Chapter 125 – They're Out
While the group from Shi Village was dissecting the humanoid creature, Huo Ling'er and her companions were deep inside a place known as the Divine Caverns.
Though called that, it was really just a cave.
But because of the lingering divine energy saturating the place, it had been dubbed the Divine Caverns.
So what exactly is divine energy?
Creatures like the Vermilion Bird and the Golden Macaque—both Pureblooded Sacred Beasts—carry divine energy in their blood. It's not something humans possess. And here's the thing: the Demonic Cult never calls itself that. Likewise, Sacred Beasts don't go around calling themselves "fierce beasts." That's just a term the Human Clan uses. In their own view, they are Divine Beasts—descendants of the gods.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
At the entrance of the Divine Caverns, cold wind howled through relentlessly. This yawning black pit, devoid of any light, was the same cave Huo Ling'er, Yu Zimo, and Hu Niu had set out to explore.
They didn't know how long they'd been wandering its lightless depths, but at last they stumbled upon a faint warmth glowing atop a majestic altar. Still, they'd found nothing of tangible value.
"Princess of the Fire Nation, are you sure this intel is accurate? It's pitch black in here. Feels like we've been scammed."
Yu Zimo's voice was neutral, but the tension beneath it was clear. Her patience was wearing thin.
"You calling my royal father a liar?" Huo Ling'er snapped, hands on her hips.
"Both of you, shut it," Hu Niu cut in. Her eyes widened, and her hair rose even though no wind blew. The pressure in the air changed—heavy, imposing.
That shut them up. For now.
Back in silence, they started investigating the altar more seriously. Despite the radiant heat it emitted, there was no sign of treasure or artifact—just that mysterious warmth.
Time slipped by.
Suddenly, Huo Ling'er accidentally triggered something. A divine ripple stirred, and from beneath the altar, a golden giant egg slowly rose into view.
The egg was the size of a bucket, its shell cast in solid gold, etched with strange symbols that glimmered with sacred power. It radiated complex energy fluctuations, clearly no ordinary object.
"…It's an egg?" Yu Zimo muttered.
"Let's boil it," Hu Niu suggested instantly.
"You country bumpkin!" Huo Ling'er rolled her eyes. "You think you can just eat something like this?"
"So what, you want to hatch it instead?"
"You clearly don't know anything. The Vermilion Bird—the sacred spirit of my Fire Nation—was hatched from an egg just like this one."
"What a waste of time," Yu Zimo chimed in. "Even if it's a Pureblooded Sacred Beast, they take centuries to mature."
The three began bickering over whether to eat it or hatch it, the mood strangely relaxed. Yu Zimo didn't even bother engaging this time—just stood there, watching the two argue.
Then, everything changed.
Outside the Divine Caverns – Hundred-Shattered Mountains
The moment Huo Ling'er touched the golden egg, something shifted in the land around them.
Across the vast wilds, eerie green eyes blinked open—dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. Massive silhouettes emerged from the woods, shadows moving as one, all headed for the Divine Caverns.
These weren't just any beasts.
They were wolves, but each one the size of an elephant, glowing with savage intelligence. Their arrival sent shivers down the spines of both human cultivators and beast clans alike, whether they were Sacred Beasts or not.
"Wolves… and not just one or two. Whole packs. Have they all gained spirit wisdom?"
"What the hell are they doing here?"
"No idea. But from the way they're moving in unison, someone must've touched something they shouldn't have."
"Should we check it out?"
"Check what? These are native beasts of the Hundred-Shattered Mountains. Not Ancient Lineage Descendants, not Purebloods—but they're all Primeval Variant Beasts."
"Individually, they're manageable. But together? Even a Pureblood would avoid them. Someone clearly messed with their nest."
And that was the truth.
Primeval Variants weren't as strong as Pureblood Sacred Beasts or Descendants of Ancient Lineages—but in swarms, they were death incarnate. Even a beast of divine blood would flee from a pack this large.
It didn't matter how powerful you were.
Enough ants can kill a lion.
"Awooooooo!"
The night filled with howls—deep, guttural, and endless. This wasn't a beast tide. It was worse. A single-species outbreak, united, driven, disciplined.
The wolves came in every hue—snow-white, shadow-black, storm-blue. All massive, with coats like polished armor and eyes that gleamed with cunning and cruelty.
Then, one stepped forward.
A crimson behemoth reared on its hind legs, its body towering tens of meters tall. Its pelt shimmered with blood-red light, a single glowing horn on its brow. This was the Wolf King, the leader of the horde.
Its strength… was comparable to an Ancient Lineage Descendant.
The Wolf King howled—and more answered. Dozens of Wolf Kings emerged, their eyes bloodshot, charging toward the Divine Caverns like arrows loosed from a bow.
No one knew how many wolves stormed into the pit. It seemed endless. They just kept coming. The cave swallowed them all, rippleless, like a bottomless abyss.
Back in the Divine Caverns
"You idiot!" Yu Zimo shouted at Huo Ling'er. "This isn't some sacred cave—it's the Resting Ground of the Wolf God. A cursed land for raising wolves!"
Even as she cursed, her hands danced with divine radiance. A mystic treasure floated before her—an ancient artifact called the One World Scroll. She activated its protective barrier, shielding the three of them in a shimmering dome of light.
"I didn't know this would happen!" Huo Ling'er hugged the golden egg to her chest, eyes wide with innocence.
"Do wolves even lay eggs?" Hu Niu asked, falling into an oddly serious line of thought.
"…Probably not?" Huo Ling'er replied, not sounding too confident.
"Awoooo!"
The pack reached them. Dozens of Wolf Kings descended, unleashing bloodline-inherited secret arts. Their treasured techniques crashed into the Divine Caverns, lighting up the dark like stars falling from heaven.
Boom after boom.
Runes detonated like divine bombs. The entire cavern shook under the assault, mushroom clouds of light and dust exploding above.
It didn't matter how noble the name—at the end of the day, it was just a cave. No match for the fury of dozens of enraged Wolf Kings.
They were trying to collapse it. Bury the intruders alive.
"Will you two stop spacing out already?!"
Yu Zimo looked like she was about to snap. Her calm exterior had cracked. "This is the last time I go on a mission with you lunatics!"
"Whoosh!"
Huo Ling'er finally moved. Still cradling the golden egg, she blew a soft breath toward the mouth of the cavern.
That breath transformed instantly.
A crimson phoenix, born of flame, flared into being. Its wings crackled with divine fire. It let out a piercing cry and dove into the swarm of wolves, flames searing the ground as it pushed them back.
A temporary opening.
"Go!"
The three girls leapt onto the One World Scroll, which floated like a flying treasure.
Wolf Kings lunged to intercept them mid-air, aiming to drag them down.
But Hu Niu was no pushover.
Her delicate hands clenched into fists, light gathering around them. Each punch detonated like a divine thunderclap, smashing the lunging wolves mid-air—annihilating them in bursts of blood mist.
The Wolf Kings exploded like fruit beneath a hammer.
Yu Zimo kept the scroll flying forward. Huo Ling'er exhaled bursts of phoenix flame to clear the path, while Hu Niu kept the rear secure, her fists punching through anything that got too close.
Dozens of breaths later, they saw it—
Light. The exit.
"Whoosh!"
The One World Scroll shot from the mouth of the Divine Caverns like a comet. The moment they cleared the exit, the entire cave rumbled, the structure finally giving way.
With a thunderous crack, the Divine Caverns collapsed, burying the remaining wolves inside. Dust and divine light rose in a towering column behind them.
"We're out!" Huo Ling'er shouted, elated.
Yu Zimo, still pale, snapped, "Don't ever call me for something like this again. I swear I'm done with both of you."
Her expression said it all.