235: Chapter 235 The Demon Lord's Greed, The Difference Between Dao Palaces and Supernatural Powers

[Chu Sheng came to a halt, his hand resting on his sword hilt, and did not step any further forward.]

[The old man turned his head to look at him, his gaze calm, like a pool of stagnant water.]

["Why have you stopped walking?"]

["It is too much of a coincidence; the path is sealed off, and only Senior is here."]

[Chu Sheng looked into those turbid eyes and spoke, "Senior said you were an Elder of the Wanmo Hall, trapped here for a thousand years, and that the Hall Master of the Wanmo Hall has changed several times."]

[The old man nodded.]

[Chu Sheng continued, "Here."]

["Then he should know there are still people in the tower. Why has he never sent anyone to look for you?"]

["Is a living Elder of the Wanmo Hall not worth saving?"]

[The old man looked at Chu Sheng, like a sleeping snake that had been startled awake.]

["Furthermore, the Reverse Demon Tower is almost impossible to leave once entered, and the treasures are locked tight by the Greed Demon Venerable. It's fundamentally impossible to send people to station here."]

[Chu Sheng did not give him a chance to speak and added, "The seventh and eighth floors are places even the Wanmo Hall itself doesn't dare to approach lightly; Gluttony's residual aura would devour all living things."]

["Senior said you have lived in this stone chamber for a thousand years, but right outside this chamber is Demon Grass, and the Devilish Qi of Gluttony and Greed permeates the entire eighth floor. How could a Cultivator of the Sea Opening Realm survive?"]

["Unless—" He looked at the old man, his voice not loud but very clear, "You are not Sea Opening. You only look like Sea Opening."]

[The stone chamber fell silent for a few breaths.]

[After a few breaths, the old man laughed. He did not defend himself; his laughter was very light, but it echoed within the empty stone chamber.]

[His body began to change. His hunched back slowly straightened, his withered skin became smooth, his graying hair turned black, and his turbid eyes became clear.]

[That faded black robe regained its original color under the infusion of Devilish Qi—deep black like ink, with a coiled golden python embroidered on the hem.]

[Greed.]

[Not the original body.]

[The original body had already been dead for thousands of years.]

[Standing before Chu Sheng was an Obsession of Greed left behind after his death, the final unwillingness of that Demon Venerable who had plundered all the treasures in the world.]

[His aura was not as terrifying as it was in his prime, but it far exceeded the Dao Palace.]

[Half-step Divine Ability!]

[The pressure of the Divine Ability Realm emanated from him, causing the entire stone chamber to tremble.]

[That kind of pressure was different from Pride's. Pride's was violent, like a mountain pressing down.]

[Greed's pressure was cold, dense, and like a snake coiled around one's neck.]

[Yu Rumeng's face instantly turned pale, but she gritted her teeth and did not retreat.]

[Alarm bells rang in Chu Sheng's mind. Although he could now fight Spirit Nurturing, his actual cultivation was only at Palace Building, with Dao Completion still in between.]

["How the hell are we supposed to fight this!"]

[The zhu xian sword vibrated violently at Chu Sheng's waist. It wasn't fear, but alertness.]

[The Obsession of Greed smoothed his sleeves with a composed manner, like an Elder who had lived in a deep palace for a long time, welcoming guests from afar.]

["Clever, but sometimes being too clever is not a good thing."]

["My two young friends, since we've laid the cards on the table, I shall let you experience this seat's famous ultimate technique."]

[He spoke, "The true difference between the Dao Palace and Divine Ability is not the chasm of cultivation and combat power... No matter how strong the Dao Palace is, it is still using 'strength,' while Divine Ability is using 'Law'."]

[He raised his hand, and a small black snake emerged in his palm. It was alive, slithering between his fingertips. "Strength has its limits, but Law is boundless. This is Divine Ability."]

[He closed his fingers, and the small snake turned into a cloud of black mist in his palm. The black mist rapidly expanded, enveloping the entire stone chamber.]

[Chu Sheng's vision went black. It wasn't darkness—it was nothingness.]

[Everything was swallowed up. Even the ground beneath his feet disappeared, and he was suspended in a boundless void.]

[Yu Rumeng was no longer by his side, the humming of the zhu xian sword could no longer be heard, and even the Old Grandfather's voice had vanished.]

[The Obsession of Greed's Divine Ability—Snake Swallows All Phenomena.]

[This move was Greed's most proud Divine Ability when he was alive, said to be able to swallow all things in the world.]

[But now he was only an obsession. Relying on the Devilish Qi of the Reverse Demon Tower, the Divine Ability he performed was incomplete, its power not even one percent of the original body's.]

[Even so, its power was still astonishing.]

[Chu Sheng's Dantian was vibrating.]

[It wasn't fear, but resonance.]

[The four swords of zhuxian within his body sensed their master's crisis and vibrated simultaneously. Sword Qi gushed from his Dantian, forming a dark-gold Sword Qi barrier around him, temporarily blocking out that boundless darkness.]

[Immediately afterward, the Luck of the wendao bell also gushed from his Dantian, turning into a golden halo that enveloped the top of his Dao Palace.]

[Chu Sheng's body was under an immense load.]

[His Meridians felt as if they were about to burst, the pain unbearable, but he did not fall.]

[Outside the darkness, the Obsession of Greed stood there, looking at the churning black mist in his palm.]

[Within the black mist was not only Chu Sheng but also Yu Rumeng, as well as the resonance of the Magical Artifacts inside Chu Sheng's body.]

[He had waited thousands of years for this very day: the aura of two Heavenly Demon Body successors, the resonance of the Magical Artifacts, and that phoenix true body locked deep within the Great Hall.]

[The Resurrection Array had been running for thousands of years, and now the most crucial puzzle pieces had finally arrived.]

[Yu Rumeng struggled in the darkness. Stimulated by Greed's Divine Ability, the Inheritance of Wrath within her body went berserk, and crimson Devilish Qi surged from her body to combat the darkness.]

[But her consumption was too great; she couldn't win the struggle.]

[Chu Sheng's voice drifted out from the black mist, "Senior Greed, your Divine Ability is fragmented. Its power is not even one percent of the original."]

["You are only an obsession; you won't be able to last long."]

[As soon as he finished speaking, the black mist churned violently. A streak of dark-gold Sword Qi pierced out from the black mist, followed by a second and a third, like countless needles piercing through a cloth from the inside.]

[The black mist began to dissipate.]

[The Obsession of Greed's palm trembled slightly.]

[He looked down at his hand, which was becoming transparent, a bitter smile appearing on his face.]

[Chu Sheng was right. He was only an obsession without the support of a Physical Body. Each time he performed a Divine Ability, he would consume a portion of himself. Once he was spent, he would no longer exist.]

[But the premise was, could these two truly survive under his full-scale assault?]

[The black mist dispersed, and Chu Sheng and Yu Rumeng fell back onto solid ground.]

[Chu Sheng's complexion was terrible, with traces of blood at the corner of his mouth; he could barely stand steady.]

[The zhu xian sword hovered by his side, its Sword Qi flickering.]

[The Obsession of Greed looked at him and remained silent for a long time.]

[The truth of the eighth floor's core area slowly pieced itself together in Chu Sheng's mind.]

[The heart of greed and the Stomach of Gluttony were the core of the confrontation between the two forces. Greed wanted to protect his treasure, while Gluttony wanted to devour everything.]

[The two forces had been entangled here for thousands of years, neither able to overcome the other.]

[And the Obsession of Greed had been trying to use Feng Wa's phoenix true body as material for the Resurrection Array, imitating a certain ancient secret method to prepare for Rebirth.]

[This was the reason why he had not hesitated to plot against Feng Wa and lock her Physical Body here for thousands of years.]

[But the appearance of Chu Sheng and Yu Rumeng caused him to change his plan of several thousand years.]

[Two successors of the Heavenly Demon Body were much more useful than a dead phoenix true body.]

[The Obsession of Greed's hand became more and more transparent. He looked at the exhausted Chu Sheng, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.]

["Kid, do you know how long this seat has waited for this day?"]

[Chu Sheng took a step back.]

[The Obsession of Greed took a step forward, his aura becoming even more solid.]