Chapter 159: Evolution, new names.
Leylan brought Yao Jun back to the room, only giving a quick greeting to some of the people that passed by them. Once they had returned to the room, even though Yao Jun had not touched the soup from earlier, Leylan still had the maid, Felicia, bring over some more food that he could eat. After making sure that some food, which looked like a roast leg of meat, arrived, Leylan and Seshio left the room. Once the both of them left, Yao Jun sat down on the bed with crossed legs, a faint laugh escaping his slightly curled lips.
“Really, so much for that pride. The world truly is large.”
At first Yao Jun had been somewhat overwhelmed to learn that he was still only at the bottom of the cultivation ladder, but he was not someone who indulged in feelings like that. So what if he was currently at the bottom of the cultivation ladder? Back on his own planet he had started below the bottom, not even having properly awakened his power at first. But he had trained ceaselessly, grasped the chance to awaken his power, and then fought his way up the ladder through bloody combat and grueling training. He had battled his way up the ladder once, he could do it again. He would have to do it again, if he wanted to find a way to return to Guo Luo.
Yao Jun closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, transferring most of his consciousness into the part of his soul that he always kept inside his God Gate. He could enter the God Gate with his physical body, but he did not feel safe doing it in an unknown place like this. The way he saw it, the more about himself that he could keep hidden, especially about his power, the better. He firmly believed that even in this wider universe, a God Gate was still an unmatched power.
Yao Jun's consciousness merged with his soul and the scenery inside the Demon God's Gate became apparent to him. It had been a while since he had last been able to enter his God Gate, and upon seeing the changes, he could not help but be shocked. He was certain that before entering the hidden realm, the inside of his God Gate had only been around 50 kilometers in size at best. But now the inside had increased to over 100 kilometers in size, Yao Jun just barely able to see the edges if he strained his vision.
The fact that Yao Jun was able to just barely see the edge of the world was also a surprise to him, as he had only been able to see for a little over 50 kilometers in the past. It only took a slight amount of thought to realize why his vision had suddenly improved so much. His improved vision was something he had gotten from Little Gray, so now that Little Gray had been strengthened by the orb of blood, so too would Yao Jun strengthen.
With the absorption of two new Demonic beasts, the scenery within the Demon God's Gate had also changed somewhat. To the far north stood a tall mountain, bright red streams of lava flowing down the side and scorching the land around the mountain. To the far south now stood a frozen expanse, the sky covered in black clouds that released a constant supply of fresh snow. The mountain range and forest that had appeared after absorbing Little Thunder and Little Gray had also grown slightly larger. Looking at the increasingly large and diverse Demon God's Gate, a slight smile appeared on Yao Jun's lips. Slowly he was building his own world.
Since his soul was part of his body, he was also able to clearly feel that the amount of Qi inside the God Gate had increased once more. The density of Qi in the air inside the God Gate was now a little bit greater than it was in the hallway where he had just walked with Leylan. As to whether or not the Qi in the air was more abundant in the core regions of the World Tree clan, Yao Jun had no way of knowing.
With a quick move of his mind, he arrived at the large clearing in front of the ancient tree that was the center of the God Gate. The tree had grown slightly larger, but it was such minuscule growth that Yao Jun was only able to notice it because he was the owner of the God Gate.
Yao Jun stood in silence in the clearing, patiently waiting. After waiting for a short while, the sound of flapping wings and dashing feet rang out through the clearing. The sounds quickly settled down, a short silence reigning in the clearing before several voices called out.
“My lord.”
Yao Jun turned away from the tree, his gaze landing on his Demonic beasts. When his eyes landed on them, he could not help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. He temporarily ignored the changes to Little Gray, his gaze landing on Little Thunder and Ba-Shei as a surprised voice escaped from his lips.
“The two of you can take human shape already?”
When he had turned around, instead of finding Ba-Shei and Little Thunder, he had found two men who seemed to be around 30 years old. One was tall and muscular, standing at around two meters, his hair was a deep purple in color and his eyes pitch black. He was clad in a purple robe decorated with the image of a roaring tiger.
The other man was a bit shorter, standing at around 1.70. He had long black hair that looked silky and smooth, his eyes were deep amber in color. There was a line going from the middle of his lower lip and down to his throat, almost looking like a scar. He was clad in a tight-fitting robe that was pitch black in color and seemed to be made out of a type of leather, something that looked like scales covering the robe. Even without his connection to them, Yao Jun would still be able to tell who was Little Thunder and who was Ba-Shei. Hearing Yao Jun's question, Little Thunder gave a slight nod of his head.
“Yes. As the two of us are merely lower ranked Demonic beasts, we only needed to reach the 3rd Mortal Earth to be able to take human shape. I reckon that the others will have to reach at least the 6th Houtian Sky or the 7th Xiantian Heaven to take human shape.”
Yao Jun slightly nodded his head, his eyes landing on Little Gray. After absorbing the orb of blood, Little Gray had shrunk in size, now only about two meters long. His gray feathers had turned almost completely silver in color, only a slight tint of gray remaining. His eyes had also turned silver in color, a change that was reflected in Yao Jun's own eyes, which had also turned silver in color. Looking at Little Gray and feeling the power he was radiating, Yao Jun opened his mouth and spoke out the theory he had.
“Little Gray, you should have already evolved into an Illusory Roc, correct? And the power of the Illusory Roc should be space, not illusions, correct?”
Yao Jun knew about the legends of the Illusory Roc, that its feathers were as gray as the void itself, that it could traverse the void as it wished, its illusions capable of fooling even the gods. But after seeing the titanic bird inside the hidden realm, and seeing that its blood could let Little Gray evolve like that, he had already started to come up with a few guesses about the truth. Little Gray gave a nod of its head, affirming Yao Jun's guess.
“It is as you guessed. Thanks to the blood, I have managed to evolve into an Illusory Roc, and the true power of the Illusory Roc is indeed space, illusions and mental energy are merely a secondary path used by the descendants.”
Yao Jun had always found it somewhat odd that a Demonic beast known as the Illusory Roc was famous for being able to traverse the void. And now the truth had come to light, the reason it was famous for being able to traverse the void was because that was its main power, control over space. With the confirmation from Little Gray, Yao Jun also managed to guess what the silver lines he was seeing were. Yao Jun's eyes moved between Little Thunder and Little Gray, a thought appearing in his mind as he opened his mouth.
“One has become able to take human shape, and the other has become a Demonic beast on the level of a Divine beast. Calling the two of you Little Gray and Little Thunder hardly seems fitting anymore, let me give you a proper name. Little Thunder, you will be Lei Wang. Little Gray, you will be Yin Lingzhu. Are these names fine?”
One was the thunder king, and the other was the silver lord. They were names Yao Jun had come up with on the spot, but he felt that they fit them perfectly. Both Little Thunder and Little Gray responded with a happy nod of their head, no one like to be called little after all. After they nodded, Yao Jun spoke up once more.
“You probably already understand the situation, but we have landed on a strange planet that is most likely located far from our own. I have no idea how we are going to return, nor when we are going to be able to return. It is likely that we will only be able to truly rely on each other in the future, so I hope you will continue to follow me.”
Yao Jun was the Demon God, but if his Demonic beasts did not want to follow him, there was no way he could force them to follow. He had also never looked at them as mere servants, but rather as comrades that would fight by his side. Little Thunder and the others had serious expressions as they nodded their heads and spoke out in a unified voice.
“Of course, my lord!”
Except for Sirius and Zhuyin, Yao Jun had bested each and every one of them in combat. And after besting them, he had given them the chance to grow far stronger than they would have been able to on their own, even allowing them to slowly evolve. They had all chosen to wholeheartedly follow him. Yao Jun gave a satisfied smile of his face, and then pulled his consciousness out of the God Gate.
He opened his eyes and swept the room, slowly thinking about what he would do in the future, an idea slowly appearing in his mind. He could not simply leave, he would have to gather some information first. Leylan seemed happy to chat, so he could probably ask him for information. At the same time, he also had to increase his strength and grow familiar with the control over space that Little Gray's evolution had given him.
When it came to increasing his strength quickly, he already had an idea how to do it, carving a new channel for the Crumbling The Nine Heaven's technique. Before Yao Jun could continue to ponder over more options, the sound of the door to his room opening cut his thoughts short. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he looked at Leylan, who had entered the room. He had to be patient and take everything one step at a time. Gathering information would be the first step.