Chapter Forty-Two: The Pilgrimage of Ten Thousand Demons

Leng Tian’s heart was filled with awe. Was the term “giant demon” merely referring to its immense size? In that vast region, the sea rose to heights of over a dozen zhang, revealing the full form of the black mountain. It was, astonishingly, a colossal sea turtle—though its appearance was strikingly strange, bearing the head of a dragon and the body of a turtle. Its thick, elongated neck was covered in glossy black scales, and the shell upon its back was adorned with peculiar patterns and inscriptions.

“It possesses the bloodline of the divine dragon!” Leng Tian finally saw the creature’s entire form and marveled at the complexity of the dragon’s descendants.

“So it’s this demon beast, Ba Xia. Legend holds it as one of the nine sons of the dragon. I never expected to encounter it here in the Northern Sea!” Luan Yudie’s eyes shone with a rare brilliance, her tone tinged with excitement.

Guoguo made no comment; she simply stared with wide eyes at the demon beast Ba Xia emerging from the waters, her expression unusually serious.

The sailors, however, were gripped by a different scene. All knelt on the deck, bowing their heads and chanting incessantly, “Great Sea God, spare us… spare us…”

“Is this creature the Sea God?” Leng Tian’s lips twitched as he turned to ask Luan Yudie beside him.

“Brother Leng, the history of this world is complicated. It’s hard for me to explain it all at once. As for the Sea God, I can only say it’s a respectful title the people of the sea bestow upon such demon beasts,” Luan Yudie replied.

Leng Tian’s heart stirred. He thought, “It seems I’m being suspected. After all, I am a golden dragon warrior—my origins are extraordinary. Asking about common knowledge will surely raise doubts!”

With this in mind, Leng Tian answered with a faint smile and refrained from further questioning, his tri-colored gaze swirling as he focused intently on Ba Xia’s movements.

Luan Yudie keenly caught the tri-colored light in Leng Tian’s eyes, but quickly regained her composure.

Ba Xia, the demon beast, cast a sidelong glance at their ship with its enormous dragon eyes, then turned away, gazing forward, floating silently upon the sea.

From above, the large ship appeared as a drifting minnow beside the gigantic Ba Xia, dwarfed and vulnerable before its mountain-like presence.

In the sky, the Sword Saint Du Qingfeng stood upon the air, his brows slightly raised and his eyes shining with brilliance. He stared at Ba Xia in silence; Leng Tian and his companions were of no concern to him.

Suddenly, across the sea for thousands of li, the water boiled, waves surged, and thick columns of water shot towards the azure sky. Dozens of zhang-high waves crashed onto the sea, and bubbles erupted across the surface, as one massive form after another emerged!

Each was a demon beast as large as Ba Xia, all with strange appearances unfamiliar to Leng Tian. Even Luan Yudie and Guoguo blinked in surprise, their faces showing rare traces of panic.

Leng Tian's palms were slick with cold sweat. Such a spectacular scene would cause anyone's heart to tremble—the dense array of gigantic forms upon the sea was like countless mountains rising at once, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

All these enormous sea demon beasts fixed their huge eyes upon Ba Xia, the first to appear. Their thunderous roars shattered even the few clouds overhead into vapor.

Ba Xia, on its pillar-like legs, exuded a dark radiance beneath its feet, raised its dragon head to the sky, and unleashed a roar that echoed across the sea. The soul-piercing sound reached every demon beast, and caused over a dozen sailors to faint instantly, while Leng Tian and his companions were left dizzy and shaken.

Du Qingfeng, standing in the air, looked down at nearly ten thousand demon beasts below, his expression shifting several times, the ancient sword upon his back trembling with a chorus of sword cries.

Ba Xia stomped its sturdy legs upon the sea, producing thunderous booms as it sped forward across the waves!

With Ba Xia leading the charge, the demon beasts followed in roaring pursuit, as if a tsunami was raging across the region, innumerable black mountains racing over the surface!

The grand, majestic momentum seemed capable of breaking through anything!

“What could be ahead that drives them into such a frenzy?” Leng Tian’s face twitched, deeply shaken by the scene. He could tell that any one of these demon beasts was not something he could easily contend with!

Several figures appeared in the sky. Li Tianzheng glanced coldly at Du Qingfeng, then stared, equally shocked, at the stampede of beasts below, his eye twitching involuntarily.

Yan Nanfei maintained his usual calm and graceful demeanor, hands clasped behind his back as he glanced at the ship below, his gaze sweeping over the three aboard. When his eyes fell upon Leng Tian, a faint smile curved his lips and he murmured, “A Celestial-ranked martial artist—how interesting. Could he also be here to enter the Ancient Realm?”

Sensing something, Leng Tian looked up at the sky. Their eyes met, and Leng Tian thought, “It’s him—Yan Nanfei, the Dream-Chaser. I wonder if this famed Xuan-tier expert has taken an interest in me.”

Yan Nanfei noticed Leng Tian’s gaze and nodded with a friendly smile before looking away. He understood that for Leng Tian to reach the Northern Sea and enter the Ancient Realm, he must possess exceptional abilities, even if his strength appeared lacking. Seeing him with Luan Yudie, the chief of Qingfeng Mountain, suggested a close relationship, further indicating Leng Tian’s unusual nature. Yan Nanfei resolved to keep an eye on him.

Wang Mang stood beside Li Tianzheng and called out loudly to Luan Yudie on the ship below, “Sister Yudie, you truly have refined taste—sailing out to sea, I envy you greatly!”

“Brother Leng, since we parted at Yin Feng, your elegance has only grown!” Wang Mang saw Leng Tian aboard and greeted him warmly, his demeanor so familiar it could be mistaken for a friendship of years.

“You flatter me, Chief Wang. Whatever elegance I had has been battered away by these turbulent waves, leaving me only with embarrassment,” Leng Tian replied modestly, cupping his fists.

“Brother Wang, Brother Li, now that you’re both here, I can finally ease my worries,” Luan Yudie said charmingly, her jade hand soothing her chest.

“Look over there—what is that? Is it a deity?” Guoguo cried out in alarm, pointing to the distant sky.

Everyone turned their gaze to the horizon. The once-boisterous horde of ten thousand beasts now lay quietly upon the water, all looking up at a miraculous scene unfolding in the sky.

Leng Tian followed Guoguo’s gesture, gazing upward. The azure sky had changed dramatically—a palace, its height unmeasurable, radiant and wreathed in colorful clouds, was hidden among auspicious clouds, dominating the heavens.

A figure hundreds of zhang tall, clad in water-blue divine armor, stood upon the palace’s stone steps with hands clasped behind his back, his eyes shining with divine light as he gazed calmly ahead.

“Is this a divine projection?” Du Qingfeng stared at the suddenly-appearing palace in the void, and the man, possibly a deity, muttering uncertainly to himself.

The experts from the Demon God Realm, upon seeing the man surrounded by divine light, naturally clenched their right fists to their chests and bowed deeply toward him, holding the pose without moving.

“Could it truly be a deity?” Everyone noted the Demon God Realm experts’ actions and wondered if this was the deity they worshipped—otherwise, what could explain such reverence?

Though it was only a projection with no overwhelming aura or descending divine light, Leng Tian felt a true urge from his soul to worship. It was not an illusion; everyone present felt the same.

This was indeed an ancient deity who once ruled over these endless seas. As for why his projection appeared, it was impossible to ascertain—one could only call it a divine miracle.

Over ten thousand sea demon beasts, led by Ba Xia, lay upon the sea, raising their heads to the deity shrouded in divine light and letting out thunderous roars.

Wave after wave erupted, expressing their reverence for the deity, towering water columns piercing the heavens, showcasing the formidable power of their divine lineage.

The human prodigies on the continent also performed their most respectful martial salutes, daring not to show the slightest disrespect to the deity. Though it was but a projection, the vast divine might was not theirs to profane.

Leng Tian likewise performed a respectful martial salute, though his intuition told him that this mysterious deity was far less impressive than the seven-colored giant he had seen during his own bloodline awakening.

The roars of ten thousand beasts continued for a quarter of an hour. As the deity’s image gradually faded from the sky and vanished, the beasts ceased their shouts and began to sink beneath the waves, leaving only Ba Xia atop the surface. Its mountain-sized body slowly turned, raising its massive dragon head, its eyes sweeping over the assembled human experts before it too slipped beneath the sea.

Only now did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Moments before, an irresistible force had pressed upon each of them, immobilizing their bodies and even overwhelming their spiritual senses. When the pressure receded, it returned to their minds.

Yan Nanfei remained composed throughout. He turned to the Demon God Realm experts nearby and spoke amiably, “You must be friends from the Demon God Realm. Do you happen to know the origins of the deity we just witnessed?”

The group recognized Yan Nanfei and replied with equal friendliness. Their leader smiled and said, “Brother Yan, you may not know, but although our Demon God Realm does not worship this deity, his portrait does appear in our sacred scrolls. He is known as the Great Sage Bilu, once the ruler of these seas and one of the demon race’s divine kings.”

With this, everyone understood at last—it explained the experts’ earlier reverence.

Martial Dao’s Pinnacle, Chapter 42: The Pilgrimage of Ten Thousand Demons, complete.