ffsc_65

Chapter 65: Demon Emperor

"The Demon Abyss has been destroyed!"

Boundless bloodlight slowly faded from the sky, the gloom that had shrouded the cultivation world for nearly a thousand days finally dispersing; the vast heavens cleared, the first pale streak of dawn rising on the distant horizon.

A biting cold wind whipped at crimson robes, snapping and billowing; frost-white hair spilled loose amid the red. Chen Moqing reversed his grip, driving the blade into the ground, leaning on his sword to stand upright. All around him, cheers rang out in jubilant celebration, laughter and joy, yet the blood in his throat still tasted sweetly of iron.

He stood still for a moment, then spat out a mouthful of blood; his wound-crossed body tilted backward. In the last instant before his eyes closed, a robe of spotless, unsullied white appeared before him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already on Luohe Peak, a snow-white robe brushing past the edge of his bed.

"Lie still. Don't move."

His master's voice was as deep and gentle as ever, a faintly cool palm pressed against his forehead, with the same soft touch as in his childhood.

"You burned through your essence and blood, your soul gravely wounded, your very organs shattered. I have sealed your heart meridian for you. Remember, you must not exert yourself at all during this time."

Chen Moqing's gaze stirred faintly. "Master, you've come out of seclusion?"

"Yes," the white-haired Immortal Venerable said gently. "These years have been hard on you. Who would have thought that after just one seclusion, my once so young disciple would already have reached Void Refinement by the time we met again, already able to shoulder the weight of the world."

He rose, the hem of his snow-white robe sliding off the bedside, trailing down to the floor. "Rest well. With me here, you needn't worry about matters beyond these walls any longer."

The battle at the Demon Abyss had ended, and it was a time for celebrating victory, yet Tianshu Sect's senior disciple, who held the great merit of subduing the Demon Abyss, had been wounded too severely, his soul gravely harmed, and did not so much as set foot outside Luohe Peak, recuperating there for two full years without any sign of recovery.

"Senior Brother!"

When the first snow fell on Luohe Peak, his junior brother came running up from the foot of the mountain and sat down close beside Chen Moqing. "I roasted some taro, eat it while it's hot!"

The steaming taro warmed his palms. Chen Moqing heard his junior brother's voice, tinged with envy: "Everyone outside is saying that Senior Brother is the great hero who saved the world, the most formidable prodigy of this realm."

Chen Moqing smiled and shook his head, snowflakes drifting down onto his shoulders, his exquisite profile paler than the snow itself.

His junior brother's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, then said, "I'm heading down the mountain for training, and I'll be passing through Baiyu City. If Senior Brother has anything you'd like to send to your mother, I can bring it along!"

Chen Moqing said gently, "All right. I'm going into seclusion tomorrow and won't be able to go down the mountain, so I'll have to trouble you with this."

"It's nothing at all!" His junior brother waved a hand carelessly, taking the peeled taro Chen Moqing held out and stuffing it whole into his mouth. "Senior Brother, focus on recovering properly. If your mother saw you like this now, she'd surely be heartbroken!"

He glanced again at the snow-drifted peak beneath his feet and said, "It's a shame Tianshu Sect's sword energy runs so strong, a mortal without cultivation talent couldn't withstand the sword energy here, or else Senior Brother could have brought your mother to live here for good."

Chen Moqing lowered his lashes slightly. "Yes... it is a shame."

Still, it didn't matter. Once his injuries healed a little more, he'd be able to go see his mother.

The next day, Tianshu Sect's senior disciple entered seclusion to heal, while the youngest disciple of the sect head set off down the mountain for his first training expedition.

In Jiugai Prefecture, in a mountain city overlooking a river, a barrier enclosed the entire city within its bounds.

Xiao Jibai walked slowly out from among the mountain forest, standing at the cliff's edge, looking down over the mountain city. "So this is Baiyu City? A place rich in spiritual energy, yet it's full of mortals living here, what a waste."

"Host, think this through carefully. Once you take this step, there will be no turning back."

Xiao Jibai fell silent for a moment, then let out a small laugh. "I really am a little reluctant. After all, Senior Brother really has been very good to me..."

He pressed a hand to his chest, as if it ached faintly.

"With your talent, Host, if you cultivate diligently, there may well come a day when you catch up to him."

"'May well'?" Hearing this, Xiao Jibai's hand dropped from his chest, his expression shifting slightly. "So you know it's only 'may well,' do you? I've been wanting to ask you, why is it that I'm the protagonist, and yet the one who always gets everyone's attention is someone else!"

He drew a mirror from his sleeve; its surface was flawless, yet it reflected a face turned upside down.

To reverse cause and effect, to call black white, to muddle the truth and confound the minds of men, all of it, within a single mirror.

Even the foremost treasure under heaven could not compare to this.

The corner of Xiao Jibai's mouth curved upward. "A fine thing indeed, pity it's time-limited. It won't last more than a few uses before it's gone."

"Go, then. Go and light the way ahead for me!"

The bright mirror hung high, reflecting the mountain city ringed by a great river; the next instant, the barrier that had shrouded the sky above the city vanished into the mirror.

Fierce winds churned, the sky beginning to change; high above, a group of cultivators traveled together.

"The Grand Elder's injuries keep growing worse. We need to draw in new vital energy for him right away! The secret medicine's running short too. If this goes on, everyone's cultivation will be delayed."

"And of all things, the Demon Abyss has already been destroyed, so we can't pin it on demonic beasts like before... tch, what a headache! Why did that Chen Moqing have to come along!"

"Relax, Senior Brother. We were already used to this before the Demon Abyss ever showed up. This time we'll just do like we did in years past, pin it on whatever demonic cultivator's convenient, or better yet, just say the Demon Abyss wasn't fully cleared out and some demonic beast escaped. Wouldn't that do just fine?"

Hearing this, that senior brother was delighted beyond measure. "You really are a clever little devil!"

A sudden flicker passed before their eyes, as if a flash of light reflected off a mirror's surface had caught them.

When they opened their eyes again, a town had appeared not far off, plain and unremarkable, clearly a settlement of mortals at a glance.

"This will do. Let's get started."

"Wait, Senior Brother, shouldn't we go down and scout it out first? This is the south. I heard there's a Baiyu City somewhere in the south, where Chen Moqing's family lives out their remaining years."

"You think I don't know that? Baiyu City is a place rich in spiritual energy, guarded by a Void Refinement level barrier besides, how could it possibly be this little mortal town! Hurry up and get to it, the Grand Elder is still waiting to have his life extended!"

In a place devoid of light, a mirror hung silently suspended, reflecting a raging fire that consumed the town.

On Luohe Peak, in the quiet chamber of seclusion, a candlestand toppled to the floor, its flickering flame lighting up blood splattered across the ground.

His meridians utterly severed, his spiritual energy running in reverse, great swaths of blood staining his robes crimson, yet Chen Moqing seemed entirely unaware of it, his long hair disheveled, his pale fingers clenched tight around a piece of jade.

The jade, once whole and lustrous, had shattered into several pieces; no matter how he tried to fit them back together, it could not be made whole again.

The jagged edges of the jade tore into his palm, cutting his fingers till blood ran freely; he lurched abruptly to his feet, and no sooner had he stood than he coughed up another mouthful of blood. Bracing himself against the wall, he pressed a bloody handprint into it, then burst out of the chamber, vanishing into the roaring downpour outside.

Crash—

Cold winds howled, torrential rain shrouding the mountain sect; five hundred cultivators of Haoran Sect gathered within a great hall with doors and windows sealed shut, each one given a round, pitch-black pill.

They chewed the pills, and dark lines began to surface across everyone's bodies; along with them came a sudden surge in cultivation, with quite a few advancing a minor realm on the spot.

"Wonderful vitality, wonderful vitality!" Haoran Sect's senior disciple clapped his hands in admiration. "It's just that with the Demon Abyss gone, covering our tracks isn't as easy as it used to be. Today already cost us quite some effort, what are we to do going forward?"

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. Our sect stands united from top to bottom, and we've got plenty of time ahead..."

Before he could finish speaking, a creaking sound rang out, and the tightly shut hall doors slowly swung open, revealing the dark, lightless rainy night outside.

The five hundred sect members turned in surprise, staring at that yawning black doorway.

Boom!

A bolt of thunder crashed down onto the stone steps before the hall, sending stone and brick flying, rainwater splashing high; the blazing flash of lightning lit up the pitch-black courtyard for an instant, illuminating a rain-soaked figure.

The figure was dark all over, nearly blending into the deep night, save for the longsword in his hand, one that could cleave ice and shatter snow, giving off a cold, glinting light in the darkness.

"Who dares trespass upon our sect!"

The five hundred sect disciples sprang up as one, longswords flying into the air, countless sharp, icy gleams overlapping, lighting up pair after pair of furious eyes.

Fierce winds swept the curtain of rain, slamming into the hall doors and splitting them apart with a crash; the candles within flickered wildly, like so many frenzied serpents of flame. Amid that chaotic firelight, the figure slowly raised his head, beneath soaked black hair, a pair of eyes cold and fierce as a vengeful ghost's.

His eyes were brighter than his sword, and colder still, like ghostfire burning eternal in the underworld, scorching hollow the icy rainy night.

The torrential rain drowned the land below, yet high above Jiugai Prefecture, the magnificent great sect stood beneath still winds and clear skies, a solitary moon hanging aloft.

Before Tianshu Sect's mountain gate, Murong Zhou paced back and forth, his eyelid twitching, the elder's words echoing over and over in his mind.

What had happened?

Why had the elder come to find him first thing that morning, telling him to lead the senior disciple in through the mountain gate and activate the sect's great array?

The night wind was cold; on the long stone steps before the mountain, he caught sight of the senior disciple's figure, tall and solitary, as if he had lost every soul and spirit within him, old wounds still unhealed, new ones now added atop them.

Murong Zhou froze for a moment, then stepped forward at once. The word "Senior Brother" had barely left his mouth before the rest of what he meant to say caught in his throat.

He caught the scent of blood clinging inescapably to the senior disciple, from his sleeves, from between the folds of his robe, from deep within the very seams of his bones.

"...Senior Brother, weren't you in seclusion, recovering from your injuries? Why have you suddenly come out?"

"Where is the sect head." The senior disciple's voice was low, as icy as his fingers drained of all color. "I need to see him."

Murong Zhou stared fixedly at the senior disciple's profile, cold as snow. He had never seen him like this before—weak, hollowed of spirit, soaked through with rain, as though every bone in his body had been drawn out, leaving only a single spine to hold up his gaunt frame.

The hand Murong Zhou kept hidden beneath his sleeve trembled faintly, whether from excitement or some other feeling, he couldn't say. His voice, though, remained just as it always was. "I heard that first thing this morning, all the sect elders convened a secret meeting..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard footsteps and turned at once, the sect's lanterns had all been lit, and beneath their brilliant glow, several more figures now appeared on the long steps before the mountain. Leading them was the sect's Third Elder, Gongsun Qing.

"Chen Moqing, you went to Haoran Sect?" In the past, Elder Gongsun had always been warm and kind whenever he saw the senior disciple, but now his voice carried not a trace of warmth.

Murong Zhou froze, sensing something, and slowly took a step back.

The cold wind scraped across his face; a chill ran from his fingertips down into his very marrow, that cold turning to needles of steel, piercing straight into his heart.

Chen Moqing met Gongsun Qing's eyes and spoke slowly, his voice hoarse as though ground down by cold iron. "I have proof that Haoran Sect has fallen to the demonic path."

He drew out a jade slip, on which was recorded a scene that would be enough to expose Haoran Sect's true face.

"Senior Brother!"

A figure leapt swiftly down the mountain steps, Xiao Jibai arrived at his side and took hold of his hand. "Your hands are so, so cold!"

No sooner had he spoken than he saw Chen Moqing turn his face toward him without a word, a pair of deep, lightless eyes fixed unblinkingly upon him.

"Weren't you in Baiyu City?"

Hearing this, Xiao Jibai was startled for a moment, then said, "Master called me back unexpectedly, so I was delayed a few days, I'd meant to set out again tomorrow... Senior Brother, you're bleeding!"

He reached out, as if to brush away the blood on Chen Moqing's robe, but before his hand could fully land, it was suddenly seared away!

Ice-cold black flames burst alight from Chen Moqing's body, scorching his black hair and pale skin, swallowing him whole!

Demonic energy had invaded his body!

"Heavens! Senior Brother, you..."

Xiao Jibai stumbled back three steps; in the span of just a few breaths, shock, disbelief, and fury flickered through his eyes, and finally, thick, heavy disappointment.

"Master! Elders! Senior Brother has fallen to the demonic path!"

Murong Zhou's face went blank with shock, and abruptly he thrust out his sword!

The longsword struck straight for Chen Moqing's heart, but was deflected in an instant by a burst of sword-light from Chenjie, cutting through only a corner of his blood-stained sleeve.

The frost-cold longsword stood at Chen Moqing's side, its blade-light keen and biting, like burning snow in the long night, yet it could not dispel the black flames upon him.

The black flames burned fiercely at his very soul, a pain that should have gnawed to the bone, yet not a flicker of expression crossed Chen Moqing's face.

He stood at the foot of the mountain steps, watching as Xiao Jibai swiftly drew away, robe hems fluttering, hands clasped behind his back, the corner of his mouth curving up faintly at him.

"So it's true. You've already conspired with the demonic path, fallen to become a demonic cultivator!"

Gongsun Qing let out a furious rebuke, and the sect's great array roared to life, a surging pressure crashing down like a vast, invisible palm, bearing down upon Chen Moqing's thin, gaunt back!

His body shook violently, blood seeping once more through his robes, yet his expression never changed in the slightest. He simply raised his head quietly—

In those dark, sunken eyes, the sect's long stone steps stretched up into the vast night sky, lanterns blazing bright, the ancient sect's projection vast and sacred amid the firelight, a snow-white robe drifting lightly down.

The white-haired Immortal Venerable stood high above in the blazing lantern-light of the cold night sky, looking down from that great height, casting a single glance his way.

Then he turned and vanished into the boundless night.

Chen Moqing began to laugh, his blood-stained robe snapping in the wind, the bamboo pendant at his waist seeming ready to burst free into the night.

"When hell stands empty, ghosts walk in broad daylight."

Chenjie's sword-light blazed forth, startling the long night into brilliance!

...

The old affairs of Tianshu Sect, twelve years past, played out vividly before his eyes.

In this moment, the ancient sect's projection slowly collapsed before him; Chen Moqing lowered his dark, sunken eyes, their depths like a vast, deep lake, utterly still.

Gongsun Qing's expression shook violently, his eyes wide as he stared at him, as though watching a vengeful ghost crawl back into the mortal world from the eighteenth level of hell.

The viewing platforms fell into utter silence; no telling how long passed before a trembling voice finally rang out: "...It's him?!"

"It's him! He's back!"

"Chen Moqing is Liu Yun?! Am I having a nightmare?! Someone wake me up!"

"How can he be at great perfection of Deity Transformation?! Wasn't his cultivation entirely ruined when he died?! Why is he now at half a step into Void Refinement?!"

"Twelve years to return to Deity Transformation... good heavens, he's an absolute monster! A monster the likes of which has never been seen before, and never will be again!"

Chu Langtao stared up into the sky, mouth agape, unable to say a single word, only roaring over and over inside his heart: I knew it! I knew it!!

So there truly was no second being in this world as defiant of heaven's order as he was! From beginning to end, the only prodigy who could ever stand shoulder to shoulder with the name "Chen Moqing" was himself alone!

On the training ground, Chu Qingya was likewise struck utterly dumbstruck, and only after a long moment did he mutter under his breath, "Brother Liu Yun... is Chen Moqing?"

"I've become old friends with Chen Moqing! He even gave me pointers on the talisman path! Heavens!"

Qiu Zaiwang gave his long whip a flick, the corner of his mouth curving up. "Cast into the ground of death and reborn from it, no surprise, coming from him."

The viewing platforms erupted, and the imperial capital of the Zhou Kingdom turned into a boiling pot, everyone arguing without end, the whole place in an uproar.

"That demonic fiend is back again?! Mastery of sword, talisman, and array all at once! He's even more defiant of heaven than before!"

"Three paths cultivated together! Three paths reaching the very peak! What kind of peerless talent is this... to think that in this lifetime I'd actually witness the bearing of the Nine Thousand Prefectures' foremost prodigy! I could die without regret now!"

"Tianshu Sect drove a monster into being, and now he's going to turn the whole world upside down!"

Up in the teahouse, Ning Lili's mouth fell wide open, and she shook frantically at the mysterious turtle A' Bai in her hands, who was on the verge of fainting.

"A' Bai! So you really weren't Chen Moqing after all, it was Jiang Yu all along!!"

"Nascent Soul in five years, Deity Transformation in ten! A' Bai, say something! Say something, quick!"

The mysterious turtle A' Bai: "......"

What was there for it to say?!

It had thought Chen Moqing was a monster, never imagining this Liu Yun would turn out to be an even bigger monster than him! And it had never imagined that Liu Yun was Chen Moqing!!

Twice shaking the cultivation world to its core, two foremost figures of the younger generation who had left every prodigy unable to lift their heads, one and the same person!

Suddenly, A' Bai thought of something and let out a shriek: "Wait! So twelve years ago you'd already met Chen Moqing, and back then he was still at Qi Refinement?!"

"Yes! Yes!!" Ning Lili shrieked as well, hands cupping her face. "Heavens! I have to tell Master! We even bought talismans from him! He gave me quite a few things too! I'm going to be rich!!"

The mysterious turtle A' Bai: "......"

The mysterious turtle A' Bai shook its head and swished its tail, continuing to shriek loudly.

Zhou Kingdom, Jiugai Prefecture, the entire cultivation world, the whole realm was shaken!

In this moment, nearly every cultivator across the Nine Thousand Prefectures heard the voice of that young sword cultivator trampling Tianshu underfoot, and every one of them came to know his name!

——Chen Moqing!

Fallen for twelve years, now returned at great perfection of Deity Transformation, his sword turned upon Tianshu!

"...Bluster! Nothing but bluster!"

Gongsun Qing let out a furious roar, the aura of peak Body Integration erupting from him at once!

"Back then, even after you'd reached Void Refinement, Tianshu still cut you down! Today you're merely at Deity Transformation, a tiny ant, and yet you dare think to overturn the heavens!"

"Well said!" A booming laugh pierced through the clouds; the long wind howled as a tall, towering figure descended. "An ant trying to shake a tree, you don't know your own limits!"

Tianshu Sect's Second Elder, at early Mahayana!

He looked down over the earth as though surveying so many ants in the world, smiling coolly. "You dare act so brazenly before me? Today I'll make you spill your blood across Tianshu once again!"

In an instant, the two Tianshu Sect elders struck out together, the combined force of peak Body Integration and early Mahayana crashing down, coalescing into a single vast palm that blotted out the sky. Before it had even descended, the sheer pressure radiating from it alone shook every onlooker present to their knees, leaving them unable to rise, and those with weaker cultivation had their spiritual meridians shattered outright, their fate uncertain.

A faint flicker of light passed over the training ground and viewing platforms, and in an instant, all the onlookers were transported thousands of zhang away.

A great wind rose across the high heavens; Chen Moqing let the sky-blotting palm bear down upon him, standing unmoved, a faint smile on his lips.

At his shoulder, the snow-white demonic beast lifted its gaze, opening a pair of cold, crimson demonic eyes.

In that instant, heaven and earth lost all color, the great sun went dark! Only a single moon rose high, stern and absolute, blotting out sky and sun alike, pressing down across ten thousand li!

The moon's bright radiance poured out across the boundless earth, transforming into a vast barrier that sealed off the entirety of Tianshu Sect's grounds, locking down the whole of Jiugai Prefecture!

The great sect of the upper prefecture, entirely fallen within the cage! As the bright moon turned, every technique and method alike was sealed!

The sky-blotting palm, carrying the combined force of early Mahayana and peak Body Integration, collapsed and scattered outright; the vast heavens fell utterly silent, only the bright moon's cold frost-light still shining coldly down upon the earth.

"What?!"

In that same instant, both Gongsun Qing and Tianshu Sect's Second Elder sensed an utterly terrifying pressure bearing down upon them from above; their expressions changed abruptly, fear appearing on their faces for the very first time!

In both pairs of eyes, trembling in unison, was reflected the very last sight either of them would ever see in this life—

Black hair streaming in the long wind, dark robes billowing wildly, a man of peerless beauty stood upon the high heavens, his ink-black robes tracing the tall, upright lines of his body.

He stood with his back to the bright moon, his face sunk in shadow, only a pair of crimson eyes catching a sharp, cold gleam.

Looking down from that great height, surveying the whole prefecture beneath him, his aura swallowing mountains and rivers whole, his might shaking the entire world, as though he were the very lord of this realm, reigning supreme over all under heaven!

Tianshu Sect's Second Elder was so shaken his voice came out warped and distorted: "It's you?! You've returned to this world?!"

Without a moment's hesitation he turned and fled, covering a thousand zhang in a single instant. "You can't kill me! I am—"

An arrogant voice rang out beneath the bright moon, drowning out every clamoring sound: "An ant dares call itself 'venerable' before me?"

A cold light surged violently in his eyes; Cang Shun raised his right hand, back of the hand facing down, and turned it over with a casual, understated motion, his palm now angled down toward the earth, pressing lightly downward.

Bang!

Amid the bright moon's cold, clear frost, Tianshu Sect's Second Elder, already a thousand zhang away, burst apart into a mist of blood on the spot!

Only then did Gongsun Qing think to flee, but the moment he turned, an indescribably terrifying majesty crushed down upon him at once! His body, at the very peak of Body Integration, proved as fragile as a crumpled scrap of paper before that overwhelming presence!

"No—!"

Tianshu Sect's Third Elder's body burst apart outright! His soul tore free from his body, screaming in agony as it tried to flee far away, in the space of the next breath, his very soul was annihilated!

Peak Body Integration, early Mahayana, both fallen!

A single strike, cutting down two of Tianshu's mighty elders in succession!

The silver-white mirror reflected this very scene, and it too was witnessed by the entire world!

In that short span of time, Jiugai Prefecture, the entire cultivation world, shook once more!

Certain great powers of the major sects and clans, over five thousand years of age, had already recognized that handsome, sharp-edged face; their expressions shook with shock, after a thousand years, a familiar terror surged up once more from the depths of their very souls!

"It's actually him... he never truly fell after all?!"

"And just what is his relationship to Chen Moqing?!"

"It's over! With those two together, the cultivation world is about to turn upside down!"

The clear moon's radiance draped over him, gently enveloping Chen Moqing, brushing across the ends of his hair and the hem of his robe. He gazed calmly ahead, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

The bright moon hung high in the sky, the Demon Emperor descended into the world, who in this world would dare call themselves venerable before him!

Cang Shun looked down over Tianshu, his cold voice descending over the whole of Jiugai Prefecture like the most exalted decree of pardon or command in all the world.

"Wrong my dao companion, and you shall pay in blood."

"Today, Tianshu bathes in blood!"

Previous | TOC | Next