Surrounded by the wine-red roses, the girl was breathtakingly beautiful, sending strong spikes through one"s heart. And her forlorn and pitiful manner incited pity and made one want to protect her.
But Wu Yu saw that her calf was joined to the vines and sensed that this girl was not the demon immortal"s real body. She was but a part of it, and the real body was the immense rose tree growing on the ground. It was the countless vines, and it was the huge pair of eyes.
This was a demon immortal. As the other demons successfully left their prisons, they came charging in Wu Yu"s direction.
Wu Yu did not dare to linger. Although this girl in the roses looked vulnerable and pitiful, the eyes of the demon immortal chilled his blood.
He continued to flee with the Somersault Cloud and soon drew very far away.
He could no longer see the huge demon immortal from this position, but he could see that the mountains in the distance continued to shudder, and huge vines were bursting forth from them.
He was just about to continue fleeing when the ground again shuddered beneath his feet. More vines appeared beneath his feet and then a wine-red rose bloomed from it. When it opened, the beautiful woman appeared again. She looked forlornly at Wu Yu, pleading, "Can you not go? I will not hurt you. I just want the key to go to other worlds. I don"t want to remain in this world anymore."
Her body was that huge. He was already very far away, but there were still tendrils underground here.
However, she was very far from her main body now, and Wu Yu was not as worried. He asked, "You mean that I have a key which can allow one to pa.s.s through that stone to the Stellar Realm? I can enter the Stellar Realm at any time?"
The girl nodded eagerly. She was pleased that Wu Yu was finally speaking to her. "Yes, Big Brother. You have it. I sensed it. You almost opened it. It is the Gateway to the Stellar Realm, not just any stone."
Gateway to the Stellar Realm!
Very shocking.
In the Jambu Realm, he had obtained the Gateway to the Ancient Demon Realm. And now he was here, and the demon immortal had a Gateway to the Stellar Realm. So there were other worlds, like the Stellar Realm. Who would have known that reality was so huge?
And this beautiful girl had called him “Big Brother.” That endearment warmed him down to the bones.
It reminded him of another demon, back when he had just begun his journey of cultivation.
She was called Ninth Spirit. She was a fox demon.
Sometimes, she was lively and quick. Sometimes, she was cunning and conniving. Sometimes, she was seductive and sultry. Sometimes, she was youthful and adorable. Back then, Wu Yu was completely in her thrall. His soul had been hers to toy with, and he had almost lost his life.
For him, demons were every bit the legend, able to deceive and compel people. Especially fox demons.
This woman"s countenance might appeal to one"s sense of pity, but it was simply a psychological intrusion.
One endearment of “big brother” and then your heart was a horse for her to ride.
Wu Yu had his wits about him, and he knew how terrifying this thing was. Therefore, he calmly asked, "Why do you not want to remain in this world, and go to the Stellar Realm? Isn"t this a pretty good place?"
He wanted to know.
"This place has the season of ma.s.sacre. Every season of ma.s.sacre, they do much harm to each other, and many die. I"m tired of it. There is no chance to be better here. I want to avoid the season of ma.s.sacre, go to other worlds...." She looked as though she had been through a lot. Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes.
Wu Yu understood. So that was how it was.
But he could not fully believe the demon immortal, because of what she was. She had unlimited life and would definitely not be the innocent poise that she was showing him. Perhaps this was but her way of seducing Wu Yu. If Wu Yu had been in his Immortal Ape form, perhaps the form in the roses would not be a beauty, but a mother ape. Ultimately, it was a form to attract Wu Yu and elicit his sympathy.
Steel crept into his gaze. He said, "Demon immortal, you need not seduce me with such techniques. Regarding the Gateway to the Stellar Realm, I did not know about it. Perhaps I have the key you speak of, but I don"t know you at all. Of course, I have no enmity towards you. I think we need not be too hasty. The season of tranquility seems to have just begun, and I have plenty of time to get to know you. If there is truly a chance for cooperation, I will look for you. Farewell."
He spoke these words very formally.
But the demon immortal replied quickly, seemingly hurt. "Big Brother, I did not seduce you. You malign me. I wouldn"t hurt you...."
While it looked like her natural character, Wu Yu had looked clearly into the eyes amongst the rose brambles before. He knew that they were rather cold, and not at all innocent. Wu Yu was willing to believe that those were the real eyes and that the rose tree was the real body.
Therefore, he did not dare to delve in too deeply. He knew too little, and was p.r.o.ne to being taken advantage of. Besides, he was not bent on going to the Stellar Realm. Therefore, he again used the Somersault Cloud. This time, Wu Yu went as far as he could, flipping many, many times back towards the Temple of Heart and Spirit. Finally, he stopped, quite sure that he had shaken off that strange demon immortal.
He breathed on in relief.
"What kind of ghost was that? Strange as all h.e.l.l." In his mind, the picture of the pitiful girl lingered.
"Have you gone too long without doing those embarra.s.sing things? Your heart was all fluttery after seeing someone naked," Ming Long teased him.
"Don"t talk blindly. Screw off." This woman was not at all ladylike, speaking in a vulgar manner.
"Better go consummate things with your little female dragon quickly. If she runs away, you"ll be the fool." Ming Long chuckled.
"Stop talking rubbish. Seems like the season of tranquility has begun. I have to find a demon to confirm things." Wu Yu had no time to squabble with her. He continued on, looking around as he went. It did seem like the season of tranquility was upon them.
The little demons had seen that the adult demons had reverted back to clear eyes, and they knew that the season of tranquility was upon them. Therefore, they all scampered out from hiding. The good days were here, and they were exuberant.
Therefore, he spotted many young demons celebrating and crying along the way. Some relatives could finally meet, hugging each other and howling. Even Ming Long was touched, and she remarked that they were too pitiful.
Wu Yu could sense that the entire world was in celebration because the season of tranquility had arrived. A pity that many were also heartbroken, as they had come out to learn that their friends and family had perished.
Perhaps 90% of the entire Ancient Demon Realm had died in the season of ma.s.sacre. The entire world had suffered a great loss, and corpses were everywhere. The survivors were very lucky. Many of the demons were both delighted and sad, especially many of those who had reached the Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm. They had been affected by the season of ma.s.sacre, and many had died. They would not seek self-preservation, but sought to kill.
This world was a tragic mess of a battlefield, but it had finally ended. All of the cheering was tinged with sadness.
Wu Yu could feel it as well.
"How did the season of ma.s.sacre come about? It seems like a curse. A curse on the entire world."
That was what Wu Yu thought.
He searched, and before too long, he found a demon who was at the Dao Querying Realm. This was a snow-white, spotted deer. His coat shone like crystals, and he was lucky to have survived the season of ma.s.sacre. However, he was covered in wounds.
"Fixed Body Art." He had not used the Fixed Body Art in a long time now, but it was still useful. The spotted deer was immobilized. And then Wu Yu used the a.s.similation Technique of Dao and Soul to control him after paralyzing him.
Wu Yu wanted to investigate through the indigenous demons. He would ask them about this world. The more powerful the demon, the more they would know.
After establis.h.i.+ng control, Wu Yu began his questioning.
"The season of ma.s.sacre is over, and the season of tranquility is here. Correct?"
"Yes. Quite surprising. It was a little early."
"How does it feel?"
"Agony. All the friends I knew are dead. Not a single one left."
A tragedy indeed.
Wu Yu went straight to the heart of the topic. "Why is there a season of ma.s.sacre?"
"I don"t know. It was already around when I was young. No one knows."
"Can one go to other worlds from the Ancient Demon Realm?"
"What do you mean? I don"t get it. What other worlds?"
He did not know about other worlds.
"Do you know about the Gateway to the Stellar Realm?"
He shook his head.
"There is a demon immortal, she has many tendrils and wine-red roses. Roughly in that direction. Who is she?" Wu Yu asked.
"That"s the Rose Demon Queen. She"s one of the eight great demon immortals. She"s very powerful and scary indeed. A nightmare."
"She had a stone with her, and it had pictures. Do you know what it is?"
The little deer replied, "I know. It"s the Ancient Demon Stone. I don"t know what it does, but it seems like every demon immortal has one. Of course, I only heard that. I can"t be sure. Perhaps they don"t, or perhaps it"s in other places as well." Ancient Demon Stone? This sounded different from what the Rose Demon Queen had said. But Wu Yu could be sure that the Rose Demon Queen"s Gateway to the Stellar Realm was the real deal.
"Could it be that every demon immortal has the Gateway to the Stellar Realm, but has no key? Therefore, they can"t leave here?" Wu Yu guessed.
The little deer definitely would not know. Wu Yu continued asking, "What kind of ent.i.ties are these eight demon immortals? Where are they, roughly? Take your time and tell me everything. Start with the Rose Demon Queen."