Chapter 663: Chapter 660: Heaven-Devouring Divine Crocodile
The world fell silent, and everyone was in shock.
Even after Jiang Jichen had vanished into the Forest of Lost Souls, they still couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.
It felt as if the scene just now had been nothing but a dream.
Jiang Jichen had only just proclaimed his entry into the Holy Dao, yet he had already slain a god and a Saint.
Such invincible might was something no one would likely ever forget.
At that moment, the upper echelons of the Law Enforcement Association reacted swiftly.
"Lock down the news and forbid it from spreading. The matter of hunting down Jiang Jichen needs to be re-evaluated. However, the Celestial God Dharma Image has already issued a Law Enforcement Divine Decree, so Jiang Jichen must die. Only then can we answer to the Heavenly Dao Realm!"
This voice came from the Vice Hall Master in the Mortal World’s Law Enforcement Guild Headquarters.
It wasn’t just the Law Enforcement Association. The other major powers who had witnessed the scene were also re-evaluating whether Jiang Jichen was worth trying to win over.
But in the end, their assessments concluded that it didn’t matter. The Law Enforcement Association, a powerful force in the Mortal World, wanted to take Jiang Jichen’s life, and the Heavenly Dao Realm also wished for his destruction.
Besides, Jiang Jichen had slain a Saint and a god. No one could withstand the wrath of the Heavenly Dao Realm, nor the retaliation of the Mortal World’s Law Enforcement Association.
Therefore, they could only give up on the idea.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jichen was walking through the Forest of Lost Souls, unaware that various major powers had already convened all sorts of discussions because of him.
The Forest of Lost Souls was as gloomy and frigid as ever.
All spirits die, never to be reincarnated, never to be reborn, only lonely souls drifting for eternity—such were the rumors about the Forest of Lost Souls.
Besides lonely souls, there were also terrifying death Restrictions here. To touch one was like being struck by a death curse that would drain one’s Life Energy.
Jiang Jichen discovered that the Restrictions here had become even more powerful and terrifying than before.
Now, even an ordinary Saint might face mortal danger if they stepped inside.
Following the great changes in the world, the various spirit-severing forbidden lands also seemed to be truly awakening, revealing their truly terrifying nature.
However, the Restrictions here were naturally ineffective against Jiang Jichen.
He could now walk through them freely.
Just as Jiang Jichen was moving forward, a voice called out, "Master, please wait!"
Jiang Jichen turned around and saw that the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile had actually followed him.
It was wearing a Secret Artifact that emitted a strange light, resisting the Power of Restriction from the Forest of Lost Souls.
"Master? Who’s your master?"
"You damn crocodile, if you keep spouting nonsense, believe it or not, I’ll peel your hide off right here and make it into a Crocodile Cloak!"
Jiang Jichen said coolly.
Jiang Jichen had already experienced the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s shamelessness. It was in no way inferior to Little Haas.
So, he really didn’t want to waste his breath on it.
"Ah, Master, if you want this little croc’s hide, then please, take it."
"This little croc is yours in life, and your ghost in death. If you won’t be this little croc’s master, then what joy is there in life, what sorrow in death!"
"This little croc’s Heaven-Gazing Peak is gone. From now on, I can no longer gaze at the heavens and pretend to be melancholic and profound. I can’t be a shut-in on Heaven-Gazing Peak anymore."
"Since this little croc is now homeless, why not let me roam the world with you, Master?"
"You saved this little croc’s life, Master. From now on, this little croc will obey only your commands."
"Master, please... just take this little croc..."
...
At that moment, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile was wailing nonstop, crocodile tears streaming down its face—SPLISH SPLASH—in a river of sorrow flowing upstream.
Jiang Jichen was dumbfounded!
He never would have thought that after gaining intelligence, the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile would become such a weirdo.
Shameless words just rolled off its tongue. It was even more ridiculous than Little Haas.
Moreover, no matter how he listened to this damn crocodile’s words, they were filled with an... off-putting flavor.
’What was that about being my croc in life and my ghost in death?’
’And "Master, please... just take this little croc"?’
’It even knows how to spout poetry? "What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death?"’
"Damn it!"
Jiang Jichen couldn’t hold back any longer. Before the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile could finish speaking, he had already kicked it into the sky.
This damn crocodile was a Top Grade weirdo to the extreme.
’It might be one thing if a beautiful woman said these things to me, but you’re an ugly crocodile!’
Jiang Jichen kicked the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile up and down like a rubber ball. After letting off some steam, he said, "From now on, you are not to speak without my express command!"
"For now, you can serve as my mount. Destination: Moon God Hall!"
In the end, Jiang Jichen still decided to take the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile in and use it as a temporary mount.
In truth, Jiang Jichen had already seen that the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile was extraordinary. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for it to reach the Beast King Realm in just seven or eight years.
Moreover, there was a bloodline seal within the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s body.
Faintly, Jiang Jichen could even sense a trace of the Nine Heavens Divine Crocodile’s bloodline aura within it.
The Heaven-Devouring Divine Crocodile, one of the Ten Vicious Beasts!
Although it ranked last among the Ten Vicious Beasts, that was still enough to shake the ages.
The Celestial Desolate Beast, the Demon Phoenix, the Cyan Dragon, the White Tiger, the Black Tortoise, the Heaven-Devouring Divine Crocodile...
No matter which of the Vicious Beasts it was, each possessed unparalleled innate skills. They were beings that had pushed a certain technique to its absolute limit.
The Heaven-Devouring Divine Crocodile, according to legend, could swallow the stars and the Sun and Moon in a single gulp.
And that Secret Artifact on the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s body might even be related to the Heaven-Devouring Divine Crocodile, one of the Ten Vicious Beasts.
As for the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile, aside from its shameless personality, the creature was actually quite decent.
For example, its running speed was astonishing. It reached the deepest part of the Forest of Lost Souls very quickly.
"The Forest of Lost Souls has gotten bigger!"
Jiang Jichen was shocked. He felt as if this place had become a world of its own.
At the Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s speed, it had still taken a full double-hour just to enter the depths of the Forest of Lost Souls.
But the depths were not the center.
Jiang Jichen’s Cultivation today was on a completely different level than before.
He could sense that the Forest of Lost Souls was far from simple.
Even now, what he was seeing of the Forest of Lost Souls was not its true appearance.
Only with the changes in the world would it slowly reveal its true form.
Jiang Jichen’s Divine Thought landed on the distant Darkness. It was like an endless, abyssal blackness, a place even his Divine Thought could not penetrate.
Within the Darkness, a pair of eyes seemed to be staring at him, just like before.
"Little Gray, what is your relationship to it?"
Jiang Jichen suddenly spoke to the Darkness.
The Darkness was silent, without a sound.
The Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s body, however, was trembling.
"Master, this little croc stayed on Heaven-Gazing Peak for over a hundred years and witnessed the changes in the Forest of Lost Souls. An Undead Celestial God once descended here—its true body—but after it went in, it never came out again."
The Heaven-Gazing Crocodile said, its voice trembling.
The Heaven-Gazing Crocodile’s words sent a chill down Jiang Jichen’s spine.
To have never come out naturally meant it had perished.
An Undead Celestial God had met its end here. One could only imagine how terrifying the existence within the Forest of Lost Souls truly was.
’If that being wanted to kill them, it would probably only take a single thought.’
But the last time he entered the Forest of Lost Souls, the entity hadn’t killed him. On the contrary, he had received some clandestine help from the forest.
’By that logic, the Forest of Lost Souls shouldn’t have any malicious intent toward me.’
"Little Gazing Croc, have you forgotten who gave you that Secret Artifact? If you dare say another word, I’ll take it back and turn you into a crocodile skeleton!"
Just then, a sinister voice suddenly echoed from the depths of the abyssal blackness.
"Ah, you’re..."
The Heaven-Gazing Crocodile trembled all over, unable to speak another word.