Chapter 376: The Sealed Ancient Beast Has Broken Free!

The Flame Long Dong, along with everyone trapped inside due to the triggered self-destruct mechanism of the array, was buried and consumed.

Whether the Mo Sect guards who had retreated inside, or the righteous sect prisoners who had been hopelessly awaiting rescue.

In that instant, all were utterly buried and devoured by the collapsing cavern, violent earthfire, and erupting magma.

Not a single survivor!

Chen Mu stared at the scene as if the end of the world had descended, his pupils contracting, a chill running down his spine.

The old man's warning—"the array's self-destruction would trigger earthfire upheaval, reducing all to ashes"—had been fulfilled in this horrific, total manner.

Yet the terrifying entity beneath the earth seemed unsatisfied with merely destroying the Flame Long Dong.

Just as Chen Mu's spirit reeled, gazing at that sea of magma and fire—

"Aooohrr—!!!"

A piercing, furious, infinitely wrathful and savage beast roar erupted suddenly from the very core of the erupting magma, from the unfathomably deep fissure beneath the earth.

This roar pierced through the thunder of magma ejections, pierced through the muffled tremors of the earth, echoing clearly across the entire valley, even drowning out the lingering shockwaves of the Heavenly Palace cultivators' self-destruction.

Worse still, this roar carried a terrifyingly potent spiritual attack.

Invisible sound waves struck like countless steel needles, hammering into the souls of every living being that heard it.

In the valley, whether Mo Sect or righteous sect cultivators, all whose cultivation was weak or whose spiritual perception lacked resilience instantly clutched their heads, screaming in agony, blood gushing from all seven orifices; some even suffered complete spiritual collapse, collapsing to the ground and being swallowed by subsequent magma or falling rocks.

"What is that?!"

Chen Mu also felt a sharp pain in his mind-sea, as if struck by a sledgehammer, but his Five Qi Converging to Origin state stabilized his soul, and the Three Smiles Buddha Beads spun rapidly—combined, they successfully dissipated the spiritual assault.

The little face on Long Tuti's back turned instantly pale, but something on her person glowed faintly, shielding her from most of the spiritual invasion.

"Bad! It's a Beast King!"

"What kind of beast is this? Retreat quickly!"

"Run, run—!"

From below the valley, screams of utter terror and desperate cries filled the air; the battlefield, nearly over, collapsed completely as everyone fled blindly toward the valley's exit.

Chen Mu did not hesitate a moment; he slung Long Tuti onto his back, pushed his body's movement to its limit, his true qi raging through his meridians, transforming into a nearly invisible blue streak that shot against the chaotic tide of fleeing people and flying rocks and magma toward the valley's exit.

He dared not fly high, lest he become a clear target for the chaotic energy and spiritual shocks above; instead, he skimmed the uneven terrain, weaving through smoke and fire.

After flying several kilometers in one breath, leaving the valley and reaching a safer zone, Chen Mu finally dared to slow slightly and turned to look back.

At the sight, Chen Mu sucked in a sharp breath.

There, at the center of the former Flame Long Dong—now a vast lake of magma—the boiling crimson magma parted as if pushed by invisible force, and a colossal shadow slowly rose from beneath the earth!

First to emerge were three monstrous heads, each as large as a mountain.

These three heads were dragon-like yet not quite dragon; the exposed portions were covered in thick, blood-red scales edged with molten luster, crowned with curved single horns, their gaping maws lined with jagged fangs, spewing searing breath and sparks.

The three heads connected to a neck thicker than palace pillars by several times, then to an even larger, hundreds-of-meters-long slender body!

The body was likewise armored in thick crimson scales, reflecting an eerie blend of coldness and heat under the magma's glow; four razor-sharp claws emerged from the magma, each talon like a giant hooked blade, effortlessly shattering cooled basalt.

It was unmistakably a terrifying three-headed dragon, over three hundred meters in length.

Most of its body still submerged in boiling magma, yet the exposed portions radiated a soul-shaking aura—furious, scorching, ancient, and brimming with destruction, far surpassing ordinary Heavenly Palace cultivators.

"It's… it's the Three-Headed Crimson Flame Demon Dragon!"

Long Tuti, crouched on Chen Mu's back, widened her eyes, her face filled with disbelief; she leaned close to his ear and whispered in a near-screaming tone of horror.

"I've seen the Bestiary at home—this ancient beast was supposed to have been exterminated by the combined efforts of all major sects in ancient times; the records say it's been extinct. How could it still be alive here?!"

"And it seems it was sealed beneath this Moonwatch Valley?!"

As if to confirm Long Tuti's cry, the Three-Headed Crimson Flame Demon Dragon raised all three heads simultaneously, roaring toward the chaotic sky and earth with even greater fury and rage.

"Aooohrr—!!!"

Accompanying the roar, all three massive mouths opened wide, unleashing three pillars of flame—crimson, dark gold, and blazing white—each carrying devastating energy, like three beams of hellish judgment, indiscriminately sweeping across every living thing still moving in the valley.

Whether Mo Sect disciples fleeing in panic, righteous cultivators attempting to organize retreat, or collapsed buildings and jagged rocks—anything touched by these flame pillars instantly turned to ash or melted into liquid.

"Yang Honglie, you madman!!"

Amid the Three-Headed Crimson Flame Demon Dragon's rampage and the massacre of life, a furious, throat-ripping roar echoed from high above the valley: Li Tianjun.

Clearly, he had understood the root of it all.

"Hahahaha…"

A low, gravelly voice, unexpectedly magnetic, seemed to rise from the Nine Heavens of Hell, or to ring directly within every soul's heart, drowning out the demon dragon's roars and the flames' burning.

"Senior Li, Master Yan, and all you 'pillars of the righteous sects'… since you deny the Sun-Moon Holy Sect any path to survival, insist on wiping us out, destroying our branch, then let us all perish together—wouldn't that be better?"

"To take you, and this ancient beast, down with me—Yang Honglie dies a worthy death! Hahahaha…"

"Aoo~!!"

The Mo Sect elder's laughter echoed across sky and earth; as the last remaining Heavenly Palace cultivator, he now stood above the magma.

As his words ended, one of the newly freed Three-Headed Crimson Flame Demon Dragon's heads snapped toward the sky, unleashing a flame pillar toward Li Tianjun's position—thicker, wilder, more violent than before.

"All of you are mad…"

Chen Mu's scalp prickled; he dared not pause a moment, pushing his speed to its limit, becoming a streak of light, fleeing without looking back.

Behind him: a sky ablaze, a demon dragon roaring, screams and curses intertwining into an apocalyptic scene.

And a sudden, clear, universe-shaking cry from distant skies:

"Ten Thousand Swords—Return to Sect!"