Qian Jiao Island.
The rain fell incessantly, the sky as dark as ink.
The desolate land was filled with ruins, and fissures that cracked open like the gaping mouths of abysses were visible everywhere. Various pools of blood were scattered across the ground; due to their extraordinary nature, even the rainwater could not wash them away. Strange beasts, demonic beasts, and dark creatures lay dead in heaps, presenting a scene of purgatory.
Beside a blood pool in the wilderness, a patch of land seemed to be squeezed out from within. A piece of it fell off with a "snap" and rolled into the blood pool, splashing up a spray of blood.
Following this, a centipede-like creature with a ferocious mouthpart, brandishing two large pincers, and a head the size of a washbasin emerged from a hole in the earth. Its eyes were as black as ink, faintly tinged with a trace of blood-red light.
After poking its head out, it first glanced around cautiously. Once it confirmed it was safe, it extended its two long antennae into the blood pool, as if searching for something.
Before long, it fished out the head of a shrimp demon, half of which had been blown away. The demon crystal within was long gone, but the centipede seemed overjoyed. A silver light flashed on its two enormous pincers, easily tearing open half of the shrimp demon's head. It then brought its mouthpart close.
Just as it was about to suck out the meager brains within the shrimp's head, a light chuckle sounded from behind it:
"I never expected to find a creature like you on the battlefield, and one that has actually grown to C-class!"
Yu Zhibo watched the centipede demon, half of whose head was submerged in the blood pool, with keen interest and a hint of surprise.
The term "demon" referred to various plants and animals on Earth that had developed sentience and mastered supernatural powers.
In reality, however, apart from the few orderly demonic beasts in the Dragon Kingdom and the demon races living in the sea, sentient demons were very rare elsewhere on Earth.
In this world filled with dark creatures and eternal night demonic beasts, the living space for demons, other than in the oceans, was extremely limited. This was why Yu Zhibo was so surprised to see a mere centipede grow to such a degree.
The moment the centipede demon saw Yu Zhibo, it froze for a moment. Then, it greedily sucked a mouthful of the shrimp demon's brains before turning around and letting out a threatening roar at him.
"Hiss~"
The roar was somewhat sharp, like compressed gas being expelled from eardrums. Coupled with its ferocious pincers and mouthparts, and the fine fuzz on its head, it looked rather ugly and menacing.
"It has developed some intelligence, but judging by its audacity to bare its fangs at me, it shouldn't be very high. It's quite remarkable that it could grow to this extent. I might as well take it back for Song'er to play with," Yu Zhibo murmured. With a glare, he stunned it and absorbed it into his Pure Land space.
"Li Dao mentioned that a Six-Eared Demonic Ape exists on Earth, secretly orchestrating events. Although this ape is not as adept at listening to sounds, discerning principles, and understanding the past and future as the Six-Eared Macaque, it is deeply cunning, possesses extraordinary concealment abilities, and its bloodline divine abilities are not to be underestimated. If left unchecked, it will surely become a major threat. I suspect it is located here."
"With the invasion of sea beasts, less than one in ten islands on Earth remains. As one of the 'feet' of the rooster, although this island, like the Southern Island, bears a certain destiny of the Dragon Kingdom, it has lost the protection of its destiny shield due to the complete annihilation of its population. Logically, it should have sunk into the sea long ago. But since it exists, it must be due to the protection of that demonic ape."
Yu Zhibo's eyes flickered. In the past, although he had been somewhat surprised by the existence of Qian Jiao Island, he hadn't thought of it in this way. Moreover, after the destiny shield was established, the island's strategic importance had diminished compared to before the supernatural was revealed, so he had always overlooked it.
Now, upon careful consideration, it indeed seemed highly suspicious.
"Shielding its own existence is one of the demonic ape's abilities. This is an energy that is almost akin to the Dao. While not as exaggerated as Brother Monkey's ability to transcend the three realms and be outside the five elements, it's not far off. Otherwise, there's no reason it could have eluded both me and Old Wang."
"But now that I know you're here, everything is manageable!"
Yu Zhibo's thoughts raced. He didn't have absolute certainty that the demonic ape was here, but he felt in his heart that his guess was correct, and that was enough.
A purple gleam flashed in his eyes.
The next moment, he spread his fingers wide, aimed at a point of void above the center of Qian Jiao Island, and rotated his wrist.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
A black dot, the size of a peanut, formed at the focal point of his Rinnegan and mental power. Then, a colossal gravitational pull erupted from it.
Boom!
In an instant, the earth cracked open, and countless masses of soil, huge rocks, and urban ruins were lifted into the air, drawn towards the black dot.
Boom boom boom!
Under the immense suction, every piece of land slammed onto the black dot, being continuously compacted to form a sphere, which then continued to expand.
"Roar~"
Countless shrill screams echoed.
As Chibaku Tensei was unleashed, before the demonic ape could be forced out, a large number of demons, devils, ghosts, and other supernatural beings fell victim, crushed within the celestial body.
Thousands of meters in the sky, a colossal earth sphere hung suspended. Qian Jiao Island had been scoured thirty feet deep, and the sphere's diameter had reached nearly a thousand meters, appearing like a suspended star.
Occasionally, powerful strange beasts would forcefully break through the earth's confinement and expose their heads, only to be quickly submerged again. Even ferocious ghosts, under the might of the celestial body, could not escape.
"Still not coming out?"
Yu Zhibo stood in mid-air, hands behind his back, his eyes sharp. A calm, light shout echoed across the entire land.
In the distant sea, the head of a massive sea beast emerged. Upon seeing Yu Zhibo's back, it trembled and immediately submerged back into the water, fleeing instantly.
"Qian Jiao Island? What is he doing?"
The Dragon King of the Sea Demon Kingdom frowned upon hearing this news, but was quickly distracted by an eternal night beast invading its territory. With a roar, it transformed into a ten-thousand-meter-long dragon body and quickly engaged the beast in combat.
Meanwhile, as the star in the sky grew larger, Yu Zhibo's expression grew colder.
On Qian Jiao Island, as the land continuously ascended, geothermal volcanoes began to erupt. The spewing lava was directly sucked into the sky, as if being kneaded into dough, making the "celestial body" formed by Chibaku Tensei increasingly dense.
A law-based creature, surviving in the magma and bathed in lava, roared and flung a river of lava towards Yu Zhibo. However, its laws were no match for the might of the celestial body. The flung lava river, like a waterfall flowing in reverse, was absorbed by the immense suction, and the creature, along with the lava, was ultimately suppressed within the star suspended in mid-air.
"Zhibo, what are you doing?" Wang Shouyi's divine sense transmitted from within the Dragon Kingdom, carrying a hint of confusion.
"Just dealing with a hidden danger!"
Yu Zhibo replied with a smile, "I understand your meaning. Qian Jiao Island, being the forefoot of the rooster, is naturally not something to be destroyed lightly. But since it is not protected by the destiny shield, there must be a reason, a reason we could never find. It's better to destroy it and rebuild!"
"For me, creating an island is very simple!"
Wang Shouyi fell silent for a moment, "You decide for yourself!"
Yu Zhibo said no more, increasing his effort. The cracking earth of the city converged towards the star in the sky once more.
Just then, a subtle spatial fluctuation, so faint it was almost negligible, emanated from a depth of over three thousand meters underground.
Yu Zhibo's lips curved upwards.
"Found you! Worm!"