Chapter 1561 - 452: Taichu Master, Golden-winged Roc, Empress (6k)

Under the dark gray sky, a Golden-winged Roc pierced the bloody sunset, its wings sweeping up the clouds as it flew past.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion came from below, and the violent spiritual power fluctuations caused Zhou Qing, in roc form, to shrink his pupils abruptly.

Looking down, he saw Ancestor Zhuge’s clothes stained with blood, engaged in fierce combat with a handsome man dressed in a dark green robe.

The man, at a glance, appeared no different from the Human Race, but subtle demonic energy was revealed in his movements.

The occasional flash of vertical pupils at the corners of his eyes and the faint scale patterns amidst his hair revealed his identity as a Demon Emperor.

"Strange..." Zhou Qing frowned.

It was known that only Demon Kings retained some of their original traits, whereas those who truly stepped into the realm of Demon Emperor were almost indistinguishable from the Human Race after transformation.

Moreover, this Demon Emperor’s spiritual power was unstable, and his moves were filled with brutality, completely different from those stable and seasoned Demon Emperors at the border.

"This Demon Emperor seems to have been forced into maturation." Zhou Qing’s eyes dimmed slightly, murmuring to himself.

The chaotic and unstable demon power fluctuations, the uncontrollable brutal aura, all seemed to be the result of forced growth rather than natural cultivation.

When he first arrived here, the mountains were suspended upside down, rivers flowed backward.

His second senior sister and the White Crane had hidden beside one of the inverted waterfalls, using the pressure of a Divinity Transformation Realm Perfection demon beast within to play a trick under the cover of darkness.

At that time, there was no sign of a Demon Emperor in the entire Secret Realm.

Moreover, according to Xuanyuan Shuo’s memory, in the past century, they had already slain seven Demon Emperors here, and it seemed more were lurking deeper within the Secret Realm.

This is obviously abnormal!

The entire Holy Martial Dynasty, over three thousand years, had only seventeen in the Spirit Severing Realm.

And yet, this Secret Realm, in such a short time, could produce so many Demon Emperors from nothing?

Could it be... that there’s truly a method to forcefully mature Demon Emperors?

That would require cutting off the obsessions of the Spirit Severing Realm.

Zhou Qing couldn’t understand or comprehend it.

Then, he ignored it and continued to head deeper.

...

About half an hour later, the golden wings of the Golden-winged Roc cut through the bloody sky and slowly landed in front of an extraordinary terrain.

The entire mountain range seemed to have been reversed by the hand of a deity, with the mountain peaks thrusting into the ground and the mountain feet strangely hanging in the air.

And the rivers on the ground flowed backward, rushing straight to the top of the inverted mountain range.

Below the mountain feet, five figures emitting terrifying auras were sitting cross-legged.

Though these five maintained humanoid forms, in some aspects they, like the Demon Emperor Zhou Qing had seen before, still retained some features of their original forms.

The man in the middle wore a purple robe, his face handsome, but a silver horn protruded from his forehead.

The woman on the left had skin as white as snow, but there were a few colorful feathers in her hair.

The burly man on the right had a rugged face, with golden mane faintly visible on his neck.

The two on the outermost sides looked like twin brothers but revealed fine serrated teeth when they breathed.

Zhou Qing’s heart shook violently—the aura emitted by these five, they were all of Demon Emperor level!

Especially that purple-robed man, whose surging demon power had already reached the late stage of the Spirit Severing Realm!

Even more terrifyingly, on the ground lay more than forty giant beasts of varying forms.

Each emitted an aura that had reached the Divinity Transformation Realm Perfection, gazing devote its eyes full of almost fanatical anticipation at the suspended mountain range.

"How could this be..." Zhou Qing’s breath halted.

It was known that when he and Lu Yaoyao entered here in the past, although there were many demon beasts, there were never so many terrifying High Tier beings.

These demon beasts gathered here, as if waiting for some sacred blessing.

Suddenly, the purple-robed Demon Emperor opened his eyes, a pair of vertical pupils shot straight at Zhou Qing.

The moment their eyes met, Zhou Qing’s muscles tensed, immediately preparing for battle.

Unexpectedly, there was no killing intent in the Demon Emperor’s eyes; instead, a trace of surprise flashed through.

After a brief consideration, he actually raised his hand and pointed to the closest position to himself.

There, three demon beasts with particularly powerful auras respectfully retreated at the gesture.

Zhou Qing’s eyes flickered, an understanding dawning in his heart.

The other party bore no intent to kill, and even voluntarily yielded a seat of honor...

He immediately descended vigilantly, landing securely in the spot vacated by the three High Tier demon beasts.

"Thankfully, I kept my aura suppressed at the Divinity Transformation Realm Perfection..." Zhou Qing secretly rejoiced.

He was mistakenly recognized as an upper-level being among demon beasts due to a fortuitous misunderstanding.

From the respectful demeanor of the surrounding demon beasts, his status was evidently not low.

At the same time, the purple-robed Demon Emperor produced an ancient jade scroll, carefully scrutinizing Zhou Qing for a moment, then nodding slightly.

Subsequently, he took out a bronze disc etched with strange patterns, frowning in contemplation before whispering a few words to the two Demon Emperors beside him.

The two Demon Emperors immediately transformed into streams of light, speeding off in opposite directions, seemingly to support other battle fronts.

Zhou Qing unobtrusively observed; with two opponents departing, only three Demon Emperors remained guarding, thereby significantly reducing the pressure.

If any other Spirit Severing experts could fight their way here and share some of the pressure, it would be even better...

While he mused, the purple-robed Demon Emperor had already closed his eyes again to adjust his energy.

Zhou Qing’s eyes shimmered, continuously assessing the surrounding situation—how confident was he of seriously injuring this late-stage Spirit Severing on a sudden strike?

After weighing options repeatedly, he still shook his head privately.

From his earlier perception, the remains with Blood Phoenix aura lay within the inverted mountain ridge behind these Demon Emperors.

Clearly, these Demon Emperors were stationed here to guard the pass; as he had not yet discerned the transformations of this place, caution was advisable.

Acting rashly might inadvertently gift his efforts to another.