The scene before them terrified a great many of those present.
Sensing that things were going badly, some turned and fled on the spot, convinced that Chu Feng had provoked some dreadful creature.
Yet not a few remained rooted in place, staring intently toward where Chu Feng stood.
They were the bold ones — the ones who desperately wanted to know what kind of existence was crawling its way up from deep beneath the earth.
Of course, there were also those who suspected that the monster about to appear might have been the very reason Chu Feng had come here in the first place.
And under the watchful gaze of the crowd, at last, a colossal creature emerged from the depths of the abyss, accompanied by wave upon wave of furious roars.
Its entire body was a dark crimson red. It resembled an octopus, its surface bristling with tentacles — but far more than any octopus, for it possessed over ten thousand of them, each one over a hundred meters long.
Yet compared to the creature's main body, those tentacles were still far too short, for the monster's central mass stretched over ten thousand meters in length.
It was like a dark crimson mountain hauling itself out of the abyss.
A true colossus — so enormous that every soul present felt their hearts shudder.
Though many people had gathered here, when measured against this behemoth, they were as insignificant as ants.
But what unsettled the crowd most was not the creature's size — it was its appearance and the aura it radiated.
The thing was horrifying to look at. More than horrifying, it was outright revolting. It appeared boneless, like an immense slab of meat — an unfathomably vast blob covered in countless tentacles — slowly dragging itself up from underground.
And across that slab of flesh, besides the densely packed tentacles, were packed equally dense clusters of eyes. The sight was nauseating.
Yet this abomination radiated an aura far more powerful than Chu Feng's.
"A Martial Immortal — that monster's aura belongs to a Martial Immortal!"
"Heavens, it's a Martial Immortal-level expert! Run, everyone, run!"
This was, after all, the Great Thousand Upper Realm. Although the people here were generally not especially strong in cultivation, there were among them those with broad experience — those who had seen Martial Immortal powerhouses before.
Someone identified, from the aura emanating from that colossal creature, that the monster possessed Martial Immortal strength.
Once that person spoke, the crowd panicked all the more.
But the most terrifying thing was that by the time they realized the situation was dire and tried to flee, they discovered — with horror — that escape was no longer possible.
The colossus had already released its oppressive might, blanketing the entire lair. Every person within was bound by its restraint, frozen in midair as though turned to stone, unable to so much as move — let alone flee.
"Bold human! Rather than obediently serving as my slaves, you dare disturb my rest? You truly deserve to die."
Suddenly, the colossal creature spoke. Its voice was deep and powerful, like the tolling of a great bell.
But at the same time, its voice was deeply eerie and terrifying — the mere sound of it was enough to send ice through one's veins.
This was a true monster, a genuine demon. No ordinary demon beast would produce such a horrifying voice.
"It seems the treasure vault has revealed itself. Chu Feng, this old man will open the entrance for you. Enter and investigate."
Just then, Chu Youyuan spoke.
After the monster appeared, nearly everyone present had been struck with terror.
But only Chu Youyuan and Chu Feng wore expressions of excitement.