"How can this be! Its Dao Origin was clearly burned to ashes by the Chaos Flame!"
"The Heaven Sealing and Earth Locking Array, which we cast by burning our Origin, can even freeze space and time."
"Little Friend Li, are you mistaken?"
...
The Demon Gods and Ultimate Realm experts released their Divine Thoughts, constantly searching for signs of the Bizarre Tree's escape.
"It did escape. If the Bizarre Origin of this realm is not eliminated, it can be Reborn through it!" Old Ancestor Xingqiong suddenly crushed the Star Compass in his hand, and billions of starlight burst into rivers between his fingers. This existence, known for deducing heavenly secrets, now had his white beard moving without wind. "Little Friend Li is right—the Bizarre Tree's will has already transferred itself through the Karma Law."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
Immortal Reverent Fentian's Golden Crow Lamp in his palm burst out sparks with a "crack": "Karma Law? Could it be that it..."
"If that's truly the case, it's highly likely to revive on Yan Xiao?"
"The Bizarre Poison on us has been cleared by Little Friend Li, so this is the only possibility! Only the Dao Origin of an Ultimate Realm expert can allow it to reform its Bizarre Dao!" Grand Profound Sword Revered mused.
"Damn it, I don't know where Yan Xiao ran off to!" Blood Hell Demon God raged.
"No matter what, we must find Yan Xiao as soon as possible!" Bone Emperor Demon God's gaze was gloomy. "Once that fellow is parasitized by the Bizarre Tree's will, it will be endless trouble!"
A drop of vital essence blood dripped from Old Ancestor Xingqiong's fingertip and flicked into the shattered Star Compass. The clear brilliance of the Milky Way suddenly contracted into nine streaks of light.
"Nine Karma lines point to different Star Domains!" Old Ancestor Xingqiong's voice carried a hint of fatigue. After his essence blood merged into the Star Compass, his face was like golden paper, and his wrinkles deepened. "The Bizarre Tree's will is cunning, dividing Karma to confuse my senses! It must be hidden in one of them, or even possibly transfer at any time! Everyone, split up and make sure to find Fiery Owl Demon God before he fully revives!"
"Hehehehe! Run? I'd like to see which gutter you can hide in!" Blood Hell Demon God was the first to respond, and amidst his sinister laughter, an boundless sea of blood spread out beneath his feet, a Bloody Wind, and billions of wronged souls shrieked.
"Hmph, the Bone Sea is boundless, searching the heavens and earth!" Bone Emperor Demon God snorted coldly, and his bones crackled all over his body. Countless pale bone spears and bone spurs condensed out of thin air, instantly forming a huge white bone throne. Behind the throne, a dark portal made of endless withered bones opened. The white bone throne silently slid in, following another streak of light.
"Eternal Night descends, all things hidden!" Eternal Night Demon God's figure suddenly transformed into a viscous darkness, as if even light was swallowed. This darkness silently spread out, enveloping a streak of light, seeping into a Star Domain where the starlight was dim, as if shrouded by an Eternal night, completely merging into it.
"Profound Evil Underworld!" Evil Demon God's body exuded the ultimate Yin and cold Underworld Evil Qi. Wherever he passed, the Void Realm froze, and even the Chaos turbulence solidified into bizarre ice crystal trails. He transformed into a Blue Cold Current, carrying a chill that froze Divine Souls, and rushed into an extremely cold Star Domain filled with ice stars.
"Myriad Souls Devouring Heart, return to my banner!" Soul Devouring Demon God unleashed a black soul banner. The banner unfurled, and countless twisted, suffering soul shadows howled and struggled, forming a terrifying soul-sucking vortex. He shook the soul banner, stirring up a sky full of Yin winds and ghost wails, following a streak of light, and pounced towards a Soul Body Star Abyss filled with ancient remnant souls and mental storms.
"Formless and shapeless, myriad transformations from the heart!" The Formless Demon God was the most mysterious. His figure suddenly blurred, his aura and form instantly changing unpredictably, sometimes like a gentle breeze, sometimes like a stubborn rock, and sometimes completely disappearing from perception, as if transforming into a wisp of invisible and formless Chaos Qi, silently merging into the Void Realm, following the guidance of the light streak, drifting towards an unstable realm where Laws were chaotic and forms were distorted.
...
"Burning the Heavens and Boiling the Seas, all evil spirits burn!" The True Sun Flame boiled around his body, and the Golden Crow Lamp roared, transforming into a flowing fire chariot. The three-legged Golden Crow phantom let out a long cry that tore through the Void Realm. The chariot transformed into a crimson-gold rainbow that ripped through the Star Domain, burning all the cold stardust along the way, and directly rushed towards a hot purgatory where lava stars exploded, as indicated by the light streak.
Grand Profound Sword Revered did not say much, merely flicked his sleeve, and an ancient long sword appeared in his hand. The sword body was unadorned, yet it flowed with a sharp Dao Rhyme that could cut Karma and shatter Laws. With one step, his figure was like an invisible peerless Sword Intent, precisely and swiftly cutting into a shattered star belt where space-time turbulence raged.
Saint Monk Mingxin put his palms together and chanted a Buddhist mantra: "Amitabha, Buddha's light shines universally, cleansing evil."
Behind Saint Monk Mingxin's head, a gentle yet resilient golden Buddha Light wheel rose. Where the golden light shone, the violent Chaos turbulence seemed to be calmed. He walked step by step, with golden lotus platforms blooming beneath his feet, following the light streak, and resolutely walked towards an unknown Star Domain.
...
Old Ancestor Xingqiong's gaze swept over the last Karma light streak that no one had yet tracked, his tired yet sharp eyes falling on Li Mu and the Azure Emperor.
"Little Friend Li! Old friend," Old Ancestor Xingqiong looked at Li Mu, and the Azure Emperor said solemnly, "This last Karma line is the most ethereal and bizarre, possibly hiding great danger, or... a great trap."
"The Bizarre Tree's will is cunning, dividing into nine paths, and there must be falsehood among them. However, Yan Xiao's Dao Origin is in imminent danger, and we have no time to distinguish between true and false. My Origin is depleted, and my deduction power is greatly reduced, with only intuition remaining. This path requires the three of us to go together, relying on each other, to even attempt it!"
"What Old Ancestor said is absolutely correct. The Bizarre Tree's will is Reborn through Fiery Owl Demon God's Physical Body, and its power may far exceed what it was before. Divided, we are weak; united, we are strong. This journey is fraught with unpredictable dangers, so we should advance and retreat together." Li Mu nodded with pleasure, agreeing.
The Azure Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze as deep as an abyss, and spoke lightly: "You are still deducing. Although there are nine divisions, since this journey is set, there is no need to say more. I, too, am willing to go."
Old Ancestor Xingqiong nodded, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes. He slowly raised his palm, starlight flowing on his palm, and with a wave of his hand, he instantly opened up a star path.
Li Mu had already pointed his fingers like a sword, and a wisp of vast and boundless Dao Intent rose from his glabella, transforming into an invisible Sword Intent, sweeping across the surrounding Chaos Qi.
The Azure Emperor lightly raised his hand, and with a touch of his fingertip, a tide of azure light permeated the Void Realm. A green lotus grew from beneath his feet, swaying in the wind, actually evolving into a Small World, stabilizing the ground for the three of them.
"I will suppress the Karma turbulence with the Dao of Azure Wood."
Seeing this, Old Ancestor Xingqiong no longer hesitated. He formed a hand seal and chanted an ancient and profound incantation.
In an instant, the starlight above the firmament greatly intensified, and countless star trajectories manifested above his head, interweaving into a magnificent star map.
"The Star River as the path, the Universe as the boat—rise!"
With a command, heaven and earth trembled.
The star map suddenly collapsed, transforming into a brilliant star path that unfolded beneath their feet, leading directly to the unknown Star Domain indicated by the last Karma line.
At the same time, the Azure Emperor flicked his sleeve, and a light boat flew out from his palm. Its entire body was interwoven with azure wood and spiritual light, light yet tough, as if it could carry eons of Years.
"Get on the boat."
The three of them stepped onto the light boat. Old Ancestor Xingqiong conjured spells to guide the star path forward, Li Mu held his sword to escort, while the Azure Emperor sat at the stern of the boat, his eyes slightly closed, his Divine Thought released, perceiving the changes in the Qi between heaven and earth.
The boat traveled through the sea of stars, like a lonely sail drifting in the boundless Star Domain.
Just as the Demon Gods and Ultimate Realm experts were searching for Fiery Owl Demon God's whereabouts, a strange fluctuation quietly rose deep within an unknown Star Domain.
The sea of stars was like ink, silent and boundless. However, in this remote and deep Star Domain, the stars were dim, and even light could not penetrate this heavy layer of darkness.
The Void Realm seemed to be eroded by some indescribable existence, twisting into a state close to madness. There was no concept of time here, nor boundaries of space, as if it was a forgotten corner of the Universe, where even the Karma Law appeared sluggish and chaotic.
In this dead silence, an ancient palace constructed from obsidian-like material quietly floated, its shape resembling neither a tower nor a palace, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression.
Inside the ancient palace, it was dark and deep, with only a figure sitting on a throne in the center, burning with residual flames.
Fiery Owl Demon God, his eyes were tightly closed, and a strange crack appeared on his forehead, as if something was trying to break out from within him.
Fiery Owl Demon God's left half of his body still maintained its original Demon God physique, as black as night, flowing with a scorching and destructive aura; but his right arm had completely become bizarre, his skin as pale as bone, with ominous purple blood threads flowing through the textures, as if countless tiny Talismanic Incantations were wriggling and churning beneath it.
"Heh... hehehe..."
A low laugh overflowed from Fiery Owl Demon God's throat, but it was not from him. His right eye suddenly opened, its pupil a hollow gray-white, like an abyss gazing at reality. A will not belonging to this world slowly seeped out through that eye.
"You have no way out, the Origin of the Great Dao, all mine!"
The voice was cold and ancient, carrying an indescribable pressure, as if from the Void Realm before the birth of the Universe.
"Dream on!"
Fiery Owl Demon God roared, his left hand suddenly slapping his chest, and a scorching demonic flame ignited from within, directly rushing towards the bizarre will that had invaded his body!
In an instant, the entire ancient palace violently trembled, runes flashed, and the Void Realm tore. Inside Fiery Owl Demon God's body, an earth-shattering war had already erupted!
Within his body, a golden-red intertwined flame coiled like a Dragon, which was his Origin power, originating from the Demon God's flame at the beginning of Chaos, burning all things and refining all Laws. On the other side, a gray-white energy, like mist and tide, faintly revealed the outline of a twisted and withered giant tree, which was the manifestation of the Bizarre Tree's will!
The two forces collided, shaking Fiery Owl Demon God's Divine Soul and Physical Body. Each clash caused his body to emit painful wails. His right half of his body was gradually covered in gray-white, his bones making brittle sounds under the strain, while his left half continuously spewed scorching demonic flames, attempting to incinerate the invader.
"You are merely a remnant of a bizarre thought, attempting to Possess my divine demonic body? What a pipe dream!"
Fiery Owl Demon God roared, and the demonic flame within him suddenly surged, transforming into a fire Dragon that fiercely slammed into the gray-white mist. However, the mist strangely split apart, like a living creature, bypassing the attack and re-condensing, wrapping around his heart.
"Get out of my body!"
Fiery Owl Demon God's right pale arm suddenly lifted uncontrollably, his five fingers like knives stabbing towards his throat. At an inch from his skin, his left arm's muscles bulged, intercepting it. The two forces wrestled in a small space, and his joints made a grating sound.
Thousands of human faces appeared in the depths of the gray-white pupils, including wailing infants and cackling old men. All sounds overlapped into a sharp tuning fork, shaking the Void Realm into a spiderweb-like pattern.
Fiery Owl Demon God's Adam's apple rolled, and golden-red demonic blood spurted from all seven orifices simultaneously, gathering into a boiling lake of blood before the throne—that was his Great Dao Origin struggling to materialize.
The giant tree condensed by the bizarre will suddenly materialized, its twisted branches piercing through Fiery Owl Demon God's spine. At the end of each branch, there grew tumor-like growths resembling eyeballs, which were frantically rotating, injecting black sap into the Demon God's bone marrow. "Look at this perfect shell!"
The Bizarre Tree's will let out a high-pitched laugh like a newborn baby: "The left half of the body is branded with the demonic evolution fire seed, while the right half is stained with the corrupted soil of the land of ultimate demise... You were simply prepared for me!"
Yan Xiao's left claw deeply pierced into the armrest of the throne, and the obsidian surface instantly crawled with lava cracks. His left eye reflected the scene of a starburst at the beginning of Chaos, while his right eye was eroded by gray-white mist into a turbid swamp.
The aftermath of the collision of the two forces within his body materialized as golden and gray lightning, splitting countless space-time cracks in the inner wall of the ancient palace. Remnants of ancient battlefields seeped out from them, only to be crushed into dust by the aftermath of the battle.
"You're still too young to devour this God!" Yan Xiao suddenly grinned, and the demonic flames erupting from his fangs burned Eternal scorch marks in the Void Realm.
The gray-white giant tree hummed in pain. It found that the corrupted roots injected into the Demon God's bone marrow were withering in reverse. At Yan Xiao's heart, the Great Dao Origin, which should have been contaminated, had actually transformed into black and white twin fish, swimming and refining the invading bizarre poison.
Fiery Owl Demon God's spine suddenly twisted, and thirty-six crimson bone spurs broke out of his body, each wrapped in raging demonic flames, like living creatures locking down the rampaging Bizarre Tree's will within him. The gray-white giant tree's branches struggled violently, but they were like being bound by red-hot chains, making "sizzling" burning sounds, and black sap evaporated into a foul-smelling mist.
"You think... why do I live alone in this dead silence?" Fiery Owl Demon God's left half of his body gradually showed crimson veins, like flowing lava, and every line seemed to have the power to burn the heavens.
Fiery Owl Demon God's right pale body, however, was strangely still, like an empty shell that had long been dead, allowing the Bizarre Tree's will to invade, but never truly occupying it.
The Bizarre Tree's will suddenly realized that the corrupting power it had injected into the bone marrow was being refined silently! At Yan Xiao's heart, the Great Dao Origin, which had been polluted, had actually transformed into two true flames, one black and one white, like Yin and Yang twin fish, swimming and burning away the invading bizarre poison bit by bit.
"You... plotted against me?" The gray-white Bizarre Tree trembled violently, the human faces on its trunk twisted, emitting a piercing shriek. It struggled frantically, wanting to escape Yan Xiao's body, but the thirty-six bone spurs had already firmly nailed it down, and the demonic flames spread along its branches, burning it with sizzling sounds.
Yan Xiao's mouth slowly widened, his fangs stark, and the demonic flames in his eyes surged: "I have cultivated for one hundred thousand Years, enduring nine tribulations without perishing. How can you, a mere bizarre thought, Possess me?"
Before he finished speaking, Fiery Owl Demon God suddenly raised his hand, his five fingers like hooks, fiercely stabbing into his right chest, and actually forcibly pulled out the Bizarre Tree rooted in his body. The gray-white giant tree twisted frantically, its trunk splitting open, revealing a giant mouth full of sharp teeth, roaring: "You can't escape! The end is coming, and all spirits will rot!"
"Noisy." Fiery Owl Demon God sneered, and the demonic flames in his left palm surged, transforming into a ferocious fire Dragon that bit the Bizarre Tree in one gulp, and the scorching true flames burned wildly. The Bizarre Tree twisted and cracked in the flames, eventually turning into a wisp of gray smoke, which Fiery Owl inhaled with an open mouth, completely swallowing it into his belly.
"Tastes good." Fiery Owl Demon God licked the corner of his mouth, and demonic light flickered in his eyes. His right half of his body, which had been eroded, was now slowly recovering, its paleness receding, and once again covered by black demonic flames.
However, just as Fiery Owl Demon God was about to completely suppress the bizarre poison, (End of this chapter)
