Chapter 101: They will speak, and you will listen. The trip to the other side of the continent proceeded in complete silence. Everyone had sat down cross legged and focused on absorbing the surrounding Qi, taking every second to strengthen themselves. They were going to a place where they had no idea what they were facing, everyone wanted to be in peak condition. Yao Jun sat at the foot of the ancient tree, tendrils of Qi digging into his body and slowly being absorbed by his gate. Yao Jun had found that the ancient aura that the tree released was very beneficial to his cultivation, so he sat as close to the tree as he could. The others did not have this luxury, to them, the aura felt like boiling water coursing through their veins, so none of them dared to absorb the aura of the tree. Yao Jun's Demonic beasts were also sitting underneath the tree, silently absorbing the aura that the tree was releasing. The Gate inside Yao Jun's chest now looked slightly different from the past. Where it was once engraved with the image of a tiger and an eagle, with nine spikes at the top of the gate. It was now engraved with the image of a tiger, an eagle, a wolf, and a serpent. It also only had eight spikes left at the top, one of them breaking off when Yao Jun reached the 1st Mortal Earth. The eighth spike at the top of the gate was currently shaking slightly, unable to stand steady at the top of the gate. The nine indents that were placed beneath the spikes were all glowing with violet light. After absorbing Ba-Shei, Yao Jun had been pushed to the late stage of the 1st Mortal Earth. With his continuous cultivation while they were traveling, he had already reached the peak of the 1st Mortal Earth, only a tiny step away from the 2nd Mortal Earth. Even after cultivating in silence for several days, Yao Jun found that he had made nearly no progress in surmounting that tiny step. He knew that they were very close to reaching their destination, so he grit his teeth and decided to try an idea he had. Since he had made up his mind, what was the point in waiting any longer? With a nudge of his mind, the new channel he had dug in his arm was opened, fully activating the first stage of Crumbling The Nine Heavens. The black Qi that was flowing within that channel was released into the rest of his body. But where he would usually let it fill his entire body, greatly strengthening him, he now directed all of it towards his chest. The black Qi slammed into his gate like a tidal wave, bringing with it pain that made it feel like his chest was hit by a sledgehammer. Yao Jun grit his teeth and swallowed down the blood that was moving up his throat. He knew that they would have a better chance at staying alive if he managed to increase his strength, so he grit his teeth and refused to make a sound. It was better to suffer this pain now than suffer the pain of losing friends and loved ones. “Again!” The tidal wave of black Qi managed to loosen the eighth spike even more, causing it to wobble unsteadily, but it did not cause it to fall. Yao Jun made the Qi return to the channel in his arm, before having it slam into the gate once more. Yao Jun continued to slam the tidal wave of Qi into his gate for several hours, each time bringing with it a great amount of pain. His Demonic beasts knew what he was doing, so they stopped their own cultivation and curled up around him, making sure that nothing would disturb him. After spending half a day of continuous slams, the eighth spike finally came loose and fell down from the gate, embedding itself in his heart. When the spike embedded itself in his heart, Yao Jun braced himself to endure the same pain he felt when he reached the 1st Mortal Earth. But the pain did not come. There was instead a soothing sensation as a stream of Qi coursed through his body, slowly healing the wounds he had inflicted upon himself when he slammed the tidal wave of Qi against his gate. After the stream of Qi finished repairing his injuries, it started traveling along his veins until it ended up in his head. The stream of Qi coated the inside of his head, especially the area where his ears were. “You are their god, so you must bear the responsibility of that name.” While the stream of Qi coated the inside of his head, an ancient and dreary voice rang out inside his head. Yao Jun recognized this as the voice he heard when he reached the 1st Mortal Earth, the voice of the Demon God's Gate. “When they pray for salvation, it is you who will respond to their pleas and save them. When they pray for strength to protect their loved ones, it is you who will respond to their pleas and share your strength with them. When they pray for the vengeance, it is you who will respond to their pleas and descend, carving a bloody path through their enemies.” “All demons are your people, and you are their Demon God. They will speak, and you will listen.” After the voice vanished, the stream of Qi that coated his head dug into his ears and brain, bringing with it the same pain it did when he reached the 1st Mortal Earth. The pain continued for what seemed like an eternity before it finally vanished, leaving Yao Jun covered in sweat. Yao Jun opened his eyes and let out a long breath, he did not think that he would ever get used to pain like that. He brought out a piece of cloth and wiped the sweat away from his face. At the same time, he also took the chance to inspect his body, checking for any changes. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that his body did not have any changes like when he reached the 1st Mortal Earth, he still looked the same. “Little lady, he has awoken.” While Yao Jun was checking his body, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice not far from him. He quickly turned his head and prepared to pull out his sword, but when he turned his head, he only saw Wan Yi sitting not far from him, Fan Wujiu sitting on her shoulder. “Fear not my lord, it was only I.” While Yao Jun was checking for the owner of the voice, Fan Wujiu slightly bent it's body, giving Yao Jun a bow, the same voice ringing out again. Wan Yi also stood up after Fan Wujiu gave the bow, walking over to Yao Jun before she sat down. “You...are the one talking?” Yao Jun couldn't help but turn to Fan Wujiu as he asked. Before they started cultivating, he had met this Fan Wujiu, but he had not heard him speak back then. “You can understand him?” Wan Yi couldn't help but raise her eyebrow as she asked. Fan Wujiu had chatted with her while they were cultivating, but Yao Jun had never shown signs that he could understand what he was saying. At the same time, she also felt slightly wronged. Why was she referred to as Little lady, while he was referred to as My lord? “Little lady, he is the one who holds the Demon God's Gate. It would be a disgrace if he could not understand the language of demons. It is only that he could not understand our words before.” Fan Wujiu gave a very human like shake of his head. His voice was deep and powerful, giving one the feeling that it reverberated throughout ones entire body. “Understand their language?” Yao Jun seemed to have understood something as he turned to his own Demonic beasts. The voice of the Demon God's Gate had told him 'They will speak, and you will listen'. Did it mean that he could now understand the language of Demonic beasts. “Greetings my lord.” Seeing him turn to them, his four Demonic beasts slightly bent their heads and greeted him. Before this, he could understand their thoughts because they were connected, but that was only understanding their thoughts. Now he could understand their words. “How long until we reach our destination?” Hearing their words, Yao Jun's face cracked into a smile and he reached out with his hand, gently patting all of them on the head. While patting them, he turned to Wan Yi. He did not know how much time had passed while he was working on his breakthrough, so he did not know how much more time he had. “We reached it two days ago, but because you were still in the middle of your breakthrough, we decided to wait.” Wan Yi shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, causing Yao Jun to be slightly shocked. It had only felt like it had taken at most a few hours to break through to the 2nd Mortal Earth, but it seemed like he had spent much longer than that. “I see, it seems like I kept you all waiting.”