Jialuo Holy Land.
Jialuo Hall.
Having finished her report, Leng Ruoshuang was about to leave.
She reached the hall doors, only to draw her saber and retreat!
"Ruoshuang?"
Jiang Fei raised her phoenix eyes, and her bewitching face instantly turned icy!
A huge shadow appeared outside the doors. In an instant, Devil Qi surged skyward, shrouding the entire Jialuo Hall in a savage, baleful atmosphere!
From the billowing black smoke emerged many soldiers clad in spectral green armor. Ghostly flames wreathed their bodies, and the demonic presence bursting from them made one's hair stand on end.
Devil soldiers!
Then, amid a rumbling sound, another figure appeared within the black smoke.
A youth!
More precisely, a young monk.
He wore bloodstained black monk's robes and crimson prayer beads around his neck. His eyes were blood-red, his pupils filled with abyssal emptiness and coldness!
His head hung low, his back deeply bowed. He bore twelve iron chains, all of them piercing through his body! Their other ends vanished into the darkness.
He was struggling forward.
As though he bore something incomparably heavy.
With every step, the chains tore tightly at his body. Blood poured down wildly, leaving a bloody footprint with each step. Yet he seemed unable to feel pain, so numb and wooden!
Every step was immensely difficult.
Crack!
From the black mist, the shadow of a staff lashed viciously toward him.
A ghastly wound instantly appeared on the youth's head. Vivid blood streamed from his scalp to his eyes, then down his neck, staining his collar red.
"Blood Devil, you're slacking."
A deep, terrifying voice came from within the black mist.
Jiang Fei frowned.
That voice actually sounded somewhat familiar to her!
Rumble-
As the youth approached step by step, Jiang Fei and Leng Ruoshuang saw that the other ends of the chains were attached to an enormous skull throne.
Upon the eerie white bones sat a Devil Emperor steeped in bloody menace. His half-devil, half-Buddha face was hideous and repulsive, and he tightly gripped the Eternal Devil Dragon Staff.
Lu Xiuluo!
"Empress, have you been well?" His smile was somewhat chilling. Suddenly, his gaze swept downward, and he lashed the youth with his staff, commanding, "Blood Devil, raise your head and see the surprise I brought you."
Only then did the youth raise his head. The instant he saw the empress, something seemed to awaken in his lifeless eyes, and the flames of hatred blazed!
His body trembled, his fists clenched, and his gaze resembled a vicious Devil Beast's, as though he would devour the empress alive the very next moment!
"Your Majesty, he's Mo Ren!" Leng Ruoshuang's gaze instantly grew razor-sharp, and the saber in her hand trembled!
"Mo Ren? I don't know him. Here, his name is Blood Devil." Lu Xiuluo looked at the youth and snorted contemptuously.
Jiang Fei narrowed her phoenix eyes. She had met Lu Xiuluo once at the Central Spirit Martial Meet several years ago, but had had no further dealings with him since. What had he come for? And why was that monk serving him?
"Why is he with you?"
"You'll have to ask yourself that, Empress."
"You kept him so he could kill me?"
"You'll have to ask him that."
Lu Xiuluo shrugged slightly and said with a light laugh. He turned his neck a little, then abruptly yanked the chains. "Blood Devil, I'm getting down."
The chains tore a piece of flesh right off Blood Devil, but he seemed to feel no pain. He merely dropped expressionlessly onto both knees and lowered his head again.
Lu Xiuluo stepped on his head as he descended. "Empress, this is the only monk remaining in Jialuo Holy Land. You must want him dead, so I've brought him to you."
Jiang Fei sneered. "Only speaking of the benefits, without mentioning the conditions?"
"How clever you are, Empress."
Lu Xiuluo praised her as he approached. "I am the Devil Emperor, and you are the empress. Don't you think we're a match made in heaven? I fell for you at first sight during the Central Spirit Martial Meet. I wish for the beautiful and powerful empress to marry me! Consider Blood Devil my introductory gift."
At those words, violent turmoil stirred in the depths of Blood Devil's eyes!
Yet he could not speak!
Ever since meeting Lu Xiuluo that day, he had been mute!
He clenched the chains, making them clatter.
Lu Xiuluo impatiently lashed him with his staff, and Blood Devil spat blood and collapsed!
"Empress, what do you think?"
Lu Xiuluo's voice was youthful and gentle. Looking at Jiang Fei, he slowly reached up and removed his face-it was a demonic mask!
Without the terrifying mask concealing him, his true face was unexpectedly handsome. He had sword-like brows, starry eyes, and an elegant bearing. His golden-red pupils resembled the most dazzling river of stars. It was a face no woman in the world could resist.
Jiang Fei raised her phoenix eyes slightly. Faced with such handsome features, her own peerlessly beautiful face remained unruffled, even gaining a hint of amusement.
She was no fool!
How could she take a devil's words seriously?
He even wanted to seduce her with his looks?
Did he really think she was one of those silly, innocent queens from novels?
Behind this apparent sincerity surely lay a blood-drenched reality!
"Devils belong to yin, and I possess a pure yin constitution. You want to... turn me into a devil too, and make me your weapon!"
Jiang Fei's red lips curled slightly as she sneered.
Lu Xiuluo gazed at her, his eyes flickering. "What's wrong with being a devil? We innately possess power far beyond humans. Cultivating the great devil path can likewise lead to immortal ascension, even faster! How could you possibly refuse me?"
Jiang Fei said, "Is that how you see humans? Willing to use any means to become immortals?"
Lu Xiuluo countered, "Aren't they?"
"Ruoshuang, see our guest out!"
Jiang Fei swept her dragon robe aside and spoke with imposing authority.
When words found no common ground, even half a sentence was too much!
Leng Ruoshuang made a gesture of invitation. "Devil Emperor, don't put Her Majesty in a difficult position!"
Lu Xiuluo refused to give up. "If this is your final decision, then Blood Devil will become your most troublesome enemy in the future!"
"Sooner or later, I will pull out this thorn in my eye with my own hands!"
Jiang Fei suddenly glanced back, stunning as a startled swan. Looking at Lu Xiuluo, she gave a smile of peerless grace. "Oh, right. A handsome man's charms won't work on this empress. That skin of yours is indeed handsome, but I've seen a man ten thousand times more handsome than you."
"Who is he?"
"Someone forever beyond your reach!"
She laughed softly, her lovely face filled with pride.
Lu Xiuluo's expression changed slightly. With a cold snort, he raised his hand and put on his horrifying mask, kicked Blood Devil awake, and departed on his skull throne.
Jiang Fei stared at the empty space before her and said firmly, "Ruoshuang, relay my orders. Jialuo Holy Land is to prepare for war! This Lu Xiuluo... will surely come rolling back!"
Leng Ruoshuang acknowledged the order.
Jiang Fei gazed outside with misty eyes. Recalling their earlier conversation, she murmured, "Who is he? I want to know his name too..."
The Land of Eternal Night.
Having obtained the Dust of Eternal Night, Xie Feng was about to leave with Sushang.
Suddenly!
Space began shaking violently!
Powerful currents of air came surging toward them, aimed straight at the pair!
Not far away.
Two figures abruptly appeared.
One wore dark, almost black robes, his face deathly pale, with two black horns growing from his head.
The other wore brown robes and had a thin frame. His eyes were like flickering lights, gleaming with a strange radiance.
"Were you the ones behind that disturbance just now? Some of the land's power has been lost!"
"You stole the Dust of Eternal Night!"
"Annoying rats, disturbing the peace of Eternal Night. Hand over the dust, then repent!"
Their forms moved like ghosts, flickering as they arrived before Xie Feng and Sushang.
They swept their sleeves, and a mass of demonic shadows surged forth!
They were actually going to...
Attack!!