Way of the Devil

‘Demons have Mental Energy items too?’ Lu Sheng grabbed at the air and the ring immediately flew into his palm.

‘I’ll look at it when I get back. Right now, I’d better clean up the scene.’ He kept the ring, took one step to his left and vanished in the blink of an eye. When he reappeared, he was behind a collapsed carriage.

He slapped it once with his palm.

The entire carriage immediately fell apart in pieces, revealing a person hiding within.

He had two spears strapped to his back and his face was as pale as paper. Rolling around on the ground a few times, he struggled to get up. It was Fang Tan, who had fled earlier.

He had thought that he could get away. Little did he expect that a layer of incredibly hard material blocked his path, isolating the area within the silver border from the rest of the world. Left with no other recourse, he could only hide in a horse carriage. The last thing he could have imagined was the scene which he had just witnessed.

“Don’t… don’t kill me!!” Blood was still gushing out of Fang Tan’s mouth as he screamed.

“Splat!”

Lu Sheng’s palm pierced into his eye, then was pulled out again.

In that instant, massive volumes of Devil Qi gushed into Fang Tan’s body. His body froze and rapidly shriveled up.

“Hoo…” Before long, the corpse was reduced to charred ashes, dispersing in the wind. The ashes were even more charred than when produced by the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill.

Lu Sheng faintly felt a strand of pure Devil Qi enter his body.

“Eh? This is…?” None of the records had mentioned that when one killed an opponent using Devil Qi, one would receive more Devil Qi in return.

The books did, however, mention that only true Devils possessed such a characteristic.

Lu Sheng paused in surprise. But now was not the time to contemplate this. He lifted up his head and turned his gaze towards another direction.

“NO!! Don’t kill me! DON’T!!!!” Zhan Hongsheng scrambled her butt out from behind a cargo carriage, looking as if she had just seen ghost.

Lu Sheng did not know whether to laugh or cry. A wet patch was forming and enlarging on her white mini skirt.

Zhan Hongsheng actually pissed her skirt.

He had killed Fang Tan because he had seen his secret. So he killed him to ensure that word would never get out.

But now… the other witness was Zhan Hongsheng. Now things were troublesome…

After all, Zhang Hongsheng was Zhan Kongning’s sister. He had a pretty good impression of Zhan Kongning. Moreover, this Zhan Hongsheng seemed to have wanted to alert him when he’d encountered the python demon in disguise earlier.

Lu Sheng’s five senses were extraordinarily acute. Naturally, nothing in the surroundings escaped his detection.

He had his own principles about killing; he did not kill for the sake of killing.

After some thought, Lu Sheng waved Zhan Hongsheng over.

“Come here,” he said calmly.

Looks like he had to use Yin Crane Web.

In the past period of time, Yin Crane Web seemed to have evolved quite a bit. Zhan Hongsheng made for a good lab rat. Anyway, as long as it did not kill her, he would have repaid Zhan Kongning’s favor.

Moreover, now that he possessed a black membrane, things would not take as ugly a turn even if he were to be exposed. At the very worst, others would think that he had been hiding his strength. But his enemies would know a little more about his true power, which was a little troublesome.

***

In Fine Garden Sect’s carriage team…

Liu Shanzi and Madam Qing Kong stood side by side, gazing in the direction of the blast. Behind them, their disciples did likewise.

The billowing column on smoke was quickly arrested, diminishing in size.

“What happened?” While Madam Qing Kong’s name included the term of address “Madam”, she looked like a wealthy lady in her forties. She wore an off-shoulder duck yellow long dress with a train and a corsette of the same color that exhibited her slender waist. Not a hint of white could be found in her black hair, nor a wrinkle on her face. Only her overall look seemed slightly mature, but was masked by her gentle charisma.

“We just received news that there was an ambush. A Holy Weapon was used. Those in the upper three grades have got it analyzed. The speed of the ambush was very quick… it all happened in a few seconds. A few Founding Elders of the upper three grades believe a time-extending Holy Weapon was used,” Liu Shanzi replied.

“Time-extending… the most common one should be the Time-Freezing Axe.” Madam Qing Kong nodded.

“Many Noble Families have got Time-Freezing Axes. That makes identifying the culprit challenging.” Liu Shanzi frowned.

As the two of them spoke, more disciples arrived. They were Zhan Kongning, Zhan Hongsheng, as well as Lu Sheng.

“Greetings, Teacher.”

“Greetings, Master.”

The three of them greeted the two of them.

“What took you so long?” Liu Shanzi glanced at the tattered clothes on Lu Sheng.

“In reply to Teacher, we were blocked by the silver border and unable to move across it. We had to make a detour… but we’ve encountered other trouble along the way,” Lu Sheng swiftly replied.

Zhan Hongsheng paused, cast a furtive glance at Lu Sheng, then stammered in reply,

“Me too… but thankfully, in the end I met Lu… Senior Apprentice Brother Lu.” After the snake demon had died, the silver border faded away and the carriage team returned to normal. Zhan Hongsheng specially changed into a new outfit of long robes and pants. The patch of urine stain on her was simply too embarrassing.

“I heard Teacher mention the Holy Weapon Time-Freezing Axe? What’s that?” Lu Sheng asked.

Regarding Lu Sheng so highly and with such great satisfaction, Liu Shanzi naturally was willing to answer all his questions.

“While those of the upper three grades are still handling the trouble out there, let me explain to you the function of the Time-Freezing Axe.” He gestured for He Xiangzi to come over and listen as well.

Now and then, more disciples from other sects would join them as well. It was a good thing that the Prime Devil Sect had only two disciples. They did not have to worry about more disciples being in danger out there.

“Time-Freezing Axe is a type of Holy Weapon. Its function is to generate a unique field undetectable by most. It casts the illusion that I’m very very far away from you—even when I’m standing right in front of you.

The effect of this field is to slow down time. Two hours might have passed in the outside world, but only a few seconds would have transpired within the field.” Liu Shanzi was very detailed.

“There’s such a Holy Weapon?” Lu Sheng was alarmed. “Doesn’t that mean that one can use it to do things in crowded places and no one would even notice? You said it’s undetectable by most… does that include the Noble Families?”

Liu Shanzi and Madam Qing Kong smiled.

“Of course it doesn’t include them. Some sects and Noble Families with certain special secret arts can detect the power of Time-Freezing Aze.

Moreover, the effect of Time-Freezing Axe lasts only a day once activated. And after that, it takes several years at least to cool down before it can be used again.”

“So many restrictions?” a female disciple in Fine Garden Sect exclaimed.

“Many indeed. But among the auxiliary Holy Weapons, Time-Freezing Axe is already considered very useful if we don’t look at its strength per se but at special abilities instead,” Madam Qing Kong responded with a smile.

“Oh yes, where’s Fang Tan?” Madam Qing Kong suddenly sensed something was amiss. “Hongsheng, wasn’t Fang Tan with you earlier? Why don’t we see him here?”

A red flag shot up in Zhan Hongsheng’s mind. This was what she had been afraid of. If her lie earlier was exposed, then he…

She glanced at Lu Sheng secretly, bowed down and took several deep breaths before she composed a reply.

“Brother Fang went back very early. I… I haven’t seen him, either.”

“Is that so?” Madam Qing Kong naturally could tell that Zhan Hongsheng was behaving unnaturally. In fact, not only her, but many others noticed Zhan Hongsheng’s awkwardness.

“It’s alright. It’s just a man, isn’t it? Senior Apprentice Sister here will introduce many more to you in the future. Little Hong, given you looks and strength, are you still scared you won’t find a good match?” a female disciple in Fine Garden Sect consoled her.

At that, realization dawned on everyone’s faces. Looks like Fang Tan had dumped Zhan Hongsheng.

Zhan Hongsheng did not speak in reply and seemed to have conceded it silently. But she would glance sneakily at Lu Sheng every few seconds, deepening the misunderstanding.

Many female disciples in Fine Garden Sect noticed it.

Zhan Kongning sighed helplessly. If his sister was truly interested in Brother Lu Sheng, then perhaps he could help make it happen. But… he’s got to draw the line with Fang Tan.

He was good pals with Fang Tan and had not intended to bring relationships into the picture. But one day, Fang Tan had happened to catch sight of Zhan Hongsheng who had joined their gathering. He was lovestruck and started dropping many hints to Zhan Kongning.

Zhan Hongsheng seemed to admire Fang Tan as well. The two of them were almost together. Who would have thought that this would happen?

Zhan Hongsheng’s actions misled those around them into thinking that she had fallen for Lu Sheng.

Compared to Fang Tan’s snobbish high and mighty attitude, more people in the Fine Garden Sect preferred Prime Devil Sect’s Lu Sheng.

Although Lu Sheng was not quite the social butterfly, he did not put on any airs or act high and mighty.

When they noticed it, Liu Shanzi exchanged glances with Madam Qing Kong. Subtly, they smiled. They were happy to help make things happen between their disciples.

After being with the carriage team for a while, sounds of the blast seemed to have died down as well.

“Bad news! Many horses are found dead here as well… carriages are toppled and broken into pieces. And there’re signs of a fight here!” a disciple of Fine Garden Sect yelled.

Lu Sheng glanced at Zhan Hongsheng, but did not speak. Judging based on the direction of the disciple’s voice, it was probably the site where he had fought the python demon.

He took the initiative to ask, “Teacher, should we go and take a look?”

“Might as well take a look!” Liu Shanzi said seriously. He had thought that there was only one ambush site—the location of the blast. But now it seemed like the enemy had lots of resources.

The company quickly arrived at Lu Sheng’s previous battle site.

It was a scene of wreckage. At least a dozen horse carriages had been destroyed. The oxen and horses used to pull the carriages were dead, with blood flowing out of their facial orifices. After an inspection, they found that they had been shocked dead by massive energy. Moreover, many pits and holes were left on the ground.

After a superficial inspection, Liu Shanzi stopped everyone from tampering with the scene. They would wait for the investigators from the upper three grades to arrive.

After a cup of tea’s duration, a team of men and women clad in white robes and sporting round white hats approached them.

The leaders among them exchanged greetings with Madam Qing Kong and Liu Shanzi before beginning to inspect the wreckage.

“It’s effects of Time-Freezing Axe again. But only its effect remains, not the axe itself,” the leader explained, then asked the sect masters to lead their people away from the site. They then departed themselves.

After some discussion between Liu Shanzi, Madam Qing Kong, and the sect master of the Jade Sound Clan, they decided to continue on their journey separately from the main group.

They believed that this assault was mainly targeted at the upper and middle three grades. Opponents of this caliber were not something that the lower three grades could mess with.

Moreover, they had subsequently heard news that a great commotion broke out where Hundred Temperings Sect was. There were extremely powerful traces of Holy Weapon radiation.

Before leaving, Lu Sheng suggested going to take a look at the traces left behind by the Holy Weapon. He was very curious how powerful a complete Holy Weapon was, even if this Time-Freezing Axe was only an auxiliary Holy Weapon.

Liu Shanzi agreed after some slight hesitation.

Because the site of the traces left behind by the Holy Weapon was now manned by the most powerful experts among all the teams, nothing bad should happen there.