Chapter 632: The Platform Maze

Staring at the thick white mist and the maze of winding, twisting passages before him, the Seven-Soul Devil could feel his frustration mounting. With the entire Illusion Mist Palace standing between him and his target, it was becoming increasingly unlikely that he would be able to reclaim the Yin-Yang Panda Egg he had guarded for more than two decades. But no matter how bad the situation looked, he had no intention of giving up. Not now, and certainly not before he had fought all the way to the end.

"Dark Demon Heaven Strike!"

From his position at the center of the formation, Marcus had a clear view of the Seven-Soul Devil’s sudden transformation. Seven pairs of arms appeared around the dark assassin’s body, each gripping a different weapon, and all fourteen weapons came crashing down upon the maze passages with terrifying force.

Boom! Crash!

The energy-based formation shuddered violently beneath the assault. The passage walls, which had been formed entirely from condensed energy, twisted and warped under the impact as dark demonic energy spread across their surfaces like cracks through glass. The Seven-Soul Devil was incredibly strong. Marcus was finally seeing the true extent of the dark assassin’s power, and the sight left him more than a little impressed. The man’s attacks were actually powerful enough to shake the Illusion Mist Palace.

Of course, there was an important distinction. The Illusion Mist Palace before them was a formation composed entirely of energy, so it could be forcibly broken through with enough raw power. If this had been the real Illusion Mist Palace on Crescent Island, its walls would have been made of solid stone. In that case, simply hammering away at them the way the Seven-Soul Devil was doing now would have accomplished nothing unless his attacks possessed a special "Destroy" effect capable of breaking through the palace’s defenses.

Even so, the Illusion Mist Palace was a formation created by a Red Artifact, and Marcus could faintly sense its condition. Despite the Seven-Soul Devil’s relentless bombardment, it would still take roughly five or six minutes before he could completely break through.

’Heh heh...’

By then, the Yin-Yang Panda Egg would probably have finished hatching, and he would already be on his way back to town with his new little panda in his arms. Just thinking about it made Marcus feel rather pleased with himself. He had managed to stall two terrifying assassins long enough to secure the egg, and if everything continued according to plan, the Seven-Soul Devil would arrive too late to do anything about it.

"Ah!"

"Oh no!"

Marcus’s smug expression suddenly froze when he noticed something else happening. Gale was attacking the Illusion Mist Palace as well.

It turned out that Gale’s spinning blade vortex had managed to slice through two of the Seven-Soul Devil’s avatars, but the remaining five had immediately scattered and disappeared into the mist-filled maze. With his opponent suddenly out of sight, Gale had lost his target. The hot-tempered Wind God Supreme Assassin clearly had no patience for chasing someone through a maze when he could simply destroy the maze itself.

Enraged, Gale stared into the thick mist blocking his vision before suddenly unleashing another powerful attack.

"Whirlwind Dragon Stab!"

Just like the Seven-Soul Devil, he began violently smashing his way through the maze’s stone-like energy walls. He had apparently decided that if the maze refused to let him find the dark assassin, he would simply tear the entire thing apart and force his opponent to come out.

’Damn! This madman!’

Marcus’s heart sank. With two old monsters attacking the Illusion Mist Palace at the same time, there was no way the formation could hold for long. At this rate, they would probably tear the entire thing apart in barely two or three minutes. He had originally thought he had bought himself five or six minutes, only to discover that the two assassins were perfectly capable of working together to cut that time in half.

Still, there was no point complaining about it now.

The Illusion Mist Palace had already accomplished exactly what Marcus needed it to do. It had stopped the Seven-Soul Devil’s initial charge and, more importantly, bought him the most critical amount of time.

At that very moment, the Yin-Yang energy rising from all directions had finally been completely absorbed by the Yin-Yang Harmony Diagram. The enormous diagram was now saturated with energy, spinning steadily as black and white light intertwined within it.

Then, without warning, the two energies erupted.

The black and white Yin-Yang forces surged from the spinning diagram like two colossal dragons, twisting through the air before pouring directly into the Super Divine Beast Yin-Yang Panda Egg. The moment the energy entered the egg, a brilliant and magnificent radiance burst outward, bathing the entire Paradise Platform in dazzling light.

It was about to hatch!

Sure enough, only a minute later, after every last trace of energy stored within the Yin-Yang Harmony Diagram had been poured into the egg, a soft cracking sound finally came from within.

Crack...

The Yin-Yang Panda Egg split open.

On the grand and ornate Paradise Platform, a giant panda approximately half a meter tall appeared.

The newly hatched giant panda was anything but ordinary.

It stood roughly half a meter tall, with a round head and an adorably chubby body covered in black-and-white fur. This panda was standing upright on the Paradise Platform, balancing naturally on its hind legs, while its two front paws were surprisingly nimble, moving with an almost human-like dexterity.

In fact, nearly everything about its movements resembled those of a human.

It was ridiculously cute.

Yet what captured Marcus’s attention more than anything else was the small, beautiful Yin-Yang Harmony Diagram naturally formed on the panda’s forehead. There was an even larger one on its belly, where the black-and-white fur had naturally grown into a perfect Harmony Diagram pattern that covered its entire stomach.

The combination of its adorable appearance and those mysterious markings gave the little creature an entirely different presence. It no longer looked like an ordinary panda that happened to possess unusual abilities. With the mystical Harmony Diagrams adorning its body and the faint energy radiating from it, the giant panda instead resembled a Divine Beast that had descended from some celestial mountain, carrying an almost otherworldly aura of power.

"Amazing!"

Marcus was completely captivated by its appearance. This was the Super Divine Beast Yin-Yang Giant Panda, the creature that had finally hatched after absorbing his Life Saint Lotus Pill. Seeing it standing alive and well before him made all the trouble he had gone through feel worthwhile.

The newly hatched panda looked around, its bright eyes filled with curiosity and alertness as it took in its unfamiliar surroundings. After a moment, its gaze finally settled on Marcus, the person standing closest to it and, more importantly, the one responsible for bringing it into the world.

"Here, little one."

Marcus immediately softened his expression and put on his friendliest smile. He reached into his pack and pulled out several fresh bamboo shoots he had gathered from the nearby grove, holding them out toward the panda.

Newly hatched pets had a fifty percent chance of simply running away, so taming one wasn’t something that could be taken for granted. A newly born creature might be curious, but that didn’t mean it would automatically accept the first person it saw. Marcus knew he had to coax it carefully.

Fortunately, his Luck and Charisma were both high enough to work in his favor.

The giant panda stared at the bamboo shoots for a moment before looking back at Marcus. Its expression was so adorably cooperative that Marcus could not help smiling. It then reached out with one nimble front paw, took the fresh bamboo shoots directly from his hand, and began happily munching away.

Crunch, crunch...

The panda ate with obvious satisfaction.

After finishing six bamboo shoots, it finally seemed content. Only then did the familiar system notification sound in Marcus’s ears.

Ding!

[Congratulations, player Stonehaven. The Super Divine Beast Yin-Yang Giant Panda has voluntarily recognized you as its master and wishes to become your pet. Do you accept?]

"Accept!"

Marcus accepted without the slightest hesitation.

Of course he would!

He had not expected the creature to have already become a true Yin-Yang Giant Panda upon hatching. The Life Saint Lotus Pill must have caused some kind of evolution, and Marcus was practically bursting with curiosity. He was already eager to check the panda’s attributes and find out exactly what kind of abilities this Super Divine Beast possessed.

But before he could do so, something unexpected happened.

The now-full giant panda suddenly leaped into the air. While floating above the Paradise Platform, it casually patted its round belly twice, and an enormous surge of black-and-white Yin-Yang energy immediately burst from its body.

Whoosh!

The Yin-Yang energy plunged downward and poured directly into the Paradise Platform beneath it.

The instant that energy entered the platform, a dazzling golden light erupted.

The Paradise Platform had always emitted a faint golden radiance, but this time the restrained energy completely changed. Golden light exploded from the broad platform altar, rising violently into the sky and illuminating the surrounding land for nearly ten miles.

Marcus stared in surprise.

Then, within that enormous golden radiance, another color suddenly appeared.

Green light flickered deep within the platform.

A moment later, something began slowly rising from the Paradise Platform. One object after another, all glowing with an emerald-green light, emerged from the platform and floated upward toward the Yin-Yang Giant Panda hovering in midair.

Marcus’s expression changed. What was happening?

He immediately activated Insight and focused on the Paradise Platform, which had undergone such a sudden and inexplicable transformation.