King Hong had a hard time believing that the being in front of him was Lin Mu. But in the end, he could only trust his instincts.

Even if he had greatly changed and looked like a monster, King Hong could still feel the familiar trace of Lin Mu's aura from him. It was an aura unique to Lin Mu, and King Hong was sure of it.

After having awakened the Dauntless Ember Physique and getting the Flame Drake Bloodline, King Hong was highly sensitive to auras, similar to strong beasts. And Lin Mu was someone to whom he owed a great debt. There was no way he wouldn't recognize him, even if he died and reincarnated.

The confusing thing for him though, was how did Lin Mu become like this exactly?

The difference was massive, and it was obvious that Lin Mu wasn't a human at all in this moment. The hunger in his eyes and the deadly aura spreading along with his own natural aura was simply not something a human could have.

~GRRR~

A low growl was heard coming from Lin Mu's throat that woke up King Hong from his trail of thoughts.

~SHUA~

Lin Mu's claws moved at a blinding speed, tearing thorough the air and skewering two Dao Treading realm cultivators of the Northern Tribes at once.

The victims were far too stunned to react or even speak in time before Lin Mu simply stuffed them down his jaws, where they were crushed and mashed in a couple of bites and swallowed.

Not even the Nascent soul of the Dao Treading realm cultivators could survive this and was directly consumed into Lin Mu's body, leaving no chance of revival.

"RUN!" Elder Ku Mi said after gathering her wits.

She knew very well that the being in front of her was not something she could deal with. Killing the Dao Treading realm of cultivators like this and even consuming them with ease was beyond normal.

'What is that? Beast? Monster? Demon?' Ku Mi tried to rack her brain but couldn't come up with an answer.

The strange thing was, she couldn't sense any cultivation base from the being either. All she could sense from the being was endless amounts of vitality and an aura that could knock one out.

~DENG~

The Ancestral bell continued to ring in the sky, as if beckoning and warning everyone.

~WHOOSH~

Ku Mi and one more Dao Treading realm elder retreated, taking advantage of the moment when Lin Mu was eating the other two corpses. Even if Lin Mu ate them quickly, it still took him ten seconds to swallow them entirely.

Ten seconds was more than enough time for the Dao Treading realm cultivators to run away.

Unfortunately for them, Lin Mu never cared for if they ran away or not.

~BOOM~

~WHOOSH~

In the next moment, Lin Mu gathered strength in his legs, veins bulging on his calves and thighs as great power was spread out from the base of his feet. The ground cracked and split apart, making even King Hong stumble.

'He's certainly Lin Mu… seems like he still has his consciousness in that state.' King Hong thought.

While King Hong was shocked and also a little scared of Lin Mu's state right now, he didn't detest him. He understood that the situation demanded for it and no power would be worth denigrating.

If he could do it too, he would have already done it no matter the cost.

"ARGH!" Another cry was heard in the sky as Lin Mu slammed into the Dao Treading realm cultivator who was just behind Ku Mi.

The impact directly broke the man's back, as well as several of his bones.

~RIP~

Lin Mu's claws then grabbed him from the back, and tore through his chest and abdomen, splitting him in two.

~GUO!!!~

Lin Mu let out a taunting cry and stuffed the two halves of the man into his mouth, swallowing it down.

Having killed another Dao Treading realm cultivator, Lin Mu rushed towards Ku Mi who was just a short distance away. But just as he was about to reach her…

~CLANG~

Lin Mu slammed into a barrier that had materialized out of thin air. He stared past the barrier and saw an old man appearing close by. He waved his hand and made a grasping gesture at Ku Mi, pulling her towards him with ease like a straw doll.

"Master Bell Mountain!" Ku Mi was relieved at being saved.

"This isn't what you juniors can handle anymore." Master Bell Mountain said, his expression serious.

Ku Mi saw the look on his face and felt a little taken aback. She could tell that even Master Bell Mountain was wary of the being killing them.

"Master Bell Mountain… do you perhaps know what that thing is?" Ku Mi asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"That thing is for whom the Ancestral Bell tolls… Nearly a decade ago the Ancestral Bell did the same." Master Bell Mountain replied.

Hearing this, Ku Mi recalled the warning that had been issued in the tribes. They were told to prepare for a disaster that might come any time by Master Bell Mountain. And yet, even after a month of wait nothing had happened.

They had mostly forgotten about it as there was no other occurrence like that again over the years. Even Master Bell Mountain had thought that it was merely a fluke or maybe the danger that the Ancestral Bell was warning them about had disappeared somehow.

But now… after nearly a decade, the Ancestral Bell rang once more, warning of the being.

"That thing… just what is it exactly?" Ku Mu asked, feeling afraid now.

She knew what it all entailed after all. If even the Ancestral Bell was warning them, it meant that the thing in front of him could perhaps even threaten the Ancestral Bell itself.

"I cannot tell for sure, but the Ancestral Bell has given its signs. The Ancestral Bell has signaled that the thing is… A Demon."

"A Demon!?" Ku Mi shuddered upon hearing that word.

She knew about demons and how they were. In fact, nearly every person in the world would know what a demon was. The only thing different was that their perception of demons and their information was greatly different.

As a Dao Treading realm expert and an elder of the council of the Northern Tribes, she had access to information that most others didn't have.

Not to mention, the Northern Tribes weren't unacquainted with Demons either. After all, they had summoned a Demon Beast from another world in the past. It was this very same Demon Beast that had detonated and caused the collapsed of the entire Western Continent.

That was a matter of great pride among the Northern Tribes and was one of their biggest victories. But at the same time, it was a warning for the tribes themselves. They had witnessed the effects of their summon and knew just how dangerous the Demons were.

If one had been summoned to their land somehow and went to wreak havoc, it would possibly meet the same fate as the Western Continent of the past. And it wasn't like their Immortal Ascension realm ancestors would be able to protect them either.

After all, they had the example of the Western Continent's own Immortal Ascension realm ancestors who had perished in the explosion.

If it could happen to them, it could very well happen to them as well.

One needed to know the dangers of the weapon that they used, for the very sword they used to kill others might return to slay them one day.

"How is a Demon here? There are no demons in this world, right? Did someone summon it somehow?" Ku Mi questioned. holds © this.

"This Demon wasn't summoned… it was already here." Master Bell Mountain said as he watched Lin Mu hammering the barrier.

Lin Mu attacked the barrier non stop, making it tremble and shake while sparks flew off from each attack. It was evident that the barrier blocking him was not going to last.

Master Bell Mountain made a gesture with his hand and channeled more power into the Barrier, reinforcing it more. He could have attacked the Demon right away, but he needed to know more about it first.

He couldn't be careless about a being like that and risk being injured somehow. If he was gone, the Ancestral Bell would lose most of its capabilities and the Northern Tribes would only return to their previous disadvantage.

Master Bell Mountain hadn't missed the fact that the Demon in front of them wasn't using spirit Qi at all. It was doing everything entirely with its physical strength. Not just that, it was even flying without using spirit Qi!

It was a matter rather surprising to Master Bell Mountain, as he couldn't figure out the method at all.

"How can it already be here, Master? Did it come back then?" Ku Mi questioned, not being able to figure out.

"No… it didn't come from elsewhere. Rather, it was someone who turned into a Demon." Master Bell Mountain answered, his gaze darkening.

'The Demon is tearing through the weak points in the nodes? How can it even sense them?' Master Bell Mountain noted.

"Turned into a Demon? Who can do that?!" Ku Mi was even more terrified now.

"It was that young man they called Lin Mu… the same one who killed most of our elders at the start." Master Bell Mountain answered, much to Ku Mi's surprise.

~CRACK~

And just as she heard that, the Barrier was broken!