Way of the Devil

Outside the abandoned manor.

The white fox leapt lightly and landed on a thick branch.

"I should be able to take care of him by using that clone's strength. However, we'll have to think about the issues that'll surely arise after we've dealt with the envoy. The main sect won't let this matter rest."

"Of course. However, as long as the Mother of Pain stands her ground, we'll be safe." From a nearby tree, a black python as thick as a water bucket slithered out. Its eyes were like two blots of ink; they were extremely black.

"However… that envoy. I can't help but feel that I've seen him somewhere before… He looked familiar…" The white fox had an unexplainable anxious feeling in his heart.

"Perhaps we've met him when we were harvesting souls with the daughter body?" the huge python asked.

The white fox thought to itself. It then opened its mouth to answer.

"Rumble!"

Suddenly, there was a loud noise. The ground started shaking.

"What's happening?!" The three of them quickly balanced themselves.

"This is bad! The daughter body is destroyed! Run!" Suddenly, the huge python's eyes widened with terror. In the blink of an eye, it shot far away like a black arc of lightning.

The white fox and black hen did not waste any time, either. One of them leapt onto a tree, while the other tunneled into the ground.

However, they were too late.

"Pchht! Pchht! Pchht! Pchht!"

Innumerable black lightning bolts burst forth from the center of the manor. Like pitch-black cracks, the crooked lightning bolts spread and covered an area of several hundred meters.

The black hen, white fox, and huge python merely managed to run for a dozen meters before the black lightning outstripped them. They were instantly burned to a crisp, and exploded into black dust.

A black sphere of light hovered above the manor.

"Pooh!"

Suddenly, an arm protruded from the sphere. Then, there was a second arm, a third…

Arms kept reaching out from the black sphere. They grabbed at the surface of the sphere and pulled.

With a tearing sound, a huge rift several meters wide was torn in the surface of the sphere.

Lu Sheng climbed slowly out of the sphere. His dozen pairs of arms made him appear like a centipede as he held onto the black sphere. The six eyes on his three faces burned with six spots of golden flames.

Through the crack behind him, countless corpses and fragments of the Evil Spirits were scattered throughout the valley like snowflakes.

One of the huge insects with a shriveled old lady's head was being torn to pieces. The dismembered body parts were still wriggling on the ground.

"Launch that thing on me, will you? I'll show you…" Lu Sheng's immense body crawled out of the black sphere and landed on the ground.

He looked around him, but could not see any traces of the three animals.

"Hm?"

In order to break the alien dimension he was in, he had poured slightly more of his strength than usual. Some of his power must have leaked out.

Now that he was free, he was slightly surprised with not finding the three animals here.

Lu Sheng spread his spirit power outward, which covered an area of 1,000 kilometers in the blink of an eye. He reckoned that this range should be enough. He was worried that he might trigger the Black Measure Web's defense system and would expose himself.

However, he could not find any trace of the three animals from the Three Sacred Gates even after covering such a wide range.

"They're sure quick to run." Lu Sheng, feeling slightly disgruntled, restored his appearance to that of an ordinary human. He walked out of the manor.

His surroundings were a mess. Charred marks left by the black lightning bolts could be seen everywhere. Pits were also blown out of the ground from the impacts.

Several modified people slowly showed themselves from their hiding places. They gathered around him.

"President!" The leader of the modified people had a charred arm. However, perhaps it was because his powers were from the same source as Lu Sheng's main body, the arm was healing quickly.

"We shouldn't linger here. Let's go." Lu Sheng looked around at his surroundings. He no longer sensed the aura of the Three Sacred Gates.

"Understood!"

The modified people were still feeling the shock from witnessing the black lightning just now. When they heard the command, they crowded around Lu Sheng and retreated.

After returning to the research society's headquarters, Lu Sheng immediately recruited the victims of unfortunate accidents who bore grudges in their hearts. This was done in secret.

These people bore deep grudges, possibly due to the Anomalies, their own ideals, or being oppressed. Their willpower was far superior to ordinary people's.

Coincidentally, Lu Sheng received a coded message from the Green Branch Sect. The preparations in the Other World were done. It was time for them to kick things into high gear.

After receiving the message, Lu Sheng created another batch of implants by combining his main body's cells and Moonsilver. The modification procedure could be easily completed by simply implanting these into the bodies of the modified people. The technique was mature now.

Then, he began preparing to head toward Great Yin. He had no other intentions besides to meet his old friend, Li Shunxi.

If he asked for Li Shunxi's help from Great Yin's side, he might be making much more progress compared to things on Great Song's side.

However, at this moment, an unexpected guest came and disrupted his plans.

***

Top floor of the Anomaly News Block.

Lu Sheng leaned back on his leather chair with his legs crossed. He gazed sideways at the gray skies and the slight drizzle.

"Looks like you're having it well." A person joined him. The person sat nicely on a seat and looked at Lu Sheng with a complicated expression.

This person had long snow-white hair and white brows. The person wore long pitch-black silk robes embroidered with divine beasts and monsters of unknown names. The black and red motifs were reminiscent of descriptions of war and carnage.

Most importantly, the person was a female. This was a woman Lu Sheng once knew very well.

"It's been a long time, Jiuli. I see you're still as impatient as ever. You didn't even bother to verify the news of my arrival before rushing over to meet me." Lu Sheng turned to face her. He had a strange smile.

Shangyang Jiuli admitted that she had had her doubts before this. Now that she had verified it herself, she could hardly describe the waves of terror she felt within herself.

Lu Sheng, this man who moved like a ghost god. In slightly more than a decade, he had progressed from rising to fame to having a might that dominated the heavens.

Previously, in the northern lands, she had thought that she was already thinking highly of him. However, she did not expect that under the appearance of being unable to harm humans or livestock, this man was as terrifying as a primordial beast.

Shangyang Jiuli paused before softly asking, "It has been many years. I heard that you've gone to Great Yin. What happened? Why did you think about coming back?"

"Naturally, I have my reasons for coming back." Lu Sheng wore a gentle smile. "However, I'm almost done with what I have to do. I was preparing to go to Great Yin, but I didn't expect you to find me out."

"You're leaving again? Well, Great Song is too small for you." After cultivating for 100 years, Shangyang Jiuli was now a peak expert among the Weapon Masters. However, even with this strength, she could not help but find it difficult to breathe before Lu Sheng.

"Won't you come with me?" Lu Sheng said. "With my current arrangements, I can take a passenger or two."

At his current stage, Lu Sheng would not be stingy in helping out his old friend. Moreover, Shangyang Jiuli was highly gifted and strong-willed. If she had a suitable platform, she would not have any problem attaining a higher rank.

This world, controlled by the Mother of Pain, was what was holding her back.

"Go with you? Leave?" Shangyang Jiuli was taken aback. Currently, she was the head of the Shangyang Family. Shangyang Fei had mysteriously disappeared, and she had survived the Devil Disaster. Hence, she was now the most powerful person from the previous era.

Shangyang Jiuli looked at the unfathomable, mysterious Lu Sheng before her. She could not help but hesitate.

She understood that if she followed this man, she would probably land herself in more trouble. In terms of progress alone, when Lu Sheng left Great Song back then, he was already much more powerful than she was now. On top of that, he had been in Great Yin for so long, more than a century, even. There was no telling how powerful he had become.

If she followed him, she would have a high possibility of improving her own strength, but…

"There's no hurry. You should think it through." Lu Sheng actually intended to establish an organization that specialized in Anomaly research.

The Anomalies could not be destroyed. This was not a phenomenon unique to the planets under the Mother of Pain's charge. They existed on the other planets as well, albeit sparser.

Also, the Anomalies slowly grew in size and numbers.

Lu Sheng's worry was that the Anomalies would one day occupy the environment currently inhabited by the living creatures. The entire world might eventually be transformed into the dangerous and peculiar environment of the Anomalies.

The Anomalies were like patients with terminal illnesses. They were usually covered in boils and tumors.

Suddenly, Lu Sheng had an idea.

'Perhaps the so-called Anomalies… are actually symptoms that the universe is sick?'

He felt that he should establish an information network and carefully study this.

At this moment, Shangyang Jiuli was done with her considerations.

"I'm sorry, I have my grandchildren to think about. Not to mention that there's my entire family whom I have to protect…"

"You're married?" Lu Sheng asked, surprised.

Shangyang Jiuli nodded.

"I've married 60 years ago."

With familial commitments, she could no longer move as freely as she did. Lu Sheng wasted to more words to persuade her.

"If that's the case, I'd like to ask you to maintain the research society's progress." He flicked his finger. A water droplet morphed into a light golden mark and imprinted itself on the back of Shangyang Jiuli's hand.

"We'll meet again, worry not." His voice barely faded when he started vanishing from his seat.

Shangyang Jiuli glanced at the droplet-shaped mark on the back of her hand. She could not explain the slightly depressing feeling she felt.

***

Great Yin. Feiliu Riverside.

Li Shunxi stood silently on a skiff. He wore a gray-white tunic and folded his hands behind himself as he looked up at the starry skies.

The night breeze made his beard, which dangled before his chest, sway slightly.

"What a pleasant night with a slight breeze and autumn dew, but the refreshing wind chills the sinew…" He heaved a long sigh as he raised the information sheet he had just received from Great Song's Three Sacred Gates.

"Great Song's Three Sacred Gates… Big Brother Lu Sheng…" A mysterious organization by the name of Anomaly Research Society had suddenly rose to prominence. The name of its president was surprisingly Lu Sheng.

Li Shunxi, who had been searching for him for a long time, swiftly found his whereabouts. Then, he sent his men to observe him and produce a portrait of the man.

The portrait was exactly as Li Shunxi had expected it to look. The man was Lu Sheng who had gone missing for more than a century.

More than 30 years ago, when his teacher's immortal footsteps became barely discernible, Li Shunxi had taken over the helm of one of the Three Sacred Gates.

With his current strength, he was truly fit to lead the Sacred Gate. Aside from his slightly indecisive nature, the Sacred Gate he led progressed far better than the two other gates throughout his tenure.

In 20 short years, he was practically in charge of Great Yin's Three Sacred Gates. The other two Divine Kings had lost their right to speak up a long time ago.

The Three Sacred Gates slowly progressed from a half-hidden organization to a formidable organization which worked closely with Great Yin.

After the great disaster, Great Yin was reborn from the ashes. The new royals had smoothly ascended the throne thanks to Li Shunxi.

However, he was finding his current life increasingly dry.