Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 277 A glimmer of hope

Chen Ye truly never expected that he had fallen into the trap set by the Azure Dragon Lord from the very beginning.

None of those who become the Lord of the Demonic Sect are fools.

This Azure Dragon Lord may seem rude and unreasonable, but his scheming skills are impeccable.

Chen Ye was carried along by the raging current until his body loosened, and he found himself on a beach covered with pebbles.

Chen Ye opened his eyes in surprise, but what he saw was not a huge stomach sac and corpses floating in acidic water.

Instead, he saw a sunny beach.

Chen Ye couldn't believe his eyes, fearing he was under an illusion.

What exactly is the physical structure of this Azure Dragon Lord? Could it be that there's a small world inside its belly?

However, Chen Ye quickly remembered the legend about the Azure Dragon Demon Lord from a thousand years ago. This demon lord, who could devour heaven and earth with his mouth, actually had a small world inside his belly.

The Azure Dragon Demon Lord likes to swallow an entire city or island into his belly, raising mortals in the small world within his stomach.

The thunder and rain here are all manifestations of the Azure Dragon Demon Lord's will. When he is in a good mood, the weather is favorable and the crops are plentiful; when he is in a bad mood, disasters follow one after another. Therefore, the mortal in his belly can only pray to the Demon Lord every day, providing him with a massive amount of incense and prayers.

The Azure Dragon Demon Lord used the power of incense offerings to continuously temper his body, and in the end, Zhang Qi had to expend a great deal of effort to kill him.

If the Azure Dragon Lord had received the complete inheritance, he might actually have placed a small world inside his stomach.

Chen Ye climbed up from the beach and tried to fly into the sky.

This can't be a complete world; there has to be a way out, as long as we can find the boundary.

Chen Ye flew toward the sun-like object in the sky, as if to see what this sun really was.

However, just after flying a hundred feet high, Chen Ye heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Don't go! There's a trap in the sky!"

Chen Ye quickly stopped his soaring body and turned to look at the beach below.

Mo Suixin, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, and Pang Duoduo, with her hair disheveled, were standing on the beach, both looking up at the sun and towards where Chen Ye was.

Chen Ye immediately flew downwards.

My intuition was right; the two of them were still alive.

Chen Ye quickly descended from the clouds, transformed into a human, and landed in front of Mo Suixin and Pang Duoduo.

"It really is you!" Mo Suixin said in surprise, "I thought I had sensed something wrong."

Mo Suixin is a follower of the Fengdu Emperor, while Chen Ye is the "true form" of the Fengdu Emperor. Naturally, there will be a subtle connection between the two.

However, Chen Ye had just transformed into a dragon, which made Mo Suixin almost unable to recognize him.

But seeing Chen Ye fly into the sky, Mo Suixin couldn't help but call out, and finally managed to stop him.

"Miss Mo..."

Chen Ye was at a loss for words. He had come to help, but he had been swallowed by the Azure Dragon Lord.

Seeing the two of them like this, Pang Duoduo couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't blame this old woman for being tactless. We don't have much time left, and we don't have time for you two to be all lovey-dovey."

Mo Suixin couldn't help but exclaim, "Master, what time is it now?!"

Pang Duoduo nodded and said, "Yes, it's good that you know."

Mo Suixin stomped her foot in anger and simply shut her mouth and said nothing.

Chen Ye was also somewhat embarrassed, but he still knew the importance of the matter and quickly asked, "Senior Pang, have you found a way to escape?"

Pang Duoduo shook her head and said, "I can't find them. Several disciples of the Burning Incense Sect were originally swallowed up, but they didn't listen to me and insisted on wandering around. Those who flew into the sky inexplicably fell into the sea and were poisoned to death. Those who flew around in all directions couldn't find the boundary and also inexplicably fell into the sea and were poisoned to death."

Chen Ye was still shaken; the methods of this demonic sect were truly fraught with danger. The demons he had encountered before were far too weak to compare with this Azure Dragon Lord.

Chen Ye couldn't help but ask, "Senior Pang, your divination skills are unparalleled, so even you can't find out where the chance of survival lies?"

This sounds like a pessimistic statement, as if someone has no other choice but to turn to divination.

But Chen Ye was serious. Up until now, he still had that feeling of being able to escape from a desperate situation, and he felt that he would never die here.

Pang Duoduo laughed and said, "I have figured it out, but interestingly, this glimmer of hope is on your shoulders. According to my calculations, only you can save us from here. But I really can't figure out the specifics."

"I?"

Although Chen Ye was also at a loss, he did not refute, but tried to calm down and think about how to escape from this place.

Seeing this, Mo Suixin quickly said, "My master and I were also swallowed up not long ago, but we have explored this place. This small island is the only land in this small world, but it is only about thirty miles in circumference, and it is surrounded by highly poisonous seawater. As long as you get a little bit on it, your spiritual energy will leak out uncontrollably until you lose all your life force and become a corpse."

“Other living people once lived on the island. My master and I found some traces of mortals living here, but they are all dead now. We could only find some decaying skeletons…”

Chen Ye listened carefully to Mo Suixin's introduction, saving himself a lot of trouble searching.

According to Mo Suixin's description, Chen Ye felt that this small island was also swallowed by the Azure Dragon Lord. It was probably because his cultivation technique was not yet up to par, so he could not form a small world that could circulate in his stomach. He could only digest the creatures inside as nutrients, and the highly poisonous seawater that could devour spiritual energy was his digestive fluid.

According to Pang Duoduo and Mo Suixin's observations, this poisonous sea also has tidal changes.

Pang Duoduo said, "When we first arrived, the island was about 30 li in circumference, but now it's only about 10 li. The sea level is rising, and it will eventually submerge the entire island."

Chen Ye frowned as he listened. If that were the case, all three of them didn't have much time left.

Pang Duoduo asked with a smile, "Well, have you thought of a way to escape?"

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "Not for now, but I don't believe this island has no boundaries. I want to give it a try."

Chen Ye reached out and took out his Ruyi Divine Weapon.

Chen Ye placed the halberd on the island, and then it stretched out wildly, stabbing towards the illusory sky.

In the blink of an eye, the halberd stretched for hundreds of feet and was about to pierce the sky when Chen Ye saw the tip of the halberd suddenly disappear.

The halberd continued to extend until its head completely disappeared into the void, never to be seen again.

Chen Ye quickly retrieved the halberd, and the Ruyi Divine Weapon swiftly returned to its original size. Chen Ye saw that the halberd was covered with many water droplets, which were constantly seeping into his magic weapon, as if trying to "drill" out the spiritual energy contained within.

Chen Ye quickly flicked his halberd to shake off the water droplets.

"The void has been folded! The sky connects to the seabed, so anyone who tries to fly away from the sky will be sent into the poisonous sea. It seems that the four boundaries are the same; no matter which direction you fly, the end result is falling into the sea. It is truly an exquisite spell, to be able to construct such an intricate world within one's own body."

Chen Ye sighed, but quickly smiled.

Pang Duoduo asked in surprise, "What? You have a way to break this void folding effect?"

Chen Ye shook his head again and said, "It can't be broken. If it were that simple, Senior Pang, you would have solved it long ago. In terms of array formations, how can I compare to you?"

This wasn't just modesty. Although Chen Ye was very talented in the art of formations, cultivation ultimately requires accumulation. Pang Duoduo's talent in this area was no less than Chen Ye's, but the two had a difference of hundreds of years of experience, so Chen Ye never considered breaking the formation from the beginning.

Pang Duoduo asked in confusion, "But you look so confident."

“I only have a rough idea of ​​where the real exit is. The Azure Dragon Lord’s dragon body is not yet complete, and there must be a flaw in the small world inside his belly. I guess he has hidden the real flaw at the bottom of the sea. If we can dive into it, we might be able to find a way out.”

Pang Duoduo shook her head and said, "Indeed, you have a real talent for divination, your intuition is really accurate. I once cast a divination myself, and the key is indeed in the depths of this sea. But the seawater is extremely poisonous and cannot be concealed at all. I have tried many methods, but no protective magic or spell can stop the seawater's erosion. At most, they can only last for a moment, which is definitely not enough for us to dive to the bottom of the sea."

Chen Ye said, "This may be the only glimmer of hope. Senior Pang, you are not truly unable to find the way, you just cannot get there. And I can pave the way for you two."

As Chen Ye spoke, he took out a small treasure box from his storage bag. The moment he opened it, a faint radiance spread out, enveloping the three of them.

Pang Duoduo asked in surprise, "What...what is this treasure?"

Chen Ye explained, "This is a treasure I found in the Ruins of Return, a water-repelling pearl!"

(End of this chapter)