Chapter 75: The Secret of the Super Beast Nether Scorpion

One hundred years later, in the Qingyuan Plane,

Xiao En's radiant divine avatar sat inside a palace hall of the imperial palace, watching countless mortal women ahead perform a synchronized dance;

Even god‑level masters need to enjoy life; otherwise constant cultivation would be too boring, and perhaps only a small fraction of masters who treat power‑up as a hobby would deliberately cultivate and challenge stronger opponents.

After the dance ended, Xiao En waved his hand and said, "All of you, step back, okay?"

"Yes." The palace maids saluted and left, leaving only Xiao En alone in the hall.

A moment later, a streak of black light flew in, knelt, and said, "Bahe, I pay respects to the Lord God."

"Is this your Death Rule divine avatar?" Xiao En asked.

Bahe replied, "Yes. My water‑type divine avatar and the Holy Realm's true form are still commanding the clan in the Nether Realm. My only son and some clan descendants have also gone to the Maple‑Wave Material Plane; everything is ready."

"Don't worry too much; all this is merely to prevent an extreme scenario," Xiao En's voice sounded from above. "If we can locate Buweit smoothly, pinpoint the exact target, and then act, we may avoid a major conflict and perhaps even eliminate them silently."

If we can stay low‑key, Xiao En also wishes to remain discreet, avoiding any final blame falling on himself;

Nevertheless, he has made comprehensive preparations: his divine avatar in the Nether Realm will not appear, and even communication with the Nether Serpent will occur on the Material Plane, or be relayed through a divine avatar of a Soul Seed.

All current scheming is merely to prevent an uncontrollable outcome; if it spirals out, he would gladly wipe out the Four Beast Clan, though it is preferable to wait until his Death Rule reaches full consummation.

During this period, he has been fully borrowing the power of faith to cultivate the Death Rule and has made some breakthroughs, yet the full consummation remains a distance away. When he hits a bottleneck later, he will create a divine plane to see if a breakthrough is possible.

"Yes, Lord God." Bahe continued, "My informant within the Four Beast Clan has clarified that Buweit's contract beast is Haiyinxi, a beast Buweit discovered in the Nether Sea and bound to him with a master‑servant contract during the Holy Realm;

He then lived in Blood Dragon Valley, but after Buweit was punished by the Lord God, he was marginalized by the Four Beast Clan and left; no one knows where he went."

"What kind of beast is he, and what rank does he hold now?" Xiao En pressed.

Bahe replied, "It is said to be a scorpion‑type divine beast from the Nether Sea, apparently bearing the legendary Nether Scorpion bloodline, though it's unclear whether it can wield innate divine abilities;

Haiyinxi is a high‑rank deity who once performed demon missions; now he is a Four‑Star Demon, though that may be merely the lowest tier. We also don't know if he has merged the Profound Mystery or possesses innate abilities."

"That's irrelevant; his strength won't be great, and once we locate him we can certainly capture him." Xiao En, somewhat surprised, asked, "How much do you know about this Nether Scorpion?"

In the information left by Feisite, he learned that Feisite's true form is a Nether Scorpion divine beast. After becoming a Lord God, his divine avatar also gathered some data in the Nether Realm;

It is said that long ago the Nether Sea housed Nether Scorpion divine beasts, also called "Super Beasts," whose power was said to be immense—though some claim they were weak. They gradually became extinct. Nowadays, some lifeforms are rumored to carry Nether Scorpion bloodlines, but they are hard to locate, and the time window is short, so Xiao En has never found one.

He did not expect Buweit's contract beast to possess Nether Scorpion bloodline; that might be useful to him.

Bahe said, "Lord God, the Nether Scorpion is a kind of divine beast from many trillions of years ago, but it is very special—it can devour its own kind to grow."

"Devour its own kind?" Xiao En asked in surprise. "Are there many Nether Scorpions?"

Super Beasts between heaven and earth are usually unique, such as the Four Beast, Wukun, Death Sovereign, Nether Fruit Tree, and so on. Beirut and Beibei appeared two in a million years, truly defying fate.

Ordinary divine beasts are numerous; for example, in the original work, the Light Sovereign's messenger Chegewin and Lin Lei's friend Di Lin are both 'Ni‑suan' beasts, but such common beasts have only average innate abilities.

Bahe said, "Yes, many. The special thing about Nether Scorpions is that those born normally are ordinary beasts, but divine beasts can mutually devour each other's bloodlines to strengthen themselves, making both their bodies and innate abilities increasingly powerful;

It is said that when devouring reaches the extreme, one can attain the Super Beast level—a divine artifact body plus terrifying innate abilities, though I have never seen it."

"I never imagined such beasts existed between heaven and earth; fascinating."

Xiao En also began to understand why Feisite, as a dual‑mid‑rank Lord God, could possess a Twelve‑Wing Angel Rebirth Pool; as a Lord God, he can easily devour other Nether Scorpions;

If his body is refined to the Divine Artifact level, plus innate abilities, and only lacking a fragment of the Dark Sovereign's willpower, then if the Dark Sovereign is not a beast, he likely cannot be defeated.

Bahe continued, "The Nether Scorpion's innate divine art is also formidable; like my Nether Serpent, it is a soul attack, but it carries a special soul toxin. Even if an enemy's soul defense blocks the initial strike, the lingering effect persists for a long time, causing excruciating pain that is hard to endure."

"Such a powerful innate art, what a waste."

Even the strongest innate arts are ineffective against high‑level soul‑defense artifacts; the devouring mouse's innate art is useless against a Divine Artifact even when confronting a god‑slayer.

Even if Feisite truly became a Super Beast, it would be useless against Augusta, who wields a supreme soul‑defense artifact. That may be one of the reasons his Death Lord avatar was killed by Augusta in the first scene.

Bahe added, "The Nether Scorpion's traits are indeed wondrous, but they bring a problem: among such beasts they are natural mortal enemies—either they hunt their own kind or they hide."

"Can they recognize each other?" Xiao En asked.

Bahe replied, "It is said they can; at close range they can sense each other, and once detected, a massive hunt ensues."

"It's been over a million years; if Haiyinxi has been killed, that would indeed be troublesome," Xiao En frowned. "Or if he's hiding, he'll be hard to find. Do you have his soul aura?"

Bahe immediately retrieved a badge from his spatial ring and handed it over: "Lord God, this is the aura I extracted at great cost from Haiyinxi's demon badge in the Demon Castle."

Xiao En took it, asking, "If Haiyinxi is still active in the Nether Realm, perhaps the Demon Castle can locate him."

"Yes, we can indeed place a bounty on finding him, but I worry that if he learns of it, he'll hide even more," Bahe hurriedly said. "Also, if the Four Beast Clan learns someone is bountying Buweit's contract beast, they might investigate."

Xiao En nodded, "Alright, I understand. Keep the badge with me. Near Qingyuan City, find any spot to build a castle; you may use the Material Plane's resources at will."

"Yes, thank you, Lord God." Bahe also realized his divine avatar could not proceed further;

Nevertheless, accompanying a fully consummated mid‑rank Lord God is beneficial for him; even the Fire‑Refining Lord God he serves values him, but none entrust him with as many tasks as Xiao En does;

Now the gamble is that if he cooperates with the Lord God to complete the mission without sparking a major conflict with the Four Beast Clan, his own clan will later be allied with a powerful Lord God.

After Bahe left, Xiao En stared at the badge in his hand, pondering:

If he seeks help from the Death Sovereign, it would be easy to locate, but then he would owe a favor, and should the Supreme Divine Relic be inadvertently exposed later, the Death Sovereign might realize he's been using her;

Concerning the Supreme Divine Relic, knowing it yet not telling her could cause the Death Sovereign to turn hostile; if that happens, he would offend many Lord Gods. Better not take the risk, since she is a sovereign of the same system; even if his Death Rule reaches full consummation, he may still need her protection to contend with the Light Sovereign.

If he bypasses the Lord God, then even if one day the Lord God learns he holds the Supreme Divine Relic and he hands it over to the Sovereign, he could still gain a favor.

"I'll investigate first by my own means," Xiao En decided.

At the same time, in the Nether Realm, inside a palace atop a mountain:

Half a year later, inside a castle outside the Nether Underworld:

"Mr. Xiao Yan, I am Asade, deputy commander of the Nether Army," a man in black said, bowing excitedly upon seeing Xiao Yan. "Any request you have, just state it; if we can fulfill it, we will."

Mr. Xiao Yan was a super‑rank master he had previously encountered by chance, who defeated him effortlessly, earning his respect.

"Very well, thank you." Xiao En took a badge from his hand and said, "Take this badge and have someone deliver it to every city on the Nether Continent;

so that the gate‑keeping soldiers become familiar with this aura daily, then wait to see whether its owner will enter any city."

In theory, the gatekeepers of each city are the best way to locate other god‑level beings, unless the person never enters a city;

Even so, bribing that many gatekeepers would be quite arduous.

Asade took the badge and immediately asked, "Mr. Xiao Yan, besides the badge, can we know this person's appearance and name? That would make our search easier."

"No need, just a single Soul Essence for you." Shawn said coolly: "If you can locate it, I'll give you ten drops of the Lord of the Gods' Power, and anyone who finds this person's soldiers will also be richly rewarded."

Although this Soul Essence Badge of mine was taken from the Demon Castle, as long as there is a name and identity information, the Demon Castle can easily locate the badge;

Conversely, trying to determine whose it belongs to based solely on a badge is almost impossible, unless the Soul Essence has been remembered by someone;

Now that I have given this badge to the Lord of the Gods' army, although they also belong to the Death Sovereign, they are not the same department, so their overlap should be minimal; even if there is some, it won't involve my matter.

Thus, outsiders can hardly know whose case I am investigating.

Asade dared not ask further; upon hearing the reward of the Lord of the Gods' Power, he was overjoyed and said, "Please rest assured, Mr. Xiao Yan, I will certainly dispatch this Soul Essence Badge to the soldiers of every city on the Nether Continent in the shortest time possible."

Although the Nether Army is the Lord of the Gods' forces, they are overseen by commanders and even teams such as the Seven Star Demons, so they naturally handle some of their own affairs; after all, the Lord of the Gods is lofty and cannot directly manage the troops.

Moreover, if one day a bandit hideout displeases them, they can order the Lord of the Gods' army to lay siege, which is also part of governance.

However, using public assets for private purposes depends on the situation; they must never directly attack other legitimate families or families that bear a grudge against them, for if such acts are discovered by the Lord of the Gods, they could be punished or even executed.

In short, as long as it does not affect the Lord of the Gods' demands, orders, or the rules everyone tacitly accepts, there is no problem;

Having the soldiers guarding the city memorize the Soul Essence and then monitor everyone entering and leaving each day is easy, yet the reward they receive is the Lord of the Gods' Power; after all, those who work for the Lord of the Gods do so not out of personal ambition but for the occasional grace of the Lord of the Gods' Power.

Shawn nodded and said, "Alright, I will leave a Death Puppet here; if there is any progress, inform me immediately."

A God-level expert can embed a fragment of his consciousness into a Death Puppet, which can be activated when needed, functioning as a divine avatar; many more timid commanders on the planar battlefield also employ this technique.

However, for ultra‑long distances the soul requirements are high; in the original work, the Eight Great Clans that besieged the Four Divine Beasts used the Death Puppet method for remote gatherings.

In the following decades, Shawn traveled to the six domains of the Nether Sea, and in the same manner handed Hai Yinxi's Soul Essence Badge to the heads of the other six Lord of the Gods' armies, then searched the major cities throughout the Nether Realm.

This is actually how many super‑clans hunt bounties, though they usually do not use the Lord of the Gods' army but instead station their own men at the city gates; this is less efficient than the Lord of the Gods' soldiers, because aside from the troops, no one else is permitted to freely emit divine perception at the gates, and others can only investigate after someone enters, which often leads to misses.

"If this person has left the Nether Realm, it will be hard to find; we can wait a while and see, and if that fails, check the teleportation array again."

Shawn sighed inwardly; it had already been more than a million years, though such a span is negligible in the Panlong World; yet a high‑ranking deity, as long as they have wealth, can easily traverse the divine plane and depart.

Immediately, he found an island in the Nether Sea and settled into a peaceful seclusion.

PS: Seeking monthly tickets

(End of chapter)