Chapter Thirty-Six: The Bizarre Demon Realm

Ning Xianyu looked up again, but that feeling of being watched had vanished once more.

A creature whose egg alone was so enormous—how gigantic would it become once hatched and fully grown? Its destructive force was already immense, even before hatching; once it emerged, no one would have a chance to survive.

“So, are we just waiting for that egg to hatch?”

[System, system—what happened to this egg in the book? How did it end?]

But once again, the system remained silent. Ning Xianyu called out for a long time, but there was no response.

She began to worry, thinking the system had left her. Anxiety crept in.

[You damn system, if you abandon me, what am I supposed to do?]

Was she meant to follow Xuan Yuan Tunhan for the rest of her life? When Xuan Yuan Tunhan realized ascension was hopeless, would he kill her and drag her down with him?

Xuan Yuan Tunhan frowned slightly, glancing at her.

Had that so-called system suddenly disappeared?

No, he could sense it was still there—just not as noisy as before.

While Ning Xianyu was still tangled in her worries, Yi Tianling spoke up, anxiety coloring his voice. “If that egg disappeared, would the Demon Realm return to its original state? Would its people be spared from suffering?”

The denizens of the Demon Realm were violent, emotionally detached, and at times could even be driven to attack their own kin. This was a result of their environment. Such violence had become ingrained in their very beings, passed down through generations, almost impossible to change.

For the people of the Demon Realm, this too was a form of torment. They were once no different from the people of the Human Realm—this was not their nature from birth.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan shot him a brief look. “Since the appearance of that egg, countless powerful beings have tried to destroy it.”

Yi Tianling pressed on, “And then? What happened to them?”

What do you think happened? Ning Xianyu wanted to scoff. “Obviously, they failed.”

If they’d succeeded, would the egg still be hanging there?

Yi Tianling, a bit embarrassed, asked, “I meant, what became of those powerful ones?”

Xuan Yuan Tunhan replied coolly, “I don’t know.”

Ning Xianyu had expected him to say they all died after failing, but he simply said he didn’t know.

What did that mean—did those people disappear?

She dared not ask aloud, and the system was unreachable, so her curiosity was left unsatisfied, nearly driving her mad.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan offered no further explanation, turning to leave.

Yi Tianling and Ning Xianyu followed, clueless as to where he was headed. Yet his resolute stride suggested he knew exactly where to go.

The Demon Realm was indeed unlike the Human Realm. Most of the land was a parched, crimson expanse, yet here and there, some plants managed to grow.

What kind of plants could live in such dryness?

Ning Xianyu crouched down, scooping up some earth and rubbing it between her fingers.

The soil was strange—so dry, yet it hadn’t turned to sand. This was a scorched wasteland, but it hadn’t become a desert.

Did it receive ample rainfall?

As she pondered, Xuan Yuan Tunhan suddenly raised his hand, forming a seal and casting a barrier around himself.

He had barely finished when a crack of thunder split the sky, followed by a deafening deluge.

It sounded as if a torrent of water had been dumped from above. Instinctively, Ning Xianyu looked up in alarm and hastily cast her own barrier.

This place was terrifying—red rain poured down from the sky.

It didn’t fall gently, growing from a drizzle into a downpour as in the Human Realm. Instead, it crashed down in sheets, as if an ocean had been dumped overhead. Without a barrier, one would be knocked unconscious.

Yi Tianling was the slowest to react and was struck directly, nearly fainting. Luckily, as the protagonist, he had some skill, swiftly erecting a barrier to protect himself.

The rain in the Demon Realm was horrifying—this couldn’t even be called rain. Standing within it was like being thrown into a swimming pool, red water surging in from every direction, threatening to drown them.

Although Ning Xianyu sheltered within her barrier, she still felt as if something pounded her relentlessly, nearly suffocating.

She looked up, wondering when this rain would end.

Just as she was thinking this, the rain abruptly ceased.

So swift, so sudden—the rain came and went like a nightmare.

When the downpour ended, they looked down to see the water already seeping rapidly into the ground. In no time at all, it was as if nothing had happened.

What sort of place was this?

At that moment, the ground began to tremble.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan shot Ning Xianyu a glance. She understood instantly and stepped aside.

She knew the drill: stay out of the way.

After the tremor, a red demon beast burst forth from the earth.

The beast was massive—twenty or thirty meters tall at least. Its presence made the trio seem utterly insignificant.

It looked like a triceratops, with many protrusions along its back and an enormous tail—an intimidating sight.

Ning Xianyu quickly retreated, erecting a barrier for protection.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan eyed the creature and drew his sword.

He had given up channeling spiritual energy into his blade—his current body’s spiritual power was too weak, and using it would be wasteful.

Moreover, employing spiritual energy in the Demon Realm risked revealing his identity—he couldn’t afford that risk.

The demon beast spotted them, lowering its massive head and opening its jaws.

With experience, Ning Xianyu reinforced her barrier.

But the beast was unpredictable. With a loud snort, it spewed a torrent of sand.

Her barrier was plastered with sand, rendering everything outside invisible.

What was this? Even the demon beasts here had such character?

No, at this point, they should be called fiends.

After spewing sand, the fiend coughed twice, spitting out some sparks.

Next came a blast of fire.

Like a living flamethrower, it swept its head in an arc, unleashing flames in a two-hundred-seventy-degree spread, making sure no one was left out.

Ning Xianyu took the brunt of the blast—her vision turned a blazing red.

The silver lining was that the fire burned away all the sand, clearing her view.

After all this, the fiend saw that all three of them were still alive. Feeling provoked, it lunged with open jaws.

It aimed for Xuan Yuan Tunhan. Before its head reached him, his sword flashed, striking the beast’s neck.

The fiend howled in pain, rearing back and shaking its head, then lunged again.

Xuan Yuan Tunhan struck the same spot with another precise blow.

The fiend’s howls grew more furious.

It retreated slightly and unleashed another torrent of fire at them.

Yi Tianling, shielded by his Saintess aura, remained unharmed. Ning Xianyu’s barrier held for a while, and Xuan Yuan Tunhan relied on a magical artifact for defense.

But soon, Ning Xianyu’s barrier began to falter. Just as she tried to reinforce it, it shattered.

At that very moment, the fiend concentrated all its power and blasted her with scorching flames, aiming for her head.

Heavens, if she ruined the demon lord’s body, she was finished!