Way of the Devil

“There are many natural disasters here. Besides the sky elephant, there’s also phosphorescence,” Luchi spoke in a deep voice. “Have you seen blue phosphorescent flame that spreads across an entire plain, burning everything in its way… Come to think of it, the comrades we had before were just like you. They were all saved by us at the edge of the desert. It’s a shame that none of them lasted more than two years…”

Lu Sheng kept quiet.

Now that he had obtained one piece of Empress Wa’s soul, he was considering if he should leave here prematurely. This place appeared much more dangerous than the previous places which he visited.

“What? Are you scared now?” The old man Fuqiang chuckled, and said, “Come to think of it, this wretched place wasn’t hit with these natural disasters before. However, ever since the first sky elephant touched down, everything changed…”

Lu Sheng hesitated for a moment. He chose to probe in one of the most obvious ways.

“Actually… I’ve hit my head just now, and seemed to have remembered something.”

“Oh? What did you remember?” The old man and Luchi were both intrigued now.

“Have you guys heard of Empress Wa?” Lu Sheng asked bluntly.

“Empress Wa?” Luchi was stunned.

“Yeah. I have this notion in my head, that I must look for Empress Wa.” Lu Sheng wore a sorrowful expression on his face. “I don’t remember why I have to find her, and I can’t remember what I’m supposed to do if I actually find her… The only thing I know is that Empress Wa must’ve been someone really important to me… I can feel my love for her… that feeling… I believe that she loves me too…”

“…” Luchi’s expression was slightly rigid. However, she seemed to have been moved by Lu Sheng’s deep affection as well. She quickly followed up with a question. “Empress Wa… Are you referring to the one who’s able to morph and has a lower body of a serpent?”

“Yes! That’s her!” Lu Sheng was delighted. The expression on his face was a reflection of what he felt right now. “Have you seen her? Please tell me where she is!”

Luchi was quiet for some time. She turned, and called out, “Empress Wa… He says that he likes you…”

There was a moment of silence…

The silence continued for a very long time.

The driver Zhongnian Buyu stood up slowly.

“I’m now called Zhongnian Buyu…” He turned around slowly. His gaze was complicated, doubtful, shocked, and puzzled as he looked at Lu Sheng.

“I was one called Empress Wa… I can also morph into a being with a serpent’s trunk…”

Lu Sheng’s jaw parted, and then it kept lowering until he was gaping.

“You… What you said, is it true?” Zhongnian Buyu stared at Lu Sheng with a serious gaze. He felt slightly tense. There was also a sense of forlornness.

“But… But… the Empress Wa in my memories… is a girl… You…” Lu Sheng looked at this muscle man before him and felt as if he had been slapped across the cheeks. There was an agony that he felt could not be expressed with words in his heart.

“True love knows no gender!” said Zhongnian Buyu in his deep voice. “I’ve been wandering this land since I was a young boy. I don’t have any memories of my past. Then, I met Luchi, and… and finally old man Fuqiang… However, I can’t remember what I used to look like at all… Since you recognize me, can you tell me what kind of person I was before this?” Zhongnian Buyu’s eyes were slightly reddened.

At this moment, the rumbles of the little tadpoles’ march could still be heard. However, the car was now parked at a safe location.

Nobody said a word. Everyone was waiting for Lu Sheng to make a decision.

“Before this… I don’t really remember, but you were very gentle… cute… you were nice to me…” Lu Sheng strongly suppressed the urge to puke as he uttered those affectionate words.

“Really?” Zhongnian Buyu seemed to be slightly excited right now. He gripped the metal rail in front of the car. The muscles on his arms and chest filled with blood and puffed up.

“Yes…” Lu Sheng nodded.

“Clank.”

A huge piece of Empress Wa’s transparent soul landed on the car’s floor beside Lu Sheng with a loud sound.

The others did not notice it. He was the only one who saw it.

“I…” Zhongnian Buyu stepped forward as if he wanted to say something. Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded.

Lu Sheng’s vision darkened. He was already standing among the sea of trees outside the black sphere.

He glanced at the two pieces of Empress Wa’s soul in his hands. One was the size of his fist, the other was the size of a chicken egg.

“Looks like Empress Wa has awakened from her dream…” He did not even look at the black sphere. He quickly leapt into the air and flew toward the rendezvous point agreed upon before this with the Indefinite Cult Master.

The sea of trees seemed boundless. It was as if there was no end to the trees.

After flying for an hour, he finally saw two figures waiting there for him.

The Indefinite Cult Master and the Spring Autumn Sect Master were already holding clusters of blurry silver Essential Essence in their hands. They were looking in his direction.

“We should be able to make it this time!” Lu Sheng’s chest tightened. He increased his speed and slowed to land.

The three of them exchanged glances and nodded at the same time.

The Indefinite Cult Master and the Spring Autumn Sect Master made the same action. They extended their right hands, and two clusters of silver Essential Essence shot out.

At the same time, Lu Sheng tossed the Empress Wa’s souls in his hands.

“Pchht!”

The Essential Essence instantly plunged into the souls.

“Rumble!”

There was a muffled sound which resounded across the heavens. Two round gemstones which shone with a seven-colored brilliance slowly floated down toward them.

“How do we divide this?” Lu Sheng looked at the Indefinite Cult Master and the Spring Autumn Sect Master.

“Divide the large one between the two of you. I’ll take the smaller one,” said the Spring Autumn Sect Master softly as she suppressed the delight she felt within her.

“Alright!”

The Indefinite Cult Master and Lu Sheng had no qualms about this.

Because of the kinks in their joint venture, they nearly parted ways before this. However, now that they finally succeeded, their thoughts and emotions were much calmer now.

“Alright. Now that we’ve succeeded this time, I’ll be heading back to seclude myself and absorb this piece of soul. We’ll do this again after I absorbed it completely,” the Spring Autumn Sect Master continued.

“Very well. Empress Wa’s transformation phase will last at least 60,000 years more. Don’t take too long for your secluded cultivation,” said the Indefinite Cult Master with a frown. “In that case, I’ll head back to absorb this soul as well.”

“What about you?” The Spring Autumn Sect Master nodded and looked at Lu Sheng.

“How much time do the two of you need?” Lu Sheng asked in return.

“I think I can completely absorb this in 100 years.” The Indefinite Cult Master gave a definite answer.

“I’ll go back for now. I’ll return here when the time is up,” Lu Sheng said with a nod.

“Will do.” The Indefinite Cult Master nodded. He knew where Lu Sheng would be returning to. However, he was sure that Lu Sheng would come back.

Empress Wa was one of the most powerful primordial beasts. Even the peak Void Underworld Masters wanted to get their hands on Empress Wa’s Essential Essence.

With such a great opportunity presented before him and a past successful experience, he was sure that Lu Sheng would not be willing to let this slip through his fingers.

“Well then, shall we promise to meet again here after 100 years?” asked the Spring Autumn Sect Master.

“Alright.” The Indefinite Cult Master nodded.

The three of them agreed on a place and time. The Indefinite Cult Master made a gesture with his hand, and the larger piece of Empress Wa’s Essential Essence split in two. He sucked one half into his belly through his mouth, turned around, and sped off into the distance.

At this moment, he would not claim the entire thing for himself. Empress Wa’s transformation phase would last a long time yet. If he killed the hen to get the eggs now, it would be difficult for him to look for a suitable Heavenly Devil in the future.

The Spring Autumn Sect Master grabbed the smaller piece of Essential Essence, turned around, and vanished in thin air. She morphed into countless air flows.

Lu Sheng grabbed the remaining piece of Essential Essence. The moment he touched it, he felt an unbelievably huge amount of terrifying Mental Energy surging wildly into his body.

1,000,000? 2,000,000?

In the blink of an eye, 13,000,000 Mental Energy units charged into Lu Sheng’s spirit.

He staggered from the impact. He felt dizzy as well.

13,000,000 Mental Energy units! That massive amount charged against his spirit within a few breaths. This sensation was akin to a huge elephant being tied to a bungee line and repetitively crashing its entire weight on the back of a person’s head.

For a time, Lu Sheng could not even see straight. However, he quickly recovered from it. He gripped Empress Wa’s Essential Essence tightly. He rode his black Qi and went away.

‘If I take the sliver of Empress Wa’s Essential Essence I’ve received before as one unit, there were about 14 units here… Looks like every unit of Essential Essence might not contain the same amount of Mental Energy. However, they at least contain 1,000,000 units.’ Lu Sheng was overwhelmed with emotions. This was a great shortcut for him to amass Mental Energy.

He would certainly return to this world. However, this was not the time for this.

At this point of time, he had to return and take care of some matters. He would come back once he made the necessary preparations.

As for the Indefinite Cult Master and the Spring Autumn Sect Master, he believed that as long as Empress Wa’s transformation phase was not in the late-stage, the two of them would never easily give up on him while he was still useful.

‘So, I’m definitely safe for now. However, this state is only temporary… The two old farts had been generous to give me such a large share of Empress Wa’s Essential Essence. I reckon that they had never thought of letting me go back alive.’ Lu Sheng understood this fact.

Now that the Crane King Cave and the Moon Prince Mansion had completed their retreat toward a part of the desert beyond West Cliff Dynasty’s borders, there should not be any problem with that. His objective for coming to this world was almost reached. It was time for him to return as well.

‘If I was the Indefinite Cult Master, I wouldn’t easily let me return to the Heavenly Devil World…’ Lu Sheng understood this.

He guessed that the two of them had done something to him and planted a hidden hand on him. He might not even be able to return to the Heavenly Devil World.

“In any case, let’s give this a try.” He looked around himself. He found a spot among the sea of trees and condensed his Devil Qi into the form of a spear. With a tearing sound, the spear pierced through the ground and opened up a deep hole.

He immediately shot into the hole. Devil Qi shot up of the hole, transporting soil and a bed of grass to cover it up.

Lu Sheng only stopped when he was 1000 meters deep. He started to expand the hole sideways.

In the time it took for him to take a dozen breaths, a round cavern with a diameter of a dozen meters was created. He burned the walls of the cavern with Yin Flames so that they formed a smooth layer of black crystal that could withstand the weight of the surrounding soil.

In the center of the cavern, Lu Sheng swiftly produced his formation-setting equipment and black crystals. He quickly laid the formation for him to return.

He put the black crystals in place.

With his current tier, he could complete the formation veins with a wave of his arm.

“Bzzt…”

Within the cavern, the formation veins started to glow with red radiance. The blood-like hues of the veins formed red lines and proceeded toward Lu Sheng who sat cross-legged in the center.

Pure Qi surrounded Lu Sheng and cocooned him in the smallest size possible.

Amid the hissing of the energy flows, the fair and gentle black crystals’ Spiritual Power converged in one point and shot upward.

“Pchht!”

A gray rift slowly opened up above Lu Sheng’s head.

Lu Sheng did not hesitate. He morphed into a black spot of light which shot into the rift and vanished.

Within the colorful and contorted space-time vortex, the black light which Lu Sheng morphed into emitted faint colorful radiance which protected him from the corrosion of the vortex around him.

That was not all. Empress Wa’s Essential Essence within his body gave off a colorful radiance as well, supporting him in warding off the space-time vortex.