The giant snail’s body retracted, leaving only its magnificent shell in front of everyone. Long Haochen raised both hands, stopping his companions from approaching the snail.

The treasure of the King of the Great Mangrove Snake was actually a snail. This was truly bizarre. Moreover, the King of the Great Mangrove Snake was not of the light attribute. In a sense, it possessed a relatively pure life attribute, mixed with some other complex attributes. It even carried toxins due to living in this swamp.

However, the snail before them possessed pure light attribute. Judging from its nervous appearance, it was clear that it was not a friend of the King of the Great Mangrove Snake, and certainly not its lover… Therefore, the only answer was that it was the King of the Great Mangrove Snake’s enemy, or rather, a treasure coveted by the King. Yet, this snail had survived perfectly well.

The Snake Demon God Andromalius had been trying to deal with the King of the Great Mangrove Snake for at least a few months, proving that the King of the Great Mangrove Snake had also been trying to deal with this giant snail for at least a few months. An existence that could withstand a ninth-tier magical beast for months without being defeated was undoubtedly dangerous. Therefore, even though this snail shared the same light attribute as Long Haochen, he couldn’t let his companions recklessly approach it.

“Holy Guard Eleven, do you recognize this magical beast?” Long Haochen turned to the ice skeleton.

Holy Guard Eleven came to Long Haochen’s side, the icy blue flames flickering in its eye sockets revealing a hint of doubt, as if it had thought of something, but couldn’t quite be sure.

“It’s okay, even your guess is fine.” Long Haochen encouraged. In the gloomy swamp, this domain of death, they had encountered the Great Mangrove Snake and the ancient magical beast Sawtooth Shark, both of which had disappeared from the outside world. This giant snail was likely also an ancient magical beast. But they had no information about it, so they dared not approach it easily.

Holy Guard Eleven gently shook its head and said in a low voice, “This must be an ancient magical beast. It has the blood aura of an ancient magical beast. It should belong to one of the Star God Beasts. But I’m not sure which one. Perhaps, Holy Guard Nine would know something.”

Hearing the respectful tone it used when mentioning Holy Guard Nine, Long Haochen’s heart stirred. He said, “Eleven, since you are all Holy Guards, why do the three of you show such respect to Nine? It seems that your positions are not equal.”

Holy Guard Eleven paused, but still answered Long Haochen’s question, “The positions are different. Master originally only had nine Holy Guards. They followed Master for a long time, and were once great figures who were defeated by Master. Ten, Eleven, and Twelve were only servants Master accepted ten thousand years later. Compared to the nine Holy Guards, we are far behind in both strength and knowledge.”

Long Haochen understood in his heart, thinking, “So that’s how it is.” No wonder, even though they were both seventh-tier, Holy Guard Nine was obviously much stronger than the other three Holy Guards. At the same time, he looked forward to the wonders within the Eternal Tower even more. Gaining the help of the four Holy Guards had nearly doubled their team’s overall strength. What would it be like if all twelve Holy Guards joined them in the near future? By then, his cultivation would surely reach the ninth-tier as well. If the Holy Guards all reached the ninth-tier, then even encountering ordinary demon gods would likely be no problem.

However, Long Haochen suddenly recalled what Ye Xiaolei had told him: under no circumstances should he ascend to the final floor of the Eternal Tower. Otherwise, he might succumb to the resentment of the Eternal Sleeper, Ilex.

“Go and invite Nine over, see if he recognizes this magical beast.” Now was clearly not the time to study the Eternal Tower. Long Haochen immediately asked Eleven to call Nine over to see if this knowledgeable Holy Guard could identify the snail before them.

The cave wasn’t very deep. Soon, Nine arrived at Long Haochen’s side with heavy footsteps. When it saw the giant snail, its body suddenly stiffened, and even the soul of a strong person flickering in its eye sockets seemed to freeze.

Long Haochen didn’t disturb it. Apart from strength, the biggest difference between it and the other three Holy Guards was in its emotions and wisdom. The other three Holy Guards possessed mostly fighting instincts and some memories. But Holy Guard Nine had a true soul of its own. For example, when it saw Cai’er now, the aura it exuded was even more respectful than when it saw Long Haochen.

After a long while, Holy Guard Nine’s emotions gradually returned to normal. It muttered, “This, this is the symbol of peace among the Star God Beasts, the Sun Moon Divine Snail!”

Hearing that it recognized the magical beast, Long Haochen was immediately invigorated. “Sun Moon Divine Snail, what kind of magical beast is it?”

Holy Guard Nine said, “Even in ancient times, it was rarer than dragons. To talk about the Sun Moon Divine Snail, we must first talk about Star God Beasts. Star God Beasts were extremely powerful divine beasts in ancient times, and they were all of the light attribute. Star God Beasts could be born in any kind of magical beast. Every Star God Beast was a tenth-tier existence. They were known as representatives of light. But the value of Star God Beasts themselves was so precious that whenever a Star God Beast appeared, it would immediately be collectively attacked by other races. It’s like humans seeing a divine tool. No matter what race, they would covet it.”

“Therefore, Star God Beasts could not reproduce, and their numbers dwindled. Until they finally became extinct. No more Star God Beasts appeared.”

“Then what benefits can Star God Beasts bring?” Long Haochen asked curiously.

Holy Guard Nine said in a low voice, “I’ll give you a simple example and you’ll understand. When Master built the Eternal Tower, he used three Star God Beast magic cores in its core. To this day, the Eternal Tower is still magnificent. It is precisely because of the existence of these three magic cores that the Eternal Tower can become a true Grand Divine Artifact.”

“Grand Divine Artifact?” Long Haochen heard a brand new term.

Holy Guard Nine explained, “A Grand Divine Artifact is like the pillar we destroyed before. However, that pillar didn’t seem to reach the level of a Grand Divine Artifact yet, but it already had the prototype. It seemed that the pillar was a component of an even more terrifying Super Divine Artifact. We have never seen the existence of a Super Divine Artifact. At least, it doesn’t exist in Master’s knowledge and memories. Our world has only passed down some information about Super Divine Artifacts, but in reality, there are no records of Super Divine Artifacts in any scriptures.”

Lin Xin, who was beside him, couldn’t help but ask, “Then how can you be sure that the Demon God Pillar is part of a Super Divine Artifact?”

Holy Guard Nine said, “It’s the aura. Its power is not comparable to ordinary divine tools yet, but when it was damaged, it revealed a trace of aura that far surpassed a Grand Divine Artifact. This terrifying aura was even ten times stronger than the Eternal Tower. I can’t find any other explanation for such an existence other than a Super Divine Artifact.”

Long Haochen nodded slightly, but a storm was raging in his heart. Divine tools, Grand Divine Artifacts, Super Divine Artifacts, this divine tool system was the first time he had heard of it. But undoubtedly, these should all exist. The Eternal Tower was a Grand Divine Artifact, and he had witnessed its mysteries many, many times. And the demon race’s seventy-two Demon God Pillars were even more likely to be components of a Super Divine Artifact. No wonder humans had tried every possible way to destroy them for six thousand years but failed. But, if that was the case, then why was Hao Yue…?

For a moment, Long Haochen’s mind was in chaos. He seemed to have grasped a clue, but he had no evidence to prove his idea. Moreover, his idea was not complete, and had many flaws itself.

Holy Guard Nine continued, “Star God Beasts were once considered to be equivalent to divine tools for a period of time. And among the divine tools handed down from ancient times, more than ninety percent of those with the light attribute are related to Star God Beasts. Most Star God Beasts have powerful combat power. To kill them and obtain benefits from them would inevitably require a huge price. And among so many kinds of Star God Beasts, the most difficult to deal with is a special existence. It is different from other Star God Beasts because it doesn’t have strong offensive power. However, it will not harm any enemies either. When encountering enemy attacks, it often only chooses to defend until the enemy is exhausted, then quietly leaves. This kind of Star God Beast is the Sun Moon Divine Snail in front of us. A powerful divine beast that doesn’t attack, but has nearly invincible defense.”

“It is precisely because it does not attack that it is known as the symbol of peace among the Star God Beasts.”

Han Yu couldn’t help but ask, “Doesn’t attack? Can’t we just capture it and slowly find a way to break it? There must be weaknesses.”

Holy Guard Nine shook its head and said, “The Sun Moon Divine Snail’s defense is known as the Eternal Bulwark. It can not only block most attacks, but also resist all negative attributes. In the history of ancient times, the Sun Moon Divine Snail has appeared three times, but has only been killed once. That time, it encountered a Grand Divine Artifact that focused on attack, and failed to enter a defensive state in time at the beginning of the battle, so it was ambushed. That’s why that Sun Moon Divine Snail died. And after eating the meat of that Sun Moon Divine Snail, that great figure ruled ancient times for nearly a thousand years. It was a dragon clan member who evolved into a Holy Dragon after eating the Sun Moon Divine Snail. But do you know how it finally ended its rule?”

(To be continued)