Way of the Devil
chapter-149

"Swish swish swish swish swish!!!"

Strands of hair pierced through the air and penetrated the ground and wall, leaving them riddled with holes. Pits were everywhere.

The old man stood still. As if there was no end to it, the white hair billowing behind him chased Li Shunxi and Bai Qiuling whose faces were stained with blood around in a frenzy.

"It’s the Jade of Secrets indeed. You can predict the spot I’m about to strike," a green glint flashed in the old man’s pupils, becoming more radiant and intense.

The corners of his lips curved upward into a savage smile as his body began to distort and expand. His muscles and bones moved, elongating his body and covering it in a layer of black cuticle. Massive amounts of white hair flowed like a waterfall behind his head.

A layer of black cuticle also covered the old man’s face.

"My original form can perfectly avoid the predictive powers of the Jade of Secrets. Because my attacks are, in the first place, unpredictable.

In fact, as long as I’m willing, I can seal this entire courtyard. In this space, I am absolutely invincible…"

He extended both his hands, causing large waves of white hair to sweep towards Bai Qiuling and Li Shunxi like a tidal wave. In that moment, all light was blotted out by the tsunami of hair. The old man’s body was still growing larger and taller. Large amounts of structures woven together by his hair adhered onto his body, further enlarging it.

"Do you see this? This is my power. So what if it falls within the Jade of Secret’s predictions? Who in the entire Twin Eagle City can save you? None! None at all!! Even if you run with all your life, yell with all your might, even if you can activate the Jade of Secrets perfectly, even…"

"KA-BOOM!!!" A deafening blast rang out.

The perimeter wall behind the old man had exploded. A three-meter tall giant shadow charged in violently and slammed into the back of the old man forcefully.

"PUU!!"

The old man spat a mouthful of blood into the air as his body was immediately slammed into at an eccentric angle. A series of cracks rang out from his body as countless bones were fractured. Like a rocket, he flew and slammed into the ground before him.

"Buzz…!"

A numbness fell on the entire courtyard.

The old man struggled to get up, but an unstoppable force immediately pulled at his hair, sending a wave of pain to his scalp.

"I WAS JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE! I was going to let you do your thing! And in the end? IN THE END!!?"

Lu Sheng snarled as he slammed the old man’s head into the ground multiple times, tugging at his hair.

"BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!!!"

Only after a series of mind-numbing tremors did Lu Sheng vent all his anger. Lu Sheng had slammed the old man’s head into the ground for god-knows-how-long. He stopped only after realizing that the hair he was holding onto was, at some unknown point in time, no longer connected to anything but some clumps of flesh and blood.

He bundled up the hair and tied it to his belt.

"Phew…!"

He breathed out, summoning a gust of wind in the courtyard.

By now, a large, deep pit ten meters wide had appeared in the ground between him and Li Shunxi. It was basically caused when Lu Sheng kept slamming the old man’s head into the ground in a frenzy.

The old man was no more. Li Shunxi and Bai Qiuling stared at him in dumb shock, their mouths gaping and their eyes dazed.

"Oh? Isn’t this Brother Li? Why are you here?" Lu Sheng was rather surprised to see Li Shunxi here.

"…Shouldn’t that be my line?" Li Shunxi was shaken to the core. He looked at the meat pulp on the ground and the giant pit in the middle of the courtyard. Was that insanely powerful old man gone just like that?

‘Lu Sheng’s that strong?’

He couldn’t believe himself. But recalling his battle with the Ashoka Manor Emissaries previously, he quickly made sense out of it.

With great effort, Li Shunxi shifted his gaze and looked at Lu Sheng again, gulping.

Despite some subtle differences from before, his familiar hulking frame was largely unchanged.

The thing was, in the destiny he had seen in the Jade of Secrets, there was no appearance by Lu Sheng. This should have been the part where he would bring Bai Qiuling along on the run for their lives.

Although he had also seen the martial arts exchange in his vision, it was not Crimson Whale Sect who had come for the exchange at all. Moreover, the leader of the exchange party was a very old man. He had not seen Lu Sheng anywhere in his vision at all. Had he known that he was present, he would have divulged the intelligence to him at the first opportunity. Perhaps he could have averted this tragedy…

"You… you know each other!?" Bai Qiuling did not recognize Lu Sheng in his Yang Extreme Mode. Frightened, she hid herself behind Li Shunxi. To her, all that had happened was that the freak from Ashoka Manor was now replaced by an even stronger freak. Had it not been for the fact that Li Shunxi seemed to know him, she would have turned and fled.

"Oh, it’s niece Qiuling! It’s me! I’m your Uncle Lu," Lu Sheng’s body quickly shrank and recovered its original form, leaving Bai Qiuling wide-eyed and gaping dumbfounded.

"Not good. Let’s go! The evil jade is exploding!!!" Li Shunxi suddenly cried.

"Evil jade?" Judging by his expression, Lu Sheng understood that it was something extremely dangerous. Without further ado, he moved like lightning, seizing the two of them and leaping out of the courtyard towards the Crimson Whale Sect company.

As for that old man, he was merely at Four-Vein Level. The gap in their power was too wide. Additionally, he had been struck off-guard and smashed into meat pulp. There was no way he could survive that.

As for Scarlet District, there was bound to be opportunities in the future to settle the score with them. The moment Lu Sheng had caught sight of the symbol on the lanterns, he knew that Scarlet District must have had a hand in this.

He led the two of them back to the Crimson Whale Sect team in no time at all. By then, they were near the city gates of Twin Eagle City.

The entire Twin Eagle City was cast in a gloomy darkness. A dark green fog seemed to cover the entire city. Mired in the fog, the buildings of the city looked sinister and bizarre.

"Sect Master!"

"Sect Master’s back!"

At the sight of Lu Sheng’s return and the two people in his arms, all the sect disciples quickly gathered around him.

"Let’s get out of this place first!" Lu Sheng gently landed in the middle of the carriage team and shouted.

Everyone acknowledged his orders and began charging out. Corpse Slaves staggered out from the corners of the streets and slowly closed in on the team like zombies.

Every sect disciple wielded a saber and engaged the Corpse Slaves in close combat. After adapting to the initial unfamiliarity, many Corpse Slaves fell under the blades of the elite Crimson Whale Sect disciples. These supernatural creatures looked frightful, but were in fact rather weak. All they could do was bully ordinary mortals.

Under the leadership of several Intent Proficiency experts and with Lu Sheng as the arrowhead, all of them sped up. Although large amounts of Corpse Slaves continued to pursue them, they could do nothing to the Crimson Whale Sect team.

Riding on horseback, Lu Sheng seated Li Shunxi and Bai Qiuling on a horse beside him and enclosed them in the middle of the team.

With a hack of his saber, he swept aside several Corpse Slaves obstructing the path ahead. At the same time, he turned his neck to ask Li Shunxi, "What’s that evil jade you mentioned? Why’s it able to draw so many ghosts?"

Finally safe, Li Shunxi heaved a sigh of relief. But, he continued to stare at the Corpse Slaves closing in cautiously.

"These aren’t drawn by the evil jade. This is Ashoka Manor and Scarlet District’s horde of monsters. They sacrificed the entire Twin Eagle City!

The evil jade is a Devil Blade shard named Ten Spears of the Evil Jade Crystal. Its might and power even among Divine Weapons and Devil Blades is considered extremely high. But, each time it’s fused together, it can only strike ten times. After ten strikes are over, it will explode into shards immediately. The shards will disappear under the influence of some mysterious force. To use it again, one must reassemble all the evil jade shards," he quickly explained.

"Ten Spears of the Evil Jade Crystal?" Lu Sheng’s heart skipped a beat. He restrained his panicking horse. "Let’s get out first!"

"BAM!"

The half-ajar city gates were slammed open forcefully. Lu Sheng led the way and charged out through it. Behind him, the Crimson Whale Sect disciples followed suit.

Lu Sheng turned around only to see that the entire Twin Eagle City wall was beginning to fade, becoming translucent.

Li Shunxi looked grave. "The evil jade will explode anytime now."

"Let’s move away first!’

Lu Sheng called out loud at his sect members. Without any time to lose, the company of men rushed down the mountain path. As they were near the mid-point…

"Buzzz!!!"

A fuzzy vibrating sound could be heard in the direction of Twin Eagle City, on the top of the cliff.

Lu Sheng and the rest quickly turned around and gazed at it.

Presently, the massive city was trembling intensely and turning transparent, as if it were a mirage in the water.

"BOOM!!"

In that instant, the entire city broke apart and exploded before everyone’s view. Innumerable transparent shards shot out and vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye.

"LET’S GO!" Lu Sheng hollered, jolting awake many who had been frightened out of their wits.

The horses and ox carriages advanced with difficulty. Many oxen and horses’ legs were shaking in fear and became incontinent, refusing to budge.

Lu Sheng had no choice but to instruct them to unload part of the supplies and rush down the mountain at accelerated pace.

The team made their way all the way from Twin Eagle City to the foot of the mountain. Most of the hunters and farmers outside the city were spared. Presently, they too were numb with shock. A few of them stood rooted to the ground, gazing at the Twin Eagle City that disappeared. Many of them fell to the ground, howling in tears and praying tragically.

Lu Sheng rode down the mountain slowly. Suddenly, he sensed something and quickly looked in the direction of Twin Eagle City.

A brilliant ball of light was rising from the top of the cliff. In the ball of light, he made out the shape of a purple crystal spear.

It was extremely long. Behind it, the tall and strong silhouette of a man riding on a large stallion materialized.

"ZOOM!!"

Just then, the spear shot straight into the sky, turning into a streak of brilliant white light.

A golden hole was torn in the gloomy ominous clouds. The dark night turned instantly into dawn. Pure golden light spilled down and dyed the entire Twin Eagle City region into a golden hue.

A gust of wind howled, blowing the field and trees in the area outwards. Lu Sheng shielded his eyes from the blinding golden light with his arm.

"A deity had materialized!!"

"Heavenly deity of the ultimate paradise! Save us from suffering and calamity!"

"Lord Buddha has appeared!!"

Around him, Crimson Whale Sect disciples knelt on the ground, their faces pale.

The golden light faded. Lu Sheng’s gaze swept around him only to find that more than half of the Crimson Whale Sect members were kneeling on the ground devoutly, praying in a mess.

"Scoundrels!" Anger rose in him. He pulled out his giant saber and hacked at the face of the cliff beside him.

"BOOM!!!"

Massive amounts of rocks rumbled down the cliff. Many Crimson Whale Sect members were struck on the heads. Bleeding, they cried out in panic.

"A bunch of fools! Get up!!" Lu Sheng roared in rage. He had no faith in deities, immortals, and buddhas.

The sect disciples stood up in fear, trembling involuntarily.