The incident had caused an uproar at the time, sending shockwaves through the entire demonic beast world.
No demonic beast was willing to believe that a mere human could enter and leave the Sacred Beast Mountain at will.
And yet, that was precisely what had happened.
This cultivator named Lu Ya had not only left the Sacred Beast Mountain unharmed, but had taken with him a descendant of the Tianwu clan possessing the purest bloodline.
What made it even harder for demonic beasts to accept was that Lu Ya's cultivation at the time had been merely the early-stage Nascent Soul realm.
The whole affair seemed utterly preposterous.
Forget the early-stage Nascent Soul realm; even a final-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would be crushed to death by a casual swipe of any adult demonic beast on the Sacred Beast Mountain. How could such a human cultivator have been permitted to act so brazenly?
Rumors eventually circulated that Lu Ya had been able to enter and exit freely due to the tacit approval of Sovereign Primus, but this did little to ease the demonic beasts' minds.
Sovereign Primus was the nominal ruler of the entire demonic beast race, a figure of supreme reverence. Countless young demonic beasts with pure bloodlines and extraordinary talent couldn't even catch Sovereign Primus's eye. What right did this insignificant human cultivator have?
It took over a decade for the turmoil to gradually subside.
The name Lu Ya was permanently etched into the minds of countless demonic beasts.
Ventorus Birds were naturally forgetful creatures, but when the name "Lu Ya" and the Sovereign Primus Jade Token appeared together, the memory of those events came rushing back at once.
So the rumors were true after all. Lu Ya really does have a deep connection with His Excellency Sovereign Primus.
The Ventorus Bird let out a strange cackle, flapped its wings, and followed Xu Ke as he flew into the sacred mountain.
The Southern Abyss Sacred Beast Mountain seemed to contain a special energy that was extraordinarily beneficial to demonic beasts. The closer they drew, the more invigorated Li Fan felt. Something deep within him stirred with wild, restless joy. His blood felt as though it were boiling, filling him with boundless energy.
The Azure Luan Bird beneath Xu Ke clearly felt the same. She let out a clear, resonant cry, unabashed delight ringing through her voice. With a surge of speed, she shot through the air.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived.
Xu Ke's group had barely crossed the boundaries of the Sacred Beast Mountain when, without warning, Little Qing suddenly stiffened in mid-air and went completely still.
At the same moment, a surge of deadly crisis gripped Li Fan's heart.
Xu Ke, however, seemed utterly oblivious, still shouting excitedly. "Little Hei, look! What is that!"
Li Fan's body was frozen, unable to move. He could only barely swivel his eyes in the direction Xu Ke was pointing.
An enormous serpent was coiled around the Sacred Beast Mountain.
Its body was a fiery, eye-catching crimson, utterly bizarre and sinister. The portion coiled around the mountain appeared to be only a section of its impossibly long form, which stretched on without visible end. The vast majority of it lay hidden beneath the azure waters of the Southern Abyss Sea.
It was a sight that inspired cold dread.
Yet none of them had detected any trace of this supreme, ferocious beast before entering the Southern Abyss Sacred Beast Mountain. It was as if it had appeared out of thin air.
The red serpent had a single eye, and that eye was now fixed upon the Azure Luan Bird and the human outsiders on her back with cold, emotionless regard.
The immense pressure forced Li Fan's body to react on instinct, and he shut his eyes.
Xu Ke, on the other hand, showed no fear whatsoever. He widened his eyes and met the red serpent's gaze directly.
The stalemate held for a moment. Then a soft glow emanated from the jade token in Xu Ke's embrace.
The red serpent's gaze shifted slightly, and it closed its single eye.
In that instant, the Azure Luan Bird regained the ability to move.
Li Fan felt the pressure vanish abruptly, and a quiet breath of relief escaped him.
When he looked again, the colossal red serpent, larger than a mountain range, was gone without a trace. The bone-chilling scene from moments ago might as well have been a collective hallucination.
But Li Fan knew the one-eyed red serpent was still coiled around the Sacred Beast Mountain. They simply could no longer see it.
Without that Sovereign Primus jade token, even a Dao Unity cultivator who dared intrude here would likely end up dead or crippled. A shudder moved through him.
Xu Ke, completely unperturbed, urged the Azure Luan Bird to descend into the mountains.
Once his feet touched the ground, he took a deep breath and let out a satisfied sound. "Whew! This place feels really comfortable."
Knowing that the Sacred Beast Mountain held intangible benefits for demonic beasts, he didn't put Little Qing away this time. Instead, he had her shrink to a tiny size and made her a temporary nest beside Li Fan.
Li Fan glanced at her, and an image flashed unbidden through his mind: the Holy Master from the real world, thousands of years in the future. He smiled faintly and paid her no further attention.
Little Qing seemed somewhat afraid of Li Fan, this Heaven's Will Xuan Bird. Her gaze toward him held a trace of fear whenever it strayed his way, and she kept her distance, not daring to draw close.
Setting both birds aside on his head for the moment, Xu Ke ran up the mountain path toward the magnificent city above.
Along the way, they passed countless bizarre-looking demonic beasts: a horse's body with bird's wings; a human face with a snake's tail; a tiger-shaped creature that howled like a dog; a crow-like thing with three heads and six tails; something resembling a deer, but with a white tail, horse's hooves, human hands, and four horns.
Some were spirits of flowers, trees, grass, or plants, carrying no demonic aura, their forms ethereal and sacred.
But no matter how ferocious these beasts looked or how malevolent their auras, every last one of them moved along the mountain path with extreme caution and restraint, taking slow, careful steps.
Xu Ke's reckless sprinting was thus conspicuous in the extreme.
Some beasts glared at him with killing intent, clearly wanting to teach the little brat a lesson. But they seemed to sense the aura of Sovereign Primus on him, so not one ultimately made a move.
And so, Xu Ke jogged all the way to the foot of the mountain city unimpeded.
The city upon the sacred mountain was crafted from some unknown material, pure white throughout, appearing holy and solemn beneath the sunlight. A high wall stood before it, without any gate.
As the beasts drew near, however, a face appeared upon the wall. It opened a great mouth, revealing a pitch-black passage within.
Xu Ke halted immediately. He craned his neck, peering into the darkness, but couldn't make out anything inside.
While he was still muttering to himself, an exotic beast beside him stepped forward with a look of mockery and walked straight through. Xu Ke pursed his lips, steeled himself, and followed.
The light vanished, then flared back to life.
"You, follow me!"
A high-pitched, childlike voice sounded beside Li Fan's ear. He turned to find a child who looked no more than five or six years old standing before them. They were exquisitely cute, with a face like carved jade and rouge, their gender unclear. They stood with their hands on their hips, addressing Xu Ke.