Way of the Devil

“Didn’t you… didn’t you say that you would let our captain have a handicap?” a Painter stammered as he spoke.

Lu Sheng took an indifferent glimpse at him.

“Sorry about that. I forgot.”

A moment of silence.

None of the Painters knew how to deal with this. Had Cui Liangjun been able to hold on a little longer, they would’ve probably had the courage to continue the fight. But their captain lost so quickly that it was quite clear that the strength of their opponent far exceeded their expectations.

So even though there were a lot of Painters at the scene, nobody dared to make any moves.

After a moment of silence, the surrounding crowd gave an unenthusiastic applause.

Most of the people clapping were from other noble families, and of those, most of them were from the Jiu Family. Only people with this social class dared to judge the inner battle within the Yang Family on the spot.

“Okay, okay, Jiuli, order your subordinate to calm down. You Painters as well.” A middle-aged man pushed through the crowd. This man had a well-kept little mustache and was wearing a silver-gray heavy robe and many black rings on this thick fingers.

“Uncle Kuili,” Shangyang Jiuli promptly greeted the man.

Shangyang Kuili was responsible for the defense of two nearby branches of the Shangyang Family. Although he wasn’t responsible for the the Painters, he had a close relationship with their captain. In this situation, it was clear that someone tried to provoke a conflict between Shangyang Fei and the Painters, so naturally, he wouldn’t be able to sit by idly.

“How about we all just go our separate ways? A battle concert is going to be held soon in the building over there. We invited many well-known players, so everyone will be satisfied for sure,” Shangyang Kuili said. “Friends from the Huang Family, the Zhao Family, and the Wang Family, please move along,” he said, speaking to them one by one.

“Since Uncle Kuili appeared personally, then we’ll follow along. I heard a long time ago that the Qingxia Family was going to participate in the battle concert,” said Huang Shengling, a woman with short red hair, while laughing.

“If the Qingxia Family is going to appear, how can we not go?” a young man from the Zhao Family said, giving his support.

People from the Wang Family, however, did not say anything. After they nodded at Shangyang Kuili, they started heading toward the Dynasty Building.

The apprentices from the major families dispersed. Their supporters that came with them followed suit. The others didn’t dare to linger around and gradually left.

But thanks to this incident, the image and reputation of the Shangyang Family’s Lu Sheng would be completely changed in the minds of the people present, leaving them a lasting impression of him.

“We will get our revenge for today sometime in the future…!” A Painter lifted Cui Lianjun, left this vengeful comment, and quickly left with other people.

Lu Sheng was too lazy to say answer. The Painters were low in the power structure of the Shangyang Family. Had it been the Judges, he would’ve had some caution and fear, but the Painters? Not so much.

After the crowd was almost gone, Shangyang Jiuli forcefully patted Lu Sheng’s back and gave him a smile in praise.

“How did you think of using an “interception”? The results you got this time weren’t bad, and thanks to this, I’m afraid that a few of the larger families will have quite a few people that know you now,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Lu Sheng was completely speechless. He only wanted to save somebody.

“Alright, bring the people away and take good care of them,” Shangyang Jiuli said, commanding her subordinates, then she patted Lu Sheng on his back again.

“Follow me.”

Lu Sheng took a look at Li Shunxi, who was being carried onto a wooden stretcher. Lu Sheng exchanged a look with him and left with Shangyang Jiuli.

Li Shunxi and the other people with him were deeply relieved. There were just too many twists and turns this time. First was when Lu Sheng appeared, then the confrontation and fight, and lastly they were encircled and watched.

These people thought that they were dead for sure. But in the eyes of Shangyang Jiuli and her people, their lives, even the life or death of Lianjun, would be insignificant to them. But the other important result of this conflict was what they really wanted.

Shangyang Jiuli, Lu Sheng, and Peipei went across the grass field towards the surroundings of the party. They grabbed some fruit wine on their way there.

They sat at a corner. Peipei was good at understanding what people wanted and took her leave, leaving Lu Sheng and Shangyang Jiuli alone.

“There were a lot of incidents in the area under our administration recently.” She picked up a piece of roast meat on the table, put it in her mouth, and started to chew it slowly.

“What’s the matter?” Lu Sheng knew that she wouldn’t just randomly make a comment. She would not discuss things with him that didn’t involve him.

“Ever hear of the Jade of Secrets?”

“Jade of Secrets? I’ve heard about it. They say that it is a strong legendary weapon with prediction abilities,” Lu Sheng said, nodding.

“Indeed. But the use of Jade of Secrets requires a price to pay.” Shangyang Jiuli laughed. “All of our Jiu Family members received a mail recently about a big disaster. It says that the God-defying Defense Line that the Song Family has been holding for thousands of years will have some problems soon.”

“Oh?” said Lu Sheng, lifting his eyebrows for a moment.

“The mail mentioned that it’s extremely possible that a devil made an appearance. This kind of frightening rumor had been circulated many times before, but they all proved to be false in the end. It’s already become something to be expected. If if were not for the fame of the Jade of Secrets, this mail wouldn’t even have been sent to me.”

Shangyang Jiuli laughed. But soon, her expression turned slightly serious and she continued to speak.

“But, now that I think about it, the Lin Family might really have problems. Recently, Lin Beikai was interrogated; the result was unknown. The changes in the high level executives of the Huang Family were also very frequent. The price was increasing at a really fast rate. This is but the preliminary stage for some really big problems. You’d better be cautious.”

“I understand… ” Lu Sheng want to say something else, but some new people arrived at the stage.

A soft and kind-looking woman with a fresh and pure appearance slowly ascended to the stage.

“I, Shangyang Fei, thank everyone for coming here. We have invited many famous families and bands this time. I hope that everyone can be satisfied. Also, everyone, please attend the discussion session afterwards as well.”

Lu Sheng carefully observed this so-called most talented beauty of the Shangyang Family. On the outside, she was only a normal-looking beautiful woman with a clear appearance. She wore expensive clothes and spoke softly and sensitively.

“Not a trace of dominance of the “Most Talented” right?” Shangyang Jiuli also sighed next to him.

“Indeed.”

“Shangyang Fei… you can only understand why she is called the Most Talented in the Shangyang Family by looking at her other side.”

Lu Sheng nodded. Shangyang Fei left the stage after her speech. Afterwards, a round of dance and music started.

Groups of beautiful female performers took to the stage. They then did what they were best at. The famous players shone like stars, performing along with the female music performers. Everyone cheered and gave compensation for their performance at the most exciting parts.

The so-called female performers were all ordinary people. It was indeed an incredible privilege for them to be on this stage.

Lu Sheng was not interested in these things. With his eyes closed while sitting down, he cultivated his third devil body after the Enmity Fire Devil Body.

He found eight devil bodies in a cave within a lake. They recorded the complete journey from nothing to mastery.

For the third devil body, he chose the relatively easy Desolate Devil Body. The power of this kind of devil body lay in its ability to pollute. It pushed the poisonous property of the Devil Qi to its best, turning the surroundings into a deserted land. This was the fundamental property of the Desolate Devil Body.

Of course, pollution was only the main property of this devil body. In fact, even the weakest of the eight devil bodies had strengthening properties for the body, improving the body’s overall performance.

The acquirement of the Desolate Devil Body required testing out many different kinds of poison.

“Master Jiuli, Master Lu Sheng,” a soft female voice suddenly called out from the side.

Lu Sheng turned his attention and took a look: Shangyang Peipei and a well-behaved-looking 17-year-old girl were approaching him.

“Let me introduce you. This is sister Shangyang Linghui from my subsidiary family. She had always admired Miss Jiuli. Hearing that Miss Jiuli was present, she begged me to take her to you.” Shangyang Peipei laughed.

“No problem, I actually know about Shangyang Linghui. She is the second daughter of sister Mingfeng’s family,” said Shangyang Jiuli with a nod, showing a small smile.

“Lu Sheng is also here. You guys are all from the same generation so there must be a lot to talk about. Come, let’s sit together and chat.” She ushered Shangyang Linghui to the seat next to Lu Sheng.

In the midst of the music, Lu Sheng immediately recognized what they wanted. It was clear that Shangyang Jiuli wasn’t satisfied because their marriage interview was interrupted. Now, she found Shangyang Linghui to continue this unfinished business between them.

The females were a lot stronger than the males in the Shangyang Family. The amount of strong females towered over the amount of strong males. So, the issue of marriage was a really big problem.

After arranging marriage for suitable candidates, there were still a lot of girls who remained unmarried. Thus they started to look for other candidates from noble families.

In fact, this was all planned by Shangyang Fei. This contributed to her rise in power. The idea of making connections through marriages was first proposed by her.

“Mister Lu… please take good care of me.” Shangyang Linghui wore a white lotus-leaf robe. After sitting down, her white and delicate long legs showed.

The Lotus Leaf robe was made of many layers. After she sat down, the majority of her legs showed. When considering the slimness of the waist as well, she presented a nice body shape.

“Miss Linghui please also take good care of me,” Lu Sheng replied politely. Then, he did not talk to her anymore.

He had already chosen Chen Yunxi, so he wouldn’t engage with other women. This was his principle.

Seeing that he was cold to her, Shangyang Linghui was slightly disappointed.

“I have something to do and must leave, you guys talk.” Shangyang Jiuli made a face at the girl and left with Peipei. Without waiting for Lu Sheng to reply, they were already far away.

“I heard Mister Lu is the first seat of a sect within the Hundred Lineages. At this age, you are already able to become the first seat of a sect? Indeed, you are a giant among men,” Shangyang Linghui praised in a soft voice.

“I am not that good. The sect that I am in is still pretty small. We also don’t have many apprentices. Being the first seat is not that great,” Lu Sheng absentmindedly replied.

“Even that is incredibly impressive. Linghui even now is only at the double vein level. And if I want to make a breakthrough… there isn’t any hope for it at all. I can’t learn any of my family’s secret arts…” Shangyang Linghui showed a tinge of sadness. “My sisters are all so great. Only I am not good at anything.”

“You just didn’t find the thing that is suitable for you. You need to keep trying,” Lu Sheng absentmindedly suggested.

“Seriously?” Shangyang Linghui opened her eyes a little bigger, showing a childish and cute face.

Lu Sheng looked at her and softly replied, “I was just giving you advice without much thought.”

“Recently, I’ve been wanting to try to join a sect. I just didn’t have the time to find the right one…” Shangyang Linghui softly said.

Now, their intent became very clear.

In fact, she didn’t know what to do. She was already seventeen, didn’t have any skills or improvements and couldn’t see her potential, and yet she stayed at home and didn’t do much. Her only hope for bringing more influence to the family was through marriage.

Shangyang Linghui knew what her future entailed. She thought that, instead of her family choosing an unsatisfying partner for her, she’d rather chose actively for herself and pick a partner that she would like.

Outstanding people like Lu Sheng naturally showed on her radar. While other people were still thinking, she already begged Peipei to recommend her to him. Conveniently, Miss Jiuli was also worrying about how to bring Lu Sheng to her team.

Taking advantage of the situation at hand, she now had a possibility in front of her.