The Record of Unusual Creatures

3The crimson, barren land was littered with huge, eerie black rocks. Twisted scorched plants grew sparsely in the crevices of the rocks and lava flowed through the mountains. Poisonous vapors gushed from the cracks and holes in the earth as red clouds tumbled across the sky. The rumbling of thunder was also audible and the entire scene looked frightening, as if an endless sea of fire hung over the sky. In this hellish sight, there were also all sorts of low-level demons, who were wandering aimlessly in the wilderness and getting into fights for no reasons. They were the kind of chaotic monsters that were even lower than a demonic warrior of the lowest order. They were ephemeral creatures, born directly from the chaotic space. They almost had no senses, and were completely controlled by brutal impulses. If they survived in combat, they had a chance to be promoted into a higher order. However, most of these lower-order demons would soon die and become part of the energy cycle in that space.     4

It was where the demons lived in—a place, where it was a constant challenge for survival. Despite that, those manic, grumpy creatures were willing to live in such conditions.     

Up in the sky, the Petrachelys was covered in dirty clouds as it darted through the air and dodged a swarm of low-level demons, who wandering in the red wilderness. The radar system detected a huge and deep pit in the plains, but there were almost no demons wandering around it, so that was where they landed.     

When everybody came out of the ship, Hao Ren put the Petrachelys back into his Dimensional Pocket. Then, all of them took a deep breath at the same time to have a feel of the atmosphere in the Demonic Plane.     

Lily immediately jumped up. Due to her sensitive nose, she was quickly choked by the strong sulphuric fumes in the air. She was holding on to Hao Ren's arm, jumping up and down as she said, "I'm dying… I'm going to choke to death…"     

Nangong Wuyue's health points kept dropping too. The siren's eyes were glowing green and she was gasping for air. "I'm really dying... This place is so dry... Water... Where's the water?"     

"Water is a rare thing in the Demonic Plane and it's quite useless to us. I was the only one who built the city near a water source to look after the other races," Y'zaks said and looked at the two ladies who appeared to be suffering. "If you can't stand the environment here, you can—"     

"Forget it, I'll endure it." Nangong Wuyue could finally breathe. She waved her hands and tried to squeeze a little water from the surrounding air to form a protective enchantment. Nonetheless, she sighed and said, "It's more difficult than squeezing water in the desert... Can't believe you guys can live in a place like this."     

Lanina did not find the environment bad. She took a deep breath comfortably, smiled and said, "The smell of my homeland... I haven't come back for a long time. I really miss the smell of sulphur in this place."     

Hao Ren looked back and found the huge plume of smoke still standing. It looked like it was supporting the sky and connecting Earth to the heaven. The huge plume of smoke was so smooth and straight that it was almost impossible to tell that it was actually formed by gas from their distance. Only the vaguely visible lines that kept rolling over and over its surface could prove that it was not a solid object. He was amazed by the scenes in the Demonic Plane, and the smoke plume was one of the most amazing scenes there. "What is that?"     

"That's a Hulme Smoke Column. Under it is the Hulme Crater, also known as the Great Pit," Y'zaks said with a solemn expression. "The diametre of this smoke pillar is more than 200 km and the crater below it is one of the most magical things in the Demonic Plane. Nobody knows where the crater's huge hole leads to. It's said that even the most powerful demon can't reach the bottom of the Great Pit. For tens of thousands of years, the crater has been spewing out the smoke columns. But when a smoke column rises high enough, it disappears into a space crack and nobody knows where it goes."     

"You've got all the weird stuff here," Hao Ren said, feeling amazed.     

Y'zaks nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, the Demonic Plane is the most unstable form of a space vesicle. So naturally, there will be a lot of unnatural landscapes. By the way, it's better to stay away from the smoke columns. Without the protection of the spacecraft, the average person will die. The temperature in the smoke column is very high, and air masses that measure thousands of degrees can suddenly burst from the crater. The smoke and dust is also highly toxic as it is mixed with a neurotoxin that makes demons lose control."     

"The smoke column is part of the arsenal of Serathon's Legion," Lanina explained. "Serathon, the demon king has a plague corps. They use highly toxic substances and neurotoxins in combat. Their weapons are created under the smoke columns. Thanks to the columns, the old mad man is one of the most powerful demons and my king's most dreaded adversary. "     

"Don't call me that from now on," Y'zaks suddenly remembered that he should remind Lanina. "I'm no longer a demon king, and it's very easy for my identity to be revealed here. You can call me Wang just like everyone else."     

Hao Ren rolled his eyes and said, "Now I realise why you got yourself that name…"     

Lily pondered for some time and finally realised something. "…Wang means 'king'!"     

Y'zaks scratched his big, bald head and said, "That's just a coincidence."     

Vivian used her hand to fan herself, frowning at the surrounding situation. She then said, "Okay, let's stop chatting and get down to business. Lanina, you know the situation here, what's the plan?"     

"We have to get to the Obsidian Plains as soon as possible. It's where the princess disappeared." Lanina nodded and said, "We have to leave this place first. This is Serathon's territory. Serathon and the king… Wang are mortal enemies. We need to cross the Demonic Foundry to get to the nearest teleportation portal, and we better go straight through—it's easier to bump into the patrolling team if we make a detour around the Demonic Foundry. "     

"Can't we directly teleport there?" Hao Ren asked as he held the MDT in his hand.     

Lanina shook her head and said, "It'd be better if we don't. Demons are experts in dimensional science. Even the dimensional magic of other races originated here first. It's easy for them to sense the presence of an unfamiliar dimensional door hundreds of kilometres away. Plus, the demon king is cautious. His people will monitor all the dimensional phenomena in their territory in order to prevent other people from coming in."     

The demoness then laughed and said, "They fight all day long, even the demon king has to becareful of not to getting himself beheaded at times. This is the daily life in the demon world. The king... Wang almost ended this mess the last time, but he was eventually betrayed by that idiot, Serathon. It seems like that idiot enjoys such a chaotic life."     

Hao Ren wanted to tell her that the MDT had high-tech teleportation functions, perhaps it could bypass monitoring. But after thinking about it for a while, he decided not to take the risk. After all, the teleportation function of the MDT was just to save them some time; it was not a device specialised for spying, and their teleportations were not encrypted. It would cause a lot of trouble if the demons there noticed them. As powerful a man as Y'zaks was, he was still held captive and beaten for months…     

"Where's the Demonic Foundry?" Nangong Wuyue asked. She remembered Lanina mentioning it earlier and she knew that Y'zaks was imprisoned by the big demon named Serathon in the Demonic Foundry.     

Lanina lifted her finger and pointed to a faraway piece of land that was cracked and rolled up. It was at the edge of the deep huge pit they saw before the ship landed. "That's the Demonic Foundry. Serathon held the enemies he captured in the bottom of the Demonic Foundry and tortured them. He would then extract their souls and inject them into the Hellfire Demon to expand his legion. But the place is gone now after Serathon encountered some unexpected calamities, ha!"     

Y'zaks was held in the Demonic Foundry. When the Xi Ling disciples took him away, they also killed the demon guards who were trying to stop them, destroying the entire Demonic Foundry in the process. Lanina found it funny as she spoke on the matter. Lily saw Lanina wagging her thin, devilish tail in the air and Lily felt like doing the same. Luckily, considering how bad the air was for her beautiful fur, the husky resisted the urge to poke her tail out and wag it together with the demoness.     

They watched their surroundings, guarding themselves against any sudden encounters with the wandering lower-order demons as they headed towards the huge, deep pit.