Way of the Devil
chapter-548

"What conditions do you have?" Lu Sheng had a thought. He decided to play along with his whim.

"When I need your help, you offer it." The devil king did not move his lips, but his voice was transmitted into Lu Sheng's ears.

"Why should I believe you? And why should you believe in me?" said Lu Sheng drily.

"Of course, we'll have a contract."

While the other high legends started moving forward into the mountains, the devil king moved backward instead. He turned around with light movements and gestured for Lu Sheng to follow.

The two of them lagged behind the great army slightly, and quickly reached the armada of black floating ships floating in the rear.

The devil king brought Lu Sheng quickly into an unremarkable floating ship.

"Papapa."

The devil king clapped his hands lightly. Formations immediately surfaced on the deck. Two armored men appeared on the formation.

"Your Esteemed Majesty, the devil king. Although I will give you aid in your time of need as per our agreement, I do not have the obligation to follow your orders every single time," one of them said with some dissatisfaction in her voice. She was a gorgeous woman who had wavy red hair and wore a bright red dress.

The other person stood silently behind the woman. It seemed that the person was only her follower.

"Who's he?" The devil king looked at the man behind the woman with an interested look.

"One of my disciples. Don't mind him," said the woman casually as she combed her hair.

The man lifted his head. His face was covered in a silver helmet. Two bright eyes to the point of glaring could be seen.

"Since you're here, you might as well sit. I want to introduce you to our new partner." The devil king chuckled. He stepped to the side and allowed the big and tall Lu Sheng to slowly get close.

Nine-headed Lu Sheng met the man's eyes at the first moment.

'It's him?'

The man's pupils suddenly contracted. He tensed up visibly.

"There's no need to be nervous… I'm actually a peace lover." Lu Sheng displayed a gentle expression on his middle face.

The woman raised her eyebrows. She looked up and sized up Lu Sheng's immense ten meters tall body. As he walked on the floating ship, she could even feel the entire ship shake.

"He's a partner as well?"

"He hasn't agreed…" The devil king shrugged.

"No, I'm in," Lu Sheng interjected.

The woman displayed a subtle expression.

"Although we've only had a verbal agreement, but isn't this too casual, devil king?"

The devil king said nothing. He merely snapped his fingers loudly. Three seats slowly appeared behind them.

However, the seat behind Lu Sheng was too small to be useful. He decided to sit cross-legged on the deck.

"The three of us want the Eternal Cold Spring. From what I know, the Cold Spring can be used by five individuals. The holy dragon queen had taken up one quota. Initially, it was planned that the four Scorching Sun Tribes will each have a spot, but… someone wants to take the Cold Spring as his own due to his own stupidity," the devil king explained casually. "Hence, I've contacted the two of you so that we can work together."

"The King of Ashes has a lesser regalia. With it dealing with the holy dragon queen, we only need to deal with the other holy dragons. The original plan was easy, but I reckon that the King of Ashes won't allow us to get our hands on the Eternal Cold Springs that easily," the red-haired woman said and snorted. "That's why my disciple obtained a special identity in the Holy Dragon Temple and is allowed to enter and exit the Holy Dragon Temple freely according to the secret agreement. This has opened up a side door for us. It's a shortcut, really."

"That's a great idea," the devil king praised, and clapped his hands. "We can center our discussion around this point…"

Lu Sheng sat at the side and listened on as the devil king discussed with the woman. However, he had his eyes trained on the other man.

As another individual who Arrived from another world, he was curious as to what kind of karmas the other person had.

"Shall we talk?" All of a sudden, a tendril of a spirit contacted him silently. It was a direct communication method using one's spirit.

"Sure," Lu Sheng replied.

"My karma is to kill the holy dragon queen and free the Eternal Ancient Dragon within the Eternal Cold Spring," said the man straight to the point.

Lu Sheng was stunned. Then, his lips arced upward.

"My karma is to unify these mountains and become the leader," he told the man directly as well. In truth, his karma was related to the land, and had an extremely low possibility of conflicting with the man's. Hence, he decided to be honest as well. After all, even if he devoured the man, he would not gain any substantial benefit as well. If he forced the man's main body out, he might not stand a chance.

After a Weapon Grandmaster Arrived in another world and adapted to the rules, the death of the host body would not cause any harm to the main body. Instead, the Weapon Grandmaster's main body would be released and linger on in the world for some time.

It was only when the Arrival had just occurred and the Weapon Grandmaster had not adapted to the rules of the world yet that it would be dangerous. If the Weapon Grandmaster was killed in this time, his main body would be forced to manifest in the world, and would instantly crumble due to the conflict with the world's rules. There would be no need for the enemy to make a move, as the main body would disintegrate on its own. The spirit would die too.

Lu Sheng could not tell how long an ordinary Weapon Grandmaster needed to adapt to the rules. If he judged based on his own experiences, he needed roughly two years to completely adjust to the rules of the new world.

Judging by the strength of this man, it was probable that he had been here for two years.

"So, there's no conflict of interest. Should we work together?" The man continued to project his voice.

"Sure. But what benefits can you offer me?" Lu Sheng asked.

The man was silent for some time.

"My main body is the Fifth Heavenly Devil King of the Ghost Borneo World. You may call me Ju. The secret arts passed down in my world are unheard of for most Heavenly Devils. I can trade them for your cooperation."

"Secret art?" Lu Sheng was immediately interested.

"Mhm. I see that you have a main body Vein already. I can give you a primer for your Divine Vein that allows you to merge your Divine Vein into your main cultivation method. That way, your powers can be strengthened," said the man, Ju, slowly.

"Deal!" Lu Sheng agreed easily. After all, he would not be losing anything. Killing the holy dragon queen and freeing the Eternal Cold Spring were not contradictory in nature.

"Alright. These are the general principles of the secret art, Divine Vein Initial Cycle." Ju stuck to his word. He quickly transmitted a series of cryptic, peculiar, and unique formula written in the Language of E.

Lu Sheng quickly memorized it.

"Deep Blue," he immediately spoke in his mind. Then, he glanced at the frame.

As expected, a new cultivation method appeared on it.

"Divine Vein Initial Cycle, Uninitiated."

Then, Lu Sheng immediately saw a clear button that said "derivable" behind the frame. As expected, he could derive and perfect it with his Mental Energy.

He felt delighted, but displayed a hesitant expression instead.

"These general principles… doesn't seem right. It's not what I need. Can I exchange this for another?"

"Sure." Ju thought nothing of it. "I'll give you the bylaws of the Cold Ice Divine Vein which you may be able to use."

He quickly recited the opening passage of this bylaw.

"Does this meet your requirement?"

The opening passage of a secret art was practically a summary of the entire thing. With Lu Sheng's experience, he saw the derive button surface behind Deep Blue's frame almost instantly.

"Another one, please. This doesn't seem to be suitable as well." He was expressionless. He jumped with joy in his heart, but he put up an appearance of shaking his head.

"How about this? Ice of Water and Fire. It's a secret art that's about merging different conflicting Divine Veins into one…"

"Another."

"This. On the Mystery of the Law of Life."

"Another."

"Cold Frost Heart…"

"Another!"

"…"

After switching a dozen secret arts in a row, even Lu Sheng felt sheepish. In the end, he stopped.

"This'll do."

Ju was also speechless. They finally reached an agreement.

Currently, Lu Sheng had also found another use for Deep Blue. He could use it to derive the complete details from the general principles.

The ways to operate, execute, and apply onto the rules would have needed decades of slow research. However, with Deep Blue, everything could be achieved with just a few Mental Energy units. It was well worth the price—a great deal.

He quickly derived the secret arts with Deep Blue and completed them in no time. The dozen or so secret arts all served to utilize his Divine Vein.

The Divine Vein seemed to be a kind of motor, a heart of motive force. It was capable of unleashing unimaginable abilities out of various things.

The devil king and the woman had only finished their discussion after Lu Sheng and Ju reached an agreement.

The devil king stood up, and said, "We should get going. The King of Ashes has notified me that we're about to clash with the Holy Dragon Temple soon. We'd best get there as quickly as possible."

"Mm-hm. I have to prepare things on my end as well," the red-haired woman said with a nod. "Well then, I'll take my leave."

"Alright."

The formation glowed. The woman and Ju vanished within it at the same time.

"Wolf king, I hope that you can cooperate with me and… deal with…" After the two left, the smile on the devil king's face gradually faded. He started to discuss matters with Lu Sheng softly.

Lu Sheng listened to him. As he listened more, his gaze started to calm down.

10 minutes later, he held in his hand an ice-cold white crystal which beat like a heart. He leapt off the floating ship and sprinted toward the Green Plains Mountains.

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

Deep within the mountains. Peak of the Holy Dragon Mountain.

Dark red clouds flickered with lightning.

Two colossal and fierce-looking dragons were violently locked in a brawl.

The holy dragon queen and King of Ashes already engaged in battle. The two three-eyed dragons seemed to be crafted from the same mold, one black and one blue.

The only difference was that the King of Ashes was one size smaller than the holy dragon queen.

Grayish air waves rippled across the skies with the clash and roars of the two dragons.

Black dragon breath clashed with white dragon breath. Even the remnants of the force that spilled over were capable of instantly melting the granite mountains around them into nothing.

Underneath the two huge dragons were the other holy dragons that were much smaller in size. They surrounded the three great tribe leaders and lashed with their claws as they lunged at them in a frenzy.

However, their attacks made no headway. They were all easily deflected by the three tribe leaders' Fire Arts. The holy dragons' natural ability, Dragon Might, was useless against them. They could only continue to charge toward them.

The two parties were in a deadlock.

Everyone was waiting for the outcome of the battle between the holy dragon queen and the King of Ashes to be decided above them. That was the true key to this entire war.

Lu Sheng and the devil king crept toward the battlefield silently from behind. They quickly got close to the Holy Dragon Temple.

The clean, white Holy Dragon Palace with a tinge of blue hovered above the peak. It was surrounded by a defensive circle of high-ranking holy dragons such as Gray Star and the others.

Lu Sheng and the devil king had barely gotten close when they were noticed by one of the holy dragons led by Gray Star.

"It's the devil king! Kill him!" Gray Star displayed fighting spirit in his eyes. He was the first to take flight. His body that was more than ten meters tall suddenly charged toward Lu Sheng and the devil king who were halfway up the mountain.

"Scythe!" A dark crimson scythe immediately materialized in the devil king's hands, and he swung it forward mercilessly.

The space before him suddenly erupted. Countless rifts spread toward Gray Star, but he dodged every single one of them.

"Spirit-sucking Art!" The devil king grinned. Two beams of dark green light immediately shot out of his eyes.

The light beams swirled, and precisely shot into Gray Star's eyes.

"With my devil resistance, your Spirit-sucking Art can only immobilize my body at best. You won't be able to move yourself. This is meaningless! Come, Devil King, let's fight it out the right way!" Gray Star shouted furiously.

"Wolf king, according to the agreement of the ancient tree, help me out here." The devil king could not move as well. However, he had a subtle smile on his face.

Lu Sheng was locked in combat with the other holy dragons. When he heard this, he immediately retreated backward. He swiped a claw to fend off a holy dragon that came at him from the side.

"Alright!" He leapt and bared his fangs at Gray Star. His nine heads chomped away.

Poor Gray Star. He was immobilized by the Spirit-sucking Art, and was powerless to fight back.

Lu Sheng's nine jaws were locked on his neck, chest, wings, and torso. Then, he tore them in two different directions.

"Aarrgghh!"

A pained wail immediately spread out.

The deep blue dragon scales were powerless against Lu Sheng's jaws, and were easily torn apart by him. Gray Star's chest was exposed to the air.

Lu Sheng drank the dragon blood. He spread himself out on Gray Star's body and devoured his flesh and blood wildly.

"Feudal lord! Save him!"

The other holy dragons noticed something amiss, and charged upward in an attempt to push Lu Sheng away. However, they were swatted away by Lu Sheng's huge tail.

The most powerful of these holy dragons were only at the fairy rank, and there was only a handful of them. They were far from being Lu Sheng's opponents.

All he had to do was free one of his heads to spit some ice breaths, and these disturbances were successfully kept at bay.

"Ssrahh!"

One of Gray Star's hind legs was forcibly torn away. With a few bites, it was completely devoured.