309: The first battle in the Martial Demon Realm

“Heaven bless our Great Wu!!!”

The Great Wu Crown Prince looked excited.

Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou, standing beside him, felt a surge of exhilaration in their hearts, while also finding the current manifestation of the Dynasty’s destiny utterly inconceivable.

They knew deep down… that merely the eye of imperial judgment alone could certainly not bring about such a massive increase in destiny.

There must be another reason behind this.

“What caused the Great Wu Dynasty’s destiny to increase so much all of a sudden?”

Doubt arose in their hearts.

They expressed their incomprehension.

They began to ponder all the gains from this event.

“For our Great Wu Dynasty, besides the gain of the eye of imperial judgment, the next thing is the members of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect in the Star Luo Territory…”

“Could it be because of these members?”

As soon as Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou had this thought,

They immediately dismissed it in their minds.

They were very clear.

Although these Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members could bring an increase to the Great Wu Dynasty’s destiny, the magnitude of the increase would not be very large.

Such a massive increase in destiny was impossible.

At the same time, they did not associate the increase in destiny with Xiang Zizhen.

Unlike the Three Heavenly Kings, who had gathered some information about Xiang Zizhen but had a very limited understanding of him, Chen Yuan, as Xiang Zizhen’s master, had personally nurtured and promoted him.

With his understanding of Xiang Zizhen, he knew him inside and out, and was certain it could not be Xiang Zizhen.

He didn’t even consider Xiang Zizhen.

He could only turn his gaze to the Great Wu Crown Prince.

From the Great Wu Crown Prince’s expression,

He seemed to know the reason.

Under Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou’s questioning gazes,

The Great Wu Crown Prince laughed heartily.

“Now, there’s no need for me to hide it from you anymore. In fact, a long time ago, I had Fate Diviners cast a divination for my Great Wu Dynasty.”

“The divination indicated…”

“When we reclaim the eye of imperial judgment, the entire Great Wu Dynasty’s destiny will experience a massive surge!”

Fate Diviners!?

Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou were both startled.

They knew deeply.

The Fate Diviners was a powerful force specifically established by the Martial Emperor when he was still alive to deal with the Tianji Hall.

The strength of this force lay in their ability to peer into the heavenly secrets and make prophecies through their divination techniques.

They could even foresee important events in advance through divination.

Furthermore, within the Fate Diviners, there existed a powerful prophetic treasure, whose level was no lower than the eye of imperial judgment!

It possessed the ability to prophesy destiny.

However, before the Martial Emperor’s demise,

The Fate Diviners had already been annihilated for some reason.

Everyone thought the Fate Diviners no longer existed.

Including Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou.

But now, judging from the Great Wu Crown Prince’s words, it seemed that when the Fate Diviners cast this divination for the Great Wu Dynasty, it was already after the Martial Emperor’s demise.

In other words… from beginning to end, the Fate Diviners had never been annihilated!

“Indeed, the Fate Diviners were almost destroyed by the Tianji Hall back then.”

“To prevent similar situations from happening again, my imperial father moved the surviving Fate Diviners from the open to the shadows. Since then, the Fate Diviners have never shown themselves again.”

“In fact, the Fate Diviners have been working for me in the shadows all these years.”

“Even those Three Heavenly Kings don’t know of the Fate Diviners’ existence.”

The Great Wu Crown Prince said with a proud smile.

Chen Yuan and Cheng Riyou then understood.

In other words,

Besides the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, the Martial Pavilion, and the Imperial Guard, the current Great Wu Dynasty also had a hidden Fate Diviners operating in the shadows.

And according to the divination cast by the Fate Diviners earlier,

It was clear that a long time ago, the Great Wu Crown Prince already knew that as long as the eye of imperial judgment was recovered, the destiny of the entire Great Wu Dynasty would experience an incredibly massive increase.

But what was the specific reason?

Logically speaking,

The eye of imperial judgment alone could not bring about such a significant increase in destiny. Chen Yuan felt that there must be some other reasons involved.

However, the Great Wu Crown Prince stated that according to the Fate Diviners at the time, this was simply the Great Wu Dynasty’s own blessing.

“Blessing?”

Chen Yuan frowned at this.

He felt that rather than a blessing, it was more likely that the Fate Diviners simply hadn't figured out the underlying reason.

Although the Fate Diviners’ divination techniques were quite impressive,

Not everything in the world could be divined.

They only divined that reclaiming the eye of imperial judgment would cause the Great Wu Dynasty’s destiny to surge, but the specific reason was not divined.

They could only attribute it to a vague blessing.

After all, the Fate Diviners couldn’t divine everything.

If they could divine everything, they wouldn’t have almost been destroyed by the Tianji Hall back then.

However, judging from the Crown Prince’s current attitude,

He didn’t seem to care about the underlying reason; as long as the Great Wu Dynasty’s destiny saw a huge increase, that was enough for him.

Finding the reason… was not something a ruler like him needed to expend his efforts on.

Chen Yuan pondered this thoughtfully.

Since this sudden surge in destiny was related to their current actions,

Then he could only search for the reason himself.

Although he felt it was unlikely to be the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members brought to the sect this time, in the absence of any other clues, it was still necessary to investigate the background of these members… Dream World.

When Xiang Zizhen informed Xiao Shi of the Great Wu Crown Prince’s decision,

Xiao Shi frowned.

He hadn’t expected the Great Wu Crown Prince to be so biased towards the Martial Pavilion.

This made him very disappointed with the Great Wu Crown Prince.

“Later, I want you to come with me to the Nan Dou Region. I need your assistance.”

Xiang Zizhen said.

Although in the refinement of the Nan Dou Region,

He was already far behind.

But he would not give up because of this.

He would still try his best to refine it.

And in the agreement set by the Great Wu Crown Prince, although those above the Martial Demon Realm cultivation were not allowed to participate, Xiang Zizhen could bring a group of people below the Martial Demon Realm cultivation to assist him.

Xiao Shi nodded.

As things stood,

They could only compete with the Martial Pavilion.

Even though Xiang Zizhen was currently at a great disadvantage,

It wasn’t entirely without opportunity.

Xiao Shi planned to return to Four Symbols City and head to the Nan Dou Region with Xiang Zizhen after challenging the Martial Demon Realm Expert of Evil Beast Mountain.

Soon.

After some waiting on his part,

He finally awaited one of the Martial Demon Realm Kings among the Ten Kings of Evil Beast Mountain.

Before coming to Evil Beast Mountain,

Xiao Shi had already gained some understanding of these ten Martial Demon Realm Kings of Evil Beast Mountain through the intelligence he had gathered.

He knew that these ten Martial Demon Realm Kings were all pure Demonic Cultivators.

In other words,

They were not Demonic Body Clones of others.

After all, there were two situations for Martial Demon Realm Experts in Demonic Path forces.

One type was the purest Demonic Cultivators.

These Demonic Cultivators often fell into the Demonic Path before reaching the Martial Demon Realm.

The other type was Demonic Body Clones, split off from other righteous Martial Artists.

If these Ten Kings were Demonic Body Clones split off from others, then Xiao Shi would certainly not choose to kill them.

After all, killing someone else’s Demonic Body Clone was a very unethical act.

It would create a mortal enmity with the other party.

Once one’s Demonic Body Clone was killed, then one would become the weakest Martial Demon Realm Expert, and would never be able to improve further in their lifetime.

Unless there was already a grudge, or it was absolutely necessary,

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, very few people would kill someone else’s Demonic Body Clone without reason.

Of course.

This was only limited to righteous Martial Artists.

The Martial Demon Realm Expert who appeared before Xiao Shi at this moment was a burly man, covered in black demonic patterns resembling tattoos.

Even in his pupils, black demonic patterns were reflected.

When this Martial Demon Realm Expert arrived,

His gaze instantly fixed on Xiao Shi.

Killing intent permeated his dark and profound pupils.

In fact, for days they had been searching for the person who had killed their Fate Soul General, yet the other party’s whereabouts were incredibly elusive.

Even on their own territory, they simply couldn’t find him.

Until this moment… this Martial Demon Realm Expert finally found the culprit who had been secretly killing their Fate Soul General.

As soon as the two sides met,

There was no superfluous talk.

They directly engaged!

Swish!

The two figures instantly vanished from their original spots.

With a bang.

They collided fiercely in the air like two massive boulders.

Sending out a ripple of shockwaves.

Xiao Shi was slammed back dozens of meters by the impact, and his entire arm, which had taken the brunt of the collision, immediately developed a network of cracks.

If this were his main body,

Such an impact would surely leave his arm numb and in pain.

However, the Evil Energy User’s body felt no sensation whatsoever, and the cracks on his arm healed completely in an instant.

“Martial Demon Realm… truly powerful!”

A sharp glint appeared in Xiao Shi’s eyes.

He clearly felt the difference between the Martial Demon Realm and the Martial Soul Realm.

None of the Fate Soul stage Generals before could clash with him so directly.

However, this Martial Demon Realm Expert in front of him could directly repel him.

In terms of strength, he was clearly slightly stronger than Xiao Shi at this moment.

And when this Martial Demon Realm Expert knocked Xiao Shi back, his speed did not decrease, and he continued to attack Xiao Shi.

Even after one of the demonic patterns on his body lit up,

His speed seemed to have increased even further.

He instantly charged towards Xiao Shi.

His punch, like a cannonball, tore through the air, producing a muffled thunder-like explosion.

This massive explosive sound even directly entered Xiao Shi’s brain, attempting to affect his soul.

Xiao Shi could feel that this was a powerful soul sound.

Far stronger than the soul power of the Martial Soul Realm.

Clearly, upon reaching the Martial Demon Realm, one could already integrate soul power into all attacks, unlike the Martial Soul Realm, where it could only be used as a singular force.

Under this immense soul sound,

Even with Xiao Shi’s soul strength, he felt a stinging pain and dizziness in his brain.

At the same time, a feeling of war-weariness emerged.

A thought of not wanting to continue fighting arose in his heart.

So much so that when facing the incoming punch from the opponent, he directly chose to give up resisting.

Puff!

Immediately, his chest, at the heart’s position, was struck by the opponent’s incoming punch, and his entire chest was instantly pierced through by a single blow!

“Hmm?”

However, the Martial Demon Realm Expert who had pierced through Xiao Shi’s body showed no joy; instead, he frowned.

He had thought that as long as he could pierce the opponent’s heart, he could instantly kill him.

But he found that the opponent’s life signs showed no fluctuations whatsoever.

In fact, it felt to him as if this didn’t even count as an injury for the other party!

This greatly shocked him.

He believed that even if the opponent possessed some strange and special ability that allowed him to survive being pierced through the heart, such an injury would surely leave him severely wounded!

But what was going on now, where it didn’t even count as an injury?

Not only that,

He also clearly felt, through the arm that had penetrated the opponent’s body, that the flesh and blood within the opponent’s body were healing at an astonishing speed.

“Interesting…”

“Finally, an opponent who can make me serious.”

Xiao Shi’s lips curled upwards.

Revealing a sinister smile.

Around his body, numerous black mists immediately spread out.

It was precisely the black mist formation he had previously set up within the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree.

Through his engagement with the opponent, Xiao Shi had already realized that relying solely on the Evil Energy User’s own strength was not enough to defeat this Martial Demon Realm Expert.

He had to use his main body’s other abilities and methods!

In fact, ever since arriving at Evil Beast Mountain, Xiao Shi had only relied entirely on the abilities of his Evil Energy User clone to fight, without employing the abilities and methods of his main body.

After all, relying solely on the Evil Energy User clone,

It was already incredibly easy to kill those Fate Soul Generals.

There was no need to use the main body’s abilities and methods.

However, facing this Martial Demon Realm Expert now, Xiao Shi knew he had to go all out.

As the black mist spread,

He raised both hands simultaneously, grabbing the opponent’s arm that had pierced through his body.

In an instant,

Numerous tree roots swiftly emerged from Xiao Shi’s palms.

When these roots appeared,

They immediately plunged into the Martial Demon Realm Expert’s arm, piercing into its flesh and blood, seemingly intending to parasitize the opponent’s body in this way.

“What is this!?”

The Martial Demon Realm Expert was greatly alarmed.

He felt danger from these roots.

In response,

He unhesitatingly pulled his arm out of Xiao Shi’s body and tore off all the roots that were trying to take root in him.

“The battle, it officially begins now!”

Xiao Shi’s voice echoed in the black mist, but his figure directly disappeared within the black mist.

The Martial Demon Realm Expert let out a cold snort.

He felt that the other party was trying to be mysterious.

However, when his Soul Consciousness spread out, he was shocked to find that even with his Martial Demon Realm Soul Consciousness, he couldn’t find the opponent’s whereabouts in this black mist.

Under the sweep of his Soul Consciousness,

The entire black mist was empty, with no one in sight.

“Did he run away?”

The Martial Demon Realm Expert frowned.

His first thought was that the opponent was using this black mist to obstruct his vision and escape.

But then he felt something was wrong.

After all, with the extent of his Soul Consciousness’s spread,

It didn’t just cover the area of the black mist.

It also extended to areas beyond the black mist.

No matter how fast the opponent was, he couldn’t possibly escape such a large area instantly.

“But why can’t my Soul Consciousness detect him?”

The Martial Demon Realm Expert was just thinking.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

“No!”