Way of the Devil - Chapter 536

Chapter 536: Preparation (1)

Evil Spirits…

Lu Sheng suddenly thought about the legendary splitting ability of the Evil Spirits. They would split after reproducing on their own. He reckoned that the strength of the split bodies would not be maintained at the Divine Lord’s level.

‘In that case, that might explain why the Evil Spirits were that weak. I reckon that the number of Evil Spirits leaked into our world is little as well. These countless Evil Spirits should be the product of the splitting of a handful of Divine Lord Evil Spirits.’ Lu Sheng understood in his heart.

He remembered the golden-haired man who floated among the flames. That person had to have been a peak expert among the Evil Spirits. It was highly probable that it was an art breaker.

From the expression of that person, since they had taken care of his subordinates, the person would certainly not let the matter slide. It was highly possible that Lu Sheng would be targeted.

‘It’s highly possible that the Art Breaker rank is equivalent to a Weapon Grandmaster. Seems like I’ll have to pick up the pace…’ A sense of urgency rose within Lu Sheng’s heart.

He had forgotten when was the last time he felt this feeling. The last time he felt the urgent desire to improve his strength was when he was still not a Divine Lord.

Now, his cultivation base was still stuck at the Weapon Grandmaster tier’s threshold. He had yet to obtain a complete picture and understanding of a Weapon Grandmaster’s true strength.

‘It’s time for my next Arrival.’ Lu Sheng decided in his heart.

After discussing the upcoming arrangements with the various representatives, their powers would be temporarily gathered and led by the Prime Devil Sect, which would also oversee the entire situation of the Nine Bright Province. The actual dispatching of teams would be supervised by the Three Sects and Duanmu Wan.

Lu Sheng went straight to the back hall and looked at the startled people of the Lu Manor.

Lu Quanan had some superficial wounds, while the others were alright. He had lost more than half of his servants. It was fortunate that there were many hidden places that the others could hide in inside the manor. Those places were even equipped with formations that concealed their aura. This helped them deceived many an Evil Spirit.

Lu Qingqing was still unconscious because of his running about. He suffered some injuries on his arm. Chen Yunxi recounted the dangerous incident to Lu Sheng.

“Were you touched by the Evil Spirits?” When Lu Sheng heard that Chen Yunxi was tackled by an Evil Spirit, he tensed up.

“No… It felt as if it had missed and veered off course. I don’t think it actually hit me.” Chen Yunxi was also slightly puzzled. She clearly remembered that when the Evil Spirit was almost upon her, it did not deviate from its course. However, it suddenly missed at the final moment.

“What about Ningning?” Lu Sheng looked at Ningnig, who was sleeping soundly in Jade Mother’s embrace nearby.

Mu Jueqing was there by their side.

“Qingqing, you’ve done well this time. I’ll reward you handsomely when we get back!” Lu Sheng managed a smile. He reached out and caressed Mu Jueqing’s hair.

“I don’t want a reward. I’ll thank the heavens and the earth if you’ll actually guide me for a day or two.” Mu Jueqing pouted.

Lu Sheng felt helpless. He had to many businesses to attend to. He did not have the time to guide this disciple of this whom he never asked for.

“Also, I’d like to bring you back to your hometown for a visit.”

“Mhm. Thank you, Teacher.” Although she did not think that her hometown would be in any trouble, Mu Jueqing nodded anyways, being the sensible girl she was.

Lu Sheng attended to the wounds of his father Lu Quanan and the others. After treating them with Yang Essence, he came to Lu Ning.

He pressed a palm on his forehead and extended his Yang Essence into the child. He made his Yang Essence circulate in his body.

‘That aura seemed to have weakened considerably…’ Lu Sheng was slightly concerned.

When Chen Yunxi saw that he did not react immediately, she quickly walked up to him, and asked, “What’s the matter? Is Ningning injured somehow?”

“It’s nothing. He’s just slightly frightened and is feeling slightly dispirited. All he needs is some rest,” Lu Sheng responded casually.

“For the time being, all of you should stay within the Devil Palace. There are fortified formations here, and they won’t be that easily breached for now. There won’t be an issue in security. Moreover, there’s a storage of food that’s kept cold. The freshness will be guaranteed to the greatest extent.”

“Mm-hm, alright.” Chen Yunxi nodded. “What about you? Are you going out again?” She was slightly worried.

“No, I’m not going out. I want to go into seclusion. I have to prepare for the subsequent attacks by the Evil Spirits. I’m leaving all external affairs to the consultation between Duanmu Wan and the three Weapon Grandmasters. Also, my teacher, Liu Shanzi will deliver the reports of the consultations to the hidden compartment in my seclusion room. I’ll take care of them when I have the time,” Lu Sheng said promptly.

“Can you not go?” Jade Mother was still feeling reluctant. Also, the people here in the Lu Manor did not wish to see Lu Sheng leave as well. With the Evil Spirits looming over them, their haven of a home in the Nine Bright Province had instantly become a perilous place.

Under such a situation, only an absolutely powerful martial strength was the greatest guarantee to safety.

“I can’t help it. The situation demands it. However, before I go into seclusion, I’ll thoroughly deal with the threat of the Evil Spirits in the vicinity and keep this area safe for some time. You can rest easy,” Lu Sheng added.

“Don’t be careless! You must take caution in all that you do!” Lu Quanan took a step forward and patted Lu Sheng’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry.” Lu Sheng nodded repeatedly. Then, he glanced at Lu Ning again. After that, he turned around and strode away.

He quickly informed the Three Sects and the city’s people of his plans. Lu Sheng ordered his Prime Devil Sect subordinates to cooperate with him. He went out of the Devil Palace and stomped his feet on the ground before the doors. Black Devil Qi spread out and carried him up toward the skies. He flew in an easterly direction.

He flew past the city. Clouds of thick smoke wafted up from the city below, forming black smoke columns. The seawater which Lu Sheng conjured up still lingered among the ruins. This made the city appear as if a group of buildings on the water’s surface was burning.

Occasionally, he could see some survivors crying their hearts out as they clung onto flotsam.

Some of the survivors were on wooden rafts pieced together with broken boards. They paddled with their bare hands as they attempted to get out of the city.

Lu Sheng went past the city, past the location where the Three Sects were stationed. Other than a few rare pieces of land, the other areas were either submerged or engulfed in flames.

He did not unleash much water, but he had attracted a large body of water.

He passed the flooded Autumn Moon City and saw a wide stretch of parched land. There was no moisture contained within the dried soil. There was no green from plants, either; there was only plain, dark yellow.

The land was plagued with dried cracks. Not even an ounce of life could be seen.

Lu Sheng controlled his black cloud and slowly dropped down from his altitude of a thousand meters. He hovered at about a hundred meters and looked down at the land.

It was a patch of dark yellow soil as far as his eyes could see.

‘Although that Andura had absorbed and assimilated a large number of Evil Spirits from the surrounding area, there must’ve been some fish that slipped through the net.’ Lu Sheng understood that in his heart. He continuously swept his gaze across the land.

In no time, a white sword gleam that resembled a bolt of lightning faintly exposed itself.

Every time the sword gleam was swung, it was as if a bolt of white lightning was shot out. With a loud crack, it left a patch of white spiderweb-like cracks in the skies.

The cracks only started to fade slowly after a long pause.

There were dozens of Evil Spirits launching their frenzied attacks around the sword gleam. Although the spiderweb sword mark was able to repel them, it could not completely kill the Evil Spirits. The most it could do was injure them heavily.

Because of the nourishment from the land’s Spiritual Essence, these Evil Spirits did not mind if they were heavily injured or not. As long as they were not completely obliterated in an instant, they would quickly recover to their prime state.

A cold look flashed across Lu Sheng’s eyes, and he suddenly accelerated. The Devil Qi in his hands condensed into a black blade, and he brought it down abruptly.

“Pccht!”

The black blade turned into a black radiance which instantly ricocheted between dozens of Evil Spirits like a laser beam. In the blink of an eye, all the Evil Spirits suddenly stiffened on the spot and stayed immobile. Then, they suddenly exploded, turning into countless fragments, and scattered.

The semi-transparent fragments dropped down slowly from the air. In a few breaths, they quickly ignited.

The faint greenish Yin Flames made it look as if it was raining fire from the heavens.

It was only now that the white sword gleam was able to catch a breath. It stopped and revealed its figure. To Lu Sheng’s surprise, it was a white-haired old man who wielded a spear.

Lu Sheng did not waste time on idle talk as he cut straight to the chase. “Where is the highest number of Evil Spirits found here?”

“There… Thank you, Sect Master… Lu…” The old man recognized Lu Sheng. He did not even finish his sentence when Lu Sheng was already gone.

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

After a three-day-long killing spree, the Evil Spirits around the Prime Devil Sect and the Autumn Moon County were completely killed off by Lu Sheng.

The safe zones which he cleared out enabled many of those who were saved to catch a breath and gather. When they found out that they were actually saved by Lu Sheng, they quickly discussed about joining the Prime Devil Sect as a group.

These survivors who managed to stay alive while the Evil Spirits ran rampant were all extreme elites. The weakest among them had five Veins.

Although there were not many of them, they were all strong.

Three days later, Lu Sheng returned to the Devil Palace. The number of elites who wanted to join the Prime Devil Sect had already numbered more than a hundred.

Humans were not the only ones among their ranks. There were also many demons among them. There were even elites of the Weapon Master tier. They were all elites who just happened to pass by this area when they were jumped on by the Evil Spirits. These individuals had greatly boosted the Prime Devil Sect’s options in reacting to small-scale Evil Spirit surprise attacks.

After settling everything in the Prime Devil Sect, Lu Sheng went straight toward the Research Temple, and prepared for his next secluded cultivation.

…..

He sat cross-legged atop the formation on the Research Temple’s floor. Lu Sheng inserted a black gemstone into a wedge on the floor.

“Click.”

The gemstone was a perfect fit.

“Hiss…”

Red radiance that resembled blood started to spread in all directions along the formation’s lines. It flowed in all directions like blood water, and quickly filled the entire temple.

‘After modifying the formation, I should be able to restrict the magnitude of the difference in time flow to 10. A day in Great Yin would be at least 10 days in the Other World. If I’m lucky, I might even be able to increase it to 50 days. With this, my time should be sufficient.’ Lu Sheng held his breath and focused his spirits. He stared at the floor in the middle of the formation.

An oval hole was left there. Currently, the hole was slowly being filled with a dark red liquid.

A gray eye-shaped crack was slowly opening up in the center of the red liquid with the activation of the formation.

‘The formation is almost at its limits. I must pick up the pace. Otherwise, I’d be spending the energy needed for the return trip.’ Lu Sheng glanced at the gemstones wedged at the periphery of the formation out of the corner of his eye. Those gemstones were all being reduced to fine powder.

There were nine circles of gemstones. Currently, three circles had already cracked.

The gray crack widened and grew longer. As he looked on, the fourth circle of gemstone was already starting to crack.

“Enough!” Lu Sheng plunged forward. He swiftly turned into a beam of black light and shot into the gray crack which was already the length of his forearm.

“Pcchht!”

He had just plunged into it when the crack instantly shut. The formation was still glowing with a dark red radiance. However, it was much dimmer than before.

A large number of mysterious patterns surfaced on the walls of the temple. A terrifying shock wave that was powerful enough to block a Divine Lord’s attack was slowly being released from the walls.

This was part of Lu Sheng’s Origin Power which Lu Sheng had stored in his set of Divine Weapons before he left. It wedged into the four walls to create the impression that he was still inside.