A burly man sat cross-legged on a stone bed, bloodthirsty energy swirling around him.
Suddenly, the one-horned man opened his eyes. A terrifying killing intent flashed within them, then quickly receded.
He looked at the stone door before him. With a thought, it rumbled open!
"Someone, come!" the one-horned man bellowed.
A tall, thin man wearing blue armor over his upper body rushed in from outside.
The tall man dropped to one knee. "Your Majesty. Congratulations on emerging from seclusion."
"Green Shrimp, has the young master returned?" The one-horned man looked down at the tall man below the stone bed and asked in a low voice.
"The young master... the young master took some little demons at the Xiantian level and went to the eight hundred miles of sea near Black Water Island to become the Sea Dragon Demon King..." the tall man answered respectfully.
"Sea Dragon Demon King... Let him make trouble if he wants!" A hint of affection flickered in the burly man's eyes. "Prepare a feast. Remember, catch several tender humans, wash them clean, and bring them all to me!"
"Yes!" The tall man bowed.
"Wait. You don't need to go to the human pens. I'll choose a few who catch my eye and bring them back to eat myself. Go prepare the feast." The one-horned man shook his head, then rose to his feet.
"Yes." The tall man nodded.
The burly one-horned man stepped down from the stone bed and leisurely walked beyond the stone door. Turning left, he made his way deeper into the shadowy cave.
"Humans are tastier when they have some cultivation, but those young and tender ones have a flavor all their own." The burly man licked his lips without thinking and soon reached the deepest part of the cave.
"Hm?"
Just as the one-horned man was slowly choosing among them, an immense Divine Sense swept over the entire island, then vanished in an instant.
"Divine Sense! A cultivator's Divine Sense!"
After waiting for over half an hour and carefully observing everything on the island, Lei Zhan finally decided to act.
"To be cautious, I'll first use my Divine Sense to cover the whole island and investigate. If the information about Heishui Fang and his daughter is inaccurate, I'll be prepared." Lei Zhan looked down and focused his mind.
"Whoosh~~~"
An immense, powerful Divine Sense immediately swept across the island, covering it completely.
In an instant, everything on Lone Dragon Island came within Lei Zhan's perception. He surveyed it inside and out, learning all there was to know in that brief moment.
Lei Zhan smiled and withdrew his Divine Sense as quickly as he had sent it out. "There really are quite a few demons occupying this island. Judging by their auras, there should only be one Myriad Phenomena-level Demon King, and he's in the late stage. There should also be more than ten great demons at the Purple Mansion level."
As for the lesser demons below the Purple Mansion level, Lei Zhan didn't bother with them. Even the Sea Dragon Demon King, a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator who practiced God-Devil Body Refining, had lasted only an instant against the Water-Fire Grinding Disc. Those little demons at the Xiantian level stood no chance.
Beneath the Water-Fire Grinding Disc, one sweep could wipe out a whole swath.
"Late-stage Myriad Phenomena... It'll take a little effort, but I can kill him." Lei Zhan murmured.
"Who is it? Who dares provoke my Lone Dragon Island?" A furious roar rang out from the island, echoing across the sea.
Whoosh!
A burly man with a single horn on his head flew out from the island, followed by more than ten demons in human form.
"A human boy at the Purple Mansion level? And you came alone?" The one-horned man narrowed his eyes, scanning the area before fixing his gaze on Lei Zhan. A trace of wariness showed in his eyes.
It was unusual for a human cultivator at the Purple Mansion level to possess Divine Sense.
Someone in such a situation was either exceptionally gifted or from a great clan or powerful faction.
If it was the latter...
A hint of greed flickered in the one-horned man's eyes, almost too subtle to notice. Disciples from great clans and powerful factions were troublesome, to be sure.
But cultivators like that were also the wealthiest. Killing just one could save him hundreds of years of cultivation and greatly increase his strength.
"Boy, whose brat are you? How dare you come looking for trouble with me, the Lone Dragon Demon King?" the Lone Dragon Demon King asked coldly. "Are you tired of living?"
"Lone Dragon Demon King? What a joke!" Lei Zhan burst out laughing. "You're nothing but a sea loach. A sea loach at the Purple Mansion level calls himself the Sea Dragon Demon King, and he sure has a big mouth. And you, this so-called Lone Dragon Demon King, are no better. Your whole family has no shame."
The moment he swept his Divine Sense over the island had been brief, but Lei Zhan had seen with his own eyes tens of thousands of humans penned deep within it like pigs and sheep.
These demons who kept humans penned up like that deserved to die, every last one!
"Hm? You're dead!" Killing intent flooded the Lone Dragon Demon King's eyes. "What have you done to my son? Tell me the truth, and I'll... make sure you die quickly!"
"Hmph! You?" Lei Zhan's entire body seethed with killing intent. At a thought, a Cold Shadow Divine Spear appeared in his hand.
"Die!"
Rumble!
Moisture surged through the sky. Countless azure waves appeared from nowhere, roaring and surging without end.
Then blazing flames swept over everything, their golden-red glow dyeing the entire sky scarlet.
Endless flames twined with a boundless blue sea. In the blink of an eye, they formed a gigantic Water-Fire Grinding Disc that enveloped the Lone Dragon Demon King and the Purple Mansion great demons behind him.
"Ah—!"
"W-what kind of technique is this?"
"Your Majesty, save us!"
The instant the Water-Fire Grinding Disc appeared, the fearsome Purple Mansion great demons were ground to nothing in a single exchange.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~
The moment those dozen or so Purple Mansion great demons died, a massive flood of baleful energy, resentment, and killing intent surged toward Lei Zhan like a rising tide. It raced straight into the lake of his Purple Mansion, where the three spears in it absorbed it all.
"Hm? It's Cold Shadow!" A smile touched Lei Zhan's face as he looked toward the Lone Dragon Demon King standing in the distance.
Those dozen Purple Mansion great demons had produced such a wealth of baleful energy and killing intent, and there was still a Myriad Phenomena-level great demon for him to kill!
"This... this is the Domain Realm of the Dao!"
The Lone Dragon Demon King's expression turned grim. The Water-Fire Grinding Disc's tremendous power of annihilation made him feel intensely threatened. Waves of pain pulsed through his body.
Whoosh!
Mist gathered around the Lone Dragon Demon King, transforming him into a one-horned black serpent, its body black as ink. Countless fine scales covered him, gleaming with a greenish light in the sun.
Rumble!
Rumble!
The enormous Water-Fire Grinding Disc enveloped most of the one-horned black serpent's massive body. The power of water and fire, infused with the true intent of the Dao of the Spear, ground against the serpent even more furiously.
At the same time, Lei Zhan's form blurred as he unleashed Law of Heaven and Earth, transforming into a six-zhang-tall giant. The Cold Shadow Divine Spear in his hand grew immense as well.
"Sea loach, die!" Lei Zhan's voice was icy. He turned into a streak of light and charged at the one-horned black serpent, who was resisting the Water-Fire Grinding Disc.
"You're asking for death!" The Lone Dragon Demon King fixed his enormous, frosty eyes on Lei Zhan. With a crash, his thick, powerful tail resisted the Water-Fire Grinding Disc's layers of grinding force and whipped straight at him.
Lei Zhan's mind stirred. His spear flashed like a shadow, sweeping out to meet it.
In an instant, the whole world seemed to roar with crashing waves. They surged in an all-consuming sweep toward the gigantic serpent's tail.
"Boom!"
The great tail and the spear collided, kicking up a storm that blotted out the sky. Blood and flesh rained down over the entire sky.
"What!" The one-horned black serpent grunted. His voice boomed like thunder, but was filled with terror. The fine, dark scales and flesh on his enormous tail had been blasted to pieces, leaving only a bare, pale tailbone.
How could the Lone Dragon Demon King have known? Lei Zhan's Cold Shadow Divine Spear was only six or seven zhang long, and its aura was no more than that of a high-grade human-rank weapon.
But Lei Zhan possessed the Three Realms' most powerful explosive divine ability, Star-Plucking Hand, and the Red Snow spear art, the greatest spear technique at the Celestial God level. He had also cultivated the Great Xia World's most powerful method, Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map, through God-Devil Body Refining. How could a Myriad Phenomena great demon from the Qi Refining Path possibly stand against him?
"Die!" Lei Zhan flicked his wrist and turned into a streak of light. His Cold Shadow Divine Spear shot toward the one-horned black serpent's head at incredible speed.
The spearhead thrust into the distance, and the very space seemed to split apart.
"Go! Go! Go!" The one-horned black serpent whipped his head around. Three flying swords, radiating powerful auras, shot out. Their surfaces gleamed with a dark green light, and a faintly sweet, fishy scent spread from them. Under the serpent's control, they shrieked toward Lei Zhan.
"Qi Refining Path techniques? Poison?" Lei Zhan frowned. One hundred and twenty-eight Rahula Divine Needles appeared before him.
The Rahula Divine Needles immediately split into two groups: one wreathed in blazing flames, the other surging like a blue sea. In an instant, they formed a gigantic Water-Fire Grinding Disc that swallowed the three dark green flying swords.
The Water-Fire Grinding Disc formed from Rahula Divine Needles was far more powerful than one that merely drew upon the Dao. Its might had surged by a whole level.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Water-Fire Grinding Disc spun. Its terrifying power of water and fire trapped the three earth-rank flying swords in a space no larger than a square inch, leaving them unable to move. Their power was being ground away by the moment.
It seemed to take a while, but all of it happened in an instant.
"Damn it!" The one-horned black serpent froze, pain twisting his enormous head. "You want my life? Then die!"
The horn atop his head, sharp as a spear, stabbed straight toward Lei Zhan's incoming weapon.
"Clutching at life as you die!" Lei Zhan's expression turned cold. He snorted. "Die!"
Splurt!
The spear flowed like water, its shadows overlapping. Lei Zhan easily slipped past the one-horned black serpent's horn and thrust straight into the eye on his left.
The spear twisted, and countless shafts of spear light raged through the enormous serpent's head.
The horned black serpent seemed to have every bone in his body ripped out. He collapsed limply.
"Whew." Lei Zhan slowly exhaled and waved his sleeve, collecting every treasure and magical item left behind by the dozen or so dead Purple Mansion great demons.
With another wave of his sleeve, he collected the one-horned black serpent's corpse and the three unclaimed earth-rank flying swords as well.
Street-Pavement Diary, Daily Entry
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The North Dark Sea holds many ruins left behind by gods and demons, as well as many gods and demons. There are plenty of small worlds too. That Golden Crow Immortal just got lucky. He was a fisherman's son, caught in a raging storm and swept to the bottom of the sea. When he woke up, he was in a cave abode, with divine abilities, cultivation methods, and secret arts all laid out before him. His Second Primordial Spirit was top-tier too. Though it came from possessing a Golden Crow Egg and was only eighty percent compatible with him, it still surpassed most treasures used to refine a Second Primordial Spirit.
So this opportunity... I, Lei Zhan, am taking it! That's not too much to ask, right?
And about the female lead—two of them! I'll have one in each arm, and no more than that!
Any more... and this struggling author might get as green-eyed as the brothers reading this!
Of course, whether there'll actually be two depends on how things go. It isn't set in stone. Beautiful women have minds of their own, and even a duck served up on a plate might still fly away.
That's all made up, of course.
Now for the key points. They're underlined. I have an exam next year! Even if it doesn't happen next year, it'll happen the year after!
Key point: the numbers have been a little poor lately. I'm begging you to keep reading! I'm worried I won't even get a second-round new-book recommendation this time.
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