Way of the Devil

After comforting the two young dragons who were covered in wounds, Lu Sheng soon obtained information on the mysterious woman Tia.

This woman shared the same name as the seven-colored dragons’ teacher. The two young dragons had mistaken her for the human form of their teacher and sought her protection.

Out of compassion, Tia killed the enemies hunting down the young dragons, and took it upon herself to escort the two young dragons.

The two young dragons had not intended to come here in the first place. However, when they heard Tia mention that the leader of the organization here, Devil Shadow, was a seven-colored dragon, they thought about seeking refuge here.

The Seven-colored Dragon Tribe was a rare species to begin with. Their tribesmen would usually look out for each other.

Hence, the two young dragons asked Tia to bring them here to seek refuge instead of searching for the Seven-colored Dragon Tribe which could be thousands of miles away.

Along the way, the three of them had survived numerous waves of attacks. The hunters who had insatiable greed for the seven-colored dragons’ bodies came relentlessly without fear of death.

There were incidents where even the veteran Tia suffered grave injuries out of carelessness. The two young dragons somehow managed to survive the ordeals, and only suffered superficial wounds.

What happened next was what Lu Sheng had seen.

As he stood in the study of his mansion, Lu Sheng slowly placed the documents he was holding on his desk.

“This child has suffered much…” After reading Tia’s profile, he was filled with emotion as well.

A contorted mass of blood-red shadow hovered near Lu Sheng. A gender-neutral voice came from it. “What are your orders, My Lord?”

“I must return this favor.” Lu Sheng raised his hand, and the documents in his hand suddenly erupted into countless paper shreds and ashes.

“I’ll personally head to Ice Blue Cult Nation tomorrow,” Lu Sheng said as he stroked his chin.

“Tomorrow might not be a good time. Lady Hongye is planning on sneaking out for a special training session with the little lizard. We have yet to determine if the content of the special training is within our control. There’s a possibility that we might need you there, My Lord,” said the red shadow in its deep voice.

“Has Hongye gotten into any more trouble lately?” Lu Sheng asked casually.

“Not really.”

Lu Sheng mused for a while before nodding slightly.

“Forget it, then. I’ll not go tomorrow. I was planning to leave this place temporarily and relax… Looks like things won’t work out. However, I’ll leave the matter with Tia to you. Make sure to take care of it.”

Since he removed the Indefinite Cult Master’s mark in the cursed land, he grew more interested in Lu Hongye’s progress. This was not merely due to his hope in Lu Hongye—he had something else planned as well.

“As you wish, My Lord,” replied the red shadow.

***

Ice Blue Cult Nation was a religious nation located south of Dawn City. It ruled over countless citizens with blind faith.

At the moment, Tia was heading out from Dawn City.

“A long sword will surely bring victory.” She joined her hands together and prayed softly on the rocking ox cart.

A dark-skinned woman who sat opposite her gave her a peculiar look, but she said nothing.

Young men and women with exhausted and stupefied expressions sat on the cart. They were pious believers who were heading toward the cult nation.

After Tia left Dawn City, she joined this group under a pretext, and hopped on the cart toward the cult nation.

From her seat, she looked around her at the apathetic faces of the other passengers. She became slightly dejected.

The people who crucified her entire family all those years ago wore the same apathetic expressions.

The ox cart proceeded at a speed that was neither fast nor slow. Passengers got on and off along the way. When there was a vacant seat, Tia quickly moved over. Then, she rolled up in the corner and furtively inspected her own equipment.

For this journey, she had converted all the resources she had into items that would be of use to her.

She did this despite knowing just how slim the chances were.

Time passed by slowly. The sun of high noon slowly made its way westward.

After an unknown period of time, the ox cart’s thick and dirty curtains parted. A man with whiskers on his chin poked his head wrapped in a white scarf into the cart.

“We’ve arrived, my dear customers.”

“We’ve arrived?” Tia was slightly stunned. Her chest tightened slightly. She quickly reached for her dagger concealed within her clothes.

“Get down, all of you.” The passengers were ordered to alight from the cart.

Tia got down and looked around her. She was still feeling slightly lost.

This was not the cult nation’s capital. It was a small path among a barren forest.

There was a small and exquisite tea shed to the right. It was quite packed with customers, who also seemed to be passers-by.

“Where are we?” one of the passengers asked with surprise.

“It’s not that I don’t want to bring you into the city, but I can’t. The city’s guards will only allow me to bring you here. Don’t worry, if you follow this path straight on, you’ll reach the holy city in less than five minutes on foot,” explained the bearded driver.

When the others heard this, they sighed helplessly.

Some of them went to the tea shed to rest, while the others picked up their luggage and continued on their way.

Tia recalled the information she had regarding this journey.

If she wanted revenge, she would have to remove the peripheral bases of the enemy force. Otherwise, if they decided to ride on numbers, her martial skills which she’d painstakingly honed over the years would be useless.

‘If I’m careful and furtive enough, there might still be hope.’ Tia knew that her enemy was at its weakest right now. If she did not make her move now, she might not have another chance in the future.

‘I should secretly remove the leaders of the rendezvous points and bases.’ She tightened her grip on the hilt and hurried along the path.

Nobody accompanied her. She was alone. Also, she did not stick to the path faithfully.

After walking for some distance, she silently veered off the path into the forest to her right. She began searching for something.

Soon enough, she found what she was looking for.

An oval altar with blue and white patterns.

About a dozen priests were softly chanting hymns around the altar. Troops of guards in silver armor patrolled the area.

A humanoid rock statue was wedged onto the top of the altar. It was shining with a faint silver radiance as the hymn was sung.

“Found it!” When she saw this scene, a cold gleam flashed across Tia’s eyes. She slowly concealed her own breathing and heartbeat. Her footsteps grew lighter as she stalked toward the altar.

“Pchht!”

The first sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh could be heard.

After a short exchange of blows, corpses were strewn around the altar. Tia swiftly wiped the blood on the blade away and left the place silently.

Then, an hour later, a second base nearby was attacked. More than 20 people died.

Then there was a third.

Tia exacted her revenge with a passion. The hatred in her heart gave rise to an ecstasy that she could hardly suppress through all the carnage.

According to her calculations, the Ice Blue papacy would surely send out its knights to hunt her down after she destroyed the fifth altar.

However, even when she destroyed the seventh base, the papacy showed no signs of making any move.

“What’s the meaning of this?” She wiped away the blood from her blade with the clothes of a corpse. Puzzled, Tia was lost in thought.

She had already steeled herself for the upcoming battle. However, along the way, she met with virtually no resistance as she went about killing off the people at the altar sites. This made her feel more and more puzzled.

***

Within the Clow Valley.

This was a peculiar valley situated on the periphery of the capital. It was a path that the Ice Blue papacy’s knights would have to pass through while they departed for their missions.

At the moment, the order of knights who received the order to eliminate an evil villain had been on the road for more than two hours.

Every single member of the order of knights was the crème of the crop. They were the greatest experts selected from the papal army. Every single one of them was at least of the silver rank. The officers were golden-ranked experts.

Needless to say that the leader and his deputy were true legendary experts.

The order of knights was more than 1,200-men strong. With a force of such a scale, they could serve as an intimidation that would be difficult to ignore.

However, currently, corpses piled up like discarded mannequins in the Clow Valley. They lay on the jagged ground of the valley.

A huge vulture circled in the air above the valley while squawking. Some wild dogs that fed on rotting flesh were also poking their heads out from the shadows. Their eyes glinted with greed and hunger.

“Here are all the men from the second batch.”

Baviathan sat on the only relatively clean white rock left in the valley while black smoke which seemed to be alive rose all around him. He was bored.

Ever since their lord taught them the cultivation method to remove their negative emotions, the Heart Devils separated from them, the Abominations, were certainly of the legendary rank in terms of destructive power and tainting power.

While their minds were chaotic before this, as they separated the negative emotions from themselves, they regained their rational thoughts. This was practically splitting an Abomination into several bodies without diminishing their strength.

“I hope that the next batch will be more powerful. This is too boring…” The ground around Baviathan started wriggling. The corpses strewn all over the place were slowly swallowed into the ground, and were eventually buried under the soil.

There was a flash of black radiance. All bodily remains vanished from the valley. Only several bloodstains remain as proof that terrible battles had happened before this.

***

Dawn City.

Lu Sheng held the information sheet in his hands with a smile as he said, “She must’ve resolved to throw her life away when she attacked the bases of the Ice Blue papacy. I reckon that she’s planning to kill as many of them as she can. What a moving and tragic course of action.”

He had sent his subordinates over to the seven-colored dragons. Then, he returned his attention to Tia’s side. However, he was surprised to find that she was progressing much faster than he had expected.

“Tell Baviathan and the others to protect our benefactor more. Tell them to take more proactive actions so that the other party feels the deep concern we have for them.” Lu Sheng displayed a peculiar smile.

Several blurry figures stood within the study. One of them, a big and tall one, softly said, “In that case… we might end up butting heads with the Ice Blue papacy…”

“That’s alright.” Lu Sheng smiled. “It’s just an Ice Blue papacy.”

The others said no more. They had already understood their lord’s determination from his words.

“Alright, you’re all dismissed.” Lu Sheng waved his arm.

The figures almost vanished when one of them shook slightly.

“My Lord, there’s pressing news.” This figure raised an arm and shot out a beam of red light, which shot into Lu Sheng’s hand. It morphed into an exquisite information sheet that resembled an invitation card.

Lu Sheng raised his eyebrows. He picked up the sheet and glanced at it.

“Oh?” He was slightly surprised. When he read the contents of the letter, even he felt an urge to praise Tia for her determination.

“I don’t think Baviathan alone will be enough…” Lu Sheng put the letter down and scanned the others. “Well, anyone interested in taking a walk?”