“Borrow troops? Borrow five thousand centaur cavalry?” Khan Xieli almost laughed. Who was this lowly Near Human? He actually wanted to command a mighty Centaur Khan?
Lingling said, “Is a single battle really worth more than your son?”
Khan Xieli pondered for a long time before saying, “Fine, it’s a deal. As long as you help me find my son, I’ll lend you five thousand centaur cavalry.”
This was one of those promises that belonged to the ninety nine percent, casually spoken, as worthless as passing wind.
Lingling said, “It’s a deal!”
Khan Xieli said, “Now, you should tell me where my son is.”
Lingling said, “A year ago, while your son was travelling to gain experience, he met a woman from the Witch Kingdom.”
“The Witch Kingdom?” Khan Xieli’s eyes became distant. Every trace of authority and intimidation disappeared from his face, as though he had fallen into an intoxicating memory.
The Witch Kingdom.
It was the smallest and most mysterious of the eight Demon King domains in the Southern Wilderness.
There were only women in that kingdom, no men.
The women of that kingdom possessed the most beautiful faces and the most seductive figures. Their beauty was beyond the power of words to describe.
Every child born there was a daughter. Moreover, they did not need men. They only had to drink the water from the kingdom’s Demonic Well to become pregnant.
Because of this, the people of that kingdom were known as the daughters of the Demon God. Over time, the kingdom became known as the Witch Kingdom.
The Witch Kingdom lived in seclusion within a mirage in the vast desert stretching ten thousand miles. Outsiders could never find their kingdom.
No one from outside could enter, and the people of the Witch Kingdom never came out.
Their only mission in life was to cultivate martial arts.
Therefore, although the Witch Kingdom’s population was small, its people were extraordinarily powerful.
It was obvious that Khan Xieli had once seen the beauty of a woman from the Witch Kingdom, which was why he still could not forget it after all these years.
“Go on,” Khan Xieli said.
Lingling said, “The moment your son saw the beauty from the Witch Kingdom, he became completely infatuated. He forgot all about cultivation and followed her closely.”
Khan Xieli’s face turned red, because he had once experienced the same thing himself.
Lingling continued, “At first, the beauty from the Witch Kingdom tolerated it. She kindly persuaded the men following her to leave. Many could not bear to see her troubled and reluctantly walked away. Only your son refused to give up. He kept following her until she led him deep into the Demon Cave.”
“The Demon Cave? Black Ghost Old Demon’s lair?” Khan Xieli asked in a trembling voice.
The Black Ghost Old Demon was the most terrifying monster within a thousand mile radius.
It had lived for at least several thousand years. More than three thousand years ago, it had been one of the Ghost King’s great generals. After the Ghost King died and his empire crumbled into dust, many of his former generals wandered the land and claimed territories as their own.
The Black Ghost Old Demon occupied a Demon Cave and ruled over it. It created all kinds of seductive illusions to lure travellers inside, then drained them of their life essence.
Over the years, countless demons and barbarians had entered the cave and been drained dry. In time, the Demon Cave became the most feared place, and the Black Ghost Old Demon became the most dreaded monster.
According to legend, anyone who entered the Demon Cave would become trapped in its mental illusion and die without exception, no matter how powerful they were.
How did Lingling know that Khan Xieli’s son had been led into the Demon Cave by a witch?
Because one of the Mirror Demon King’s spiritual slaves had witnessed everything with his own eyes. He had also been one of the many men following the witch, unable to let go. Driven beyond her limit, the witch had led them all into the Demon Cave.
That man knew how terrifying the cave was. His fear overcame his desire, and he fled.
Therefore, he had personally seen Xieli the Second follow the witch into the Demon Cave.
“Is he dead?” Khan Xieli asked.
Lingling shook his head. “I don’t know. Perhaps he is dead, perhaps he isn’t.”
According to legend, no one who entered the Demon Cave had ever survived, regardless of how strong they were, because martial skill was useless inside it.
Khan Xieli stared coldly at Lingling and said, “You mean I have to enter the Demon Cave to find my son? How do I know you weren’t sent by my enemies to get me killed?”
Lingling replied calmly, “Because I will enter the Demon Cave with you and rescue your son.”
Khan Xieli was stunned. “Why? Why would you do that?”
Lingling said, “Because I was guided by a dream.”
Khan Xieli stared at Lingling for quite some time. This lowly Near Human might have decent martial skills, but he could crush him with ease.
Then he hesitated. If his son had really entered the Demon Cave, should he go and save him?
The legends surrounding the cave were simply too terrifying.
For years, everyone who entered the cave had died. Every single one had been drained of blood and life essence by the Black Ghost Old Demon.
No matter how strong your martial arts were, it was useless because you would die before even seeing your enemy.
“I must save my son. I am the King of the Centaurs. How could I possibly know fear?”
“I am the bravest and strongest Khan Xieli. The great Moon Demon God watches over me from the heavens and shines upon me. How could I retreat? If I retreat, what right do I have to remain Khan of the Centaurs?”
“How could I be the same as those lowly races? They may die in the Demon Cave, but I can crush that Black Wind Old Demon with my bare hands!”
Khan Xieli continued encouraging himself until his resolve became firm.
He said, “Lowly Near Human, come with me into the Demon Cave. We will rescue my son.”
The Centaur Khan acted decisively. After entrusting the affairs of the tribe to his wife, he immediately left with Lingling and headed for the Demon Cave a thousand miles away to rescue his son, Xieli the Second.
…
Time turned back to two years earlier.
Zhining and Fang Qingzhuo’s ship continued sailing north, farther and farther north.
The weather grew colder and colder. More and more drifting ice appeared on the sea.
The three children could no longer endure the freezing cold. Zhining took out the medicinal pills Die Wu had given her, scraped off a tiny amount, dissolved it in water, and let the children drink it.
Something miraculous happened. The three children became so warm that their faces turned bright red and they even started sweating. They happily ran about on the deck playing with the ice.
The ship was crewed by Prince Ji Min’s soldiers and sailors. Many of them were not skilled martial artists and could not bear the bitter cold.
Zhining dissolved some of Die Wu’s pills into wine and invited the sailors and warriors to drink it.
Immediately, they began sweating heavily and no longer felt cold at all.
The great ship continued north, ever north.
The drifting ice became more and more numerous.
Everyone could clearly feel that the days were becoming shorter while the nights grew longer.
In the distance to the north, vast glaciers came clearly into view.
It seemed as though they had reached the end of the continent.
From the seas of the Eastern Li Kingdom to this place, they had travelled far more than ten thousand miles, probably around seventeen thousand miles.
Eventually, the ship could go no farther.
The sea here had completely frozen over.
Several hundred miles ahead stood towering glaciers reaching into the clouds, stretching endlessly, as though blocking off the entire world.
This was the end of the world.
“Your Highness, we must return now. Please take care of yourself,” the captain said to Zhining.
Zhining gave everyone a respectful half bow and said, “Thank you all for taking care of us along the way. Please accept these gifts as a small token of my gratitude.”
She then brought out a bag of gold coins, a bag of gemstones, and several cold resistant medicinal pills.
Next, she took out paper and a brush and said, “Please write down your names and your hometowns. If I ever return alive to the Human Kingdoms, I will surely repay your kindness.”
The sailors and warriors were deeply moved and gladly left behind their names.
The ship turned back.
Holding her baby in her arms, Zhining stepped onto the northern glacier. Fang Qingzhuo held the hands of the two girls. Two dogs pulled a sled carrying the jade like body of Ashi Liren, fire making supplies, clothes, and food.
The group walked north across the ice, continuing onward.
Although the glacier appeared close, it was still incredibly far away.
After walking for several days and nights, covering more than seven hundred miles, Zhining and Fang Qingzhuo finally reached its base with the children.
Without Die Wu’s medicinal pills, the three children would never have survived such terrible cold.
The glacier was over ten thousand metres high. As for its length, it stretched beyond sight, perhaps thousands of miles, perhaps tens of thousands.
It resembled a giant wall dividing the entire world in two.
Zhining dug an ice shelter, and the group lived inside it while waiting for the polar night to arrive.
The daylight became shorter and shorter.
Half a month later.
At last, daylight disappeared completely. Endless night descended, and the sun never rose again.
Zhining and Fang Qingzhuo waited with wide eyes for the Gate of the Aurora to appear.
Time passed second by second.
Twenty four hours later.
A magnificent aurora descended from the heavens like a dazzling river of stars, like the hand of a god.
The aurora stretched beneath the glacier, forming a beautiful archway.
Inside the arch was complete darkness. Yet upon closer inspection, waves of energy shimmered like a mirage.
This was the Energy Gate created by the Divine Dragon. Passing through it would lead directly to the Southern Wilderness.
Without any hesitation, Zhining carried the baby. Fang Qingzhuo carried Ashi Liren on her back while holding the two girls. Together they stepped into the Gate of the Aurora.
There was no longer any place for them in the Human Kingdoms.
They were willing to walk through any gate that would take them away, even if it led to an even worse world.
Thus, the three women and the three children passed through the Gate of the Aurora. They vanished without a trace, leaving the Human Kingdoms forever and entering an unknown world.
Zhining’s destination was the Witch Kingdom, hidden within the vast desert of the Southern Wilderness.
Because that was Ashi Liren’s homeland. Only there could she be brought back to life and complete her final demonic transformation.
…
The Headless Knight, Zhi Li, the Rock Demon, and Lan Tu, the Four Hell Knights, slaughtered everyone in the Demon Experiment Laboratory beneath the Sacred Temple of Zhidu, seized Ashi Luo’s soul fragments, and fled thousands of miles into the southwestern desert.
Ashi Luo’s body had already exploded into countless pieces, making it impossible to recover.
So they needed another body.
In an underground city beneath the southwestern desert lay the corpse of a Hell Knight.
He was the fourth Hell Knight. He had betrayed his mission and had been personally executed by the Demon Emperor thousands of miles away.
Countless years later, a female sand bandit leader accidentally discovered the corpse. Perhaps the dried corpse’s fingernail pierced her skin, or perhaps she had intended to burn the body.
In any case, by pure coincidence, her body absorbed a tiny portion of the Hell Knight’s demonic blood, granting her an immortal body.
Unexpectedly, Lingling later killed the female bandit with his spiritual arts and gave that ancient demonic blood to Nai’er.
After searching for several days and nights, the four Hell Knights’ spectral forms searched almost every underground city in the desert before finally finding the corpse.
Even after countless years, the dried corpse remained perfectly preserved.
Well, not exactly.
Its left arm was missing. It had been severed, perhaps taken and burned as a torch.
The Headless Knight crouched before the corpse of the traitorous Hell Knight and said, “Why, Fourth Brother?”
Indeed, why?
Hell Knights never betrayed.
Why had the Fourth Brother betrayed?
They were not merely servants of the Demon Emperor. They were extensions of his will and life, inseparable from him.
Betrayal should have been impossible.
“Brothers, form the barrier!”
The four Hell Knights sat in a square formation, releasing a circular energy barrier. Inside it was complete darkness, like a miniature hell.
Ashi Luo’s soul fragments were far too weak. If released into the air, they would instantly disintegrate.
So the four Hell Knights created a miniature hell.
Only within hell could souls remain intact.
Once the miniature hell barrier was complete, the Headless Knight took out Ashi Luo’s soul fragment, sealed inside a piece of black crystal.
This black crystal was called Ghost Stone. It grew in mass graves and was formed from the resentment of countless vengeful spirits, making it the perfect vessel for storing souls.
The Headless Knight gently crushed it.
The black crystal shattered.
Ashi Luo’s soul fragment drifted out. It was truly only a tiny fragment, a glowing shape no bigger than a fingernail.
“Brothers, let’s borrow some souls from hell,” the Headless Knight said.
Zhi Li said, “Borrow once without returning, then borrowing again is easy.”
Lan Tu said, “If I borrowed it with my own ability, why should I return it? If I did, who would dare lend me anything again?”
The Rock Demon looked at his brothers with a deeply troubled expression. He simply could not understand their dark sense of humour.
Then the four Hell Knights tore open a rift leading directly to hell.
Countless vengeful spirits poured out into their miniature hell barrier.
The ghosts rapidly gathered around Ashi Luo’s soul fragment.
They formed his head, neck, body, and limbs, all made entirely of soul light.
“Wait, leave out the left arm. This body’s left arm is already gone,” the Headless Knight said.
So they removed the soul’s left arm and returned that portion of ghostly energy to hell.
Ashi Luo’s soul form was complete.
“Possession!”
At the Headless Knight’s command, the four Hell Knights drove Ashi Luo’s soul into the one armed Hell Knight’s dried corpse.
The corpse’s eyes flew open.
“Ah…” It let out a loud cry, as though waking from an endless sleep.
Ashi Luo looked down at his body.
“What the hell, where’s my left hand?” he roared.
The Headless Knight replied, “Don’t worry, brother. Using your right hand works just as well.”
Ashi Luo stared at the Headless Knight for a long moment before saying, “Heh, having no left hand is still better than having no head.”
Then he slapped his own forehead and said, “Give me a moment to sort out my thoughts. My head’s a mess. Who was I in my previous life? Oh, a Hell Knight. In this life I’m Ashi Luo. Before my transformation, I still had one wish left, to save my sister, Ashi Liren. Then I was captured by the Divine Dragon Temple. I killed myself and was completely destroyed…”
He suddenly shouted, “Brothers, I still have a mission to complete. I haven’t saved my sister yet.”
The Headless Knight said, “Your sister can’t be saved. She isn’t ill. The backlash from the icy energy exists because she’s a member of the Witch Clan.”
“The Witch Clan? The place full of stunning beauties, every man’s paradise. No wonder my sister was so beautiful,” Ashi Luo said.
Then he continued, “I still have one more mission. Brothers, come with me and kill that little human bastard.”
The Headless Knight asked teasingly, “What’s the little human bastard’s name?”
“Suo Lun,” Ashi Luo replied.
“Why do you want to kill him?” the Headless Knight asked.
Ashi Luo said, “He’s just a nobody, yet he ended up with several peerless beauties, Yan Nai’er, Gui Qinshao, Suo Ningbing, and he even wanted my sister. Why? He doesn’t deserve them. Brothers, this is my final wish. Let’s kill him!”
He then noticed the strange expressions on the faces of the four Hell Knights.
“What is it?” Ashi Luo asked.
Zhi Li said, “Brother Ashi Luo, look at me.”
“Brother Zhi Li? You’re here too?” Ashi Luo exclaimed. “You also have a blood feud with Suo Lun. He slept with your sister. Come on, let’s go together. We’ll tear him to pieces.”
Zhi Li coughed lightly.
“Our faith, our supreme ruler, our master, the destroyer of this world, the ruler of this world, the supreme king of both the Demon Realm and the Human Kingdoms, His Majesty the World Destroying Demon Emperor is… Suo Lun.”
Ashi Luo froze as though struck by lightning.
His newly possessed head felt as though ten thousand beasts had trampled over it.
“Y, you mean that little nobody?” Ashi Luo asked.
Zhi Li nodded.
“I… damn…” Ashi Luo looked up at the sky speechlessly. “There really is no justice in this world.”
The Headless Knight said, “If you want to leave, we’ll understand.”
Ashi Luo put away his unnecessary expression. His gaze became dark and cold.
“No. Why would I leave? If he’s the Demon Emperor, then he is my faith. I will follow him and destroy this dark world. I will tear the Demon Sect apart and wipe out the Divine Dragon Temple!”
…
Time returned to the present.
The Priestess Yin Ji had almost reached the end of her options.
Nai Shu had completely run out of patience. He no longer wanted to play games of psychological conquest.
He intended to take her by force.
He opened his robe, revealing his powerfully built body.
Drinking wine, he stared greedily at the breathtakingly beautiful Yin Ji and sneered, “I’ve run out of patience. There’s a saying, the quickest way to win a woman’s heart is through her body. Once you’ve slept with her, she’ll behave.”
After another drink, he gazed greedily at the graceful curves of Yin Ji’s body and said hoarsely, “After you’ve been with me and tasted this irresistible pleasure, I guarantee you’ll be begging me to take you again. I’ll leave you completely consumed by desire.”
Yin Ji fixed her eyes on the window beside her.
Then she suddenly dashed towards it at full speed, intending to smash through it and escape.
However…
Her delicate body slammed into what felt like an invisible wall and was thrown backwards.
Her martial arts were far inferior to Nai Shu’s. Before him, she was like a helpless kitten, utterly incapable of resisting.
“Beautiful, enjoy my wildness, hahaha!”