Way of the Devil

‘I haven’t received news on the Yellow Springs Planet. With Mi Guangying there, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. However, there isn’t much time left.’

Lu Sheng recalled what he’d heard recently about the great battle between the Green Branch Sect and the Mother of Pain. Both sides were having a truce right now, but this seemed more like the calm before the storm.

It was said that many Confusion Realm experts from both sides had died. Even Void Underworld beings had been heavily injured.

Both sides were being serious.

However, that was not all that was happening. Libra City was very far away from the Yellow Springs System; hence, the focus was on something else.

The nearby Yujue Empire officially formed a military alliance with Libra City.

Libra City’s status rose greatly. The Yujue Empire started sending men over to Libra City to man the garrisons.

The Yujue Empire was a strong nation. Its borders virtually encompassed the entire stellar zone which it was located in. It was a real mammoth nation.

Since Libra City was capable of entering into a military alliance with the empire, Libra City’s own strength was evident. In the eyes of the local stellar zone’s forces, Libra City had already become the Yujue Empire’s target.

Such gradual invasions were the most troublesome to deal with. When word of this got out, Libra City’s reputation for being fair was quickly eroded.

Lately, Lu Sheng had seen many shops and stalls closing down for good. It was said that the branches of various organizations moved out from the main city every day.

However, the upper echelons of Libra City insisted on having relations with the empire.

‘Looks like there’s no real safe haven anywhere. The real safe place is one where I can rely on my own fist,’ Lu Sheng exclaimed with emotion in his heart.

“Please, have some tea. This is a platter of dim sum.”

Toram Bach brought him hot tea and some dim sum.

Her origins were best kept a secret—she was a rare Silverblood. She could not even go out as she wished. She could only stay within Lu Sheng’s house and hide.

Otherwise, if she was captured by another person, she would once again be used as a blood production machine for the benefit of others.

“I’ll need to go into seclusion to cultivate one of these days. Wear the disguising jacket I bought for you. Be careful when you’re buying vegetables or preparing meals. Buy an edition of the Far Star newspaper every now and then. Keep an eye on news about Yellow Springs Planet Number Three. Also, please dust the formation in the courtyard, but do not touch the black gemstone in the middle.”

“Understood.” Toram Bach nodded seriously.

Lu Sheng had her take care of his meals. For one thing, he could have a helper dealing with the trivial matters. At the same time, he was hoping to research the silver blood which flowed through her veins. He would like to see if he could incorporate her blood into his own power system and improve his own strength.

He was an unorthodox person to begin with. He would try anything that caught his attention without reading up on the possible consequences first.

Lu Sheng gave it some thought before giving another order. “Also, from my robbing of the rich to give to the poor recently, I’ve earned quite a bit of ice money. Pile it up in that small room for me and activate the formation. Don’t let anyone get near the room.”

He could not let these ice monies become public knowledge. It was best for him not to save it all into his card.

“Understood.” Toram Bach nodded.

“That’s all. Carry on.” Lu Sheng gave it some thought, and decided that there was nothing else for him to order. Hence, he dismissed her.

After Toram Bach cleaned the room, Lu Sheng walked over and re-examined the Arrival Formation.

Naturally, he would not let anyone else handle this crucial formation.

If he wanted to carry out an Arrival, he would have to be quick and save time.

This time, he picked a world with the greatest difference in time flow as well. After all, his main objective was to gain insight into the reincarnation heart.

He would have ample chances to replenish his spirit.

Lu Sheng prepared the materials, changed the damaged parts, switched out the spent black crystal, filled in the missing formation veins, and inspected the controlling restriction he imposed upon Toram.

Lu Sheng went about doing his tasks. He only managed to finish all of them by nine o’clock at night.

“Dong… Dong…”

Lu Sheng sat cross-legged in the center of the formation. He could hear faint sounds of a heavy bell tolling far away.

“Two rings. Is that a welcoming toll? Looks like some great individual has arrived in the main city…”

“Bzzt!”

The formation slowly glowed red. The red lines lit up along the formation veins on the floor. With the passage of time, the black crystals wedged into the formation started vibrating. Numerous red lines wound and flowed out from below the black crystal.

“Pchht!”

All of a sudden, all of the black crystals shattered. Red lines shot into the air. They weaved together and formed a massive diamond-shaped frame in midair.

In the center of the frame, a gray spot swiftly expanded and enlarged. In no time, it formed a gray rift entrance which was exactly the same as before.

‘There seems to be something different about my Confusion Realm Yang Essence. It’s much easier to open up the rift. Also, the passage is much more stable…’ Lu Sheng judged, not slowing down the movements of his hands.

The robes on his body suddenly slid off, and his entire person shrunk into a cluster of black light. With a swoosh, he shot into the rift and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

**********

The thick scent of booze filled his nostrils.

Lu Sheng slowly opened his eyes. He felt that his eyes were wet, and his eyeballs were hot and swollen. It was as if he had just been crying.

He was sitting in an empty and extravagant hall. He was sitting on the main seat. He was wearing a purple robe embroidered with a prancing black dragon which appeared exceptionally fierce.

There was an unexplainable sense of lethargy and desolation in his heart. A stubborn thought kept resounding within his head.

‘The West Cliff Empire can surely be strong for thousands of years! Surely!’

‘This is certainly interesting…’ Lu Sheng was feeling slightly speechless. This time, the identity of his host was of noble descent—he was a relative of the emperor.

This world completely exceeded his expectations. He clearly chose the world with the greatest difference in time flow.

Although he did not set the range for the energy rank, it was actually related to the time flow. The greater the difference in time flow, the greater the difference in energy rank would be.

Normally, the faster the time flow of a small world, the weaker its energy rank would be. However, Lu Sheng felt that something was not right this time…

The identity of this host he Arrived in was Huang Jing, the crown prince of the West Cliff Dynasty’s Moon Prince.

In his memory, the West Cliff Dynasty had vast territories with abundant resources. It had a long history of 1000 years and dozens of generations of emperors. Its borders were so vast that it would take decades to get from one side to the other on horseback.

However, the difference was that after 1000 years of glory, the West Cliff Empire was currently sliding down the inevitable slope of deterioration.

The entire empire was content with the pleasures of life. The people valued literature more than military might. They did not care that the empire was slowly progressing toward its own destruction.

The clans outside the borders were rising up, while various undercurrents were flowing within the empire itself. The people had no way of making a living. The harvests were bad, and the pay of the civil servants was low. On top of that, the empire was struck by disaster upon disaster. The local lords were all but ready to start a rebellion.

The entire empire was like a turreted junk that could fall apart at any moment. It could be sunk by waves or vermin at any time.

What surprised Lu Sheng the most was that there were immortals in this world.

Moreover, they were not ordinary immortals.

It was Empress Wa!

In the Cathay Civilization, Empress Wa was another name for Nüwa.

‘Nüwa exists in this world!?’ While Lu Sheng felt shocked, he carefully organized the memories of his host, Huang Jing.

Throughout history, the emperors of the West Cliff Dynasty would offer sacrifices to Empress Wa when they ascended the throne to pray for peace in the nation and good weather.

What made him feel even more speechless was that aside from Nüwa, there were also two great sects with great influence in this world—the Spring Autumn Sect and the Indefinite Cult.

These two sects had spread their influence throughout the entire West Cliff Dynasty. They enticed the dynasty with their so-called immortals and immortal arts to pick up arms. However, nobody knew what their objectives were.

These two sects refused to pay tithes to the imperial palace, and rejected any offers of office and salaries. They moved mysteriously and secluded themselves in the mountains and forests. They would not be found unless they wanted it.

They did not place themselves among the common populace. Their mysterious ways were only known via the occasional disciples whom they dispatched.

Lu Sheng picked up a cup of wine casually. He stroked the fine celadon patterns on its surface.

‘There’s more to this world than meets the eye…’ Although he was confident, he still felt hollow if he had to go up against a primordial god such as Nüwa.

After all, as a Cathayan, he grew up listening to legends of Nüwa.

‘If it’s really the great god Nüwa, then I’m afraid that this world’s energy ranking far surpasses my imagination. However, the time flow here is clearly much faster than in the Heavenly Devil World…’ Lu Sheng’s brows were tightly knitted together.

‘Could it be that this Nüwa isn’t the Nüwa that I know of?’

He carefully recalled his knowledge. These immortals and Taoists truly had powerful Capacities. Some of them could behead a person from a thousand miles away. Some of them were immune to water, fire, or blade, and could walk naturally through a furnace.

Some of them could fly through the skies, spit out five-colored rays, or shatter mountains and streams.

However, these were powers that only cultivators had. Mere mortals had no means of coming into contact with such things. Even if they did, it was only during their encounters with ghosts and demons.

Any mortal that was being accepted into any cultivator’s abode as a disciple would have to sever their ties to the world. They would have to sever their ties with their families, become Taoists that were unruffled by sentiments, and utterly immerse themselves in the Path and free themselves from the material world.

‘Those are two different levels.’ Lu Sheng shook his head slightly. He stood up and shook the dust off his robe. A gentle maidservant immediately came up to him and supported him.

“Crown Prince, be careful!”

The maidservant’s voluptuous breasts brushed against his arm casually, though it didn’t seem intentional.

However, Lu Sheng had no time to entertain this. His mind was completely filled with information regarding the sects, cultivators, and Nüwa.

The maidservant supported him all the way to his bed chambers. Lu Sheng lay down on the bed. He recalled this host’s karma and wishes.

‘To extend the West Cliff Dynasty’s good fortunes? This is quite difficult…’

If it was just an ordinary dynasty, all he had to do was recover some of his main body’s strength, and he would have easily subdued it.

However, this was a world where immortals and gods existed. If he wanted to extend this great dynasty’s good fortunes, the strength he required would be greater.

Before he understood the strength of these so-called immortals of this world, Lu Sheng did not intend to make any rash moves. His main priority was to conceal his abilities, bide his time, and improve his strength.

‘Firstly, I’ll have to learn about the main cultivation system of this world…’ Lu Sheng swiftly filtered out the related memories from Huang Jing’s memories.

Although mortals could not reach the level of immortals and gods, they could still cultivate the martial path. However, these methods were heavily reliant on natural endowment.

On top of that, there were still the immortals and gods who were more superior than them. No matter how powerful they were, they were only mortals.

Lu Sheng did not forget that his main objective for this Arrival was to gain insight on his reincarnation heart. Fulfilling karma was secondary to this.

He lay on the bed and carefully sensed this body’s condition.

Overindulgence in wine and women, unstable Spiritual Essence, absent-mindedness, and insufficient vigor. The age of his bones was about 18 years old, but his internal organs were about 50 years old.

‘This is troublesome. I’ll have to carefully nurse this body back to health. It’s no wonder that I was able to Arrive in this body this easily. This body is too weak. If this goes on, I reckon that even if I hadn’t Arrived in his body, he’d’ve suddenly died in no time.’

He carefully repaired his body with Yang Essence. After switching between a dozen energy types, he quickly found the vigor structure compatible with this world’s rules. Then, it swiftly circulated and patched Lu Sheng’s body up.

‘I’ll meet Moon Prince tomorrow. I’ll have to think of a way to contact the cultivators of this world. Let’s see if I can bring some of their talents to my side.’

As the only biological son of the imperial prince, he should at least have this authority.