039. The Young Prince Peng’s Legacy

At the scene, neither the demons of the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains nor the disciples of the Grand Void Palace could believe what their eyes had just witnessed.

Spatial storage devices cannot contain living beings.

The moment the Little Roc King's body vanished into thin air, it could only mean one thing: the Little Roc King was dead!

Indeed, Lu Wu's speed was so fast that even the Little Roc King, famed for his swiftness, found it hard to keep up.

Indeed, Lu Wu's cultivation in both the Wandering Dragon Sword and the "Ten Thousand Beasts Diagram" was not inferior to the Little Roc King's, and his mastery even surpassed him.

Indeed, the Little Roc King had suffered consecutive defeats.

But how could the Little Roc King be killed in a single instant?

"He..." the Little Ape King trembled, "he was concealing his true strength. His real power is absolutely unrivaled in the Qi Gathering realm, comparable to the descendants of true-blooded primordial divine beasts!"

After all, the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains was only a relatively weak force among the demons. When they saw such a formidable opponent of the same realm, the only comparison they could draw was to the ancient divine beasts.

"Could it be that there was a divine beast of this type in ancient times, and that Lu Wu hatched from its egg after countless ages?"

"Yes, that must be it! Though he's only forty-eight days old since birth, it's possible he spent centuries, even millennia, inside the egg!"

The demons quickly latched onto this explanation.

"How could a descendant of such pure-blooded ancient fiendish spirits appear in the Grand Void Palace?"

"No! The Little Roc King is dead, then..."

Below the stage, the Little Flood Dragon King gave a cold snort. "What a clever tactic! Concealing his strength all along to lull my big brother into lowering his guard, then finishing him off with one fatal strike!"

"A fine ploy!"

"Now that this matter is settled, you may take your people and leave. The great battle will come another day!"

Xiong Yu added, "No matter how strong you are, you are still but a Qi Gathering realm cultivator. In the midst of an army, your prowess will mean little. It remains to be seen who will have the last laugh!"

A group of deer demons muttered, "???"

The Little Flood Dragon King transformed into a flood dragon, his terrifying, colossal body turning away. With a sweep of his tail, he smashed a corner of the arena. "We're leaving!"

The peacock demon, Kong Cheng, whose face had already grown pale, now looked green with dismay. "Don't go! Don't go!"

Only then did the disciples of the Grand Void Palace snap out of their stupor.

Ziyu cried out, "Uncle Master is invincible!"

Everyone echoed, "Invincible!"

"Victory!!!"

Yi Ya laughed heartily. "Uncle Master truly lives up to his name—a single battle, a glorious success!"

"Let's go!" Chu Xu leaped forward, retrieving Tian Bugui. "Let's leave!"

Tian Bugui, dragged into the crowd, quickly exclaimed, "Thank you, Uncle Master, for saving my life!"

Lu Wu, having claimed the Little Roc King, was eager to return to camp and examine his spoils. "No need to thank me, boy. Work hard at your cultivation, and don't let yourself get caught again."

Back at the encampment, the second-generation disciples recounted the battle in vivid detail to the third-generation disciples.

"That Little Roc King thought he was invincible with his area attacks, but Uncle Master lightly unfurled his wings—the winds howled, sand and stones flew, as if a dragon god had descended from the heavens, and in an instant, he battered the Little Roc King into a bloody pulp!"

"Uncle Master, I heard that Ancestor Lu didn't just reduce the Little Roc King to a bloody mess, but utterly annihilated him, body and soul. Which is it?"

"I heard that Uncle Master killed the Little Roc King in a single move, then used his great power to refine him into pure essence, which is why his body disintegrated instantly."

"Amazing, Ancestor!"

Meanwhile, in a solitary tent, Lu Wu took out the Little Roc King's corpse and began to drain its blood.

The blood of the Little Roc King was a rare and precious treasure.

As he drank, Lu Wu used his spiritual sense to scan the treasures on the Little Roc King's person.

This fellow certainly had plenty of good things.

There was a dazzling array of the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains' finest spirit herbs, as well as a trove of demon clan techniques.

"Who would've thought the Little Roc King was born with spatial abilities, able to carry so many things without the need for a storage device?"

"Oh! The Serpent Spirit Earthfire Branch!"

"And even the finest material for forging a spiritual sword embryo—Three-Pattern Blood Steel?"

"Such wealth!"

All these were vast fortunes.

Once he reached the Sacred Capital and sold these items, Lu Wu would have the wealth to sustain himself.

Though the Grand Void Palace was vast, in this wondrous world it was like a remote mountain village cut off from the roads. Only by entering the Sacred Capital could he cultivate more rapidly.

In this world, he was like a blind man in a strange land. If he didn't venture to its more prosperous regions, it would be as if he'd never come to this world at all.

...

On the main peak of the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains.

The Roc King spoke, "Sister Xiong, what do you make of this hidden legion of the Grand Void Palace?"

The Bear Demon King's rough, booming voice made the great hall tremble. "The Grand Void Palace must have long known of our plans, which is why they've secretly spared no expense in training so many disciples."

"The Grand Void Palace specializes in the sword. For every disciple they train, they expend three times the resources we do to cultivate a demon of the same realm."

"For them to raise so many young cultivators at once, they must be planning something momentous."

The Roc King asked, "Sister Xiong, do you mean they intend to send a large force to break through the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains and head for the Sacred Capital?"

The Flood Dragon Demon King said, "Their army is stationed in one place, neither advancing nor attacking. It's very strange. By the way, they proposed a tournament this time—could it be part of some scheme?"

The Roc King laughed. "My son is not weaker than I was in my youth, perhaps even stronger."

"Whatever plots they may hatch, they are meaningless before true strength."

"If they think they can break through all of the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains with their army, they're sorely mistaken. Their strength isn't enough."

"Even though we've assembled only sixty thousand troops, the disciples we can muster within the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains number in the hundreds of thousands."

"No matter how strong the disciples of the Grand Void Palace are, they cannot force their way through head-on."

"It's just a pity that their small squad managed to escape."

The Bear Demon King mused, "This time... with the Grand Void's operation, if a squad has succeeded, is it possible they might abandon the idea of sending their main force across the border?"

She was just beginning her analysis when a demon king of the Soaring Sky realm entered the hall. "Roc King! A human cultivator piloting a flying ship has passed by from the direction of the Lu clan, heading toward the Grand Void Palace."

The Roc King frowned. "Are they sending the Grand Void squad back?"

The Flood Dragon Demon King was puzzled. "In the past, when the Grand Void squads succeeded in crossing the border, they would stay in the Lu clan, or even venture deeper into the heartlands of the human race to cultivate, never to return to the Grand Void Palace."

The Roc King said, "I'll go see for myself."

With a flap of his wings, the Roc King left—and returned just as swiftly. "It's one of the Grand Void squad members from thirty-six years ago, now returning to the Grand Void Palace aboard a flying ship."

"I see," said the Bear Demon King. "The world outside is vast, but for those disciples who fare poorly, returning to the Grand Void Palace to secure an elder's post is quite common."

The Roc King had barely sat down when another Soaring Sky realm demon king entered the hall. "Roc King, there's news from the front—"

The Roc King sipped his tea. "Oh? What is it?"

The demon king lowered his head. "The Little Roc King..."

The Roc King's lips curled with a smile. "Though my son is fierce by nature, he hides it well. Everyone thinks he's gentle and amiable."

"This time, with war imminent, of course he'll kill to establish his authority. Did he use methods so cruel it frightened the Qu tribe's forces?"

The demon king whispered, "The Little Roc King was slain on the tournament stage by Lu Wu of the Grand Void Palace."

"Lu Wu of the Grand Void Palace... some nameless—what did you say?!" In a flash, the Roc King appeared before the demon king. "What did you say happened to my son?"

Terrified by the Roc King's outburst, the demon king stammered, "Roc King, the Little Roc King and that insect-like beast Lu Wu were dueling. That cunning foe deliberately left openings, lulling the Little Roc King into carelessness, then suddenly erupted with power equal to the pure-blooded descendants of the ancient beasts, and in a single instant... slew the Little Roc King..."

"Ah!!!" The Roc King, consumed with rage, spat a mouthful of blood and collapsed unconscious.

A day later, the Roc King awoke, his aura feeble. "What is the situation now?"

The Flood Dragon Demon King wore an ugly expression. "Roc King, that flying ship yesterday was sent to report the news. A great number of disciples from all generations of the Grand Void Palace who had ventured into the human heartlands have returned, forming an army of Soaring Sky realm cultivators and launching an attack on our Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains from the south. They've already overrun twenty-one tribal strongholds."

"The Grand Void Palace's northern forces have split into two, advancing from both Zhenyao City and Nanman City, forcing our armies into a steady retreat. They've already smashed through seven tribal strongholds."

The Roc King was appalled. "What? What is the Grand Void Palace attempting to do?!"

"It seems..." the Flood Dragon Demon King said, "that they intend to annihilate us in one fell swoop..."