C1628 Kind Senior

Chung Jinbo's eyes flickered with suspicion as he alternated his gaze between Yu Yuan and the Chaos Roc. Trapped in the Gray Domain for far too long, he was unaware of the monumental shifts that had occurred in the vast expanse. He still believed that, as in the past, all humans emerging from the vast expanse would naturally unite against other races. Little did he know that the return of the Divine Soul Sect had fractured the various factions into opposing camps. Even more inconceivable to him was the fact that the coalition led by the Divine Soul Sect had grown close to the Devaputra, Star Race, Dark Elfkind, and Bright Clan, forming an extraterrestrial alliance.

Chung Jinbo suspected that Yu Yuan had been confined by the Chaos Roc. Recognizing Yu Yuan as a fellow human from the vast expanse and an acquaintance of Chung Guanyu, he felt an affinity for him and began to assess the Chaos Roc's power in secret.

"You belong to the Blood Devil Clan! You must have used the Bloodline Secret Technique to assume human form, right?" Chung Jinbo scoffed, misinterpreting the faint scent of vital essence from the Chaos Roc as a sign that it was a Demon God from the Blood Devil Clan.

"Senior Chung, I'm not like you. Don't be overly sensitive," Yu Yuan replied, shaking his head. Noticing the Chaos Roc's sinister smirk, he frowned and warned, "Keep it together. He's a senior from the Red Devil Sect and we share a history."

"So you're just a woman who practiced the Magma Devil Spell and got taken in by the Red Devil Sect?" The Chaos Roc, clearly dissatisfied after being reprimanded by Yu Yuan, retorted, "From a factional standpoint, the Red Devil Sect is still opposed to you. I really don't understand your thinking. First Zhou Cangmin, now Faang Yao—you seem to have a good rapport with each of them."

"You have a woman who also practices the Magma Devil Spell?" Chung Jinbo's question, prompted by the Chaos Roc's comment, caused a transformation in his fiery temple manifestation.

In a matter of moments, he reverted to his true form—a peculiar old man with dark red skin, unkempt hair caked with dirt, and a face that was slightly puffy. His neck and half-exposed arms were covered in dark red bumps, each one concealing a power as explosive as a volcanic eruption.

His Qi and Blood Little World roiled like a tumultuous pool of lava, while his Yellow Court Little World was streaked with fiery meteors. Deep within his soul, unnamed flames burned fiercely.

Yu Yuan was well-versed in numerous Devil Spells, both familiar and unfamiliar. He had delved into each of them, mastering them to a considerable degree. However, the fiery power within him was a hodgepodge; not one was refined enough to propel him to the highest echelons.

"You've been away from the Red Devil Sect for too long," Yu Yuan said with a smile.

Chung Jinbo's puffy, round face suddenly widened with alarm.

Whoosh!

The intense flames that erupted were the refined essence of the starry sky's power, shrouding the area where the Chaos Roc resided. He screamed, "Kid, get out of here! I'll hold him off for a moment!"

"He doesn't seem to be a Blood Devil, but rather the offspring of a colossal beast!"

Chung Jinbo, who had been silently discerning the origins of the Chaos Roc, finally sensed the extraordinary nature of the beast and let out a terrified shriek.

Yu Yuan was taken aback.

"Offspring? I am merely injured, having lost too much vitality from my flesh and blood. To think you mistook me for a youngling?" The Chaos Roc was displeased. "Yu Yuan, his mind has been fried by an excess of chaotic flame energy. This fool might as well be devoured by me and assimilated into one of my eyes."

With that, the Chaos Roc's crimson eyes were plucked out and swelled before Chung Jinbo's gaze.

A grand sun appeared overhead!

The intense radiance of the Sun Essence Fire bathed the vicinity of the Chaos Roc and Chung Jinbo, transforming it into a domain of divine sunlight.

The corner of the Chaos Roc's mouth curled, and within the grand sun, an infinite storm of flames was born.

The great sun in Chung Jinbo's eyes seemed to expand limitlessly, its released divine might overwhelming the Dao Laws he had been studying.

"He, he is..."

Chung Jinbo, whose cultivation was only at the Middle Period of the Unrestrained Stage and whose talents were modest, was struck with fear.

"A thousand years ago, in the depths of the Ember Waters, your realm was inconsequential..."

"Chaos Roc!"

Before he could finish, Chung Jinbo screamed, finally realizing that the gaunt elder before him was none other than a true Starry Behemoth!

Back in the day, while he was undergoing trials in the Ember Waters, he had no idea that a massive beast lay suppressed beneath him. It wasn't until he advanced to the Unrestrained Stage and waged war in the Outland Star River with his true form that he gradually came to understand. A vicious Starry Behemoth had been captured by the Demon Phoenix and pinned down in the Ember Waters using the Ancient Fey Formation.

Unlike Yu Yuan, he lacked the fortune to unlock the mysteries of fate and inadvertently released the Chaos Roc. Nor did he witness the Chaos Roc, in its colossal blue fish form, shattering the myriad seals and breaking free from the vast expanse.

"Alright, move up ahead a bit. I need to have a few words with him."

Yu Yuan had his own agenda. He frowned and shot a stern look at the Chaos Roc before gesturing to a particular spot.

The Chaos Roc, initially intent on disciplining Chung Jinbo, huffed and complied, moving away as instructed.

"You can actually give him orders?"

Even Chung Jinbo, for all his naivety, realized his error at this point. The young man before him was also a kin from the vast expanse, clearly not a captive of the Chaos Roc.

"Besides Chung Guanyu, who else from the Red Devil Sect rings a bell? Faang Yao, Zhou Cangmin, Zhan Ruonan—do any of these younger members sound familiar to you?" Yu Yuan inquired.

"Chung Guanyu would be considered my grandson in terms of seniority. As for the others, I'm completely unaware. Hold on, is Qin Luo still with the Red Devil Sect? I'm familiar with him; he and Chung Guanyu debuted at the same time, and Qin Luo's talent far surpasses his. Without the suppression from the Primordial Yang Sect, Qin Luo could have been a contender for divinity..."

His voice trailed off, laden with loathing and a touch of resignation when he spoke of the Primordial Yang Sect. To him, the Primordial Yang Sect was an insurmountable Holy Mountain of flames. As long as the Primordial Yang Sect and Yuwen Hao remained, the Red Devil Sect would struggle to rise.

The emergence of a true deity would be an arduous feat.

"Qin Luo now presides over the grand sun beyond the vast expanse, having taken Lee Tianxin's place from the Primordial Yang Sect to become a genuine supreme being. Thanks to Qin Luo's ascendancy, the Red Devil Sect has successfully joined the ranks of the most powerful sects," Yu Yuan remarked with a smile.

"Ah! Qin Luo, has Qin Luo's dream actually come true?"

Chung Jinbo slapped his thigh and shot excitedly into the sky, his eyes, nostrils, and ears erupting with flames and radiant light. "I knew back then that he was the most likely to ascend to godhood! To think that after a millennium, he actually did it!"

"Did he take over from Lee Tianxin? Is Lee Tianxin dead?" Chung Jinbo asked, puzzled.

"Not just Lee Tianxin, Yuwen Hao is dead too," Yu Yuan answered.

"Yuwen, that old scoundrel, that old scoundrel..."

Chung Jinbo's speech faltered, and his face registered immense shock upon hearing of Yuwen Hao's demise.

"What in the world happened to the Vast Expanse? Yuwen, that coward, always holed up in the Primordial Yang Sect, scarcely joining the battles of the supreme outside. How could he have died? It wasn't the alien races that conquered the Vast Expanse, was it?"

"Was it the Starry Behemoths? Were they trying to rescue the Chaos Roc, or did the Great Demon God Beilstein make his move?"

Chung Jinbo, having been away for so long, felt lost and fearful, thinking the Vast Expanse had been breached.

"It's not what you're imagining."

Yu Yuan briefly outlined the new state of affairs in the Vast Expanse, allaying his fears and panic.

Then, he quietly waited for Chung Jinbo to process the information.

Anyone who hadn't left for over a thousand years would need time to digest such monumental changes to their homeland, and Chung Jinbo was no exception.

After a considerable time, Chung Jinbo inquired, "So, you're saying that despite the Divine Soul Sect and the Red Devil Sect being on opposing sides, you maintain a good personal rapport with the Red Devil Sect?"

"Yes, after Qin Luo, Zhou Cangmin, the most gifted individual from the Red Devil Sect, became a close friend of mine," Yu Yuan candidly shared. "I'm curious, why were you trapped for so long? And how did you manage to break free so recently?"

"Well, it's like this."

Chung Jinbo hesitated briefly before recounting his own experiences and the frustrations he had endured for over a thousand years.

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