The Kunpeng and the Ancient City

The mountain ranges ahead were majestic, and ferocious beasts roamed unchecked.

In the primordial mountains, ancient trees scraped the sky, each one a towering giant whose crown covered an area of dozens of li, like colossal umbrellas that blotted out the heavens. Perched upon them were some primeval raptors, all terrifying mutant species with wings that blotted out the sun, their eyes flashing with lightning-like ferocity.

A long cry rang out from the sky, like the sound of metal and stone, deafening. A raptor stirred up gusts of wind, its enormous claws capable of tearing even dragons, and it swooped down toward a lone Otherworld Half-Ancestor.

Those gleaming, cold giant claws alone were a hundred zhang long, like divine iron—chilling and murderous.

"Beast! You seek death!"

Such an ancient raptor could kill Perfected Man realm experts, but against a Half-Ancestor it had no chance.

With a "chi" sound, the Half-Ancestor raised his hand and sent out a beam of five-colored light. Sword energy pierced the sky, and blood sprayed.

"Don't kill it!" At that moment, the Otherworld Ancestral God Lu Lopes suddenly spoke, staring at the giant bird as if he sensed something abnormal.

But it was too late. The sword aura annihilated the space, and the giant bird perished, body and soul extinguished. A great splatter of blood fell, staining the mountain range crimson.

The Otherworld Ancestral God Lan Yufeng looked surprised and turned to Lu Lopes, saying, "You sensed it too?"

"Indeed. It seems to be that legendary monster!" Lu Lopes's expression was solemn.

Just then, the Half-Ancestors present also sensed it: from ahead came the sound of roaring waves. This was no illusion—beyond the primordial mountain range lay a vast ocean.

Though distant, for beings of this level it was nothing; they could cross space in an instant.

The ocean roared with waves, carrying an extremely terrifying aura.

The path back had long been cut off, and ahead seemed to hold unknown dangers.

Long cries shook the heavens. Many ancient raptors circled in the air, full of hostility toward the group below. Among them, several ferocious birds had reached the Half-Ancestor realm. They looked down from the sky, not retreating even when sensing the Ancestral Gods' presence.

"Just some demonic birds—why hesitate? Destroy them!" A Half-Ancestor wanted to act.

But when he met the icy gaze of the several Otherworld Ancestral Gods, he immediately fell silent and retreated.

"Rumble!"

From far ahead, the angry ocean roared. Huge waves surged into the sky, white mist rising higher than the mountain range.

A colossal fish, large enough to equal a hundred great mountains, leaped out of the water and transformed into a golden divine bird. Its wings spread for thousands of li, as if covering the heavens. Its divine feathers turned the sky to gold.

"The ancient ancestor of demonic birds—the Kunpeng!" The Otherworld Ancestral God El spoke, his eyes gleaming with divine light.

The Kun is so huge—who knows how many thousands of li it spans? The Peng's back is likewise immeasurable. The Kun transforms into a bird, and its name is the Peng.

This was the ancient ancestor of demonic birds, equal to the Twelve Zodiac War Ancestors—not an Ancestral God, yet possessing combat power comparable to them. And the Kunpeng was even older than the Twelve War Ancestors.

"Wasn't this fellow already slain? Why has he reappeared…" The faces of the Otherworld Ancestral Gods darkened.

"Though he was killed back then, his corpse vanished. And this place… connects to the distant past. Even some long-dead figures reappearing is not unusual." Lan Yufeng's voice was ice-cold; he also felt something was wrong.

The ancestor of demonic birds, the Kunpeng, swept its enormous golden wings across the mountain range. For thousands of li, the great peaks rose like dust, half of them crumbling into the sky.

The thunderous roar was like nine heavens of thunder, deafening.

Such power was truly terrifying. And far ahead, even more startling waves surged from the great sea, joining heaven and earth.

"Trespassing into forbidden ground and killing my descendants—you deserve death!" The sky-covering bird spoke with a voice colder than indifference.

"You think you can decide who lives and dies?" The Otherworld Ancestral God El's expression was frozen as he gazed at the Kunpeng in the sky.

"Indeed, I decide who lives and dies!" The vast bird, nearly ten thousand li long, suddenly dove down. When its giant claws tore through the air, the fierce gale instantly split the earth.

Mountain ranges collapsed like paper, fragile and helpless.

Such was the strength of an ancient War Ancestor, enough to make even powerful Ancestral Gods pale!

El soared into the sky to meet the Kunpeng. Thirty divine king shadows appeared before him, each in a different posture, radiating earth-shaking power as they combined to suppress the Kunpeng.

This was a manifestation of El's divine consciousness, a peerless technique of his: the Thirty-Six Divine Kings Sealing Heaven and Earth.

"Mere tricks!"

The enormous divine bird swept across the sky, destroying everything in its path. The Thirty-Six Divine Kings vanished in an instant, and its two great golden wings seemed capable of annihilating the world. The countless mountains below were ground to dust.

At the same time, the Half-Ancestor who had killed the ancient raptor suddenly screamed, and with a "bang" his body turned into mincemeat. Blood splattered, and then he perished utterly.

The faces of the Otherworld Ancestral Gods instantly became gloomy, exceedingly unpleasant. To have one of their Half-Ancestors killed before their eyes was a great loss of face. They could now see the Kunpeng's ferocity—truly worthy of an ancient War Ancestor.

"Kill him!" Lu Lopes's face was cold as he charged into the sky first.

Lan Yufeng followed closely, then the other two Ancestral Gods.

Five Ancestral Gods surrounded the sky-covering divine bird, all radiating murderous intent.

"Boom!" The five powerful Ancestral Gods struck simultaneously. No one could face such an onslaught without flinching.

Divine power blazed like fireworks, thoroughly sealing the sky. Within that cage, the giant bird struggled ceaselessly.

With a long cry, the Kunpeng shook its golden divine feathers. All of them burst forth, turning into thousands of golden rays that savagely tore open the sealed space.

"Beast! You face five of us alone and still dare to be arrogant? You will surely die!" The Otherworld Ancestral Gods were grim as they continued to suppress the giant bird in the heavens.

But unexpectedly, the Kunpeng's methods were too ferocious. All of its divine feathers exploded, burning into golden flames as they rushed toward the Otherworld Ancestral God El. Moreover, the Kunpeng itself, despite suffering heavy blows, charged at El as if it did not care about its life.

"You seek death!" The five great masters struck simultaneously, their power overturning heaven and earth, to destroy the Kunpeng.

With a bang, the Kunpeng's body split apart, turning into torrential blood rain. But the burning divine feathers and shattered body still transformed into an ocean of divine power to envelop El.

This was clearly a suicidal attack. The Kunpeng did not dodge at all, letting all attacks land, stubbornly charging at El.

"Damn it!" El was shocked and furious. An ancient War Ancestor fighting with such suicidal desperation put him in an extremely dangerous position.

Brilliant divine light streaked across the sky. The Kunpeng's burning divine power swept across the void where El stood.

With a bang, the Otherworld Ancestral God El grunted, his body cracking. He flew backward a great distance before stabilizing and quickly repairing his form.

The five Ancestral Gods could not understand. The Kunpeng was too insane—throwing away its own life in a mad assault was truly terrifying.

"Annihilate him! Let him perish utterly, never to reappear!" El's voice was icy. To be wounded in public was a deep humiliation.

The five Ancestral Gods each unleashed their ultimate techniques to suppress the ancient War Ancestor.

"Heh, heh, heh…" The Kunpeng gave a cold, sneering laugh. Divine light surged from its shattered body. It abandoned its physical form, burning its divine soul to cross space and once again attack El.

"You!" El found it hard to comprehend. Was this creature truly mad? Burning its soul was self-destruction!

This was a full-on suicidal assault, meant only to grievously wound El.

The five Ancestral Gods all changed color. The Kunpeng had gone insane. In an instant, seventy percent of its soul burned, engulfing El.

It had no intention of surviving—this was pure self-annihilation for the sake of destroying an enemy!

At that moment, they all struck ruthlessly to destroy the Kunpeng.

"Boom!" El was shattered to pieces. The burning soul entangled him, and he nearly caught fire himself.

Mists of blood and flying bone fragments raged. El was furious; this time he suffered unimaginable grievous injury, his vitality greatly damaged.

The remaining thirty percent of the Kunpeng's soul still burned, unrelentingly chasing after El.

By this point, El was truly beside himself with rage. This enemy was completely insane, pushing itself to annihilation.

"You seek death!" Lu Lopes and Lan Yufeng jointly activated the Thirty-Three-Story Ancient Pagoda, the treasure of a Supreme Ancestral God, to suppress the remaining thirty percent of soul.

Faced with this unreasonable madman, only destruction would do. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Boom!" Heaven and earth shook. The Thirty-Three-Story Pagoda instantly enlarged, shrouding the Kunpeng's vast soul. Boundless divine power surged like an ocean.

The pagoda's divine might was unfathomable. The thirty percent soul dimmed. The five Ancestral Gods channeled divine power, and the pagoda trembled. The Kunpeng was utterly annihilated.

On the ground, the shattered corpse of the Kunpeng—all flesh and blood—turned to ash, leaving only terrifying remnant bones like great mountains standing on the earth.

All the observing Half-Ancestors felt a chill in their hearts.

Though they had destroyed the Kunpeng, Lan Yufeng and El and the others were deeply unsettled. The Kunpeng's behavior was too extreme, very abnormal.

"We are in danger." At that moment, Lu Lopes suddenly spoke.

"What do you sense?"

"The Kunpeng is someone long dead. And we are walking toward the ancient era. Meeting him here and killing him…" Hearing Lu Lopes' words, the several Ancestral Gods were startled.

"This family is too terrifying. The Kunpeng is a dead War Ancestor, borrowed by them across time and space in this special place. In the real world, he no longer exists, but in this way, they connect us to the distant past."

"It means we cannot change the past, but the people here can kill us."

"Soon, the Kunpeng will be resurrected. He knows we are from the future."

"If we go deeper, we may encounter even more terrifying figures."

Having said this, the five Ancestral Gods all fell silent. This was a terrifying possibility—they might all perish in the ancient era.

"What a perverse family! How do they do it?"

"I think perhaps we are too pessimistic. It is impossible for us to encounter every powerful figure from the past."

"Yes, no matter how perverse this family is, they cannot truly connect all of history. If they had that ability, destroying our world would not be impossible."

"True. Perhaps they have special arrangements in this particular time and space. But we will not necessarily meet every terrifying figure from the past…"

In the end, the five Ancestral Gods seemed to understand something, and the fear in their hearts subsided. But they were still far from optimistic, as they could not find any way out.

Even with the Supreme Ancestral God's Thirty-Three-Story Pagoda constantly attacking, they could not break open any path.

"It seems we have only two choices: stay here forever, trapped and starving to death; or continue forward to the end of the ancient era, face the people of this family, and fight our way out."

No one wanted to be trapped here. But if they went to the end and faced that terrifying family, even Ancestral Gods felt dread.

"Choosing to advance does not necessarily mean we must reach the very end. Perhaps halfway we will find a way out."

In the end, the five Ancestral Gods made this decision. The many Half-Ancestors behind them remained calm on the surface, but their hearts churned with waves.

The five Ancestral Gods used the ancient pagoda to clear the way, beginning a new journey. They crossed a vast ocean, and ahead was endless land again.

Xiao Chen and Keke followed behind. The little snow-white beast was very excited; it sensed familiar power, as if approaching its family's sacred ground.

"Ya ya, ya ya!" The normally lazy little thing was exceptionally lively today.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen was shocked. He saw a corner of a broken formation diagram and five War Swords flying across the sky, hazy and indistinct, shaking the world.

"That is… the broken formation diagram!"

"Ya ya!" The little thing also saw it and immediately shot into the sky, trying to collect it with Paradise Lost.

But that corner of the broken formation diagram silently deviated, and Keke missed.

Xiao Chen was shocked for a moment, then immediately summoned his thirty War Swords. The broken formation diagram slowly revolved as he soared into the sky together with it, chasing after that flying corner.

But no matter how fast he pushed himself, he could not catch up. In an instant, that corner of the diagram and the five War Swords suddenly vanished, breaking through the dimensional barrier and disappearing.

"How can this be? Where did they go?" Xiao Chen felt deep regret.

"Right! The last time I saw it, it was also this corner of the diagram." Jin Sanyi shouted from within Paradise Lost.

Xiao Chen murmured to himself, "They are lost in the past time. Is there truly no way to retrieve them?"

Finally, they set off again.

For the Otherworld host, this was a nightmare journey. Next, they encountered three more long-dead terrifying figures. If not for the Supreme Ancestral God's Thirty-Three-Story Pagoda suppressing three powerful enemies, one or two of them might have been in danger.

Even so, they all suffered injuries, light or heavy.

"This perverse family…" It was unknown how many times El had said this. For a powerful Otherworld Ancestral God to mutter so, the terror of Keke's family could be imagined.

"Stop talking. We may have reached the end!" Lan Yufeng said in a low voice.

Ahead was a huge valley, its area no smaller than an ordinary plain, surrounded by towering divine mountains and demonic peaks.

Millennial-old vines, thick and massive, stretched from one peak to another, no longer clinging to trees but winding around the mountains themselves. Such ancient vines were countless around the valley.

The open valley was as spacious as a plain.

Within were many ancient ruins. Temples had collapsed, towers had fallen, pavilions lay shattered. It was a scene of utter desolation.

"Ya ya…" Keke, from afar, became emotional as she watched.

At the distant end, there were even more ruins.

But what shocked people most was the colossal ancient city at the edge of sight!

It looked very much like the Primordial Demon City, and also very similar to the Heavenly Emperor City!

Xiao Chen was immediately stunned.

Ahead, the Otherworld host had already neared the great ancient city. They too were shocked.

"Not good! This family is truly perverse!"

"In that distant past, someone in this family also achieved that step, surpassing even the Heavenly Emperor!"

The five Ancestral Gods were evidently extremely shaken.

Just then, Lu Lopes seemed to perceive something terrifying. He pointed at the great ancient city, his arm trembling, his voice quivering: "The city… the city has grown…"