“The Fear Demon King... is just a cluster of pixels?”
Chen Xu pointed at the screen on the left side of the spring and asked curiously.
“Yes. The Fear Demon King’s form is unique; the Spring of Divine Vision cannot reflect its true appearance and can only substitute it with a blurry shadow.”
The Lord of Heaven swiped his right hand to the left. The divided spring water merged back together, and the historical footage vanished instantly, leaving only the scene of the Immortal-Yokai war.
“The Seven Demon Kings of Hell: Destruction, Fear, Hatred, Torment, Pain, Sin, and Lies.
“Among them, Fear, Torment, and Pain are rather special.”
“Special? Is it because of the Dao principles they master?”
The Lord of Heaven shook his head and continued his explanation.
“All demons originate from the primal blood sea; they are transformed from the source essence blood of Hell. This is true for Destruction, Hatred, Sin, and Lies.
“However, Fear, Torment, and Pain are demons produced through another path. Their connection to Hell is deeper—one could even say they are a part of Hell itself.
“Furthermore, their birth is related to the Immortal Dao.”
At this point, the Lord of Heaven suddenly turned his head to look at Chen Xu.
“It is also somewhat related to you, or rather, the necrotic authority you possess.”
“Me?”
Chen Xu quickly searched through his memories and soon understood the Lord of Heaven’s meaning.
“You mean... the Severing the Corpse Method?”
“Indeed. When Hell saw the undead using the Severing the Corpse Method to cut away their authority, they thought to imitate it. They obtained a peculiar version of the method from an unknown source and severed Fear, Torment, and Pain from themselves one by one.
“The three things that were severed became the Demon Kings of Hell. During that period, Hell’s mental state did improve significantly, but soon enough, it reverted to its state of madness.”
Hearing this, Chen Xu was greatly shocked. As expected of the Lord of Heaven, his insider information was extensive.
Heaven and Hell had been at odds for countless years. When it came to understanding Hell, if the Lord of Heaven claimed to be second, absolutely no one would dare claim to be first.
If one wanted to know the secrets of Hell, one had to seek out the Lord of Heaven.
Chen Xu looked at the Spring of Divine Vision. The image reflected in the water showed the Immortal cultivators and Yokai demons locked in a fierce, chaotic battle.
“So, this systemic conflict between the Immortal and Yokai paths is truly being guided by Hell from behind the scenes?”
“Yes.”
The Lord of Heaven nodded slightly and continued.
“The conflict between Immortals and Yokai is indeed due to Hell’s guidance. This isn’t a recent development; Hell has been doing this for a very long time.
“The first Immortal-Yokai War was the handiwork of the Demon King of Pain. Several subsequent wars also bore the marks of the other two Demon Kings.
“As for the last time, both sides became truly enraged. They started fighting directly without waiting for a Demon King to provoke them from the shadows, and that was the highest intensity war in their history.
“That battle shattered dozens of worlds belonging to the Immortal and Yokai civilizations. Countless lives were lost, and an untold number of powerhouses fell.”
“Then, have you ever told them that Hell is the one causing trouble behind their backs?”
“Heh, why do you think they would listen to me?
“You must realize that besides being the World Lord of a special world, I am also the God-Lord of the largest pantheon in the Myriad Worlds. In the eyes of the Immortals and Yokai, I am equally a massive threat.”
The Lord of Heaven’s words immediately silenced Chen Xu.
It made sense. In the Myriad Worlds, the Divine Dao was indeed not very well-received by other systems, let alone the fact that the Lord of Heaven was the supreme leader of the Divine Dao.
Whether it was the Immortal, Yokai, Martial, or Shamanic paths, transitioning between them took a certain amount of time.
But to transition into the Divine Dao, one only needed to offer faith; the identity could be changed in an instant.
Among the other major systems, the Shamanic path had a hundred schools of thought and was not very exclusionary toward the Divine Dao, but the others were constantly on guard against it.
After these words, the two fell into silence.
The Lord of Heaven stared intently at the battle scene in the spring, seemingly weighing something in his mind.
Chen Xu also stared at the screen, waiting for the Lord of Heaven to continue.
Chen Xu felt that since the Lord of Heaven had already been watching and had locked onto the Immortal-Yokai conflict before he even arrived in Heaven, it meant the Lord of Heaven already had a corresponding countermeasure or some sort of plan. Letting Chen Xu see the images in the Spring of Divine Vision was likely intentional as well.
Sure enough, before long, the Lord of Heaven spoke again, breaking the silence.
“The Martial Path has already been hit, so it is quite ill-timed for the Immortal and Yokai paths to continue their war.
“Hell has already won the first round. We must control the direction of events and curb the development of her plans.
“At the very least, we need to buy some time for you and your undead to grow further. In the meantime, you should reconsider the proposal I made back then.”
After saying this, eighteen light wings rose behind the Lord of Heaven. A magnificent set of armor appeared out of thin air and automatically equipped itself onto his body.
The Holy Light Greatsword was held in his hand, and the Covenant Tome floated and revolved around him.
This appearance was exactly the official likeness of the Lord of Heaven within the Heavenly Pantheon.
Immediately after, a ripple emanated from the Covenant Tome, and a Heaven’s Gate slowly opened.
The light wings behind the Lord of Heaven spread wide. Holy Light shone forth, passing through the Lord of Heaven and blasting toward the other side of the gate—into the Immortal-Yokai battlefield.
The Holy Light shot out with magnificent momentum, instantly drawing the attention of both sides on the battlefield.
“Holy Light? Why has that person come here as well?”
“Heaven... Hmph, the Immortal Path has truly fallen into decline if they have to call for outside help. Minions, withdraw for now!”
The Lord of Heaven merged into the Holy Light and descended onto the battlefield.
In the next moment, the Immortal Dao Lords—Hunyuan, Taihao, Xianwu, Qingming, Huangtian, Tianta, and Li Taiji—also revealed themselves.
On the other side, the Dao Lords of the Yokai faction also broke into this minor realm.
There was the arrogant and domineering Dragon Emperor; the Dark Phoenix, surrounded by baleful aura; the Black Tortoise, with its unfathomable presence and massive size; the Divine Deer, accompanied by auspicious clouds; the Black Tiger, overflowing with killing intent; the Heavenly Dragon, with its myriad legs and a hundred million eyes; and a blood-crimson Qilin.
Within this small world, fourteen Dao Lord-level powerhouses had gathered, and their terrifying auras clashed within the space.
At the point where the auras collided, the space emitted a groan of being overburdened and began to crack.
The surrounding cultivators and ordinary yokai were even more unfortunate. To encounter such a rare scene was a curse; under the wash of those terrifying auras, every one of them was unable to move.
Their souls were like duckweed in the rain, at the mercy of the wind and the downpour.
The Lord of Heaven stood between the two paths. Though he bore the pressure from both sides, he appeared unperturbed, fully displaying the demeanor of the first God-Lord.
The Dragon Emperor of the Yokai race was the first to speak, his voice deep like rolling thunder.
“Lord of Heaven, why have you intruded into the battlefield of my race and the Immortal Path alone?”
The Lord of Heaven did not pay any mind to the Dragon Emperor. Instead, he closed his eyes and silently spread his Holy Light, searching for the location of the Fear Demon King.
Seeing that the Lord of Heaven did not respond, the Dragon Emperor instantly flew into a rage. In an instant, it condensed several water orbs containing terrifying energy.
“Lord of Heaven, if you still refuse to answer, do not blame me for being rude!”
The water orbs circled the Dragon Emperor’s neck, and its divine sense locked onto the Lord of Heaven, but it did not strike immediately.
It only wanted to use this method to force the Lord of Heaven to respond.
The Yokai race did not belong to the True Dragons alone; the Lord of Heaven was a colossus that it had to treat with caution.
Similarly, the Immortal Path was also curious about the Lord of Heaven’s purpose. Both sides fixed their gazes on him, waiting for his answer.
However, they did not receive an answer from the Lord of Heaven. Instead, they received one from the Lord of the Undead.
After the Lord of Heaven passed through the Heaven’s Gate, the gate did not close. Chen Xu guessed that it had been left open specifically for him.
Thus, Chen Xu followed close behind and arrived in the Immortal-Yokai Minor Realm.
However, he did not reveal his aura. Instead, he restrained it. In this minor realm filled with the chaotic auras of multiple Dao Lords, no one noticed him for a moment.
“The Lord of Heaven and I have come for only one thing.”
Everyone’s gaze was instantly drawn to Chen Xu, shifting away from the Lord of Heaven.
“And who are you?”
The Dragon Emperor looked at Chen Xu, a trace of wariness flickering in its eyes.
“I am the Lord of the Un—”
Before Chen Xu could finish his self-introduction, the Lord of Heaven below opened his eyes and suddenly struck.
The Holy Light Greatsword slashed out. A shadow of the blade carved across the ground, and the earth instantly split open, exposing the yokai hidden beneath the surface.
Then, the Lord of Heaven struck with another sword. Two sword lights overlapped, forming a Holy Light Cross that landed on an earthworm yokai.
“Lord of Heaven, you!”
On the Yokai side, the Heavenly Dragon, who was also a worm-type yokai, let out a furious roar. But soon, its millions of eyes noticed something strange.
From the body of the earthworm yokai pinned down by the Holy Light Cross, a strange black mist was continuously seeping out.
Under the erosion of the black mist, the Holy Light Cross actually began to turn transparent.
How was this possible? That earthworm was merely a small legendary-tier yokai. It had no Great Yokai bloodline nor any dharma treasures to protect itself. How could it possibly have the power to resist the Lord of Heaven’s attack?
“Damned Heaven! Disgusting Holy Light!”
A violent voice rang out from within the earthworm yokai. A massive cloud of black mist exploded outward, snapping the Holy Light Cross in two.
This cluster of eerie black fog first shot a vicious glare at the Lord of Heaven, then pierced through space and departed from this minor realm.
“How is that possible!”
Seeing the black fog leave, the Dark Phoenix of the Yokai race let out a cry of surprise.
The moment the black fog appeared, the phoenix had enveloped the minor realm in its netherfire specifically to seal the space.
Yet, that strange black fog had actually ignored its netherfire, passing through the barrier and vanishing without a trace.
Only then did the Lord of Heaven sheathe his greatsword. He first looked at the Dragon Emperor, his gaze pausing for a moment, before shifting to the Dark Phoenix.
“Why wouldn’t it be possible? Unless your netherfire can compare to the flames of Hell, how exactly did you expect to stop Fear?”
“Fear?”
Hunyuan Dao Lord spoke up abruptly.
“That black fog just now... was the Fear Demon King?”
Rate on N.U.
