Way of the Devil

“Archaic divine script…”

Lu Sheng sat cross-legged on the rooftop. The ice-cold wind roared past him. He wore a simple, thin, white shirt, and the contours of his strong muscles were revealed through its cuff.

He had been away from the town for half a year now.

During this time, he had followed Esseinro back to Chad Academy. It was a private research academy with rich funds, and a place where research talents were nurtured.

While he was there, he had cooperated with Esseinro in researching the secrets of his constitution. At the same time, he obtained all the archaic divine scripts Esseinro had in his possession.

‘In truth, the archaic divine scripts are a collection of special symbols used during sacrificial rituals to the gods in ancient times. They don’t contain any special meaning in and of themselves. A single symbol can represent many things, attributes, and meanings.’

Lu Sheng remembered the archaic divine scripts he had learned during his stay. There were two kinds of Righteous Divine Script and three kinds of Wicked Divine Script—five in total—and each one of them had extremely complicated structures. The smallest symbol would still span a meter in width and length.

What caught Lu Sheng’s attention was the peculiar fragment which he’d obtained in the town.

From that day onward, this purple fragment had showed no signs of movement. The only reaction it showed was when one of the Wicked Divine Script symbols was drawn on it as it vibrated slightly.

This Wicked Divine Script was used to worship the Wicked God Misha whose likeness he had seen before. It was a god that governed the boundary between life and death.

Lu Sheng suddenly remembered the time when he condensed the water ball where the Eye of Gesangna appeared. The peculiar eyeball had truly scared him out of his wits back then.

It was an entity that was able to attack one’s soul directly, and it was an attack that would not damage the attacker. Under normal circumstances, a spiritual attack would have to be based on one’s own spirit. Hence, one’s spirit would sustain some level of damage and destabilize to a certain degree. The attacker would need some time to recuperate after the attack. However, the Eye of Gesangna had no such qualms.

Now, there was the appearance of the special being that was the Wicked God Misha.

This made Lu Sheng think that there might be other terrifying beings which he could not imagine on the planets other than the Great Song. He thought of them leaving their marks behind in the other worlds as well.

Perhaps they were the aboriginals of this world to begin with. Perhaps they were only in a temporary slumber.

The night sky was dotted with stars. Lu Sheng grabbed pickled plum juice and drank a mouthful out of the bottle.

‘If a Divine Lord is a peak expert that is capable of distorting reality with a transformed spirit, then the tier above a Weapon Grandmaster might be…’

He suddenly remembered the series of strange scenes he’d encountered in the town. He was clearly a Heavenly Devil, yet he had fallen into an illusion without noticing it. He’d even entered the illusory world. This baffled him.

“This fragment.” Lu Sheng took out the purple fragment slowly. He placed it in his hand as he pondered for a moment.

“Young Master Luo Sang.” He was lost in thought when a gentle voice floated up to him from the bottom of the stairs.

“What’s the matter?” Lu Sheng was visibly irritated that his train of thought was disturbed as his tone was slightly cold.

“It’s just… a small matter. I’d like to ask your opinion… May I?” The voice’s owner was a delicate blonde girl in a white dress girded at the waist and draped with thin black lace. She moved closer to Lu Sheng with a hint of shyness on her face.

Her slender legs moved with balanced little steps. The hem of her white dress swayed to the sides with the wind, causing her to shiver slightly from the cold.

Ever since the matter of the town was settled, it was as if the dark cloud that hovered over the entire world was finally subsiding slowly.

Countless marked people were freed because of this, and the White Eagle had lost its purpose for existence. However, it was not completely disbanded. After an initial exodus of the members that sought fame and benefits, many more members joined their ranks.

The White Eagle had completely turned into a massive organization from a minor organization. Its influence spread across the fields of the military, politics, and business.

Because of Luo Sang, Luo Di was awarded the Third Seat of the organization. He held considerable sway over the organization.

In the town, Mera and the others were had been awed by Lu Sheng’s display of terrifying might. The cruel and unscrupulous methods Urus went by were spurned.

After the incident, Urus was immediately sent to prison by the nation’s ruler. His sentence was imprisonment for 362 years. He could only spend the remainder of his life in prison. If there had been a law that permitted the capital punishment, it would have been a more fitting punishment for his crimes.

His daughter, Yuya, had somehow cast her eyes on Lu Sheng in a fit of helplessness.

Her objective was clear. The only person who she could come into contact with and had the ability to save her father was Lu Sheng.

Actually, Lu Sheng knew her motive as well. Also, he had no intention of leaving his seed behind in the Other Worlds. Even if he wanted to, he would definitely not pick a woman whose motives were written all over her face.

Under such circumstances, the reason he did not push Yuya away was because her constitution was capable of causing the fragment to vibrate.

Yuya hesitated slightly before replying, “You might know this already, Young Master. Recently, there have been some individuals and organizations that are against you. They have started to launch special assassination attempts on you.”

Lu Sheng nodded slightly. “And?”

Yuya’s beautiful face grew solemn as she said calmly, “My family can help you weed out the people that want to do you harm.”

“And?” Lu Sheng was indifferent.

“And your father, Master Luo Di, will also possess sufficiently powerful backing and support. My family will stand behind Master Luo Di completely,” Yuya quickly said.

“Meaningless,” Lu Sheng said casually. “Even I can’t turn over your father’s case. Stop thinking about this.”

“But you can bear witness. You can prove that my father didn’t know that there was such a powerful being in the town. He did not know anything when he brought his men to destroy and investigate the town,” Yuya quickly added. What she wanted was for Lu Sheng to make a statement.

This way, Urus’s sentence could be shortened. Anything was better than spending the rest of his life in prison.

“Also, you might be interested in this.” She slowly took out a necklace from her neckline. A blackish-purple crystal pendant hung at the end of the necklace.

Lu Sheng immediately noticed the intricate divine vein carved on the pendant. The fragment in his hand grew even more restless.

“If you can do that, this will be yours, as will I,” Yuya said calmly.

Lu Sheng thought about many things. It was certain that he could not be here forever. Hence, he had to make arrangements for Luo Di’s future.

The force behind Yuya was enough to put him at ease. Luo Di would have another layer of guarantee.

“I can’t make a direct statement. However, I’ll persuade the others to carry out their duties justly,” Lu Sheng responded after giving it some thought.

The sure way to reduce the sentence was to rake up achievements. Urus’s sentence was too long. If they wanted to reduce his sentence by raking up achievements, it was still not possible to get him out of prison in the near future even if they pulled some strings.

It was all they could hope for to get him out of prison before he died of old age.

“Thank you, Young Master!” Yuya was delighted. She took two steps closer. The aroma of her hormones which permeated her body naturally reached Lu Sheng’s nostrils.

A hint of passion flared up within him. However, he quickly suppressed it and stood up.

“Also, I only want the item. I don’t need you.”

After he finished, he ignored the baffled Yuya and left the rooftop directly.

“It’s time to go back.”

Urus’s matter was settled for now. After Lu Sheng dealt with some of the forces that spied on his strength and had a long talk with Luo Di, he disappeared from the public eye.

The legend of the town completely turned into a classic tale that was told in various novels, screenplays, and stage plays.

Luo Di received the support from Yuya’s family, which made his position in the White Eagle firmer. He gained more power. After that, he arranged a wedding ceremony with Fran and formed a new family.

The peculiar name Luo Sang gradually faded and vanished with the passage of time.

Luo Di was the only one who employed men to look for him everywhere after he noticed that something was off. However, his efforts were in vain.

Through research, Esseinro found that although Luo Sang’s physical strength was extremely terrifying, his metabolism was also 100 times faster than an ordinary person’s. With such a metabolism rate, an ordinary person’s physical body could not possibly hold out for more than a few years before the person quickly wasted away.

When Luo Di learned about this, he seemed to have understood something.

Two years later, he brought his newborn twin sons and Fran, and built a cenotaph[1. An empty tomb to honor a dead person when the body can’t be found.] for his son Luo Sang.

The members of the White Eagle came to pay their respects.

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

“Bam!”

A circle of faint red ripple suddenly erupted within the Research Temple.

Lu Sheng knelt with one knee on the ground. The clothes on his body ignited, and were quickly reduced to ashes, which then scattered.

His body shook violently and contorted as if it was being torn and tugged at by some extremely immense power.

“Be still!” Lu Sheng suddenly shouted.

The entire Research Temple shook loudly, and everything froze instantly. It was as if the pause button on time was pushed.

He condensed his Spiritual Power which was so dense it almost had substance and formed a Spiritual Storm which raged within the Research Temple.

The Spiritual Power naturally formed a mysterious circulation within the temple along some special path’s rhythm.

A large number of research instruments was lifted up and fixed in the air.

The scattered papers were either curled up or laid flat. It was as if they were completely frozen the instant they were blown away.

The ashes left behind by his burnt clothes, the glowing red runes on the floor, the shaking weapons on the wall… everything was being fixed on the spot by some terrifying Spiritual Power.

“Mm-hm… Everything almost exploded… That was close.” Lu Sheng stabilized his body and stood up.

He was still in Luo Sang’s body. This time, he did not return as his main body. He attempted to return to this world in Luo Sang’s body.

The result was that the instant he went into the space-time rift, the clothes on his body self-destructed, and his extremely powerful body quickly crumbled and wasted away. If he had not reacted quickly enough by immediately releasing his Divine Intellect Divine Lord’s spirit to deceive nature, fix everything in place, and isolate everything, Luo Sang’s body would have completely crumbled by now.

‘Seems like it’s not going to work… My Spiritual Power is being consumed too quickly. This Time Freeze is a special ability that can only be used by a Divine Intellect Divine Lord. I can also use it now. Also, I can maintain it far longer than what’s recorded for ordinary Divine Intellect Divine Lords. However…’ Lu Sheng stood up. Blood was flowing from his orifices. He appeared exceptionally savage and terrifying.

‘However, this is consuming too much of my Spiritual Power. Even in my current state, my Spiritual Power can only last for a minute.’

According to Lu Sheng’s understanding from various sources, Time Freeze was a special ability that naturally appeared after a person’s spirit was sufficiently powerful. It was a terrifying special ability that controlled an entire area, possessed by a person of Divine Intellect rank.

An ordinary person who had just attained the rank of a Divine Intellect Divine Lord would only be able to maintain Time Freeze for 10 seconds. Lu Sheng’s Spiritual Power’s volume was already greater than many veteran Divine Intellects’; hence, he was already at this rank’s peak, and was able to maintain Time Freeze for one minute.

‘If Shizi Xing didn’t make an appearance back then, and the Mind-Controlling Devil Master Xiao Zizhu had arrived in his main body, I wouldn’t have been able to resist him. Fortunately, I was only going up against a Yin body back then.’ Lu Sheng immediately understood everything that happened before.

After that, he defeated Xiao Zizhu moments after they met. They had just started the fight when he activated the Pain Mirror’s fragment, and forcibly pulled him into the World of Pain. He could not deny that it was a great gamble.

However, the results were clear. He had won, and Xiao Zizhu died.

In the World of Pain, one’s spirit did not possess much power. That was a world which only recognized the physical strength of the body. The gray gas in the World of Pain was also something that the spirit’s Time Freeze could not freeze.

“What a pitiable fellow. That was not the best way to go out.” Now that Lu Sheng remembered it, he felt sorry for Xiao Zizhu. A bigshot of the Devil World, a Divine Intellect expert, had been tricked and died such an undignified death in the World of Pain. Nobody even knew who the culprit was in the end.