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Chapter 527 - Arrival of the Demon Emperor
Following Demon General Typhoon’s instructions, Liu Yiyi and the others exited the arena. As they walked, she told Long Chen, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
When she spoke to him, there was a hint of redness in her cheeks.
Long Chen nodded.
After they descended, Jiang Wushang appeared in front of Long Chen while Demon General Typhoon retreated to a corner.
Long Chen studied the legendary young man for the first time, and Jiang Wushang did the same. Based on his gaze, actions, and faint aura, it was clear that Jiang Wushang was a master of great talent.
However, Long Chen did not know why Jiang Wushang looked so familiar, as if they had met before.
“Jiang Cheng,” Jiang Wushang said softly, then he smiled. “An extraordinary teenage prodigy. You deserve everything you’ve won today. Take this.”
Then a Universe Pouch appeared in his hand.
“There are two items inside. One of them is a royal crystal. One royal crystal is equivalent to ten million Heavenly Passage Pills. If you need Heavenly Passage Pills, I can exchange it for ten million pills. Second, the Emperor Flame Pearl. You will be able to unlock all nine meridian points in your body on the Day of the Nine Suns, which is in ten days. When you bathe in the true fire of the sun, you will reach the Ninth Passage Stage.
“Thank you, Prince Wushang.” The Emperor Flame Pearl was indeed the object of Long Chen’s dreams. He reached out to take the Universe Pouch and stored it in the Primordial Realm. Now that the final prize had been given out, the evaluation had come to an end.
Long Chen wanted to leave the Ancient Demon Domain. He planned to find an obscure place and ascend to the Ninth Passage Stage on the Day of the Nine Suns. With Little Cat’s help, he would also be able to absorb the Golden Crow’s soul remnants.
However, based on the look in Jiang Wushang’s eyes, he surely wanted Long Chen to stay in the Ancient Demon Domain and become a confidante. Jiang Wushang said, “Your name is Jiang Cheng—you have the same surname as the Demon Emperor’s bloodline. Fate has brought us together.”
“It is my honor,” Long Chen responded hurriedly. Jiang Wushang held a high status, so this was to be expected.
There was a hint of helplessness on Jiang Wushang’s face when he said with a bitter smile, “Then again, I have a very useless younger brother. His name is very similar to yours. Two months ago, he died a mysterious death. At the time, my father could not leave; therefore, he failed to rescue my brother. By the time we arrived, we didn’t know where the culprit had gone.”
Jiang Wushang was only reminiscing.
All Long Chen could do was give a dry smile, though his face soon froze and he asked, “What was your brother’s name?”
“Jiang Wucheng. My father was very accurate in naming him. Wucheng did not accomplish anything before he died,” answered Jiang Wucheng with a bitter smile. [1]
Long Chen felt like lightning had struck him.
Jiang Wucheng, Jiang Cheng!
A few days ago, he had heard the Clear Shallows King talk about a son of the Demon Emperor who had been killed two months ago. At the time, he had not paid attention, nor had he connected the dots when Jiang Wushang appeared. Now, with all the clues before him, how could he not know?
The teenager who had targeted Xiaolang and tried to kill Long Cheng in Yellow Martial City was actually the Demon Emperor’s unaccomplished son, also Jiang Wushang’s younger brother, Jiang Wucheng!
And why did Long Cheng feel like Jiang Wushang looked familiar? Because Jiang Wushang and Jiang Wucheng’s faces were practically made from the same mold!
At the time, Jiang Wucheng had used his real golden identity token to enter the city, making it obvious that his status was high. The name “Jiang Cheng” was merely a cover! The person Long Chen had killed was Jiang Wucheng!
Long Chen knew that his deductions were right!
His encounter had taken place two months ago, the names of the two people were eerily similar, and even their faces looked the same!
All of this told Long Chen that the person he had killed was the Demon Emperor’s dead son, Jiang Wucheng!
Long Chen was currently in the Ancient Demon Domain, and so was the Demon Emperor. If this information got out, Long Chen would never survive even if he had a hundred lives!
It was impossible for Long Chen to stay in the Ancient Demon Domain any longer!
That was because of the name he was using—Jiang Cheng! It was obvious that Jiang Wushang did not know that Jiang Wucheng had a cover name, but surely someone in the Ancient Demon Domain knew, right? It was very likely that the Demon Emperor would find out! Long Chen had killed his son and even entered his turf; wasn’t he looking for death?
When he connected the dots, Long Chen’s face paled and he took a few steps back.
“Jiang Cheng, what’s the matter? You should be fine, right? Alright, the evaluation has ended. Everyone may return. As for you, from now onwards, you have my permission to enter the sixth layer of the Demon World, which is the royal palace!” Jiang Wushang said with a grin.
He was trying to recruit Long Chen into his camp.
Long Chen’s hairs stood on end. He knew that he could not stay in the Ancient Demon Domain for even fifteen more minutes. The Demon Emperor had not appeared yet; if he arrived, Long Chen would die!
He had to leave the Ancient Demon Domain as soon as possible and go far, far away!
Long Chen was impressed by his luck. How could a coincidence like that happen? Previously, Long Chen had told Jiang Cheng that he wanted to go to the Ancient Demon Domain. No wonder Jiang Cheng had a strange expression on his face. At the time, he saw Long Chen as a fat goat, so how could he not find it strange that the goat’s target was his own nest?
It was too late to even cry.
He knew that this was fate. This would be his first serious disaster on the path to Ling Xi. How strong was the Demon Emperor? How strong were the seven Demon Kings plus Jiang Wushang? What about the seventy-plus Ninth Passage Stage cultivators, all of whom were more powerful than Chen Feng? Every single one of them was stronger than Long Chen. If he was exposed, it would mean certain death!
Long Chen felt his scalp go numb.
He was not even this afraid when he met Wang Chao.
Previously, Long Chen had no inkling of how powerful Wang Chao was, but he had personally witnessed how powerful the masters of the Ancient Demon Domain were.
He had many things he had yet to accomplish, and Ling Xi was waiting for him. He did not even know how Yang Lingqing was doing. If he died in the Ancient Demon Domain, how would Ling Xi live?
How could he let her wait for the rest of her life?
No, never! Despite the endless shock and terror in his heart, Long Chen was forced to pretend to be normal. He looked around, knowing that he had to leave as soon as possible.
No one knew yet, so he had to remain calm. He had not expected this to happen!
Life was unpredictable.
“Jiang Cheng, why aren’t you talking?” Jiang Wushang asked, puzzled. He had noticed the strange look on Long Chen’s face. Long Chen had taken a few steps back and then remained deep in thought, ignoring Prince Wushang.
It seemed to be because he had mentioned the name “Jiang Wucheng.”
“Nothing, sorry. Winning first place was just a huge surprise to me, so I don’t know how to react,” said Long Chen, forcing himself to remain calm.
“I see. But I was quite impressed by your performance today too ...” said Jiang Wushang with a smile. He looked up at Demon General Typhoon and said, “Typhoon, announce the end of the evaluation and let everyone leave. I need to have a good chat with Jiang Cheng.”
Demon General Typhoon nodded. When he was about to make his announcement, a hoarse but magnetic voice rang in everyone’s ears.
“I haven’t even arrived yet, so how could it end?”
Long Chen felt as if someone was speaking right next to his ear, causing his hairs to stand on end once again. Everyone else put on looks of reverence, then they all fell on their knees!
“Greetings, Demon Emperor!”
Their combined voices were as loud as a tsunami crashing onto the shore.
Long Chen felt like a huge boulder was sitting on his chest. He had no choice but to kneel, seeing as everyone was kneeling, though he was slower than the rest.
He drew a sharp breath, forcing himself to stop trembling. He felt millions of ants crawling on his heart. He could only pray that the Demon Emperor did not know that Jiang Wucheng had used the cover name “Jiang Cheng.”
Long Chen saw a pair of black boots appear in front of him. Then the old, hoarse voice rang by his ear.
“You. Lift your head; look at me.”
That was the voice of the Demon Emperor, Jiang Wuxie.
Long Chen slowly lifted his head, his scalp going numb. The man wore a long, black robe that also covered his head. Only eyes as dark as the abyss were visible; they resembled the entrances to the Demon World. Long Chen could not see anything in them, let alone pupils.
The Demon Emperor Jiang Wuxie made Long Chen feel a terrifying pressure, as if this was not a human in front of him, but a bottomless hole.
This was the strongest person Long Chen had met ever since arriving in the Divine Martial Empire. The Demon Emperor was one of the strongest people in the whole territory after all.
Long Chen took a deep breath, waiting for Jiang Wuxie’s judgment.
It was likely that his next sentence would determine everything.
If he talked about something else, it meant he did not know about Jiang Wucheng’s cover name. If he spoke about Jiang Wucheng, it meant that he knew ...
The Demon Emperor laughed.
1. Note: Wucheng (无成) translates to No Accomplishments ☜