A group of cultivators flew at top speed, desperate to avoid the Demon Beast Lords, and were completely disoriented about their current location.

However, they possessed a map: the Abyss of Demonic Domains Map Scroll, which already marked most of the essential terrain and the active zones of the demonic beasts.

“This area is the territory patrolled by the Azure Vulture of the Abyss.”

Huangfu Bing'er looked up at several demonic vultures soaring high above the cliff face, then added, “We aren't far from a spot on the map where a Mythical Abyssal Beast was once sighted!”

“Good. Let’s move out immediately and scout that location marked on the map where the Mythical Abyssal Beast appeared. But we must remain vigilant about any unusual movements from the surrounding beasts, just in case we run into another Demon Beast Lord and waste a huge amount of time,” Ye Qin nodded slightly, telling Huangfu Bing'er and Qingqiu Li.

The other Nascent Soul cultivators accompanying them naturally had no objections. Apart from Wang Rong’s contingent, their main duty was ensuring the safety of Dou Hongshan, along with scavenging for Yuan Crystals and gaining experience exploring the Abyss. For these ordinary Nascent Soul escorts, finding the Mythical Abyssal Beast and obtaining its Spirit Ooze was not an urgent priority. Even if they found it, they stood almost no chance of getting a share of the Spirit Ooze.

Over the next few days, Ye Qin and his companions spent their time flying and searching amid constant alarms and narrow escapes.

To avoid continuous depletion of their magical power, the cultivators divided into three shifts, taking turns defending against attacks from the surrounding demonic beasts.

Ye Qin’s group encountered no fewer than several dozen other teams of Nascent Soul cultivators. But since everyone was after the Spirit Ooze, the covert hostility among them was intense; forget exchanging greetings or communication, they wouldn't even dare approach one another for fear of being ambushed by another team.

As time dragged on, Ye Qin’s party grew increasingly anxious.

The geographical scope of the Abyss of Demonic Domains was simply too vast; even flying at full speed, the area they explored remained minimal. The only consolation was that the sighting locations of the Mythical Abyssal Beast were relatively fixed; as long as they headed for those spots, the chance of an encounter was quite high.

From the dissipation of the blue mist within the Abyss to the moment the mist sealed the space once more, only a brief month remained. Many Nascent Soul cultivators would inevitably miss their chance to encounter the Mythical Abyssal Beast within this tight timeframe, let alone catch sight of it.

“We will search for another seven days. If we find nothing, we must return immediately. The blue mist inside the Abyss is intensifying, and it is difficult to resist its pervasive, invasive dampness on the body.”

Ye Qin frowned as he looked at the map.

He had initially assumed that the biggest challenges in securing the Spirit Ooze would be competing with hundreds of thousands of Nascent Soul cultivators and fighting the Mythical Abyssal Beast itself.

But now, it seemed that regardless of how powerful one was, simply locating the Mythical Abyssal Beast within the Abyss was a major problem.

“Strange. There isn’t a trace of low-tier demonic beasts in this entire sector. It seems we’ve entered the hunting range of another Demon Beast Lord. Yet, I can’t pinpoint where it is,” Qingqiu Li suddenly furrowed her brow and said with alarm.

Within the entire group, her demonic spirit was the strongest, meaning her spiritual sense had the broadest detection range. Even though spiritual sense was severely suppressed within the Abyss, Nascent Soul cultivators could typically only probe a range of a few miles. However, she could easily detect movements tens of miles away.

The demonic beasts here were uniformly formidable, frequently featuring Tier Twelve creatures. While these high-tier beasts were relatively sparse, they only vanished completely within the active territory of a Demon Beast Lord.

“Hold! The ground seems to be trembling!”

Just as Ye Qin was about to speak, his expression changed; he suddenly felt the earth vibrating extremely faintly.

“We are underground, and there are countless fissures in the rock. What’s so unusual about a slight tremor?” Wang Rong said dismissively, inwardly chuckling at Ye Qin’s jumpiness, finding him overly dramatic.

Ye Qin frowned, choosing to ignore him.

But the trembling soon ceased.

“The ground did shake just now. It was probably the Demon Beast Lord moving around; it shouldn’t be a big issue. Let’s fly forward a bit and see, perhaps we’ll discover something. With my spiritual sense, I’m certain I can detect the Demon Beast Lord,” Qingqiu Li confirmed after taking a moment.

Amid the group’s puzzlement, the party proceeded cautiously, flying through the Abyss of Demonic Domains.

Then, the ground suddenly shook violently, a booming rumble spanning hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles.

This time, even Wang Rong and his attendant Nascent Soul cultivators changed color dramatically.

“What’s happening? Is it a fissure collapse?”

“Could it be a subterranean volcanic eruption? If it erupts, we must flee immediately, or we’ll all be utterly annihilated.”

“No, that Mythical Abyssal Beast is right beneath us!” Qingqiu Li exclaimed, a mixture of shock and elation in her voice, quickly followed by irritation. If Ye Qin hadn't sensed the tremor, she might have missed this potential opportunity to discover the Abyssal Beast.

“Beneath us? What do you mean, it’s hidden deep underground—” Wang Rong cried out in alarm.

“Few cultivators have ever seen the Mythical Abyssal Beast up close. This beast is incredibly, overwhelmingly enormous—too large to see its entirety. Its body spans hundreds of miles, and its tentacles are tens of miles long. It drifts in slumber in the dark Abyss of Demonic Domains; when it awakens, it devours low-tier beasts, then sleeps again. Any Nascent Soul cultivator who has seen it has actually only seen a portion of it. Even if they saw it once, they might not recognize it next time they encountered it. Flying over its head, one wouldn't even know,” Qingqiu Li explained.

“Are you saying these uneven bumps and hollows on the ground below are the back of the Mythical Abyssal Beast? That the colossal Tier Fifteen Demon Beast Lord is right under our feet?” Ye Qin pointed at the ground.

The cultivators felt a shock that numbed their minds, accompanied by an aura that was immensely powerful and terrifying, yet strangely intangible, emanating from an unimaginably massive body.

“Exactly. I can scan a range of dozens of miles, but I couldn't find the Demon Beast Lord’s location precisely because it was below us—its body stretches for hundreds of miles! That tremor was caused by its breathing!” Qingqiu Li stated.

Every Nascent Soul cultivator in the party, no matter how experienced, was completely stunned.

It suddenly made sense why the atmosphere felt so strange and oppressive. A normal Tier Eleven or Twelve demonic beast was only a few hundred zhang in size, and even a Demon Beast Lord was only one or two thousand zhang. But the divine senses of the cultivators couldn't even probe the extent of this Mythical Abyssal Beast.

By Qingqiu Li’s estimation, the entire body of this creature likely spanned hundreds or even a thousand miles—the size of a small island—the impact of which was staggering!

Although they knew the Mythical Abyssal Beast was large, standing directly upon its back, Wang Rong and the other Nascent Soul cultivators were left gaping in sheer terror.

Naturally, the Nascent Soul cultivators who harvested Spirit Ooze from the beast did not confront it head-on. If they provoked a Tier Fifteen demonic beast, they could be instantly annihilated in a moment, without even creating a ripple.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er’s expressions were also grave. Even if a dozen late-stage Soul Transformation cultivators were present, facing this Mythical Abyssal Beast, they would likely only be sending themselves to their deaths, let alone their small cluster of Nascent Soul cultivators.

“This Mythical Abyssal Beast is Tier Fifteen, but its sheer size means its combat strength probably surpasses dozens of combined Tier Fifteen Demon Beast Lords,” Qingqiu Li noted, having spent time in the Demon Realm and witnessed countless powerful Demon Sages.

Seeing Wang Rong and the other Nascent Soul cultivators in a state of panic, Qingqiu Li’s delicate brow furrowed slightly. “No need to panic. Because the Mythical Abyssal Beast is so huge, moving requires terrifying amounts of energy, so it spends most of its time in deep slumber. Unless a cultivator of the Soul Transformation stage or a true Great Beast Lord capable of threatening it appears, it generally won't be awakened. For us Nascent Soul cultivators standing here, we pose no threat whatsoever; we can’t even scratch its hide, so it won’t pay us any mind.”

Having said that, she suddenly channeled a small divine-ability-grade fire magic tool and shot it fiercely toward the ground.

A hundred-zhang streak of light struck the ground with a loud clang, but only produced a faint metallic resonance. The hardness of the "ground" was beyond what mere Nascent Soul cultivators could injure.

The assembled cultivators were nearly stunned speechless.

“Dou Hongshan” was truly bold to dare attack a Tier Fifteen Great Beast Lord!

“Thank heavens it’s asleep. Otherwise, in a fit of rage, it could have swallowed us all in one gulp!” Wang Rong sighed in relief. He cleared his throat, trying to project an air of composure, but his heart still pounded with residual fear.

“I’ve located the Mythical Abyssal Beast, but how do we find the Spirit Ooze within its body?” Ye Qin turned to Qingqiu Li.

“It looks like it’s about to wake up!” Qingqiu Li avoided the question.

As soon as she finished speaking, the cultivators realized the ground was beginning to shake violently again.

While everyone was startled, wondering what the Mythical Abyssal Beast was about to do, the ground about ten miles away suddenly cracked open into a massive fissure thousands of zhang wide, frantically sucking in the waters of the Abyss.

Before Ye Qin and the others could react, they felt a massive, moist, and foul-smelling airflow that nearly destabilized them, dragging them forward.

“That’s its mouth! We can enter its body through there! We’ll enter the Mythical Abyssal Beast’s interior through that opening to search for the Spirit Ooze,” Qingqiu Li was the first to react, shooting toward the gaping crack. Her voice was already muffled by the rushing air. She held Dou Hongshan’s primordial spirit captive within her, meaning she possessed the most critical knowledge.

Ye Qin remained silent, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

“Go! Follow her; she should be able to find the Spirit Ooze.”

Ye Qin vanished in a flash, reappearing beside Huangfu Bing'er. He grasped her jade-like hand, summoned the Eight Fiery Array, and followed closely behind Qingqiu Li.

Entering the body of a Tier Fifteen Abyssal Demon Beast was an extremely perilous undertaking. Yet, the warmth transmitted through their connection instantly brought a profound sense of peace to Ye Qin’s heart. This expedition was fraught with danger—success meant ascending to the Soul Transformation stage, or death. But traveling alongside Huangfu Bing'er, he feared nothing, regardless of the outcome.

Simultaneously, the other dozen or so top-tier cultivator teams scattered across hundreds of miles sensed the ground tremor and their expressions likewise darkened.

“The Mythical Abyssal Beast! Quickly, don’t let the other teams get ahead! Other teams have spotted it too—if you encounter them, show no mercy!”

“Follow! Charge inside!”

Many cultivators reacted swiftly, accelerating towards the entrance.

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