Chapter 113: The Beast of Chaos and Destruction

“To think they really set an ambush here… Those little guys under Tao Mu are quite well-trained.”

Seeing that the last two Demon Lords were also blocked partway and couldn’t approach the gigantic pillar, Miss Xiao Kong’s expression visibly relaxed, and she even found the leisure to comment on it in midair.

“Miss Vilyric, do you think the other party might have any other tricks up their sleeve?”

“Who knows…”

Shaking her head noncommittally, the Priestess did not pay much attention to the seemingly desperate battlefield below, which had actually already settled, but instead searched among the crowd for that familiar figure from her memories.

…As expected, not here.

At a time like this, that Princess Ling would never just casually abandon the battlefield, leaving the Tao Blossom Guards without a leader. That would be irresponsible to them and she wouldn’t be able to explain it to the Saint Peach Blossom.

If it were the Hen that Vilyric knew, she wouldn’t act this way.

So…

The black-haired girl turned her head and cast her gaze toward the gigantic pillar not far away, a slight glimmer flashing in her eyes.

She must be dealing with some more important matter.

“Xiao Kong, can you handle those two guys down there?”

“Not a problem at all, Vilyric. Are you preparing to…?”

“Ah, after chasing for so long, it’s about time to unveil their true appearance. No matter what they want to do next, this time I won’t let her slip by again.”

“Is that so…”

A trace of imperceptible disappointment flashed in her gem-like vertical pupils, but Xiao Kong quickly perked up, smiling and nodding slightly.

“Don’t worry, with me around, those last two Demon Lords won’t stir up much trouble.”

“Good, I’ll leave it to you.”

With white wings unfurled, the girl turned and flew down toward the center of the ancient battlefield beneath the gigantic pillar.

“Princess Ling… and Hen, huh…”

The short-haired girl disguised as a Cat Daughter shook her head, chuckling helplessly a few times but said nothing more and headed toward the battlefield, moving against the direction of the Priestess.

Soon, Vilyric arrived beside the towering pillar, whose purpose and true form remained unclear.

“Wow, it really looks impressive from up close…”

Although it was still visible as a column plunging into the clouds from afar, standing close revealed its diameter stretching nearly a hundred yards, almost indistinguishable from a true wall of heaven.

A heavy, primal aura emanated from within the pillar, imparting an undeniable sense of pressure. Vilyric glanced up at the “Eternal Shield of Light” still shrouding the ancient battlefield, thought for a moment, but decided not to dissipate it like the Avatar of Light that could come and go at will.

Better safe than sorry.

Standing in front of the pillar that nearly blocked her view, or rather, completely resembled a “wall” whose top couldn’t be seen and whose circular curvature was imperceptible, the girl tried tapping it with the tip of her staff, producing a dull “thud” sound.

Hmm… Seems quite solid.

Accompanied by the tapping of the “Eternal Staff – Heart of the World,” some weathered marks left by wind and sun on the stone pillar flaked off like an outer shell, revealing a strange texture inside that resembled iron gray, feeling even harder.

To be honest, this didn’t seem like any kind of metal, let alone the common building materials like ore.

Well, let’s focus on the task at hand.

Her gaze swept around, cautiously releasing her Spiritual Points, and soon she noticed some unusual spots.

After walking around the slightly curved “wall” for a while, Vilyric crouched down and found a stone slab that had almost blended into its surroundings due to weathering.

The slab was a bit heavy, but for the Priestess, it wasn’t much of a problem. She flipped it aside and, sure enough, revealed a concealed staircase leading downward.

Looking up again at the towering pillar reaching into the heavens, Vilyric had an epiphany.

“Could it be that this thing extends far beyond just the surface, down into the ground…?”

If… this object’s length underground could rival, no, even if it were just half as much as what was visible above ground, its overall length must have exceeded ten thousand meters, potentially surpassing any peak among the Twelve Peaks of Cangyun.

In the underground of Yangyuan County, the seven stone pillars supporting the earth from the “Seven Star Sealing Spell” were already quite remarkable, but compared to this, they could only be considered small fry.

This pillar was undoubtedly related to the God Taotie that was sealed here… But what exactly is it? Is Taotie sealed beneath this pillar, like how Wukong was suppressed under Wuzhi Mountain?

Carrying such somewhat absurd speculation, Vilyric stepped onto the underground staircase.

The stone steps were obviously a spiral path, continuously spiraling down at an angle of about 30 degrees, encircling the underground portion of the gigantic pillar.

Spiraling downward, spiraling downward.

Like an endless loop, Vilyric walked for a good ten minutes, and the scenery before her remained unchanged, making her recall the final hurdle she faced in the Three Questions of the God.

However, that galaxy and long staircase was a unique space created by the God Olivya using the divine authority of “Endless Magic Power,” which ultimately had some tricks. In contrast, this spiral staircase truly existed, even enduring for thousands of years without decay.

It was hard to imagine what immense effort and cost the beings here paid when this place was built.

In fact, Xiao Kong must certainly know the details of this space, after all, she had personally admitted before that the “Six Elements Array Palace” was her own supervision. But Vilyric deliberately refrained from asking her about it, not wanting to get a preconceived impression from her.

What exactly is Taotie, and what attitude should one adopt to face it? The Priestess wished to witness it with her own eyes and derive her own answers, rather than being swayed by others’ thoughts.

Just like the situation with Ya Zi back then.

Thus, Vilyric continued to descend for about several thousand meters. The temperature and energy molecules around her became increasingly more active throughout this process, and eventually reached a high temperature that ordinary beings could hardly bear.

The seemingly endless spiral staircase finally came to a stop.

Not because she had reached the bottom of the giant pillar, but rather, it appeared that the builders at that time couldn’t continue descending deeper due to the harsh surrounding environment, leading to this abrupt halt.

Standing at the suddenly severed end of the staircase, what came into view was the brilliant silver light patterns beneath her feet, sparkling like the starry sky.

—The silver patterns that looked remarkably similar to those in the underground of Yangyuan County were like shackles binding the gigantic pillar, nested and spiraled around it.

And its own form transformed into an expanse wider than the hundred-yard diameter of the pillar itself, supporting the entire underground space, blocking out everything below that could be seen.

“…It’s truly hard to imagine, could this be the ‘Taotie’?”

Standing upon this silver pattern, a faint sense of realization suddenly surged within Vilyric’s heart.

So this pillar that pierced the clouds from above, even extending thousands of meters down where the bottom was yet unseen…

It is part of the body of “Taotie.”

   

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