In the Dong Clan’s headquarters in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

Dong Wangling, the clanmaster, was breathing pure spiritual power and crystallizing his spiritual core in his cultivation room.

WHOOSH!

The soul shadow of a large ape suddenly rose from him.

As it did, the room suddenly became very stuffed.

Dong Wangling frowned, surprised that his ape beast spirit would come out on its own while he was focused on cultivation.

However, immediately afterwards, he felt its deep panic.

The huge ape beast spirit trembled unceasingly in the crowded cultivation room, as if it had sensed the aura of Death.

“What’s going on?" Completely confused, Dong Wangling attempted to communicate with it on a soul level in order to find out what was scaring it.

BOOM! RUMBLE!

However, before the ape beast spirit could tell him anything, the entire Dong Clan shook violently.

Many spirit beasts that were being reared for young members of the clan bellowed nonstop.

Their howls and bellows soon filled the entire clan.

That was when a huge cluster of blackish-violet Demon qi suddenly appeared in the sky over the Dong Clan.

In the depths of the raging Demon qi, an enormous demonic figure was gradually revealed.

It was a low-tier Demon, a satanic three-headed python. A curvaceous female high-tier Demon could be vaguely seen standing on the middle head.

All of a sudden, the three-headed python swooped down from the heart of the rolling Demon qi.

Heaven-filling, earth-covering Devil qi rapidly engulfed the entire Dong Clan.

The Dong Clan’s grand spell formation failed to hold for even a second before being shattered completely.

The three-headed python then pounced on the pavilions in the Dong Clan, which tumbled down so quickly that they seemed to be made of paper.

Numerous Dong Clan members wailed in pain as they were overcome by the Demon qi.

As the three-headed python opened its mouths and breathed in air, many Dong Clan members flew uncontrollably towards its dark, bottomless mouths.

Mucus dripped from between its sharp teeth as it crushed and swallowed them.

Dong Wangling’s eyes widened and reddened so much that they almost bled as his ape beast spirit threw itself at the three-headed python.

However, standing on the middle head, the devilish female Demon sneered and said, “Only at the Soul realm?”

She raised her hand and pointed at the incoming beast spirit.

A beam of ink-black light suddenly shot out of her finger and through the ape beast spirit’s forehead, causing it to scatter into the air like a puff of smoke before it could get anywhere near the three-headed python.

Then, the mountain-like python slithered towards Dong Wangling.

The spiritual power wards Dong Wangling hastily conjured were crushed one after another, filling the sky with bits of glorious light.

As the python opened its three huge mouths towards Dong Wangling, he was sucked into the middle one, letting out agonized shrieks.

Just like that, the clanmaster of the Dong Clan, a late Soul realm cultivator, perished. Afterwards, the three-headed python ravaged the Dong Clan’s headquarters, devouring Dong Clan members.

Only moments later, the Dong Clan, which had risen to prominence in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries because of Dong Li, was practically wiped out.

Eyes narrowed, the enchanting female Demon gazed off into the distance, where dark power prevailed, and gave an order to the three-headed python, “Over there.”

The satanic python then slithered towards the mountain valley where Dong Li kept the dark stone, leaving deep gullies in the earth as it did.

Dong Li, who was breathing dark power by the dark stone, was alarmed as soon as it entered the domain of darkness.

The black tortoise’s beady eyes suddenly burst forth with dreadful light.

Alarmed by the black tortoise, Dong Li awoke from her cultivation and exclaimed, “Demon!!”

The female Demon’s dark-purple pupils shone with devilish, cold light as she muttered, “The dark stone they took from the Sixth Demon Realm is here indeed. Even our people haven’t figured out the secrets of that stone, how dare you take it away?”

Riding the three-headed python, she rapidly approached Dong Li in complete darkness.

The black tortoise let out a low-pitched bellow.

In the next moment, it expanded at an alarming rate.

Countless dark magical patterns wiggled like earthworms on its shell as dark power poured madly out of the dark stone into its rapidly expanding body.

Within seconds, the black tortoise expanded a thousand times over!

Like a pitch-black mountain peak that propped up heaven and earth, the black tortoise charged towards the three-headed python.

With every step it took, the entire area experienced a violent quake, as if the earth was going to cave under its unbearably heavy steps.

At the same time, it unleashed rings of extremely pure dark power that spread towards the three-headed python like storming sea waves.

“Hmm?!” A surprised look appeared in the female high-tier Demon’s eyes. “I can’t believe there’s a rare eighth grade beast here! And the dark power it’s using is the same as what that grand monarch had used!”

“Go!” After giving the order, she jumped off the three-headed python, which then threw itself at the incoming black tortoise.

The three-headed python was a low-tier Demon she had reared, which was also at the eighth grade.

That was why she assumed that it would easily crush the black tortoise.

Meanwhile, she planned to kill Dong Li by herself, and then take the dark stone back.

Her name was Catie. She was an early ninth grade grand patriarch from the ancient Bispo Clan.

The Bispo Clan had originally been a clan from the Second Demon Realm. However, after giving birth to Grand Monarch Bloodlust, they had moved to the First Demon Realm, and become one of the most prominent Demon clans there.

This time, the Bispo Clan had arranged for Catie to enter the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries before Cardy and the others.

Under Gutas’ instructions, Catie had snuck into the Domain of the Falling Stars a few days earlier than Cardy. In fact, Cardy might even not know about her being here.

After all, he and the other six grand patriarchs weren’t members of the Bispo Clan.

As a member of his clan, Catie was the one who Gutas really trusted. The reason why he had made such arrangements was because he wanted her to get that dark stone first.

After all, taking that dark stone back from the human world would earn him and his clan great credit and honor.

A sea of intense flesh aura rose from Catie. It pressured the dark power as she forcibly approached Dong Li.

WHOOSH!

The rings of dark power unleashed by the black tortoise suddenly solidified into pitch-black rings that slammed into Catie’s sea of flesh aura.

At the same time, the dark stone in the depths of the mountain valley burst forth with utter darkness that could devour any light.

Strong dark power spread like black sea waves, fusing into the pitch-black rings and helping them overpower Catie’s sea of flesh aura.

Catie’s sea of flesh aura suddenly burst, immediately rendering her steps towards Dong Li incomparably difficult.

“Such a powerful pet!” Catie’s expression flickered slightly, as she hadn’t expected the black tortoise to be able to ignite the dark power the dark stone had spent countless years gathering.

Her sea of flesh aura contained extremely rich blood power, yet even it gave in under the tremendous pressure it received from the torrential dark power.

“It’s only an eighth grade beast, but with the help of the dark stone, it’s making every step I take extremely difficult!” Catie found this unbelievable. “It’s as if the dark stone has become its weapon! If this beast somehow grows to the ninth or tenth grade, and fully refines the dark stone...”

The mere thought of it sent a chill down Catie’s spine.

Meanwhile...

Experts from the Cao Clan, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Gu Clan, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also noticed the blackish-violet Demon qi in the sky over the Dong Clan, and received word of the upheaval.

“Demons! Demons have invaded!”

Panicked clamor soon filled the major human forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

Word of what had happened was sent out at the first possible moment.

In the Domain of Heaven Boundaries.

Nie Tian was in the Divine Flame Sect’s headquarters, wracking his mind over how he could ferret out the hidden Demons, when he received word from Hua Mu and Qi Bailu, who the Heaven-equal Vine had secretly informed.

“What?! A Demon grand patriarch is fighting an unidentified expert in the starry river in the Domain of the Falling Stars?!” He suddenly realized that the Demons in the Domain of Heaven’s Boundaries were merely distracting him.

The Demons must have arranged for other powerful experts to sneak into the Domain of the Falling Stars to get that dark stone back.

“To the Realm of a Hundred Battles! The Demons’ real target must be that dark stone! Dong Li might be in danger!”

Without any hesitation, he returned to the Realm of Split Void via the teleportation portal in the Divine Flame Sect’s headquarters.