Devil World.
Near the imperial palace in the north, a tall blood-red waterfall fell straight down from a cliff dozens of meters high. The maddening hot water slammed heavily into the pond below, spraying a bloody smell everywhere.
Devil Emperor Vera sat on a black boulder in front of the waterfall. His whole body was covered in a pale white armor that seemed to be made of bones. Its complete lack of reflection gave it an air of death.
“Swish!”
Two rays of red light approached and landed quickly, and turned into two muscular shapes which promptly knelt on one knee. “Migru pays his respects to his Imperial Majesty.”
The one in the lead was a three-meter-tall brutish man without eyes—one of the most ancient Starry Sky Nobles, ranking in the top 3 among the Devil Masters of the imperial palace in the north.
“It’s been too long since we’ve last heard any news,” said Vera in a gloomy voice. “The task that I delegated to Xiao Zizhu, considering how he’s neither finished nor have we heard back from him… it’s possible he’s come across some difficulties.”
“…The Soul Flame is still burning, which means Devil Master Xiao should be fine.” As a peak level Devil Master, Migru had the right to inspect the Soul Flame of every Devil deep within the imperial palace of Devil Emperor Vera.
“Yes, he lives. But the spirit within is no longer his,” Devil Emperor Vera said in a low-pitched voice. “Go, take the thing with you. If something happened to him, immediately return. I will take care of this myself then.”
Migru lowered his head.
“As you wish.”
Vera didn’t get angry like his usual self, because he sensed the danger.
He knew Xiao Zizhu’s strength quite well—he was a peak level Devil Emperor, and could unleash Divine Intellect level attacks if he used his full power. Only a few could match him even in the Great Yin. Yet, something happened to him quietly. He took control of a small force in a region of the Great Yin and refused to return.
***
Thousand Sun Palace, Autumn Moon County.
Lu Sheng sat inside the secret chamber, stuffing the Divine Weapons into his mouth one by one.
“Crack.”
He easily bit a chunk off the tip of the knife, then swallowed after a few casual bites. A content expression appeared on his face.
A vast amount of Mental Energy flowed into him from the Divine Weapon.
Lu Sheng glanced at the saber in hand. Aside from the Tian’er Blade, it was the last Divine Weapon. The rest had all been consumed already. His mental energy, in turn, had been increased to nearly 30,000 units, enough to evolve his Yin Flame again.
The sky was turning dark outside the chamber, and Lu Sheng stuffed the blade’s hilt into his mouth, completely ignoring the desperate screams of the Divine Weapon, chewed it for a few bites, and swallowed it. His dinner had come to an end.
He finally picked up the Tian’er Blade on the ground, and inspected this Divine Weapon Shizi Xing had specifically ordered for him to retrieve in detail.
It appeared to be an ordinary Golden Leaf, yet for some reason, Shizi Xing named it specifically.
Holding the Tian’er Blade in his hand, Lu Sheng poked around the mysterious Divine Weapon energy within in detail.
‘Speed and evasion, those are the Tian’er Blade’s special powers?‘ Lu Sheng could vaguely see an enormous human ear appearing in mid-air. The speed and evasion he felt were two of the special powers of the giant human ear.
‘Without a proper bond, I can’t see deeper into this thing. But this level of Divine Weapon power and Core Law shouldn’t be enough to intrigue Shizi Xing.‘ Lu Sheng frowned. ‘Though it has a rare combination of both speed and evasion, neither is a big part of the Tian’er Blade’s Core Law. There are also piles of ordinary powers, but all of them are too weak to be considered Core Laws, and basically useless to a Divine Lord’s powerful spirit.
* ‘Attack-based special effects aren’t Core Laws, most Divine Lords are straight up immune anyways. Like I with my chaos mind field.’* He wanted to try it too back then; maybe he would have gotten lucky during one of his opponent’s weak moments. Still, he ultimately failed.
* ‘The Core Laws are Core Laws, while the rest of the special effects might benefit anyone below Divine Lord level, but for us, they don’t have much use. Maybe it’s because some of those special effects might be able to support the wielder’s Core Law.*’ Lu Sheng seemed to have understood.
Now that he completed the mission, it was time to go back to the World of Pain to submit the Divine Weapon.
After he sensed around carefully to make sure there wasn’t any surveillance in place, he finally injected a sliver of Yang Essence into his palm.
“Hisss…”
Everything soon turned gray, and Lu Sheng stood in front of the entrance of the town after a flash in his eyes.
The town was empty, and lacked any sign of anything alive. Even the residents working under Shizi Xing were nowhere to be seen.
Lu Sheng easily found his way to the unique four-storied building.
As he quickly stepped into the open field in front of the building, he suddenly paused, and glanced at an empty corner not far away.
‘There’s… something over there…’ Lu Sheng had a flash of doubt in his mind. Somehow, he couldn’t sense what appeared in the corner even with his spirit.
But he had a mission to complete, and everything else had to wait.
He turned away, and steadily climbed up the stairs.
The gray light of the World of Pain shined on the handrail beside Lu Sheng, separating the entire building into white and gray.
Without any more delay, Lu Sheng walked up the stairs and into the second room of the third floor.
Shizi Xing wore a black robe with a huge white cross on his back. He 1had his back turned as he stared silently at a piece of paper in his hand.
“Milady, I was fortunate enough to complete the mission.” Lu Sheng lightly threw the Tian’er Blade, and let it float between the two of them.
“And the other two Evil Art Masters?” Shizi Xing turned, revealing a satisfied expression on her face as he stared at Tian’er Blade. He seemingly only asked about the other two as an afterthought.
“Not sure, but there was an accident during our first cooperation. I haven’t seen them ever since.” Lu Sheng frowned, and shook his head. “Without the assistance of the two Divine Weapons, I wasn’t able to kill the target. I had to take the risk of fighting, but luckily retrieved the Divine Weapon in the end.”
He wasn’t sure why the ordinary-looking Tian’er Blade was a result of the Divine Weapon cultivation process, but that didn’t affect Shizi Xing’s rating of his mission.
“Very good.” Shizi Xing turned, and caught the Tian’er Blade with an intoxicated expression on his face. “Such perfect structure…” he muttered. Even though it was still Xiao Zizhu’s body, the expression on his face was extremely feminine.
“If Milady has no more need of me, please allow your servant to exit,” Lu Sheng whispered.
“One more thing.” Shizi Xing stopped Lu Sheng. She took out a watch-sized black and white disk, and threw it at Lu Sheng.
Lu Sheng caught it, and inspected it in detail.
Its edge was pitch-black, while the middle was filled with a checkerboard pattern of black and white squares. A pin was on the back.
“A medal?” Lu Sheng was a little confused.
“Yes, a medal.” Shizi Xing put up the Tian’er Blade, and didn’t hide his satisfaction. “Most of the mission in the Cross Cult District of Black Speech Town has been completed. You can take a well-deserved break from now on. You are responsible for at least 30% of the missions.”
Lu Sheng lowered his head and said humbly, “It’s all because Milady trusted me and gave me a chance to prove myself.”
“No need to be humble, you deserved that.” Shizi Xing smiled. “The medal can be used twice. I have made a mark in it with all my power that could assist with sensing the Origin. It could help you go further and improve your spirit.”
“The Origin?” Lu Sheng blanked out. “That’s…?”
“You might not have known, because you came from a different path, but be it us Evil Art Masters or the Devil Masters and Divine Lords of the Human and Devil Worlds, they will all ultimately pursue an origin to all power.
“If the Core Law are the rules that dictate power, then the Origin is a way to gain control of the source of the said power by understanding those rules.
“That should be the direction you go toward. It is also the reason why Xiao Zizhu was so much more powerful than you.” Shizi Xing was obviously satisfied with Lu Sheng’s performance. He was so much more efficient compared to the dumb Evil Art and Mirror Spirits Masters that usually worked for her. Maybe it was because he had a good cover, or maybe because his methods were always more direct.
But, be it a black or white cat, it was a good cat if it could catch mice. Shizi Xing didn’t care how the mission was completed—as long as it was.
“The power of the Origin…” Lu Sheng muttered to himself. He was quite aware of his shortcomings. Before he exposed his identity, he had the chance to enter the upper leadership circle of the Thousand Sun Sect and learn about the top secrets regarding Divine Lords. But now that he had exposed himself, that was no longer a possibility. As an outsider who had became a Divine Lord before joining the sect, he definitely would be excluded from the core circle and the secrets within.
The Origin Power that could help Divine Lords achieve Divine Intellect level was one such core secret.
“In the Human World, anyone who controlled the Origin Power is bound to be a peak level Divine Lord,” Shizi Xing continued. “During this step, understanding the Origin Power is actually easier for people like you. The natives of the World of Pain like me are born with a powerful spirit, which makes it difficult for us to understand the Origin Power.
“Then, if I may ask Milady, how should one understand the Origin Power?” Lu Sheng asked again.
Shizi Xing smiled. “You shouldn’t always see the world in the same light. The Origin Power is the beginning of everything, and you must understand all the laws of a power before you can explore its Origin Power. I’ve left something in the medal, go see for yourself. You will find something…”
Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes, and vaguely felt a hidden sense of danger despite Shizi Xing’s kind appearance.
“Your servant understands.”
Lu Sheng exited Shizi Xing’s room with the medal, and walked toward the quiet stairwell. Strange noises occasionally came from the rooms to the side, but most of the time, there was only silence.
Aside from Shizi Xing’s room, no one dared to wander around in this place. Even the natives of the Black Speech Town didn’t come here without any reason.
In the Black Speech Town, this building was special, and so was the palace Lu Sheng had entered before.
He followed down the stairs. As he walked around a corner, he saw a girl dressed in black with a long braid standing there, completely still as she stared into an open window.
Footnotes:
[ED/N: Reminder that it’s a “she” in a man’s body. We will go along with author’s pronouns and such.]
