"Senior, please speak. If there's anything our Divine Sea Sect can assist with, we absolutely won't refuse!" Li Cangnan said solemnly.
"I've heard there's a Demon Saint-level Nether Leviathan in your Canghai Domain. Do you know its location?"
"Nether Leviathan? Senior must be referring to the North Abyss Ancestor!"
"The North Abyss Ancestor's cave abode lies in the deepest parts of the South Sea. His whereabouts are always elusive, but we can mobilize our sect's forces to help Senior locate him!"
"Good, then I'll entrust this to you!" Chu Yunling nodded.
The Canghai Domain's terrain was complex, with islands as numerous as stars, and endless deep seas creating barriers. She wasn't familiar with this region either, so delegating this task was the best option.
But at that moment, the island where the Divine Sea Sect was located began shaking violently. Even the entire South Sea started trembling fiercely, the sea surface boiling like hot water. Droplets of water floated into midair before vanishing!
"An earthquake?" Chu Yunling frowned, extending her divine sense. When she saw the situation across the sea, she was shocked. "The entire South Sea is shaking?"
However, she noticed everyone on the Divine Sea Sect's island seemed completely accustomed to this.
"Yes, it's a massive undersea volcano. These phenomena appear every time it erupts! Sometimes even special phenomena occur!"
"What special phenomena?" Chu Yunling grew curious.
"Legends say sometimes ancient phoenix phantoms appear, other times ancient tree phantoms manifest, and occasionally various rare treasures emerge! Powerful experts have investigated before - even Hell's Gate's Martial Emperors came - but all stopped outside the volcano!"
Before he finished speaking, Chu Yunling's figure had already vanished. Only a Chu family battle flag remained where she stood, and a voice echoed nearby: "I'll leave the Nether Leviathan's whereabouts to you all. I'm going to investigate this Undying Volcano! Also, if any of you have accumulated enough to break through to Martial Emperor, feel free to do so. Our Chu family won't stop you!"
"As you command, Senior!" Li Cangnan and the others excitedly bowed in gratitude. Indeed, the Chu family wouldn't suppress others' breakthroughs to Martial Emperor! Several long-accumulating elders grew particularly excited - now they could attempt their breakthroughs without worry!
Chu Yunling headed toward the Undying Volcano Li Cangnan mentioned, because she'd heard about the ancient phoenix phantom. Could there actually be a phoenix inside? Other things might not move her, but as a Beast Tamer, news about spirit beasts successfully captured her attention!
Phoenixes were creatures on par with True Dragons. Contracting one would significantly boost her future strength! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel※fire.net
While Chu Yunling traveled to the Undying Volcano, other Chu family Martial Emperors were rapidly expanding their territory. Emperor-tier battles erupted continuously as peerless Martial Emperors like Chu Long, Chu Xiuran, and Chu Feng led direct confrontations against Hell's Gate's Martial Emperors!
Influenced by Long Yuan, Dragon Ao Tian grew curious - what capabilities did this Chu family possess to warrant protection from such a powerful being like Long Yuan? His gaze penetrated through the Dragon Emperor Palace toward the battling Chu family Martial Emperors.
"How strange! Why do all these Chu family Martial Emperors possess special physiques?" At just a glance, Dragon Ao Tian was astonished. The Chu family wasn't large, so statistically they shouldn't have so many special physiques.
Suppressing his doubts, he continued observing, and what he saw shocked him: "Holy shit! Even their Martial Saints uniformly have special physiques? And so many Emperor-tier physiques and martial spirits? How is this possible? How can a mere tens-of-thousands-strong family have so many powerful special physiques?"
Dragon Ao Tian was utterly horrified, his expression transforming into one of absolute shock. He saw too many special physiques among these Chu family disciples - impossible for such a small family! Even those eternal orthodoxies in the Sacred Realm with World-Creation Realm experts and millions of years of history couldn't produce so many special physiques in one era!
"There's a problem here! The Chu family has major problems! Is this why he protects them?" Dragon Ao Tian looked at Long Yuan, who floated meditatively in midair. Though the Chu family's current strength remained weak, their potential growth couldn't be underestimated.
Yet he remained puzzled. Perhaps Long Yuan became their guardian deity because he recognized their potential? But Dragon Ao Tian still wondered - how could the Chu family have so many special physiques?
Though Long Yuan's eyes remained closed, his attention never left the battlefield. Should any Hell's Gate experts beyond Martial Emperor level dare intervene, he wouldn't hesitate to act. But if they were defeated by opponents of equal level, he'd have nothing to say.
In the Cang Region's Chu family, Chu Dingtian sat grim-faced with several elders, discussing the family's current actions.
"How should we decide? It's time for resolution!" one elder spoke.
"Hell's Gate already declared their experts have descended - the Chu family's Beast God will surely die!" Chu Dingtian said gravely.
"But the problem is, so much time has passed, yet the Chu family's Beast God remains alive and well! I'm beginning to suspect Hell's Gate might be bluffing - perhaps no so-called experts ever descended?"
"Impossible! That terrifying pressure that swept across the entire Mortal Realm last time absolutely wasn't something a Martial Emperor could unleash. Experts must have descended. But even so, whether they can suppress the Chu family's Martial Emperors remains unknown."
No one knew exactly how powerful the Chu family's Beast God was, nor whether Hell's Gate's backing could subdue him. If Hell's Gate failed, their Cang Region Chu family couldn't remain passive forever - their regional dominance would soon be usurped by other forces!
Most critically, across the Mortal Realm - especially within the Qian Region Chu family's territory - Martial Emperors were emerging en masse. Under these circumstances, the Cang Region Chu family had already fallen completely behind!
"What if our two branches merged?" an elder proposed.
But before the words fully left his mouth, Chu Dingtian rebutted: "Honored elders, don't forget - we are the main lineage here! No matter how strong that Qian Region Chu family grows, they're merely a branch! If we merged, given their current strength, they'd likely reverse our roles! What status would we retain then?"
He already resented the Qian Region Chu family's rise and naturally opposed unification. In his view, no matter how strong they became, they were just cast-offs. If unification succeeded, his position as clan leader might become worse than an ordinary member's! After all, that other Chu family had over a dozen Martial Emperors and countless Martial Saints! This thought terrified him!