Way of the Devil

Dawn City.

 Lu Sheng slowly put the information sheet down. He rubbed his temples, feeling a slight headache.

 “The seven-colored dragons have gone missing completely. I can’t find any clues. Sardine has vanished completely as well. This is going to be difficult…”

 The information he received stated that the Light God system and the Shadow God system were at it again.

 The Holy Light Army and the Dark Knights were having an all-out war in Olan Nation, several countries away.

 Olan Nation was now reduced to a land of cinders and ruins. Civilians in the hundreds of millions had lost their homes, and many had lost their lives.

 “The dozen god nations in the starry skies are also fighting against each other now. There are also higher gods with formidable god powers in the fray.”

 Lu Sheng had never fought against a real god nation before. He did not know how he would measure up against a god nation with a real god.

 If it were an incarnation or clone of the gods in the form of saints, he was confident in holding his own. However, the combat strength of a true god inside and outside of his god nation was as different as the skies were from the earth.

 An apt analogy would be to use a great general who led a great army. Dueling an opponent as a general and leading a charge against another army were on two different levels.

 “Looks like I’ll have to test the limits of my combat strength as quickly as possible. I should determine which rank my power belongs to in this world,” Lu Sheng muttered to himself. He stood up. The words on the information sheets on the table faded, and the sheets were now a stack of meaningless blank paper.

 He exited his study and listened carefully for any sounds outside his daughter Hongye’s door. When he was sure that she was doing her homework, he went down into his secret underground chamber, feeling at ease.

 The underground space under the mansion was huge. It was almost twice the size of the mansion. There were still many vacant spots.

 Lu Sheng soon reached a special cave lines with countless runes as he walked along the tunnel.

 He closed the door to the cave behind him, and activated a formation to lock it.

 ‘I’ve been devouring abyssal feudal lords of the layers 30 and above. Their strength was at most at the level of demigods. They’re not difficult to deal with. The powerful ones are those dwelling below the 30th layer…’

 From the information he obtained, Lu Sheng learned that the abyss was described as bottomless. Nobody knew how many layers it actually had.

 Even the so-called abyssal consciousness was the collective body of will born from the first 100 layers. The layers below that were still shrouded in mystery.

 It was like an extremely huge cavern which kept extending downward.

 Lu Sheng took out the materials he had prepared beforehand. He added more high-quality ingredients to the materials he’d used to summon the feudal lords before this.

 The red dragon crystal was still useful. A powerful adult red dragon crystal was a nice treat even for the more powerful abyssal feudal lords.

 Lu Sheng had used this dragon crystal and the other materials many times before. After all, the abyssal feudal lords did not have to return to the abyss after being summoned. Hence, his resources were not expended. Sometimes, he could even obtain some treasures from the abyssal feudal lords he summoned before and add them to the pool.

 After a preparation of 30 minutes. Lu Sheng started to activate the Abyssal Summoning Formation with familiar movements.

 The irregular polygonal formation started to glow with dark red runes. Blood-red mist rose from the lines of the formation.

 ‘This time, let’s go deeper than the 30th layer… I hope that I can contact a feudal lord.’ Lu Sheng was looking forward to it in his heart.

 The feudal lords did not exist in every single layer. Some of the abyssal layers could not even accommodate any form of life. Even abyssal creatures could not stay for long in those places.

 The formation shook slightly. The blood mist rising from it started forming unintelligible symbols.

 The symbols gathered around the center of the formation. A blood-red Transport Door the height of a person was soon formed.

 Scorching air laced with poison which was not of the main plane slowly seeped through the Transport Door.

 “I… the great Mystoca, the abyss’s Cheater, the Burner, the Dragon of Scorched Lands, the Spreader of Fear, answer your call!”

 A majestic roar with a prolonged ending came from the Transport Door.

 At the same time, a dark red circle started spreading in all directions with the Transport Door as the center.

 In the cave where Lu Sheng stood, the formation runes around him started shining brightly. They started working to resist the invasion of the formidable abyssal feudal lord’s power light ring.

 ‘This power wave is even stronger than the previous feudal lords combined… It’s almost half of my main body’s strength…’ Lu Sheng licked his lips.

 “Who’s summoning me? Offer up your soul. I shall grant you your wish in the name of the just balance!” Mystoca shouted again.

 Lu Sheng organized his thoughts. He quickly put on an act and spoke loudly in fear and trepidation, “Oh great feudal lord, Mystoca! It is I, the humblest seven-colored dragon, Omis, from the main plane, who summoned you here.”

 He spoke using the language of the abyss. However, there was an obvious accent of the dragons in his speech.

 “A seven-colored dragon?”

 Mystoca was clearly befuddled. The seven-colored dragons were almost extinct in all the other planes. Although the soul of a seven-colored dragon was not special to him, some feudal lords loved to collect the souls of these rare dragon breeds. He should be able to sell it for a good price.

 “Tell me your wish. Enter into a contract with me. With your soul as the price, I will fulfill your desires!” Mystoca was quite satisfied with this summoning.

 “I, Omis, willingly offer up my soul as the price. I ask for the great abyssal feudal lord, master Mystoca, to come into this world, destroy my enemies and burn them to cinders!” Lu Sheng replied to Mystoca’s requirements of entering a contract in a voice laced with indignation and rage.

 Level 51! According to the records, this was already equivalent to a being with middle-ranked god power. In the abyssal level which he ruled over, this abyssal feudal lord could easily mimic the combat strength of a true god with middle-ranked god powers in his own god nation.

 Lu Sheng made a rough estimation of his own strength. His main body should belong to the level of a slightly powerful middle god. The difference between a higher god and a middle god was great. It was not just a magnitude of two. Hence, he did not think that he was ready to fight it out with a higher god in his own turf.

 He was the equivalent of a middle god in his own god nation.

 With this conclusion, many of Lu Sheng’s thoughts were now clarified.

 “Well then, who are your enemies? I’m about to transmigrate there, lead me to your enemies!” Mystoca ordered him loudly.

 “My enemies will be here shortly. Esteemed feudal lord Mystoca, they are capable of high-ranked teleportation arts. My tribesmen and I are powerless to stop them,” Lu Sheng complained loudly.

 1***

 51st abyssal layer. Land Devoid of Light.

 Mystoca beat his huge pair of wings formed with molten rocks. He looked at the red Transport Door before him, and was just about to shrink himself and head toward the main plane.

 “This can’t be right… Why am I not sensing any killing intent or ill will from the other side? Also, I can’t even smell the despair of the summoner…” He began to hesitate.

 He heard that the feudal lords of the other layers had been strangely summoned by summoners, and they vanished mysteriously…

 ‘This won’t do… I must be careful.’

 Mystoca had almost plunged into the Transport Door. He immediately slowed down.

 “Since your enemies aren’t here yet, we shall wait until they’ve arrived. Regardless of your foe, I’ll instantly wipe them away. I’ll burn them down and char them with the ground they’re standing on!” He put his might on full display. However, he did not budge his colossal body.

 “Oh great Mystoca! It’s taking a great toll on me just to maintain this formation…”

 “There’s no need for haste. The merciful Mystoca will aid you in stabilizing the Transport Formation.” Mystoca waved his arm magnanimously.

 “Thank you, feudal lord. Then I shall—”

 “Bam!”

 Suddenly, there was a loud sound from the Transport Formation.

 Mystoca was also called the Cheater. He had thousands of years of experience in cheating. When he saw this scene, the doubt in his heart grew.

 He snorted internally. However, he patronized Lu Sheng’s act with his words. “It’s alright. Mystoca is keeping an eye on you. With my power, nobody can escape the fate from being burnt to a crisp!”

 ‘How can there be such a coincidence. I’ve just told you that we’ll wait, and your enemies have suddenly appeared out of thin air.’

 “Oh great Mystoca… sacrifice… sacrifice… I’ll offer you my all as sacrifice! Please, come into this world!”

 Faint pulses of a familiar and formidable wave came from the formation.

 Divinity!

 Mystoca’s eyes snapped open. He immediately recognized the source of this wave. This summoner was ready to pay a Divinity point as the price.

 He greedily licked his lips. He was feeling slightly impatient now. However, the doubt in his heart quickly suppressed his greed.

 “Hmm, you’re even using Divinity to lure me out now? I was unsure if you were a conman before, but when you produced this Divinity, I’m 100 percent sure that this summoning is a hoax!”

 He flapped his wings. Vast abyssal power started carrying his colossal dragon body. He was ready to leave.

 “Alright, you carry on with your little game. This feudal lord is leaving. You’re thinking of duping the great Mystoca with this crude hoax? How preposterous!”

 He listened to the wails and screams coming from the Transport Door with a smirk. There were even the despair and pain from the souls of seven-colored dragons.

 “What a lifelike performance.” Although he had decided to leave, he was still having second thoughts.

 This lifelike flow of events did not seem to be a hoax.

 After hesitating, and with his greed over the sacrifices, Mystoca eventually decided to give it a try.

 He paused slightly and slowly moved closer to the Transport Door. He shrunk his body and inserted an index finger through the Transport Door.

 ‘I’ll just take a look. Even if there’s a problem, I can just move quickly, snatch the sacrifices away, and return. There won’t be a problem!’ He made the decision. After all, as long as he did not travel over to the other plane, there would not be an issue.

 His sharp, black finger inched toward the red light emanating from the Transport Door.

 Just when he was about to touch the red light, Mystoca hesitated again.

 ‘Forget it. It’s just some sacrifice. If there’s really trouble on the other side, my gains might not even make up for my loss.’ He shook his head slightly. He decided to give up.

 There were many sacrificial offerings. Even if the sacrifice this time was equivalent to several hundred offerings, it would still be a loss for him if anything were to go awry.

 He retracted his index finger.

 However, he suddenly noticed that he could not pull his finger back!

 Mystoca looked down. Without him noticing, the Transport Door had grown a row of human legs. It moved toward him of its own accord!

 “No way…” Mystoca had a bad feeling about this.

 ‘Could this really be happening?!’

 He could not believe that having survived for tens of thousands of years, he would still fall prey to this simple trick.

 “I—”

 He did not even manage to utter the next word when numerous black arms reached out from the Transport Door toward him.

Some of the hands were clasped over his mouth. The others grabbed hold of his body like it was a race. An unimaginably terrifying force pulled on him with a tearing sound.

 He instantly plunged into the Transport Door.