Way of the Devil

Amid a certain forest at the border of the Nine Bright Province.

Among the lush forest which was full of life, large groups of beasts, insects, and birds were running away with fear.

A round vault mirror that was as tall as three meters was silently standing amidst the towering trees.

“The Prime Devil Sect dares to resist,” a voice slowly spoke in the void.

“Let’s activate it, then, the War Mirror. The Thousand Sun Sect has already dispatched the Red-Robed Army,” said someone else in a deep female voice.

“Just as well. The Three Sects are growing bolder recently and acting more rashly. Even when their sect master is gravely injured and in secluded cultivation, they still don’t know how to show restraint. Let’s make this a warning to the Thousand Sun Sect.”

“Mhm.”

“Hiss…”

A faint grayish radiance started to fill the mirror.

“Pccht!”

A gray arm slowly emerged from the mirror. Then, a naked gray body followed suit.

A big and tall man with three serpent tails for his lower body crawled slowly out of the mirror.

The man wore a grayish-white crown on his head. His eyes flickered with a sly, icy coldness.

After emerging from the mirror, he swiftly made way. A beautiful woman with black hair reaching her waist quickly emerged after him.

The ends of the woman’s hair seemed to extend into the void. They were in a peculiar semi-transparent form.

“I didn’t expect to be working with you this time. It’s my honor, Divine Lord Tu Lan.” The three-tailed man displayed a charming smile.

“Ever since I’ve attained the Divine Intellect tier 1,000 years ago, it’s been nine centuries since we’ve last met, right?” Tu Lan said with a similarly charming smile. “I see that you’ve officially entered the realm of three tails, Divine Lord Zhao Yu. Congratulations.”

“Aren’t you doing the same, Divine Lord Tu Lan? You’re now at the void hair rank, aren’t you?”

The two of them started flattering each other.

Tu Lan licked her lips. With a slightly burning desire, she said, “The main reason we’re here today is because a Star-tier spirit has been discovered in Great Yin. By the way, the Star tier should be the equivalent of a Jade Star to Divine Intellect Spirit in Great Yin’s system, right? An Other World Star Soul at this rank has great research value.”

“Our systems are different, but in actual combat, the Star tier is at most equal to the Divine Intellect tier. For the other planets, as long as it’s capable of surviving within a body’s spirit in an Other World, it can be considered as a Star-tier spirit,” said the three-tailed man, Divine Lord Zhao Yu, with a smile.

“Very well. Since we’re here now, let’s begin.”

“Let’s.”

The two of them each slowly produced a small black key. Then, they brought them together. The ridges of the keys were a perfect match for each other.

“Click.”

The matching keys unleashed a crisp click.

In an instant, the countless huge trees all around them started to vibrate gently.

“Rumble…”

The nearest huge tree slowly lifted its roots. A pair of huge dark green eyes opened on its trunk.

“Commander Andirado, at your service, Divine Lords.”

“Get ready to set out.” Divine Lord Tu Lan tossed the key into the air lightly.

“Bam!”

The key exploded instantly. It turned into countless black spots of light which descended all around them.

“Understood…” The huge treeman nodded.

A ring of invisible wave spread silently in all directions with him as the center.

For a time, the forest and plants in an area of hundreds of kilometers started wriggling. They pulled their roots out of the soil, while human faces emerged on their bark. They lined up.

In no time, this primordial forest which had been around for thousands of years had completely turned into a terrifyingly immense army of plants that were hundreds of thousands of trees strong.

“Go, kill every living thing you see.” Divine Lord Zhao Yu pointed in the direction of the Autumn Moon County.

“Boom!”

In an instant, countless plants started marching toward the Autumn Moon County.

On the ground on which the army was advancing, a giant blue eye slowly surfaced. It looked on as the army advanced swiftly.

*****************

Prime Devil Sect. Devil Palace.

When Liu Shanzi heard Lu Sheng’s furious shout, he quickly made his way to the Devil Palace’s main hall.

He was not alone. The other dozen or so Weapon Masters had gathered here swiftly as well. Quite a number of them had joined the Prime Devil Sect when the Evil Spirits ran rampant. They did not understand what such a reaction from the sect master meant.

Only Elder Shi, Xu Feila, and the other original elders knew that the fury Lu Sheng displayed was unprecedented.

The dozen elders gathered in the main hall. Sect Master Lu Sheng was not here yet. However, everyone was starting to feel worried already.

Everyone had seen the giant blue eye that took up the entire sky just now. Although it was scattered with a single blow by their sect master, they could tell from the voice that the single eye was most probably an expert of the Three Sacred Gate’s First Sacred Gate.

Also, Sect Master Lu Sheng gave them the order to conduct a thorough search and kill everyone from the First Sacred Gate they encountered. It was clear that he intended for the Prime Devil Sect to openly clash with the First Sacred Gate.

“Let’s not talk about how powerful our targets are for now. If the Three Sacred Gates return for a reckoning, what should we do?” asked a white-haired Weapon Master elder with tightly knit brows.

“Elder Xu is right. The difference between our Prime Devil Sect and the First Sacred Gate is too great. If we rise against the Three Sacred Gates openly like this, even with the Thousand Sun Sect behind us, it’s…” another Weapon Master chimed in with a deep voice when he heard this. His tone was filled with worry.

“The sect master is too unwise. Even if he wants to issue a hunting order, he shouldn’t clearly state the identities and affiliation of the targets. The Three Sacred Gates is too great an organization. With this, even if we want to follow his orders, how many of us will be brave enough to actually carry it out?”

“It’ll be more of a problem if he kept such information from us. Isn’t that the same as duping us?”

“Do you think that the sect master wants to test us with this?”

“Impossible. The effects aside, if we really get on the First Sacred Gate’s bad side, the gains won’t make up for the losses…”

Opinions were voiced here and there. Everyone had their own guesses.

Xu Feila and Elder Shi were unperturbed by their discussion. They did not move, nor did they spoke. The final nail in the coffin could only be hammered in after Sect Master Lu Sheng showed himself.

It was meaningless for the subordinates to guess what the leader was thinking about.

Time ticked by. Devil Qi remained to flow on the ground. Before this, a large amount of Devil Qi rolled out like seawater and covered hundreds of kilometers.

Everyone guessed that this had to have been some detection method employed by their sect master. To have covered such a wide area, it was highly possible that the sect master had relied on some great formations of the Devil Palace and consumed energy from a large number of Devil Stones.

However, they had been discussing for half a day in the main hall, yet the sect master was nowhere to be seen.

Some of them started question that.

“The sect master has summoned us here, but isn’t showing up himself. What’s the meaning of this?”

“You’re right. I wonder what the sect master’s planning to accomplish by this.”

“Summoning us here without showing himself, this isn’t ethical, isn’t it?”

Xu Feila glanced at the group of worrisome Weapon Masters in the main hall. Then, he glanced at Liu Shanzi who was standing silently at the side. He silently cursed, ‘You old fox!’

However, when he saw that the atmosphere was getting out of hand, as the deputy sect master on-duty in charge of the sect’s affairs, he had no choice but to step up and say something.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think the sect master has given any summons, right? A killing order is a killing order. However, the sect master has never mentioned for us to gather here.”

His statement instantly stunned the people gathered within the main hall.

He was right. Lu Sheng had merely given the order to kill and made no subsequent announcements. He did not ask them to gather here.

However, they had come here of their own accord as they wished to understand the sect master’s thoughts.

“Actually… that Zi Hengzi whom the sect master mentioned, I’ve seen him,” Elder Shi slowly spoke from the side.

“Oh? Please say what’s on your mind, Elder Shi,” said one of the Weapon Masters.

Elder Shi smiled, and spoke slowly, “Zi Hengzi is a member of the First Sacred Gate’s investigations team. As for what they’re actually investigating, this old man is unsure. However, his strength is at least on par with a high-level Weapon Master. If I were to be blunt, only three of us can rival him in strength among the people gathered here.”

When he said this, the others were stunned again.

“Elder Shi, what do you mean by this?” The one who spoke did not sound happy.

Elder Shi narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Nothing. I just want everyone to understand that the sect master has given a killing order without summoning us here. The sect master has not shown up until now. Don’t you understand what this means?”

A chill ran down everyone’s spine. They instantly thought of the other possibility. For a time, the main hall fell silent.

After a long while…

“Don’t tell me…” Xu Feila’s expression changed as he spoke in a deep voice.

“Pzzt…”

Only when the main hall quieted down did everyone hear some faint sound from the outside.

“There’s movement outside!”

A Weapon Master looked out the window.

“What is that?!”

The others felt a stir in their spirits. They charged out of the main hall. They had just reached the main hall’s doors when they stopped abruptly in their tracks.

Tongues of black flames with green lining had engulfed the entire floor of the Devil Palace without them noticing.

The empty plaza in front of the main hall was now a sea of flames.

“Bam.”

A giant black palm more than two meters thick slowly extended out from the main hall’s side.

“What’s that?!”

Elder Shi, Xu Feila, and the others who had followed Lu Sheng from the beginning immediately recognized that creature.

Its body was colossal with strong contours. Its hair burned. It had fierce, strong fangs and a single eye which sat atop its giant body which was more than 10 meters in height.

“Rarrggh!”

The violent lion’s roar instantly materialized into black waves which spread in all directions.

“The Lion of Rage!”

Many Weapon Masters staggered, and could not keep their balance after being shaken by the roar.

“The weak shall burn to cinders.” The Lion of Rage glanced at the gathered individuals. It stomped the ground with its giant paw. Tongues of Devil Flames leapt into the air and flew far away.

“This might… Compared to the Lion of Rage in my memories, this is much more powerful…” Liu Shanzi’s eyes revealed that he was deeply awestruck.

He could feel that if the Lion of Rage really wanted to attack them, the roar just now would have easily scattered their spirits.

Compared to his own Lion of Rage, it was more than a hundred times more powerful.

“So… The sect master did not summon us… nor was he ordering us…”

The gathered individuals unexplainably felt depressed and awed at the same time.

They were depressed because they were not the real mainstay of the sect. They were awed to discover that the sect master had concealed such a powerful force. That was mind-blowing to them.