“Your Majesty, when Number Four went to reincarnate, he also left behind a ring, known as the Ghost King Ring,” the Ghost King’s mental phantom said. “This ring contains a considerable amount of energy, and it also features a very complex and mysterious energy array that continually devours the dark death qi of heaven and earth. Even if its energy is exhausted, after a period of time, it will fill up once more. Furthermore, once you wear that ring, many of the remnant forces of the Ghost King Empire will recognise you as their master, though you should not hold overly high hopes. Because back then, Number Four established the Ghost King Empire relying on force and ambition, rather than winning the hearts of the people. So much time has passed, I do not know if these people will still remain loyal to the Ghost King.”
Speaking of this, Lan Ling immediately thought of that massive jellyfish, possessing extraordinarily powerful mental strength, the one that had imprisoned Xie Li the Second. After the Ghost King Empire dissolved, it found a cave to reign supreme as a despot, having long cast the Ghost King Empire out of its mind.
“However, the Four Great Ghost Generals were the adopted sons and daughters taken in by Number Four, and these four were incomparably loyal to the Ghost King Empire. There is also the Rakshasa Ghost Mother, though she is dead, His Majesty the Ghost King avenged her and cleared her name, so she too was exceedingly loyal to the Ghost King Empire,” the Ghost King’s phantom said. “If you can find these five people, and if they are still alive, I believe they will be of great use to you.”
By this point, the Ghost King’s mental phantom had already grown extremely faint.
“My Sovereign, I truly loathe to depart, I truly wish to follow you in establishing the great cause of world destruction, please never forget Number Four, remember to awaken him…”
The Ghost King’s mental phantom extended a hand, wishing to touch Lan Ling.
Then, its figure completely vanished into ash.
Immediately afterwards, the tomb of the Ghost King around them also faded entirely, disappearing.
Every surrounding scene completely turned to ash and dispersed.
Lan Ling’s soul returned to his body, and he opened his eyes.
He had already returned to the ruins of the Misfortune Demon Capital, returning to Gou Li’s side.
Looking down, an extra ring sat within his hand.
This had to be the Ghost King Ring, its band surprisingly forged of black iron.
The Ghost King had once possessed wealth surpassing the world, let alone gold, black gold, or platinum, even dragon gold was nothing rare to him.
Yet, his greatest fondness was for black iron.
Not only was his armour cast from black iron, but even his weapons and ring were made of black iron.
At this moment, upon the face of this Ghost King Ring was a cluster of blue ghostly flame, flickering with astonishing energy.
This Ghost King Ring could be considered a second energy reservoir. Once one’s own energy was exhausted, one could use the energy within this ring to launch attacks.
After the Ghost King became incomparably powerful, it was likely he almost never used the energy within this ring.
Therefore, the energy inside had been stored for countless years and was bound to be extraordinarily potent.
Sensing the immense energy within the ring, Lan Ling could not help but recall the figure of the Ghost King in his mind.
At this moment, he truly had an exceptionally deep impression of this Hell Knight ranked Number Four.
Loyal, powerful, intelligent, and full of imagination.
All these traits made him a figure brimming with charm.
To think that such an individual was actually his own most loyal subordinate.
He truly wondered who he had reincarnated into now, which figure in the Divine Dragon Temple was he?
He believed that with Number Four’s (the Ghost King’s) ability, intelligence, and temperament, he would certainly be able to climb very high within the Divine Dragon Temple. Naturally, he might not even know his own true identity.
After all, what he had infiltrated was the Divine Dragon Temple, the most powerful and dangerous faction in this world.
Any slight trace would reveal a flaw, let alone the fact that Number Four was the mortal enemy of the Divine Dragon Temple, whether as a Hell Knight or as the Ghost King.
To be honest, Lan Ling still did not know how Number Four had managed to infiltrate the Divine Dragon Temple, or how he had washed himself clean through reincarnation.
After infiltrating the Divine Dragon Temple, he had to deceive even himself in order to deceive the higher levels of the Divine Dragon Temple.
This was why his mental phantom had repeatedly emphasised that Lan Ling must remember to awaken him.
…
“Roar…” Suddenly, a roar came from the three-headed chimera beast beside him, and it nudged Lan Ling with its paw, reminding him to look at Gou Li beside him.
Lan Ling looked up and discovered that Gou Li was still petrified, completely motionless.
After entering the rift to the underworld created by the Ghost King, Lan Ling had nearly died, so his energy connection with the death warriors had completely severed, and the two hundred death knights had instantly frozen in place, turning into walking corpses.
However, Lan Ling’s soul had quickly revived, and all the death warriors had simultaneously revived as well.
Only Gou Li had not, still frozen there, completely still, as if dead.
“Gou Li…” Lan Ling stepped forward to shake her delicate body.
There was no movement at all.
Sensing the energy in her heart, its circulation was normal.
She was still alive.
Yet, she remained completely motionless.
Why was this?
The reason was very simple, Gou Li thought Lan Ling had died, so her own soul had died along with him.
When Lan Ling’s soul “died”, the souls of all the death warriors died along with it, turning into walking corpses. However, they had died passively. Thus, after Lan Ling’s soul revived, they revived as well.
Gou Li, on the other hand, had chosen death actively.
That is to say, upon seeing Lan Ling die, she had died immediately alongside him, following him in martyrdom, rather than waiting for the severing of the energy link before dying.
Therefore, after Lan Ling returned to life, she still had not revived.
Because she had actively martyred herself alongside Lan Ling.
Next, Lan Ling attempted every possible method to activate Gou Li’s soul, all of which ended in failure.
Even including stripping her bare and entering her.
No method worked, none could revive her soul.
In the end, Lan Ling’s gaze settled upon the Ghost King Ring in his hand!
It contained incomparably powerful energy, and the energy bombardment it generated might perhaps activate Gou Li’s soul?
Just like on Earth, when a person’s heart stopped beating and required electric shock therapy.
Or like a person in a vegetative state who might wake up after encountering an extremely strong stimulation.
However, this ring contained immense energy, and if Lan Ling were to wear it, his cultivation might break through another level, or even two levels.
Without hesitation, Lan Ling slipped the Ghost King Ring onto Gou Li’s slender jade finger.
“Boom…”
Sure enough, it was an energy bombardment!
Lan Ling’s body was blown away directly.
“Crack…” At the same time, Gou Li’s body instantly turned into a crystal form, which was her self-defence mechanism.
However, even turning into a crystal form was useless, as her body was instantly shattered to pieces, turning into countless sparkling fragments that blasted in all directions.
Lan Ling was completely astonished.
He knew that the Ghost King Ring would contain great energy, but he had never expected it to be so immense that even Gou Li’s crystal form could not withstand it.
Next, the energy bombardment continued.
Yet Gou Li’s physical form did not restore.
She had completely become an energy life form, with a heart, a brain domain, and energy meridians.
The energy of the Ghost King Ring battered her energy heart, her meridians, and her brain domain with near frenzy.
Gou Li’s cultivation had already reached peak Demon Martial Grandmaster, whether in martial path or qi path, both were at peak Demon Martial Grandmaster.
Therefore, all the energy of the Ghost King Ring was used to temper, reshape, and bring nirvana to her energy heart, meridians, and mental brain domain.
Lan Ling could even watch everything with his own eyes.
Originally, Gou Li’s energy meridians were blue, but after being reshaped inch by inch, they turned into a pale green, the colour of ghostly fire.
From the heart, to the brain domain, and finally to the tips of the meridians.
Countless bombardments, hundreds, thousands of energy bombardments and energy modifications.
After a full quarter of an hour, every inch of her meridians was completely transformed.
Then, the crystal dust that had previously been blown to pieces began to coalesce, reassembling into a human body once more.
A few minutes later, Gou Li’s crystal form was fully restored.
The energy bombardment ceased!
Gou Li’s crystal form faded away, turning back into the enchanting and beautiful body of a woman.
However, she still remained unconscious.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Suddenly, countless bursts of energy astral qi seemed to erupt from her body, shattering the ruins of the Misfortune Demon Capital within a radius of dozens of metres entirely into fine dust.
This characteristic represented one thing, breaking through to Demon Sect!
Whenever a member of the Demon Race broke through to Demon Sect, they would undergo a complete release of energy, as if testing whether their bodily meridians could withstand such a powerful energy attack, because after breaking through to a Demon Sect powerhouse, one shifted from physical attacks to energy attacks.
After releasing the energy attack that symbolised Demon Sect, Gou Li’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and then she opened her eyes.
Seeing a living Lan Ling, she said nothing, but knelt directly before him, embracing his legs and burying her exquisite face against Lan Ling’s lap.
After quite a long time, Gou Li suddenly said, “Master, you seemed to have had your way with me just now, but only for a dozen thrusts, why not continue? While we are at it, we can celebrate your tremendous gains, and celebrate my unexpected breakthrough to Demon Sect!”
“Very well…” Lan Ling said.
Next, like lightning striking dry wood, the two entangled passionately in fierce battle.
After a full four hours.
Gou Li lay lazily in Lan Ling’s embrace, holding out her hand to look at the Ghost King Ring.
“From now on, you are the new Ghost King,” Lan Ling smiled and said.
“Very well…” Gou Li said. “Then I shall become a female Ghost King who kneels before you forever!”
The two savoured the delightful afterglow.
“Master, the Ghost King was truly extraordinary…” Gou Li said. “I wonder what the other Hell Knight lords are like? But I believe none could be more outstanding than Lord Ghost King. In the future, I will take him as my model, becoming an independent, loyal, powerful, and wise death warrior!”
Gou Li placed independence first.
Because in her eyes, only under an independent and free personality could loyalty be true loyalty.
Otherwise, one was merely a walking corpse, merely a puppet.
The Ghost King, who was Death Knight Number Four, was the finest example.
In his own unique way, he had defined loyalty. He did not wait in conventional adherence to rules, but rather took risks alone to continue the Demon Emperor’s cause.
Although he had failed, he had achieved tremendous gains!
“Master, we should head out, time is running short, you need to go comprehend the Hell Lightning,” Gou Li said. “Your cultivation has undergone an astounding breakthrough, but you are likely still no match for the Black Demon Banner Leader. Only after comprehending the Hell Lightning will you be able to defeat him.”
…
Witch Country, Ocean Blue Banner territory.
Lan Mei had truly gone to the Witch City to request a cup of the Divine Demon Spring, or rather, to obtain a cup through deception.
In the Witch Country, the Divine Demon Spring was incomparably precious, because from a long time ago, it had ceased to be renewable, with each cup used leaving one less in existence.
Only the most outstanding warriors of the Witch Country would seek a cup of the Divine Demon Spring to conceive the finest offspring.
Because a single cup of the Divine Demon Spring represented a child of the Witch Country.
The Witch Country’s continued legacy depended entirely upon the Divine Demon Spring, which was why the population of the Witch Country was continually dwindling.
Lan Mei had claimed that Banner Leader Lan Qi wished to conceive offspring, thereby directly applying for a cup of the precious Divine Demon Spring from the Witch City.
The elder overseeing the Divine Demon Spring was a very powerful spiritual master, before whom no one could lie.
However… Lan Mei seemed to be an exception.
She was a little devil, when she lied, there were no spiritual fluctuations whatsoever, and no one could tell.
Therefore, up until now, everyone felt that although little Lan Mei was mischievous and sly, she was very honest and never lied.
At this moment, Ji Xiuning had been placed in the centre of a great energy array, the surface of her body still coated with a layer of energy shell that was immune to any energy attack.
Banner Leader Lan Qi held a cup of the Divine Demon Spring in her hand, positioning it between Ji Xiuning’s thighs.
“Banner Leader, shouldn’t we reconsider this?” little Lan Mei said.
It was she who had come up with this idea, she who had continually egged on Banner Leader Lan Qi, and she who had gone to the Witch City to swindle the Divine Demon Spring.
Yet now, she was the one getting cold feet.
“What is the matter?” Banner Leader Lan Qi asked.
“If it fails, a precious cup of the Divine Demon Spring will have been wasted,” Lan Mei said. “Moreover, each person only has a quota of one cup of the Divine Demon Spring, if you use it up, you will never be able to give birth to a baby in your entire life.”
Banner Leader Lan Qi shook her head with a pained expression and said, “I will not give birth…”
This look of agony was very familiar in the Witch Country.
As mothers, who did not love their own children? Yet for the continuation of the Witch Country, a mother was merely a tool for reproduction, and once born, the child would be taken away immediately to be raised far away, never to meet again for the rest of their lives.
For every mother, this was immense agony.
However… the reality dictated that the Witch Country had no other choice but to use this method to perpetuate the bloodline of the Witch Country.
“Still, if the Divine Demon Spring has no effect on Ji Xiuning, then… then a cup of the Divine Demon Spring will have been wasted, which means the Witch Country loses a child,” Lan Mei said sadly.
Although she was mischievous and sly, a little devil, her love for the Witch Country was beyond comparison.
Banner Leader Lan Qi said nothing, pouring the Divine Demon Spring straight down between Ji Xiuning’s thighs.
Naturally, under normal circumstances it was consumed directly. Lan Qi pouring it between Ji Xiuning’s thighs was more an act of desecration and vengeance against the Divine Dragon Temple.
Right after being poured, this cup of the Divine Demon Spring vanished, as if completely absorbed by the energy shell on Ji Xiuning’s body.
Then, Lan Qi and Lan Mei held their breath, staring at Ji Xiuning’s energy shell, praying unceasingly.
It must work, it simply had to work.
Otherwise… the Divine Demon Spring would truly have been wasted, and the Witch Country would have lost a child, which would be a grave sin.
Right at this moment.
“Crack…”
The energy shell between Ji Xiuning’s thighs suddenly split open with a fissure.