Way of the Devil

“Empress Wa’s dream can only be entered using the spirit. There’s no other way,” said the Indefinite Cult Master in a deep voice.

Lu Sheng nodded with his back toward her. He paused slightly before extending his right hand, and then touched the surface of the black sphere.

This time, it felt completely different. The black sphere resembled a real cave entrance as it swallowed up his arm.

Lu Sheng pulled his arm back out slowly and inspected his own skin. There were no problems.

“Well then, I’ll be heading in. Please make your moves quick,” he reminded them as he turned around.

“We know what to do.” The Indefinite Cult Master nodded.

Throughout the recent years, the three of them had worked together to obtain more of Empress Wa’s Essential Essence. They began by cautiously probing Empress Wa, and gradually familiarized themselves with the method.

Although they had never succeeded, the three of them knew where they had failed.

It was that they either did not synchronize the extraction of the soul well, or could not extract the Spiritual Qi in time.

They had to merge Empress Wa’s soul and Spiritual Qi within the extremely short window if they wanted to obtain Empress Wa’s Essential Essence.

“Let’s go. We should make our move as well,” said the Spring Autumn Sect Master coldly.

“Naturally,” the Indefinite Cult Master responded with a smile.

The two of them seemingly vanished on the spot at the same time.

“Pchht!”

With a flurry of movement, Lu Sheng plunged into the black sphere.

This was not his first time entering the black sphere. However, he still could not get used to it.

Darkness rolled over his eyes. He staggered, and dived into a patch of gray soil.

All his powers were instantly shackled. This was Empress Wa’s dreamland. Her Spirit Power was so great that Lu Sheng could not even imagine.

Due to the overly wide gap between their spirits, it took Lu Sheng everything he had to maintain his own form within the dreamland.

It was as if he had leapt into a thick swamp filled with mud. It was already a commendable feat for him to keep himself from sinking.

Lu Sheng steadied himself on the soil and shook his head. He focused his attention and started looking about himself.

His surroundings seemed boundless. It was a completely gray land. He could occasionally spot withered trees which spread out their branches like claws.

The skies were filled with slowly floating gray clouds. Besides the color of gray, there was nothing else in this place.

Lu Sheng looked at his own body. His white robes had also turned gray without him noticing.

‘This resembles the World of Pain… but not entirely.’ He frowned. ‘I must quickly look for Empress Wa’s spirit.’

It was not a difficult task to get his hands on Empress Wa’s soul.

All he had to do was to look for Empress Wa’s spirit which wandered across the dreamland, do something to startle her, slip past the openings of her emotions, and obtain her crystalized soul.

Lu Sheng did not know what form Empress Wa’s spirit had.

Before this, it was humanoid. Sometimes it was an ordinary young girl, sometimes it was a little child, and sometimes it was some other female.

However, it seemed to be more difficult this time.

Lu Sheng looked around him. He attempted to look for any signs of life.

Unfortunately, he was surrounded by a boundless barren land. There was nothing else besides the withered trees.

“Fooh…”

Suddenly, a long, huge black shadow fell from the skies. It crashed heavily into the ground not far from Lu Sheng.

“Boom!”

Lu Sheng reeled from the hurricane it drew up, and barely managed to steady himself after a few somersaults.

Because of the suppression by Empress Wa’s spirit, Lu Sheng could not influence the dreamland which her spirit had formed. In here, he was a mere mortal.

Lu Sheng managed to regain his footing after much trouble, and he looked up. It was only now that he saw what had just descended.

It was a giant elephant trunk which had descended from the skies!

The thick elephant trunk was continuously sucking out black water from the ground’s surface. The black water splashed out of the hole the elephant trunk made in the ground.

“Mooo!”

A dragged-out howl came from behind the clouds.

Lu Sheng looked up in the direction of the sound. However, he could not see anything else other than the clouds.

“Do you see it?” A clear voice came from behind Lu Sheng.

“This is a sky elephant. We must leave this place, quick. Otherwise, the crust here will completely crumble. By then, we won’t be able to run even if we wanted to.”

Lu Sheng was slightly startled. He hastily turned his head to look.

Without him noticing, a beautiful young girl in her early teens had appeared behind him.

A rectangular silver-gray car was parked not far from the girl.

“Come, let’s leave this place for now. We can’t do anything about the mining of black water for now. The sky elephant won’t stop until it dries the black water completely.

Lu Sheng gave it some consideration. Then, he followed the girl into the car from the right side.

The inside of the car was like a typical nomadic tent. There were chairs, tables, a bed, and silverware.

Besides the teenage girl, there was another petite young girl who looked to be about eight years old. She was lying unconscious on the bed. There was also an old man who seemed to be immersed in his drawing at the table.

The driver was a strong man who stood in front of the car.

After the teenage girl and Lu Sheng got in, the car was started, and the engine revved like a motorcar as it drove away into the distance.

“Would you like some hot tea?” The teenage girl sat Lu Sheng down on a chair and poured him a cup of hot tea.

“Thank you.” Lu Sheng accepted the cup and took a sip. He threw furtive glances at the girl on the bed and this teenage girl.

He could not ascertain which one of them was Empress Wa’s spirit.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a living person.” The teenage girl smiled brightly. “Hi, you can call me Luchi. They’re my family. What’s your name?”

“Hezhen.” Lu Sheng casually told her his Taoist title. As long as it was not his real name, anything was alright.

“Hezhen?” What a strange name.” The teenage girl smiled, and started introducing the others. She pointed at the little girl on the bed, and said, “She’s my little sister. Her name’s Sheqiang.

“That’s my grandfather, Fuqiang,” she said as she pointed at the old man.

Finally, she pointed at the strong driver with a smile, and said, “And the driver’s name is Zhongnian Buyu.”

“Hello, I’m Zhongnian Buyu.” The driver turned around and greeted Lu Sheng.

“Hello…” Lu Sheng strongly resisted the urge to roast them. With their wacky names, she had no right to say that his name was strange…

“I think it’s fate that brought us together in this barren wilderness,” said the teenage girl Luchi with a smile. “Come to think of it, it’s been many years since I’ve encountered a living person. We came here to absorb some black water and refuel, but we didn’t manage to find any fuel, yet we ran into you.”

“What is this place? I have no idea why I’m here. I found myself here when I opened my eyes.” Lu Sheng made a flustered expression and spoke as if he was troubled.

“You don’t even know what kind of place this is?” Luchi was immediately surprised.

“Yeah… I lay down to rest on my bed. When I came to, I was standing here…” Lu Sheng’s maximum level psychological guidance art unleashed its powerful effects. There were no flaws in his act.

“This is the Obscene Language Desert!” Luchi exclaimed loudly. “The Obscene Language Desert is one of the most terrifying forbidden lands in the world! To think that you’ve barged in here without knowing a thing. What if the sky elephant came crashing down on you—”

“Alright, alright. Calm down, Luchi.” The old man who had been sprawled on the table while he painted lifted his head and interrupted her. “Isn’t this young man doing just fine?”

“He is… However, with another mouth to feed, our rations and drinking water might not be enough.” Luchi was starting to be troubled.

“That’s alright. I remember that there’s a depot right up ahead. However, we have to be careful of the little tadpoles. This is the season when the little tadpoles come looking for their mommies…” said the old man softly.

Suddenly, a loud sound was heard.

“Quick! Get down! Here come the little tadpoles!” The old man’s expression changed drastically, and he quickly fell to the ground.

Luchi became ghastly pale as she pulled Lu Sheng toward the floor with her.

“Boom!”

Lu Sheng raised his head. Through the car’s window, he could see a terrifying black tadpole with a body as long as 1000 meters. It was wagging its tail as it swam past the right side of the car.

‘What in tarnations is this!?’ Internally, Lu Sheng was at a loss whether he should be laughing or crying.

“Quick! Turn left! To the left!” The old man’s shouts blared against their eardrums.

The driver Zhongnian Buyu twisted the steering wheel, and the car swerved to the left.

“Boom!”

The car had just left its spot when a huge black figure came crashing down from the skies. It was another little tadpole.

“Keep going to the left. There’s more!” Lu Chi screamed.

“I’m doing my best!” Zhongnian Buyu roared. His muscles bulged and he was drenched in sweat. He was clearly giving it his all.

The car swerved and practically made a sharp 90-degrees turn to the left.

“Boom!”

The black tail of a little tadpole crashed heavily into the spot where the car once had been. Although it only scratched the side, it still left the entire vehicle shaking.

“Careful! In front! Front! Aaah! We’re going to crash!” The pitch of Luchi’s scream even changed halfway through.

“Turn the wheel! Turn!” the old man roared wildly.

“I know! I’m doing it!” the strong man roared back as he held the steering wheel in a death grip.

“Boom!”

A little tadpole rammed into the car from the front.

There was a loud sound that could not be described.

Lu Sheng’s consciousness slipped as he was tossed mercilessly into the air. His head collided with the car’s ceiling, and he came crashing back down.

The others tumbled in awkward positions as well. The inside of the car was a dreadful mess.

Everything only quieted down after a long pause.

“Finally… It’s finally ended…” The old man was lying on his side. He was extremely weak.

Lu Sheng reached out and grabbed a transparent crystal which was lying on the floor close to him.

He was the only one in the car who could see this crystal. It was as if the crystal itself did not exist in the first place.

“Empress Wa’s soul…” This was the first time Lu sheng got his hands on it this easily. However, this was also his first experience of not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

He looked at Luchi and the little girl Sheqiang on the bed again. Empress Wa was surely one of these two. However, he did not have the time to differentiate between them right now.

“Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt?” Luchi’s head was covered in blood as she went over to the old man and helped him up. Then, she came to Lu Sheng and helped him up.

“I’m… I’m alright…” Lu Sheng stood up in a daze. He was still holding the chunk of Empress Wa’s soul in his hand.

“What… is this place?”

“You’ll get used to it,” Luchi said as she shook her head. “We’re actually lucky today. One time, we encountered a natural disaster. That’s worse. Before this, there were five of us…”

“What natural disaster?” Lu Sheng suddenly had an ominous feeling.