Way of the Devil

Zhuang Jiu’s evil intentions were very clear now. The two ill auras were swiftly closing in on him. Although the auras were very weak, Lu Sheng could clearly sense the pricks of sharp danger they emitted.

It was apparent that they had to be with the Green Branch Sect if they could appear here. Also, they had to have concealed their strength.

There was also the scorching sensation from his Pain Mark.

‘All three parties are here… Seems like I’m really popular in these parts.’ Lu Sheng sneered. If this was just a test, there was no way that all three parties would be here. He was confident that he did not possess such fame as of yet.

Lu Sheng thought about it. In the end, he made a toss. The Eight Head Mental Beads hovering above his hands swirled and flew upward.

All this while, he had been thinking of a most powerful ace-in-the-hole move that was completely his.

Although he had formidable strength and made quick progress, when it came down to an ultimate move that could determine the outcome of the battle, he had none.

Regarding that issue, every time he went into secluded cultivation, he would use the rest periods in between sessions to tinker with his ideas, and finally came up with a move with yet unknown strength.

This move could only be used in a dire situation; otherwise, it would be extremely dangerous.

Lu Sheng could still remember that he had suffered injuries over his whole body when he first experimented with this move.

In order to face the impending huge trial, he had prepared 100 Eight Head Mental Beads in one go. He did all this to replicate this process.

“Fuh!”

Sharp sounds as if opera singers were singing at the top of their voices resounded in the air.

“Bam.”

One of the Eight Head Mental Bead suddenly erupted. Next, a second, third, fourth…

The beads exploded, releasing the golden flames contained within. They merged into one ball of flame and burned away at the void before Lu Sheng.

“Hiss.”

In no time, the golden flames burned a gray palm-sized hole in the air.

Shortly after, the hole increased in size, and swiftly progressed to a standard rift.

It was a huge rift that was as tall as a person.

“Who… Who summons me?” An ancient, divine, and immense scorching voice came forth slowly from the rift.

Lu Sheng’s lips arced upward in a smile. He looked at the mini divine beast’s figure within the rift.

“It’s me… I’m your father. Come, Little Eight, greet your dad!”

The mini Eight-Headed Griffon had just walked out of the rift, and was slightly stunned. It had eight huge eagle heads and the majestic body of a strong lion.

When it heard the Language of E, it even questioned if its ears had deceived itself.

The Right-Headed Griffons were a tribe that was majestic, peerless, and so powerful that the other living beings were afraid of them, yet there was someone here who was daring enough to mock it, a descendant of that great tribe?

‘I must’ve got it wrong. Maybe this is not the Language of E. It must be some alien language similar to the Language of E. However, this language does sound rude,’ it guessed in its heart.

“No, you heard me alright.” Lu Sheng smiled, and stared at the mini divine beast before him. He shattered its delusions.

He pointed at himself with a smile, and said, “I’m addressing you. Come, greet your father.”

The Eight-Headed Griffon was stunned. Then, its right pairs of eyes started gathering golden flames of fury in a swift manner[1. You probably know it since you’re reading a Chinese web novel, but calling yourself father (let alone grandfather) is hella arrogant in China, and if you call yourself somebody’s father, then it means insulting them a lot. It’s probably because Chinese people see seniority (especially generational) as very important.].

“Insignificant worm! You dare mock the esteemed and ancient tribe of the Eight-Headed Griffon?! You’re looking for death! Death, I say!” It was extremely furious. It rose on its hind legs and gave a fierce roar.

“Smack!”

Lu Sheng decisively hit the Eight-Headed Griffon with his hand. The divine beast reeled and crashed heavily into the rock wall on the side.

“Faggot! Come hit me if you dare! I am Ghost Borneo World’s Fifth Heavenly Devil King, Zhuang Jiu! You’re a faggot if you do not come at me!”

He barely finished speaking when he decisively shattered the black crow sculpture in his hand. A gray rift suddenly opened up behind him. He leapt backward into it and vanished instantly.

The mini divine beast’s strength was starkly different from its ancestors. In addition to that, it was only a spectral image. It was immediately stunned by the smack. Its nose even started bleeding from the impact after hitting the wall.

“You dare!! How dare you?!” It roared furiously and got up to its feet. “Zhuang Jiu! You’re dead! Dead! Aarrgghh! Omnidestructive Heavenly Fire!”

“Boom!”

Great patches of golden flames erupted from its body. The flames quickly melted the walls around it, and they crumbled.

The flames morphed into flame fairies that seemed to have substance. They had humanoid upper bodies and tongues of flames for their lower bodies. Each of them had flawless facial features and alluring body shapes. They sung with a high pitch that was typical of female demons.

Countless flame fairies laughed maniacally amidst the golden flames. They sang at the top of their voices as they easily passed through the screens and rock walls around the corridor.

“Warning! Warning!

“High energy signals from flames detected within the Taoist pagoda. Damage is at three parts per thousand. Threat level, high average.

“Partial extermination system, activated.

“Dispatching patrollers.

“Dispatching selective destroyers.”

A deep male voice with an ice-cold tone resounded in the corridor.

The Eight-Headed Griffon was roaring furiously. It was giving vent to all its flames of fury.

“You fiend! How dare you wreak havoc in the Taoist pagoda?!”

Suddenly, a beam of silver light condensed into a sharp blade which instantly sliced through the flames. Like a cannonball, it rammed into the side of the griffon’s body.

“Bam!”

The Eight-Headed Griffon wailed. It crashed heavily onto the floor from the great force. It skidded across the ground for some distance before being pressed in place by an invisible gravitational force.

The golden flames swiftly disappeared. White mist started filling the space and extinguished the flame fairies quickly.

Two old men slowly appeared at the edge of the melted corridor. They eyed the Eight-Headed Griffon which was struggling to get back on its feet coldly.

Mu Qing frowned, and asked softly, “What is this? Where’s the Army Raising realm little Heavenly Devil?”

“I’m not sure. Could it be a form taken on by this guy?” the shorty Nan Shushu said in puzzlement.

Nan Shushu stared at the mini divine beast with a frown. It was slowly getting back on its feet.

“Why does this beast look familiar…”

“Really? Maybe it’s some rare tribe you’ve read about in the books?” the taller Mu Qing said casually. “Let’s capture and punish it before anything else. Its fire attribute blood might even help you complete that Heart Burning Pill of yours.”

“You have a point.” Nan Shushu nodded in agreement.

The Eight-Headed Griffon was already at the peak of its fury. When it heard the conversation between these two, the flames of its fury seemed to have been compressed within its chest. The blood in its entire body felt as if it wanted to vent the anger it felt in its mind.

“You… You!!” It did not expect that there would be such audacious humans I the world.

“Pooh!”

Suddenly, a silver spear stabbed out from the corridor’s ceiling. It precisely went in through the back of the Eight-Headed Griffon’ neck, then out through its chest, and its tip was pinned onto the ground. The character for “destroy” was clearly carved in the spear’s shaft.

“Auurrr!”

The Eight-Headed Griffon could not take this any longer. It let out a skyward roar.

“Die! All of you must die!” It roared wildly. Its body erupted loudly into countless spots of golden light.

Everything became quiet again. The golden flames in the corridor were completely extinguished following its disappearance.

Mu Qing and Nan Shushu frowned.

“What just happened? Where’s the kid?” Mu Qing asked in a deep voice. An Army Raising expert would not have died that easily.

“I’m not sure… What did his final words mean?” Nan Shushu also felt that something was off.

“The Taoist pagoda has been cleared. The alarms will be lifted.” At this moment, the Taoist pagoda’s own announcement sounded again.

“Could he have run away?” Nan Shushu asked, puzzled.

“Badump!”

Suddenly, his heart beat loudly once. He was not the only one. Beside him, Mu Qing also clutched his chest with a stunned expression.

“What’s this?”

The duo quickly spread their Awareness through the ground toward the exterior of the Taoist palace.

The instant they saw the scene outside, the colors drained from their faces.

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

Cloud Sky Pavilion.

Immortal Ta Yu could not help but stand up. She stared at the golden flames displayed on the Thousand Mirror Console.

“No, that Lu Sheng stopped in a blind spot. When he remerged, eight eagle heads, a lion’s body… What is this image?” Although Ta Yu had been fighting with experts from other realms at the border, not many would know about the terrifying tribe that was the Eight-Headed Griffon, which were only supposed to exist in the legends even for the Green Branch Sect.

She was only an ordinary mid-ranked personnel.

“To be capable of melting the pagoda’s walls and floor, these flames are strong…” praised the man from the side.

In the Thousand Mirror Platform, the two martial uncles were making short work of the golden beast. The three of them in the main control room felt slightly relieved.

“If he’s dead, there won’t be a problem, or even if there was, it wouldn’t be a serious one.” Ta Yu smiled. “I wonder if the martial uncles have gotten their hands on the secret treasure.”

“Isn’t it alright as long as his spirit remains?” Her junior apprentice brother smiled.

“You have a point…” Ta Yu smiled as well.

“Badump.”

A sudden, violent fear made her grip her heart.

“What’s wrong?!”

Ta Yu was slightly stunned. She looked at the other two, and found them clutching their own chests just as she was doing.

“Look at the skies!” The bald junior apprentice brother’s expression suddenly seemed extremely terrified.

Ta Yu and the man quickly looked at the sky surveillance footage on the Thousand Mirror Console.

“Badump!” There was another heartbeat sound.

Their pupils narrowed instantly.

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

Zhuang Jiu walked slowly toward the Taoist pagoda. His bearing was calm and composed.

For him, it was an easy task to come to such a small place on his own and retrieve a so-called secret treasure.

“Let me give you a good lesson, naïve little Heavenly Devil…” He had already sensed the location of the trial corridor. He adjusted his direction slightly and hastened his pace toward it.

“Shing.”

An exquisite runic devil blade which resembled a purple ruler condensed and protruded from his hand.

“Auurrr!”

Suddenly, a fierce roar resounded throughout the void.

Zhuang Jiu was stunned. He felt that this voice and aura were slightly alien.

He lifted his head all of a sudden.

A rift brimming with golden radiance slowly appeared above him.

“Fuh…”

A sandstorm loomed, and the skies darkened slowly.

“What’s this?!” Zhuang Jiu was stunned.

In an instant, golden radiance filled the entire space.

“Rumble!”

A beam of golden light struck. It instantly morphed into countless distorted flames which burned in the void. The flames covered a range of several million meters.

The space all around was reduced to fragments from the impact. It morphed into a grayish, messy spatial rift.

The golden flames were like an ocean, instantly drowning everything else.

The final sight Zhuang Jiu saw was that the golden rift suddenly split open. Two terrifying claws huge enough to blot out the sun grabbed at the sides of the rift and pulled it open further. A huge eagle’s head the size of the entire skies appeared.

“Be the sacrifices for my projections!” The Eight-Headed Griffon’s eyes flickered with furious golden flames. It opened its mouth, and a huge ball of golden flames gathered and swirled within it.

“Eight-Headed… Griffon!” He instantly recognized this terrifying huge beast which had destroyed countless living beings.

He immediately understood that this planet was done for.