Gazing as far as the eye could see, the sea and sky blended into a single line, water indistinguishable from heaven.
A thunderous dragon roar seemed to roll out from the clouds high above the celestial vault.
Between the breaks in the clouds, one could vaguely glimpse the scales and claws of an azure dragon.
Its serpentine body stretched endlessly, seemingly reaching to the very edge of the sky.
And the dragon's tail, revealed by chance, appeared to their eyes as colossal as a mountain.
Xu Ke stared open-mouthed, craning his neck, his body swaying slightly. "How can this dragon be so big?"
"I've seen azure dragons in my sect before. But compared to the one in front of us..."
"Those can't even be called dragons. They're more like little loaches!"
Xu Ke wasn't foolish; knowing that Nanming was the domain of demonic beasts, he whispered quietly to Li Fan.
"A divine dragon shows its head but never its tail..." Li Fan ignored him.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on the azure dragon in the celestial vault, sifting through the memories inherited from his Profound Bird bloodline.
This azure dragon had existed for so long that its years could practically rival those of the long-lived Di Sanmo.
Unlike Di Sanmo, who acted as a prophet to lead the demonic beasts forward, this Azure Divine Dragon never interfered in the internal affairs of demonic beast tribes.
It functioned more as a guardian deity, seldom showing itself to the world.
Only in pivotal moments when the demonic beast race faced existential extinction would it intervene.
"The Azure Divine Dragon usually conceals its form, hiding within waves and mists. I wonder why it suddenly unleashed such a roar today."
"It seems something major may have happened here in Nanming."
"To happen upon it the moment we arrive—he truly is one favored by destiny."
While pondering secretly, Li Fan swiped a paw at Xu Ke.
Xu Ke felt bewildered and indignantly attempted to counterattack, only to be ruthlessly suppressed by Li Fan.
Beneath Xu Ke, the qingluan bird seemed to let out a helpless sigh.
Without slowing in the least, she continued speeding south.
The Sea of Nanming was vast and boundless.
As far as the eye could see, there was only the vault of heaven above and an endless expanse of azure seawater below.
After flying continuously for more than a dozen days, the scenery did not change in the slightest.
To say nothing of that Demon Mountain, they hadn't even spotted the silhouette of an ordinary demonic beast.
Instead, schools of bizarre fish occasionally surfaced to frolic in the waters.
Some even chased after the shadow cast by Xu Ke's party on the sea's surface, following them along the way.
Yet these fish had not developed intelligence and acted purely on instinct; they were clearly not demonic beasts.
"Xiao Hei, where on earth is that demon mountain?" Xu Ke rested his chin in his hands, looking utterly listless.
"Senior Brother Lu Ya didn't explain clearly either, only telling me to just keep heading south."
"And I actually believed him. What a headache."
Li Fan was about to answer when his expression suddenly shifted.
From behind him, a surge of killing intent accompanied by a pungent scent of blood swept toward them without warning.
Immediately turning his head, he spat out a ray of black light, colliding squarely with the incoming murderous aura.
"Huh?" A startled cry came from their attacker.
Boom!
Amidst the explosion, the qingluan bird finally reacted.
Letting out an angry cry, she spread her wings, shielding Xu Ke behind her.
Meanwhile, Li Fan flew into midair, looking from afar at the culprit who had launched the sneak attack.
It was a strange two-headed bird.
Its feathers were pure white. One head stared with wide eyes, its gaze darting back and forth across Xu Ke's party.
The other head seemed to be asleep, its eyes tightly shut, bobbing and nodding in a comical fashion.
"So it's someone from the Profound Bird clan. Haven't seen you in years, how did you turn into such a mess?"
"You're truly too ugly to look at."
The two-headed bird mocked in a shrill voice.
"A Manman..." Li Fan instantly recognized the two-headed bird's origins.
Speaking of which, it even had a bit of a kinship connection to the Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird clan.
Named Manman, it might not have the most pleasant name, but its background was formidable.
Its left head was said to perceive cause and effect across worldly affairs, while its right head slept year-round.
Only if it sensed approaching calamity would it awaken with a start.
However, Manman birds were usually blue-green tinged with red; one entirely snow-white like this was exceedingly rare.
No wonder it thought Li Fan was ugly—it was the polar opposite of the jet-black Li Fan.
Although according to seniority among the demonic beasts, the creature was likely Li Fan's elder, Li Fan certainly wasn't going to show any courtesy in the face of this white Manman's sudden assault and verbal ridicule.
"Strange. Did I hear a duck quacking somewhere?"
"All that quacking is so harsh and obnoxious."
Li Fan looked all around with an air of complete ignorance regarding the Manman's presence, asking Xu Ke below with a look of confusion and mild disgust.
Xu Ke was taken aback for a moment, then clapped his hands and burst into giggles. "You're right, I heard it too!"
"Everyone says this Nanming Demon Mountain is the sacred sanctuary of demonic beasts. How did an ill-mannered duck manage to sneak in? What a strange, strange thing!"
Hearing the two of them chime in together to mock it, the Manman bird flared with fury.
"You two little brats, who are you calling a duck?"
"This lord is a noble and exalted Manman bird! A pure white variant seen once in a thousand years! You..."
Yet no matter what it said, Li Fan and Xu Ke simply shook their heads with looks of utter revulsion.
The white Manman bird fumed with rage. Seeing how infuriating they were, it prepared to attack again.
Yet, perhaps recalling something, it unexpectedly reined itself in on the spot.
"You Profound Bird runt, I'll remember you!"
It shot Li Fan a vicious glare, flapped its wings, and flew ahead.
Li Fan and Xu Ke exchanged a look, man and bird immediately urging Xiao Qing to follow closely behind.
Before long, the Manman bird noticed them trailing behind it.
"Why do you keep following me? Do you think I'm easy to push around?"
Li Fan put on a disdainful expression. "How strange. The sky is broad and the earth wide; all beasts are free to roam."
"Could it be that where your Manman bird flies, no other beast is allowed to tread?"
"Aren't you overstepping your bounds?"
Before the white Manman bird could respond, an odd laugh suddenly swept in from the horizon, arriving in an instant.
"Hahaha!"
"Well said! The little fellow speaks good sense! It seems you Manman birds have had it too easy for too long, growing more and more ill-mannered!"
The white Manman's eyes flashed with feral malice, radiating murderous intent.
Yet the moment it got a clear look at the newcomer, its momentum deflated completely.
Though the newcomer was a bird, it had the body of a dog and the face of a human.
Its every movement in flight was accompanied by howling gales.
It was none other than a member of the renowned Dafeng clan.
"Hahahaha!"
Once the Dafeng bird settled, it let out another hearty laugh.
Then its gaze lingered on Li Fan for a moment before finally landing on Xu Ke.
A flicker of curiosity flashed through its eyes.
"You're a human brat—what are you doing here in the domain of us demonic beasts?"
Chapter 531