way of the devil
Lu Sheng maintained his speed as he dragged Pang Yuanjun behind him. They flitted through the forest as Lu Sheng leapt.
Everything had happened too quickly. Due to his special identity, nobody reacted in time when he knocked Pang Yuanjun away and dragged him away.
When the others finally registered what happened, the Northern Blade King had attacked with all his might. He wanted to seize this opportunity and turn the tide of the battle to his favor. The remaining two Martial Emperors did all they could to stall him and preventing their advantage from slipping.
After speeding along for more than 10 minutes, Lu Sheng jumped up a branch. With a light tap of his foot, he dived to the bank of a lake.
“Who’s there?” His gaze went cold as he looked around himself.
He was surrounded by dense trees. Just now, he suddenly felt that someone was watching him from the shadows.
That feeling was eerily cold.
He carefully placed Pang Yuanjun on the ground. Lu Sheng flexed his neck and looked around himself in a circle. Then, his gaze fell upon the lake.
“Crack.”
He took a slow step forward and stepped on a dried leaf.
“Splash!”
A giant wave more than 10 meters tall shot into the air. A pitch-black alligator emerged from the lake.
The alligator opened its jaws, revealing scissor-like teeth, and snapped it at Lu Sheng.
“Hm?” Lu Sheng moved with lightning speed and moved to the right for some distance. Then, he grabbed with his right hand at the air with all his might.
“Bam!”
The alligator which was seven to eight meters long had its head pressed down by him. His five fingernails mercilessly cut into the alligator’s head easily as if it was tofu.
“Rargh!”
The alligator roared. The scales of its body shone scarlet as it turned in the air, lashing its whip-like tail toward Lu Sheng.
“This fellow is quite powerful! Isn’t the head its weak point?” Lu Sheng clearly felt that this alligator’s moves and attacks were practiced, unlike that of a wild animal. Also, it was much more powerful than any ordinary alligator. It might even be on par with a Martial Emperor.
He raised a hand to block the alligator’s tail. There was a loud clap.
Lu Sheng staggered backward for more than 10 paces before he managed to stabilize his body.
“This saves me a lot of trouble. I’d have thought that I’d have to wait for another chance.” Two peculiar men, one tall and one short, slowly walked out of the shadows from both sides.
These two men resembled each other. They had huge fleshy lumps on their foreheads. If one ignored their height, they would look like the same person in the exact same clothes.
“The great Pang Yuanjun, defeated by a wee fatso. How humiliating.”
“What’re you talking for? Do it. A long night is fraught with dreams,” said the short man coldly.
Lu Sheng could vaguely make out that the alligator and the two men had cornered him in a horn formation. It was highly possible that the alligator had been lying in wait here.
“A Martial Emperor alligator, interesting!” Lu Sheng licked his lips.
When he had attacked Pang Yuanjun before this, he had managed to catch him off guard. Now that he was facing three Martial Emperors head-on, Lu Sheng would like to know how profound his current cultivation base was.
“Kill Pang Yuanjun!”
With a growl, the two men and the alligator attacked at the same time. They charged at Lu Sheng from three directions.
They did not even bother about Pang Yuanjun. They moved on Lu Sheng first. They understood that if Lu Sheng was not taken care of, they would not be able to kill Pang Yuanjun.
Three shadows rocketed mercilessly toward Lu Sheng from three different directions with a deafening noise of breaking the sonic barrier.
Lu Sheng had forcefully derived his Straggling Star Path Toad Method to stage-10. Originally, the Straggling Star Path Toad Method only had seven stages. At stage-10, it was already at the limits of the cultivation method’s theoretical construct. It could not be derived any further.
At stage-10, the improvements Lu Sheng had obtained could not be compared to the first seven stages. Lu Sheng vaguely felt a thin transparent layer of tough skin growing on the surface of his body. His defensive abilities were greatly enhanced now.
“Dewy Morning Light!”
“Sunset Dew!”
The two men conjured up rainbow-colored flowing lights from their respective blades. With a peculiar rhythm that was sometimes quick and sometimes slow, the two flowing lights stabbed at Lu Sheng’s armpits.
The alligator pounced on Lu Sheng from the front. With it putting its sharp claws and huge jaw to work, Lu Sheng could smell the putrid stench from a few meters away.
“Instant Destruction. Thousand Weight!” Lu Sheng formed blades with his palms and parried the blows from both sides.
For the frontal assault, he turned sideways and lifted his right leg. He brought it down like a battle axe with a terrifying sound of breaking the sonic barrier and hit the side of the alligator’s jaw.
“Rumble!”
Two men and one alligator were blasted away. They staggered.
Blood splattered in midair. Lu Sheng held severed arms in both of his hands and tossed them aside. He shot forward. The force from his kick produced a huge pit several meters wide in the ground.
With the reaction force, he appeared before the alligator as if he teleported there. He brought his palms together and stabbed.
“Pchht!”
The alligator’s belly was penetrated by his palms. He made it halfway through its body.
“Aur!”
Lu Sheng was about to finish this monster off for good when two gusts of wind shot toward him from the sides.
He was in no hurry. He retreated quickly and launched his attacks at his opponents again.
Although they were Martial Emperors, one of them was only middle-stage while the other two were early-stage. If Pang Yuanjin was not out cold, they would not have dared to attack.
When he thought about this, Lu Sheng turned and glanced behind himself.
‘By the way, where’s Pang Yuanjun?’
He was immediately stunned. The ground behind him was empty. There was no sign of anyone there. Pang Yuanjun, who had been lying there unconscious, was nowhere to be seen.
“Kill him!”
The two men and the alligator noticed this as well. However, with both of them having lost an arm each to Lu Sheng, they were overcome with killing intent. All they could think about now was to kill Lu Sheng.
The three of them charged toward Lu Sheng again.
A dozen breaths later.
Lu Sheng was only surrounded by minced flesh and torn alligator scales.
He stood alone among the carnage with a sour look on his face. His cultivation base was not at its limits yet; that was why he did not manage to sense Pang Yuanjun, who had silently slipped away.
“I’ve told him that we’re heading back home for the reunion. Father, did you not hear what I’ve said?”
He scanned his surroundings. He immediately noticed a white spot on a nearby branch. It appeared like a footprint.
Lu Sheng snorted. He leapt in that direction.
***
Pang Yuanjun shot through the forest in a daze.
He was knocked out and dragged away before he knew what had happened. When he came to, he noticed that some people were fighting it out near him.
The ones engaged in the fight were his old enemies, the two elders of the northing and their pet Heavenly Pool Alligator. He knew that these two had been lying in wait here. He intended to deal with them after the siege. He did not expect that they would save him instead.
They had been fighting against the young man who looked very much like his son Pang Sicheng.
While the three men and the alligator were engaged in combat, he slipped away silently and swiftly. He quickly made his way toward the secret base of the Green Dew Altar nearby.
His army was being held down by the Northern Blade King, so they would not be able to protect him. However, besides the army, he was sure that his other base, which he had poured much effort into, would keep him safe.
He intended it to be his hiding place on the off chance that his plan of unifying the martial world went awry. He had built it in secret. Alas, he would have to use it against that mystery man now.
Pang Yuanjun stoked the flames of indignation in his heart as he sped through the forest.
However, when he recalled the power of that person, he knew that even if he defended himself with all his strength, he would be hard-pressed to survive that terrifying blow. He was extremely suspicious that the person was some peak Martial Emperor elite in disguise.
After speeding away for more than 10 minutes, Pang Yuanjun landed softly before a cluster of white rock buildings.
Men in green combat attire patrolled the perimeter. When they saw him, these men quickly ran up and bent their knees to greet him respectfully.
“Greetings, Main Altar Master!”
“Where are Elder Xu and the others?” Pang Yuanjun asked swiftly as he strode toward the cluster of white stone buildings.
The men swiftly stood up, and replied, “Elder Xu had brought his men here. Also, the Northern Bear King Elder Su and the others are here as well.”
“Is the Sand King here?” Pang Yuanjun felt more secure now as he asked another question.
“He should be here in a moment,” the man replied.
At that moment, a hoarse male voice drifted toward them from the forest.
“I’ve arrived long ago. I was merely waiting for the main altar master outside. Brother Pang, I heard that you were laying siege to the Northern Blade King. Is it over already? Why don’t you wait here with me?” This man was the ruler of the Western Desert, The Sand King, Hong Quanguo.
“There’s been a slight complication, and I’ve come here prematurely. There’s no need to worry about other matters, Brother Hong,” Pang Yuanjun said coldly.
He was actually a member of the mysterious organization, Half Devil.
This organization would organize meetings at different locations every year. Coincidentally, it would be held here this year.
He’d initially intended to come here for the meeting and bring some men to kill the Northern Blade King. However, he did not expect to run into this accident when he was halfway to his success.
“I see that you’re moving with haste and difficulty, Brother Pang. Has something happened? Has the Northern Blade King turned a defeat into a victory?” jibed the Sand King.
When he mentioned this, there was a slight change in Pang Yuanjun’s expression. He was reminded of that man.
He made no reply. He leapt into the cluster of buildings and navigated through its winding paths. He quickly found himself before a simple and clean stone building.
There were three stories to this building. He could see two people sitting opposite each other, enjoying wine and music.
“Why’re you looking so anxious, Brother Pang?” The voice of an old lady came from the third floor.
Pang Yuanjun heaved a long sigh. He calmed his spirits and leapt into the air. He shot up like an arrow and landed on the balcony of the third floor.
“I had something important to attend to and was held up. I hope that you can forgive me. I must say that I’ll need the two of you to lend me your assistance in this matter.” He stood on the balcony and cupped his fists together solemnly. He bent his back toward them.
The old man and woman with white hair sat on the third floor’s living room. They were having a meal with some wine as they were entertained by dancing and singing maidens.
When they suddenly heard that Pang Yuanjun, who had told them he would be late, was here before the appointed time, and asked for their help the moment he showed up, these two elites could not help but feel puzzled.
“Brother Pang, you’re now like the sun at high noon. Your cultivation base reaches great heights, and few can go against you in the martial world. Even if we helped, our strength’s only almost on par with yours.” The old woman looked shocked as she slowly asked, “What is it that warrants you asking for our help in such a grand manner?”