Way of the Devil

“Poof! Poof! Poof, poof, poof, poof!!!”

As he walked along the path and past the rows of statues, the white glow in the eyes of the statues on both his sides was extinguished.

By the time the black-robed man had walked through the whole path, all of the white statues had been extinguished.

He walked all the way till he was before the spear. Only then did the black-robed man stop.

“Buzz…”

The hall began quaking.

“Ye O’loo, King of Yellow Sands. How many years have you been sealed here?” the black robed man mumbled. “This time, if I hadn’t come to investigate this place by accident, I might not discover that he’s been sealed here…

So this is the site of the Devil Seal? This spear is merely its form. The focal point of this land,” the black-robed man mumbled. “Awake… release… destroy… kill everything in sight…”

Without warning, he reached out and grabbed the spear.

“Szzzzz…”

Massive amounts of black smoke dispersed from his hands as the flesh on his hands was being corroded visibly by the spear. But he paid no attention to it. Tightening his grip on the spear, he pulled upwards forcefully.

“Swish.”

The long spear was pulled out of the ground, then exploded into nothing in his hands.

“Buzzz…”

The tremor of the ground grew more vigorous.

Soon, however, it died down.

‘The main body of the Devil Seal has been broken. What’s left are layers of remaining seals. Even Ye O’loo himself can break free of them,’ he thought and calculated the time.

“Sa’an.” He pointed at the ground. Immediately, a wisp of black smoke tunneled into the ground like a snake and disappeared.

“This will help him… he should awake thoroughly on the first moon three months later. That’s just in time for the big plan…” He nodded in satisfaction, turned around and vanished instantly, turning into a sea of black smoke.

***

The Prime Devil Sect.

Countless wisps of black smoke gathered together in front of Prime Devil Sect’s entrance, then congealed into a tall silhouette who was entirely black.

This man was cloaked in an inky black cloak. Whether it was his face or arms, all of him was covered under the thick black outfit. Not an inch of skin was revealed.

He lifted up his head and gazed at the entrance of the Prime Devil Sect. Then, the black-robed man strode into the cave.

Most bizarrely, the two disciples who stood guard at the entrance continued to chat with each other as the black-robed man walked past them as if he was invisible. They continued to chat about which new junior apprentice sister looked prettier.

The black-robed man walked all the way into the front cave and through it till he soon saw Prime Devil Sect’s wide square.

Suddenly, he paused in his steps and looked towards his left. His gaze fell on the red symbol-filled stone pillar.

“King of Dark Clouds Bei Ni… You’re here indeed…” The black-robed man strode towards the stone pillar.

Clearly, several hundred meters of distance lay between him and the stone pillar. But in a single stride, he turned into black smoke and was standing right in front of the stone pillar when he materialized again.

Liu Shanzi was standing in front of the stone pillar, briefing the newly recruited disciples on the sect rules. Dozens of eyes were present. But none saw the black-robed man who stood beside them.

The black-robed man caressed the stone pillar lightly, mumbling softly, “Of the four great Devil Lords in the legendary, frightening and cruel Moon Devil Tribe, two of them have been sealed in the territory of Song Dynasty… I wonder if it’s a coincidence or…”

“But this works fine for me.” The black-robed man’s body disintegrated into countless wisps of black smoke which seeped through the base of the stone pillar to the underground.

Passing through a thick level of earth about several hundred meters thick, he soon entered a medium-sized square stone chamber.

The stone chamber was laden will black stone tiles with cloud motifs on them. At its center was a large pot supported by eight metal legs. The four walls around it would spew black smoke at the pot every now and then.

The black-robed man walked near the pot and saw a scene of churning dark clouds within it.

“Bei Ni… a frighteningly cruel Moon Devil Lord like the King of Yellow Sands… wake up on the day of the month three months later just like him…”

The black-robed man stretched his hand forward slowly, revealing a pale shrunken palm without the color of blood in it.

An intense, radiant scarlet glow radiated from his palm and cast its rays into the pot.

“Awake, O sleeping King of Dark Clouds… unleash your wildness, destroy everything you see… Let all beings who know your name tremble in fear for you.”

As the soft chants in the unknown language continued, a red symbol flashed continuously in the vigorously churning dark clouds within the pot.

***

Secret arts hall.

In the room of the seal, the black boulder under the long saber began shaking as well.

“Who’s touching the seal of the King of Dark Clouds! He doesn’t want to live anymore?! Who dares to unleash that madman!?” The Devil’s consciousness shook madly under the large boulder.

“What’s wrong with unsealing anyone else? Why must you unseal the King of Dark Clouds! That freak’s a terrifying being who can’t differentiate between his enemy and his friends!” The Devil was frustrated and felt threatened.

If the King of Dark Clouds was unsealed, he would not spare him just because he was also a fellow sealed Devil. That monster was the strongest in the tribe of madmen—the Moon Devil Tribe. All the generals of the other tribes knew the character of Moon Devils. Low intelligence, bloodthirsty, mad, but bestowed with frighteningly strong physical bodies.

“If he discovers I’m sealed here too, he’ll surely eat me at the first opportunity! That guy… even in my peak I was a far cry from him… I’ve gotta find a way… find a way…” The Devil shook impatiently.

***

Lu Sheng had just sent Xu Chui and Ning San off and was now standing in the square, watching as his teacher Liu Shanzi instructed his new junior apprentice brothers and sisters.

He was now the first seat of the Prime Devil Sect. Moreover, he had good looks, a tall figure, neat features on his face, and carried a cold aura mixed with a trace of gentleness. Hence, his popularity was climbing among the newly recruited juniors.

No matter who, as long as they had him to advise them in their cultivation, Lu Sheng was able to use the simplest words to point out their problems in the shortest time (in order to save his own time).

This made the disciples of the sect revere him all the more.

Presently, with Lu Sheng watching on the side, everyone dared not let their attention wander. All of them focused intently on Liu Shanzi as he explained the sect’s rules.

Lu Sheng had come to find Teacher Liu Shanzi to enquire about the Ten Laws and Nine Wills.

Now that he had fully mastered his Phantom Listening Devil Body, he was like an infinite Prime Devil Qi battery, with an endless supply of it to spare. As long as he had food, and the River of Poisoned Fog did not dry up, he would have endless Prime Devil Qi under his command. This made him confident in cultivating the other Devil Bodies as well.

He would convert the infinite supply of Prime Devil Qi into Aquarius Qi, then use Aquarius Qi as substitute for Mental Energy to upgrade his secret arts cultivation.

That was his present goal.

As he explained the rules, Liu Shanzi also cast satisfied glances at Lu Sheng, who was beside him.

As first seat, Lu Sheng was undoubtedly the most powerful genius that he had ever seen in the Prime Devil Sect.

He sensed that while the Prime Devil Sect might look like it was in ruins now, it was in actual fact a monster that was conserving and building up its strength because of the existence of Lu Sheng. It was hiding, hiding and biding its time.

Until the day comes when even it could not contain its own strength. Then it would break through the rocks and shoot to the heavens, rip the clouds and face the sun. That would be the rise of the Prime Devil Sect!

He could already anticipate the magnificent scene when Lu Sheng would one day fully master his Devil cultivation and sweep away everything unchallenged.

That was his greatest anticipation. Given Lu Sheng’s talent, he needed only ten years… maybe slightly longer. Give him twenty years. And when that time comes, Liu Shanzi himself would have finished his job and could retire. In the meantime, the Prime Devil Sect would accumulate and build up its strength.

Each time he saw Lu Sheng and thought of these, Liu Shanzi would be in a good mood. Because he was staring at the hope of the Prime Devil Sect…

Lu Sheng stood on the side silently, looking at the bright-eyed lively new disciples. He was in a buoyant mood as well. Now, he no longer hung round in the Prime Devil Sect just to read books and understand the situation of the Noble Families. He was truly feeling like he was a part of this place.

Most of the disciples here were Noblemen from ruined Noble Families who were in practically the same straits as ordinary mortals. They were despised by Noble Families. Some of them were offspring of branch families many generations later and carried very diluted bloodlines. Some of them were even mortals who only discovered their bloodlines much later on and had come to the sect after realizing that their ancestors were Noblemen.

In the eyes of the Noble Families, this group of people were no different from ordinary mortals. Their bloodline was too weak. They were synonymous to those who did not have Nobleman bloodline at all.

He was about to bring his forces in the Crimson Whale Sect into the Prime Devil Sect. Theoretically, even ordinary mortals could cultivate Prime Devil Sect’s secret arts system. He just needed to make one or two tweaks to reduce the burden of cultivation to the body.

As long as he was able to link the path of martial arts together with the path of secret arts, he would be able to form a large framework that could continually groom and raise many future elites.

As for the issue of bloodlines, these men would mutate and evolve after he imparted his skills to them. He would then claim that these changes were caused by their bloodlines. Nobody would suspect his claim with sufficient cover-up.

“Szzzz…”

Suddenly, he seemed to hear a faint sound like spraying gas or dripping water.

Lu Sheng gazed to his left and right and saw no trace of the source of that sound. Imperceptibly, though, he felt instinctively that something was out there around him.

Countless wisps of black smoke congealed again beside the stone pillar, causing a hiss that the human ear could not detect. They formed the tall silhouette of the black-robed man.

He glanced at the Prime Devil Sect disciples listening to instructions around him, then slowly strode towards the cave exit.

Suddenly, the black-robed man paused in his steps and turned around to look at the Prime Devil Sect disciples. His gaze quickly paused on Lu Sheng.

‘Interesting… can he sense my presence? Such keen instincts… what a rare find…’ But that was all.

He had long since stopped paying attention to ants like these.

Since the previous war, he had lost all interest in mortals. Only beings in the same class could catch his attention. Beings such as the King of Dark Clouds and King of Yellow Sands.

He retracted his gaze. The other party was no more than a mildly interesting lad. It was a pity that no matter how interesting he was, everything here would be destroyed on the day of the moon three months later, when the Devil Disaster would descend on the world once again.

The Gate of Flesh and Blood would also finally be established.

Lu Sheng retracted his gaze. Just a moment ago, he sensed an inexplicable heavy pressure come over him. His chest constricted and his breath grew shallow. His blood and Qi accelerated. When was the last time he had such a reaction?

‘My physical body now has already attained heights unimaginable even to Noblemen. Why would I still have such problems? Any external influence to my body should be negligible. Perhaps something’s wrong with my adrenaline and hormones. I need to go back and have a good rest,’ he thought, puzzled.