Chapter 1486: 圣道祭坛

"It's strange," the creature said, "this little fellow is imbued with faint earth-elemental energy, yet I never knew he had entered my cave. Theoretically, this is impossible, unless his power is greater than mine and his rank surpasses mine."

The Level Nine Serpent Emperor immediately voiced his judgment. Xu Yang couldn't help but frown at his words. But when he turned back to the little creature on his shoulder, the little creature burst out laughing.

"How could my rank be higher than yours? You are a Level Nine Serpent Emperor. Am I, by any chance, the legendary Level Ten Demon Saint? To my knowledge, only three Level Ten Demon Saints have ever appeared in this boundless Kunlun Abyss, and they are undoubtedly the top monarchs within the abyss's major forbidden zones. If a Demon Saint-level being looked like me, I'm afraid this Kunlun Abyss would have long been wiped clean by you humans."

Everyone thought it made sense, but Xu Yang still harbored this strange thought.

"However, this little creature doesn't look like a Level Ten Demon Saint. Based on the attributes he displays, his bloodline talent is indeed weak. Moreover, captured right in front of me, he shouldn't have the courage to lie to Xu Yang."

"Oh my goodness, this little creature is so adorable! Boss, can I play with him for a bit?"

The word "play" was quite piercing, at least judging by the kitten's own expression. Soon, it was surrounded by the two beauties, Ling Yao and Xiao Hua. One moment they were petting its head, the next tugging its ears, and then pinching its tail. In short, the cat had become the new group favorite.

Although it still wore a mournful, almost desperate expression, under the suppression of Xu Yang's aura, it was powerless to resist. It could only continue to rely on its cuteness to survive humbly within Xu Yang's team.

"May I ask, gentlemen, what are your plans next? Are you truly going to be enemies with those young people from the Xuanyuan Imperial Clan, as you previously stated?"

Xu Yang looked at the Level Nine Serpent Emperor and nodded slightly.

"The Great Tribulation of a Thousand Years is approaching, and it's certainly not right for us to remain uninvolved. However, I don't have a clear idea yet of how exactly to handle this matter. At the very least, I must first interact with all the young generations from the six imperial clans of the Kunlun Divine Path before making a decision. If the other clans are as arrogant as the Xuanyuan Imperial Clan, then I truly don't mind teaching them a good lesson.

In any case, the Kunlun Divine Path's method of suppressing human souls, which goes against the natural order, must be eliminated. Humans and demon beasts could originally coexist peacefully, but their actions have undoubtedly forced an end to the friendly and peaceful coexistence between the two races. Therefore, the ruling class of the Kunlun Divine Path is the root cause of this turmoil. I must personally resolve this matter before I can leave the Kunlun Divine Path."

Hearing Xu Yang speak, the Level Nine Serpent Emperor seemed to have new ideas in mind.

"Since you gentlemen are willing to seek justice for the demon beast race and us suppressed human souls, if you don't mind, I am willing to follow you and accompany you to the Sacred Path Altar in the Kunlun Abyss."

"What is this Sacred Path Altar?" Ling Yao, holding the kitten, looked at the Serpent Emperor with a puzzled expression.

"That is indeed an unfamiliar term."

At least Xu Yang and his companions had been in the Kunlun Abyss for so long and had never heard of the Sacred Path Altar, nor had they seen any altar area in this place.

The Level Nine Serpent Emperor pondered for a moment, then slowly began to explain.

"The so-called Sacred Path Altar is actually the upper teleportation point in the Kunlun Abyss that connects to the six great imperial clans of the Kunlun Divine Path. This means that the young prodigies from the six imperial clans who come for trials will all enter the Kunlun Abyss through this teleportation gate. The Sacred Path Altar will also be the common gathering point for human cultivators.

They are about to launch an attack on all agitated high-level demon beasts within the Kunlun Abyss, and they will surely have a complete action plan. Only by infiltrating the Sacred Path Altar first can we obtain their intelligence in advance and, within a limited time, notify the top-level demon beasts that are about to fall into agitation to prepare their defenses.

Because when high-level demon beasts fall into a state of human soul berserk, there is a period of varying length during which they become extremely dangerous. They will also, to some extent, fall into a state of mental uncontrol. In past years, during this phase, a large number of high-level demon beasts, having fallen into a restless state of mental uncontrol, were deliberately ambushed and hunted down by human powerhouses, slaughtered like mere prey, and met a tragic end.

What's worse, once these high-level demon beasts fall into a berserk state, their descendants will gather around them to guard them during this period, thus exposing their tribe's habitat. They will be massacred by the young generation of human powerhouses. Often, the exposure of one high-level, out-of-control human soul demon beast powerhouse will also mean the demise of the entire race they spawned.

As demon beasts living in the Kunlun Abyss, different races have vastly different temperaments and characteristics. Some demon beasts are inherently ferocious; they will kill without hesitation whenever they encounter humans. These demon beasts are known as fierce beasts; when they go berserk, they will even kill their own kind and offspring without hesitation. Then there are some high-level demon beasts with benevolent natures. Most of these are bound by human souls who suffered injustice. The benevolent side of their human souls suppresses and positively guides the fierce aura of the demon beast itself, thus not revealing too much of their inherent demonic ferocity. What we need to do is to save as many of these human soul demon beasts with pure and benevolent natures as possible from being further slaughtered during this Great Tribulation of a Thousand Years."

Upon hearing the Level Nine Serpent Emperor's explanation, Xu Yang and his companions began to form a preliminary plan.

"In that case, take us to the Sacred Path Altar immediately. I will use special means to help conceal your aura. Once we obtain the specific action plan of those young human cultivators, we can then defeat them one by one."

Hearing Xu Yang's words, the Level Nine Serpent Emperor immediately nodded in agreement, and the team set off once again towards the Sacred Path Altar area.

That location was still tens of thousands of miles away from Xu Yang's current position. Fortunately, Xu Yang possessed immense power and immediately conjured a wind-attribute aura, enveloping the team, which significantly increased their mobility.

The group only took less than a day to reach the Sacred Path Altar area, but this time, it exceeded the Level Nine Serpent Emperor's expectations.

The scale of forces gathered at the Sacred Path Altar was far greater than the usual numbers for previous Great Tribulations of a Thousand Years. Hundreds of miles away from the Sacred Path Altar's iconic aura teleportation array, traces of powerful auras from young generations of various clans could already be detected.

"Holy crap, how did this happen, Boss? Based on our preliminary assessment, there are at least tens of thousands of cultivators around this Sacred Path Altar. So many young cultivators descending—it probably isn't as simple as just the Great Tribulation of a Thousand Years, is it?"

Xiao Hua voiced her conjecture, which immediately garnered Xu Yang's agreement.

"I also don't think it's that simple. Just suppressing demon beasts for the Tribulation of a Thousand Years... Each of the six imperial clans sending two or three hundred people would be enough. But based on our current observation, the number is nearly ten times greater. Things are definitely not as simple as we imagined. Let's first clarify the situation before planning our next move."