218: Return of the Demon Slayer

On the East Sea Coast, the waves were turbulent.

A small seaside town that should have been a tourist destination was now enveloped by a precarious, glass-colored light barrier.

Outside the light barrier was a nauseating grey-black mist. Within the mist, a Void Realm monster, resembling a Fusion of an octopus and a mountain, was leisurely lashing at the light barrier with hundreds of thick tentacles.

With every strike, the light barrier dimmed a fraction, and the faces of the Demon Suppression Division Cultivators inside grew a shade paler.

"Boss, we can't hold on! This thing is even more evil than the one in the Northern Desert!" a young Cultivator's voice trembled with despair.

The middle-aged man addressed as "Boss" was a Thousand-Man Commander of the Demon Suppression Division. He stared fixedly at the monster, his teeth chattering with rage. "Shut up! The Commander will be here soon!"

"But... but..."

Before he could finish, the monster's attack suddenly stopped.

It wasn't tired; its massive body had frozen. A fear originating from a higher level of life had forced it to cease all movement.

A pitch-black spatial rift opened silently before it.

Li Dong stepped out from it, followed by Lin Yue, who wore a complex expression.

"Another big guy. Looks fatter than the ones before." Li Dong scrutinized the monster before him, like a butcher eyeing a fat pig ready for slaughter.

Lin Yue's mouth twitched. After running around with Li Dong for the past few days, she had gone from initial shock to numbness, and now... she didn't know what to feel anymore. She only knew that these Soul Transformation-level monsters, which could plunge a whole city of Cultivators into despair, seemed to be nothing more than dishes on a plate to Li Dong.

"Roar!"

Sensing a fatal threat, the monster stopped attacking the light barrier with its hundreds of tentacles. Instead, it condensed earth-shattering Void Realm energy, transforming it into torrents of pitch-black energy that rained down upon Li Dong.

The hearts of the Cultivators inside the light barrier leaped to their throats.

Li Dong didn't even lift an eyelid. He simply extended his right hand, spread his fingers, and gently clenched them toward the torrent of energy.

"Devour."

A single word, as if the Law followed his command.

The torrent of energy, capable of leveling mountains, encountered an invisible black hole. It instantly twisted, contracted, and finally turned into a wisp of pure energy that Li Dong absorbed into his palm, where it vanished.

"Hiccup."

Li Dong let out another burp, looking as if he hadn't had enough.

He had been "eating" his way through these past few days. From the Northern Desert to the Southern Frontier, and now to this East Sea Coast, every Void Realm Clone trapped by the Eternal Prison had become his meal. His Divine Ability, Demon-Suppression Void, after merging with memories from a hundred years ago and the devouring characteristics of the Eternal Prison, had transformed into an even more domineering power—Demon-Suppression Void: Devour.

It was no longer deconstruction; it was swallowing everything, skin and bone, from the Laws to the Origin.

The monster was completely dumbfounded; its chaotic mind could not comprehend what was happening before it.

Li Dong didn't give it a chance to think. With a flash, he appeared above the monster's head. He pointed his fingers like a sword and made a gentle downward swipe across the monster's massive body.

There was no light, no sound.

Only a grey "line" spread across the monster.

The next moment, the massive monster was split in two from the middle, like a puppet whose zipper had been pulled open. There was no flesh or blood at the wound, only disintegrating Laws and forcefully extracted Origin energy.

A massive torrent of energy surged forth again. This time, its target was not to attack, but to scramble into the mark on Li Dong's forehead.

The Cultivators inside the light barrier were completely stunned.

"It's... gone just like that?"

"I think my eyes must have been playing tricks on me..."

"Insta... instant kill?"

Just then, an elderly man in the crowd, leaning on a cane and looking on the verge of death, began to tremble violently. He stared fixedly at Li Dong's back, and cloudy, aged tears instantly welled up.

"Old Chen, what's wrong?" others hurriedly supported him.

The man called Old Chen pushed his companion away, used all his remaining strength to struggle, and knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse and fanatical.

"It... it is you! There's no mistake... this aura, this way of slaughter... there's no mistake!" He bowed his head heavily toward Li Dong's back. "Subordinate Chen Qishan, Deputy Commander of the Demon Suppression Division's Xuan-character Battalion Personal Guard, pays respects to the Commander!"

"The Commander has returned!"

This shout was like a thunderclap on flat ground, making everyone's heads buzz.

Li Dong... the Commander?

That legendary figure from a hundred years ago...

Li Dong turned around slowly, his gaze landing on the old man. Deep within his mind, a dusty memory was stirred.

It was an afternoon filled with yellow sand. A young soldier with a still-childish face handed him a flask of water, grinning foolishly: "Commander, drink some water! You haven't closed your eyes for three days!"

That face slowly merged with the aged Chen Qishan before him.

A place in Li Dong's heart stirred gently. He did not go to help him up, but just looked at him calmly.

"How many people are still alive in the Xuan-character Battalion?"

Hearing this question, Chen Qishan could no longer hold back. He collapsed on the ground, wailing, like a child who had lost all his treasures.

"Gone... all gone... just this old bag of bones left..."

The surrounding Demon Suppression Division Cultivators, after a brief moment of stupefaction, finally realized what was happening. They looked at the faint, ancient mark on Li Dong's forehead, then at the tearful Chen Qishan, and an incredible thought grew wildly in their minds.

The legend... was true?

The Commander has truly returned!

"Thump! Thump!"

In an instant, everyone inside the light barrier knelt down. The look in their eyes toward Li Dong changed from awe to fanatical worship. It was the worship of a hero, the faith in a savior.

"Everyone, rise." Li Dong's voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "The war is not over yet."

He didn't say anything more, just glanced at Lin Yue beside him.

Lin Yue understood and immediately stepped forward to organize everyone to clean up the battlefield and comfort the wounded. She was becoming more and more like a competent adjutant.

Li Dong looked up at the sky, his gaze seeming to pierce through endless space.

With the last "netted" Clone devoured, the power within him had climbed to the peak of the Late Stage of Soul Transformation, just a hair's breadth away from Perfection. More importantly, the "Hunting Ground Map" in his Sea of Consciousness, constructed by the Eternal Prison, had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The dim spots of light that originally represented "Nests" were now all lit up by him, transforming into brilliant stars that guarded the center together. The power of these stars, through the Spiritual Vein, continuously fed back into this world.

The polluted land was being purified, and the withered Spiritual Veins were regaining vitality. The entire world, like a patient recovering from a long illness, began to slowly restore its Origin Qi.

He no longer struggled with who he was.

Whether he was the Demon Suppression Division Commander from a hundred years ago, or the Transmigration traveler from a hundred years later, it didn't matter anymore.

He was Li Dong.

A returnee, a predator, a... debt collector.

However, not all places on the map were bright.

At the easternmost end of the map, the location representing the "Return to Ruins," the darkness there had not dissipated; on the contrary, it had become deeper and denser, like a frantically rotating black hole, exuding an unprecedented sense of oppression.

...

Demon Suppression Division, Capital Headquarters.

Three Grand Elders were sitting around a giant water mirror, which displayed the projection of the "Hunting Ground Map" from Li Dong's Sea of Consciousness.

"All... all eliminated." The Qian-position Elder let out a long sigh of relief, a rare smile appearing on his wrinkled face.

"Indeed. In just a few days, the cancer that had run rampant for a hundred years was 'eaten' by him one by one." The Kun-position Elder stroked his beard, his tone full of emotion and lingering fear. "We won the bet on this plan."

"Don't celebrate too early." The Li-position Elder, who had been silent, pointed to the darkest point on the water mirror. "'The Boss' is not a fool. It no longer sends small pawns to die. It has concentrated all remaining power at the 'Return to Ruins'. It is waiting, waiting for Li Dong to go there."

The atmosphere instantly became heavy again.

"That will be the final decisive battle." The Qian-position Elder said in a deep voice, "Either Li Dong completely 'eats' it, or our world will be completely swallowed by it."

...

East Sea Coast.

The sea breeze, carrying a hint of fresh saltiness, blew at the hem of Li Dong's clothes.

Lin Yue finished dealing with all matters and walked to his side.

"Has... has it all been resolved?" She looked at Li Dong's calm profile and couldn't help but ask. Everything that had happened over the past few days felt like a dream.

Li Dong did not turn back, just gazed into the distance toward the east, where the sea and sky met, calm and tranquil.

But in his Void Eye, beneath that calm sea, lay a terrifying abyss connecting to the endless Void Realm.

"No."

He said softly.

"The appetizers are finished."

"The main course is just about to be served."