Lanyu Wu looked down at the Demon Sect members below. By now, several thousand of them had ascended, including several hundred in the Profound Understanding Realm.
Lanyu Wu thought to himself, I may have to explore this continent someday. There must be some extraordinary secret there. For now, I need to capture some of their higher-ups and ask about the continent's specific circumstances.
Lanyu Wu curled his hand into a claw and reached down. The air seemed to have been locked in place. Even Liansheng and Bai Haotian's eyes nearly split at the corners, and they struggled to dodge.
"Insolence!" A thunderous shout came from within the stone stele. The voice formed a vast wave that surged toward Lanyu Wu. Even he was overwhelmed by its force, feeling for a moment as though he faced mortal danger. Everyone in the square was shaken by the voice!
Everyone's ears seemed filled with that one word.
"Insolence!"
"Insolence!"
The waves of sound seemed to target the Blue Rain Clan deliberately. Lanyu Wu fared better, but Lanyu Ting and the other clansmen bled from all seven orifices, clutching their heads and screaming in agony.
A dragon's roar rang out from the stone stele, and an enormous Demon Dragon Flying Carriage burst out of it. Everyone in the square looked toward the carriage. Written along its two sides were the words, "With the sun and moon in my grasp, I pluck the stars; in all the world, none is like me." In the middle stood a man wearing demon dragon battle robes, with a silver-black lightning bolt between his brows.
The members of the many factions below gaped in astonishment!
"What an imposing presence! How confident in himself must he be to say something like that!"
"What arrogant words! To think the lower realm could produce someone like him."
The man in demon dragon robes on the flying carriage slowly radiated an immense presence, pressing down on everyone present. Even Lanyu Wu felt the crushing pressure!
Everyone stared at the man on the flying carriage in disbelief and terror.
Lanyu Wu looked at the man and cried out incredulously, "How is that possible? How could the lower realm have an Eternal Realm expert?"
By then, all the Demon Sect members had finished ascending through the stone stele, and it grew dim and lightless once more. More than five thousand Demon Sect members dropped to one knee and shouted, "Greetings, Sect Master!"
"Rise!" The man on the flying carriage glanced at Lanyu Wu, who was still resisting his pressure, and said in a deep voice, "Who are you? You dared attack my Demon Sect's people-are you courting death?"
At once, the words "courting death" filled Lanyu Wu's mind. He clutched his head and desperately circulated his cultivation to resist.
Crouching on the ground with blood streaming from his seven orifices, Lanyu Ting looked at the figure on the flying carriage, who resembled a demonic god, and felt as though he were dreaming. What had he just seen? Someone in the Eternal Realm had actually ascended from this lower realm. Was this a fucking joke?
Beside the square, Ye Qing, his face pale under the pressure, nudged Ximen Di, who stood stunned beside him, and said in terror, "Junior Brother, is this the Demon Sect Master you told me about? Didn't you say he was only at Peak Martial Sovereign? But he's clearly in the fucking Eternal Realm!"
Ximen Di's mind was even more muddled. He now seriously wondered whether something had gone wrong with his memory, or whether space and time in the lower realm had changed and countless years had actually passed! His imagination ran wild.
Meanwhile, Lanyu Wu barely managed to raise his head and look at Zhou Qiong. "You've only just ascended from the lower realm, yet you're already so overbearing. Do you think you can rule as a king and tyrant in our Black King City?"
"Hahaha! Lanyu Wu is right!" A burst of laughter suddenly came from the sky. A strange creature, eighty feet tall, with black skin and only one eye on his face, appeared in the square. His imposing presence spread out, actually holding Zhou Qiong's pressure at bay!
A creature with the same appearance below shouted, "It's Lord Long Chang, the patriarch of our One-Eyed Clan!"
Long Chang glanced at Zhou Qiong and chuckled. "What profound cultivation. Did you really ascend from the lower realm?"
"What if I did? What if I didn't? Since when did we humans need to explain ourselves to you?" Zhou Qiong looked at Long Chang and said with a frown.
"Well said! Since when did we humans need to explain ourselves to you?" A rush of wind sounded, and a young man with a longsword on his back appeared in the square. Dressed in pure white robes and holding a folding fan, he looked like an elegant young gentleman.
Below, Ye Qing saw the newcomer and cried out, "Eldest Senior Brother!"
Ye Tian let out a soft breath of relief at the newcomer's arrival. Ximen Di raised his head to look at the white-robed man. He had heard Ye Qing mention before that their Sword Sect had an eldest senior brother whose cultivation had broken through to the Eternal Realm long ago. Many even suspected that his cultivation had already surpassed the old sect master's, making him the Sword Sect's strongest expert!
The man closed his folding fan and cupped his hands toward Zhou Qiong. "I am Shangguan Yun, a disciple of the Sword Sect."
Zhou Qiong nodded. "I am Zhou Qiong, Sect Master of the Demon Sect."
Beside them, Long Chang looked at Shangguan Yun and said with a frown, "These people all ascended from the lower realm. They must harbor some great secret. Shangguan Yun, does your Sword Sect really intend to wade into these muddy waters?"
"I never said I intended to interfere. I only came to make a friend!" Shangguan Yun waved his fan and chuckled softly, then waved toward Zhou Qiong. "Brother Zhou, come visit our Sword Sect when you have time. I will certainly sweep the couch clean to welcome you!"
Zhou Qiong nodded as well. "I'll visit when I have time. Just don't find me a nuisance then, Brother Shangguan."
Shangguan Yun laughed heartily and swept his sleeve, carrying Ye Tian, Ye Qing, and Ximen Di away as he vanished from the square.
Shangguan Yun's voice came from the sky. "Long Chang, I hope I'll still see you alive in the future!"
Long Chang looked toward where Shangguan Yun had disappeared, a vicious glint flashing through his eye. Shangguan Yun's words had clearly meant that he was no match for Zhou Qiong.
"Zhou Qiong, just what secret does your continent hold? If you tell me, I'll guarantee the safety of your Demon Sect's people," Long Chang said viciously.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Why would my Demon Sect need you to protect its people?" Zhou Qiong said calmly.
"You're courting death, so don't blame me!" Long Chang let out a strange cry. A beam of divine light shot from the single eye on his head, piercing straight through the void toward Zhou Qiong.
Below, the smaller One-Eyed clansman shouted in admiration, "It's the Divine Light of Annihilation, our clan's strongest attack! That Demon Sect Master is doomed! Still, he should be proud to die to our clan's Divine Light of Annihilation!"
Zhou Qiong extended a large hand from the flying carriage, and a black vortex instantly formed before him. The Divine Light of Annihilation shot into it and vanished without a trace. The vortex sped forward and swallowed Long Chang in a single stroke.
The vortex began shaking incessantly. Zhou Qiong slowly withdrew his hand, and the vortex disappeared, revealing Long Chang. He knelt on both knees, his original appearance now utterly unrecognizable. His left arm had vanished entirely, and his body was covered in blood. Blood streamed from his lone eye as well, as though it had gone blind, and he howled in anguish.
Everyone below was too frightened to speak. Even the One-Eyed clansman who had been shouting earlier lowered his head, terrified that Zhou Qiong might notice him.
I've been a little busy these past few days. I'll definitely post extra updates in a few days.