Chapter 100: First Steps on the Demonic Path (12) |
Su Chen's heart sank. A man like Zhou Hao—a true hegemon—would never trust anyone so easily. A mere soul tether was far from enough.
He had once read about the Slave Seal Pill in ancient records from the Central Continent's Pill God Hall. It was an utterly vicious poison pill. Once swallowed, it would slowly erode the mind until the consumer became utterly obedient to whoever held the master seal. The method of breaking it…
"Are you… unwilling to submit to this seat?"
Zhou Hao narrowed his eyes. His towering figure loomed like a god or demon, his presence crashing down like an avalanche.
Su Chen accepted the Slave Seal Pill and swallowed it without hesitation. "This disciple is naturally willing to submit to the Sacred Lord."
Only after watching Su Chen consume the pill did Zhou Hao withdraw his killing intent. He spoke calmly. "From now on, you belong to this seat. This seat requires your cooperation to wipe out every last member of the Primordial Remnant Clan."
Su Chen nodded. After leaving the Sun-Devouring Hall, his mood was grim. A hegemon who had risen to Sacred Lord in a place as brutal as the Sun-Devouring Sacred Land was naturally far more dangerous than any opponent he had faced in his previous lives—cautious, ruthless, and terrifyingly powerful. That he even possessed something as vicious as the Slave Seal Pill spoke volumes. He had to refine the antidote before the pill's effects overwhelmed his state of mind!
Zhou Hao might be a hegemon, but he had overlooked one crucial fact. Su Chen was not merely the twenty-something Zhou Chen. He was an old monster who had lived for thousands of years. For an ordinary will, the Slave Seal Pill might fully enslave the mind in three to five months.
But Su Chen had endured lifetime after lifetime of reincarnation and tribulation. His state of mind had long been forged into unbreakable steel. How could he possibly submit so easily?
Two tigers could not share one mountain.
…
Several days later, outside the Sun-Devouring Sacred Land.
Su Chen met Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi saw a familiar figure beside him.
Zhou Hao!
"Zhou Chen… you actually betrayed us!"
"You will die a miserable death!"
Zhou Yi tried to flee, but in front of a peak Saint like Zhou Hao, escape was impossible.
Before long, upheaval swept through the Sun-Devouring Sacred Land. Over a hundred elders and disciples perished—including Red Sun Venerable, Su Chen's nominal master. Every remnant of the Primordial Remnant Clan was eradicated in a single purge.
Su Chen rose in status to become the Sacred Lord's personal true disciple—one of the sacred land's ranked true disciples. What surprised him was how generously Zhou Hao treated him. Endless resources poured in.
In just thirty short years, Su Chen's cultivation soared from the third layer of Void Refining straight to the peak of the Void Refining realm. He stood on the verge of breaking through to the Nirvana realm when Zhou Hao summoned him once more. The Sacred Lord wanted him to eliminate the successors of numerous Northern Desert forces.
"This old monster… he intends to ignite conflict between two domains. He plans to use the chaos of war, the slaughter of countless lives, and the resulting tidal surge of world qi—when heavenly secrets grow chaotic—to break through to Saint King!"
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Su Chen finally understood why Zhou Hao had kept him alive. He was nothing more than a chess piece on Zhou Hao's path to greater power!
Su Chen lowered his head. His face remained expressionless, like a perfectly obedient puppet. He nodded in acceptance.
Zhou Hao was extremely pleased with the response. Ever since he had witnessed Su Chen's Primordial Taotie Physique, a plan had taken shape in his mind. The Saint realm had imprisoned him for far too long. To break through to Saint King, the Western Regions could no longer support his ascension. As long as the aged Saint Kings lived, he would be forever blocked.
But how could Zhou Hao tolerate such a fate? Only by plunging the world into chaos—riding the momentum of mass slaughter—could he take the next step. Su Chen was merely one of his pawns.
After leaving the Sun-Devouring Hall, Su Chen set out for the Northern Desert. This journey also presented a rare opportunity to search for the antidote to the Slave Seal Pill.
Within the Northern Desert, powerful forces stood tall and proud.
In his seventh life, Su Chen had been the clan leader of a declining sacred clan in the Northern Desert. He knew the landscape like the back of his hand.
Unfortunately, the Gu clan had long since fallen. After his battle with Lin Zhan, the entire clan had been reduced to ashes. Its people were slaughtered or scattered. The few survivors who escaped were hunted by the War God Hall.
When the Gu clan perished, the Northern Desert's major powers had simply watched from the sidelines. Not one of the forces once allied with the clan had lifted a finger to help.
Now, when it came time to slaughter their successors, Su Chen felt no mercy whatsoever.
...
Deep within a certain ruin.
Su Chen stepped inside. The ancient site was stained with blood. Countless prodigies had met their end here. Every technique he employed perfectly mimicked the signature arts of the Western Regions' major powers. To any observer, it would appear that an elite squad of Western Regions prodigies had carried out a ruthless massacre. All the treasures and resources within the ruin fell into Su Chen's hands.
The incident sent shockwaves through the Northern Desert. Yet the various powers there refused to accept so readily that the Western Regions was truly responsible. They launched exhaustive investigations to uncover the true mastermind.
Time passed swiftly. Ten years slipped by.
Despite the efforts of Northern Desert forces—even the intervention of Saint-level experts—no one managed to identify the culprit. Instead, more and more prodigies died. The killings grew increasingly covert, leaving only faint traces that pointed vaguely toward the Western Regions.
The Northern Desert could no longer sit idle. Leaders of major powers marched to the Western Regions demanding answers. The Western Regions naturally denied everything and refused to offer any explanation.
The conflict between North and West had simmered for hundreds of thousands of years—perhaps longer. With so many Northern Desert prodigies dead and their generational strength crippled, was this not the perfect opportunity for the Western Regions to close the gap and even overtake them?
Gradually, large numbers of Western Regions prodigies began to die as well. The sects and clans of the Western Regions were predominantly demonic in nature. They immediately concluded that the Northern Desert was behind the killings, seeking any pretext to create a generational gap in Western Regions talent.
How could the sacred lands, sects, and clans of the Western Regions tolerate such a thing? They launched even fiercer retaliation.
This shadow war raged on for thirty years.
Su Chen gazed at the pill in his palm and let out a long breath. For a full century, he had moved ceaselessly between the Western and Northern Deserts. The number of prodigies who died by his hand was beyond counting. Several times, Saint-level experts had personally acted against him, only for him to escape death by wielding his saint artifact at the critical moment.
He had devoured far too many prodigies and powerhouses. To gather the ingredients needed to refine the antidote for the Slave Seal Pill, entire orthodoxies had perished at his hands. With his own strength alone, he had stirred the tides of the world.
Su Chen swallowed the antidote to the Slave Seal Pill. Though the pill was notoriously difficult to counteract, how could it stump him—a half-step Saint-grade alchemist?
"It's still not enough… To truly ignite a war between the domain's powerhouses, kill Zhou Hao, and seize the method to neutralize the soul tether, I must at least eliminate one more heavyweight figure!"
Su Chen had indeed neutralized the Slave Seal Pill's effects, but he had not forgotten the soul tether planted deep within his sea of consciousness by the Sun-Devouring Sacred Land. Control over the soul tether rested solely in the hands of each successive Sacred Lord. Without it, he would never escape the fate of living and dying at Zhou Hao's whim.
Aside from initiating the next life, Su Chen was unwilling to die in such a manner. It did not take long for him to select his next target. The divine physique prodigy of the current generation in Northern Desert's White Cloud City.
Lin Xiuyuan!
…