Way of the Devil - Chapter 389
Chapter 389: Goodbye (2)
‘Now, I just need to check on my family and make sure they have established themselves. I can’t do this all by myself, but I could very well leave many of the responsibilities to my subordinates and save some time. Also, there are two old bastards that could potentially be convinced…’ Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes as he thought.
He only needed another water type Golden Leaf grade Divine Weapon to break through to the next tier.
According to the results of the evolution, the six tiers of Collection represented the different levels of Holy Masters. Every two tiers would be equivalent of Golden Leaf, Jade Star, and Divine Intellect, respectfully. If he could reach Divine Intellect, that would be the pinnacle of Holy Master level. By then, only Weapon Commanders and Devil Emperors could match his power. If he continued on, the next level would be Army Weapon Master.
The Infinity Technique system’s biggest advantage compared to the traditional Divine Weapon/Devil Blade system was its independence.
Meanwhile, its biggest disadvantage was the amount of time it required.
If it weren’t for Deep Blue, Lu Sheng couldn’t have cultivated such an absurdly powerful body, nor could he have reached the Collection phase. People would think he was crazy if he told them he consumed Divine Weapons.
In reality, Lu Sheng’s overall achievements were equivalent to nearly 10,000 years of cultivation. Which meant, for a potential prodigy to reach his level, they’d need to cultivate the Infinity Technique for nearly 10,000 years, and that’s without meeting any bottlenecks.
The Infinity Technique truly was much simpler compared to the traditional system, but to actually benefit from it… You needed to live long enough first.
Even with the True Essence Tower to slow down time, one would still age. No one could live for tens of thousands of years, not even a Weapon Master.
The oldest Weapon Master, according to records, was only 5,000 years old. Devil Emperors fared even worse—they were usually killed and replaced by new ones after reaching just 4,000 or so years.
Lu Sheng understood that the Infinity Technique was a Great Dao suitable for only himself. To improve the strength of his subordinates, he needed to find another way.
***
The Lu Family Mansion, Autumn Moon County.
Lu Quanan, along with a crowd of other Lu Family members, eagerly watched the carriage slowly advancing toward them.
The dark gold carriage had a giant “Thousand” symbol on its top, symbolizing that it belonged to the Thousand Sun Sect, which naturally meant it was of the finest and most delicate craftsmanship. Four strange beasts, with the appearance of rhinos combined with the claws of dragons on their belly, pulled the carriage.
The carriage gradually came to a halt in front of the mansion gate. The door slid open and out came a young man with a bright smile.
“Not Sheng…” Lu Quanan shook his head in disappointment. He could hear sighs behind him as well.
But the man who got out immediately stepped aside, and another man with a balanced and muscular frame as well as a sharp and fierce air around him stepped out.
The man’s long black hair was carelessly scattered on his shoulders. His shoulders were wide, while his waist was slim. Though his skin was pale, it looked even more menacing combined with the clearly defined muscles on his body. Staring into his eyes was like being stabbed by daggers.
Everyone’s hearts jumped as they made eye contact with him before hurriedly averting their gazes.
But the man raised his right arm.
“Puff, puff, puff!”
After a wave of faint sounds, the shapeless smoke floating around the courtyard naturally came to him like it had found its master and attached to his right arm, then disappeared into his skin.
“Father, long time no see. Do you not recognize your son anymore?” The man put down his hand and looked mildly at Lu Quanan.
“You are… Sheng?” Lu Quanan blanked out for a moment. There wasn’t really any reason to blame him for not recognizing Lu Sheng. The latter had gone through some drastic changes, and the details of his face were unlike before as well.
“I am.” Lu Sheng stepped forward and knelt on one knee in front of Lu Quanan. “Sorry for the wait, Dad, your son encountered some trouble on the road—”
Before he could finish, his second mother on the side wrapped him in her arms.
Since Lu Sheng’s birth mother passed away when he was little, he was brought up by Second Mother like he was her own son.
Lu Sheng owed his initial spoiled life as the son of a rich family largely to her.
But of course, Lu Sheng wouldn’t mention these unpleasant things today.
This period of separation might have been nothing to him, but to the ordinary mortals of the Lu family, it was a long time.
“Sorry, Mother, for all this time,” Lu Sheng said lightly.
Liu Cuiyu didn’t speak, and only patted Lu Sheng lightly on his back. Tears rolled in her eyes.
Lu Quanan patted Liu Cuiyu. “There are still many people waiting. No need to be anxious, we have plenty of time later.
Liu Yucui finally let go of Lu Sheng and let other people greet him.
“Young Master!”
“Big Brother!”
“Big Brother!!”
“Uncle!”
“Uncle!”
“Uncle[1]!”
Lu Sheng blanked out, and looked at the loudest little kid.
She was still wearing her baby pants, and had dark skin. Her face looked clean and proper, but not at all pretty.
The only special part of her was her big, lively eyes.
When she saw Lu Sheng look over, the little kid immediately said, “Uncle, I am Lu Tiancheng! My mom is Lu Yingying, who’s your cousin!”
The little kid was only two years old, but talked clearly and smoothly. She might not be the prettiest, but was clearly very intelligent.
Lu Sheng stroked the kid’s head.
“My mom said I’m ugly, so I must be loud or uncle wouldn’t listen to me,” Lu Tiancheng said with a serious expression.
“Alright, alright.” Lu Sheng laughed. He looked around and saw that everyone, especially his dad Lu Quanan, all had ugly expressions on their faces. It was obvious Lu Tiancheng did not have the best life in his family.
After he took care of the man from the Yang Family that had gotten Lu Yingying pregnant, there shouldn’t have been a problem… How did this kid come to live with the Lu Family?
“The Yang Family went extinct during the Devil Calamity. In just a single night, like the… Before,” Lu Yiyi, standing on the side, explained in a whisper.
Lu Sheng finally understood. After taking care of the little guy, his gaze fell on a person in the back.
“Yun Xi…”
Chen Yunxi looked at him silently. Though there was joy in her eyes, it was more of a distant look.
The two meters that separated them seemed to be the world.
“It seems… you were never mine…” Chen Yunxi looked at Lu Sheng. She could see his caution around her with the sense she gained, even with the little martial art training she had.
Like she was a fragile vase, Lu Sheng stared at her with pity, love, and guilt, and couldn’t let go of any of that.
The two stared like husband and wife, but also like strangers.
In truth, everyone knew this marriage between Chen Yunxi and Lu Sheng wouldn’t work.
There was too much distance between them. The two of them were in two completely different worlds. Not only in terms of cultivation, but also in terms of life form. In terms of knowledge.
They didn’t even have anything in common to talk about.
Lu Sheng walked up and lightly hugged Chen Yunxi, but she pushed him away.
“I thought I would be excited, but… The more you expect, the more you are disappointed. Lu Sheng, we should divorce.” Chen Yunxi had thought about what she would say for so long, and finally had the chance to say it.
Their marriage had become shackles. For both of them.
Lu Sheng looked around. Everyone, including his father Lu Quanan, didn’t look surprised. They clearly knew about her decision long ago.
“We will talk about this later.” He knew it wasn’t that she didn’t love him anymore. She just didn’t want to hold him back.
The difference between the two was too big—it was vast to the point where Chen Yunxi couldn’t even see him if she looked up.
Lu Sheng settled the topic with a single sentence. The crowd became festive once again.
Lu Yiyi, Lu Hongying, his uncle Lu Anping, and his fifth mother Zhang Qing all hugged Lu Sheng one by one.
After staying for two hours at the Lu Family mansion and taking care of many mundane arrangements, he rode toward the Prime Devil Sect outside of the city.
The Thousand Sun Sect of the Autumn Moon county arranged a big Daoist temple for the several hundreds of disciples of the Prime Devil Sect outside of the city. It had been several days since they moved.
A few young disciples were sweeping the field under the shadow of the trees when Lu Sheng arrived.
“The sect master! The sect master is back!!!”
The disciples instantly shouted as they charged inside, instantly dropping their brooms. Soon, a crowd of people gathered outside of the gate.
Liu Shanzi’s beard had turned white after all this time. Only one arm hung by his side. His body was whole when he was rescued from the ruin, but now…
“Master, your arm…” Lu Sheng glanced at where his master’s arm should have been, and his eyes started to turn fierce.
“An accident. I can only blame myself. I suffered deviation during cultivation and had to amputate my arm in order to live.” Liu Shanzi shook his head bitterly. “That’s a long story, we can talk about it later. You should make arrangements for the disciples first.
Even more Prime Devil Sect disciples flowed out of the gate. Soon, the number broke past one hundred and they blocked the gate completely.
His Senior Apprentice Sister He Xiangzi, Umbrella Girl, and many others stood nearby and silently stared at Lu Sheng with a smile. He Xiangzi’s cultivation didn’t improve much during these times, but Umbrella Girl unconsciously glanced at Lu Sheng.
The powerful Devil Qi she emitted clearly indicated she was at least at the peak of Snake level upper three tier. If it hadn’t been for the lack of Divine Weapon or Devil Blade scent, he would have assumed she was a Weapon Master already.
The Crimson Whale Sect branch of the Crimson Sun Sect, represented by Ning San and the others, also stood nearby, away from the crowd, and waited for Lu Sheng to come up.
But Lu Sheng was a little confused about the two people who stood away from everyone else, one tall and one short, with blue hair and green eyes.
As he felt Lu Sheng’s gaze, the tall man bowed with a smile. “The most admirable Sect Master Lu, I am King of Shadows, Xu Feila. This is one of my avatars.” He introduced the shorter man.
Lu Sheng nodded, and turned toward an old man that stood in the shadow.
His face was pale and lacked any sign of blood. With a hunched back, he looked no different from any other elderly man. But upon a more detailed look, Lu Sheng realized he was very fit, and emitted a savage and fierce scent despite his age.
Lu Sheng could also acutely sense the enormous amount of strange power within him. It was power equal to a Weapon Master’s.
“Sect Master could call me Stone.” He was clearly the ancient Devil King sealed underneath the Secret Art Palace back then. He was also at Weapon Master level.
[1] [ED/N: All 3 uncles are different, and the translator suggested I explain. Basically, in Chinese, there are many different words for cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents depending on whether they are from father’s or mother’s side, and often depending on their age (relative to others). Here, first uncle is more colloquial and refers to father’s younger bro, while the other two are more respectful and refer to father’s older bro. At least two of them can be used as respectful address by younger people unrelated by blood as well.]