Devour

Chapter 422 The First Demon King

Zhenhai Pavilion was the core of the formation. Wang Hong strained to draw the spiritual energy from the entire island together, and sternly ordered, "Don't let the demonic fog infiltrate! Activate the Thousand Machine Illusion Formation immediately!"

"Buzz...buzz..."

A series of sharp and rapid buzzing sounds rang out, and the power passed down from ancient times was activated.

At the edge of Jing'ao Island, complex and mysterious runes suddenly illuminated, rapidly unleashing a surge of spiritual energy. The stored spiritual energy was released, converging into streams of surging spiritual light, ultimately converging into a vast, shimmering hemispherical barrier in the sky, tightly enveloping the entire island.

On the hemispherical light wall, countless tiny runes changed and evolved, presenting a myriad of ever-changing scenes and exuding a majestic aura that was immune to evil and poison.

In the short time after the formation was activated, from the outside, the huge Jingao Island seemed to have disappeared from the sea out of thin air, and ordinary cultivators could not detect the existence of this island.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Wang Hong's forehead. He knew that maintaining the island protection formation was extremely exhausting. He stared at the blood mist outside the formation that was silently hitting the light shield. After confirming that the mist was temporarily blocked and could not penetrate at all, his tense mind relaxed a little.

Cheng Bai identified the formation's type and secretly praised it. "The Jingtao Sect's Thousand Machine Illusion Formation is a top-tier fourth-tier formation. While its attack power may not be as strong as the 'Sword Boiling Sea Formation,' it excels in its ability to conceal itself and trap the enemy. It's well-suited for emergencies, hence its name."

Wang Mingsheng boasted, "Our sect's island protection formation is more than enough to resist the miasma and poisonous fog."

Jiuying glanced at the shimmering formation and said lazily, "Don't be careless. The blood mist at this level can't hurt cultivators of your level. It will be more ferocious later."

"I'm afraid it's not enough." Wang Hong was worried and issued an order: "All members of the Elder Council, immediately assemble in Jinglong Hall and wait for orders, and prepare to strengthen the power of the formation!"

Wang Sheng leaned over the railing and pointed into the distance, exclaiming, "I can no longer see the sea clearly."

“That is…” Cheng Bai used his spiritual eyes to look through the hazy blood-colored fog, and all he saw was a sea of ​​blood and corpses!

The turbulent waters outside the formation were littered with the corpses of sea creatures of all sizes. Fish, shrimp, crabs... even some monsters that hadn't escaped in time, all lay dead, their bellies turned upside down. Although most of the powerful sea creatures had evacuated in advance, countless sacrifices remained in the sea.

What was even more terrifying was that in less than a moment, all the floating corpses melted and evaporated into red mist, which merged into the rapidly spreading blood mist like countless torrents and continued to spread towards the distant sea.

Cheng Bai's sea of ​​consciousness was constantly deducing changes, and he said thoughtfully, "The blood mist absorbs the essence of the flesh and blood of living beings, and grows stronger. This is definitely not an ordinary natural phenomenon. It seems to be the result of a powerful will behind the scenes controlling and harvesting it."

Master Li paused twirling his beard for a moment, then turned to Jiuying, pondering for a moment. He asked tentatively, "Is the Rakshasa Ghost Saint that the Great Immortal Jiuying just mentioned referring to the legendary Unrivaled Demon King, suppressed in the depths of the North Sea by the Immovable King?"

Jiuying nodded slightly and slowly recounted, "The ancient rumors are not groundless. The Rakshasa Ghost Saint was the last True Immortal-level leader of the Rakshasa clan, once a formidable figure. After his defeat and death in the North Sea, the remaining Rakshasa clan converted to the World Honored One's teachings and became Dharma protectors, assisting successive masters."

Cheng Bai said thoughtfully, "Is the source of the bloody disaster before us the long-deceased Rakshasa Ghost Saint?"

Jiuying hesitated and said, "That's not entirely true. The reason... you'll know the clues after you read it carefully."

Everyone looked north. Beyond the island lay a bloody expanse, their vision murky and blurry. The entire world seemed to have sunk into a bloody hell, unable to distinguish heaven from earth. All they could see was a despairing crimson.

Bei Tingjun muttered impatiently, "Where can I see anything? Could it be that the Rakshasa Ghost Saint will suddenly emerge from the blood mist and charge into the island with bared fangs and claws?"

Cheng Bai's spiritual eyes could not see through the depths of the blood mist, so he used the power of the phoenix to explore the traces of things in the mist, intending to reveal the truth.

After pondering for a moment, Cheng Bai said in shock, "Don't just rely on your eyes. Use your spiritual sense to 'see'. There's a huge creature in the fog...!"

The masters of Zhenhai Pavilion were all highly skilled in spiritual cultivation. They gradually concentrated their minds, their powerful mental powers like invisible tentacles, either deftly or steadily reaching into the depths of the fog.

In an instant, everyone had some insight into the shocking changes hidden under the blood mist. The horrifying scene brought a huge psychological shock, which turned into gasps and terrified faces in the pavilion.

In the distance, a crack appeared on the sea surface, revealing a vast and bottomless abyss, which was still extending and expanding to the east and west at an alarming speed, as if a huge mouth had opened to swallow everything.

Countless tons of seawater cascaded down into thousands of magnificent waterfalls, roaring down into the dark, bottomless abyss. The increasingly terrifying roar echoed from this.

The dark bottom of the abyss seemed to be boiling with a purgatory-like heat, giving rise to a long blood mist that continued to evaporate and wriggle like a living thing until it engulfed the entire sea surface.

At the center of this disaster, a crimson figure, so vast that it was beyond imagination, carrying the demonic power of the sea of ​​blood, rose steadily from the abyss.

Master Li's spiritual awareness was the most advanced among those present. He resisted the strong impact of the evil and quickly identified the red human figure.

Even though his mind was as pure as still water, he couldn't help but take three steps back. He said in a heavy voice, "Rakshasa Ghost Saint, the Ten-Headed Demon King—Yongpanduo. It's indeed his world-destroying demonic body! Even after tens of thousands of reincarnation eons, this appearance... is still unique."

The magnificent skeleton that rose from the bottom of the North Sea was nearly human-shaped, with a body as long as 270 miles. All the flesh and skin on its body had disappeared, leaving only a huge skeleton as deep as a blood diamond and harder than fairy gold.

It has ten skulls with strange appearances, and its upper body has twenty bony arms that are either forming seals or pinching fingers, firmly maintaining the most courageous and powerful fighting posture in its life.

Cheng Bai's realm is far inferior to Master Li's. With the help of the Phoenix force, his spiritual sense can only vaguely outline the rough outline of the skeleton thousands of miles away, and cannot see all the details.

Because of this, the pressure on Cheng Bai's sea of ​​consciousness was far less than what Master Li felt. But even the slightest perception would be enough to make any peeping observer instinctively fearful, instantly shattering their heart and soul.

Blood erosion only revealed the tip of the iceberg of its shocking power at this moment!

Cheng Bai tried to calm himself and asked in a low voice, "Yong Panduo? Is the Rakshasa clan surnamed Yong?"

Master Li shook his head and said truthfully, "Ordinary Rakshasa ghosts are ugly, with faces like ferocious beasts, and are not qualified to have surnames. Some Rakshasa nobles have higher status, but have complicated surnames."

He paused briefly, then continued, "Only the noble of the Rakshasa royal family are worthy of inheriting the surname 'Yong,' and each of them is born with stunning beauty. Yong Pan, with his bizarre appearance of ten heads and twenty arms, is the only one throughout history to have an extra head, hence his nickname, the 'Ten-Headed Demon King'!"

Cheng Bai exclaimed, "The clan king was defeated, and the Rakshasa clan became a vassal of the sect. It turns out that the Golden Light King Yong Yao is the descendant of the Ten-Headed Demon King."

Master Li said with certainty, "That's right."

Cheng Bai thought for a moment and then asked, "Has Yong Yao become the Holy Son of the World Honored One?"

"You don't know!" Master Li's eyes flashed with a strange light, and he earnestly corrected the other party's mistake. "The Rakshasa tribe became a vassal tribe due to their defeat in the war. No matter how talented a tribesman is, even if he is the emperor's son, he cannot be chosen as the Holy Son of a great sect. The current Holy Son of the World Honored Sect is the Great Mighty King Xian Gen, a member of the Chilang tribe. In terms of power, he is superior to Yong Yao."

"Oh, I see." Cheng Bai responded casually, adding his own opinion, "I always feel that when Xian Gen and Yong Yao stand together, this Saint Son looks more like Yong Emperor's henchman."

Master Li smiled and said, "Don't be surprised. The Emperor's son is born with an unparalleled temperament. How can an ordinary genius learn it through hard training? Xian Gen is indeed stronger than Yong Yao at the moment, but in a few years, the situation is uncertain."

At this point, Master Li looked at Cheng Bai a few more times and lowered his voice, saying, "The scholar is confident that his divine sense will not be wrong. The Rakshasa Ghost Saint has a small fingertip missing from one of his bone arms!"

"Oh..." Cheng Bai naturally understood that he was referring to the finger bones that he had spent a day and a night to fish out, so he kept his mouth shut and dared not say anything.

Unconsciously, they lingered on the rooftop of Zhenhai Pavilion for a long time. The midday sun was obscured by a blood-soaked mist, and the world beneath the blood-red sky seemed to sink into a dying twilight.