The last lingering dark red flames sizzled on the surface of the water, sending up a stench-filled white smoke. And that hand, after completing the final desolate blow, had vanished.
Thud!
The icy breath of the Ice Chi and the space-tearing claws of the Golden Roc landed simultaneously in the area where Jiang Shu had disappeared.
The ice froze the turbulent black water and foul air, creating a massive ice chunk that emitted chilling white vapor.
The Golden Roc’s claws tore a giant fissure hundreds of meters long through the frozen space and a portion of the rock, sending ice shards and stone fragments flying.
But this frantic counterattack hit nothing.
They hadn’t even managed to graze the hem of Jiang Shu’s clothes.
The Ice Chi and Golden Roc stood frozen in place, their gazes fixed on the massive corpse of the Fire Flood Dragon that had crashed into the mud marsh.
The air was thick with a potent stench, lingering cold, sharp gold qi, along with a suffocating stillness and incredulous shock.
Dead?
Another one dead?!
At that moment, an indescribable tremor of terror emanated from the core area of Thousand Streams Creek.
It was the reaction to the central hub of the array being violently impacted!
As if something was forcibly tearing away the connection with the earth spirit vein below, warping and restoring some core law that powered the great array!
Not good!
His real target is the array hub!
The Fire Flood Dragon was merely a convenient bait, a tool for distraction.
Although Jiang Shu arrived slightly later than them, relying on his understanding of space, he had already delved tens of thousands of meters underground, locating this so-called "array hub."
This place was indeed the array hub, but to Jiang Shu’s understanding of the Ten Thousand Spirits Immortal Refining Array, this hub was an optional presence.
The spatial anomaly caused by Jiang Shu’s detonation of the outer space nodes had yet to settle, with mud surging, black water flowing backward, and space fragments falling like black ice shards.
The pupils of the Golden Roc and Ice Chi contracted sharply; the fear within their demon souls stemmed not only from the Fire Flood Dragon’s recent demise but more so from the origin fluctuations emanating from the core!
The massive, twisted corpse of the Fire Flood Dragon bubbled with a foul stench in the filthy marsh; the huge gash at its neck still corroded stubbornly by Taichu Aura, continuously "reverting" its essence blood and demonic power into a chaotic state, a power residue even a soul impact couldn’t erase completely.
"It’s him!"
"He’s heading for the array hub!"
The voice of the Ice Chi carried a marrow-deep chill, quickly overpowering the dying screech remnants of the Fire Flood Dragon.
It coiled at the cracked edge of the mud pond, the remaining icy demon gang flashing intensely, reflecting its profound anxiety.
The Golden Roc then abruptly spread its wings, clearing the polluted mist with sharp Geng Metal aura, each golden feather rising, poised for a fight.
The activation of the array hub signified something far more daunting than the death of the Fire Flood Dragon!
This marked a complete mission failure; waiting for them was not only the seething wrath of the Heaven-Burning Ancestor, enough to melt stars, but also the cold punishment of the Dragon Venerable.
Even if they were Demon Venerables.
But among the Demon Race, there naturally existed methods to refine them into the great array.
To make them a part of the array.
To guard the array through endless generations, unable to remain as ancestral leaders of the clan.
Unable to dream of capturing a territory within the Cang Mang Domain, claiming limitless resources in pursuit of higher realms.
All these terrifying imaginations gnawed at their spirits like venomous serpents.
"He must not succeed!"
The shriek of the Golden Roc nearly tore the tainted air apart, fear instantly morphing into lunatic killing intent.
With a flap of its wings, space seemed sliced by invisible golden strings, leaving a chain of flickering afterimages as it moved faster than sight, disregarding the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse below, oblivious to the tumultuous Taichu Aura remains in the mud pond.
Its entire body transformed into a golden stream of light cutting through rain curtains, slashing the black water, and pouncing straight toward the core commotion.
The colossal body of the Ice Chi moved concurrently, though not as swift as the Golden Roc, presenting a more imposing presence.
A burst of ice-blue extreme cold Dao rhyme erupted around it, solidifying the filthy black water instantly along its path, with space becoming sticky and sluggish under the extreme cold.
It moved like a wandering icy mountain, following closely after the Golden Roc, its enormous demonic body crushing through the marsh with deafening roars and soul-freezing winds.
Both Demon Venerables entirely forsook defense at this moment, every ounce of demonic power and life origin burning, sparing no cost!
They knew well if Jiang Shu destroyed the array hub and left unchecked, their fate would be an everlasting doom, no less than perishing now!
They had witnessed two companions they had known for millennia perish before them, and not only that, he intended to obliterate the array hub.
That drove the Ice Chi and Golden Roc into hysteria, but Jiang Shu’s figure was long gone from the Fire Flood Dragon’s remains.
Detonating the outer nodes to create chaos was merely the first step.
At the moment the Golden Roc was plunged into panic from the Fire Flood Dragon’s violent end, while the Ice Chi coped with the collapsing space.
His true form had, using the chaotic primal aura of the World Tree Seedling and the spatial distortion power of the Shui Huan Gloves, skillfully concealed himself and all energy fluctuations, becoming an invisible ripple merging with space itself.
In the blink of an eye, he traversed dozens of miles through the fetid black water, emerging directly at the deeply daunting core area.
The scene before him was starkly different from the filth surrounding Thousand Streams Creek, yet equally eerie and terrifying.
This place had ceased to be a muddy marsh, transforming into an altar space circled by twisted, massive dark red skeletons.
These bones, robust as mountains, bore shapes unlike any known demons or giant beasts, covered with ghastly green moss-like demon patterns, emanating a profound sense of antiquity and malice, constituting a bone-based array over a thousand meters in diameter.
This was where the array hub lay, but it differed from those Jiang Shu had previously observed.
It bore no physical form, instead appearing as a swirling pure black vortex consuming all surrounding light, sound, and even laws.
At the center of the vortex, a deep red light like the abyss’s eye flickered regularly; with each flicker came a decayed-heart-like pulse, drawing some intangible "spirituality" from Thousand Streams Creek and perhaps a broader demon domain, into the space above it.
That was one of the hubs of the Ten Thousand Spirits Casting Venerable Array!
No, at this moment it could not even be called the Ten Thousand Spirits Casting Venerable Array.
With the continuous escalation of the battle and the Demon Race’s relentless resource investment, the great array reached an entirely new stage.
The aura it emitted now far surpassed what it once was.
Once completed, the force within this array could perhaps "create" more Demon Venerables.
Or propel some Demon Venerables in their preliminary realms further!
"Huff..."
Jiang Shu’s breath condensed completely.
As per his perception, despite this array hub not seeming as crucial as the one by the Desolate Sand Sea.
The more destruction, the less formed the great array.
Which was pivotal to the ongoing war between the Human Clan and the Demon Race.
"This array hub is indeed peculiar..."
A thought flashed through his mind.
Arriving here, Jiang Shu sensed the air was permeated with a desolate Dao rhyme that sapped the soul and extinguished vitality.
A coexistent yet contradictory purity of demonic power and filthy miasma corroded the intruder’s will and flesh.
"This also carries the aura of the Desolate Dao."
Jiang Shu’s gaze sharpened; though mentally prepared, the twisted Dao rules and devouring power emanating from the array hub still exerted immense pressure on him.
He could clearly sense that the "intensity" of this array hub far surpassed that seen in the Desolate Sand Sea, with a likely broader spiritual draw, and an elusive connection to other places.
By this logic, it seemed this place wasn’t so simple.
Jiang Shu was more acutely aware that causing such a disturbance here likely had caught the attention of the Heaven-Burning Ancestor, who was probably now on the way.
The time left for him was scarcely little!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Shu raised both hands simultaneously.
His left hand slightly bent, palm upward, emitting an aura of "nothingness" as if originating from the beginning of all things, the origin of everything.
Chapter 1221: 651: Slaying the Demon Venerable! Entering the Array Hub! (Part 2)
8 min read