Chapter 403: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (14)

"Human, do you still refuse to yield?"

The strange figure covered in green moss spoke slowly as he looked down at the sole remaining man. Every disciple and elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect, save Liu Yizhi himself, had already fallen.

The flame of Liu Yizhi's life burned fiercely. He still lived only because the demon before him preferred to wait until that flame burned itself out rather than risk mutual destruction.

When the last spark faded, Liu Yizhi would die. He wasted no breath on words. Gripping his long spear, he poured every remaining ounce of strength into a single point at its tip and thrust.

The wooden shield the creature had formed shattered beneath the strike, the spear tip driving straight toward the demon's core.

"Even if I die, I'll take one of you with me!"

Beneath the mask, Liu Yizhi's resolve was absolute, his voice cold and final.

The thrust was blindingly fast, his final trump card, held in reserve until the green demon's vigilance slipped.

Now!

He watched the creature's face contort in shock.

Yet when the spear tip came within an inch of the demon's core, it suddenly stopped.

The shock vanished from the green demon's features, replaced by a human-like sneer in its emerald pupils.

Blood dripped steadily onto the ground.

"How… how could this…"

At some unknown moment, a towering demon had appeared behind Liu Yizhi. Eight thick, razor-sharp bone spikes had pierced straight through his body. Bright red blood continued to fall.

Liu Yizhi still struggled. One of the bone spikes tore free from his flesh and swept across in a single swift motion. Blood sprayed outward. A masked head tumbled from the air and landed at the feet of a richly dressed boy of about ten.

"Thirteenth Prince, that thing must not be touched!"

An elderly eunuch tried to stop the boy from reaching for the mask.

The boy was quicker. With agile hands, he lifted the mask from the severed head. It looked like an ordinary bronze mask, nothing remarkable about it.

Expressionless, the boy crushed the still-open-eyed head beneath his foot.

The old eunuch was now filled with terror.

A voice like rolling thunder rang out from the sky.

"Excellent, excellent. So young yet already so ruthless, willing to strike even against your own kind. You are a talent indeed."

A violent wind rose. The earth heaved like a dragon turning over, dust filled the air, and a deep crater opened in the ground.

From within the crater, a fearsome demon of pure black descended. Eight bone spikes, dripping with dark viscous fluid, protruded from its back. Fragments of human flesh still clung to those spikes, the remains of the dead Liu Yizhi.

With the complete annihilation of the Heavenly Origin Sect force, the Wooden Scenery King hurried to the scene. Seeing the horrific sight, he struck the boy hard across the face without a word and then dropped to his knees.

The boy quickly followed suit.

"Please forgive us, my lord. The fault lies in my failure to discipline my son."

The Wooden Scenery King's heart pounded with fear as he faced the savage demon. In that moment, a faint regret stirred within him.

The powerful demon smiled.

"King of Wooden Scenery, you are a friend of my Li Demon Clan. Without you, my master would never have found so easily the opportunity to break through to the Void Refining Realm.

"My clan values integrity above all. We will eliminate the Heavenly Origin Sect for you and secure your royal house's position. We only ask that you do not forget the promise you made to my master."

The Wooden Scenery King nodded repeatedly, sweat dripping from his cheeks.

Void Refining Realm!

The demon's words could not be false. The master of the Li Demon Clan had truly broken through.

"This son of yours is impressive. Would he be willing to join my Li Demon Clan?"

The child raised his head and looked up at the towering, ferocious figure. He nodded.

"It would be my greatest honor."

When he lowered his head once more, a flicker of humiliation and hatred, almost too faint to notice, shone in his eyes.

The Wooden Scenery King, however, was overjoyed. This meant the Li Demon Clan had formally accepted him.

The Li Demon Clan placed the highest importance on bloodline.

Inside the Heavenly Origin Sect, the Great Elder lifted his head and gazed into the distance.

A sudden tremor ran through his heart.

Something terrible seemed to have occurred, leaving his spirit unsettled.

When he looked farther out, the clear blue sky and white clouds had turned into a murky gray haze. Within that haze, something dreadful appeared to be gestating, raising the hair on his body and filling him with the sense that a mortal enemy stood before him.

Demonic qi. An indescribably terrifying demonic qi.

He had once left the Wooden Scenery Dynasty and witnessed the brilliance of the outer world, so he knew at once this was not the aura of any demon king.

This belonged to a Demon Emperor. A powerhouse of the Void Refining Realm. And the direction of that aura pointed straight toward the capital of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty.

"This is disastrous…"

...

The child who had picked up the mask was named Mu Ziqiang.

The name meant unceasing self-strengthening.

At that moment, Mu Ziqiang felt only irony.

Demonic armies swept across the land, committing boundless slaughter.

The noblest blood of this nation flowed through his veins.

Yet because of the folly of his so-called father, the current Wooden Scenery King, that noble blood had been tainted and turned into the blood of demons. Looking at his own ugly reflection in the mirror, Mu Ziqiang's eyes burned with a hatred etched into his very bones.

He thought of the mask he had taken earlier.

He had not wanted the head of the Heavenly Origin Sect, Elder Liu Yizhi, to fall into the demons' hands. The mask left behind by that accidental act could at least hide the hideous face he now wore.

The moment he placed the bronze mask over his features, something changed.

"This… this is…"

Mu Ziqiang realized he had become different. He quickly understood that his comprehension had risen. Many things that once baffled him now became clear in an instant.

A treasure capable of improving comprehension was something he had never even heard of, yet this mask achieved it. He knew at once he had obtained a true treasure. Moreover, the mask proved to be a divine-grade artifact that could conceal one's aura.

From that moment, the gears of fate began to turn in silence.

While a terrifying aura swept across the outside world, Mu Ziqiang, under the Wooden Scenery King's guidance, witnessed a battle of pure slaughter.

One powerful sect and clan after another was annihilated. The Wooden Scenery Dynasty would become the exclusive domain of the royal house, for every force that posed a threat had been eradicated. The dead and wounded numbered in the tens of millions. After this day, the Wooden Scenery Dynasty would become nothing more than a slaughterhouse for the Li Demon Clan.

Only the Heavenly Origin Sect remained.

A dazzling silver-white blade of light swept across the field. Thousands of demons died in an instant.

Among them fell the fearsome demon with eight bone spikes protruding from its back.

The strongest expert of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect, had finally taken the field.