Crimson Flame Demon Lord

Hearing these three questions, the Red-Haired Man still didn't take them seriously.

"So you're in a hurry to die." He let out a loud laugh. "I am the Crimson Flame Demon Lord..."

"You're the Crimson Flame Demon Lord?" Lin Chen shot back loudly. "I'm the Crimson Flame Demon Lord too."

The Red-Haired Man froze for a moment, then glared at Lin Chen in fury.

"You're full of shit! I'm the one who..."

The title Crimson Flame Demon Lord was something he'd fought tooth and nail for, through thousands of battles, back in the day.

How could he let anyone defile it?

Lin Chen chuckled. "You can't deny it—'Crimson Flame Demon Lord' is just a name. Anyone in this world can call themselves that.

Since anyone can, then when you say you're the Crimson Flame Demon Lord, aren't you saying you're me? And when I say I'm the Crimson Flame Demon Lord, aren't I saying I'm you?

You are me, I am you, but you're not me, and I'm not you—so you can't claim to be the Crimson Flame Demon Lord. Now please answer again: who are you?"

Lin Chen's tone was calm, but to the Red-Haired Man's ears, it was thunderous and deafening.

He began to ponder who he was. The more he thought, the more confused he became.

Gradually, he grew agitated, and the chains binding him started to rattle. "I... I am... Crim... no, no, no! I am... who the hell am I?"

The Red-Haired Man flew into a rage.

His crimson hair stood on end, and a savage aura radiated from his body.

Ripples of spatial distortion spread outward from him in all directions.

Seeing this, Lin Chen was also taken aback.

To be honest, he'd just been spouting nonsense—he didn't even know what he was saying himself.

He never expected that it would actually drive a Demon Lord to a mental breakdown.

Still, he guessed that this Old Devil wasn't right in the head to begin with, which was why he'd been so easy to trip up.

This was exactly the outcome he'd wanted to see.

"Enough!"

He shouted loudly. "Since you can't answer that, then answer my next question: where do you come from, and where are you going?"

Hearing his words, the Red-Haired Man didn't calm down at all—instead, he grew even more frantic and unhinged.

"Hahaha... I come from the Demon Realm, I'm going to... going to... where am I going? Ahhh—"

The Red-Haired Man's eyes turned bloodshot, his hair and beard bristling. Though his power was suppressed, the residual force was still terrifying.

Boom!

In that instant of eruption, the space around him trembled, and fine cracks appeared in the air.

Seeing the danger, Lin Chen grabbed He Yiliang from the ground and retreated.

Watching the Spirit Stones scattered everywhere, Lin Chen's heart bled.

But he knew he couldn't take them.

Because they were part of the sealing formation. If he moved them, the consequences would be unpredictable.

If that Old Devil got loose, it would be a disaster.

"No way forward—time to gamble!"

Lin Chen aimed for the stone wall he'd entered through and charged headfirst.

Ouch!

Lin Chen smashed a crater into the wall and landed on his ass.

He'd come in just fine, but now he couldn't get back out!

Behind him, the Old Devil was going berserk, hurling Space Walls one after another. If one of those hit him, he'd be dead or crippled.

Wasn't this a death sentence?

Lin Chen stowed He Yiliang's body into his Storage Ring and scanned his surroundings again.

At the critical moment, his Spiritual Sense kicked in, and he noticed a passage beneath the ore vein leading downward.

He had no time to think about anything else.

Lin Chen rushed over in a few quick strides and dove straight in.

The sounds from outside vanished instantly.

The passage spiraled downward, then ran straight, then doubled back, and finally climbed upward the whole way.

After a full half-hour, Lin Chen miraculously found the exit.

The moment he stepped out, he froze.

He was outside the Green Mountain Sect.

On a nondescript little hill a few hundred meters from the mountain gate.

This place was covered by weeds and bushes; if he hadn't come out from here, he would never have known this cave entrance existed.

"How interesting!"

Lin Chen looked around from the hilltop.

A small path passed not far away.

Judging by the road's condition, it seemed people walked here often.

Lin Chen felt this matter wasn't so simple.

He followed the path down the mountain.

As he walked, he observed and gathered useful information.

Crossing mountains and ridges, he actually found a village.

From afar, the village was shrouded in a mist like smoke and clouds, impossible to see clearly.

Lin Chen quickened his pace. When he drew near, a thick stench of blood rushed at him.

"Killing intent!"

Lin Chen drew his Flying Sword, spread his Spiritual Sense, and advanced slowly.

Under the coverage of his Spiritual Sense, a corpse with blood-red hair and a blackened body appeared ahead.

"A member of the Devil Race?"

Lin Chen was shocked in his heart.

How could there be a Devil Race member at the foot of Green Mountain Sect?

"Little Junior Brother, why are you here?"

Just then, Ming Bufan's voice suddenly came from ahead.

Lin Chen didn't relax; instead, he was fully on guard. "Who are you? How dare you imitate Senior Brother's voice?"

Before his words faded, Ming Bufan had already appeared beside him and reached out to pat his shoulder.

Lin Chen only felt the scene before him change, and the next moment, he was in a courtyard.

In the courtyard, he saw Zhao Qingshan pacing back and forth with a gloomy expression.

Second Senior Sister Jian Rushuang sat pale-faced in a chair, bloodstains on her arm—she must have been injured.

"Master, Senior Brother, Second Senior Sister, where is this? What happened to you?"

Lin Chen was full of confusion.

Today's events were far too bizarre for him.

Even now, he was still in a fog.

"Fourth Disciple, how did you get out? This is utter nonsense!" Zhao Qingshan's face was stern.

This mission was too dangerous; he hadn't even brought Qi Ruming.

Even so, Jian Rushuang had been injured, and they still hadn't killed the Evil Cultivator.

"Master, it's like this..." Lin Chen answered truthfully, starting from when he encountered He Yiliang's Ghost all the way to the present.

By the end, Zhao Qingshan had already understood.

Thinking of how detestable these people were, his face turned ashen, and he was furious enough to explode.

"Outrageous. This is clearly raising Gu."

He smashed the ground with one palm, directly blasting a large crater beneath his feet.

"Master, are you saying someone imprisoned members of the Devil Race, using souls and blood to exchange for Devil bloodline and cultivate Human Devils?" Ming Bufan quickly caught on.

Zhao Qingshan nodded. "This massacre of the village by the Human Devil was definitely their experiment. Unfortunately, we arrived too late."

The entire village, from eighty-year-old elders to infants under one year old, had all been slaughtered.

It was utterly cruel.

Most importantly, they had taken the souls and blood.

It was easy to imagine that next time, they would definitely cause an even greater massacre.

Originally, they had no leads and were ready to give up.

Who could have guessed that Lin Chen would suddenly bring good news?

This kid was practically a lucky star!

Zhao Qingshan's gaze toward Lin Chen even turned kind. "Fortunately, Fourth Disciple stumbled onto the root of the problem. But we can't go destroy it yet. Once they get the blood and souls, they'll definitely go exchange for more Devil blood, cultivate more Human Devils, and then strike again. When that happens, we'll wipe them all out in one go. Fourth Disciple..."

"Disciple is here!" Lin Chen bowed with his hands clasped.

Zhao Qingshan nodded in satisfaction. "Do you still remember the way there?"

"I remember." Lin Chen lifted his head.

"Good, Bufan, you and Rushuang clean up here. Fourth, you take your master to have a look."

The four split up.

Lin Chen led Zhao Qingshan back into the underground passage.

After countless twists and turns, they entered that mysterious space.

"Who am I? Who the hell am I?"

As soon as they showed themselves, they heard the Crimson Flame Demon Lord roaring in fury.

Zhao Qingshan listened with a bewildered look. "What's wrong with him?"

"Uh... maybe he's gone crazy from being locked up!" Lin Chen scratched his head and quickly changed the subject. "Master, can we take away the Spirit Stone vein here?"

"What are you thinking?" Zhao Qingshan chided lightly. "This is the energy source suppressing the Purple Demon Abyss. Taking these Spirit Stones would only release more demons..."

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Zhao Qingshan immediately realized that Lin Chen wasn't talking about them taking the Spirit Stones, but about the enemy taking them. What then?