Chapter 1405: Wow, What a Big Owl
Looking at the northern sky, a large patch of black specks, like locusts, blotted out the sky and covered the earth as they flew toward the direction of Wuding Mountain.
As they drew closer, those black specks grew larger and larger, revealing themselves to be enormous savage birds: double-headed iron-armored eagles, spirit cranes, phoenixes, griffins...
Tens of millions of savage birds surrounded Wuding Mountain, their cries incessant, creating a truly awe-inspiring scene.
"Why have so many savage birds suddenly appeared? Could some beast emperor from the wilds be planning to attack the Moon-Worshipping Cult?"
"Once the mountain-protecting grand formation is breached and those savage birds fly into Wuding Mountain, wouldn't the disciples of the Moon-Worshipping Cult be completely wiped out?"
...
Shi Qianjue's eyes blazed with scorching sacred light. "Which beast emperor has arrived? Please show yourself!"
"Fine, this emperor will come out to see you."
Above those savage birds, the black clouds gradually turned dark red, and then, patches of fiery red feathers emerged from within the clouds.
Each feather was several hundred meters long.
At that moment, the entire sky seemed to ignite. The heat radiating from that savage bird surpassed even that of Fire Venerable. The bird's body occupied half the sky, intimidating every living creature into trembling.
Guoguo had long since transformed back into a rabbit, its round eyes wide open as it exclaimed, "Wow, what a big owl."
"Bah, this emperor is an undying bird. One hundred thousand years ago, I held the title of Heaven-Slaying, Earth-Destroying Emperor. I feasted on saints, rode divine dragons as mounts, and wherever I passed, rivers of blood flowed. You have no idea how cruel I was."
In the sky, the massive savage bird spoke in a very domineering tone.
Zhang Ruochen frowned, staring upward.
The aura emanating from that savage bird was somewhat similar to the undying bird he had seen in the Yin-Yang Sea, but it had an owl's head, and its way of speaking was far too similar to Xiao Hei's.
Could it really be that unreliable guy?
Inside Wuding Mountain, Shoushu caught sight of Xiao Hei's figure and immediately knelt on the ground, speaking with utmost admiration: "Lord Hei is truly majestic and domineering. With a single command, tens of millions of savage birds obey his orders."
Ye Xiaoxiang snorted coldly: "It's clearly just an owl."
"What do you know? Say that again, and this emperor will kill hundreds of little girls like you in an instant. Do you believe me?"
The aura emanating from the owl undying bird was quite formidable, and it indeed suppressed Ye Xiaoxiang. So she shut her mouth and dared not speak further.
Facing a beast emperor, only the cult leader could probably handle it.
Shi Qianjue said: "Heaven-Slaying, Earth-Destroying Emperor, what grievance does the Moon-Worshipping Cult have with you? Why have you led a great army of savage birds to surround Wuding Mountain?"
The owl undying bird said: "Does this emperor need to explain his actions to you? Junior, if you're wise, kneel down immediately and kowtow three times to this emperor. Otherwise, the consequences will be on your own head."
A wave of murmurs arose within Wuding Mountain.
"What a domineering beast emperor, actually making the demon cult leader kneel and bow to him. Truly lawless."
"There's no choice. His strength is formidable, and he clearly looks like a ruthless character. I reckon only the empress could subdue him."
...
"Courting death."
At the mountainside, Ouyang Huan issued an order.
Immediately, the thirty-six demon pillars once again manifested grand saint inscriptions, launching an attack simultaneously. Thirty-six beams of light shot toward the Sacred Bright Remnants at the foot of the mountain and the owl undying bird in the sky.
Death Zen Ancestor controlled the divine war corpse, standing before the saints of the Sacred Bright Remnants, blocking the vast majority of the beams.
Among them, nine beams flew toward the owl undying bird.
All the cultivators stared intently, wanting to know just how powerful the owl undying bird really was.
But to their surprise, the owl undying bird rapidly shrank its body. Clearly, it didn't want to clash head-on with the nine beams. Only by shrinking its body could it avoid being hit as much as possible.
How could this be?
With its cultivation level, was it still afraid of nine beams?
Every time the owl undying bird's body shrank, its aura weakened significantly. In an instant, its body was hundreds of times smaller than before.
"Boom."
One of the beams flew past its body.
Just the force around the beam knocked it down from midair, and it crashed to the ground with a thud.
In an instant, the entire Wuding Mountain fell into utter silence.
A beast emperor, this weak?
Even Shi Qianjue and Fire Venerable were somewhat surprised. With their experience, they had no idea how such a situation could occur.
Zhang Ruochen was speechless, not knowing what to say. Xiao Hei was truly unreliable.
Ye Xiaoxiang laughed: "Sure enough, just an owl."
The owl undying bird's body shrank even further until it was only a little over a meter long. It stood up, its furry owl head held high, and said angrily: "What's wrong with being an owl? Owls can still scare people. I ask you, were you scared just now?"
"Scared? I was almost scared to death. Hehe." Ye Xiaoxiang laughed.
"What are you laughing at? This emperor only had some problems with his body during his nirvana. How dare a little nobody like you mock me?" the owl undying bird said.
Beside it, Guoguo walked out, holding back his laughter, and said: "Forget it, don't force it. You can't beat her at all. She's a saint king."
"Scram."
The owl undying bird was furious and kicked Guoguo flying, then roared: "All savage birds, hear this emperor's command! Attack together and shatter Wuding Mountain's mountain-protecting grand formation!"
Unfortunately, those savage birds didn't obey its orders at all.
Sensing the terrifying auras of Shi Qianjue and Fire Venerable, they all flew away, disappearing completely in no time.
"A bunch of cowards! This emperor is furious!"
The owl undying bird's eyes bulged like bronze bells, green smoke rising from its entire body.
Guoguo ran back again, looking the owl undying bird up and down. He extended a paw to stroke its feathers and asked curiously: "Are you Lord Hei? How did you become like this? Is your true form a bird-cat?"
"Scram! I said scram!"
The owl undying bird roared and was about to beat Guoguo up again.
Guoguo reacted quickly and bolted away, with the owl undying bird chasing after him, determined to teach that talkative rabbit a lesson.
Suddenly, the savage birds that had flown away came back.
Guoguo and the owl undying bird both stopped, looking up at the sky with disbelief. "Why did they come back?"
"Boom."
"Boom."
...
Ear-splitting sounds came from the edge of the earth.
With each sound, the ground shook violently.
This time, even Fire Venerable and Shi Qianjue's expressions turned extremely grave.
On the horizon, powerful sacred auras appeared. Dozens of sacred figures stood within black clouds, continuously approaching Wuding Mountain.
Among them, the two foremost sacred figures were two golden lions as massive as mountains. They walked side by side, radiating dazzling golden light, their auras no weaker than Fire Venerable and Shi Qianjue.
The vice hall master of the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion stood beside Zhang Ruochen and said: "Crown Prince, they are the two vice hall masters of the Earth Fiend Hall."
Zhang Ruochen naturally recognized the two golden lions. Legend had it that they were the guardian divine beasts of the Holy Bright Central Empire.
They were still alive.
The dozens of sacred figures following behind the two golden lions were most likely members of the Earth Fiend Hall.
One of the Earth Fiend Hall members was an old man covered in spikes. He spat out a sonic wave and said: "The crown prince is performing the heaven-sacrificing ritual. Why aren't you all kneeling to welcome him?"
In the sky, the tens of millions of savage birds, driven by the Earth Fiend Hall members, once again surrounded Wuding Mountain.
On the Bronze Furnace Plain, from one direction, the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron rose into the air, radiating dazzling golden light.
Beneath the giant cauldron was a rolling cloud of dust, with hundreds of thousands of cultivators riding savage beasts charging out from within.
"The Murong family follows the crown prince in sacrificing to heaven and earth!"
Murong Yefeng flew through the air, using sacred qi to support the Kaiyuan Deer Cauldron. He rushed to the bottom of the Golden Step Dragon Carriage and placed the cauldron back in front of Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes met Murong Yefeng's, and then both of them smiled simultaneously.
In his previous life, Murong Yefeng was Zhang Ruochen's only friend.
Eight hundred years had passed, and Murong Yefeng now stood at the pinnacle of the Kunlun Realm. Yet, the moment their eyes met, Zhang Ruochen knew that their friendship had not changed with the passage of time.
"Rumble."
On the Bronze Furnace Plain, dozens more armies of cultivators surged in.
"The Red Tiger Half-Human Clan comes to pay respects to the crown prince."
"The Chen family of Tiantai Prefecture follows the crown prince in sacrificing to heaven and earth."
...
Dust rose from all directions around Wuding Mountain, accompanied by resounding voices. The former vassals of the Holy Bright Central Empire had gathered into great armies.
Mingjiang Wang, seeing such a grand spectacle, was extremely excited, as if they had returned to the peak era of the Holy Bright Central Empire. He said: "Shi Qianjue, if you don't open the mountain-protecting grand formation now, do you believe we'll destroy the Moon-Worshipping Demon Cult today?"
"If you want to destroy the Moon-Worshipping Cult, you'll have to see if you have the ability."
Shi Qianjue's gaze locked onto Zhang Ruochen. His majestic sacred might erupted as he struck out with two demonic hand seals like five-fingered mountains, pressing downward.
As long as he killed Zhang Ruochen, the forces of the Holy Bright Central Empire would immediately scatter like loose sand.
"If you want to harm the crown prince, you'll have to ask us first."
Murong Yefeng and the vice hall master shot up like two pillars of light, each unleashing a sacred art that collided with Shi Qianjue's demonic hand seals.
"Boom."
The two demonic hand seals were torn apart. Murong Yefeng and the vice hall master surged forward simultaneously, one forming a palm seal and the other a finger seal, attacking Shi Qianjue.
"You two are still far from enough."
Shi Qianjue snorted coldly. From his eyes, two demonic qi torrents hundreds of miles long flew out, slashing toward Murong Yefeng and the vice hall master.
"Adding this humble monk, should be enough, right?"
From within Death Zen Ancestor's body, tens of thousands of resounding Buddhist chants rang out. He raised his hands upward, and the divine war corpse's palm struck down toward Shi Qianjue.