45: Seeking Chaos

After leaving the valley where the bitter bamboo was located, the two continued to wander across the Western Land.

At this moment, Yuan Feng's eyes narrowed slightly as she glanced with some dissatisfaction at the object in Qing Wu's hand.

"It's just a plaything," Qing Wu said with a light laugh, seeing Yuan Feng's displeasure as he brought the bamboo flute to his lips.

It was a greenish-black bamboo flute, slender and long, with natural Dao patterns of dark gold flowing across its body. Six-colored tassels hung from the end, swaying gently in the breeze and reflecting a blurred halo.

This object was precisely what Qing Wu had refined using that Six Roots of Purity Bamboo.

Compared to directly striking people or brushing away their six senses,

Qing Wu discovered that such a Divine Ability could also be imbued within melodies.

As a clear and melodious flute sound rang out, the surrounding creatures were all invaded by this Dao charm and stopped in their tracks.

Gradually, some creatures' eyes lost their luster as their visual sense was clouded; some had their ears droop powerlessly as their auditory sense was blocked.

Melodies are formless and intangible, making them impossible to guard against.

Just now, those creatures fell into the trap before they could even think of escaping.

With melody as the medium, it could perform both area attacks and precise control.

Compared to the overbearing nature of directly brushing away the six senses, the flute music could progress gradually, wearing down the opponent's sanity step by step, and even achieving the goal of controlling their actions.

Currently, Qing Wu was attempting to control a Vicious Beast with the flute sound.

This was a Vicious Beast that had survived the great calamity.

During the Beast Calamity, among the Four Great Beast Kings, Taotie was killed by the Ancestral Dragon, Taowu died under the Qilin arms of the First Qilin, and Qiongqi was personally slain by Qing Wu.

And the remaining Beast King, Chaos, had escaped with heavy injuries during the chaotic battle, his whereabouts unknown.

Qing Wu surmised that Chaos was hiding somewhere on this Western Land.

Having questioned many Spiritual Roots across the Western Land, he was certain of this news.

Since that was the case, he couldn't be blamed.

For Karma that was conveniently within reach, he naturally had to take it for himself.

After this, the Great Dao would retreat, and there would likely be no more opportunities to seek Great Dao Karma.

After the Heavenly Dao awakened, although performing deeds that contributed to the Primordial World would still be rewarded with Heavenly Dao Karma,

Compared to the absolute impartiality of the Great Dao, Heavenly Dao Karma always felt slightly inferior.

Furthermore, when the time came, Hongjun would merge with the Heavenly Dao, and no one could say for sure what the relationship between him and the Heavenly Dao really was.

And this Vicious Beast would lead them to find Chaos.

Due to the Vicious Beast's lack of intelligence, disturbing its Primordial Spirit had limited impact on it.

Thus, even under Qing Wu's flute music, this Vicious Beast only moved fitfully, occasionally intruding into the nests of other creatures to cause trouble, which made Yuan Feng somewhat annoyed.

With her short temper flaring, she directly sacrificed the divine phoenix plume, which transformed into a fire phoenix, giving that Vicious Beast a lesson and leaving it covered in wounds.

At this moment, seeing the fire phoenix transformed from the divine phoenix plume, the Vicious Beast's primal fear was awakened, and it began to flee desperately.

The Vicious Beast let out a shrill howl and fled frantically, dragging its scarred body.

Qing Wu and Yuan Feng followed closely behind, watching as the Vicious Beast rushed headlong into a grayish-brown valley area.

The land here was pathologically cracked, with dark red mist occasionally seeping from the fissures, and the air was filled with the scent of decay.

"Keep close to it," Qing Wu said, putting away his bamboo flute with a slightly solemn expression.

Yuan Feng also restrained her Aura, using the lidi firelight banner to conceal herself, trying her best not to alert the enemy.

After the calamity, the strength of both had improved once again.

Compared to the Beast King Chaos, who was heavily injured and loathed by the Primordial World, they naturally had nothing to fear.

This move was merely to prevent Chaos from being startled and fleeing.

That Chaos could escape from the great calamity showed that he still possessed a certain ability to flee and save his life.

The Vicious Beast's speed became faster and faster, as if guided by some instinct.

Passing through a withered black pine forest, the twisted trunks were draped with blood-colored vines.

The terrain ahead suddenly dipped, forming a massive bowl-shaped rift valley.

Two towering stone pillars stood at the valley entrance, their surfaces covered in honeycomb-like holes. Whenever the Baleful Wind blew through, they made sounds like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

The Vicious Beast rushed between the stone pillars without hesitation.

Qing Wu and Yuan Feng stopped at the valley entrance to observe.

This rift valley was bottomless, its walls descending in terraced layers, with densely packed caves distributed on every level.

The baleful qi emanating from within indicated that many Vicious Beasts were hidden here.

"This is the place!"

The two exchanged a glance and then immediately followed.

Deep at the bottom of the valley, there were even more caves, some with fresh white bones piled at their entrances.

Some were the remains of Vicious Beasts, but more were the remains of devoured creatures, discarded carelessly on the ground.

The Golden Bell at Qing Wu's waist suddenly trembled slightly.

To be precise, the sliver of Qiongqi's Origin sealed within it was drawn by a familiar scent, causing an abnormal movement.

Just as he suppressed the Qiongqi Origin inside the Golden Bell, a Vicious Beast suddenly rushed toward the two of them.

Looking closely, it was a beast entirely black as ink, with two wings on its back, red eyes with pupils flickering with an eerie light, and three rows of serrated teeth... it was a big dog!

Qing Wu's heart stirred; he remembered that in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there was a record of a Heavenly Dog that could devour the light of the sun and moon, which looked exactly like this.

However, this Heavenly Dog was still very young, likely born not long ago before being captured and brought to this Vicious Beast nest.

Overwhelmed by the baleful qi here, it had been quite frightened.

Now, seeing Qing Wu and Yuan Feng, it ran over while howling, as if seeing its saviors.

Running behind Qing Wu, it lay down with a look of submission.

The Heavenly Dog seemed to particularly like the fiery Qi emanating from Yuan Feng, opening its mouth to greedily absorb it.

"Stupid dog," Yuan Feng said, hitting the Heavenly Dog on the head with her fist.

The Heavenly Dog was startled again, realizing that this one seemed not to be trifled with, so it hurriedly ran to lie down at Qing Wu's feet.

Seeing this Exotic Beast, Qing Wu felt a bit pleasantly surprised and reached out to stroke the Heavenly Dog's head.

They say a dog brings wealth; this was a good sign.

He remembered that this was an Exotic Beast that liked to consume the energy of the Sun Star.

Perhaps it had mistaken the equally explosive Nanmingli Fire for Solar True Fire and absorbed it.

At this moment, a sharp beast roar erupted from the direction the Heavenly Dog had come from; the Beast King's wrath it carried made the Heavenly Dog very afraid.

Qing Wu sacrificed the Six Roots of Purity Flute and gave it a gentle tap on the head to help it steady its mind.

"It's coming!" Yuan Feng warned, looking at a flickering figure within the Void Realm.

Qing Wu stepped forward and also discovered that in the darkness, countless figures were crawling out from the Immortal Caves.

Vicious Beasts emerged from their nests one by one, closing in on the two.

Amidst the thousands of Vicious Beasts, one figure stood out prominently.

It was a giant creature, looking like a dog with long fur, having eyes but unable to see, and ears but unable to hear—it was precisely the former leader of the Four Great Beast Kings, Chaos.

As soon as he appeared, the Heavenly Dog's eyes immediately became fiery.

With Qing Wu and Yuan Feng backing it up, it also became bold, barking at Chaos.

Saliva flew everywhere; it looked like it was cursing quite filthily.

"Noisy!" Chaos let out another roar. This Void Shriek was the Divine Ability he was most proud of; it could act directly on a Cultivator's Primordial Spirit, causing it to instantly collapse and disintegrate.

During the former Beast Calamity, Chaos had relied on this Divine Ability to make countless powerful experts tremble with fear.

Below the Daluo level, one simply could not withstand this decadent sound.

Just hearing the sound would cause one to immediately explode and die.

Ordinary Daluo experts also needed to fully circulate their magic power to resist the invasion of this demonic sound; with the slightest carelessness, there was a risk of falling.

At this moment, Chaos's roar exploded at the bottom of the valley, and grayish-black ripples spread out.

Accompanied by the echoes of countless Vicious Beasts, it added even more Aura to this Divine Ability.

However, Qing Wu was already prepared.

The Six Roots of Purity Flute suspended above his head, its six-colored tassels forming a screen of light.

Flute notes rang out in waves, rippling away the sound waves.

The Golden Bell manifested sixty-five phantoms, continuously emitting crisp bell chimes that completely neutralized the sound waves of this Divine Ability.

Hiding within the range of Qing Wu's Dao charm, the Heavenly Dog saw Chaos's Divine Ability being broken and immediately barked even more joyfully, looking quite smug as a dog relying on its masters' power.