The mine shaft, its depth and breadth unknown.
Hundreds of great demons entered it first, feeling no crowding.
Yan Yu, sword in hand, leaped into the cave with Qiong Qi.
They hugged the walls, watching the continuously rising rocks for over ten minutes before reaching the mine's depths.
Then, they beheld the strange, blooming flower at the center.
It was the other shore flower. Its本体 was only half a person's height, appearing just as the phantom had shown. The inflorescence was lanceolate and curled, forming a rough umbel. Thousands of stamens, densely packed, extended from the pistil, scattering strange pollen as they swayed.
The air would then become hallucinatory due to the pollen. Inhaling it would grant boundless strength!
"The pollen alone has such miraculous effects. If I were to eat it, wouldn't I be able to directly cross the fifth realm!"
A scorpion lord great demon, excited, stood on the mine's floor.
It had been injured, but after inhaling a little pollen, the wounds inexplicably healed, and its demonic power increased, as if it were about to break through!
It wasn't the only one feeling this. More and more great demons began to breathe heavily, their blood boiling. They were all ready to seize it or devour it.
But there were nearly a thousand great demons present, and their numbers were still increasing, yet there was only one other shore flower.
Thus, when a fourth-stage sparrow demon, attempting to use its speed advantage to seize the flower first, was about to make its move, the inevitably bloody war officially began.
Buzz!
The sparrow demon descended from the sky, diving directly towards the other shore flower. Its strange eyes were filled with excitement and greed, with no thought for the danger it was about to face.
Seeing one demon make the first move, all the great demons in the mine changed their expressions and then furiously launched their attacks.
Roar!
Rumble!
The great green snake, a hundred zhang long, clung to the wall and spewed venom.
The mutated ox demon's muscles bulged. It angrily slammed the ground with its hooves, letting out a low roar—its innate divine ability—aimed at directly crushing the sparrow demon!
The ape demon's arms, hundreds of meters long, reached out to the sky, revealing an aura of destruction...
Almost instantly, the sparrow demon was engulfed by the divine abilities of countless great demons.
Then, it was shattered into pieces, its fate with the other shore flower severed.
But its death did not mean the end of the war.
The great green snake, without pause, crawled towards the center while opening its gaping maw and maliciously sinking its fangs into the hindquarters of a mutated antelope.
The latter let out a piercing scream. Unable to retaliate, it could only stubbornly paw the ground, as its massive coiled horns were locked in a torsional struggle with the horns of a water buffalo lord demon!
Crash!
Thump!
The mine shaft descended into utter chaos. Faced with a chance of fortune, all the great demons, regardless of ally or foe, began to unleash their innate divine abilities, attacking each other.
Domains overlapped, greed and brutality reigned, the walls cracked, and the sky filled with dust and sand, obscuring the battlefield. Demonic blood splattered everywhere!
Splat!
Qiong Qi swatted away the attacking green snake with a claw, advancing with difficulty.
Yan Yu, beside him, did not participate in the fight.
Using his size and speed to his advantage, he constantly sought openings, moving closer to the other shore flower in the center.
"Don't rush. I have a feeling that other shore flower is strange!"
Little Qiong Qi, trailing behind Yan Yu, batted away one enemy after another with his claws.
He hadn't used his innate teleportation ability, as he sensed something amiss with the other shore flower, though he couldn't quite pinpoint why.
Deep within, Qiong Qi felt a sense of danger—a warning from his divine beast bloodline that could not be wrong!
But how could Yan Yu heed his warning? His wife had waited for this other shore flower for a thousand years!
No matter the danger ahead, he had to risk it, for it was the sole value of his life!
"If this continues, this mine will collapse!"
The great demons collided, their various divine abilities erupting. Terrifying forces spanning a thousand meters clashed, and the mine shaft, tens of thousands of meters high, began to tremble. It could collapse at any moment, burying them all!
Boom!
Another fierce collision. Little Qiong Qi was simultaneously attacked by numerous great demons, then sent flying, crashing into the ground.
These demons were clever, knowing to focus their attacks on the most competitive Qiong Qi.
"Damn it, no chance to cross space!"
Qiong Qi fought and retreated, overwhelmed by the attacks from all sides.
These great demons, to some extent, possessed divine beast bloodlines, so their innate divine abilities were not weak. All sorts of horrific attacks rained down, disorienting him to the point where he had no opportunity to traverse space!
"In that case, I can only fight my way through!"
Seeing Yan Yu drawing further ahead, Qiong Qi roared. Disregarding the other shore flower's strangeness, he unleashed his domain, conjuring the phantom of a hundred-zhang-tall white tiger above his head, ablaze with true fire that spat out for a hundred zhang.
Roar!
He let out an enraged roar and charged into the horde of demons. The true fire mercilessly incinerated great demon after great demon. Numerous domains were torn apart by the white tiger, carving out a wide path through sheer force.
"Kill Qiong Qi first!"
Seeing Qiong Qi's near-invincible momentum, the other great demons present realized the gravity of the situation. They abandoned their current enemies and simultaneously attacked Qiong Qi.
"Presumptuous!"
Qiong Qi roared, his divine beast bloodline instilling awe in the entire field, making all the great demons involuntarily feel the urge to prostrate themselves.
But as the other shore flower swayed, and its pollen was inhaled, they became like madmen, their eyes turning blood red as they recklessly attacked Qiong Qi.
"They've gone mad, all of them! This flower is strange, you must retreat!"
Qiong Qi saw his bloodline's suppression effect fail and finally realized something was terribly wrong. This other shore flower was undoubtedly immensely peculiar!
He ceased attempting to break through forward and instead fled outwards. After all, though he was a divine beast, he too would die if besieged by all the great demons!
Roar!
The great demons' attacks missed. Seeing Qiong Qi only fleeing backward, they stopped pursuing.
They turned their attention back to the other shore flower, continuing their struggle after further collisions amongst themselves.
Qiong Qi, however, quickly retreated to the edge of the mine.
He flickered through the air, dodging the massive rocks falling from above, while simultaneously gazing into the distance.
Yan Yu was now less than a hundred zhang from the other shore flower.
He had successfully pushed to the forefront amidst the competition and encirclement of countless great demons, the other shore flower within his grasp!
"That human is the fastest! Kill him first!"
The ape lord great demon, raising its stone club, roared and hurled an attack at Yan Yu. Hearing that a human had approached the other shore flower, the other great demons, just as they had besieged Qiong Qi, simultaneously unleashed their attacks towards Yan Yu.
Demonic energy surged into the sky, tearing the earth apart. A terrifying pressure surged towards Yan Yu's direction.
So much so that the roots of the other shore flower, growing from the ground, were exposed slightly.
"This..." Qiong Qi's eyes widened. Such a small flower, yet its exposed roots were so thick, and that seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg?
Crash!
Sensing the terrifying divine abilities, Yan Yu's bones were immediately compressed to the point of cracking. The piercing pain made his face even paler, but he knew this was not the time to feel pain.
Because he knew he might die here.
If he didn't draw his sword!
...