The Nine Corpse Heavenly Demon Emperor Revives!

Hearing his father's helpless, anguished answer, Tang San's brows drew tighter and tighter.

The night wind swept across Shrek Academy's empty training ground, stirring up a few withered yellow leaves that brushed against their ankles with a soft rustle.

Tang San said nothing. He simply clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing slowly.

His mind, honed far beyond the ordinary by two lifetimes of memories, was racing furiously.

He pieced together everything he had seen on the Sky Screen that day, bit by bit.

"Bats, evil thoughts, rejection..."

Tang San murmured under his breath, looking up at the Sky Screen again.

In the image, his great-grandfather, who had turned into a monster, was swinging his massive hammer, smashing it into that shriveled, hideous Demon Clan corpse again and again.

The dull pounding seemed to strike Tang San straight in the heart.

Suddenly, Tang San stopped dead.

"That's wrong!"

Tang San whipped around and seized Tang Hao's rough arm with astonishing strength. Even his voice warped from the sheer horror.

"Dad, we all got it wrong!"

Startled by his son's sudden action, Tang Hao raised his bloodshot eyes in bewilderment.

"Little San, what did you see?"

Tang San swallowed dryly, then continued:

"Dad, do you remember the stone tablet Great-Grandfather saw just now?"

Tang San raised a trembling finger and pointed at the altar on the Sky Screen.

"The tablet said it clearly. To protect the living beings of the Great Thousand World, the Heavenly Emperor sacrificed his Divine Soul and used the peerless divine art, One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, to seal and kill the Nine Corpse Heavenly Demon Emperor."

"If it was a seal, it had to have an array core."

"That Crystal Long Sword radiating sacred light was undoubtedly the array core suppressing the fiend!"

Listening to his son's analysis, Tang Hao nodded instinctively, but the confusion in his eyes only deepened.

"What's wrong with that? The Heavenly Emperor held the sword and pinned the Devil Emperor to the ground. Doesn't that confirm what the tablet recorded?"

"That's precisely what makes the least sense!"

Tang San cut his father off decisively, his gaze becoming utterly terrifying.

"Dad, think carefully about the hole in that logic."

"The bat's evil qi inside Great-Grandfather was easily crushed and absorbed by that black mist. That means the mist was a higher-grade, purer source of demonic power."

"Great-Grandfather has now been completely controlled by that demonic energy, turned into a puppet servant who only obeys the Demon Clan's orders."

Tang San spoke faster and faster, his chest heaving.

"A servant controlled by demonic energy attacking the divine sword suppressing the Demon Clan, trying to pull it out-that would be to save his master. That makes perfect sense."

"But when he discovered he couldn't smash the divine sword, he turned around and frantically attacked the Demon Clan corpse beneath those feet!"

Tang San stared hard into Tang Hao's eyes and asked, stressing every word:

"Dad, what servant in this world would smash his own master's remains to pieces?!"

Hearing this, Tang Hao froze, his mind buzzing.

Indeed!

If the one lying on the ground was the Devil Emperor, why would the monstrous Tang Chen smash him?

"Little San, you mean..." The more Tang Hao thought about it, the more terrifying it became. For a moment, even his voice changed completely.

Tang San raised his head and looked at the figure on the Sky Screen, dressed in imperial robes and radiating hypocritical golden light. His eyes were filled with deep wariness.

"There's only one answer."

"The person who arranged that battlefield told a sky-shrouding lie and deceived every treasure hunter who came here!"

"That shriveled corpse on the ground, with a sword piercing his head, a hideous face, and demonic energy pouring off him, wasn't a member of the Demon Clan at all!"

"He was the one who truly exhausted his Divine Soul to protect all living beings, whose very flesh was even contaminated and ravaged by demonic energy... the Heavenly Emperor!"

"And that lofty figure pretending to be a savior..."

Tang San sucked in a cold breath, feeling his hands and feet go numb.

"He was the real..."

"Nine Corpse Heavenly Demon Emperor!"

After hearing this analysis, Tang Hao gaped, his breathing even stopping for a moment.

This deduction was too horrifying. It completely overturned everything they knew, yet perfectly explained every strange action of the monstrous Tang Chen!

Unable to pull out the Heavenly Emperor Sword, the Devil Emperor had settled for the next best thing.

He had taken control of Tang Chen, who was tainted by evil qi, and made this puppet smash the Heavenly Emperor's body!

Once the Heavenly Emperor's remains serving as the Array Foundation were destroyed, the Heavenly Emperor Sword would lose its anchor, and the seal would collapse without any further attack!

"What vicious scheming, what terrifying calculations..."

Tang Hao trembled all over and staggered backward before dropping onto the cold grass.

He finally realized that this fiend was not only alive, but had even retained his awareness.

And he had laid such a sinister trap, treating everyone who came afterward as pawns to help him escape.

"Little San, if..."

"If something like that really emerges..."

Tang Hao swallowed, his throat bitter.

"If a monster of that level really escapes and revives."

"I wonder whether those sects can hold him back..."

Meanwhile, in the image on the Sky Screen.

As the monstrous Tang Chen continued his tireless, frenzied hammering.

"Crack, crack..."

A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out across the altar that had lain desolate for tens of thousands of years.

Though they were only tiny cracks, they were just enough to give the Nine Corpse Heavenly Demon Emperor an opening!

And as though sensing something, the crystalline Heavenly Emperor Sword embedded in the head seemed to detect the collapse of the Array Foundation beneath it, and its blade began trembling violently.

Dazzling holy light flickered wildly along its edge as it let out mournful cries, seemingly making its final resistance!

But it was all too late.

"Bang!"

With a muffled boom.

That withered body exploded completely, turning into fine grayish-white powder scattered across the ground.

With the support of its bodily anchor gone, the brilliantly shining Heavenly Emperor Sword let out a sorrowful cry before a black pillar of demonic energy erupting from deep underground forcibly hurled it away.

The seal had broken.

At that moment, the entire Ancient Heavenly Palace seemed to meet its true apocalypse.

The ground began shaking wildly. Countless spatial rifts spread in every direction like enormous spiderwebs, crackling as they went.

The towering demonic energy suppressed for tens of thousands of years was no longer restrained.

Like a black ocean, it surged from deep beneath the altar, instantly blotting out the entire dim sky and completely devouring even the last trace of light.

And in the center of that endless black mist.

The figure who had been standing on the altar, clad in imperial robes and radiating sacred golden light, slowly began to change.

That false layer of sacred golden light peeled away inch by inch.

The magnificent imperial robes turned into a tattered Burial Shroud.

A terrifying demonic body, a hundred zhang tall and wreathed in the phantoms of nine rotting black dragons, slowly stretched out in the black mist.

The Nine Corpse Heavenly Demon Emperor had finally escaped!

He slowly lowered his enormous, hideous head, his black-hole-like eyes looking indifferently down at the altar below.

The monstrous Tang Chen, who had just been hammering away madly.

Had already thrown aside his massive hammer and prostrated himself on all fours, pressing his ugly face, covered in eyes and scales, tightly against the white jade floor.

His entire body shook violently, and utterly abject whimpers came from his throat.

Like the most loyal, most lowly dog, he welcomed his supreme master's return to the world.

Looking at the servant at his feet who had personally helped him destroy the seal, the Devil Emperor curled his lips slightly.

"Heavenly Emperor..."

"I told you. In the end, I would be the victor."

Meanwhile, outside the Sky Screen, on the Douluo Continent.

Spirit City, the Worship Hall.

The usually solemn, dignified Main Hall seemed to have become an ice cellar.

The instant that Devil Emperor revealed his true appearance, every trace of warmth was drained away.

Standing beneath the statue of the Six-Winged Angel, Qian Daoliu felt his legs weaken. He staggered backward two steps uncontrollably, his back slamming hard against a cold jade pillar.

"A deception. It was all a deception..."

Qian Daoliu gasped for breath, cold sweat pouring down his cheeks from his forehead.

And he was not alone. Every Peerless Douluo in the Worship Hall was scared senseless.

They stared at the black demonic figure blotting out the sky on the Sky Screen, and at the monstrous Tang Chen kneeling at the Devil Emperor's feet, begging for mercy like a mangy dog wagging its tail.

Everyone's mind buzzed.

"Big Brother, what on earth is going on?"

Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice trembled. He grabbed his own hair hard, unable to make sense of it.

"How did that glowing person turn into the Devil Emperor? Could that corpse that was smashed apart have been the real Heavenly Emperor?"

Qian Daoliu clenched his teeth so hard that a trace of blood seeped from his bitten lip.

"What deep scheming this fiend has, what terrifying calculations!"

Qian Daoliu pointed at the Sky Screen, even his finger trembling.

"He knew he was suppressed by the Heavenly Emperor's remains and divine sword and couldn't escape."

"So he deliberately swapped their identities and auras, disguising the Heavenly Emperor's corpse as a member of the Demon Clan and himself as the savior!"

"He was waiting!"

"Waiting for someone to enter his trap and pull out that sword!"

At this point, a trace of helplessness flashed through Qian Daoliu's eyes.

"That fool Tang Chen not only failed to pull out the divine sword, but even had his mind eroded by demonic energy."

"In the end, he became the Devil Emperor's weapon and personally smashed the foundation suppressing the great array!"

"He released a demon capable of destroying every world!"

After hearing Qian Daoliu's analysis, the Offerings in the Main Hall felt their scalps prickle, a chill shooting straight up their spines to the crowns of their heads.

The Third Offering, Azure Luan Douluo, swallowed dryly, his face as pale as paper.

"Big Brother, even that legendary Heavenly Emperor died in battle."

"Now that this Devil Emperor has broken free of the seal, who in that Great Thousand World can still suppress him?"

"It's over... it's all over."

The Fifth Offering, Light Feather Douluo, shook his head repeatedly, his expression grave.

"A monster of that level could crush the entire Douluo Continent to ashes with a casual twitch of his finger."

"If he destroys the Great Thousand World, won't lower planes like ours have to be buried along with it?"

Yet what Qian Daoliu feared most at that moment was not the Great Thousand World's survival.

His gaze was fixed on the monstrous Tang Chen kneeling on the ground.

"The most deadly problem now is Tang Chen!"

"Look at him!"

"He's completely become the Demon Clan's running dog. He doesn't have a shred of human reason left!"

"If that Devil Emperor discovers the Sky Screen's passage, if he orders Tang Chen to follow this karmic thread back to the Douluo Continent!"

"Have you thought about the consequences?"

Indeed!

Tang Chen was originally from the Douluo Continent. He knew its coordinates and circumstances like the back of his hand.

If the Devil Emperor wanted to devour a new world, Tang Chen would undoubtedly be the best vanguard to lead the way!

Then a monster radiating otherworldly demonic energy, granted terrifying power by the Devil Emperor, would descend upon the Douluo Continent.

Just imagining that scene made life feel worse than death.

"Quick! Relay my written orders!"

Qian Daoliu roared like a madman, no longer caring about an Offering's dignity.

"Gather every Soul Master in Spirit Hall and have them all converge on Spirit City!"

"Activate the Angel Defense Great Array!"

"Use every defensive measure available!"

"Tell Bibi Dong to put aside those useless schemes. Now is not the time to fight for power and profit!"

"If that monster Tang Chen dares appear in the skies above the Douluo Continent, keep him out, even if Spirit Hall must shed its very last drop of blood!"

"Yes!!"

And at the other end of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's residence, the Thunderclap Mountain Range.

The weather was particularly gloomy that day, with thick dark clouds shrouding the mountains.

A torrential downpour fell, and fierce winds lashed the rain hard against the windows of the clan's Main Hall.

Inside the Main Hall at the mountaintop.

The clan leader, Yu Yuanzhen, slumped on the Thunder Dragon Throne that symbolized his authority, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

On either side of the Main Hall, dozens of clan elders and core members stood rooted to the spot, every face drained of color, even their breathing painfully cautious.

Just an hour earlier.

When they had seen Tang Chen appear in the Ancient Heavenly Palace, these people had still been seething with envy, jealous that the Clear Sky Sect could have such good fortune.

They had even been silently calculating whether the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan should approach the Clear Sky Sect ahead of time to curry favor once Tang Chen returned with the divine weapon.

But now?

"How did it turn out like this..."

Yu Yuanzhen stared blankly at the Sky Screen, repeating those words over and over.

Off to the side, the second-in-command, Yu Luomian, reached out with a trembling hand and lifted the teacup from the table, hoping a sip of water would calm his nerves.

But his hand shook, and the teacup fell straight to the floor, shattering to pieces.

"Big brother..."

Yu Luomian swallowed, his voice sounding rather weak.

"That old bastard from the Clear Sky Sect actually released such a terrifying demon."

"What... what are we supposed to do?"

Yu Yuanzhen said nothing. He merely closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

"The Heavenly Emperor is dead..."

When Yu Yuanzhen opened his eyes again, nothing remained in them but bleak desolation.

"Even the Heavenly Emperor, who built that vast Heavenly Palace and ruled over countless nations, could only deal with that fiend by perishing together with him."

"Now even the Heavenly Emperor's bones have been smashed to pieces, yet that fiend has escaped completely unscathed."

Yu Yuanzhen gave a bitter laugh, his voice echoing through the empty Main Hall.

"The Great Thousand World is finished."

"No one can stop him now."

Hearing their clan leader's words, the elders below immediately erupted into an uproar, each as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.