Chapter 73: The Great Demon Takes Human Form

Night Without End was startled, cursing under his breath, “How the hell are we supposed to seize anything? So many formidable demons! There are even those who've taken human form! Though not fully, parts of them have already stepped into the Golden Core realm!”

“Damn, there’s more?”

His eyes widened as he spotted, on the far side of the volcano, five or six great demons, their bodies half-human, half-beast. A burly man with a wolf’s head. An old fellow with an enormous turtle shell on his back. Other monstrous beings.

Night Without End also noticed a dozen human cultivators, the same ones who had once streaked across the sky riding rainbows. They seemed split into two factions, but the distance was so great that he could barely make out the details.

He saw that their positions were meticulously arranged, not random at all, clearly determined by rank and strength.

At the foot of the volcano, more than twenty great demon beasts gathered, all at least at the Forming Stage, some edging dangerously close to the Golden Core realm. There was also a group of human cultivators, but those atop the volcano were of even higher rank, all Golden Core cultivators. Their purpose was unified: every soul was drawn to the ancient palace submerged in magma.

All these peerless demons watched the volcano’s mouth with tense anticipation. There, the bubbling magma revealed the ancient palace, shimmering with divine radiance, rising and sinking as if time itself flowed through it, exuding an aura of wild antiquity.

A deep, resonant bell tolled from the ancient palace. Night Without End wrapped himself in sword intent for protection. This time he felt much better, not like before when the sound left him dizzy and breathless.

He noticed those high-level, half-human demons shuddered involuntarily, their bodies trembling. Even the human cultivators stiffened, clearly affected.

This revelation shocked Night Without End. He had drunk seventy percent of Snowy Sky’s original demon blood, whose power he had barely absorbed, just its surface. Yet it had already transformed him, and comparing himself not to those at the Gathering Stage, but solely to his current physical strength, he found he was hardly inferior to the elders at the Golden Core level.

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The bell tolled again and again, echoing heavily in quick succession. Magma surged from the crater, waves of blazing brilliance shooting skyward, turning night into day.

In a flash, magma roiled and poured out, and the radiant ancient palace floated to the surface, emanating a powerful aura of primordial antiquity.

Atop the volcano, the human cultivators burst forth with dazzling light, slowly advancing toward the ancient palace.

On the other side, the demons with human forms stepped forward as well, undaunted by the flowing magma, their eyes locked on the palace, only glancing at the human cultivators once they reached the crater’s edge.

Among them, the old man bearing a massive turtle shell shouted at the human cultivators, “You humans have gone too far! This ruin is divided into five parts. You already possess the treasures of the Azure Cloud Sect, the Blazing Sun Sect, and other sacred sites. Now you come to our territory to seize the Immortal Vault—are you trying to incite conflict?”

Nearby, a towering figure three or four meters tall, with a human body and a bull’s head crowned by two horns, bellowed in a deep voice, “If you want war, just try to lay your hands on this palace!”

The human cultivators were undaunted. One elderly man stroked his long beard and floated forward alone, laughing gently. “Who can say this ruin belongs to anyone? It is for the capable to claim! Now, with treasures appearing deep in the ruins, we have come to seek our fortune. What could be more reasonable?”

“Ha! Easy for you to say. The depths of this ruin are our home. Naturally, we cannot tolerate you lowly humans coming here to steal treasures!”

This voice came from a man with no hands, only golden wings and a mane of golden hair, his tone cold and threatening. “If you refuse to leave now—”

“—then don’t blame us for showing no mercy!” the demons echoed, their voices icy.

“Haha, no mercy? How utterly laughable!” the old man retorted, his voice calm but charged with an intimidating aura. “This ruin is formed from the imperial city of our human race. You are merely guests here—how dare you claim territory for yourselves?”

“Human, spare us your lies and slander! We, the Spirit Turtle clan, have lived here for ten thousand years. Our ancestors left behind their words—this is not the homeland of your kind! It is the imperial capital of our demon race. Everything here has nothing to do with you humans.”

The old man with the giant turtle shell had not fully assumed human form, only his head resembled a human elder.

---

Yet the Spirit Turtle elder spoke fluently, clearly the leader of the demon clan present, his strength likely unmatched among them.

“That’s impossible, Spirit Turtle elder. We respect you as a learned senior, but all the architecture here is of human design. What does it have to do with your demon race?” the leader of the human cultivators countered firmly, refusing to back down.

Both sides held fast to their claims, ignoring one another. Everyone was here for the treasures within the ancient palace submerged in magma; naturally, no one would yield.

Again, the deep bell echoed from the palace within the volcano. Even the Golden Core demons and cultivators, so close to its source, felt oppressed by the sound, their faces pale and uneasy.

The crimson, seductive magma churned relentlessly, occasionally spilling out in scarlet waves, like fresh blood, as the shining palace slowly ascended, about to break free from the crater.

A demon grew excited and moved forward, but the Spirit Turtle elder stopped him, saying, “We’ve waited so many days. A little more time won’t matter. Let the palace break the ancient seal by itself. Don’t interfere, lest disaster follow. These humans are not to be underestimated.”

Time slipped by. Night Without End, hiding in the distance, grew increasingly restless.

Suddenly, a demon burst out in wild laughter. “Demon script! It’s our clan’s writing!”

At that moment, the bull-headed, human-bodied demon became agitated, his three-meter-tall frame trembling as he shouted, “Look, it truly is demon script! It must be something left by one of our great ancestors!”

“Hahaha, humans! What do you have to say now? The evidence is here—are you still trying to snatch it?”

A demon in human form laughed aloud.