drawing her back to his side.

“Ancestor…”

She was about to thank him when a wailing voice rose nearby.

“Girl! Help! Aaaah—!”

Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed the nearest thing—only to hear a blood-curdling yowl.

“Pain—pain—stop pulling my hair! My scalp—girl!!”

She blinked and realized, mortified, that she had accidentally grabbed the old man’s hair. She froze, hand half-raised, not knowing whether to let go or not.

Survival instinct won out: the old man slapped a talisman, blasting himself backward and yanking on her hand at the same time, using her as leverage to fling himself back to safety—where he immediately latched onto her waist like a drowning man clinging to driftwood.

Ye Yuan’s expression darkened. A wave of immortal qi rippled from his palm, pinning both of them firmly to the ground.

They landed hard. Yun Jiao came down on her feet. The old man, not so lucky, hit face-first with a resounding smack.

Much better. The view improved instantly.

Yun Jiao: “…”

Old man: “…”

“Thank you, Ancestor,” Yun Jiao said quickly, setting down the last of the array flags. A shimmering barrier sprang up around them, cutting off the howling winds outside. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a chill. If a single roar could summon a storm like this—what kind of monster was it really?

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High above, Yuan Jiang had already engaged the beast. With a flash of his hand, a fiery dragon coiled through the air and slammed into the creature’s chest.

The Heaven-Devouring Beast staggered back a single step—just one—and the land quaked violently, peaks crumbling around them. But when the fire faded, not even a scorch mark marred its hide. The attack had done nothing but enrage it.

The monster raised one massive claw and swiped.

The wind of the motion alone howled like the end of the world.

Yuan Jiang dodged aside; the claw crashed down where he had hovered moments before, obliterating another section of the city and carving a crater the size of a lake into the ground.

In less than two minutes, Demon King City was nearly leveled. Demons scattered in panic, fleeing for their lives.

Yuan Jiang’s brow creased tighter. Even his divine flame spells barely scratched the thing. As he searched desperately for a plan, a familiar figure soared up from below—the Demon King, covered head-to-toe in dust and debris.

“Who dares attack my city?!” the Demon King roared. Seeing the titanic creature before him, his voice faltered in shock. He had never seen a being of such scale; he couldn’t even tell what race it belonged to.

“It’s the Heaven-Devouring Beast,” Yuan Jiang called back grimly.

“What—A beast?!” The Demon King’s eyes widened.

“It must be stopped here,” Yuan Jiang said, voice hard. “If it breaks free, it will destroy the entire demon realm.”

He raised his sword high, his other hand forming rapid seals. Golden runes blossomed in the sky, gathering over the beast’s head. In the next instant, the runes solidified into chains of pure light that whipped downward, coiling around the monster’s limbs and torso.

The Demon King stared, astonished. “Immortal art… You’re from the upper realm!”

But seeing Yuan Jiang fully focused, he didn’t press further. Gritting his teeth, he transformed into his true form—a massive gray wolf—and lunged to join the fight.

Compared to other demons, the wolf was enormous. Compared to the Heaven-Devouring Beast, however, he was a kitten swiping at an elephant. His fangs and claws managed only faint scratches on the creature’s hide, nothing more.

Meanwhile, Yuan Jiang’s golden chains tightened, binding the beast in place. The more it struggled, the more the earth convulsed; mountains toppled like piles of sand, and the remaining half of the Demon King City collapsed into rubble.

Watching from below, Yun Jiao bit her lip. “Ancestor… do you think Yuan Shishu can win?”

Ye Yuan glanced at her, his tone flat and absolute.

“No. Too stupid.”

“…”

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(End of Chapter)