Chapter 691 676: Reuniting with an Old Acquaintance

In the jungle, Tang Yiyi was locked in a fierce battle with a giant Dragon Rhinoceros. She unleashed one powerful move after another, and the clash kicked up a gale, sending sand and stones flying.

On a giant boulder atop a nearby slope, less than thirty meters away...

Shen Lang was using his Silver Eyes of Truth to observe the auras in the sky above the third floor of the Yumu Cave Blessed Land.

What he saw was so startling it nearly made even someone with his fortitude want to retreat.

Analyzing the information from his Silver Eyes of Truth, Shen Lang discovered not only the auras of Lan Mengling and the Candle Dragon, but also those of the Taotie and the Phoenix—two of the Ten Great Divine Beasts!

Vermilion Bird, Taotie, Phoenix...

A third of the Ten Great Divine Beasts were gathered right here in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land!

And on top of that, there was the Candle Dragon, a creature Shen Lang was always wary of.

'The auras of the Vermilion Bird and the Candle Dragon are relatively weak, around the Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm. Their Origin auras are also faint, so these must be their avatars.'

'But the Taotie and the Phoenix... even from this far away, I can feel their tyrannical auras soaring to the heavens. They're so vast and world-shaking!'

'Could it be? The aura I detected outside the Yumu Cave Blessed Land, the Emperor Martial Realm powerhouse lurking in the Dragon Scale Forbidden Land... was that the Taotie or the Phoenix?'

'Why would these Divine Beasts, who so rarely appear in the world, all gather here?'

'And what connection do they have with the Demon God Hall?'

With so little information, Shen Lang couldn't make sense of it no matter how hard he thought. His expression grew frighteningly dark.

Without more information, even a master strategist like Shen Lang couldn't deduce the specifics of the situation.

Little did he know, the matter was far less complicated than he imagined.

This seemingly complex situation was, in fact, caused by a personal grudge between the Candle Dragon and the Taotie.

Lan Mengling came to the Yumu Cave Blessed Land because she wanted to find out why the Pocket World Blessed Lands were disappearing.

The Candle Dragon followed close behind, partly to impress Lan Mengling by helping her, and partly to seize the opportunity to search for Elemental Power Fragments.

The Taotie, who harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Candle Dragon, followed in their wake, intending to use the situation to destroy the Candle Dragon's influence and locate its true body.

As for the Phoenix, she was a woman with a tangled history involving both the Taotie and the Candle Dragon...

It was complicated, yet not. And yet, it was a tangled mess all the same.

Of course, Shen Lang was still completely unaware of all this.

In any case, Shen Lang could never have guessed that the simultaneous appearance of a group of Divine Beasts in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land was all because of a ridiculously melodramatic, jealous spat.

With such world-shaking Divine Beasts present, plus a group of Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm powerhouses muddling the waters, the Third Floor was practically the Ghost Gate... one wrong move meant eternal damnation.

On the other hand, the allure of the Elemental Power Fragment was immense.

But for Shen Lang, who possessed the Chaos Divine Body, the Ten Great Divine Beasts were an even greater prize.

The reasoning was simple...

Even if he found an Elemental Power Fragment, it wouldn't necessarily allow him to surpass the Cultivation he had at his peak as the War Emperor in a short period.

But the Chaos Divine Body could.

The power of an Elemental Power Fragment came from two things: first, its terrifyingly pure Spiritual Power; and second, the Power of Rules of this world that it contained.

It wasn't difficult to use an Elemental Power Fragment to raise an ordinary Martial Artist to the King Martial Realm, or even the Emperor Martial Realm, in a short period.

But to advance any further, a Martial Artist would have to rely on their own talent to comprehend the Power of Rules of Heaven and Earth within the fragment.

Some might comprehend its secrets in a short time, their Cultivation soaring as they become powerful enough to sweep across the world.

Others might meditate on a fragment for countless years and achieve nothing...

As for the Chaos Divine Body, it was something completely alien to this world.

But as someone who possessed the Chaos Divine Body, Shen Lang had felt every iota of power it had granted him from the very beginning.

Shen Lang had infinite expectations for this power that shouldn't belong to this world, this terrifying power capable of withstanding the Nine-Nine Tribulation Thunder.

And for the Chaos Divine Body to undergo a true awakening, a qualitative transformation, he needed to obtain the Ten Great Divine Beasts' Essence Blood!

Now, two Divine Beasts besides the Vermilion Bird had appeared in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land. Shen Lang couldn't help but be tempted.

But these Divine Beasts in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land had the world-altering Cultivation of the Emperor Martial Realm...

Trying to make a move on them was simply a death wish!

He didn't even dare to think too much about obtaining a drop of Essence Blood from Lan Mengling, the Vermilion Bird.

Let alone the Taotie and the Phoenix.

'Something's not right...' Shen Lang thought, sitting cross-legged on the blue-green rock with his chin in his hand. 'The Yumu Cave Blessed Land might hide some secrets, and there might even be Elemental Power Fragments here, but that shouldn't be enough to attract three of the Great Divine Beasts, should it?'

'The War Emperor's memories of the Ten Great Divine Beasts are also vague. I don't know if the War Emperor deliberately sealed them, or if the War God Hall itself simply had very few records on them...'

'Throughout the history of the Star Continent, the Dragon Race has appeared most frequently among the Ten Great Divine Beasts. The others rarely show themselves, but now...'

With multiple Emperor Martial Realm powerhouses on the scene, Shen Lang was no longer so focused on the Elemental Power Fragment.

With his current Cultivation, trying to pull a tooth from a tiger's mouth was simply suicidal.

But when he realized these Emperor Martial Realm powerhouses were, in fact, Divine Beasts, Shen Lang felt completely different...

Tang Yiyi, having just walked over, was taken aback. "You... why do you look so pale? What happened?"

CRACK!

The small rock in Shen Lang's hand crumbled to dust. 'No matter what,' he thought, 'I have to venture into the depths of the Third Floor! The Elemental Power Fragment, the three Great Divine Beasts... this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!'

'Gu Feng said my luck can suppress that of others. Who's to say I can't be the fisherman who profits while the snipe and the clam are busy fighting?'

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained!'

'With the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, I should have some way to protect myself. I'll risk it!'

In a flash, Shen Lang shot to his feet.

Taking a deep breath, Shen Lang said, "It's nothing. I just saw something unexpected. I have a decision to make."

Tang Yiyi glanced at Shen Lang and said no more.

She understood that if something gave even Shen Lang this much trouble, knowing about it would be useless. It was on a level far beyond her.

She knew what to ask and what not to ask.

"Are you really not going to bother with the disciples from the Five Great Sects who entered the Yumu Cave Blessed Land?" Tang Yiyi asked, just to say something.

"Bother with them? How?" Shen Lang chuckled. "They've become quite powerful, their equipment is excellent, and with their Demon Beasts, they're more than capable of protecting themselves."

"Here in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land, disciples from ordinary Profound Iron Level Sects are no threat to them. While the disciples of the Imperial Dragon Sect and the other two of the Three Sects don't see our people as allies, they won't go out of their way to harm them. The Blood Wing Demon Sect has accepted my 'gifts' and formed an alliance with us, so they won't attack our people openly..."

"They only have two enemies here: the forces of the White Bone Hall, and the inherent dangers of the Yumu Cave Blessed Land itself."

"As long as they handle things properly and coordinate with each other, they shouldn't have any major problems."

"Alright, let's keep moving. According to this Magical Artifact, two blue dots of light are rapidly approaching us... Since they're rushing back this fast, they're probably being chased. I wonder which two unlucky souls they are."

Shen Lang gave a lazy stretch and shot into the air.

"Hmm?"

The moment he was airborne, Shen Lang's brow furrowed. Instead of continuing forward, he turned and flew off to the left.

Tang Yiyi paused for a second, surprised, but said nothing and followed right behind him.

The rolling mountains were lush and verdant, their peaks appearing and disappearing amidst the swirling mists.

The pure, fresh air was invigorating.

And yet, an unsettling aura radiated from Shen Lang.

Several times, Tang Yiyi opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but she always stopped herself.

Shen Lang picked up speed, streaking westward like a bolt of lightning.

"..." Tang Yiyi lagged far behind, a dark expression on her face as she struggled to keep up.

Her pride wouldn't allow her to ask Shen Lang to wait for her.

They covered over ten miles in the blink of an eye.

By the time Tang Yiyi caught up, she froze again before she could even speak.

Shen Lang stood motionless in midair, seemingly calm.

But a Killing Intent so thick it was almost tangible radiated from him, making even Tang Yiyi shiver involuntarily.

Following his gaze down into the valley below, she saw two groups of people.

The ground was a wreck, with uprooted plants and a broken sword lying on the dirt, clear evidence of a recent, fierce battle.

One group, men and women in grey-black martial attire, had surrounded a woman whose clothes were in tatters, forcing her to stumble backward wretchedly.

The other group, all in matching pale-yellow martial attire, stood a short distance away, watching with indifference. A few of them even wore gloating smirks.

'The ones in grey-black are from the Red Demon Valley of the Celestial Defying Demon Realm, and their leader is Lü Qi of the White Bone Hall.'

'Those in pale yellow are Long Fong and his people from the Imperial Dragon Sect... The woman surrounded by the Red Demon Valley members didn't participate in the selection tournament, but based on her clothes, she must be from the Imperial Dragon Sect too, right?'

'Damn it! The Imperial Dragon Sect members are just standing there, watching their own fellow disciple get bullied!'

Tang Yiyi's gaze turned cold. Her hand tightened on her sword hilt, and a faint Spirit Light flickered around it.

Then, she grit her teeth and turned to look at Shen Lang.

But she couldn't tell what he was thinking. His gaze was dark, but he made no move.

"Ye Xue, stop struggling. With your pathetic amount of strength, do you really think you can escape my grasp? And don't expect anyone to save you... You saw them yourself. Your 'senior martial brothers' from the Imperial Dragon Sect look like they can't wait for you to die, don't they?"

"Just be a good girl and do as I say. Keep me happy, and I might find a way for you to join the White Bone Hall, hmm? You'll live the high life there. Isn't that much better than this bullshit Imperial Dragon Sect?"

Lü Qi caressed the woman's cheek with a lewd smile and then burst into loud laughter.

The woman being periodically groped by Lü Qi was none other than Ye Xue, the very same person who had snuck a few glances at Shen Lang outside the Yumu Cave Blessed Land!

And the leader of the three men and two women watching indifferently from a distance, some even gloating, was also an acquaintance of Shen Lang's...

Xu Daolin's senior martial brother... Yuwen Huaji's head disciple, Long Fong!