The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 571: The Thing in the Canyon’s Core

Aldrian was brought along at such high speed that he couldn’t really see the details below him, but he could still sense many presences in the grand canyon. It seemed that none of them reacted once they sensed Dureus’s presence, which was understandable. Even so, he could still sense a few that appeared to be following Dureus—perhaps curious about him.

Aldrian didn’t mind them, especially since Dureus also didn’t seem to care and simply continued flying at high speed.

After a few moments of silence, Aldrian finally opened his lips.

"Do you know about the war that’s happening now?" he asked.

"Of course I know. There’s no way something that big could slip past my attention. In fact, all beings inside this region already know about it," Dureus answered.

"Then did the Devil Lord not disturb you or the beings in this region because of the war? To be honest, all this time I thought everyone with devil energy was under the Devil Lord and worshipped the Devil God, but—" Aldrian looked below.

"I can sense many powerful beings down there who don’t seem to care or participate in the war. With this kind of strength, I think even the alliance forces would face difficulties and be slowed down."

Truthfully, he was shocked by what he could sense from the land below. What he had sensed all this time were beings at least at the Grand Duke level at their weakest, and in truth, the region was more dominated by King-stage beings. The number of Emperor-stage beings was also quite high, which made him wonder how such a place could exist within devil territory.

With beings like these, if the Devil Lord brought them under his command, he would have a massive army of high-cultivation beasts.

Hearing Aldrian’s question, Dureus let out a faint snort before opening his lips.

"Well, let’s just say that the beings of this canyon are special. We don’t really consider the Devil Lord our leader, nor do we see the Devil God as our god," he said.

"The Grand Canyon of Offering Souls has been a special place since long ago—even the Devil Lords of the past didn’t want to provoke this place carelessly. Why? Aside from the average power level here and the brutal environment, there’s something else that makes devils from outside hesitate to enter this region," he said with a mysterious smile.

"You’ll see it for yourself, Young Master Aldrian. Even now, that thing might already be sensing your arrival."

"Anyway, whatever questions you have may be answered once you reach the core area."

Hearing Dureus’s answer, Aldrian wasn’t surprised he knew his name, news of him had already spread after all, but he was curious about the thing Dureus spoke of.

What kind of presence could make even the Devil Lords of the past avoid this region?

What had Long Shentian and Feng Xuanyan left behind that kept the Devil Lord from interfering with this place?

As he was thinking, Dureus suddenly came to a stop—his flight path blocked by a beast. It was a type of eagle with gray-black feathers, its cultivation at the high Emperor stage.

"Xerax, why are you blocking my path? You don’t have any business with me, do you?" Dureus asked.

The beast named Xerax didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Aldrian.

"I don’t, but who is this human? Why are you letting him ride on your back?" Xerax’s male voice rang out as he narrowed his eyes at Aldrian.

"And why are you bringing him toward the core area? You know very well that that thing and its guardian don’t like outsiders, especially humans entering without reason," he added.

"It’ll be trouble if that thing gets angry after being disturbed. You’d better not do anything foolish."

As he spoke, other beasts began to approach. All of them were at the Emperor stage. Aldrian glanced at them, then calmly created his domain as a failsafe while observing the situation.

The situation felt strange but still seemed under control, with minimal ill intent. However, Aldrian didn’t rely solely on that. He glanced at the beasts, ready to make a move if they did anything reckless.

"He’s the one everyone’s been talking about recently. He’s the prophesied one," Dureus said, causing the surrounding beasts to widen their eyes slightly.

"Him?" Xerax said in astonishment, looking at Aldrian again. This young Grand Duke—was he truly the one spoken of in the prophecy?

Aldrian noticed their reaction and couldn’t help wanting to test these devil beasts. He began exuding his golden energy and aura, causing all the beasts present to tremble. The shock in their eyes was clear, and their souls quivered in response.

"This energy... this aura—? How is this possible?"

"His aura feels the same as that thing’s—"

"But his golden energy carries an unfamiliar pressure... it strikes directly at our souls, unlike that thing."

Many hushed voices echoed around as the beasts were truly shocked to feel this aura coming from Aldrian.

Then suddenly, a loud rumbling rose from below—like a massive landslide. But it wasn’t a landslide. The Grand Canyon trembled slightly, as if an earthquake had struck.

Seeing this, the beasts were once again shocked. They turned toward a specific direction—the same direction Dureus had intended to take Aldrian.

Following the trembling ground, the cries of beasts echoed throughout the canyon. Many began flying out of their dwellings, panic clear in their movements. The quake had stirred them.

Xerax and the other beasts near Aldrian and Dureus turned their eyes back to Aldrian. They understood now, that thing must have sensed Aldrian’s energy and had begun to stir. With this sign, there was no longer any doubt: Aldrian was truly special, and it seemed he was the one that thing had been waiting for.

Without another word, Xerax made way. Dureus understood instantly and dashed forward, continuing their journey. The other beasts simply watched as the two moved away, and Xerax narrowed his eyes.

"It looks like there will be a change in this region after this," he thought before glancing toward the direction of the black pillar.

Dureus and Aldrian had already put some distance between themselves and the others when Aldrian asked,

"How long will it take to reach that thing?"

"At the earliest, we’ll arrive tomorrow after sunrise," Dureus answered.

Aldrian fell into thought for a moment before speaking again.

"Tomorrow, huh... I’m really curious about this ’thing’ you keep mentioning. Was that earthquake earlier caused by it? If so, I can only imagine the size or the power it must have to shake the canyon that much."

"Well, you’re right, Young Master. That thing is truly massive. Even we don’t know exactly how huge it is."

Aldrian thought for a moment again.

"Is it located underground and a being that can’t move? For example—"

"Is it a kind of plant?" he asked with near certainty.

The basis of his guess was simple. If something was large enough to make the canyon tremble and required them to travel for more than a night just to reach it, then it had to be enormous. That kind of size should allow it to be seen from the horizon, but even now, he didn’t see anything like that.

So, the possibility was that it was located underground. And why did he suspect it might be a plant? Because if it were a beast, with such a size, it would require an extremely high cultivation, something only possible in higher heavens.

But a plant was different. It could grow that massive even if its cultivation only reached the peak of the Emperor stage, depending on the type of plant. A clear example was the World Tree, which was immense in size, visible from afar, yet "only" at the Emperor stage in terms of cultivation.

Hearing Aldrian’s guess, Dureus smiled.

"Yes, you are right, Young Master. That thing is a plant, and it’s located underground. But we don’t really know what kind of plant it is, as we have only ever seen its roots. Even so, its roots are already enormous, and we have never seen its main body," he answered, which made Aldrian curious.

"Why haven’t you seen its main body?" Aldrian asked.

"Well, you will know for yourself later, Young Master."

They continued their journey as they spoke about other topics that interested Aldrian.

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While Aldrian continued his journey to the core area of the canyon, the battle to seize the devil fortresses along the border was nearing its end. This outcome was already expected, as the alliance forces overwhelmed the devils in every aspect.

The fortresses along the border fell one after another, leaving only two still in the process of being taken.

The sound of battle raged on, and both the devils and the alliance fought with wild intensity. In this battlefield, several prominent figures stood out, finally revealing their true strength.

One of them was someone many had not expected to be so powerful. Her technique cut down devils like ants.

Rumble!

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