"These demonfolk have committed countless sins..."
Lei Zhan furrowed his brow slightly. He stood silently in the air above Lone Dragon Island as visible wisps of baleful energy, malevolence, and murderous aura streamed toward him from the demonfolk corpses below.
A faint crimson glow enveloped Lei Zhan completely, while waves of fierce energy poured into the Cold Shadow Divine Spear in his hand.
Besides that, a large portion flowed into the Purple Mansion in his dantian. Above the lake in that Purple Mansion, which seemed to exist between reality and illusion, floated the two remaining Cold Shadow Divine Spears.
"Divine Demon Blood-Refined Divine Weapons absorb baleful energy, malevolence, murderous aura, and all manner of similar forces. They have to be used to personally slay their foes... but after killing these sinful demonfolk, the bloodlust, malevolence, and murderous aura they give off are all excellent nourishment for Cold Shadow."
Lei Zhan enveloped all three Cold Shadow Divine Spears with his Divine Sense. Together, they devoured the baleful energy, greedily sucking it in.
The surface of each spear also revealed the same ancient God-Devil Script: "Slaughter." All three were undergoing a transformation.
After a long while, everything finally settled. Only the island remained, drenched in a rain of blood.
"These demonfolk have certainly served their purpose." A faint smile appeared on Lei Zhan's face. "I can already feel the Cold Shadow Divine Spear growing stronger after just this one battle. A few more like it should be enough to transform it into an Earth-Grade Magic Treasure."
Lei Zhan shook his head lightly and put the thought aside. Divine Demon Blood-Refined Divine Weapons needed constant slaughter to keep growing, but he wasn't about to create bloodshed for no reason.
Of course, if he came across enemies, he wouldn't show them the slightest mercy.
Lei Zhan turned his hand, and the Cold Shadow Divine Spear in it vanished into the lake in his Purple Mansion. He glanced toward the vast sea in the distance, his voice utterly calm.
"Come out!"
Whoosh—
As the words left his mouth, two figures shot up from beneath the calm sea and flew toward Lei Zhan in streaks of light.
"Senior." Heishui Fang and Heishui Yun stood one behind the other in the sky, their manner utterly respectful.
"Mm." Lei Zhan nodded faintly. "Heishui Fang, our deal is settled. We owe each other nothing."
Heishui Fang had already given him the Earth-Grade Magic Treasure flying sword before Lei Zhan set out. Now Lei Zhan had kept his promise and killed the Lone Dragon Demon King. He had even ground every Purple Mansion Demon lurking on Lone Dragon Island to dust beneath the Water-Fire Grinding Disc. Their agreement had been fulfilled to perfection.
"Yes. Thank you for intervening, Senior." Heishui Fang's respect deepened. The Lone Dragon Demon King was no boastful demon who merely puffed himself up like the Sea Dragon Demon King. He was a true Myriad Phenomena Demon King.
He could sense the aura emanating from Lei Zhan, and it was at the Purple Mansion level. Yet the idea of a Purple Mansion cultivator killing a late-stage Myriad Phenomena Demon was almost beyond belief.
"Th-this is really over?" Heishui Yun stood in the sky, looking down at Lone Dragon Island, now covered in blood and mangled flesh. It still felt like a dream.
"A Myriad Phenomena Demon King who dominated the region for nearly a thousand years... was really killed so easily by Senior?"
Lei Zhan shook his head slightly. He had seen the shock and awe still lingering in the eyes of Heishui Fang and his daughter.
To cultivators from a small clan, a Purple Mansion cultivator killing a late-stage Myriad Phenomena Demon truly seemed like something out of legend.
Even before Lei Zhan awakened the memories of his past life, the strongest cultivator in his clan had only reached the middle stage of Myriad Phenomena.
If the countless clans and tribes of the Great Xia World had continued to reproduce and develop as they normally would, Lei Zhan might have eventually become a cultivator like Heishui Fang.
Unfortunately, the chaos wrought by the gods and demons had destroyed his clan and set him on his destined path.
"You both saw it yourselves just now. I killed the demon personally," Lei Zhan said. "Only a few weak demons who haven't even broken through to the Purple Mansion level remain on this island."
"Your Black Water Clan has two Purple Mansion cultivators. These demons, who have at most reached the Xiantian Being level, won't amount to anything. But deep inside the island, the Lone Dragon Demon King kept more than ten thousand humans captive. I'll leave their fate in your hands. Handle it well, and you'll earn merit."
"More than ten thousand humans were kept captive?" Heishui Fang nodded. Just as humans enslaved and kept demons captive, powerful demons who ruled their own territory naturally found ways to abduct humans. Though he was only the head of a small clan, he had seen and heard plenty of such things.
"Mm." Seeing that Heishui Fang agreed, Lei Zhan nodded. Then he turned into a streak of light and continued north.
As for his earlier intention to find an island and get something to eat and drink, he no longer felt particularly compelled to do so.
"Yun'er." Heishui Fang turned to his daughter, who was staring blankly northward. "Stop looking. Senior killed a Myriad Phenomena Demon while only at the Purple Mansion level. He's destined to be beyond the reach of a small clan like ours. A golden-scaled fish was never meant to dwell in a pond. Once it meets wind and cloud, it soars straight up and becomes a great figure we can only look up to."
A father knew his daughter better than anyone. Heishui Fang didn't need to ask to know that she had developed feelings for Lei Zhan. Even if it was only admiration for a powerful man, entertaining such thoughts was already a pipe dream.
"Let those feelings go," Heishui Fang sighed. "A heaven-blessed prodigy like him must be the son of a great clan. Even if you wanted to be his handmaiden, there'd be plenty of other heaven-blessed prodigies vying for the place. In a few days, I'll take you to North Sea Commandery City. If you can join a sect, our Black Water Clan might one day produce a Myriad Phenomena True Person."
"Father..." Heishui Yun looked at her father, whose hair had turned white from using a forbidden art. After a long silence, she finally nodded. "Yes. I... will definitely join a sect. One day, the Black Water Clan will become a great clan that stands tall throughout the Great Xia Dynasty!"
On a huge black-sailed ship, Lei Zhan sat casually on the deck.
To him, Heishui Fang and his daughter were merely passersby he had met by chance. Even after noticing that Heishui Yun had developed a trace of affection for him, he remained utterly indifferent.
"These demonfolk..." Lei Zhan shook his head with a sigh.
A large number of magic treasures and other valuables floated before him. These were everything he had gained from killing the Sea Dragon Demon King and the demons of Lone Dragon Island.
"These demonfolk really are poor. The only things worth anything are the three Earth-Grade flying swords the Lone Dragon Demon King had. Each one seems inferior to the sword Heishui Fang gave me, but they probably came from the same source. Together, they should be worth a fair amount of Essence Liquid."
After leaving Lone Dragon Island, Lei Zhan had naturally started sorting through his spoils.
Once he had refined the magic treasures, he set aside those that he couldn't refine.
As expected, only four treasures were beyond his ability to refine. One was the Earth-Grade flying sword he had received from Heishui Fang, while the other three were the spoils he had taken from the Lone Dragon Demon King.
The rest were magic treasures and valuables belonging to the Purple Mansion Demons. Although he had killed more than a dozen Purple Mansion Demons, including the Sea Dragon Demon King, they had yielded only seventeen Human-Grade Magic Treasures in total. Of those, only three were high-grade Human-Grade Magic Treasures.
To Lei Zhan, they were all junk fit to be tossed into Tianbao Mountain in exchange for Essence Liquid.
"These demonfolk being poor is only natural." Lei Zhan could only console himself this way.
The Lone Dragon Demon King had occasionally killed cultivators, but any magic treasures he obtained from them would have been exchanged for Essence Liquid. He wouldn't have kept many of the rare items he needed, either.
Lei Zhan stuffed every magic treasure, whether he could refine it or not, into a storage treasure.
He was about to do the same with the remaining odds and ends when he glanced over them and suddenly spotted something interesting.
"These odds and ends..." Lei Zhan paused, looking over the pile with a trace of surprise in his eyes.
"This pile... seems to belong to the Sea Dragon Demon King."
"What's this... a token?" Lei Zhan gestured, and a broken Bronze Token shot out from among the odds and ends floating above the deck.
"Damaged? Is this a piece of a larger token?" Lei Zhan picked it up and turned it over in his hand.
The token seemed to be made of bronze, yet it gave off a faint, ancient aura.
It was small, apparently one of several fragments left after a complete token had been shattered by brute force. It was about a third the size of a normal token, with jagged edges.
"God-Devil Script? 'Wu'?" The token was broken, and the patterns on it were deeply cracked as well. Lei Zhan examined it closely and barely made out the incomplete God-Devil Script character "Wu."
"A token inscribed with God-Devil Script, and it gives off a faint, unique aura... Interesting!" Lei Zhan's curiosity was piqued, and he put the broken token away separately.
There was very little information on the fragment. Even if he studied it further, he wouldn't learn anything more.
He kept it, treating it as an idle move on the board.
After all, Lei Zhan knew that many great powers had died when the ancient Pangu World was destroyed. Even the Water Mansion he had encountered was a cave dwelling left behind by the ancient True God Daoist Sanshou.
A token inscribed with God-Devil Script might be incomplete, but it could still be connected to the ruins left behind by some ancient great power.
When the time came, it might turn out to be a tremendous opportunity.
Today's Street-Pavement Diary, Part Two
An opportunity is coming! Even if I have to gather the keys myself, it'll still be a fraction of an opportunity! Gather all seven Dragon Pearls, and I can summon a Second Primordial Spirit.
By rights, a Second Primordial Spirit ought to be rare and precious. Even someone like Juhua doesn't have one. Surely a big shot who'd built up his cultivation over time, no matter how poor his aptitude, wouldn't be this pathetic?
But none of that matters. Juhua only has two paths ahead of him. Once the protagonist grows powerful enough, he can erase the mark identifying Juhua as an undocumented person in front of the Heavenly Dao, letting him undergo tribulation once more. Or he can send him off to be reincarnated, then guide him to become an immortal. Each path has its advantages. Juhua just has to hold on until Lei Zhan takes off.
All right, enough of the irrelevant stuff.
Now for the important part: thank you so much, brothers, for your support, and especially to everyone who's been following along as the chapters come out! I'm grateful to those who've been saving up chapters too, but I'm begging you not to do that for now! There are countless stories that have died because people kept saving them up. I'd be incredibly grateful if you could just lend a hand and click through to the final page of the latest chapter!
Traffic is king, and the data during a new book's launch period is incredibly important! Exposure depends on the numbers. I asked my editor, and they said the most important thing is how many readers follow along as chapters come out.
Thanks again for all your support! Please follow along! Please follow along! Please follow along!
Thanks to reader 20240808111803363 for the Qidian coin tip.