Way of the Devil

The flying ship left the stellar harbor and Libra City. It passed through a barren galaxy, made a few jumps, and finally arrived at the edge of the galaxy near the Green Branch Sect.

The galactic map within the ship was very detailed. Bansai hid the ship among an asteroid belt which best concealed them of his own accord.

His amazing piloting skills were on full display throughout this journey, and he had earned Lu Sheng’s praise.

The flying ship hid silently within the asteroid belt. There was a huge store of food and drinking water. It would be enough for the three of them to survive for 10 years.

Naturally, Lu Sheng came up with this estimate based on ordinary survival food intake. If they wanted to fill their bellies and satisfy their physiological needs, they would only be able to survive for two years at most.

After hiding themselves, Lu Sheng unleashed his true undead attribute and covered the entire ship. He used the Qianshen Method’s Soil Qi to hide the other two on board the ship as well.

This was him confusing the will of the heavens. This would prevent them from being detected by karma-related arts.

After capturing several galactic pirates in the vicinity, Lu Sheng quickly understood the situation between the Green Branch Sect and the Mother of Pain.

The Mother of Pain had lost her great army gathered at West Sutra Planet, and she was infuriated. At the same time, she sent men out to investigate the whereabouts of one of her deputy cult masters, the four-armed heavenly lady.

Also, she sent out another deputy cult master to look for the criminal responsible for this.

However, she had barely made these moves when the Green Branch Sect sensed an opportunity.

The sect master made a bold move by bringing his sect’s elites to invade the Yellow Springs Galaxy. They fought a great battle near Yellow Springs Planet Number Five.

In this battle, the Yellow Springs Galaxy suffered a great loss. The Mother of Pain only suffered superficial wounds, but another deputy cult master was gravely wounded. The strength of the Yellow Springs Galaxy was reduced by half, and they could only protect their core areas now.

It was a big win for the Green Branch Sect.

Lu Sheng had silently infiltrated the Yellow Springs Galaxy under such circumstances. He attempted to contact Mi Guangying with his origin stone, but he failed.

He could feel that some of the marks he left on his family members and teachers were still intact.

This meant that at least half of them were alive. However, he had no way of knowing where they had ended up.

…….

Yellow Springs Planet Number Three.

Lu Sheng flew near the planet and stopped in the shadow of the star[1. This probably means he hid behind the star as seen from the said planet. Either that or he’s hiding in the star’s light. You know, just like with an eclipse.]. He took a look at his surroundings.

“There’re so many space-time undercurrents!” With a single glance, he immediately noticed the densely packed space-time undercurrents scattered around the place.

‘I heard that Mi Guangying even asked for her uncle’s help with this mission. However, without contact with her, I can’t contact her uncle, either… What a shame.’

Lu Sheng closed his eyes slowly. His extremely powerful spirit could clearly pick up the remnants of the aura left behind by the great battle.

Yellow Springs Planet Number Three had become the core area of the Mother of Pain. From a distance, the Black Measure Web on the planet’s surface flowed along slowly. It was clearly functioning properly.

There were many swimming fish-like objects around it. They gathered and scattered, just like reconnaissance vehicles.

Lu Sheng felt about for the traces in outer space. He flew away from the Yellow Springs Planet.

The aura Mi Guangying had left behind was faint, but it was there.

Lu Sheng followed the trail and flew outward. After flying for more than eight hours, Lu Sheng suddenly stopped before a spot which seemed to be an empty patch of darkness.

‘Space-time undercurrent… There was a space-time undercurrent here…’ He clearly felt the traces of a space-time undercurrent flowing through here.

As a Void Underworld Heavenly Devil who had transmigrated many times, he had a lot of experience opening his own space-time rifts. Hence, Lu Sheng was very sensitive when it came to these kinds of marks and traces.

‘The flying ship’s trail ended here…’ Lu Sheng frowned. ‘Could it have charged into the space-time undercurrent?’

He immediately felt that things would be problematic now.

There were countless universes and worlds in the space-time continuum.

Even though he was a Void Underworld Heavenly Devil, it was impossible for him to locate his family members without any lead.

The space-time undercurrent was capable of washing a flying ship away into some unknown world.

A world was also a huge place. Even if he knew the exact world, he would have no way of knowing which area on which planet they would have ended up in.

‘This is a problem…’ Lu Sheng paused. He turned decisively in another direction and flew away.

‘If they actually entered a space-time undercurrent…’

Beams of flowing purple radiance suddenly came from the right. Within the flowing radiance, several cultivators with the Yellow Springs Galaxy’s Divine Vein on their robes shouted, “Stop! Who goes there!?”

Lu Sheng was not in a great mood right now. He looked up at the purple flowing radiances and waved his arm.

Without making a sound, a black beam of light washed over them.

The dozen cultivators within the flowing radiances instantly froze as their spirits were pulled into Lu Sheng’s Heart World.

There was another flash of black light. Lu Sheng’s mouth moved slightly. The cultivators vanished without a trace. It was as if nobody had ever been there.

He chewed on something in his mouth and his frown deepened.

‘What an awful-tasting bunch. As expected, they’re all Devil Art Masters.’

The purple flowing beams were taken care of. However, this seemed to have alerted a huge patrol troop nearby. In no time, formidable spirits scanned the area where it happened.

Lu Sheng did not go to the extreme. There was a direct entrance to the World of Pain on Yellow Springs Planet Number Three. The Mother of Pain’s reinforcements would be able to reach this place quickly.

Moreover, this was a planet that he had grown up on before. He did not want to destroy this place.

“You can keep your head for now, Mother of Pain. I’ll be back soon enough.”

Lu Sheng took a final look at Yellow Springs Planet Number Three. He seemed to be able to see the colossal black shadow within the World of Pain through the planet.

“Pchht!”

He turned around decisively, turned into yellow light, and flew back to where he came from.

Before he left, there was a flash of black light. The two patrolling troops with more than 30 Devil Art Masters were instantly devoured in one bite. They were promptly converted into nutrients and energy for Lu Sheng’s body.

‘I need more Mental Energy…’ Lu Sheng started pondering on his way back.

The Mystic World’s Empress Wa was surely a source of quick Mental Energy. However, that world was too dangerous.

The Spring Autumn Sect Master and the Indefinite Cult Master were at least peak Void Underworld beings. Although he had the Qianshen Undead Body Capacity, he did not have the confidence to take on those two head-on.

Also, this was not the promised time yet. It would have been meaningless for him to head over.

‘Well, I need more Mental Energy in the meantime. The Mystic World is out of the question. Looks like I’ll have to Arrive in a new world.’

Now that the whereabouts of his kin were unknown, he would have to improve his strength. By doing that, he would be able to search for clues everywhere without a care and utilize more resources and powers.

In truth, Lu Sheng did not want to earn Mental Energy from the Mystic World anymore. His Heavenly Devil instincts told him that there was a threat that bode extremely unwell for him there.

‘Before I find out what kind of threat that is, I can’t go to the Mystic World. Well, Empress Wa needs 10,000 years before her transformation is complete. The opportunity is still there!’

As for the promise he’d made with the Indefinite Cult, Lu Sheng did not care. Promises were meant to be broken. Lu Sheng was a Void Underworld Heavenly Devil; he would not be shackled by a mere promise. That notion was laughable.

After confirming the arrangements, Lu Sheng went back directly to the asteroid belt and went into his ship. He made preparations for his next Arrival.

While he was preparing, he accidentally discovered his captive Bansai’s unique abilities.

He had the talent for constructing runes and formations with utmost precision. The more complicated the grand formation was, the better he would be able to improve it and create a more perfect top-quality formation.

This talent of his bordered on the rank of a Capacity. A formation that had a power rank of 100, after Bansai’s improvements, would be raised to a power rank of 150. This was not a once-off eruption—the enhanced formation could be used for a long time.

That was something else.

After Lu Sheng attempted to learn about it, he discovered that this was a talent through and through. Deep Blue could do nothing to help him with this. There was no way he could start learning about this. Lu Sheng could only accept the fact that there were things that even Deep Blue could not solve in this world.

Four days later, Lu Sheng finally completed his Arrival Formation.

To build this formation, Lu Sheng mainly used the stock of materials stored within his Sea-overturning Orb. He could make five more similar formations. He did not have to worry about running short on materials for now.

***

“There’s this part. Complete this part as well.” Lu Sheng gave orders to Bansai, who was helping him lay down his Arrival Formation.

Bansai lived up to his name as a formation genius. He was not a superficial character who only knew how to brag. He was a genuine peak genius whom even Lu Sheng, who possessed Deep Blue, had to recognize.

With his enhancements and detailed settings, Lu Sheng had attained an unprecedented level of control over his Arrival Formation.

The rate of time flow, which had always troubled Lu Sheng, was overcome with Bansai’s help.

The precision with which he could select the rate of time flow was greatly enhanced.

He gained perfect control over a time flow difference of less than 500. In other words, Lu Sheng could select the exact difference in time flow of the world which he would be Arriving in.

Although the difference in time flow was never an exact value and he could only select a certain range, this achievement alone was enough to surprise Lu Sheng.

After all, he had had to depend on luck before this. There were too many uncertainties regarding the rate of time flow. This had been the case with his Arrival in the Mystic World.

“Master, is there anything else that I can help with?” Bansai swiftly amended the formation vein. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and got to his feet.

“That’s about it.” Lu Sheng inspected the entire formation for one last time. There were hundreds of thousands of densely packed formation runes. This extravagance and precision was clearly several cuts above his previous formations.

“Mm-hm…” He nodded, satisfied. Then, he patted Bansai’s shoulder. “You’re amazing. I like you.”

“Oh… Thank you for your praises, master!” Bansai sighed with relief as well. If he earned the favor of this master, he would not be killed for the time being.

“Are you interested in joining me?” Lu Sheng decided to try and enlist him.

“Uh… well…” Bansai immediately hesitated.

“It’s alright. I’ll give you time to consider,” Lu Sheng said with a smile. “I think very highly of you. Your talents are something that I’m willing to wait for.”

Bansai was slightly stunned.

Ever since he was a child, he had grown up amongst countless doubts about his own worth. Even though he had a knack for formations, there were many more Formation Masters in the family who could lay down finer grand formations compared to him.

The family did not think much of his meager talent at all. His elders valued his talent in doing business and his mother’s background more.

This was his first time earning someone’s high regards with an ability that he actually liked. This feeling…

“Think about it. If you follow me, you’ll have everything. Wealth, power, women, fame! As long as you want it, I’ll snatch it for you!” Lu Sheng patted Bansai’s shoulder with a smile.

“Snatch?” Bansai was stunned. The admiration on his face quickly subsided.

“Hm? Why? Are you looking down on people who snatch?” Lu Sheng’s tone immediately went ice cold.

“Uh… No! No! Absolutely not!” Bansai hastily waved his hands. The color drained from his face.

“Actually, I don’t like snatching as well. I can’t help it, though. It’s their fault for being wealthier than I am.” Lu Sheng stroked his chin. “Although I do snatch stuff, there are three kinds of people I do not steal from. The poor, the good, and my family.”

“I thought it’s a given that you never target your own family for this!?” Bansai did not even know where to start roasting this man.

“Forget it. It’s useless to tell you such things now. You’ll get to know me better in the future.” Lu Sheng patted Bansai’s shoulders for the third time. Then, he gave him a light push.

He pushed him out the cabin’s door.

The cabin door was shut, and the densely packed formation runes glowed with red light.

He swiftly went over to the center of the formation and sat down. When the red light flowed and converged onto one spot, he quickly made the necessary hand gestures.

Without making a sound, a fingernail-sized gray rift opened up above Lu Sheng’s head.

He seized the opportunity to morph into a beam of yellow light and shot into the rift.

**********

Bosente Continent, west side.

A slender and beautiful, colorful dragon opened her eyes slowly within a dragon cave. She lowered her head in puzzlement and looked at a dragon egg under her body.

Before she noticed it, there was a fine crack on the eggshell.