The Creation of the Heavens and All Realms

Chapter 39: No Escape

“Ah, do such monsters really exist in this world?” Some were skeptical—or perhaps simply couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. The world was so vast that even the divine beasts of legend, roaming heaven, earth, and the underworld, were but a drop in the ocean. To destroy heaven and earth—that was nothing short of a myth within a myth! Even well-traveled individuals like Liu Yuntao and Huang Shuyi were skeptical of Wan Wusheng’s claims. Unlike independent cultivators, they had been trained by major factions and had access to secrets beyond the reach of ordinary Innate-level cultivators. Yet Liu Yuntao and his companions had never heard of Ming Kui, let alone a monster capable of destroying heaven and earth. If not for Wan Wusheng’s extraordinary background, they would likely have dismissed his claims out of hand. Of all the people present, if anyone had even a shred of faith in the story of “The Giver of All Things,” it was Zhou Tianci. Zhou Tianci had never read any ancient texts and knew little of this world’s secrets, but the aura of destruction his Primordial Spirit sensed was undeniably real. That aura of destruction was so intense that it even caused the delicate branches born of the Law of Force on the Tree of Eternal Creation to tremble—a sign that the force of destruction at the bottom of the lake had become so concentrated that it had given rise to the Law of Destruction itself! Every world experiences birth and destruction; the forces of life and destruction ebb and flow in opposition. When the two are in balance, the world flourishes, but when the force of destruction surpasses the force of life, the world begins to decline and ultimately perishes in the river of time and space. Zhou Tianci was puzzled: this world was clearly in an ascendant phase, so why had the Law of Destruction appeared here? Faced with everyone’s doubts, Wan Wusheng offered no explanation—such matters were beyond his ability to clarify. He shook his head slowly and said, “I’m not even certain if the Ming Kui truly exists; after all, the records in ancient texts contain both truth and falsehood. However, the aura of slaughter emanating from that arm just now was very real. Whether or not it was the Ming Kui, this monster is undoubtedly extremely ferocious.” As he spoke, the independent cultivators who had gone to seize the Yuan Jing—along with the young disciples from the Four Great Clans who had pursued them—returned to the shore one after another. To everyone’s astonishment, while more than forty had set out, fewer than twenty returned. In other words, in just a few dozen seconds, the monster in the lake had slain more than twenty Innate-level experts! Everyone was chilled to the bone by the monster’s ferocity; even Liu Yuntao, who had remained expressionless the entire time, paled. “Look, the Yuan Jing are gone!” Huang Jue whispered. Everyone immediately looked at the lake’s surface. Just as Huang Jue had said, all the Yuan Jing that had been floating on the water had vanished, and the lake’s surface had once again become a smooth mirror. “Could the Yuan Jing have been swallowed by that monster?” Cao Ming asked. “General, now that the Yuan Jing is gone, shouldn’t we withdraw for now?” Lü Fei, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke up. Liu Yutao was deeply conflicted. He had come here on a mission, and now that he hadn’t obtained a single Yuan Jing, he felt a strong sense of reluctance. Although the monster in the lake looked like a force to be reckoned with, Liu Yuntao wasn’t afraid. With his strength, he was capable of holding his own against any opponent—as long as it wasn’t a Divine Power Realm expert or a Divine Beast. And in Liu Yuntao’s assessment, the likelihood that this monster was a Divine Beast was extremely low; if that were the case, it would have leaped out long ago and swallowed them all whole! After all, in the face of a Divine Beast, there was little difference between those at the Innate Realm and those at the Acquired Realm! “General, Yuan Jing isn’t the only treasure that can help a Post-Heaven cultivator advance to the Pre-Heaven realm. We should just find a way to seek out other treasures,” Lü Fei urged softly. “We’ve already lost two commanders on this expedition to Shepan Mountain. If another mishap occurs, it will be detrimental to your leadership of the City of Tears and Blood!” Lü Fei’s words struck a chord with Liu Yuntao, and he decided to retreat. “Whoosh…” Before the people on the shore could even move, the Spirit Lake began to change. The water in the center of the lake suddenly surged upward, sending waves crashing against the shore. “That thing is coming out!” Zhou Tianci felt a chill run through his heart; he sensed the impending danger! “Rumble, rumble!” A continuous series of thunderous roars erupted from within the giant crater. Zhou Tianci looked over and saw that hundreds of stone pillars surrounding the Spirit Lake were slowly shattering. The blood-red color of the pillars rapidly faded; within a few minutes, they had become translucent. At the same time, the pillars slowly sank into the Spirit Lake, causing violent friction with the massive boulders along the shore and sending countless rocks tumbling into the lake… Fortunately, the changes were confined to the area around the Spirit Lake; otherwise, Zhou Tianci would have truly believed the massive crater was about to collapse! “General, we should evacuate immediately,” Sun Chong urged. This time, Liu Yuntao said nothing further. He led his commanders toward the crater wall, where vines hung down—their only means of escaping the pit. Seeing Liu Yuntao and his men retreat, the Four Great Clans began to panic. On this expedition to Shepan Mountain, they had already lost sixteen or seventeen Innate-level cultivators—equivalent to a quarter of their forces—and yet they had come away empty-handed. How could they possibly accept this? Wan Wusheng hesitated for a moment, but he quickly made the decision to retreat. As for the remaining independent cultivators, their resolve to retreat was the strongest. To them, whatever monster lay in the lake was far beyond their ability to handle. Of everyone present, Zhou Tianci’s mindset was the most unique. He wasn’t interested in the Yuan Jing; instead, he hoped to catch a glimpse of the monster’s true form. “If, as Wan Wusheng says, the monster at the bottom of this lake is a Ming Kui, then that means the Ming Kui is connected to the Law of Destruction. And this also confirms Wan Wusheng’s claim—that the Ming Kui brings slaughter and destruction.” Zhou Tianci deliberately lagged behind, his eyes constantly fixed on the center of the Spirit Lake. “A monster born of the Law of Destruction—to say it can shatter the heavens and destroy the earth is by no means an exaggeration. There are precedents for this even in the Primordial Chaos. At the dawn of the Primordial Chaos, Rahu—who vied with the Dao Ancestor for the cosmic fortune of heaven and earth—was the son of the Law of Destruction. He nearly destroyed a vast world governed by the Tian Dao like the Primordial Chaos; as for a Minor Thousand World like this, Rahu could obliterate countless such worlds with a mere snap of his fingers…” According to the Primordial Chaos inheritance Zhou Tianci had received, any being born in conjunction with a Tian Dao Law was truly extraordinary. The Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods of old each represented a Tian Dao Law; upon reaching maturity, they became Sages—a truly terrifying prospect! Of course, a Small Thousand World certainly couldn’t give birth to such a terrifying existence, but as long as one possessed a Tian Dao Law, their cultivation aptitude would undoubtedly be extraordinary, and their potential would be no less than that of an Innate Divine Being. “Could it be that Ming Kui is actually such an existence?” Zhou Tianci couldn’t believe it. “Father, what should we do now?” Huang Jue watched as Liu Yuntao and Wan Wusheng walked away, feeling a bit anxious. Huang Shuyi glanced at the other three clan heads: “Brother Zhang, Brother Wang, Brother Zhao, what are your thoughts?” Zhang Yuliang said urgently, “Brother Huang, I think we should leave first. This place feels far too sinister to me.” Wang Qingzhi and Zhao Pan exchanged glances and said, “I agree with Brother Zhang. We’ve already suffered too many losses this time; if we lose any more, the City of Tears and Blood will no longer be ours.” “All right, then let’s leave too!” Huang Shuyi finally said. As the saying goes, “Easy to come, hard to go.” When they descended into the pit, these Innate-level experts had leaped dozens of meters in a single bound at breakneck speed, but climbing back up proved far from effortless. Although Innate-level experts possess extraordinary stamina, climbing while simultaneously guarding against demon beast attacks was no easy feat. It took them three minutes just to climb a little over 100 meters. “Ah!” A scream rang out from below Zhou Tianci. He hurriedly looked down and saw a black shadow flash by; the Innate-level expert at the very back of the group was dragged away by something and vanished. “Oh no, the monster from the lake has escaped!” someone shouted. It wasn’t over yet. Half a minute later, another person was dragged away. This time, however, the Xiantian-level expert was prepared and put up a fight, but was dragged off after just a couple of moves. The monster’s agility sent a chill down everyone’s spine. Even without the advantage of the terrain, a Xiantian-level expert is still a Xiantian-level expert—the fact that the monster could drag away two of them spoke volumes about its power. “Hurry!” Everyone scrambled upward with all their might. “Boom!” A thunderous crash echoed as the monster clashed with Huang Jue. Huang Jue wrapped vines around his waist and used both hands to unleash the *Azure Dragon Palm*, entangling himself with the monster. As the young master of the Huang family, Huang Jue was by no means all show—he was top-tier in both strength and intellect. For a short while, he held his ground against the monster’s attacks. The monster seemed to have set its sights on Huang Jue, as a black shadow kept flickering around him. Huang Jue’s “Azure Dragon Palm” struck the monster several times, but it appeared to cause little damage. After more than a hundred exchanges, Huang Jue paused for a moment for some unknown reason, and was then snatched away by the monster. “Jue’er!” Huang Shuyi let out a startled roar upon seeing this and charged straight at the dark shadow, but the shadow was faster than him. The members of the Huang family also stopped climbing and began descending. The members of the other three families hesitated for a moment upon seeing this, then returned to the bottom of the pit as well. “The Four Great Clans really are in perfect unison,” Zhou Tianci thought to himself. Once the Four Great Clans reached the bottom of the pit, they immediately began searching for Huang Jue. “Family Head, we’ve found the Young Master.” Soon, Huang Congdao brought Huang Jue before Huang Shuyi; by then, Huang Jue was already unconscious and ice-cold to the touch. “Have you found the monster yet?” Huang Shuyi asked coldly. Huang Congdao shook his head. “Ah, here it comes again!” A voice suddenly rang out from above. Huang Shuyi looked up and saw, more than 100 meters above him, a dark shadow entangling a Xiantian cultivator from the Wanhai Pavilion, eventually knocking the cultivator back down. Wan Wusheng of the Wanhai Pavilion tried to drive the shadow away, but before he could reach it, the shadow had already vanished. With no other choice, Wan Wusheng led his men back to the bottom of the pit. After harassing the Wanhai Pavilion’s Xiantian cultivator, the dark shadow set its sights on the members of the Northwest Legion. “This isn’t good—this monster wants to trap us all here!” Seeing that the members of the Four Great Clans and Wanhai Pavilion at the bottom of the pit were unharmed, while the Northwest Legion—which had already climbed to a height of 200 meters—was being harassed by the monster, Lü Fei was the first to realize what was happening. “Boom… boom… boom…” A commander had engaged the monster in combat; in a moment of inattention, he let go of the vine and fell several dozen meters. Strangely, the monster stopped pursuing the falling commander and instead turned its attention to the commander above—which confirmed Lü Fei’s suspicion. “Everyone, follow me down!” After being entangled by the monster for several minutes, Liu Yuntao grew impatient. He snorted coldly and plummeted toward the ground like a falling meteor.