Monk Banchi and the others felt their scalps tingle with fear. As they fled, the mountain shook violently—countless rocks flew through the air, and from the chaos, jet-black tentacles burst forth. These were the root-limbs of the Withersilence Root Demon.
The Cult of the Heavenly Demon had used demon-suppressing black steles to pin down her root-limbs. Around the lake and the dead tree, so many black steles held her core body in place.
Now, with the demon-suppressing steles at her core toppled by Monk Banchi and the others, the root demon could unleash her power. It was terrifying—enough to make the mountains tremble uncontrollably.
As her strength erupted, the steles pinning her root-limbs shot skyward, shattered by her overwhelming force!
“How could an ordinary tree demon possess such terrifying power?”
Monk Banchi blurted out, “Did the Cult of the Heavenly Demon deliberately seal this tree demon here to harm people?”
Suddenly, several thick root-tendrils whipped toward them. Each one dangled a beautiful woman, who giggled, “Trying to leave? You saved me, but I haven’t repaid you yet. Why not stay and become one with me?”
Delia Qiu swept her sleeve, unleashing a swarm of insects that flew at the root-tendrils. The bugs swelled in the wind, growing to over ten feet long, and began gnawing at the roots with a crunch. But their fangs snapped off—unable to bite through at all.
Delia Qiu jumped in fright. She saw the women hanging from the root-tendrils sprout thin, delicate tendrils from their navels, which pierced the insects one by one. In an instant, only empty husks remained—their flesh and blood completely drained away.
“Even my gu insects can bite through spirit weapons, but these root-tendrils are tougher than spirit weapons!” Delia Qiu cried out.
A root-tendril crept up behind them. Victor Yuan leapt into the air, sword pill in hand, and stabbed, piercing the woman dangling from the tendril—his spinning blade sliced off her head.
Her head hit the ground and instantly withered, turning into a lump of black charcoal. But the headless woman on the tendril immediately sprouted a new head.
Victor Yuan was stunned. He tried to sever the tendril, but another root flashed in like lightning, stabbing into his back.
He frantically urged his sword pill to cut the root behind him, but his body shriveled in an instant—his flesh and blood vanished, leaving only an empty skin.
The others had meant to help, but seeing this, they bolted for the gorge’s exit. Overhead, countless black tentacles whipped through the air—one after another, root-tendrils latched onto the surrounding peaks, hauling the demon’s true body up from underground.
It was a monstrous, thread-ball-like mass, with countless root-tendrils dangling beneath. Its commotion triggered the Sky-Severing Ballista mounted on the surrounding peaks. Sensing the demon’s aura, the ballistae automatically loaded—two massive bolts shot through the air and struck the Withersilence Root Demon’s black, spherical body.
The monster let out a piercing, agonized scream—a chorus of voices layered together—shaking the mountains and triggering avalanches all around.
Drake Dandy and the others were nearly caught by the tentacles, but the ballista’s attack made the demon recoil, letting them narrowly escape.
“These Sky-Severing Ballistae can kill even Heaven-Man level beings—they’ll definitely finish off this demon!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief—only to see the Withersilence Root Demon sweep its tentacles at the ballistae on the peaks. With a thunderous crash, one Sky-Severing Ballista was smashed to bits, its huge bronze arm tumbling down the mountainside.
Then, another Sky-Severing Ballista atop a distant peak was smashed to pieces by the rampaging Withersilence Root Demon.
Drake Dandy and the others turned pale as death, leaping onto the back of Drake’s red serpent and fleeing wildly. They barely escaped the Withersilence Ridge, and when they looked back, countless black tendrils were surging after them like giant snakes, heavy rolling sounds echoing from the gorge.
Clearly, the terrifying root demon was simply too massive and heavy to take flight; it could only haul its gigantic body forward by anchoring its root-tendrils to the cliffs.
The creature was so enormous that every time it moved, its body crashed into the mountains on either side, making the peaks tremble.
“The Cult of the Heavenly Demon is truly wicked—raising a monster this huge just to harm people!”
Monk Banchi was trembling—whether from rage or terror, it was impossible to tell. He shouted, “How many people did they have to kill to raise a demon like this? If only I were stronger—I’d subdue this fiend and defend the Dao myself!”
Everyone knew it was Monk Banchi who’d released the demon, and guilt gnawed at them—so they pinned the blame on the Cult of the Heavenly Demon instead. No one called it out; instead, they all chimed in: “We’ve led this monster into the Great Ruins, where it won’t trouble the people of Everpeace. That’s a blessing, in a way.”
“The Great Ruins are full of outcasts and desperate heretics. If this fiend stirs up trouble there, it’s basically demon-slaying for the Dao.”
Monk Banchi’s expression softened. “The Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Cult made a racket to lure us into the gorge—he must have wanted the demon to kill us. But we’re blessed by fate; escaping alive must have disappointed him greatly, don’t you think?”
He’d barely finished speaking when the Withersilence Root Demon’s massive body squeezed out of the gorge and tumbled down from above, countless root-tendrils thrashing wildly.
The group shot into the air in panic. Bluefeather, the sword scholar, said in a low voice, “This monster can’t fly, so we’re safe…”
Just then, a shrill bird cry rang out—a golden-winged bird flashed down like lightning, its talons digging into Bluefeather’s shoulders and whisking him away.
Bluefeather cried out as the bird’s claws pierced his shoulder blades. He was about to unleash his divine arts to save himself, but the golden bird dipped its head and pecked his skull—shattering it to pieces. Carrying his headless body, the bird soared off into the vast forest.
They’d arrived at the Great Ruins.
A lawless, wild land.
Here, the strange beasts don’t care if you’re from a famous sect. In their eyes, there are only two kinds of people: those they can eat, and those they can’t.
Qiu Yue cried out in panic, "Don’t fly up! Stay on the ground!"
Everyone hurriedly landed. The Withersilence Root Demon was chasing them from behind, so they ran for their lives. As they passed a pond, a giant fish suddenly leaped out, grabbed one of them, thrashed him to death, and dragged the young expert into the water.
The Withersilence Root Demon charged in, stabbing countless tendrils into the pond. The monstrous fish leaped out and raced after Qiu Yue and the others, running so fast it quickly overtook them and dashed ahead, leaving everyone stunned.
They ran for more than ten miles, only to see a row of trees being uprooted and sprinting away, howling as they fled from the rampaging demon.
"Demon King, the Great Ruins is truly dangerous—don’t ever fly unless you absolutely have to."
In the distance, Quinn Shepherd sat atop Dragon-Qilin, looking relaxed. He grinned, "The Great Ruins has its own rules. You can fly if you want, just keep low and don’t draw attention. If you’re strong enough, you can go higher—but if a beast-lord gets annoyed, they’ll knock you down and eat you."
Nethervault Demon King snorted, "Isn’t it just survival of the fittest? I get it. The Nethervault is the same way."
"And another thing—never go out after dark."
Quinn’s face grew serious. "Unless you’ve got god-demon powers, don’t step into the darkness. Otherwise, it’s a dead end."
Nethervault Demon King chuckled, "What’s so scary about the dark? My realm is pitch black, with only a few places left with light. In the darkness, I’m like a fish in water. Tonight, I’ll take a stroll and show you!"
Lina the Spirit Fox rolled her eyes; to the little fox, the Demon King was already a dead man.
Quinn continued, "There’s no law here in the Great Ruins, so whoever you meet, you’d better be polite. If you offend the wrong person, you’ll get killed fast. The more lawless a place, the more you need to mind your manners. Also, there are terrifying gods and demons around—some sealed, some suppressed, some living it up. Don’t wander off for no reason."
Nethervault Demon King jumped in shock. "There are gods and demons in this world?"
"Plenty. I’ve met more than a few myself."
Quinn said, "As long as you follow the rules here, the Great Ruins is actually safer than the Everpeace Empire. Ask Lina if you don’t believe me."
Nethervault Demon King looked at Lina. She nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing. "Everpeace is way more dangerous than the Great Ruins. Young Master only went out to Everpeace for training. What we do in the Great Ruins doesn’t even count as real training—shows how risky Everpeace is."
Suddenly, a thunderous crash erupted behind them. Quinn turned to see countless tentacles whipping through the air—a massive, mountain-sized black monstrosity barreling toward them.
Dangling from those tentacles were naked women, all cackling with eerie laughter.
"Who let the Withersilence Root Demon loose? Who could be so stupid?"
A chill ran down Quinn’s spine. One of the demon’s women had already spotted him and was charging this way, with a stampede of beasts behind her.
"That monster is asking for it—charging around the Great Ruins like that, it’s bound to get itself killed."
Quinn shook his head. "Even the Village Chief wouldn’t be so brazen."
As he spoke, the ground suddenly shook violently—a giant, golden-furred hand burst out from beneath the earth, flames swirling around its palm, and slammed down on the Withersilence Root Demon.
The demon was swatted away like a black ball, vanishing into the distance.
All the fleeing beasts stopped in their tracks, looked back, then calmly returned to their own territories.
Nethervault Demon King stared, speechless for a long moment.
Quinn reassured him, "It’s nothing. That’s just how the Great Ruins is—there are all sorts of strange gods and monsters lurking in old ruins. As long as you burn incense at temples and show respect, you’ll be fine. That demon probably stumbled into some ancient site and annoyed whatever was living there."
The Demon King’s body went rigid. After a long pause, he let out a shaky breath. "This place is too dangerous. I want to go back to the Nethervault..."
Suddenly, the Demon King grew agitated—his four faces and mouths all shouting at once, even spitting out a few broken pieces. "Your world is broken! How is this the mortal realm? There are monsters everywhere! I won’t invade anymore, okay? Let me go, I want to go home!"
Lina the Spirit Fox chimed in, "Really, the Great Ruins is much safer than Everpeace. Just stick with Young Master and you’ll be fine."