Way of the Devil

After he exited the Prime Devil Sect’s Devil Palace, Lu Sheng went to the Research Temple. He wrote down all the precious skill formulas he had obtained in his recent Arrival with a secret code which he’d devised himself.

This code converted different characters into completely different symbols. Although it was a rather simple code, Lu Sheng had shuffled the words of his writings with a certain rhythm only he knew after writing in code for added measure.

Hence, if one did not know how to rearrange the words back in their proper order, no matter how knowledgeable or talented that person was, he would not be able to decipher what Lu Sheng had recorded.

Lu Sheng spent three whole days to completely record all the skill formulas which he deemed valuable. Memory was not completely dependable, as it would slowly change, fade, and distort with the passage of time. Even a genius would gradually forget some of the contents if he did not revise them often.

However, what Lu Sheng wanted was absolute memory.

After he finished recording, he summoned the Prime Devil Sect’s Elder Shi, the King of Shadows Xu Feila, and the others. After his departure, the Prime Devil Sect’s day-to-day operations were basically taken over by these high-ranking individuals.

After learning about the latest events from the Devil Kings under his command, Lu Sheng was hit with a sudden realization that he had been away for two years.

Fortunately, nothing much had changed in the Great Yin. The Imperial Court and the other continents were still locked in battle with the Devil World, and the royal family was caught up in a feud which was still unsettled.

The three great families maintained the status quo. After the three Weapon Grandmasters were heavily injured, they had gone into seclusion to recuperate. The three great families were currently in a loose state. The Divine Weapons which the families kept in their households were allowed to influence the decisions made for the families.

The three sects had also suffered great losses in the battle with the Devil Sect. The two Weapon Grandmasters were also recuperating in seclusion.

They were all Weapon Grandmasters, but it was clear that the two Weapon Grandmasters of the three sects, Weapon Grandmaster Aurora Polaris included, were inferior to the Weapon Grandmasters of the three great families.

In these recent years, Weapon Grandmaster Aurora Polaris had been suppressing the East Sea’s Gate of Illusion, and had never left. The Thousand Sun Sect enjoyed a period of calm. Nothing happened.

On the other hand, Li Shunxi’s good friend, Prince Qiong Shan, whom Lu Sheng had aided before, was being hunted down for keeping a Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon on him, and his whereabouts were unknown. The Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine weapon had also completely vanished. Nobody was able to find it.

Lu Sheng had roughly understood the current state of affairs. Then, he replaced he heart-controlling method within the Prime Devil Sect’s high-ranking individuals with the latest method which he had derived. After all that was done, he declared that he was out of his seclusion, and returned to the Lu Family in Autumn Moon City.

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

Song Recruiting Festival.

Firecrackers went on and on. Huge amounts of red and white remnants of the firecrackers flew everywhere.

In the middle of Autumn Moon City, there was a square plaza. It was filled with people at the moment—the crowd was facing the center.

In that small space, someone had placed four cows, a dozen pigs, and seven deer. The potential customers lined up to buy the products, and there was a designated person who sliced the meat into the required portions to sell.

The customers came in an unending stream. The line did not appear long, but with every customer leaving, there were new customers who took their place. There were no vacant spots at all.

Lu Sheng brought Lu Ning to a jade stall on the streets, and there they sat down. The two of them silently observed the busy meat-selling business taking place in the plaza.

The keeper of the stall and his staff went about their work dutifully. They tried their best to act as if they did not recognize these two customers.

“Dad, what’re these?” Lu Ning’s bloodline was different, and he was already able to speak fluently at the age of two. Currently, he was six years old. As he sat beside Lu Sheng, he was so fat that he appeared like a ball. Only three lines and two holes could be seen on his fair little face… Those were his eyes, mouth, and nostrils. Although his height was only slightly more than a meter, Lu Ning was almost a meter in width as well.

“These are livestock, but they’re not ordinary livestock,” Lu Sheng explained with a smile.

His recent Arrival had taken him two years. This was the amount of time passed even after taking into account the difference in the flow of time. If there was no difference in the flow of time, Lu Ning would have been around eight years old already.

Hence, he brought little Lu Ning out to visit the Autumn Moon City so that he would not seem too much of a stranger to him.

Coincidentally, there was a festival going on in the city. It was exceptionally lively. The locals were not the only ones who brought their families out to the streets—there were also people from other cities that came here to join in the festivities.

“Not ordinary livestock. What kind of meat is that?” Lu Ning asked, puzzled.

“Those are special livestock reared by feeding them the flash and blood of monsters. I was the one who feed them. After the Prime Devil Sect trimmed away the Devil Qi, the result is good quality meat. You can even replenish your Origin Qi by consuming it. However, the price of this meat isn’t something that anyone can afford. Most of them are just here to see what all the hype is all about,” Lu Sheng said with a smile.

He had Deep Blue with him, and spending some Mental Energy units to derive a minor method to trim away Devil Qi was a piece of cake. He taught this method to his subordinates in the Prime Devil Sect, and had them trim away the Devil Qi on the livestock fed with monster blood and flesh.

Hence, an extremely complete golden industry chain was created.

This was but a small area in which the Prime Devil Sect decided to advance in as it focused on inward stabilization after halting their expansion. There were many more similar businesses in operation.

The great battle went on, and the Prime Devil Sect started to prosper from it. With its immense financial power, it started to recruit the disciples from aristocratic families destroyed by the Devil Clan and also the elite rogue cultivators.

Lu Sheng was explaining the differences between the rearing methods in detail when a figure with a white cloth covering his head walked up to him slowly, and spoke in a gentle voice. “I see you’re in a good mood, Senior Apprentice Brother, posing as an ordinary man to visit this lively scene.”

“Junior Apprentice Brother Zhu?” Lu Sheng released Lu Ning with a lazy expression, and allowed Lu Ning to join in the bustling scene on his own. He pointed at the newcomer with a finger, signaling him to find a seat.

“Why’re you so free that you can come visit my place?” Lu Sheng was slightly surprised.

This person before him was not too close with him. However, they were both disciples taken in by Su Ningfei before. Hence, they were not too distant, either.

The man who stood before Lu Sheng was big and tall; his appearance was boorish, and his faint red hair was scattered in curls. He resembled a red-haired lion whose martial might surpassed the others’.

This person’s name was Zhu Shejun, and he was just recently taken in by Su Ningfei. However, unlike Lu Sheng, he was a real direct disciple who lived up to his name.

However, although this person was a direct disciple, due to Su Ningfei’s eccentric nature, he was also taken advantage of, just as Lu Sheng. Although he had attained the Divine Weapon Master tier with amazing speed, the hardships he endured were far more than what Lu Sheng had experienced. It would take too long to tell that in full.

Zhu Shejun sat down casually in a chair beside Lu Sheng. He wore a helpless expression.

“What else is able to forcibly drag me out from my secluded cultivation if not Teacher’s decrees? It’s so frustrating! I’d just managed to cultivate a third devil bone. Just a few more clusters of flames, and I’d be able to break through…”

Lu Sheng immediately displayed a sympathetic look.

The method which Zhu Shejun cultivated involved the inherited Divine Weapon of his family. His cultivation base was improved by cultivating devil bones, and a single devil bone took at least a year to cultivate. Su Ningfei’s decree had thrown his one year’s worth of hard work into the sea. Su Ningfei was truly self-willed.

However, the two of them knew that Su Ningfei did not care about her disciples at all. The person she truly cared about was her daughter Su Yuanyuan, who was, once again, missing.

“She ran away again?” asked Lu Sheng, startled.

“Mm-hm…” Zhu Shejun nodded helplessly. “That’s not all, she’s even caused some trouble. In order to aid the Ten-Thousand Transformation Divine Weapon’s master, the prince Qiong Shan, and the disciple of the Three Sacred Gates Li Shunxi, she even stole the teacher’s final Yangluo Petrifying Second Wood Divine Thunder…”

“Is that the outrageous Divine Thunder that can petrify 1500 kilometers of land with a single unit?” Lu Sheng’s expression was immediately anxious.

He knew about this object. It was one of the formidable trump cards up Su Ningfei’s sleeve which she had worked hard to cultivate in order to fight against her great enemies.

Ordinary Divine Lords would not want to mess with Divine Thunder, and would only cultivate some ordinary thunder of the five elements or some essence prime thunder pills. The items that could bear the name Divine Thunder were terrifying killing weapons that possessed peak destructive powers.

“That’s right…” Zhu Shejun nodded his head helplessly again. “Currently, she’s being held within the Thousand Dragon Cave on the Yellow Mountain by dragon elder Qian Jin’s formation. It has been three days. When Teacher found out about this, she sent someone to me and wanted me to seek your help in rescuing her…”

Lu Sheng understood immediately.

The Petrifying Divine Thunder which Su Ningfei cultivated was as powerful as half her own strength. If Junior Apprentice Sister Su Yuanyuan was forced to use it… Su Ningfei was worried that the outcome would be extremely unpleasant. This was especially true when the current state of affairs was stable, and the Human and Devil Worlds were at war. The Weapon Grandmasters would certainly not allow there to be such a disturbance in the human lands.

Even though they had gone into seclusion to tend to their wounds, there were still the two Weapon Grandmasters of the three sects who oversaw the entire land. Weapon Grandmaster Aurora Polaris was generous and mild, but he would definitely not allow his little sister to create such a problem.

Lu Sheng’s mind turned quickly. He reckoned that he would have to encounter the Thousand Sun Sect’s master, Weapon Grandmaster Aurora Polaris, in this mission which he would carry out with Zhu Shejun.

“The sect master knows that you’ve returned to tend to your injuries. Even so, he still had to trouble you, and he couldn’t get over it. Hence, he had me bring this to you.” Zhu Shejun turned his hand, and produced a palm-sized yellow clay tablet.

“What’s this?” Lu Sheng focused his gaze on it.

“This is a Divine Sword clay tablet which contains the records of the demon clan’s sacred deeds. It’s said that it contains records of a powerful method of the demon clan that tempers the cultivator’s body to the extreme. However, there’s only a part of it here, and the cultivation method itself is incomplete. The demon clan traded this with many precious skill formulas from the human clan,” Zhu Shejun explained. “This will be your payment for going out to contain the situation.”

“Alright. I’ve been resting for quite some time anyways. It’s time I move my limbs around a little,” Lu Sheng agreed cheerfully.

He could vaguely sense that the contents of this clay tablet would possibly be of much help to him. After all, this was an item which was even treasured by Su Ningfei.

“You’re quite straightforward, Senior Apprentice Brother.” Zhu Shejun flung the clay tablet toward Lu Sheng. “Alright, I still have some responsibilities to tend to. I’ll be taking my leave.” He stood up and cupped his fists in salute. Then, he turned around, and quickly vanished among the crowd.

Lu Sheng caught the clay tablet, and scrutinized the seemingly messy marks on it.

These marks appeared random enough. However, if one studied them carefully, one would notice that there seemed to be something mystical about them. They seemed to be able to guide Lu Sheng’s attention until he could not yank his eyes off them.

‘This seems like the actual clay tablet whose replica Su Ningfei tricked me with. I think the sect master is aware of this grudge between us, and went out of his way to retrieve this clay tablet from Su Ningfei. This is so that the misunderstanding between Su Ningfei and me can be resolved. I don’t envy his job as the sect master…’ Lu Sheng shook his head. He felt as if the Weapon Grandmaster Aurora Polaris was a helpless elder brother who had to take care of his sister’s loose ends.

Even when he was gravely injured, he still remembered to settle his little sister’s personal affairs.