The Curse King didn’t calm down until after he spent a long time dry heaving. Killing intent danced in his eyes when he looked to the horizon, but there was nothing he could do about Jian Bu’er.
Widely regarded as the second strongest in Myriadsea World, Jian Bu’er was unwilling to occupy that spot. Thus, he called himself “bu’er”—not second. Since he was the beholder of sword dao in this world, his surname was naturally “jian” for sword.
He was a muddle-headed eccentric one step short of living in a madhouse. It was a mystery what filled his mind and what he would do next. He followed his heart in whatever he did, so no one felt that he’d joined the fray in order to claim the Demonic Vine. He’d done so purely because he felt like it.
Though he’d said that he was no match for the Curse King, he’d actually beaten the latter up when the Curse King first arrived in Myriadsea World. While others may take his parting shot as more of his usual ramblings, it was an insult to the Curse King’s ears.
“Hmph!” the Curse King snorted and left.
……
Demonic King Boxun was dead.
The news stunned Myriadsea World. Although many powerhouses had died over the years as they vied over the world of sequence, it was the first time that someone on the late demonic king’s level had fallen.
Though he wasn’t as heaven-defying as Jian Bu’er, he was solidly top ten in Myriadsea World.
His death prompted the beholders of other great daos to divvy up demonic dao as spoils. Immortal dao, master spirit dao, and shamanic dao were first on the scene; they walked away with the lion’s share. And so it became that the territory of demonic dao’s influence became an enormous battlefield. Countless cultivators joined the war, a war that was theirs alone.
The masters of great dao were the chess players—they set up strategy and deployed troops, but rarely did they take the field themselves.
The matter of Dongfang Mo threatening the tiger of Black Mountain was common knowledge. Demonic King Boxun’s death had something to do with Dongfang Mo as well, so the general understanding was that Boxun had been injured in one of Dongfang Mo’s schemes.
Everyone knew that he was no longer the decrepit master of immortal dao that he’d once been.
Despite the land available for the taking, these powerhouses were more focused on the Demonic Vine that was now hiding in a corner of the world. Whoever obtained and devoured it would tremendously strengthen their own dao by incorporating it. Their great dao’s sequence would also grow stronger.
There were two ways of creating a world of sequence—refining Myriadsea’s laws and rules, then the world itself, and changing its core sequence to the great dao’s sequence. The other option was to devour other great daos to enhance one’s own, then use the great dao’s sequence to forcefully change Myriadsea’s sequence.
Lu Yun had derived the first choice with the help of the six orders of the highest degree. No one else knew about it, but all of the dao masters had been trying various methods to achieve the same goal. Their overt and covert struggles operated without end, and the schemes against immortal dao were but a small part of the battles in Myriadsea World.
……
“What do you plan to do now, little vine?” The disheveled Jian Bu’er sat on a reef in the depths of the Myriad Sea and regarded a little girl with resignation.
“What else can I do? I can’t let someone else eat me.” The little girl wore a black dress that was framed by black hair. She was fair-skinned, but her eyes and lips were black. She seemed to be eight years old and regarded her future with certain fatalism.
“Why don’t you go find Dongfang Mo?” Jian Bu’er yawned lazily. “He’s the only one that’s a bit less annoying in Myriadsea World. His immortal dao encompasses everything, including demonic dao. So he won’t eat you, and he occupies Ruina.
“If you hide in Ruina, none of the trash out there will dare do anything to you.”
“Psht, you just want to get rid of me!” The little girl was the human form of the Demonic Vine. She shot a vicious glare at Jian Bu’er. “You listen up, Jian Bu’er, you need to take responsibility for me. You’re not getting rid of me!”
“I, what, you?” Jian Bu’er’s jaw dropped. “What did I ever do to you?”
“You need to take responsibility!” The girl set her lip mulishly. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be sentient or take human form. So you need to take responsibility for what you’ve done to me!”
“Then, er… want me to escort you to Ruina?” Jian Bu’er mumbled as he stared at the boundless waters.
Though they seemed calm on the surface, as still as a mirror, currents surged beneath and gathered in the direction of Ruina. Ruina was their origin and their ultimate destination.
“Bu’er, don’t you think this Myriadsea World is… a little fake?” The girl sprawled on the reef and propped her chubby cheeks up with her hands.
“Yeah, it’s too fake.” Jian Bu’er tugged off his filthy shoes and dropped two grimy feet into the refreshing waters. “The sea also exists in the outside world. It’s not as endless as the one here, but there’s fish, shrimp, and crabs in it. You can wander through it as you would, it’s not lifeless like this one.
“I really want to go home.” He stared off into space.
“I really want to see the outside world too.” The girl swung her legs and slowly leaned over to Jian Bu’er, resting her head on his shoulder.
The setting sun dyed the waters hues of gold and red, painting a tranquil picture out of Jian Bu’er and the Demonic Vine.
……
“I see, so the vine has taken form and become the new beholder of demonic dao!” A shocked voice echoed in the air.
Jian Bu’er furrowed his brows and lifted his head to see a stunned muscular man staring at the little girl, his bushy beard quivering with surprise.
“Wu Di, I’ll kill you if you continue showing your ugly face around me. Don’t think you really are invincible just because your name is a homophone for invincibility,” Jian Bu’er snorted as he swept a glance at the newcomer.
Wu Di was the beholder of martial dao in Myriadsea World. He’d created the martial dao sequence and was a powerhouse even stronger than Demonic King Boxun. Regardless, he was still on his guard when facing Jian Bu’er.
“Heh heh heh, hand over the Demonic Vine, Jian Bu’er. Now me, I’m not asking for much, just one of her legs. The leg of a human-shaped Demonic Vine will enhance my monster spirit dao by thirty percent.” A merry Black Mountain Tiger approached from another direction. He was the beholder of monster spirit dao.
“Oh yeah? Looks like you’ve got a death wish too.” Jian Bu’er rose to his feet and summoned his rusty sword to his hand. He’d stuck it sideways into the reef. “Although killing you two will make this stifling world even more lonely, I can’t just let you eat my younger sister, can I now?”
“Not younger sister, wife! I’m going to be your wife when I grow up!” the Demonic Vine corrected solemnly.
“Ahem!” Ready to launch into another round of tough talk, Jian Bu’er almost choked on his own spit when he heard the vine’s words.
He coughed and was yet to form words when the Demonic Vine demanded angrily, “What, do you want to cast me aside after you’ve had your way with me? You’re a scumbag!”
“I, hey, what now?? Where did you learn all this random crap at your young age?” Jian Bu’er stared, tongue-tied.
“Hmph!” The vine pouted so heavily that one could rest a wine jug on her curled lip. “I’m not young, it’s been thirty billion years since I’ve taken human form!”
Jian Bu’er had traveled to Black Demon Mountain once, thirty billion years ago. He’d seen the Demonic Vine then and taken advantage of the demonic king overlooking him to awaken sentience in the vine. He’d helped her develop intelligence and eventually transform into human form.
Jian Bu’er had enlightened her on a lark, never imagining that the newly woken vine would latch onto him and constantly repeat that he needed to take responsibility.
Demon King Boxun hadn’t known about any of this, not even to the day he died.
During the thirty billion years, Jian Bu’er occasionally slipped into the mountain to teach the vine combat arts and cultivation methods. Naturally, these were all demonic dao creations that he’d stolen from other demons.
After thirty billion years, the Demonic Vine had attained some small success in demonic dao. Still, she was nothing when facing the Curse King.
