Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 142 The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons

The moment Yuan Xiangwang uttered these words, the entire audience erupted in uproar.

Before the people on the stage could speak, the cultivators from both races watching began to discuss among themselves.

"This Yuanxiang King is just a rising star among the demon race, how can he be so arrogant?"

"I heard that he once challenged the Mad Lion King, and they were evenly matched."

"If that were all, he wouldn't have said something like that, would he? The Demon Ape King has been at the height of his power these past few years, and many people speculate that he has already surpassed the Mad Lion King. Could Yuanxiang King possibly be stronger than the Demon Ape King?"

"The Mad Lion King has always been unruly, domineering, and powerful. Even the Demon Saint couldn't control him. How could he remain unmoved after hearing such words?"

"Fellow demons, please enlighten us. Who is this Yuanxiang King? How could he silence the other demon kings?"

Seeing that after Yuanxiang King uttered his arrogant words, neither the usually arrogant Mad Lion King nor the Demon Ape King, who was seemingly poised to replace Mad Lion King, remained silent and offered no objection, the many human cultivators found it hard to believe, but they did not know the reason. So they turned to the demon cultivators for answers.

"You're asking us, and we want to know too."

"We don't know more than you do; it's just that we fought the Mad Lion King to a draw."

"I do know one more thing, that is, King Yuanxiang may have entered the Ten Thousand Demon Cave."

"What? The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons? Are you sure? Even the Demon Ape King, who was born a gibbon, couldn't enter it. He's just a White Jade Saint Elephant, how could he possibly do it?"

"It's just hearsay, and I can't be sure. But if he really did come out of the Demon Cave or something, then he is one of the strongest geniuses in the history of our ancient demon race."

The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons? What kind of place is that?
Most human cultivators looked bewildered, but those from the eight holy lands, six great families, seven sects, and other major powers all changed their expressions drastically.

The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons was originally just a treasure body suitable for demons to cultivate; it was not special in itself, and even hundreds of thousands of years ago it was one of the sacred sites of the demon race on the ancient star. But things changed afterward.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Celestial Venerable Lingbao briefly descended upon the ancient star of the primordial world, leaving behind many legacies and guiding the cultivation of some cultivators, thus ushering in another great development for the human race.

The demon race, which had begun to gradually close the gap, was once again plunged into the abyss. Thus, the high-level demon cultivators at that time deeply realized that even a casual action by a Dao-proving cultivator could easily change the situation of the entire ancient star.

They are simply the overwhelming force, the very essence of Heaven. No matter how many demon saints, demon saint kings, or even great demon saints they have, they cannot withstand it.

Therefore, they also need their own enlightened beings, or at least great supernatural beings who have reached the quasi-sage level.

Therefore, they chose the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, where they set up various array patterns as tests with extremely high mortality rates, leaving the most powerful and difficult-to-cultivate inheritances and the most precious resources of the demon race deep in the cave.

Only the most powerful demon race can overcome countless death obstacles, enter the depths of the cave, and achieve an unprecedented ultimate transformation.

They didn't need a powerful group of demons, just one supreme demon. With the birth of such a supreme demon, they could rewrite everything. In fact, over the next hundreds of thousands of years, countless great demon saints and the occasional quasi-supreme demon continued to escalate the conflict here, ultimately creating a forbidden zone approximately 300,000 years ago. Perhaps only demons with the potential to attain enlightenment can emerge from it.

Between the complete formation of the Demon Cave and the attainment of enlightenment by the Supreme Heavenly Venerable Wuji, only four prodigies of the demon race passed the trials of the Demon Cave and emerged from it. Each of them possessed the potential to attain enlightenment. Of course, not the true potential for enlightenment like that of Chuan Ying and Ning Fei, who were on par with the young emperors; they merely had a chance to attain enlightenment, and as for how great that chance was, it was certainly there.

Three of the so-called demonic calamities in the history of the ancient human race on the primordial star originated from three of these four demon prodigies. In order to quell the wars they launched, the human race paid a heavy price, with several holy lands and aristocratic families being completely destroyed in these upheavals.

However, the last demon race prodigy was rather unlucky. When he ventured along the ancient starry road, he was suppressed and killed in the starry sky by the Boundless Heavenly Venerable, who had not yet attained enlightenment, using the Boundless Dao Tablet. He did not return to the ancient primordial star. Otherwise, if he had truly become a high-level quasi-venerable, given the state of the human race on the ancient primordial star at that time, they probably wouldn't have been able to resist him.

Even so, it's enough to demonstrate the prestige of passing the Trial of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave. Success means possessing the talent to make a name for oneself on the Ancient Star Road, and even to compete for a spot in the Dao Proving Realm.

To prevent their descendants from dying, powerful clans with even a little influence would set up tests within their own clans before allowing them to participate in the trials of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave. Moreover, unless a descendant possessed truly extraordinary talent, they would be unwilling to let them sacrifice their lives.

To enter the Demon Cave, one must at least reach the level of a Dao-Slaying King; most demon cultivators enter at the Half-Saint level. Only those whose early cultivation is sufficiently stable and solid, approaching perfection, have a chance to pass.

Once they pass through, they can undergo a profound transformation by using the various divine treasures accumulated by the demon race over hundreds of thousands of years, thus laying the strongest foundation for their sainthood and enabling them to compete for supremacy on the ancient starry road.

Among the seven great demon kings of this generation, the defeated Golden Snake King, Flying Flower King, and White Crane King could barely pass the arrangements made by the demon saints within their clans, so they did not participate in the trials of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

Although the Spider King was qualified to participate, he had virtually no hope of passing, so he did not go to avoid affecting his mindset; the Lion King only tried briefly and gave up before even completing one-fifth of the challenge.

The Demon Ape King was the one who had gone the furthest in tens of thousands of years; he was only one hurdle away from passing. But even if he risked his life, his chances of passing were still slim, so the Demon Ape King decided to quit while he was ahead.

You should know that the Demon Ape King is a Long-Armed Ape! He doesn't just have the bloodline of the Long-Backed Ape, he is a true Long-Backed Ape.

Among the ape races in the universe, the most talented are undoubtedly the Fighting Ape, the Six-Eared Macaque, the Long-Armed Ape, and a few other supreme bloodlines.

This was the mythological era. Without the appearance of the Fighting Saint Emperor, there was no method for developing and evolving this race's bloodline in the Nine Revolutions Heavenly Technique, nor the bloodline enhancement brought by the Fighting Saint Emperor himself. Therefore, the Fighting Saint Ape race had not yet widened the gap with other races.

Therefore, although the Demon Ape King, being a gibbon, cannot be said to have the qualities of a true emperor, he is definitely no less than the top physiques and bloodlines in the universe.

Even he failed, yet King Yuanxiang succeeded—this is truly unbelievable. However, if that's the case, then it's understandable why the other demon kings are so subservient to King Yuanxiang, given the significant difference in their abilities.

Although the White Jade Sacred Elephant is a formidable race among the demons, its bloodline is at least a major level lower than that of the Tongbei Ape. Even the best among them are at most equivalent to various royal bodies among humans.

While it's often said that there's no strongest physique, only the strongest person, having a powerful bloodline and physique provides a significant advantage in the early, mid, and even late game.

From this perspective, individuals like Yuan Xiangwang, who have truly broken through the upper limit of bloodline, might be even more terrifying than the four prodigies who passed the trial of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

After all, the bloodlines of those four are not ordinary.

(End of this chapter)