“Wen…Bing…”
"Ah." Xiao Wenbing immediately became obedient.
"Ahem, Fellow Daoist Xiao, although Butterfly Fairy disobeyed your orders and came on her own, considering her youth and ignorance, let her use the Star Dou Illusion Realm to atone for her sins." Long Shi thought Xiao Wenbing was still angry, so he quickly advised.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Xiao Wenbing immediately seized the opportunity and said, "Alright, Butterfly Fairy, I won't blame you this time, but next time..."
"We'll talk about it next time," Feng Baiyi said coldly, her pretty face contorted with malice.
"Fine, we'll talk about it next time," Xiao Wenbing said fiercely, then his arm twitched twice again, and... he calmed down.
Zhang Yaqi smiled slightly and said, "Ouija board spirit, open the Starry Sky Illusion Realm."
Seeing that her master did not blame her, the Butterfly Fairy's interest immediately rose. With a wave of her hand, everyone instantly became invisible.
Under the control of the Butterfly Fairy, everyone finally stepped into the tall gate of light.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared before them, revealing a vast, boundless sky within the portal. Looking up at the sky, everyone's face changed color, except for the Food King, even a celestial like Shabir.
In the sky, there were no sun, moon, or stars, only countless intricately arranged light gates. In that instant, they almost couldn't recognize the circuit.
"What's going on?" Xiao Wenbing sent out a divine thought, but each light gate felt exactly the same to him, full of the aura of life.
“Each of these portals is an entrance to a different dimension,” the Food King explained.
Xiao Wenbing immediately understood and asked, "You mean there's such a passage under the Tree of Life in every realm?"
"That's right. When the Tree of Life in each realm first grew, it relied on absorbing energy from the underworld to sustain itself."
They exchanged a glance. Providing nourishment to the Tree of Life was truly an incredible thing. Look at the countless, endless gates of light here. If each gate represented a realm, how much energy would that require?
"Where exactly is this place?" Xiao Wenbing murmured.
"I don't know. When our ancestors gained consciousness, this place had already existed for countless billions of years," the Food King sighed. In fact, although this was his second time descending here, he could still feel the intense shock that came from the bottom of his heart.
"Huff... huff..."
A tremendous whooshing sound came from afar, and a tiny dot appeared in everyone's sight.
"What is that?" Long Shi exclaimed in surprise. For some reason, he felt a strong, uncontrollable shiver.
The Food King looked up and gazed into the distance, his expression suddenly changing drastically. He whispered, "Silence. Conceal your aura."
In fact, there was no need for the King of Food to say anything, because everyone had already subconsciously done so, even the proud immortal Shabir was no exception.
Although that tiny bright spot was far away from them, it faintly emanated an immense pressure, so strong that even the Treasure God and the Divine Tree Ancestor could not match it.
The speed of the light was unbelievable; it arrived in the blink of an eye.
Without exception, a hint of fear appeared in everyone's eyes as a giant roc, its body shimmering with intense golden light, appeared. The bird was nearly a hundred feet tall, and it swept past their heads like lightning.
Where the giant bird flew, faint flashes of lightning flickered, as if it were flying amidst a storm of thunderclouds. Its might shook the heavens.
The roc's target wasn't them; it merely passed by with lightning speed from a few hundred feet away. Even so, the powerful aura it unintentionally emitted still affected them. Although it was only for a moment before the roc flew far away and disappeared without a trace, the group remained terrified and unable to control themselves.
Die Xiandi clung tightly to Xiao Wenbing's arm with both hands, her little face turning deathly pale with fright.
Xiao Wenbing, no longer caring about taking advantage, turned around and hugged her, gently patting her back. He comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
"Mmm," Butterfly Fairy responded softly. But her little hands gripped tighter and tighter, refusing to let go no matter what.
"What is this?" Shabir asked softly. Before the future underworld, he had looked down on the Food King's cautiousness, but now his opinion had changed drastically.
In that instant, he had already realized that the Roc was incredibly powerful, far surpassing even himself. If every creature in the underworld was like that, then he, an immortal, would be no different from an ordinary person.
"We're incredibly lucky to have encountered a golden roc! It's one of the high-level creatures in the Underworld!" The Food King shook his head and sighed. "It's unbelievable. Logically speaking, a roc shouldn't be here."
"Isn't the Roc a creature of the underworld?" Feng Baiyi suddenly asked.
Among the group, only Xiao Wenbing, Feng Baiyi, and Zhang Yaqi were least affected. Their power might not have been the greatest, but their frequent contact with things related to "gods" naturally gave them a certain degree of immunity. Although the golden roc was powerful, it was at most at the level of a dark god, so it didn't show much panic.
Moreover, Feng Baiyi felt a strange and inexplicable sense of closeness to this golden roc that everyone feared.
"Perhaps it's from the underworld, but I've only heard of it; this is the first time I've seen it." The Food King honestly said, "I've heard that monsters of this level are powerful creatures that live on the third level of the underworld, but I don't know why it's come to the first level."
"King of Food, is the Underworld divided into several layers?"
"That's natural. With our level, we can only stay on the first level. Remember that, remember that."
Volume 5, Chapter 12: The Great Serpent Opens the Way
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Watching the large bird disappear into the distance, Xiao Wenbing thought to himself, "That creature has such an imposing presence. How impressive it would be to catch one as a mount!" Thinking this, he shook his head slightly and sighed, "What a pity, what a pity."
"Yes, it is indeed a pity."
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback. What was the Food King regretting? Did he also want to catch one? But judging from the Food King's and that giant bird's cultivation levels, it didn't seem like an easy task...
"Senior, what's the pity?"
The King of Food glanced at Shabir seemingly unintentionally, and said with regret, "The Golden Roc mainly feeds on smuggled immortals. Alas... what a pity."
Shabir was taken aback, then realized that the King of Food was referring to him.
Although he was just a mass of energy, the thought of that giant bird still sent chills down his spine. Feeding on immortals—didn't that mean he'd actually escaped death? The thought of possibly becoming someone else's food made Shabir's face turn grim.
"Food King, does the Roc eat immortals?" Upon hearing the Food King's words, Xiao Wenbing knew that he still harbored resentment towards the people of the Flame Realm, so he quickly stepped forward to change the subject.
“I don’t know either.” The Food King pondered for a moment and said, “I’ve heard that besides eating immortals, it also likes to eat insects and snakes, of course, the kind that are particularly large, like dragons…”
The King of Food suddenly stopped. He had been so engrossed in his conversation that he had forgotten that Long Shi was also beside him.
Although his relationship with Long Shi wasn't very good, the old dragon was, after all, a person from the cultivation world, and couldn't be compared to those brats from the demon realm.
Old Dragon was very composed. Perhaps knowing he couldn't defeat the King of Food, he simply smiled at him to show he didn't care. However, his expression was still somewhat strained, clearly indicating he hadn't recovered from the shock he had just experienced.
However, he now understood why he was so incompetent: it was because his nature was incompatible with that of the Roc, which was why he performed the worst among everyone.
Xiao Wenbing and the others looked at him with a hint of pity; this poor old dragon...
Touching the Heavenly Void Ring on his hand, Xiao Wenbing had originally planned to release the giant snake avatar to scout ahead, but now, if he encountered such a golden roc again, he figured that this avatar, which he had painstakingly crafted, would have to say goodbye to him and then go to be eaten by someone else.
"Let's go," the Food King called softly, breaking the silence of the group and taking the lead in flying downwards. Of course, he carefully maintained a certain speed, never exceeding the maximum limit of the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm.
Fortunately, they never encountered that terrifying roc again along the way. They successfully flew down from the sky.
Below the underworld lies an endless expanse of water, and from a distance, it seems as if there is no land at all.
Xiao Wenbing observed for a while. He said, "King of Food, this water is not Netherworld Water."
"Of course not," the Food King said irritably. "If the Nether Water were so easy to obtain, how could I, an old man, have almost lost my life for it back then?"
"Senior Food King, have you ever seen the Water Spirit?" A soft voice came from behind. This was the first time Zhang Yaqi had spoken since entering the Underworld.
"I've seen it." The King of Food looked dazed for a moment and said, "If it weren't for the spirit of water, my old bones would have died long ago."
"Why"
The King of Food sighed and said, "The last time I came here, it was to obtain some Nether Water for refining weapons. Unexpectedly, due to a moment of carelessness, I attracted a swarm of bees and was forced to flee. By chance, I encountered the Spirit of Water, which saved my life."
"What kind of bee swarm is this? It's incredibly powerful!"
The Food King smiled wryly, "Those creatures are called Death Bees. They are somewhat similar in shape to bees, but a bit larger. Each adult Death Bee is at least equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator. Depending on their color, the strength of the swarm varies. I've heard that the highest-level Death Bees on the lower levels are even more formidable than immortals. Fortunately, I was only on the first level back then, and the highest-level Death Bee I encountered was only equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to escape."
"That's not right. Three thousand years ago, you were already at the Tribulation Transcending stage. How could you be afraid of a Death Bee at the Nascent Soul stage?"
"Sigh... I'm not afraid of one, but I can't handle thousands or tens of thousands."
"Ah..." Xiao Wenbing nodded in sudden understanding. So that's how it is. Thousands upon thousands of them! Compared to the self-destruction of his own Golden Core, I wonder which is more powerful.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, the species that can survive in the Netherworld are all races with great power. It can be said that although our group is not weak, if we encounter any of them, it would be like throwing meat buns to a dog, a one-way trip. So you must be careful on this journey."
Everyone nodded in agreement. After witnessing the golden roc, no one would think that the Food King's words were an exaggeration.
"I'll lead the way, you follow me. Hopefully, the Water Spirit hasn't gone to the Immortal Realm yet."
Having said that, the King of Food dived into the water.
Everyone exchanged surprised glances. Xiao Wenbing stepped forward, grabbed the Food King's hand, and said, "Brother, do you want us to go diving?"
"Of course, the first layer of the underworld is a world of water. Apart from the sky, it's all water. How can we find the spirit of water without diving?"
Watching the Food King dive into the depths, Xiao Wenbing said with a wry smile, "Diving? I've never done this before..."
Fortunately, the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm is incredibly profound, and it can still function even in water. However, what bothers everyone is that once they enter the water, the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm's speed slows down considerably.
“There’s something strange about this water,” Long Shi said suddenly after swimming in the Starry Sky Illusion Realm for a while.
"What's wrong?"
Everyone stopped. After seeing the Roc and hearing the Food King's terrifying words, they were not exactly frightened, but they were extra careful. If they sensed something was wrong, they stopped immediately.
"How can the resistance in the water be so great?"
The King of Food breathed a sigh of relief, cursing inwardly that the old dragon had been terrified by the Roc, but still explained, "It's alright. Although this water is not Netherwater, it is not comparable to the water of the mortal world. It's just a little resistance, nothing to worry about."
Feeling somewhat relieved, Xiao Wenbing asked, "King of Food, how far is it from the Spirit of Water?"
"At this pace, it should take about a year to complete."
"A year?"
"Yes, and everything has to go smoothly. We can't run into any too powerful guys."
Xiao Wenbing frowned and asked, "King of Food, since the resistance in the water is so great, why don't we just walk through the air?"
The Food King turned around, his face full of displeasure.
"What's wrong? Don't you know the way?"
"Hmph." The Food King responded with dissatisfaction, saying, "Although the resistance in the water is a bit greater, this is the territory of the first level of the Underworld. Although the creatures here are troublesome, we can always escape by working together. But it's different in the air. It's a mixed bag of creatures. If we encounter a powerful being from the second or third level, we won't be able to go back."
Everyone gasped. Long Shi immediately said, "That's right, safety first, safety first!"
Xiao Wenbing completely agreed with the Food King's explanation, but still asked, "Is it really impossible to speed it up?"
The King of Food hesitated for a moment, then looked at Long Shi and said, "Then it depends on whether the old dragon is willing to take the risk."
All eyes turned to Long Shi, filled with questions. Even Long Shi himself was puzzled, and he asked in confusion, "What risk?"