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Chapter 145 Dragon Butterfly Breaks Through the Wall and Devours Remnant Souls, Beast Lord Seeks Survival and Seeks Shelter [Part Two]

Tang Hao couldn't help but pause.

"Your Highness?"

Sensing something was wrong, the nine women immediately looked at him with concern.

"It's nothing." He shook his head, first raising the small sun above his head, and then looking around to make sure there was no danger.

He then said, "Wait a moment."

"Yes!"

He responded, and the nine women spread out to protect him within the encirclement.

Having grown somewhat accustomed to their reactions, Tang Hao glanced at them and then refocused his attention on the illusionary scene.

If I remember correctly, the scene changed the moment they passed through the entrance passage and entered the cave inside the stone wall.

"Well, it's like suddenly switching to a different signal area and the TV channel you're receiving has changed."

I shook my head slightly, trying to banish these thoughts from my mind.

In this scene, the shape of the puppet beast can be vaguely seen through the five-colored spiritual light.

'How did it get so badly damaged?' He frowned, examining the puppet beast's broken body.

The tiger's head, with its metallic sheen, had half its face mangled and missing an eye; the remaining eye resembled liquid mercury.

Large bald patches appeared on its neck, with only a few tufts of emerald green hair fluttering in the wind. Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were jade-like vines, with tiny flashes of lightning occasionally appearing among them.

Like a body sculpted from glass, it was also missing pieces here and there, with veins hidden beneath the skin, and when they passed through those places, liquid like lava seeped out.

On either side of his body, his translucent crystalline wings, burning with crimson flames, were either broken off at the root and drooping to the ground, or one-third of them were missing.

A snake's tail that constantly changes shape is also missing almost half, and it appears slightly stagnant when alternating between steam, liquid, and ice.

Seeing its appearance, Tang Hao felt a twitch in his cheek: 'What kind of brutal and intense battle must it have taken to end up like this?'

With that resonance present, just like before, without needing anyone to tell him, he knew the origin of this puppet beast—[Primordial Beast Lord].

It is the core of this secret palace, originally a puppet beast comparable to a low-grade spiritual treasure.

Even though it is now broken and dilapidated, it still manages to maintain the quality of a magical artifact.

At this moment, however, it is corrupted and suppressed by the Nightmare Dragon, and seems to be being devoured and refined.

'No wonder the Nightmare Dragon didn't leave this place; it was planning this all along.' Tang Hao suddenly realized.

This secret chamber is completely ruined and certainly cannot contain it.

Along their journey, they found that only the restrictions on the entrance stone gate remained intact; otherwise, they did not see any other formations or restrictions.

'After this beast devours the [Primordial Beast Lord], it will surely leave this place, and then there will probably be widespread suffering.' Although he sighed inwardly, he had no intention of intervening.

That's ridiculous, did he try to headbutt it?
A single whisker of the Nightmare Dragon is the main material for refining magical artifacts. The dragon itself is at least comparable to the Core Formation stage, and even close to the Nascent Soul stage, making it a terrifying existence.

'Even if the sky falls, the tall ones will be there; even if the water floods, the short ones will be there. I'd better grab what I can and get out of here quickly.'

Thinking this, Tang Hao's eyes darted around, and he activated the Nightmare Butterfly in his sea of ​​consciousness.

A butterfly with many dragon-like characteristics, its body shrouded in black mist, suddenly materialized from within.

With a sudden flap of its wings, it was about to emerge from between its eyebrows.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. He looked at the resonant image and instinctively gave it a command.

The dragon butterfly immediately flapped its wings twice and its body vanished into the sea of ​​consciousness in a flash.

Immediately afterwards, the resonant imagery rippled slightly.

As if passing through a dimensional barrier, the dragon butterfly emerged from the ripples and rushed towards the [Primordial Beast Lord].

"It really works!" Tang Hao was overjoyed, and he also had a guess in his mind, "Is it because dreams and illusions have no concept of distance, and thus resonance is used to achieve this?"

His current understanding of the Nightmare Butterfly is still superficial, and he needs more practice.

The [Primordial Beast Lord] was bound by black chains, which bound its head, torso, and limbs, and even its ever-changing snake tail was no exception.

Therefore, it merely glanced at the Dragon Butterfly's appearance and did nothing else.

Instead, the chains rattled loudly.

In the void, black mist swirled, seemingly about to condense into a new chain, yet it hesitated and remained there.

Tang Hao could clearly sense the doubt rising in the Demon Nightmare Dragon's heart.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself: 'It must have sensed my presence now,'

Without daring to delay, he controlled the dragon butterfly to accelerate suddenly, plunging headfirst into the body of the [Primordial Beast Lord].

Then, without stopping, it began to lay eggs and gnaw on its body.

"Huh? Wait a minute." Tang Hao suddenly realized something was wrong. "Isn't the [Primordial Beast Lord] a puppet beast?"

'Then what is this? Is the puppet beast's spirit trapped in an illusion? Or is it dreaming?'

However, his limited knowledge of weapon crafting told him that weapon spirits do not fall into hallucinations, much less dream.

'Unless... this is not the original spirit of the artifact!' Tang Hao's eyes flashed as he remembered what he had seen in a miscellaneous book.

It's unclear whether it's true: 'When a cultivator is about to die, it seems they can entrust their soul to a suitable spiritual treasure, becoming a kind of artifact spirit.'

“Young friend, you’re right!” An aged voice echoed in his mind.

Tang Hao nodded slightly: 'It really is that…'

Who is speaking? Who are you?

His expression suddenly changed drastically, and his pupils contracted sharply.

'This voice wasn't transmitted through sound, but entered my mind directly, seemingly communicating with me through the connection of the Nightmare Butterfly.'

The aged voice praised, "So this technique is called [Nightmare Butterfly]. It can actually snatch food from the mouth of the Nightmare Dragon. It is truly extraordinary."

The other person's voice came again, and he noticed: 'The other person speaks the same language as the people in the video.'

"A video? Could it be that a disciple stationed here left behind footage...? Wait a minute." The aged voice suddenly paused, "You speak a different language than us? You're not from this world?"

Tang Hao controlled himself, daring not to let his mind wander, and tried his best to keep his mind clear.

Upon hearing this, he cautiously replied in his mind, "Of course it is. What I speak is the common language. Not to mention Cangnan Region, the entire Eastern Wilderness uses this language."

"Cangnan Region? Eastern Wilderness?" The man's voice was full of confusion, and then he asked repeatedly, his voice trembling slightly, "Young friend, do you know anything about the Five Elements Heaven?"

"【Five Elements Heaven】?" Tang Hao had only heard this term in the Guangzi. "Forgive my ignorance, but I have never heard of 【Five Elements Heaven】. Is this your sect, senior?"

"Never heard of it..."

After repeating this sentence, the other party fell into a long silence.

Just as Tang Hao was getting impatient and about to start overthinking things...

The aged voice rang out again: "I apologize, I have been quite shocked and do not know where to begin."

Before he could respond, the other person continued talking.

"To answer your question earlier, young friend, I am now the spirit of the [Primordial Beast Lord]."

A spirit? He was taken aback and was about to order the Dragon Butterfly to stop.

But the spirit stopped him: "It's alright. Anyway, I don't have much time left. What difference does it make whether I'm swallowed by you or by it?" "Senior is truly magnanimous. I admire you greatly." Tang Hao flattered him.

"Heh, what's with the magnanimity? It would be best if we could just stay alive."

With a sigh, the spirit continued, "I hail from the Five Elements Heaven and am the guardian elder of this Demon-Suppressing Trial Grounds. Back then..."

As the other party recounted the events, Tang Hao roughly understood what had happened there.

Deep underground, there is a magical spring that leads to the demon realm.

After being suppressed and sealed by the Five Elements Heaven, it was transformed into a training ground for sect disciples to practice.

One day, the heavens and earth shook, the demonic spring burst open and tore through space, and a large number of demons poured out from it.

Sensing the demonic energy, the Primordial Beast Lord completely sealed off the entire trial grounds according to the pre-set response plan.

The elders and disciples guarding this place, along with tens of thousands of disciples who came here for trials, are trapped here, fighting a relentless battle against the demons.

Until they suffered heavy losses and barely survived in the depths of the secret realm.

Fortunately, the idea of ​​such an event had been conceived when the Demon Suppression Trial Grounds were first established.

Ordinary monsters are also trapped here and cannot get out, while high-level monsters have difficulty even passing through spatial rifts.

Only a few demonic creatures with Nascent Soul cultivation managed to break in despite being severely injured.

"I also damaged my physical body and nascent soul while constantly fighting against high-level demons, and without any elixirs to repair them, I had no choice but to entrust them to the [Primordial Beast Lord]."

Recalling the past, the spirit of the artifact couldn't help but sigh.

Tang Hao sighed, "So, the Nightmare Dragon was born in that kind of environment?"

"Yes and no, initially it didn't really have anything to do with it." The spirit gave a wry smile.

"In that fierce battle, many disciples were corrupted by demonic energy and became possessed by demons. Extreme emotions such as fear and helplessness spread, and nightmare energy naturally arose."

"Nine demons and one nightmare. A fully formed nightmare is much more difficult to deal with than a demon. Unbeknownst to many, demons roam freely here, and nightmare spirits run rampant. Not even one in a hundred cultivators survives."

Tang Hao couldn't help but look around, feeling a chill run down his spine, never expecting such a tragedy to have occurred here.

The spirit seemed to sense his movements and comforted him, "Right now, there is no danger here except for the Nightmare Dragon. Of course, if it fully awakens, you will most likely not be able to escape."

"Thank you so much," he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

He pressed further, asking, "Where did the Nightmare Dragon come from?"

"It was originally just an ordinary Nightmare Spirit. It was troublesome, but not enough to dominate this place. Demons give birth to Nightmares, and Nightmares overcome demons. The two have a relationship of mutual generation and restraint, which has formed a delicate balance."

At this point, the spirit couldn't help but sigh again.

"But who knew that it would find an extremely yin place underground and use it to condense a nightmare core, completely breaking free from the shackles of the spiritual realm and merging demonic energy and nightmare energy into one."

"From then on, the Nightmare Dragon could be both real and illusory, and there was nothing in the Demon Suppression Trial Grounds that could restrain it, and it was gradually devoured."

Tang Hao hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "The matter you mentioned, senior, must have been extremely long ago, right? You..."

"Young friend, do you want to ask why I haven't perished, and why the Nightmare Dragon is still at the Core Formation stage?" The artifact spirit chuckled, guessing his thoughts.

The spirit said in a low voice, "Nightmare spirits are inherently difficult to grow. It takes ten years to condense emotions and a hundred years to form an energy entity. It takes even more fortuitous opportunities to condense the Nightmare Core and break through the void into reality."

"It also absorbs demonic energy into its body. The two constantly wear each other down and establish a balance. With the entanglement of us and the original artifact spirit, countless years have passed, and it has still reached this point. It is just one step away from breaking into a new realm."

Listening to the spirit's words, Tang Hao also figured it out: "So, you are not a cultivator either."

"Hehe, young friend, you react quickly." The spirit of the artifact said with a smile, "I am just a mixture of the remnants of several people's souls, so you don't need to worry about me possessing someone else's body."

"Ahem, you jest, senior." Tang Hao couldn't help but blush when his thoughts were exposed.

The spirit of the artifact said dismissively, "It's just human nature."

After speaking, it paused for a moment, then said, "I see that you are cultivating the Five Elements Qi Refining Technique, young friend. May I ask what your spiritual root is?"

"This kid has ordinary talent; he's just an mediocre person with mixed spiritual roots of the five elements." Not knowing why the other party was asking this, Tang Hao hesitated for a moment before telling the truth.

Upon hearing this, the artifact spirit was overjoyed: "Is it truly complete with all five attributes?"

"Uh, really? This isn't a good thing, so why would I lie to you?" he said, both amused and exasperated.

"Great! Excellent! In that case, perhaps I won't have to die."

For the first time, joy appeared in the spirit's voice, instead of the formulaic laughter that had been there before.

'Not dying? Or is it because of me? Could it be that those with exceptional talent can't succeed, but it's precisely because I have a mixed spiritual root with five attributes that it was able to successfully possess my body?'

Tang Hao could no longer control his thoughts and couldn't help but let his mind wander.

"What are you thinking?" The spirit immediately noticed and found it somewhat amusing.

He then said sincerely, "In that case, I will be frank. Please refine the [Primordial Beast Lord] and make it your master."

"Refinement? Recognition as a master?" What kind of development is this?

I couldn't help but glance at the tattered puppet beast in the resonance scene.

He coughed lightly and said, "You are currently controlled by the Nightmare Dragon. How can I rescue you?"

Although he felt the chances of success were slim and he didn't want to take the risk, he still had to ask.

"Why save it?" The spirit's voice was somewhat strange. "The true form of the Primordial Beast Lord is right here."

“Your Nightmare Butterfly has intruded into my consciousness space. The cave you are in is the core of the Demon Suppression Trial Grounds.”

"However, this place has been completely destroyed, and nothing has been left. This place is still relatively sturdy, and the Nightmare Dragon cannot break in."

This was truly unexpected. Tang Hao stopped after entering, without even having a chance to explore further.

"Alright, stop wasting time. Hurry up and refine the [Primordial Beast Lord] so we can leave this hellhole." The spirit's voice was full of longing for the outside world.

Tang Hao answered and opened his eyes, immediately seeing several pairs of concerned eyes.

He didn't explain much, but simply waved to the nine women and said, "Come on, there are good things inside, let's go and take them."

"What good stuff?"

"This godforsaken place actually has treasures left behind?"

"If Your Highness says it exists, then it certainly exists."

The cave was quite large, and the group walked a considerable distance before arriving at an altar, guided by the spirit of the artifact.

The altar was about ten feet tall, and a majestic puppet beast stood atop it.

"Just as it is in the consciousness space, it's just as dilapidated." Tang Hao led the nine women up and, after a brief look, curled his lip and said.

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!"

The puppet beast suddenly spoke, startling not only the nine women.

Tang Hao, who was prepared, was also startled.

Ignoring their reactions, the puppet beast slowly lay down.

With a "snap," a cavity opened up in his chest.

One of the grooves is revealed, which fits the shape of the Five Elements Wheel.

(End of this chapter)