I Am the Demon!

Central Plains,

Saint Pill City!

The Central Plains had long been known for its One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, and Four Pavilions.

The One Tower

was the Pill Tower,

the foremost holy land for alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent, gathering the continent's most exceptional alchemists.

The Pill Tower's greatest strength

was not its status above all else in the Central Plains, but the terrifying foundation hidden behind the intricate web of relationships among its vast number of alchemists.

Within the Pill Tower,

Dou Emperors were as common as dogs, while Dou Zongs walked everywhere.

Even powerful Dou Zong experts were merely members of the outer perimeter guards.

Buzz—

A terrifying wave of energy swept out from the northwestern corner of Pill Saint City.

Sensing that terrifying aura,

the alchemists within Pill Saint City merely glanced over before withdrawing their gazes once more.

It was the fluctuation of Pill Saint City's spatial wormhole.

Within Pill Saint City,

countless experts from every corner of the world arrived at this holy land through spatial wormholes each day.

Even if members of the Ancient Emperor Clans arrived here,

no one would find it surprising.

Buzz—

Ripples spread across the spatial wormhole.

The instant Qing Luo stepped out of it,

he felt the scorching heat between heaven and earth replaced by a rich, warm medicinal fragrance that soothed the soul.

Qing Luo looked down.

The outline of a boundless colossal city was reflected in his eyes.

It was a gigantic city built from Ten-Thousand-Year Mystic Jade, stretching for hundreds of miles.

Upon its walls

were engraved intricate ancient alchemical patterns, suffused with a faint blue-violet medicinal glow.

Several massive spatial wormholes stood in different corners of the city.

Within the enormous city,

voices rose in a deafening clamor, medicinal cauldrons stood everywhere, and pill lightning periodically descended from the sky, setting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth boiling.

"So this is Pill Saint City..."

As he looked down at everything around him, a trace of excitement rose in Qing Luo's eyes.

The holy land of the Central Plains—

this was where Qing Luo's rise to fame began.

Although the Pill Tower did not belong to the Emperor Clans,

whether in terms of top-tier combat power, connections, or resources, it was no inferior to the Ancient Eight Clans.

The Pill Tower Ancestor

was the incarnation of a Ninth-Rank Profound Pill, a genuine Six-Star Dou Saint.

In the path of alchemy,

the Pill Tower was not much weaker than the Yao Clan!

Moreover,

because it did not belong to the Emperor Clans, the Pill Tower did not have so many rules or that irritating sense of superiority.

As long as he formed an alliance with the Pill Tower,

Qing Luo would effectively have a force no weaker than the Emperor Clans backing him.

"Did Your Excellency come from Flame City?"

"The total transmission fee this time is thirty thousand Magic Crystals or Dou Qi Crystals. Once you pay, Your Excellency may move freely throughout Pill Saint City!"

Just then,

a staff member responsible for guarding the spatial wormhole stepped forward and spoke.

"Dou Qi Crystals?"

Qing Luo frowned slightly.

He began recalling the currency system of the Dou Qi Continent from the original work.

Below the Dou Emperor realm,

the gold coin system was the primary currency.

Beyond that, there were Magic Crystals and Dou Qi Crystals.

Magic Crystals

were, as the name implied, energy crystals found within magical beasts. They contained pure dou qi and could be used both for cultivation and trade.

Under normal circumstances, one Magic Crystal was worth several hundred gold coins.

High-grade Magic Crystals, meanwhile, were priceless treasures

that could not be measured in gold coins.

As for Dou Qi Crystals, they were energy crystal ores mined underground.

They contained highly refined dou qi

and were essential for Dou Zuns and Dou Saints to cultivate, serving as the mainstream currency for upper-class transactions in the Central Plains.

As a holy land of the Central Plains,

it was hardly strange for Pill Saint City to use Magic Crystals and Dou Qi Crystals as currency.

It was just that...

Qing Luo had neither.

"How presumptuous!"

White lotus flames emerged in Qing Luo's eyes as he swept his gaze toward the staff member.

The next moment,

Qing Luo raised his right hand, tore open space directly, and vanished into the spatial void.

Staff member: ???

"Damn it?! Someone skipped the bill!"

As the staff member shouted,

for a moment,

several terrifying auras streaked across the sky around the spatial wormhole. Among them were Dou Zongs and Dou Zuns.

"Which way did he go?"

The experts employed by Pill Saint City had barely appeared before questioning the staff member.

"Toward the Pill Territory!"

The staff member pointed in the direction of the Pill Tower.

Upon hearing this,

the employed Dou Zong and Dou Zun experts did not hesitate. One after another, they tore through the void and pursued Qing Luo in the direction he had left.

Outside the Pill Territory,

the void rippled as Qing Luo emerged at an unhurried pace, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Your Excellency, this is the Pill Territory of the Central Plains. Please halt!"

Qing Luo had just been about to enter the Pill Territory

when a spatial passage appeared not far ahead, and a Sixth-Grade Alchemist at the Dou Zong realm blocked his path.

"I have come to see someone. Have the three giants of your Pill Territory come out and speak with me!"

The Pill Tower was not the same as Pill Saint City.

Qing Luo had come to form an alliance this time, so he still needed to show the proper respect.

"Your Excellency speaks boldly indeed. The three lords of the Pill Territory hold transcendent status. Do you think you can see them simply because you wish to?"

Upon hearing this,

the Sixth-Grade Alchemist Zhou Mu sneered.

He was a member of the Alchemist Association in Pill Saint City and was usually responsible for standing guard over the Pill Tower.

Zhou Mu could tell

that the other party was a formidable Dou Zun expert.

In the Central Plains, Dou Zun experts were the foundation of major clans and elders of holy lands.

However,

this was the Pill Territory. A mere Dou Zun was not qualified to meet the three giants!

"Heh heh..."

Qing Luo was so angered by the Sixth-Grade Alchemist before him that he laughed.

Who was he?

The third-ranked existence on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, a peerless expert at the peak of Five-Star Dou Saint—yet he was not qualified to meet the three giants?

He had indeed come to seek an alliance,

but seeking an alliance did not mean he had no temper!

"I will give you three breaths to summon the three giants of the Pill Territory. Otherwise..."

"Which sect's elder are you, Your Excellency? Never mind three breaths—even if you wait here for an entire day, the three lords of the Pill Territory will not come out to see you. You should return, Your Excellency!"

Before Qing Luo could finish speaking,

the Sixth-Grade Alchemist before him interrupted him.

Seeing the man's arrogant expression, the last trace of patience in Qing Luo's eyes vanished completely.

Qing Luo slightly raised his right hand.

Boundless milky-white lotus flames surged all around him.

"Go!"

Qing Luo flicked his finger.

The next moment, a lotus flame abruptly shot toward the void behind the alchemist.

Boom—

The milky-white lotus flame whirled through the air.

The void behind Zhou Mu was burned into nothingness.

As the flames rose, Zhou Mu felt his dou qi and soul being erased and vanishing at a terrifying speed.

In only a brief moment,

this Sixth-Grade Alchemist at the Dou Zong realm

lost control of his body and fell from the sky. His cultivation and soul were both purified and broken down by the purification power of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame!

"You... what did you do? What kind of demonic art is this?!"

Zhou Mu fell onto the bluestone steps.

Feeling the absence of his own dou qi and soul, he stared in terror at the white-robed youth in the sky.

"Demonic art?"

"I am the demon..."

Qing Luo's tone was indifferent. His white robes fluttered without wind as the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame condensed into countless lotus flames behind him.

Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame!

Its power of purification could break down all things. It was precisely this almost demonic ability that made countless experts turn pale at its name...

"Xuan Kongzi, what an impressive air you have!"

"I have come in person, yet I cannot even enter your Pill Territory. I will give you three breaths. Otherwise, your Pill Territory need not continue to exist!"

Qing Luo spoke coldly.

As his voice fell, the void before him twisted violently under the scorching lotus flames.

The lotus flames spread through the distorted void and into the Pill Tower...

Everywhere they passed,

the dou qi and medicinal fragrance in the Pill Tower's air, even the clouds in the sky, were burned and broken down by the flames...