Empress: My husband is too strong, I can only lie down and relax.

Chapter 339 An Ape Clan Emerging from a Stone? The Heaven-Refining Furnace!

"Master, the atmosphere here is strange!"

At this moment, even the demonic flame qilin sensed something was amiss.

Gu Jiancheng did not respond; his divine sense continued to spread throughout the sacred space.

Unlike the Demon Realm, he knew very few of the forces in this Demon Realm.

The families of Yuan Da and others have been wandering and hiding in the Demon Realm for almost all years, with no fixed abode, and can hardly be considered any kind of power.

"Indeed, most of this demon realm has been corrupted by strange energy, and the situation is much worse than I imagined."

"However, some areas have remained in their original state."

Gu Jiancheng withdrew his divine sense power and, along with the Demon Flame Qilin, once again vanished into the void.

The demon realm was vast and boundless. Half a day later, Gu Jiancheng stopped in front of a canyon.

"Heh, you've hidden it quite well."

Gu Jiancheng smiled and then rushed into the canyon. There was another space beneath the canyon, winding and twisting, even reaching tens of thousands of feet underground, like a maze.

Moreover, Gu Jiancheng also discovered many ancient restrictions deep underground. Although they were incomplete, they could still block external disturbances and even prevent strange energy from penetrating in.

Gu Jiancheng increasingly felt that the Demon Realm was not as simple as he had previously imagined.

In fact, this applies to both the Holy Realm and the Demon Realm.

He originally thought that these three domains were connected and were just an ordinary spatial bubble floating above the outer heavens.

But this place is also filled with ancient restrictions.

Finally, Gu Jiancheng arrived at the deepest part of this underground space, where he was greeted by a world of extremely hot magma.

However, there are many caves on the rock walls of this space, and many demons are cultivating inside them!

Gu Jiancheng had sensed the pure demonic energy here before descending to this place, but he didn't expect that there were quite a few demons cultivating here!

"Apes!?"

Soon enough, Gu Jiancheng sensed a race in these caves whose aura was similar to that of the Great Ape.

Immediately, Gu Jiancheng manifested his form and headed straight for the cave where the ape clan was located.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

In an instant, Gu Jiancheng's appearance caused a stir in the underground space, and many powerful demons rushed out of the cave.

The leader was a powerful figure who had emerged from the ape-clan's cave.

"Please wait, everyone, and calm down!"

Just as the demons were about to attack Gu Jiancheng, the leader of the ape clan raised his hand to stop them.

"You are not a demon. What brings you to my underground demon cave?"

The leader of the ape clan, a middle-aged man whose cultivation had reached the late stage of the Saint Realm, bowed to Gu Jiancheng.

This appearance surprised all the demons. Why was the Great Commander so wary of a mere human who looked so young?

"Hehe, everyone, please don't be nervous. I, Gu, have no ill intentions here!"

As Gu Jiancheng spoke, he raised his large hand, and a beam of light floated above his palm.

It prominently displays images of the two apes who once cultivated within the Taiji Sect.

"My son!?"

As expected, the leading ape clan saint and the other demon clan powerhouses all gasped in shock upon seeing this, their expressions filled with extreme astonishment.

After entering the Guixu Ancient Battlefield, Ape Big and Ape Two never returned, and they even thought they had perished.

Unexpectedly, they learned of their whereabouts from these humans!

"My sons are still alive!? Where are they now? Are they alright?"

The ape-clan sage, having recovered his senses, asked in an excited, trembling voice.

“Both Ape Da and Ape Er are very good. After leaving the Guixu Ancient Battlefield, they followed me to the Holy Domain and joined my Taiji Sect.”

"After that, he followed me to the Holy Dao Palace to cultivate. Now, Yuan Da's cultivation should have reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Saint Realm, right?"

Gu Jiancheng smiled.

"What? My son even went to the Supreme Sage Palace to cultivate!"

The ape saint and all the demons were overjoyed.

They knew about the Supreme Holy Palace, but previously only the top geniuses of the Thousand Demon Holy Land in the Demon Realm could enter it to cultivate.

Unexpectedly, Ape Big and Ape Two also went inside!?

"That's right, but I encountered an accident during the battle in the Outer Heavens and got separated from them. This time I returned to the Holy Domain to cleanse the strange energy!"

Gu Jiancheng nodded, his inner energy surging and vibrating like muffled thunder.

Although it was kept hidden, it still made the demon saint shudder and feel terrified.

Previously, he hadn't let the demons act rashly because he couldn't see through the human cultivator's cultivation level and there was no strange aura. Now that he saw it, it was indeed as he had thought. Although the human cultivator was young, his cultivation level was unfathomable!

No wonder he's a prodigy who returned from the Supreme Holy Dao Palace!

"May I ask how you are addressed, young master?" the ape-clan sage asked again, bowing respectfully.

“Senior, there’s no need to feel sorry. Just call me Jiancheng,” Gu Jiancheng said with a smile.

"Very well, Young Master Jiancheng, shall we go inside for a chat?"

The ape saint raised his hand.

"Senior please!"

Gu Jiancheng nodded, and then he and the ape clan entered the cave where the ape clan was located.

He was new to the Holy Domain and didn't know much about anything here. He didn't even know how to start cleansing the strange energy of the area.

Now, this ape-clan sage can answer his questions.

"Young Master Jian Cheng just said that he came to the Demon Realm this time to cleanse it of its eerie aura?"

Upon entering the cave, the ape-clan sage immediately asked.

"That's right, and it absolutely must be cleansed!"

Gu Jiancheng nodded. Although he still couldn't figure out how this strange aura was generated, if it continued to spread, it would surely bring about a catastrophe!

Although his current abilities are not enough to turn the tide, he can at least ensure that these three regions will no longer be tainted by the strange energy.

"But do you know that it was the Supreme Holy Palace that intervened? They allowed the Thousand Demon Holy Land to cultivate evil arts and nurture strange energy?" the ape saint added.

They had considered resisting, and had even fought against the Thousand Demon Holy Land for many years, but after learning that the Thousand Demon Holy Land was backed by the Supreme Holy Dao Palace, they lost their will to fight.

Facing the Supreme Holy Palace, they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Of course I know!"

Gu Jiancheng smiled upon hearing this and said, "Senior, you may not know this, but on my way here, I had already killed all the Holy Kings of the Holy Dao Palace who had descended upon the Holy Domain and the Demon Domain!"

"The cultivation limit of the experts from the Supreme Holy Dao Palace who descended upon the Three Domains is only the third-tier Saint King, but with such combat power, I, Gu, can crush them like ants!"

"Therefore, senior, do not be afraid of the Supreme Holy Palace. However, I am not clear about the situation in this Demon Realm. It seems that the situation here is much more serious than in the Demon Realm and the Holy Realm!"

Crushing a third-tier Saint King like an ant?!

Upon hearing this, the ape-clan sage felt a sudden tightness in his heart.

Just how terrifying is the combat power of this human junior before us?!

But the ape saint took a deep breath, suppressed his shock, and said in a deep voice, "That's right, the current situation in the Holy Domain has brought us to the brink of despair."

“Long ago, strange energy spread throughout the Holy Domain, and even to some of the subordinate continental spaces beneath the Holy Domain.”

"Now, thanks to the deliberate spread of the eerie aura by the Thousand Demon Holy Land, it has almost enveloped the entire Demon Realm."

"We are powerless to reverse the situation and can only hide in this underground space, barely surviving."

"As you can see, there are quite a few demons in this cave, many of whom I rescued from other continents."

"But with my abilities, this is all I can do."

"We don't even dare to go back to the ground. Once our resources are exhausted, all that awaits us is destruction."

"This place is indeed special, with ancient restrictions that can even isolate it from the erosion of strange energy. It's an excellent hiding place." Gu Jiancheng nodded upon hearing this. If there were enough resources, these demons might be able to continue to multiply here.

“That’s right, this place was also the birthplace of my ancient ape clan.” The ape clan sage nodded, and then said, “In fact, Young Master Jian Cheng may not know that the first ancestor of my Tongbei ancient ape clan was actually born from an ancient stone.”

"Ancient stone?!" This question astonished Gu Jiancheng.

Could it be that this ancient ape clan sprang from stones?

This reminded him of a certain mythical legend about the Monkey King!

"That's right!"

The ape sage nodded, and then led Gu Jiancheng down the passage opened in the cave wall.

After descending tens of thousands of feet, the two finally landed.

At this moment, the space where Gu Jiancheng was located had completely turned into a blazing red, with some kind of blazing ancient rocks all around. What shocked Gu Jiancheng was that these rocks were covered with ancient restriction totems!

Although countless years have passed, the runes still shine brightly.

In the middle of the cave was a broken stone.

Nothing else.

"Strange, why does this place look like the space left after some ancient magical artifact shattered?"

But soon, Gu Jiancheng noticed something strange.

The runes here are not some kind of magic array; they look more like marks left from weapon crafting.

"Hahaha, you have a sharp eye, kid. That's right, this is indeed the space of an ancient magical artifact's remains!"

At this moment, the Azure Dragon Lord within the Mountain and River Map space also laughed.

"Remnants of a magical artifact?"

"So, this thing also comes from beyond the heavens? How do you explain the ancient stone then?"

Gu Jiancheng was even more puzzled at this point.

"What's so hard to explain? It's simply that some powerful being from ancient times wanted to use a magical artifact to refine this ancient stone. But a calamity struck, and the artifact fell into the void and ended up here!"

"However, on the other hand, even in ancient times, someone who possesses such a top-tier magical artifact would definitely be a top-tier giant."

"As far as I know, there was once a pseudo-immortal artifact in the Nine Provinces called the Heaven Refining Furnace, which was said to be able to melt all things, and it was very similar to this thing."

"You can take a piece of this fragment. When you reach the Outer Heavens, perhaps it will be another opportunity!"

The Lord of the Azure Dragon laughed again.

"Heaven Refining Furnace?"

Gu Jiancheng frowned. This sounded more and more like the legendary Laozi's Eight Trigrams Furnace.

In mythology, monkeys were also refined; it can't be such a coincidence!