The great banner billowed, snapping loudly in the wind. Within each of the sixty-four subsidiary formation nodes, the martial artists wielding formation flags performed the ritual technique Black Crow Divine Lord had taught them, activating their flags in resonance with the great banner.
Hummm…
A tremor originating from the depths of the soul rippled outward, and the very fabric of heaven and earth seemed to shudder. Crimson blood mist seeped up from underground, blanketing the entire valley in the blink of an eye.
Everyone had already witnessed the horrors of that blood mist—several martial artists who had fallen into it earlier had been reduced to nothing but bone, then nothing at all. When the blood mist reappeared, every face drained of color, and scalps prickled with dread.
Black Crow Divine Lord barked, "Focus your minds, every last one of you! If anyone dares slack off, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
Though their hearts churned with unease, the memory of Black Crow Divine Lord's terrifying methods left them no choice. Gritting their teeth, they continued cooperating with his ritual.
Fortunately, although the blood mist had spread outward once more, this time it remained confined to the valley, flowing alongside the gathered crowd.
Soon, under the influence of the formation flags, the blood mist began to writhe like a living thing, gradually coalescing inside the valley into an enormous formation pattern!
A faint outline suddenly materialized from the void—a mere sliver of what lay beyond, yet unmistakably a portion of a massive palace.
Every martial artist who beheld the outline felt their spirits surge. Only now did they realize that Black Crow Divine Lord had not deceived them. The legendary Blood Demon Divine Palace truly was hidden here. It was simply protected by restrictions that concealed its entrance under normal circumstances. Without Black Crow Divine Lord's guidance, anyone who stumbled upon this place would have seen nothing of significance, missing their chance to enter entirely.
Yang Kai stood atop the original hilltop, gazing at the outline, and grew ever more certain that Blood Demon Divine Lord had never intended to pass down his legacy. Everything here was far beyond what Emperor Realm martial artists could handle. Had Black Crow Divine Lord not reincarnated through possession, the Blood Demon Divine Palace would never have been found.
The blood mist continued to churn and drift through the valley, crawling steadily up the palace outline. As time passed, more and more of the outline became visible, growing increasingly solid and defined.
Beside Yang Kai, Qu Huashang, Gu Pan, Zhang Ruoxi, Lin Feng, Ning Daoran, Wei Buque, Ding Yi, along with the cook, the accountant, Lang Qingshan, and the others stood poised and ready.
Yet after waiting for what felt like an eternity, there was still no sign of any seventh-grade demon beast.
Ding Yi scratched his head and chuckled, "Did that Black Crow Divine Lord get it wrong? There's no seventh-grade demon beast sleeping here, is there? With this much commotion, if there really were a demon beast nearby, it would've been startled ages ago."
Wei Buque grinned broadly. "Better if there isn't one. We just watch them do all the work, then once the Blood Demon Divine Palace opens, we charge in and grab what we can."
Ding Yi's face lit up as if he had found a kindred spirit, gazing at Wei Buque with enthusiasm. "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
"Watch out!" Yang Kai suddenly called out in a low voice. Although he hadn't spotted any seventh-grade demon beast either, Black Crow Divine Lord had been far too solemn about this for it to be nothing. There was a very good chance that a seventh-grade demon beast truly was slumbering here.
And in the very instant Ding Yi and Wei Buque had been speaking, a faint, almost imperceptible aura of a demon beast seeped into the air. In a matter of moments, that aura intensified tenfold—then fiftyfold.
The purity of that demonic aura was beyond description. Even the Golden Baboon King couldn't hold a candle to it.
There was no doubt about it now—the slumbering seventh-grade demon beast had been roused.
Everyone's expressions grew tense. Ding Yi and Wei Buque, who had been laughing just moments ago, couldn't help the corners of their mouths twitch. They realized the two of them really did have a talent for jinxing things—barely had they spoken, and the demon beast was about to appear.
Yang Kai's expression turned grave as he spread his divine sense in all directions, monitoring his surroundings. He wanted to determine where the beast would emerge. There was no trace of it visible at this moment—only the ever-thickening demonic aura, which alone was enough to send a chill of horror through one's body. One could only imagine the terror of a seventh-grade demon beast.
A moment later, Yang Kai's gaze shifted downward. "It's coming from underground!"
That was the only possibility. The valley was laid bare before them, with no demon beast in sight.
The instant he spoke, a deep rumbling echoed from far beneath the earth, followed by violent shaking, as though something colossal was clawing its way up from below.
Then, with a sound resembling the bellow of a bull, a massive head suddenly burst from the ground at one spot, jaws gaping wide. In a single gulp, it swallowed dozens of people standing nearby—bodies, soil, and all.
One of the sixty-four subsidiary formation nodes was eliminated in an instant.
However, Black Crow Divine Lord had clearly anticipated this contingency when designing the grand formation. The loss of a single subsidiary node did not impede the formation's operation in the slightest. The blood mist continued to crawl up the Blood Demon Divine Palace, rendering it ever more solid, with the unmistakable sign that it was about to fully materialize from the void.
Boom, boom, boom…
The demon beast erupted from the earth, leaving an enormous crater in its wake. Its colossal body loomed like a small mountain, every surface covered in thick, overlapping scales that served as a formidable natural armor. The blood mist coiled around it but couldn't corrode a single inch.
Only now, having studied the beast closely this entire time, could Yang Kai finally make out exactly what creature it was.