157: Chapter 157 Demon Seed, Feast at Hongmen

Arrogance looked down at Chu Sheng, his golden eyes devoid of murderous intent, holding only curiosity.

That gaze was like looking at an ant one had accidentally stepped on, wondering if it could still crawl back up.

"Heavenly Demon Body, Path of Desire, Taixu True Scripture... Interesting."

He counted them out one by one, as if reviewing a small side dish.

Chu Sheng stood before him, his legs still shaking, but his back was straight as a rod.

He had finally understood; in front of this thing, there was no difference between kneeling and standing—it was just a matter of a single finger anyway.

Palace Master Su Yousi knelt and saluted: "My Lord."

Arrogance ignored her, staring only at Chu Sheng: "I will give you a chance. Go to the Righteous Path and Devil battlefield, kill one thousand Righteous Path Cultivators, and I will let you leave alive."

Chu Sheng agreed and turned to leave.

Palace Master Su Yousi wanted to say something, but Arrogance waved his hand: "Let him go."

Arrogance planted a Devil Seed inside Chu Sheng's body.

A pitch-black seed burrowed into his Dantian, taking root deep within his Spirit Lake.

Chu Sheng shuddered, as if someone had shoved a block of ice into his heart.

Arrogance said this was a "gift," which would grow stronger with every person he killed.

Old Grandfather warned frantically from inside the ring: "This is a trap! He is using you as a vessel!"

Chu Sheng said: "I know..."

Before he could finish, he spat out a mouthful of black blood.

The moment the Devil Seed entered his body, a crack appeared in his Spirit Lake.

Chu Sheng's hands were shaking.

"Planting a Devil Seed? Raising a Gu? What exactly is this guy trying to do?"

He stared at the screen, his face pale. "This isn't a gift, it's a death warrant. It grows stronger with every kill? By the time he kills a thousand, this Devil Seed might just devour Chu Sheng entirely."

Chu Sheng returned to the battlefield, becoming a god of slaughter.

With his Sea Opening cultivation base and the enhancement of the Devil Seed, he slew three hundred Righteous Path Cultivators in a single day and night.

He killed until his eyes turned red, and by the end, he had almost forgotten who he was.

He pushed the Taixu True Scripture to its limit, his figure flickering between the void and reality, taking a life every time he reappeared.

With his Heavenly Demon Body fully activated, Devilish Qi soared into the sky, and Righteous Path Cultivators within a hundred miles felt that terrifying aura.

Chu Zhan followed behind, growing more alarmed with every fight. He cleaved a True Transformation Realm Cultivator with his axe, then turned to look at Chu Sheng and shouted: "Dad, your Devilish Qi... it's not right."

Chu Sheng told him to stop talking and kill.

His voice was hoarse, as if squeezed out from his throat.

The Devil Seed grew wildly within his body.

It grew larger with every person he killed, like a tree rooted in his Dantian, its roots digging into the Spirit Lake and its branches spreading throughout his limbs and bones.

Chu Sheng could feel it absorbing his cultivation, reshaping his body, and burrowing deep into his Soul.

Old Grandfather said it was assimilating him, and if this continued, he would no longer be himself.

Yu Rumeng came out of seclusion.

She immediately sensed the abnormality in Chu Sheng, and her expression changed drastically.

Chu Sheng had just returned from the front line, covered in blood and entangled in Devilish Qi, like an evil ghost crawling out of Hell.

Yu Rumeng reached out to check his pulse, but the moment her fingertips touched his wrist, she recoiled as if bitten by a snake.

She stared at Chu Sheng, asking word by word: "Did Arrogance find you?"

Chu Sheng nodded.

Yu Rumeng was silent for a long time.

Then she said: "Leave. I will take you away. Go to the Central Region, go anywhere."

Chu Sheng shook his head: "We can't leave. He planted something inside me."

Chu Sheng watched this scene, his throat tightening. "Yu Rumeng wants to take Chu Sheng away? Escape? Escape where? With a monster like Arrogance, even if you run to the ends of the earth, he can still drag you back."

He paused, his voice lowering. "But she still said it. Knowing it was useless, she still said it. This woman... she truly cares about Chu Sheng."

Arrogance convened a Devil King meeting.

The news spread throughout the entire Devil Realm, and all experts above the Dao Palace level from Nine Nether Palace, Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, and Blood God Sect were summoned to the Demon Tomb.

They specifically named Chu Sheng, requiring him to go.

When Yu Rumeng received the news, her face turned livid.

She knew this was a Banquet at Hongmen, but not going meant disobeying orders.

In the Devil Realm, there was only one consequence for disobeying orders—death.

Chu Sheng grabbed her hand: "Don't go."

Yu Rumeng said she had to go, telling him to stay at the camp and look after Chu Zhan and Chu Dou.

Chu Sheng said he would go with her.

Yu Rumeng shook her head, her eyes reddening: "If you go, you won't be able to come back."

Chu Sheng looked at her and suddenly smiled, saying that made it even more necessary for him to go; if she couldn't come back, who would he find to be his wife?

Yu Rumeng was stunned for a moment, and tears fell.

She reached out to wipe them away, saying: "You, at a time like this, you still say such things."

Chu Sheng said that she wouldn't listen to serious talk anyway, and since he had been planted with a Devil Seed, he couldn't run away even if he wanted to.

The Devil King meeting was held in the Demon Tomb.

It was the place where hundreds of Ancient Demon Kings slept, and the Devilish Qi was as thick as water.

Arrogance sat on the main seat, three zhang tall, his Devilish Qi like a tide, his golden eyes like two lamps in the darkness.

Palace Master Su Yousi sat in the secondary seat.

The Hall of Ten Thousand Demons Master, a man who looked to be in his forties, had a cold and stern face.

There was also the Blood God Sect Master, a little boy who looked to be seven or eight years old, a young boy in appearance, but his eyes were full of calculation and vicissitudes.

Chu Sheng was stunned when he saw the little boy, thinking, what kind of combination is this?

Old Grandfather said from inside the ring not to be fooled by appearances, as that old thing had lived for at least a thousand years.

When Yu Rumeng arrived, she found the atmosphere wrong.

The Devil Kings from Hall of Ten Thousand Demons and Blood God Sect were all there, sitting in a dense crowd, all of them experts above the Dao Palace level.

Palace Master Su Yousi sat below Arrogance, her face pale as if she had been suffering from a serious illness.

Arrogance spoke, his voice echoing in the Demon Tomb, shaking the stone walls: "Where is your Dao Companion? I specifically invited him."

Yu Rumeng said he was recovering from injuries, her voice very calm.

Arrogance laughed, his smile very cold, like ice shards in winter.

He reached out and grabbed—

The Void Realm shattered.

Chu Sheng fell from the crack, covered in blood.

He had just been at the camp outside, and in the blink of an eye, he was dragged here.

Chu Zhan and Chu Dou were also dragged here, held down on the ground by Devil Generals, unable to move.

Chu Zhan was struggling, shouting "Dad!"

Chu Dou didn't shout, but his eyes were red.

Arrogance said: "I said I would give you a chance. But you didn't kill enough."

Chu Sheng crawled up from the ground, his bones aching all over.

Chu Sheng activated his Heavenly Demon Body.

Devilish Qi soared into the sky, and he pushed the Taixu True Scripture to its limit, his figure dissipating as he shifted between the void and reality.

He wanted to run.

It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but he couldn't die here.

But Arrogance simply reached out and clenched his hand, and Chu Sheng was squeezed out of the Void Realm, like crushing an ant.

Bones shattered, crackling like stepping on dry branches.

Chu Sheng let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Yu Rumeng brought out the rumeng token.

A black dream realm enveloped the entire area, shielding Chu Sheng.

She stood in front of him like a wall.

Arrogance looked at the rumeng token, a flicker of interest crossing his golden eyes: "A little girl's Magic Treasure? Not bad, but not enough."

He reached out and flicked it, and the rumeng token cracked.

Yu Rumeng let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Old Grandfather floated out from the ring.

His phantom image solidified, he pushed the Taixu True Scripture to its full power, and his aura swept across the entire scene.

That was the aura of the Taixu Divine Sect Master, the final power of an old monster who had lived for thousands of years.

Arrogance finally turned serious, staring at Old Grandfather with his golden eyes: "Grand Void? You're still alive?"

Old Grandfather did not speak.

He struck Arrogance with a palm.

That palm contained his lifelong cultivation, shattering the Void Realm and shaking the Demon Tomb.

Arrogance took the palm strike head-on and retreated three steps.

Three steps.

The entire Demon Tomb was shaking, and the sleeping Ancient Demon Kings rolled over and went back to sleep.

Arrogance looked down at his palm, then looked back up at Old Grandfather, murderous intent appearing in his golden eyes for the first time: "Interesting. Grand Void, you are stronger than you were back then."

Old Grandfather's phantom image was dissipating, his voice growing fainter: "I should have slapped you to death back then."

Arrogance laughed: "If your true body were here, I would yield to you by three points, but unfortunately, you are now just a wisp of a remnant Soul."

Chu Sheng stood up abruptly, knocking over his chair. "Old Grandfather... is he going to risk his life?"

Old Grandfather's phantom image grew fainter and fainter, like smoke in the wind.

He looked back at Chu Sheng, saying nothing, but Chu Sheng understood.

There were many things in that gaze. Regret, reluctance, and worry.

Arrogance looked at the dissipating Old Grandfather, then at Chu Sheng, and said: "You have a good teacher. Too bad he is too old."

Chu Sheng raised his head, his eyes full of bloodshot veins.

He looked at Arrogance, saying word by word: "You will regret this."

Arrogance laughed, his smile full of contempt: "Regret? I have lived for tens of thousands of years and have never known what regret is."

Chu Sheng slumped back into his chair, his whole body cold. He stared at Arrogance's face and suddenly thought, if only he had chosen Arrogance as his initial entry. But then he thought, that wasn't right. Arrogance had been Cultivating for at least a thousand years longer than him. If he had a thousand years, who would win and who would lose was not yet certain. He took a deep breath and let his gaze fall back to the screen. Old Grandfather had dissipated, Yu Rumeng was injured, Chu Zhan and Chu Dou were captured, and Chu Sheng himself was nearly finished. How was this Banquet at Hongmen going to end?