Way of the Devil

“Whoosh.”

Lu Sheng slowly closed the book he was leafing through. Under the candlelight on his desk within the study of the sect master, Lu Sheng picked up the bronze information scrolls.

The bronze pipes were laid neatly in a pile. Lu Sheng picked up one, shook out the scroll within, and read it carefully.

Chen Jingzhi had been out for a while, and as the sect master for this sect, he had the right to look at this information. Although he could not see the top-secret ones, ninety percent was available to him. Without Chen Jingzhi, he was the head of the entire Thousand Sun Sect in Autumn Moon City, and most of the things happened to fall under his control. No one else had the title nor the power to bear responsibility for such things.

“Unrest in the royal city. On the thirtieth, night of the full moon, the murderer killed another fifteen people, and escaped unscathed. The vice department head of the Turquoise Conch Agency has been beheaded in front of the Chenying Palace.” Tiny words were scrawled on the scroll.

“If such murder cases are even happening in the Great Yin, with the killer escaping so easily, this world really is falling into chaos…” Lu Sheng shook his head slightly.

He took another bronze pipe and opened the scroll inside.

“The ninth squad was defeated. Yan Linjun transferred the tenth squad over as reinforcements, but it was ambushed on the way and completely destroyed. Yan Linjun died with honor.”

Yan Linjun… Lu Sheng lingered on the name for a little bit longer. Not for anything else, but because the older sister of this Yan Linjun was Yuanguang Chexin.

Having control over information these days was not without benefits. At least he now understood the basic situation the Great Yin was in and the random connections between all the higher ups.

Right now, the Great Yin had troubles both within and without. The royal family was split, and the armies and dukes in different regions could only try to protect their territories themselves. The three big families also fell into chaos and disputes, each supporting different princes and causing a mess in the palace.

The three sects were even more stingy and territorial, not batting an eye to any Devil invasion outside of their own territories. This caused the Devil Disaster to keep stretching on when it should have been beaten back already.

Lu Sheng shook his head, and opened another bronze pipe.

“Beiyun Sect successfully defended against the Devil Army, but is low on food. Please send reinforcements.”

After some thought, Lu Sheng wrote a “discuss” on the paper, meaning for the elders of the sects in the prefecture to vote on the issue themselves.

Food was very important during war. He was not familiar with the other higher-ups within the Autumn Moon City, so he shouldn’t be randomly moving such important resources.

The rest of the bronze pipes were news from all over the country. Some places fell to devils, resulting in huge casualties. Others were successfully defended, but that drained a lot of money and resources.

Some other places had powerful people who completely shot down the devils or ingenious plans that defeated the entire devil army. Because the country was so big, some of the news were from a very long time ago.

In Lu Sheng’s view, although the Great Yin seemed to be doing okay region-wise, things were not looking good in the big picture.

Using red ink, Lu Sheng labeled the areas the Devil Army had taken over on a simple map.

Once he was done, Lu Sheng’s expression became more solemn. On the map in front of him, an entire fourth of the country had been taken over by devils.

The only region doing okay was around the Autumn Moon City. The Devil Army actually retreated and left by themselves.

The situation became a lot better, but Lu Sheng knew this was because of Xiao Zizhu after he was possessed.

He smiled resignedly. But this wasn’t something he should worry about. Weapon Grandmasters were already pouring their minds over this. What he needed to focus on right now was how to get rid of the evil religion, the Black Society and Black Gospel.

“Reporting!” Suddenly, a hurried yet joyous voice sounded outside the door.

A disciple wearing green rushed into the study, but the two guards at the door blocked him down.

“Qing Mu, you’re forgetting your manners!” The guards obviously knew the person.

Qing Mu looked exhausted, but also incredibly happy.

“Reporting to the sect master! The main sect sent reinforcements for the siege the Devil Army put on our city a few weeks ago!”

“Oh?” Lu Sheng was taken aback.

He had written a report and letter about a top-tier devil appearing at Autumn Moon City and sent it to the main sect, so it was normal that they sent reinforcements. But he didn’t understand why this disciple, Qing Mu, was so excited.

“Let him in.” Lu Sheng shook his sleeve. Instantly, the two guards at the door automatically moved their arms and let Qing Mu in.

Qing Mu was shocked. He was Earth Prime and an elder, but his body was somehow controlled without him knowing. He couldn’t help falling forward, then walking toward Lu Sheng and stood still. He didn’t do any of that himself.

“Sect Master!” He was instantly respectful. He had heard about Sect Master Lu’s strength and how he had forced back the commander of the devil army by himself. At first, he still doubted it a little, but no longer.

Lu Sheng wasn’t offended. People in this world were pretty much ignorant. Even if they saw him fight the Devil Lord, they still could not understand what level they were on. The strongest people here were only Earth Prime, so one could imagine how much they knew.

Lu Sheng frowned, and asked, “Tell me the details.”

“Yes.” Qing Mu immediately told Lu Sheng all he saw. Originally, Lu Sheng thought it was just some Earth Prime person, or a Divine Weapon Master at best. But from Qing Mu’s description, Lu Sheng knew from the person’s appearance and actions that he was definitely more than just a Divine Weapon Master.

Lu Sheng went over everything Qing Mu said in his head. He was about to ask for more details when a faint, sweet-smelling scent flowed in from the doorway. It smelled like a mixture of wood, whale ointment, flowers, fruits, and others.

Lu Sheng’s expression lifted, and he walked out of his study slowly. A man was standing peacefully in front of the statue of the big hand in the center of the monastery. His back was to Lu Sheng, and there were wisps of green smoke slowly swirling around him.

“I am Tong Yi.” The man turned around. His clear, young, black and white eyes focused on Lu Sheng. “I have heard about Fellow Daoist Lu.”

Meeting the gaze, Lu Sheng felt that much of the dust at the bottom of his heart was swept away by some invisible waterflow. All the anxiety and anger were washed away by that one glance.

“It’s nice to meet you, Fellow Daoist.” Lu Sheng cupped his fists. He could tell that Tong Yi did not want to reveal his true identity, so he just greeted him respectfully.

Lu Sheng was still a good twenty meters away from Tong Yi, but his core Yin flames at the depth of his soul resonated with some power within Tong Yi.

Just this brief meeting told Lu Sheng that the other person was also an extremely powerful Divine Lord.

And the Law of this Divine Lord Tong Yi was much stronger than his. It even reminded him of the power of his master Qian Du, Su Ningfei.

“I haven’t been here in a while. I didn’t expect another prodigy to appear in our Thousand Sun Sect.” Divine Lord Tong Yi smiled and turned his head. His appearance was that of a thirty or forty year old man, but his tone was old. No one knew how long he’d lived.

“Let’s talk someplace else.” Lu Sheng made a gesture.

Divine Lord Tong Yi nodded happily.

***

The Thousand Sun Monastery, Moshui Palace.

Lu Sheng and Tong Yi sat across from each other. Between them was a kettle of fruit tea and two cups.

Wisps of hot air flowed out from the kettle, giving off the faint, sweet scent of tea.

Looking at Lu Sheng’s expression, Tong Yi put it together with some of the intelligence he had, and came to a general conclusion.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, it’s too tiring for you to take on all this by yourself. I’ve come this time for that Mind-Controlling Devil Master, Xiao Zizhu.”

He did not reveal his identity this time. Most people had not seen him before, and those who had would not be meddling in a small city like this.

So until now, no one knew he was a Devil Lord.

“Actually, I got lucky. I fought with a clone of Xiao Zizhu a while ago, and we both injured each other. But afterwards, he left. I didn’t understand, either,” Lu Sheng explained truthfully.

“Suddenly left? From what I know, why would they suddenly leave?” When Tong Yi received the request for help, he was still cultivating hard in the Secret Area. But even those like him, who cultivated for long periods of time, had still heard of the Mind-Controlling Devil Master Xiao Zizhu. This ancient Starry Sky Noble had numerous wins in battles. No matter from which angle, he did not look like someone to let Lu Sheng go so easily.

“The only possible reason is something from within. Could you take me to have a look? Would that be okay?”

“Of course.” Lu Sheng nodded.

Lu Sheng’s focus was no longer on this. Xiao Zizhu was now in the same dark organization as he, so of course he wouldn’t hurt him anymore. One signal was him retreating.

All Lu Sheng was thinking of now was whether he could find out more information about Divine Lords from Tong Yi. That b*tch Su Ningfei never intended to teach him the real arts from the high level of Thousand Sun Sect.

After hearing Lu Sheng’s questions about such things, Tong Yi was a little confused, but didn’t think much about it. He answered each of Lu Sheng’s questions carefully.

“… for Divine Lords like us, once we reach this level, everything seems trivial. Some random art or technique can enable us to live at least two or three thousand years. The Mind-Controlling Devil Master has multiple identities, and never moves around publicly, so he must have had some goal to achieve here,” Tong Yi said seriously. “As for our levels, there’s a basic system. There are Golden Leaf, Jade Star, and Divine Intellect; you know these. But no matter Devil Lords, Divine Lords, or Rogue Divine Weapons, the only way to get here is to be in control of Laws.”

“In control of Laws…” Lu Sheng pondered.

“That’s right. There are no differences between humans, but there are between Laws. Different Laws have different strengths and powers. In this aspect, Rogue Divine Weapons get the easy way out. They don’t need to cultivate their physical bodies in order to take on Laws.

“But we’re different. Different Laws have different physical requirements. Some require the body to be simple and transparent, some require the body to be indestructible, some require you to leave the world and live in solitude, or be extremely respectful, or outgoing, etc. Every one has a different requirement.

“So after this, our paths all become the same, no matter whether we have a Divine Weapon or Devil Weapon or not.” Divine Lord Tong Yi pointed out the important parts at once.

After some thought, Lu Sheng asked, “So multiple people can utilize the same Law?”

“Of course. If two Divine Lords using the same Law run into each other, then it depends on who has a better control of it. It just becomes a battle of who is more familiar with that Law.

“This world is huge. Who can say they know and understand everything?” Divine Lord Tong Yi smiled.

“Understanding Law comes at the Jade Star level. Jade star, jade star, originally a normal rock, yet it turned into jade, and then into a star. This is the general description of this level.”

Tong Yi smiled, and looked at Lu Sheng. “You are currently in the stage where you’re trying to combine with a Law. Although you are in the Jade Star stage, you are only at the entrance. You must have a good foundation. Every person only gets one chance to combine with a Law, and during this time period, your entire soul and body will be changed because of the Law. You will gain strange powers while isolating every other Law.”