Way of the Devil

“He’s your little brother. Aren’t you going to save him?” Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly. He was prepared to defend himself at any time.

The woman sat on her throne and made no move. However, there was a mocking expression on her face.

“Mi Shenglong is my little brother, but he was also involved in putting me in this situation. He couldn’t seize the seat of authority and was set up by his so-called partners. Hence, he had no choice but to be sealed with me in this wretched place… Heheh, I’d be a true fool if I even thought of saving him.”

Lu Sheng understood things more clearly now. However, this was only the woman’s side of the story. He would not believe it completely.

“You can call me Du Xiong. I think you know my objective. Do you have any way of fixing it?”

His objective was to solve the problem with the Geshas’ lifespan. Du Xia and Du Qiu were both Geshas. If he did not solve the problem of their five-year lifespan, it would be impossible for him to accomplish the karma of his current Arrival.

When they heard him mention this, the other Geshas turned their attention toward him as well. After all, this matter was related to their safety.

“Du Xiong… My surname is Mi as well, and my name is Guangyin. This matter you’re talking about is both simple and difficult.” The woman’s lips did not move, but her voice slowly resounded throughout the entire dimension.

“The Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul Pill is a divine pill placed here by the person who sealed me. If you can destroy that pill’s core, the Spiritual Essence and spirit contained within it will scatter on their own and flow into all the Geshas present here. Perhaps with that, a portion of their lifespan can be replenished.”

“It’s only a portion?” Lu Sheng frowned.

“Naturally. The source of a Gesha’s Power lies in inserting one’s longevity into the Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul Pill in exchange for the powerful strength without knowing how long one would live beforehand,” Mi Guangyin explained drily. “This formation’s name was Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul-making Formation. It’s a powerful formation used to extract the longevity of living beings and gathering powerful artifacts. However, my enemy has modified it on purpose to seal me away.”

“After all you’ve said, what do you want to do?” Lu Sheng went straight to the point.

“Release me by breaking the seal. I can give you the method to counteract the Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul Pill’s influence.” Mi Guangyin started smiling faintly.

“Do you think that I don’t know anything about formations?” Lu Sheng smiled coldly. “How can this formation seal you here?”

“You wouldn’t be asking me for guidance if you did. It’s easy to tell the authenticity of the formation runes here,” Mi Guangyin spoke, indifferent. “If you can kill Mi Shenglong, I’ll be able to undo the seal myself.”

Lu Sheng snorted. He looked around him. His gaze fell onto Mi Shenglong, who was being held down by his main body.

He shook all four of his arms.

Large amounts of black Qi spread out from his main body. The black threads were like tendrils as they stabbed deftly into Mi Shenglong’s colorful figure.

They were spirit-prompting threads. After fully mastering the Tu Style Healing Art, Lu Sheng could achieve a completely different effect when he used it with his main body in its complete form.

Originally, Spiritual Essence was inserted into the spirit-prompting threads. Currently, they were infused with Devil Qi, potent toxins, and Yin Flames which originated from his main body. They were potentially fatal.

Black-greenish liquid was quickly infused into Mi Shenglong’s colorful figure.

“Ahh!”

He could not help but wail. However, his mouth was quickly covered by the specter behind him.

Large fragments of his body started falling off. They made dull thuds as they dropped to the ground.

Some of the fragments were obliterated, some half-vanished, and some even underwent some transformation into a peculiar goo.

In less than half a minute, the entire giant figure fell cleanly off. What was left was a brown walnut-shaped substance which flickered with radiance.

“This is the Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul Pill’s core, the Gesha Core. It can bestow Gesha Power onto living beings, but you know about the price as well,” Mi Guangyin explained drily. “The gifted being will lose its future longevity and forego the possibility of reincarnation. The being will be left by its current lifetime. The being’s longevity will also be greatly shortened.”

“That’s enough.” Lu Sheng walked up and grabbed the Gesha Core.

He pulled.

The Gesha Core did not budge.

Mi Shenglong’s image appeared behind the Gesha Core.

“This is my main body. You thought you’ve won? Heheheheh… Five years! Five years later, all Geshas will lose their powers, and my power will reach its peak. When that day comes… I’ll teach all of you what fear is…”

Lu Sheng ignored him. He reached out and exerted more force. It still did not budge.

“Give it up. With your brute force, there’s no way you can move the Gesha Core which represents the strength of all Geshas. Even I couldn’t do it during my peak.” Mi Shenglong smiled coldly.

Lu Sheng pulled with all his might again. However, the core seemed fixed in midair. It would not move.

“It’s true that I can’t move it.” Lu Sheng loosened his grip and nodded slightly.

Mi Shenglong wore a cold smile. “You don’t even understand the real meaning my main body contains. This Gesha Core is the manifestation of the collective powers of all Geshas in the world. For more than 60 years, who knows how many Geshas have infused their bodies and spirits into it. With you along, you can’t even—”

“Boom!”

Lu Sheng took a step back and hurled a punch at the Gesha Core.

The huge sound wave was like a tsunami as it instantly echoed throughout the cavern. Fleshy folds appeared within the cavern’s inner walls, and countless lines of blood started appearing on the walls.

“Click.”

With a crisp sound, dense cracks started appearing on the Gesha Core. It seemed about to break at any moment.

This time, Lu Sheng tried to pull it again, and he could easily move it now.

The pupils of Du Xia, the other Geshas, and even Mi Guangyin contracted slightly.

This pure physical strength was too terrifying. Before, they had only witnessed long-ranged attacks, which did not showcase much of his might. However, this time, it was at close range.

It was only now that they understood a fact—it was not that Lu Sheng was bad at long-range attacks, it was that he did not know any long-range attacks in the first place.

‘However, this Mi Shenglong is hiding inside this core. We should think of a way to prevent any unwanted occurrences in the future.’ After obtaining the core, Lu Sheng glanced at Du Xia, the Hundred Flower Immortal, and the others behind him. Their Gesha Powers had originated from this core. It was impossible for them to do this.

“You…! You…! Impossible!!! You’d need at least several thousand tons of strength to lift the Gesha Core. How could you…” Mi Shenglong’s expression was one of incredulity.

When they heard his words, Du Xia and the others were shocked. Several thousand tons!

A mere human was capable of unleashing such a terrifying level of strength with his physical body alone. If he was a Gesha, this situation could have been explained. However, Lu Sheng’s age was public information. It was impossible for him to be a member of the Geshas.

“A nicely cultivated body!” On the throne, Mi Guangyin slowly sighed as well. She seemed to have remembered something. Her gaze fixed on Lu Sheng was gradually filled with anticipation.

“Since you’re able to move the Gesha Core, I’ll give you some good luck.”

“What do you mean?” Lu Sheng looked at her.

Mi Guangyin glanced at the other Geshas. Her lips moved slightly, but her voice was only projected to Lu Sheng’s ears.

“The Gesha Core is a treasure capable of converting and storing huge stores of Gesha Power. The raw material for the conversion is longevity. If you want to remove the life limit of the current Geshas and restore their longevity, the only way is to—”

“No. All I want is to replenish the lives of a few Geshas,” Lu Sheng said drily. “I’d say there are about 100 of them.”

Mi Guangyin was slightly stunned. Shortly after, a look of approval flashed across her eyes.

“That’s easy. All you have to do is fuse your spirit with the Gesha Core. Then, you can extract Gesha Power from the person whose longevity you want to restore. Remember to do it slowly. Then… with the Gesha Core, devour twice the number of people you want to save with the Black Jade Mantra. All you have to do is to devour their lifespan and make them into new Geshas.”

She explained the method to control the core with his spirit to Lu Sheng.

After gaining a rough understanding of the theory, Lu Sheng quickly understood the key points.

“By the way, you’re a Heavenly Devil, right? Why don’t you pull other people into your Heart World and operate on them there? I’ve heard that if actual living beings could survive and procreate within a Heavenly Devil’s Illusion World, it’ll bring great benefits to you as well,” Mi Guangyin spoke with puzzlement.

“I can do that?” Lu Sheng was stunned.

“Looks like you didn’t receive any proper education. All you know is to amass Spirit Power by carrying out Arrivals on a whim… I reckon that you haven’t been carrying out many Arrivals, and you’re always spending a long time in each world, am I right?” Mi Guangyin said with a faint smile. “Your physical body’s potential is powerful. Are you interested in joining my organization?”

“You’re already sealed here. What good will it do me to join you?” Lu Sheng smiled as well. She was already in such a sorry state, yet she was still thinking about convincing him to join her faction.

“I was betrayed by my own brother, but I’ve placed a lockdown on the information. The other members of my organization don’t even know where I am right now, and they can’t rescue me as well. I can’t help it,” Mi Guangyin explained. She was not angered at all.

“What benefits will I get by joining? Just how powerful is your organization? How great of a protection can you offer me?” Lu Sheng asked directly about the benefits he could get.

He would not mind joining them if they were truly powerful. The reason why he stayed back in Libra City was to join it and obtain the subsequent cultivation methods.

“We’ll have every member sign a mutual assistance agreement. Once a member is in trouble, we’ll arrange for a task force as reinforcements based on the contribution points they have. The higher the contribution points you have, the more of help you’d be to the organization, and the safety guarantee you’ll get will be greater. The same goes for the benefits and resources you’ll obtain. For example, the source of the Gesha Power and this immense formation are just some of the resources the organization has given me,” Mi Guangyin explained simply.

Lu Sheng was feeling slightly tempted. However, he was not sure just how powerful this organization was. He could not possibly join, since he had caused too great of a trouble. The Eight-Headed Griffon Tribe isn’t a force any organization could reckon with.

Even Libra City or the neighboring stellar zones were only at a similar level to this world. At most, they could only preserve themselves.

“You should deal with matters in this world for now. You can contact me at any time if you have any other questions. If the Heavenly Evil Phoenix Soul Pill hasn’t been destroyed, the God Clock will still exist for a month. That should be enough time for you to reach a decision,” Mi Guangyin said calmly.

Lu Sheng nodded slightly. He brought the Gesha Core and the other Geshas slowly out of the cavern.

“Also, you should know that the organization I’m in is the Iron Flag Council.” Before the rift completely left the God Clock, Mi Guangyin’s voice reached Lu Sheng’s ears again.

“Iron Flag Council…” He made an effort to remember that name.

“Brother, is everything settled now?” Du Xia suddenly asked a question from behind.

Lu Sheng snapped back to the present, and softly answered, “Not yet, but we’ll be done soon, real soon.”

“Is there anything we can do to help? Please give us your orders, Master!” The Hundred Flower Immortal and Frost Moon Tyrant had witnessed Lu Sheng’s unreasonably powerful strength before this. The giant four-armed specter Lu Sheng had unleashed from under his feet was visible to all Geshas.

In the face of such power, they could not even think about fighting back. Moreover, Lu Sheng was holding the Gesha Core in his hand.

With the Gesha Core under his control, everyone, Du Xia included, felt as if their hearts were being grabbed by a huge hand.

“What you have to do is simple. Go back and wait for good news.” Lu Sheng had another batch of lackeys who were extremely loyal to him.

Also, he finally had an idea to make his psychological guidance work on witch Geshas.