Way of the Devil

"Before I knew it, it's been 100 years, Big Brother Lu Sheng… How have you been faring in these 100 years?" Li Shunxi lowered the information sheet. He lifted his arm, and a tankard of wine materialized in his hand.

He gulped down huge mouthfuls of wine.

"You're still the same, I see. You're too soft for always thinking about others." Suddenly, a blurry figure appeared on the water's surface not far from him.

The figure came into focus through the mist. It was a big and tall man with a muscular build, handsome face, and a gloomy expression.

"Big Brother Lu?!" Li Shunxi was startled. When he saw that it was truly him, he was overjoyed.

Overcome with emotion, he leapt onto the water's surface and stood on it as if it was solid ground. He quickly went up to Lu Sheng.

"You—" He barely strung a sentence together when he was interrupted by Lu Sheng.

"Do me a favor. I need some elites in my newly founded Anomaly Research Society. I think you qualify as one," Lu Sheng said with a laugh.

"Research society? Anomaly Research Society?" Li Shunxi naturally paid attention to the mysterious organization under Lu Sheng's command.

"That's only the experimental phase. The real research society won't be as oversized as this," Lu Sheng said with a smile. "I suspect that the Anomalies might be symptoms of the world's illness. Once the Anomalies reach a high enough density, they might cause irreparable damage to the entire world."

"Oh?!" Lu Shunxi was shocked.

Lu Sheng continued with his hypothesis. When he reached the part about the influence Anomalies had on the world, he explained the comparison between the Anomalies' density and the state of world poverty to Li Shunxi in detail.

"That's highly possible!" Li Shunxi's expression grew heavier.

"Come, Little Brother. The world needs you." Lu Sheng patted his shoulder.

Li Shunxi was a person born with great gate. Others aside, the Nefarious Jade within his body which could foresee the future alone was highly valuable.

Because of this, the Mother of Pain even sent someone to scout him. However, Li Shunxi foresaw it with the Nefarious Jade, and he successfully avoided them.

"Defending the peace, protecting the safety of the people, these are my greatest ideals for my cultivation life," Li Shunxi muttered to himself for a while. His gaze steeled. "Although I know that you'll surely have some other motives for this, Big Brother, I think that, regardless of your motivations, what you're doing now is certainly beneficial for the masses and the world. So… I'm in!"

He did not even ask about other matters, such as if there were any restrictions, or if this would affect the current Three Sacred Gates in any way.

Lu Sheng produced a rune contract he'd designed. With his main body as the witness and the Anomaly Research Society as the agent, he entered into contract with Li Shunxi.

Li Shunxi did not even go through the terms of the contract before he signed it.

He believed that Lu Sheng would not mean him harm. Lu Sheng had saved him so many times before this that he lost count. If he wanted to kill him, he did not have to wait until now.

Lu Sheng put the contract away. He looked slightly moved.

"You won't regret what you've done." Li Shunxi was the first member of the newly founded research society. He would continue to select powerful seeds with amazing potential to join his society in the future.

"What do we mainly do after we've joined?" Li Shunxi seemed to have finally realized what he had just done. Then, he asked this question with a puzzled expression.

"Currently, we're the only members of the research society. I'll have to look for other members," said Lu Sheng with a smile. "However, I don't think there are any more viable candidates left in Great Yin."

"If there are none in Great Yin, what about Great Song? There are the other borderlands as well…" Li Shunxi suggested in a slightly hesitant tone.

"In the eyes of your big brother Lu, I'm afraid that you're the only one who's qualified throughout the entire Yellow Springs Planet." Suddenly, light blue starlight pillar shot down from the skies not far from where they stood. Two individuals stood within the light column.

The two of them wore green armor, with pure white swords slung across their backs. Their complexions were as clear as jade. Spots of starlight filled the space behind them.

"Cheng Huan and Yue Rulong of Three Sacred Spiritual Gates' Ten Thousand Stars Pavilion pay External Elder Lu homage." The two of them cupped their fists.

"That was fast…" Lu Sheng said with a smile.

"With the opening in the planet's defenses opened up by you, External Elder Lu, it had been much easier. If we couldn't even make it through that, we'd be wasting your efforts all this while," said Cheng Huan, who looked like a girl, with a smile.

"Oh? Has Sect Master Xu Haobai made a move as well? I think it's been 600 years since I've met him last. I wonder if he's mastered his Millennium Counteractive Sword Skill?" Chen Da asked with slight surprise.

"Isn't your Star Luo Amnesty Skill complete as well, Pavilion Master Cheng Huan?" A green light shot toward them from afar. Countless arcs of electricity swiftly condensed into a figure Lu Sheng was familiar with. It was Xu Haobai.

"Brother Xu."

"Little Brother Lu. Looks like things are going well for you." Xu Haobai could sense what was different in the surroundings with a simple probe of his spirit.

"Let's get this over with quickly. If this planet wasn't my main body's birthplace, I wouldn't have to be so delicate in making progress," Lu Sheng said as he shook his head.

Li Shunxi was befuddled as he listened at the side. These individuals seemed to be talking to his big brother Lu as equals. They were clearly great people. However, in Great Yin, he was also a person with peak strength and all the information under the heavens, yet he had never heard of these people before…

"If I may ask, why have you come to my Great Yin, dear brothers?" Li Shunxi raised his cupped fists as he addressed the others.

"Preposterous!" Suddenly, a black shadow floated toward them. The shadow morphed into a woman in black.

The woman had no ears, but her face was beautiful. Her black clothes bore an emblem that resembled a spider. It appeared fierce and menacing.

"How dare you address us as brothers? You mere mortal…"

Li Shunxi was taken aback. He took another look at Xu Haobai and the other two from the Ten Thousand Stars Pavilion. He noticed that although they appeared gentle, they had never so much as glanced at him.

Everyone's attention was on his big brother Lu Sheng, who was standing beside him.

Li Shunxi was not enraged. Instead, he said with a smile, "If I have no rights to call you that, I'm afraid nobody in Great Yin will be deemed worthy enough."

However, these people continued to ignore him. Xu Haobai was the only one who smiled at him in acknowledgement. The others treated him as though he was thin air.

Lu Sheng tapped his shoulder.

"He's Li Shunxi, a friend whom I approve of. I hope I won't hear any insults directed at him while I'm here."

He slowly shifted his gaze toward the woman in black who just arrived.

The woman felt her hair stand on ends. Like a frog who was marked by its natural predator, the alarms of her spirit went haywire.

She could not help but take a step back.

"Since Devil Emperor Shun Ying has said so, I'll apologize for my mistake before this." She was flexible. A great Void Underworld being was apologizing to a mere mortal.

The others looked on speechlessly. At the same time, they had a deeper understanding about the rank of Lu Sheng's strength.

They were all of the Void Underworld tier, but a Void Underworld Heavenly Devil was a cut above. Besides, Lu Sheng was clearly one of the most prominent Void Underworld Heavenly Devils. His Undead Body aside, he was capable of intimidating another being of the same tier with his pressure alone. His strength was apparent from this.

Lu Sheng did not overly criticize those who came here to his aid. After all, he was on enemy turf. It was more important for them to achieve their goals.

As for Li Shunxi's face, he would have to earn it himself as face was rarely given by the others. He should understand this. He could work hard to make up for it in the future.

"Since everyone's here, we can begin discussing about our arrangements from here on out…"

As the leader, Lu Sheng spoke frankly with assurance in the middle.

"I've laid down 10 detonation points on the Black Measure Web. If everything goes well, we should be able to deal with the Devil Art Masters and Mirror Spirit Masters hiding in the Devil World completely within a day."

"Do we need to kill the two Devil Emperors first?" Cheng Huan asked.

"There's no need. They're only puppets. The Devil world is an experimental land corresponding to the human world for them. When a problem arises, the Door of Pain is sure to open. When that time comes—" Lu Sheng did not finish his sentence before someone finished it for him.

"I'll go and block the door," said Yue Rulong, who was beside Cheng Huan. "However, it'd be better for us to cut off the source of their soldiers rather than blocking the door alone."

"No, that's not our prime objective," said Lu Sheng with a smile. "There'll be at least three Doors of Pain that're going to be opened. Will you come with me, Brother Xu?"

Xu Haobai smiled. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That's right. If the Door of Pain is blocked and they want to mobilize more forces to break through, they'll surely open the Pain Source Pillar and activate the Door of War. The Door of War is the only thing that allows the highest-ranked beings free access," Lu Sheng spoke with a smile. "And if they activated the Door of War… The World of Pain would've as good as opened up its arms for us. They won't have any defenses left…"

"When it comes to that, even if they want to close it, it'll be too late…" The woman in black suddenly snickered.

"My Millennium Counteractive Sword Skill needs some living sacrifices. Please leave most of the killing for me. I'll thank all of you here greatly in the future," Xu Haobai hastily said. It was not every day that they encountered that many Confusion Realm beings with great strength.

"One Ying Dragon Marrow."

"One Blossoming Flower Divine Furnace."

"I want a set of plant-related crystals!"

The others quickly stated the treasures that they wanted. However, after considering the Green Branch Sect's face, they did not ask for overly luxuriant goods.

"Well then, I'll thank all of you in advance. In truth, I need 100,000,000 lives to sacrifice to my sword. The quality of living beings within the World of Pain is a cut above the rest. I might not finish them off," said Xu Haobai with a smile.

"I'll leave this to all of you, then." Lu Sheng did not care about these things. For beings on their tier, living beings were a sort of resource as well.

"As you say, Devil Emperor Shun Ying."

The others did not argue about this.

Li Shunxi listened to their conversation from the side. Initially, he could maintain a smile. However, as the conversation went deeper, his expression gradually changed.

His initially calm expression paled and grew anxious.

These people had divided the living beings of the World of Pain among them while they chatted as if they were discussing about weather.

The grand Mother of Pain with her numerous, terrifying armies were like meat on the chopping board to these people. They had cleanly divided her forces between them before they even did anything. This was too…

"Don't mind them, they're just joking," Lu Sheng patted his shoulder and projected his voice to him. "They're joking."

Li Shunxi looked at Lu Sheng with a pale expression, and said with a wry smile, "Big Brother Lu, I don't think my weak heart can take this much shock… Can you tell me more clearly… What have all of you come here for?!"

"Don't worry. There'll be something in it for you as well. Also, after joining the research society, you'll soon understand that you'll be seeing this on a regular basis from now on. An old friend of mine will be here as well. Remember to hold her back so that she won't do anything rash," Lu Sheng replied with a smile.

Lu Sheng gave him instructions. This time, he had found the few individuals whom he wanted to seek out before he made his move. Otherwise, they might be unintentionally killed in the crossfire, and that would result in a huge misunderstanding.