Chapter 128: Fear and terror.
While Yao Jun and Guo Luo started their journey through the hidden realm, turbulent waves were appearing outside the hidden realm. Someone had dared kill a person from the Yao clan, and then threatened every clan with death if anything happened to his wife.
“Uncle Meng, we can't let him get away with this, he killed Brother Shui!”
Yao Shui's friend, Yao Gang, was currently kneeling on the ground in a small room. The room was decorated with luxurious ornaments and expensive art. There was a large window at one end of the room, covering almost the entire wall.
In front of the window stood a middle aged man with a finely trimmed beard, short black hair that he had slicked back, and handsome features. He was clad in the robes of the Yao clan, but there were some golden threads sown into his robes, showing that he had a higher standing than normal people.
“You don't need to tell me that, do you think I don't know already?!”
The middle aged man sharply turned his head and roared out, his voice causing Yao Gang to shiver slightly. The body of the middle aged man radiated an aura of rage and power, showing that his emotions were currently very unstable.
“Don't worry, I have already sent the image you provided to the higher ups in the Yao clan as well as people from the other clans. Unless he is a ghost, we will soon find out as much about him as we can.”
The middle aged man turned away from Yao Gang and returned to gazing out the window. He took a few deep breaths before responding, his voice eerily calm. Yao Gang and the others who had been traveling alongside Yao Shui had quickly captured a few images of Yao Jun, just before he vanished into the hidden realm.
“Since you killed my son, I will take something equally important from you. I refuse to believe that there is no one on this continent that you care about. I will find them, and I will take them from you.”
The middle aged man waved his hand and dismissed Yao Gang, silently muttering to himself as he stared out the window. Yao Shui had been his son, so the moment he got the news that he had been killed, he had already decided that he would get his revenge.
–
Of course, Yao Jun was completely unaware of what was happening outside of the hidden realm, all contact was cut off after all. He was completely focusing on making his way towards the cone shaped volcano that was located in the distance.
Yao Jun was currently hiding within the darkness, even going as far holding his breath and doing his best to calm his beating the heart. The reason he was hiding like this was because only a few hours after he started walking, sounds of battle started approaching him.
He did not want to risk anything, so he immediately hid within his own shadow, vanishing from the burning wasteland. A little while after he hid, the creatures that created the sounds of battle reached his position, allowing him to see them clearly.
There were two creatures engaged in battle, one fleeing and one chasing. The one fleeing was a woman clad in the violet robes of a sect that Yao Jun could not remember. Yao Jun had noticed this woman when she first entered the hidden realm because she followed an old man who had the same cultivation as Yao Duan He.
The woman had a cultivation level at the 4th Houtian Sky, but she was currently in a bad position. Her robes were burnt and tattered, one of her legs charred completely black, rendering it useless. A chunk of her abdomen had been torn out and she was bleeding profusely, unless she was given help, she would die soon.
The one who was chasing her, and who was most likely responsible for her wounds, was a Demonic beast that Yao Jun had never seen before. It looked like a bear, but it's entire body was covered with light red scales. Instead of paws, it had dragon like claws, and it's jaw was elongated, looking almost like a crocodile.
The strange Demonic beast was chasing after the woman, fire spewing out from its maw as well as from between its scales. The Demonic beast was only at the 3rd Mortal Earth, but it seemed to completely dominate the woman.
The Demonic beast let loose a plume of fire from it's maw that completely charred the woman's remaining leg and caused her to topple over. Just as Yao Jun was expecting the woman to get eaten, a bolt of golden lightning split the air above the area and pierced through the Demonic beast's back, shattering its scales and robbing its life.
“Vile little thing, who said that you could eat one of my people?”
From the air above them, lightning flashed and an old man appeared. The old man did not look very old, barely looking middle-aged, but when one looked at his eyes, one could feel his age. He also had long white hair and a long white beard.
The old man was the old man that had entered the hidden realm alongside the woman, so he was clad in the same robes as her, only that his were slightly more luxurious.
“Are you okay, Little Xuan?”
The old man landed on the ground next to the woman and swiped his interspatial ring, bringing out a bottle filled with liquid that released a strong medicinal scent. He poured the liquid on the wounds of the woman, and Yao Jun was astonished as he watched her wounds quickly heal.
Yao Jun dared not move, because he could feel that the old man's perception had locked onto him, despite him hiding within the shadows. Before the woman had the chance to answer the old man, the earth around them started shaking violently.
The earth started cracking, plumes of fire and molten stone shooting towards the sky. The old man hurriedly maneuvered his Qi to protect the woman from the heat, pulling out a long spear and preparing himself for battle at the same time.
As the earth continued cracking, a large hole suddenly appeared, large pieces of the ground falling into the hole, a terrifying heat radiating from the hole. Yao Jun was already shivering, his legs completely unable to support his body.
He could feel something approaching them from within the hole, something incredibly powerful. He had only felt something with this level of power once before, when he had seen the massive Demonic beast that called him a shattered fragment of a forgotten god.
The old man also had an ugly expression, but it was already too late. A massive claw reached out from the hole that had been created, molten stone slowly dripping down from it's scales. The being that was within the hole used the claw to pull its body upwards, revealing its form.
It had a massive and bulky body covered in deep crimson scales. Four thick legs that ended in massive claws that had a slight bend. It had a long and thick tail that moved like it was alive. Two deep golden eyes that looked at everything with disdain, and two massive leathery wings that almost covered the sky. There was only one word for a creature like this, Dragon, a Demonic beast that could even prey on a Phoenix.
“No humans are allowed to enter my territory, the punishment is death.”
The dragon opened it's mouth and spoke in the human tongue, its powerful voice ringing out over the entire area, causing the bodies of everyone who heard it to vibrate slightly. The golden eyes of the dragon landed on the old man, and fire sprung into existence within the body of the old man and the woman.
They did not even have time to scream before deep crimson flames burst forth from their bodies and turned them to ash. Even from within the shadows, Yao Jun could clearly feel the burning sensation that those flames brought with them. But unlike those two, Yao Jun was not engulfed in flames.
“Little one. Since this is the world that master has created for us, I will not kill you now. Unless you can release us, I have no interest in you. Leave here as fast as your legs will carry you.”
The dragon only glanced at Yao Jun, its eyes filled with disdain as it spoke out. This time, it did not speak out in the human tongue, but rather in its own draconic language, seemingly certain that Yao Jun could understand it.
After it spoke, it returned to the large hole it had created, vanishing into the depths of the earth. After it vanished, the hole started slowly repairing itself, until it looked like nothing had ever happened there.
The moment the earth repaired itself, Yao Jun left the shadows and started running, even using Little Thunder's lightning and opening the first channel of Crumbling The Nine Heavens to increase his speed to the limit. He was barely thinking about anything, he was simply fleeing as fast as he could.
There was no anger towards the dragon for looking at him with disdainful eyes, nor was there any interest in figuring out what it meant with its words. All he felt was fear and terror. The only time he had ever been this scared before was when Guo Luo had been poisoned and he was uncertain if he would be able to save her.
And so, he ran with all his might. No matter what he heard or saw as he ran, he simply kept running, fearing that he would die if he stopped running. His head was completely blank except for one thought, to run as fast and as far as he could. He would dodge any attacks sent at him by quickly moving into the shadows and popping out again as far away as he could.
When the boost granted by opening the first channel passed, he had already reached the peak of the cone shaped volcano that he had expected to spend at least a few days of walking to reach. After running the entire way, his body was completely drained of Qi and strength, so he could not even keep standing, falling to the ground with heavy breaths.
As he laid there on the ground, looking at the sky while feeling the heat from the ground with his back, he could not help but start laughing. He started loudly laughing, unable to stop himself. He continued to laugh for several minutes, his laughter slowly turning low and self deprecating.
He had felt that he had grown stronger, that he had gained some power. Because of that, he had also gained more confidence and courage, almost feeling like he could take on anyone if he was given enough time.
How laughable. Just a single glance from the dragon had shattered all of that, completely crushing his courage and confidence, it was like staring at an insurmountable wall. Was that all his confidence and courage was worth? He had not even dared think about one day going against that dragon, how pathetic.
The laughter was partly because of how laughable his own courage and confidence had been, and partly because of how easily he had allowed it to be crushed. If his courage and confidence was this weak, what would he do if he was in that very same situation once more, but with Guo Luo at his side.
Would he run once more? Would he be so filled with terror and fear that he would not even be able to stand? Would he choose to flee and leave Guo Luo behind? With these questions in his mind Yao Jun forced himself to sit up and shake his head. He could not, he would not allow himself to make those choices. He would become strong enough that he would never have to make a choice like that. Strong enough that even that dragon, as well as that humongous Demonic beast would bow their heads and call him Demon God.
More than ever before, he could feel the beat of his Demon God's Gate, calling out to him. It responded to his emotions, to his desire for power. It too desired power, to become something worthy of holding the name of God Gate, for Yao Jun to become someone worthy of the name Demon God.
And in it's beating, Yao Jun felt something resonate. The Demon God's Gate was resonating with something else in this hidden realm, they were calling to each other, wishing to reunite. This resonating had been present even before the hidden realm opened, but this was the first time Yao Jun actively tried to sense it. Yao Jun used his mind to sense this call and turned his head towards the direction where the call came from, towards the center of the hidden realm.
He did not stand up, but instead closed his eyes and focused on regaining his strength. Inside this hidden realm, he felt that he could absorb the surrounding Qi much easier, as it seemed to swarm towards him of it's own volition. He did not know what was resonating with his Demon God's Gate, but he knew that he had to get his hands on it.