Immortal Refiner

In the demon realm, the sky was as clear as washed jade, its clarity heightened after a recent storm.

Near the northern coast of the demon realm, several figures radiating formidable auras stood suspended in the void.

These figures varied in stature: some were slender and graceful, others were burly and imposing, while still others were frail and diminutive.

Yet the faint auras emanating from them revealed their immense power. Their mere presence subtly influenced the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Below, in the dense coastal forests, countless demon beasts roamed—Azure Wing Rats with glowing blue eyes, massive bears covered in golden fur—most of them third-tier demonic beasts!

”What was that black shadow that shot through just now? It accidentally crashed into the ancestral land!”

”It was swept in by the Heavenly Wind from the sea. It moved so fast, I couldn’t even get a clear look!”

”It looked like a human-refined artifact, but there wasn’t a trace of spiritual energy within it. Probably nothing to worry about, right?”

”What a coincidence! The Heavenly Wind arrived just as the ancestral land was opening.”

Below, some of the sentient demon beasts communicated telepathically.

The sudden onslaught of the Heavenly Wind had thoroughly shaken them. Had several fourth-tier monster kings from various clans not intervened simultaneously to suppress the gale, they would have been swept away.

”King Canglan, your eyesight is the sharpest among us. Did you manage to discern what that was just now?”

A burly man with a golden vest turned to a diminutive old man. This was the Golden Bear King. The Heavenly Wind had struck too abruptly, leaving him only enough time to contain the gale, not to intercept the black shadow that had suddenly breached the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm.

The wizened old man, King Canglan of the Azure Wing Rat Clan, pondered for a moment before speaking, his pale brow furrowed:

”In my younger days, I ventured into the great domains where humans gather. That black shadow resembled a furnace—a pitch-black furnace!”

At these words, a beautiful woman in an emerald green gauze robe frowned slightly. Her slender figure and delicate waist resembled a water snake.

”Related to the human race? Most humans from the outside world are treacherous and cunning. Could they be plotting against our ancestral land?”

The other demon beast kings exchanged uneasy glances.

Among all the races present, the king of the Nether Python Clan was undoubtedly the most cunning.

Even this formidable being voiced such a harsh judgment, revealing the deep-seated animosity the demons of the demon realm harbored toward the human race.

In ancient times, humans had once inhabited this great domain, but their numbers dwindled until they were driven out entirely. Since then, the demon realm had become a vast, sparsely populated land, largely untouched by human presence.

Perhaps due to its terrain—a great domain surrounded by the Boundless Sea—travel to other domains required a long and arduous sea voyage. Even core formation realm cultivators would expend considerable effort crossing this vast expanse.

As a result, the demon realm had remained largely free of human intrusion for centuries. Any human discovered within its borders would be immediately branded a common enemy and hunted down by all demon races.

”Hmph, why worry so much?” a middle-aged man with bull-like horns on his head boomed, his voice deep and resonant. ”It’s just a soulless artifact that somehow slipped into the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm. Maybe it was accidentally swept in by the Heavenly Wind?”

”Besides,” he continued, ”the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm is our ancestral land. Only core formation demon beasts are permitted entry. Even if those nascent soul realm old monsters of the human race had ulterior motives, they couldn’t personally enter the realm.”

The Golden Bear King and the other demon beast kings nodded in agreement.

”Heh, the Wild Bull King speaks wisely. Even if a core formation human has infiltrated, they won’t cause much trouble!”

”Indeed. The young demons entering the ancestral land this time are all quite formidable. Any core formation human who crosses their path will meet a truly miserable end.”

Soon, the demon beast kings began discussing which of the young demons entering the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm was the most outstanding.

At this topic, the Golden Bear King couldn’t hide his smug expression, no matter how hard he tried.

Clearly, he had immense confidence in his sixth offspring—a descendant who had awakened the bloodline of the Ancient Dragon Bear. Among his six children, this one possessed the most exceptional talent.

What was the Ancient Dragon Bear?

It was a primordial variant—a demon beast now extinct in the lower realm!

These creatures were immensely powerful. Though they couldn’t yet rival True Spirits, they could grow to formidable levels. The most exceptional among them could even stir up boundless storms in the upper realm.

Of course, among the demons entering the ancestral land this time, there were other extraordinary beings with formidable strength that couldn’t be ignored.

However, King Canglan of the Azure Wing Rat Clan remained silent, not joining the discussion.

He was still deeply troubled by the Black Furnace that had unexpectedly crashed into the ancestral land’s secret realm just now!

The coincidence was simply too much, too unnatural.

Moreover, the Black Furnace’s material was astonishing. It had been swept here by the terrifying Heavenly Wind, yet remained undamaged!

Even some of the human race’s natal magic treasures couldn’t match its resilience. King Canglan deeply understood the devastating power of the Heavenly Wind, which carried seawater and tore through everything in its path.

Soon, the Golden Bear King noticed the strange expression on King Canglan’s face.

Though King Canglan hailed from the Azure Wing Rat Clan, whose bloodline wasn’t particularly noble, he was the eldest and most experienced of the beast kings present.

While the other beast kings might believe their strength rivaled his, they readily acknowledged his superior knowledge and insight.

King Canglan’s pale, elongated eyebrows twitched as he shook his head.

”If my memory serves me correctly,” he said, ”this ancestral land contains not only the inheritance of our clans, but also that of the human race!”

His words sent shockwaves through the assembly. The Golden Bear King and the other beast kings stared at King Canglan in disbelief.

”How could that be? Wasn’t the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm jointly established by the beast ancestors as a place for our inheritance? How could human inheritance be included?”

”Exactly! If the ancestral land contained human inheritance, why have I never heard of it before?”

The old king of the Azure Wing Rat Clan spoke slowly, ”Don’t forget that the human race once existed in the demon realm. Though that branch wasn’t as powerful as those in other great domains, they still had their place.”

”Long ago, it was through the combined efforts of all our clans that we drove them out of the demon realm.”

The Azure Wing Rat Clan’s traditions remained relatively intact, granting them knowledge of many secrets within the demon realm.

In contrast, newly risen demon beast kings like the Golden Bear King lacked such deep historical foundations, unable to match the Azure Wing Rat Clan’s accumulated wisdom.

The Golden Bear King pondered for a moment before declaring, ”There’s no need for such concern. Even if a human has infiltrated and obtained the inheritance, we simply need to guard the ancestral land’s exit and wait for them to emerge!”

This suggestion received unanimous approval from the other beast kings. Once the ancestral land reopened, the truth would inevitably come to light!

Meanwhile, within the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm:

Boom!

A pitch-black forge, filled with seawater, crashed heavily into the desert like a falling meteorite.

The terrifying impact spread outward, creating a massive crater in the desert floor, like that of a meteorite strike. The surrounding sands trembled for hundreds of miles.

”Finally... it’s stopped!”

A weak voice echoed from within the Black Furnace. It was Li Qing!

After enduring a tumultuous journey, carried by the Heavenly Wind across an immeasurable stretch of sea, he would have been pulverized into mush inside the furnace were it not for his formidable physique and the protection of the Golden Jade Garment.

Exhausted and unable to even stand, Li Qing lay panting inside the Black Furnace.

Rustle, rustle!

”Hmm? What’s that sound?”

Lying in the Black Furnace, Li Qing quickly noticed an unsettling noise. He cautiously extended his divine sense and soon discovered the source.

He was in a desert, and the massive crater he had created was now being filled by the surrounding quicksand.

It seemed he was about to be buried alive!

”What rotten luck! I finally get some peace, only to be buried alive by this heavy sand!”

Li Qing grumbled helplessly, thinking that when misfortune strikes, even drinking cold water can give you a toothache.

Li Qing hadn’t yet figured out exactly where he was, but the surrounding spiritual energy was quite dense, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

These sand grains alone couldn’t bury him alive, so he decided to stop resisting and lie down inside the Black Furnace to recover his depleted physical and mana reserves.

Earlier, he had been swept up by the Heavenly Wind and had only narrowly escaped disaster by taking refuge in the Black Furnace.

However, he couldn’t escape the natural disaster entirely and was forced to let the Heavenly Wind carry him to an unfamiliar region.

The Heavenly Wind swept across the vast, boundless sea, traveling from north to south until it finally reached a great domain teeming with demon races.

By sheer coincidence, the various demon clans, united under the Golden Bear King’s call, had finally agreed to open the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm ahead of schedule.

But just as the realm opened, the Heavenly Wind swept through. Faced with such a colossal hurricane, even the demon beast kings were startled and had to exert considerable effort to quell the natural disaster.

Caught within the Heavenly Wind, Li Qing—along with his furnace—was drawn by the Jade Pendant and flung into the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm, leaving the other beast kings utterly astonished.

The Black Furnace itself possessed no spirituality, so it failed to attract the attention of the beast kings until after it had entered the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm. Only then did the beast kings jointly discover it, leading to the scene outside the secret realm earlier.

Within the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm lay numerous opportunities, including a vast number of inheritances left behind from the ancient era and even earlier times.

With sufficient luck, one could even obtain the inheritance of an ancient variant demon beast.

For example, the Golden Bear King’s sixth son had awakened the bloodline of the Ancient Dragon Bear!

The Golden Bear King intended to send his sixth son into the secret realm to test whether he could obtain the Ancient Dragon Bear’s inheritance.

The dragon bear was actually a type of variant bear, similar to the relationship between wolves and coyotes.

This Ancient Dragon Bear, however, possessed a trace of dragon blood, making its fleshly body terrifyingly powerful—a dominant force even among demon beasts of the same tier.

If the Golden Bear King’s sixth son obtained the Ancient Dragon Bear’s inheritance, his strength would undoubtedly increase dramatically, potentially even allowing him to achieve transformation in the shortest possible time.

Of course, the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm also contained other formidable inheritances, such as those of the nine-headed lion, nine-tailed celestial fox, and dark sacred tiger—all genuine primordial variant inheritances of immense power!

These inheritances often sparked fierce competition among demon beasts, with even those of different species joining the fray.

To truly claim an inheritance, one had to engage in brutal, life-or-death combat.

After all, the demon race’s world was merciless, where strength reigned supreme. Relying solely on one’s bloodline to secure an inheritance was far from simple.

Boom! Boom!

In the desert where Li Qing had fallen, a massive black scorpion darted across the sands at incredible speed, its movements unimpeded by the terrain.

”Haah! Nether Demon Scorpion, you can’t escape! Hand over the beast ancestor token!”

Behind the third-tier Nether Demon Scorpion, a swirling sandstorm surged forward, as if a desert gale had been unleashed.

It was a Terrorclaw Lizard, standing upright and giving chase with remarkable speed. Each step it took sent massive clouds of sand billowing into the air.

The Nether Demon Scorpion fled relentlessly, never pausing. Its glossy black carapace gradually dulled as sand grains clung to its surface.

In the next instant, just as the Terrorclaw Lizard was about to close in, the Nether Demon Scorpion abruptly burrowed into the sand.

Whoosh!

The thick layer of sand was like water to the Nether Demon Scorpion, which burrowed straight through it.

”ROAR!”

Seeing this, the Terrorclaw Lizard roared furiously at the sky, desperately clawing at the sand in front of it.

But no matter how frantically it dug, it couldn’t find any trace of the Nether Demon Scorpion.

”Come out now! If you don’t, I swear to slaughter your entire Nether Demon Scorpion clan the moment I leave this ancestral land!”

The Terrorclaw Lizard was enraged. With its considerable spiritual intelligence and power nearing the late third-tier, it had paid a heavy price to enter the Myriad Beasts Secret Realm. Clearly, the so-called beast ancestor token was of paramount importance to it.

”Damn it! Damn it! You dare steal the beast ancestor token I discovered? Your Nether Demon Scorpion clan will suffer a calamity!”

”The day I leave this ancestral land will be the day your Nether Demon Scorpion clan is erased from the demon realm!”

The Terrorclaw Lizard, consumed by rage, refused to give up. It continued to threaten and frantically dig, desperate to find the Nether Demon Scorpion burrowed beneath the sand.

Its furious roars shook the entire desert, making every grain of sand tremble in resonance.

”ROAR!”

But in the next instant, a ghastly white bone hand shot out from the sand, clamped down on the Terrorclaw Lizard’s throat, and abruptly silenced its roar.

”All this racket! Can’t a creature get some rest around here?”

(End of the Chapter)