Chapter 2881: Caught Off Guard

Chapter 2881: Chapter 2881: Caught Off Guard

The experts on the other starships at the scene had originally felt somewhat disdainful toward the gods of the Emperor’s Palace, believing that these Divine King Realm Experts coming to the Purple Crystal Sea to face the Star-Devouring Beasts was no different from courting death.

Yet at this moment, seeing the Formation formed by the gods of the Emperor’s Palace so formidable, they were all utterly shocked, no longer daring to look down on them.

The gods of the Emperor’s Palace displayed a power not inferior to that of Divine Emperor Realm Experts. The Spirit Sea Divine Emperor had nothing to say, and simply allowed them to stay.

"Of late, the Star-Devouring Beasts have been appearing with alarming frequency. Some of them are extremely cunning—after successfully escaping our pursuit, they hide in the dark, either secretly devouring celestial bodies or secretly attacking experts of the Divine Realm. Therefore, along this journey everyone must be careful; if we encounter a Star-Devouring Beast, a great battle will be inevitable."

Leading the gods on their way toward the center of the Purple Crystal Sea, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor cautioned them solemnly.

Although they had numerous Divine Emperors and Divine Emperor God Emperors guarding that Black Hole within the Purple Crystal Sea, so that once a Star-Devouring Beast appeared they could join forces to cut it down or force it back, when the Star-Devouring Beasts surged out in large numbers, there were inevitably some that slipped through their encirclement.

Those Star-Devouring Beasts that escaped were adept at concealment, difficult to track down, and capable of reproducing on their own, thereby becoming an immense hidden danger to the Divine Realm.

Thus, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor and the other experts had no choice but to dispatch a portion of the Divine Emperors and God Emperors to patrol the starry skies. Once any trace of a Star-Devouring Beast was discovered, they would launch a full-force encirclement and slaughter, absolutely not allowing it to continue wreaking havoc upon the Divine Realm.

However, the starry sky was vast beyond measure; to find every Star-Devouring Beast and slaughter them to the last was easier said than done.

The experts guarding that Black Hole in the Purple Crystal Sea, though many, were ultimately limited in number. As the Star-Devouring Beasts appeared with increasing frequency and more and more managed to escape, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor and the other gods finally began to feel the strain and thus had to summon additional Divine Emperors and God Emperors from the Divine Realm to come to their aid.

This time, thousands upon thousands of starships had come to the Purple Crystal Sea, and each starship carried at least one Divine Emperor Realm Expert. Roughly calculated, the number of Divine Emperor Realm Experts summoned to the Purple Crystal Sea this time was in the tens of thousands.

With so many experts coming to reinforce them, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor felt it should be enough to cope with the frequently appearing Star-Devouring Beasts.

Under the leadership of the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor, tens of thousands of Divine Emperor Realm Experts put away their starships, then arranged themselves into several long ranks and flew toward the central region of the Purple Crystal Sea.

Although the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor had warned the gods to beware sudden assaults by Star-Devouring Beasts, the vast majority of these tens of thousands of Divine Emperor Realm Experts did not take it to heart.

They felt that, with so many experts traveling together and such overwhelming strength, those Star-Devouring Beasts—being highly intelligent exotic beasts and not idiots—would hardly dare to rashly reveal themselves to attack such a large contingent.

With this mindset, the tens of thousands of experts in this great host chattered and joked along the way, laughter ringing out constantly, their vigilance thoroughly relaxed.

Seeing this, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor could not help but secretly shake his head. Out of a sense of responsibility, he spread his Divine Sense Diffusion out across ten thousand miles, to guard against a sudden assault by Star-Devouring Beasts.

Even so, he still felt uneasy, for the stronger a Star-Devouring Beast was, the greater its ability to conceal itself.

If a Star-Devouring Beast on par with a God Emperor truly put its mind to hiding within this Purple Crystal Sea, then even an expert such as the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor might very well be unable to sense its existence.

This was precisely what the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor worried about the most. Should several powerful Star-Devouring Beasts lie concealed along their route and suddenly launch an attack, then even if those few beasts were ultimately cut down through combined effort, they would still inflict tremendous casualties upon this contingent.

These newly arrived Divine Emperor Realm Experts did not understand the true terror of the Star-Devouring Beasts, and thus were fearless.

The Spirit Sea Divine Emperor, who had dealt with the Star-Devouring Beasts and fought many fierce battles against them, however, knew all too well how grievous the damage they could inflict upon the Divine Realm, and so he did not dare grow careless in the slightest.

The Purple Crystal Sea was vast in area; the gods flew for over a hundred thousand miles and still had not reached the central region.

Yet the closer they drew to the central region of the Purple Crystal Sea, the purer and denser the Divine Power became. Every expert was wildly excited, elated, thinking that if they could remain here for some time and devote themselves to Cultivation, their strength would surely make a substantial leap forward.

Still, they also understood that their primary purpose in coming to the Purple Crystal Sea this time was to oppose the Star-Devouring Beasts. Only after the Star-Devouring Beasts had been completely cut down or driven back into the Black Hole would they have the chance to undertake proper Cultivation within the Purple Crystal Sea.

The Purple Crystal Sea was formed of countless meteors large and small. The larger ones spanned several hundred miles in radius, while the smaller ones were several miles across, and within the great majority of these meteors lay Purple Divine Crystal.

Whenever they passed some of the larger meteors, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor’s nerves would tense, worried that those massive meteors might in fact be Star-Devouring Beasts transformed.

Not only were the Star-Devouring Beasts highly intelligent, they possessed exceedingly outstanding concealment abilities and were adept at transformation. Over the years, the experts fighting Star-Devouring Beasts within the Purple Crystal Sea had suffered bitter losses on this account.

For example, when some experts passed through a vast Stone Array of meteors, they sensed no aura of Star-Devouring Beasts, yet hidden among that meteor cluster were meteors that had been transformed from Star-Devouring Beasts. These would launch sudden assaults upon passing experts without the slightest warning, inflicting immense casualties.

Therefore, whenever large meteors appeared nearby, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor not only heightened his own vigilance, but would also loudly remind the other experts to be extremely cautious.

Yet even the most careful net will have a gap.

As the gods passed through a vast meteor cluster, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor, who was leading at the very front, along with the overwhelming majority of the experts, had already flown clear of the meteor swarm; only a small number had yet to fully exit it.

At that moment, one gigantic meteor within the cluster, spanning several miles in radius, suddenly moved.

After a slight shudder, that massive meteor abruptly transformed into an exotic beast with a smooth outer body and an oval-shaped physique.

The beast opened its blood-filled maw, revealing rows of densely packed fangs, and lunged to devour the dozen or so Divine Emperor Realm Experts lagging behind at the rear.

The beast’s blood-filled maw was like a tiny Black Hole, generating an extraordinarily powerful suction force. Caught off guard, several Divine Emperor Realm Experts screamed as they were drawn into the beast’s gaping mouth, their traces vanishing.

The commotion that suddenly erupted in the rear alarmed the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor, who was guiding the way ahead.

Sensing the aura of a Star-Devouring Beast, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor was greatly shocked. His figure flashed like lightning, and in an instant he appeared before that Star-Devouring Beast whose body spanned several miles, his palm becoming a blade as he struck out in a fierce slash.

For the vast majority of the gods, this was their first time witnessing a God Emperor take action. Feeling the opportunity rare, one after another they widened their eyes, hoping to glean some understanding from the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor’s attack.

However, the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor moved too swiftly. The gods saw only a beam of light, ten thousand zhang long, streaking past at speed, and in the next instant that massive Star-Devouring Beast was severed into two, falling under the hand of the Spirit Sea Divine Emperor.