697 Desolate deathly stillness

Three drops of Immortal Demon Blood fell from Shi Yan’s fingertip, onto the subtle demon drawings underneath his feet.

A dazzling red halo expanded from the patterns under their feet. That massive formation sparkled while flows of black flame which were as viscous as a flaming liquid, pouring on the demon patterns.

At that moment, the patterns were filled with energy, which activated some mysterious formations.

The strange formation arrayed with demon patterns and drawings seemed to become the giant, gloomy mouth of a beast, releasing a powerful suction force. Shortly, all the Demon Qi in the Hall of Demogorgon was drawn. The suction force from the patterns raked through the place, covering everywhere.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The massive pillars in the hall trembled, as a giant passage that was drawing energy appeared above their heads.

An immense, torrential energy wave shot out from the energy passage towards the Grace Mainland. Just like a powerful pump, it started to suck the heaven and earth energy of the Grace Mainland.

Instantaneously, all the experts in the Grace Mainland could sense the change of heaven and earth energy. They discolored in fright, as fear rose in their hearts.

Leaders of the other four clans in the other corners of the Second Demon Area soared up to the sky, flying towards an abyss in the horizon where a massive energy passage had just appeared, their faces grimaced.

They understood that the operation to open the First Demon Area of the Demon Clan had begun.

No one hesitated. Leaders and their hotshots of the four clans dashed towards the general direction of the Demogorgon Hall. They had to stop the others at any cost.

Shi Yan looked at the lively patterns under his feet, which were like a surging sea. It was seething while the patterns were like sponges taking in energy.

"It has started!"

Bao Ao was stirred up. He kneeled down above the patterns, looking at the seven Demogorgon statues respectfully while humming in Demon language.

The seven Demogorgon statues diffused turbulent waves of energy with the abundant heaven and earth energy. When that energy reached the acme, a faint light dot appeared under their feet.

The faint light enlarged gradually, until a glorious five-colored light passage emerged. A colorful light was moving dazzlingly in the passage, that hindered people from seeing what was happening inside. 

The seven Demogorgon statues trembled, falling precisely into that light passage before the Hall of Demogorgon collapsed. They disappeared instantly.

"Quick!" Jie Ji shouted, "All clansmen line up and get in orderly. Do not panic!"

Hearing his shout, members of the Demon Clan urged their beasts, disappearing into the light passage one by one.

"We should move!" Bao Ao glared at Shi Yan, shouting amidst the mess of falling rocks. "The Hall will be destroyed soon. Then it will blast. It should also be the time the four tribes get here. We have to get in before the explosion happens. Or else, we'll get hurt badly."

Shi Yan wasn’t familiar with this place. Of course, he would follow the other’s words. He ran after Jie Ji, entering the light passage.

Members of the Demon Clan rode their beasts and retreated from this place under Bao Ao’s direction.

Bao Ao suddenly paled, shouting in fear. "Hurry up! Move quickly!"

He could feel the formidable energy fluctuation of living beings outside the Hall of Demogorgon. This meant the experts of the four clans had arrived.

At this moment, massive pillars that supported the Hall of Demogorgon collapsed. Pieces of rock scattered everywhere. Many big chunks of rock, that were as big as a windmill, brought with them a massive energy of impact. If they hit someone, they would smash him or her into a pulp of meat.

Although the Demon Clan’s members all had sturdy bodies, they would still not be able to endure such damage. Hence, Bao Ao was worried a lot.

Under his shouts and screams, clansmen of the Demon Clan took their beasts and stormed into the passage.

When the last demon and his beast disappeared, Bao Ao shouted and turned into a black beam, disappearing into that light passage.

In that fraction of time, the Hall of Demogorgon blasted. Pieces of rock scattered everywhere. Demon Qi condensed and exploded, generating tremendous tremors.

Corpse Chief, Kante, the Yin Written Charm Scripture, and a distorted dim halo appeared above the energy passage in the Hall of Demogorgon. No one stood behind them, or no one could catch up with their speed, to be exact.

Two people and the two magical objects felt the blast under their feet right when they appeared above the Demogorgon Hall.

The four were a little bit hesitant. They didn’t care about the strong explosion, plunging into the ruins of the Hall.

As the two pagans, a scripture, and a dim halo descended on the Demogorgon Hall, they seemed to trigger some furious barrier. The explosion under their feet became fiercer, and the shockwaves dizzied these people.

Kante and Corpse Chief got hurt differently from that blast. They had to consume a big part of the energy to maintain their immortal bodies.

The Yin Written Charm Scripture seemed to be affected by the explosion, as it was bouncing and trembling disorderly.

However, the dim halo wasn’t affected. It plunged through the ruined hall, flying towards the light passage

As Kante and Corpse Chief saw the dim halo descending, they immediately followed it with their best speed.

The Yin Written Charm Scripture trembled, swaying in the air to avoid the furious explosion center. It was the last one descending. As it recognized the formation was open completely, it had no method to stop it anymore. The scripture had no choice but to follow Kante’s team to get into the light passage. 

Rumble rumble rumble!

Not long after the four entered the passage, the Hall of Demogorgon collapsed completely. Big blocks of rock covered the place, leaving only a slit from where heaven and earth energy was seeping through to the passage.

Comoros and the three Yama Kings arrived later. Seeing the ruins of the Hall of Demogorgon under the thousand-meters-tall pile of debris, they didn’t know how to get into the place.

"How about you guys? You know how to get into the earth well. Shouldn’t you be able to dig a passage?" Comoros looked at Corpse Mount and Corpse Sea with hope. "As long as you can make a passage, we can all get there."

Corpse Mount and Corpse Sea tried for a while and then shook their heads. Corpse Mount then said, "The Five Elements are disordered now. We can’t get in. If we want to go there, we have to remove the ten thousand meters of rock."

After he said that, the others turned grim, but they couldn’t utter a word.

"We should wait and see," Hei Tian contemplated for a while then continued. "Our leaders got there earlier. I think if anything happens, they can solve it. And if our leaders can’t solve the matter, even if we get there, we still won’t be able to do anything."

Hearing him, the others could only nod begrudgingly. They stopped all operations, waiting in silence above the Hall of Demogorgon.

…

The gloomy sky hung above the dark ground. Deathly, desolate, deep chasms scattered here and there. It was the world Shi Yan saw at first glance.

There was neither Demon Qi nor any heaven and earth energy in this place. This world only had a rough, uneven ground, with scattered dried bones everywhere. Those bones belonged to the members of the Demon Clan and giant beasts.

Shi Yan could see so many dried bones in this world, which seemed about to be gone with the wind at any minute.

Shi Yan, Bao Ao, Jie Ji, and the hotshots of the Demon Clan were all stunned on seeing the background of the First Demon Area. They were petrified, not knowing what to say.

Looking at the horizon, they could see some mountain ranges jutted up to the sky, hiding in the dark, while the endless darkness occupied the further areas.

There was no life.

This place was even more desolate and barren than the Second Demon Area. It wasn’t as beautiful as they had imagined. And, they couldn’t see the Demogorgon statues.

The seven Demogorgon statues from the Second Demon Area were placed in front of them in the order they had been in the Hall of Demogorgon. It seemed their functions hadn’t been changed, and the Demon Clan’s inheritance was still there.

"It... Is it the holy land you've yearned for? The First Demon Area?" Shi Yan contemplated for a while and then asked Bao Ao gingerly. "We’ve spent one-third of the Grace Mainland’s heaven and earth energy to open the First Demon Area for this?"

Bao Ao was startled, but he couldn’t answer.

People would always imagine the best things. Bao Ao and Jie Ji were the members of the younger generation of Demon Clan, who had never experienced the Antiquity War. So, the things they knew about the First Demon Area had stopped at ten thousand years ago.

Dozens of thousands of years ago, the First Demon Area had been filled with Demon Qi. It had so many hotshots of the Demon Clan and the top Demogorgon statues, where they could receive the strongest inheritance. They had the ancient experts to teach them the power Upanishad and give them the treasures of the Demon Clan...

Those memories were their assumptions and the motivation that had urged them to open the First Demon Area.

Today, this place was barren and desolate. Looking at the dried bones on the ground and the scarce energy, all members of the Demon Clan gawked, as they felt they were deceived.

"We haven’t explored the place yet. This place should have something we haven’t known! I’m sure!" Bao Ao seemed to try to persuade himself to not believe in what they had seen here. He shouted, "Follow me. We should check this place out!"

Many clansmen of the Demon Clan felt dispirited. They stooped as despair filled their hearts, riding their beasts and following their masters.

Jie Ji wasn't foul-mouthed anymore, as he knew that if he showed his dispirited mood at this moment, it would affect all of his men. He talked to his people in a calm and relaxed voice, saying that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. 

Shi Yan kept silent the whole time. He knew talking was no use in this case. At least, they had to know why the First Demon Area had turned into this current appearance. 

Once they reached the thing that looked like the big mountain, everybody screamed in fright.