Chapter 1248: The Clever Outcome

"What is that thing!" A chill ran down everyone's spines. They couldn't see anything from head to toe, only a tongue, and the unknown brought immense fear.

Even Yan Xuehen and the other women frowned. They weren't afraid; as Grandmasters, they had encountered many beasts far more terrifying and mysterious than this.

It was mainly that women naturally had an aversion to sticky, tentacle-like things.

On the other side, the remaining demon race experts also frowned. As they were analyzing what kind of monster was below, a deep rumble suddenly echoed around them.

"Gulu."

The sound was like muffled thunder, or a giant hammer pounding on a broken drum, making people extremely uncomfortable.

"Gulu."

Rhythmic muffled thunder sounded again, and everyone suddenly felt a tightness in their chests, their faces growing pale.

After several more sounds, someone suddenly couldn't hold it in and vomited a mouthful of blood. In the pool of blood, there was a heart, seemingly pulsing in sync with the muffled thunder.

Immediately following another "Gulu," the heart directly burst.

The rest of the people changed color and leaped away. Someone shouted, "Everyone cover your ears! If our heartbeats synchronize with this sound, we'll surely die!"

The others quickly covered their ears; some even tore off strips of cloth to plug their ears.

However, some high-level cultivators sneered. This kind of sound wave directly impacted the body, so covering one's ears was useless. They either used magical artifacts or channeled their internal energy to resist the strange sound.

With Zu'an's current cultivation, listening to the sound, although uncomfortable, could not harm him. Instead, he looked worriedly at the woman beside him.

Although Yu Yanluo had been severely injured earlier, she had recovered quite a bit after he treated her with the special dual cultivation method of the Primordial Chaos Scripture.

Her strength was already considerable, and with her ancient Medusa bloodline, she could naturally withstand the sonic attacks of this unknown fierce beast.

In contrast, Yan Xuehen was suffering much more. Her injuries were too severe, and only a fraction of her cultivation remained. Normally, she could rely on her Grandmaster realm and insights to defend herself against ordinary experts, but now, this sonic attack offered no tricks to exploit. Soon, she felt her qi and blood churning, and her face instantly turned pale.

She was trying to use the Supreme Oblivion Scripture to resist the sound waves when she suddenly felt a warm large hand grip hers, and then a wave of warmth flowed into her body.

Her face flushed, and she instinctively tried to pull away, but Zu'an said in a deep voice, "It would be troublesome if it aggravates your old injury."

Yan Xuehen naturally understood the implications and allowed him to hold her hand.

The strange cries earlier hadn't made her heart beat much, but now it was indeed pounding wildly, almost synchronizing with the peculiar sound. Startled, she quickly circulated the Supreme Oblivion Scripture to calm herself down.

She was too embarrassed to look at the other two women, instead pretending to gaze at the center of the swamp, as if contemplating what kind of fierce beast was there.

At this moment, Zu'an also went to help Yun Jianyue on the other side, but Yun Jianyue pulled her hand away, saying proudly, "Just take care of the Ice Stone Woman; I'm not as delicate as she is."

Zu'an was speechless.

You were clearly quite injured yourself, weren't you?

What a strong-willed personality she had, truly stubborn her entire life.

At this point, an expert on the other side could no longer hold back. A burly, white-haired man let out a roar, his muscles bulging as he lifted a boulder the size of a small hill and hurled it fiercely towards the center of the swamp.

With a deafening crash, water and mud splashed everywhere, and the strange cries that had been sounding earlier abruptly stopped.

"As expected of Bear One of the Black and White Twin Bears! Legend has it he possesses boundless strength, capable of moving mountains and overturning seas, and seeing it today, it's truly well-deserved!"

"Bear Two hasn't even made a move yet. With these two brothers working together, what fierce beast can't be suppressed?"

A group of people exclaimed in admiration. Some among them, showing off their knowledge to their companions, introduced the others:

"Nearby are Young Master Jin Shi of the Golden Roc Royal Family, Princess Changning of the Peacock Royal Family, and Qiao Heng of the Elven race."

Others, unwilling to be outdone, added:

"That's not all! There's also Princess Sauron of the Demon race, Prince Shirin of the Lion race, Prince Silver Shark of the Sea race. Hey, doesn't that person look like Ma Huang of the Blood race?"

"Yes, that's him! I also just saw Duan Tiande of the Night Elves. There's going to be a good show later."

Zu'an briefly surveyed the group. From the techniques they had just displayed, he could largely identify who each person was.

Yu Yanluo quietly explained, "These are all exceptional young talents from various demon tribes. However, apart from Princess Sauron and Prince Shirin who are direct descendants, the others are not from the main lineage of their respective tribes. It seems this treasure map must have only recently surfaced; otherwise, more prominent figures would have come."

The women all nodded. This was good; it meant they wouldn't have to deal with 'old monster' level figures, who would be difficult for them to handle in their current condition.

Zu'an, however, let out a sound of surprise. "Isn't the Demon Royal family surnamed Yun? How is this Sauron also a princess?"

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Yun Jianyue. Earlier, Prince Wu's concubine, Yun Yuqing, was from the Demon race. So what was her connection to them?

Unfortunately, Yun Jianyue showed no change in expression, making it impossible to discern her thoughts.

At this moment, Yu Yanluo explained, "Everyone has a misconception that a race has only one family. However, just like the Human race has countless factions and various powerful noble families, the various demon tribes also have many families."

"In a major race like the Demon race, power is held by the four great families: Yun, Sauron, Rong, and Wu. Although the Yun family is the royal family, the other families also control various departments and are on equal footing with them."

"And this Sauron Shi is the apple of the Sauron family's eye, so being called a princess is well-deserved."

At this point, Yun Jianyue, standing nearby, said with a half-smile, "Why are you so concerned about this Princess Sauron? Are you perhaps interested in her? Do you want your elder sister to capture her and bring her to warm your bed?"

This Princess Sauron was the most beautiful woman among the group they had discussed earlier.

Yan Xuehen, standing by, was somewhat displeased. This 'demoness' truly seemed to delight in chaos. "In your current state, are you going to capture her, or just rush to deliver yourself?"

"Ice Stone Woman, shall we make a bet? What would you say if I went and captured her?" Yun Jianyue raised an eyebrow.

Zu'an was speechless; these two were bickering again.

He quickly interrupted, "I was just asking about the Demon race's information. Speaking of which, the Demon race is 'demon,' and the Demonic Sect is also 'demon.' Is there any connection between you all?"

Yun Jianyue said chillingly, "Brat, we are the Sacred Sect. If anyone else dared to mention 'Demonic Sect' in front of me, I would scatter their ashes."

Zu'an chuckled. "Sister, we're all family, don't be so distant."

Yun Jianyue snorted and ignored him.

Zu'an was about to seize the opportunity to ask more questions when another colossal muffled roar sounded, making everyone's ears ache. At this point, the swamp began to churn, and then a massive, hill-like body surfaced from the water.

It was a gigantic toad, covered in various pus-filled boils, visibly oozing discharge. Just one look was enough to make one nauseous.

Half a thigh hung from its mouth, clearly the remains of recent victims it had swallowed.

"A fierce beast at the Grandmaster level." Everyone's hearts sank. The combat power of fierce beasts was inherently superior to cultivators of the same realm, and now, with it on its home ground, how could they possibly defeat it?

However, seeing the treasure tomb chamber so close, no one was willing to leave just yet.

The toad was clearly still resentful about being struck. Its belly heaved up and down as it croaked, glaring ferociously in the direction of the Black and White Twin Bears.

Frightened, the others quickly dispersed. Some quick-witted individuals had a sudden idea: this swamp was so wide, why not take advantage of the giant toad confronting Bear One and Bear Two to bypass it from the sides?

Quite a few people had this thought and began to act. They had just witnessed the length of the toad's tongue, so they deliberately kept a distance several times longer than its reach, ensuring the toad couldn't attack them.

"We are truly ingenious!"

However, at that very moment, a gaping maw suddenly opened on the left side of the water, swallowing all the passing demon cultivators like a whale.

On the right, dark light flickered in the air, as if several massive scythes had swept through, dismembering those demon experts one by one!