Chapter 115: The Great Saint of the Nether Sky

A roar, tinged with excitement, echoed through the air.

A flash of light gleamed.

A massive azure beast silhouette appeared in an instant, charging straight to the throne.

“The Evil Wind Beast!” Lu Han exclaimed in surprise.

Its turquoise body, with four enormous spiked horns on each side of its neck, bore a vertical eye mark on its brow. Its two eyes resembled giant bronze bells.

This was the very Evil Wind Beast Lu Han had encountered earlier in the cave.

The colossal creature rubbed its massive body against the throne.

The figure seated on the throne gently stroked its huge head and said, “Has your strength declined to this extent now?”

“Sisi!” the Evil Wind Beast flicked out its tongue. Lu Han could not understand what it was saying.

“Only your kind can live so long. Even saints pale in comparison. No wonder, in ancient times, humans relentlessly hunted your kind, seeking the secret to eternal life. But how could they know the true circumstances? Though you possess only half the bloodline of your race, I feared for your safety. So when you were about to perish, I imprisoned you within this cave. You do not blame me, do you?”

“Sisi!”

Lu Han was utterly confused.

“Senior, this Evil Wind Beast...” Lu Han inquired.

“The little one, Xiao Xie, is one I adopted. His parents were hunted by their own kind, and on the verge of death, they entrusted him to me,” the figure on the throne explained.

“In that case...” Lu Han was horrified.

Even the venerable Ling, hovering midair, wore a face of disbelief.

How many years had the Chaos Soul Plain existed? Could it be that the Evil Wind Beast’s lifespan truly had no end?

The figure on the throne smiled faintly, perhaps pleased to finally converse after a long silence, and proceeded to recount the origins of the Evil Wind Beast to Lu Han and Elder Ling.

The Evil Wind Beast’s origin was far from simple.

It was descended from the ancient supreme serpent beasts: Xiangliu and the Evergreen Star Python.

Xiangliu, the sovereign of serpents in ancient times, was said to have nine heads and possessed the power to destroy mountains and shatter space itself. The Evergreen Star Python was one of the most mysterious妖beasts, rumored to bear the blood of eternal youth, able to live for ten millennia while roaming the starry skies.

As rulers of their serpent clans, neither Xiangliu nor the Evergreen Star Python’s bloodlines were ever shared outside their kind. But herein lay the problem: the Evil Wind Beast’s father was Xiangliu, its mother the Evergreen Star Python. When their clans learned of their union, they united in hunting them down. On the brink of death, the parents entrusted their offspring to the figure now on the throne, who then led the clans away, drawing their pursuit off.

“So, Xiao Xie carries the blood of both Xiangliu and the Evergreen Star Python,” the figure concluded.

“No wonder Tan Jun said the Evil Wind Beast bore some resemblance to the ancient supreme serpent Xiangliu. It truly is so,” Lu Han remarked.

“Though Xiao Xie bears the blood of the everlasting youth, and has survived till now, it has come at a cost. Its original strength was not only top-tier in this small Northern Yue region but across the entire vast continent under the heavens. The Evergreen Star Python clan’s power diminishes whenever they slumber. Xiao Xie has survived until now but only with innate cultivation. Once its strength is completely depleted, that will be the day of its death,” the figure on the throne explained.

The figure continued, “Xiao Xie is an anomaly. Though the blood of eternal youth is potent, it should not grant such strength indefinitely. So much time has passed since ancient times, yet Xiao Xie is perhaps the longest-living Evergreen Star Python. By now, those two clans may well be extinct. The humans once gathered several factions to capture the Evergreen Star Python, seeking the secret of immortality. But nothing is that simple. Every gain demands a loss. The loss of their strength is perhaps even harder to bear. What they gained was only a few years of sleep.”

“Ancient Xiangliu, Evergreen Star Python, blood of eternal youth...” Lu Han muttered.

He had known nothing of these.

“Boy, the outside world is truly fascinating. Your master likely knows this—I detect a familiar scent from you,” the figure on the throne glanced at Elder Ling.

Lu Han nodded slightly. If a King-level powerhouse were to lose their strength but extend their life by a few years, albeit spent in slumber, few would be willing to accept such a fate.

“So the Evil Wind Beast has such a background,” Lu Han mused.

Suddenly, the figure’s expression turned serious. “Enough idle talk, boy. Let me ask you—do you wish to receive my inheritance? My life has been both righteous and wicked, always guided by my true heart. Do as you please, but do not sully the name of the Underworld Great Sage!”

“Ah? This...” everything had happened too suddenly, and Lu Han was still caught off guard.

“Boy, my true form is the ancient Underworld Crow. Now I exist only as a remnant consciousness. That you have obtained a fragment of my ‘Underworld Crow Soul Classic’ speaks of fate. I have waited all these years. You have already merged that fragment into your body, gaining a trace of the Underworld Crow bloodline. Now that you have earned the recognition of this Underworld Throne and been brought here, it shows you are worthy of my inheritance.”

“Great Sage!” Elder Ling was deeply shaken.

He had always suspected that the figure on the throne was formidable in life, but had not imagined such an extent. Yet, now it made sense—its true form was the ancient supreme cold beast, the Underworld Crow, a peer to the Golden Crow.

“My disciple’s fortune is truly extraordinary,” Elder Ling thought with heartfelt joy for Lu Han.

“That person...” the figure on the throne glanced at the strange man on the ground, about to gesture to expel him from the space.

“Senior Underworld Great Sage, this man is my friend,” Lu Han hurriedly said.

“Sisi!” The Evil Wind Beast flicked out its tongue as if speaking.

The figure on the throne looked at the strange man with surprise.

“A century ago? He actually escaped from my formation, though his soul was gravely injured and his mind confused. Ten mere King-level figures attempting to break through my great formation—that was naive,” the figure said.

Lu Han was startled.

“A century ago! Ten people! Could it be...?”

A century ago, the ten strongest warriors of the Greater Xia Empire gathered and ventured deep into the Chaos Soul Plain, then vanished without a trace. Some said they had advanced far beyond; others whispered that severely wounded and facing imminent death, they left their legacies there and passed on. Rumors abounded.

From the looks of it, the ten warriors encountered the Great Sage’s mighty formation in the depths and were wiped out entirely, save for this strange man who escaped but with a severely damaged soul.

“Since he saved you in the cave, I shall help him as well,” the Underworld Great Sage said, waving his hand. A visible surge of energy shot toward the strange man, and then vanished.

“When he awakens, he will have fully recovered,” the Great Sage assured.

“Senior Underworld Great Sage, I...” Lu Han began.

“Still calling me senior?” the Great Sage interrupted.

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