298: They say I'm a demon seed? I'll just burst the Haotian Mirror!

White Jade Plaza was as deathly silent as a grave.

The haotian demon-illuminating mirror, which hung above the Kunlun Heavenly Gate and was revered by thousands, now looked like a bloodshot demonic eye, projecting a blood-red beam of light powerful enough to sear the Soul.

Within the mirror, that Abyssal Demon Hand, covered in eyeballs and dripping with black water, writhed frantically as if it were about to crawl into reality and drag every living being present into a bottomless purgatory.

"A demon... it really is an abyssal demon seed!"

"Heavens! Dengxian Island is actually enshrining a member of the abyssal royal clan!"

The various forces that had been intimidated by Lu Sheng's fierce might now seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw; their fear instantly transformed into hysterical killing intent. In the True Sea, the abyss was an absolute taboo, an unforgivable original sin.

As long as they firmly pinned this label on him, killing Lu Sheng would be acting on behalf of heaven!

"Where is the Kunlun Law Enforcement Team?!"

Lei Lie clutched his severed arm, his face pale from blood loss, his features twisted into a mask of hideous ecstasy: "The haotian mirror has shown the image, the evidence is conclusive! Why have you not quickly activated the Heavenly Gate Killing Formation to slay this beast!!"

Buzz—! Buzz—! Buzz—!

Following his fierce roar, nine great bells atop Kunlun's main Peak rang out simultaneously.

"Slay the demon!"

"Slay the demon!"

"Slay the demon!"

Uniform shouts of rage came from all directions. Hundreds of Kunlun Law enforcers dressed in golden armor, all at the Spirit Ancestor Peak level, rode streaks of light on their Flying Swords, instantly sealing off this patch of heaven and earth.

Further away, several terrifying Divine Thoughts belonging to high-level Spirit Kings locked onto Lu Sheng at the center of the storm like searchlights.

Not even a fly could hope to fly out now.

The Azure Peak Sword in Li Xiaoyao's hand fell onto the Deck with a 'clang,' his old face turning as grey as ash.

It's over.

This time, yellow mud had really fallen into the trousers—even if it wasn't dung, it would be treated as such. The haotian mirror was an ancient Divine Artifact that had never made a mistake; if it reflected the abyss, then Lu Sheng was an enemy of all mankind.

"Lu Sheng..." Luo Tianfei stood in the distance, her pearly teeth biting her red lips. Looking at that terrifying reflection in the mirror, a hint of doubt arose in her heart for the first time. Could this guy... really be a monster wearing human skin?

Only Lu Sheng remained with his hands in his pockets, standing in the center of that blood-red pillar of light.

He even had the leisure to kick a pebble on the ground with his toe.

"Tsk."

Lu Sheng looked up at the ancient bronze mirror, which was glowing brighter and brighter, then looked at the so-called "Righteous Path people" around him who wished they could swallow him alive. The corners of his mouth curled into a mocking arc.

"A bunch of country bumpkins who haven't seen the world."

Lu Sheng shook his head, his voice not loud, yet carrying a hint of lazy weariness: "A broken piece of glass reflects a layer of skin, and you all get this excited?"

"Death is at your door and you still dare to be stubborn!"

Lei Lie grinned hideously, his remaining left hand pointing at the mirror surface: "Facts speak louder than words! That demon hand in the mirror, could it be a magic trick you conjured up?!"

"Demon hand?"

The ash-gray light in the depths of Lu Sheng's eyes suddenly flickered.

He slowly pulled out his right hand and made an extremely provocative gesture toward the massive haotian mirror—he flipped it the middle finger.

"Since you all believe in this broken mirror so much..."

"Then let it look a bit deeper."

Lu Sheng abruptly took a step forward.

Boom!!

Deep within his spinal dragon, that Archaic Heaven Emperor Venerable dharma idol, which had been resting with closed eyes, seemed to grow somewhat impatient from the noisy commotion outside.

It did not fully awaken.

It merely opened its eyes a tiny sliver.

A strand of gray mist that did not belong to this world, or even this dimension, seeped out silently through Lu Sheng's pores.

It was not as evil and chaotic as the abyss, nor as brilliant and colorful as spiritual power.

It had only one characteristic—heaviness.

It was the weight of ages, the weight of the end of an era.

"Buzz——————!!!!"

The haotian demon-illuminating mirror, which had been shining brightly, suddenly emitted an extremely piercing wail, like metal being forcibly twisted, the moment that wisp of gray mist touched the mirror's light.

The image on the mirror surface changed.

That Abyssal Demon Hand, which had originally occupied the entire mirror, now seemed to have met its natural enemy. Extreme terror showed in those dense eyeballs as it desperately tried to shrink into a corner of the mirror.

But it could not escape.

Under the watch of countless horrified gazes.

The image in the mirror began to zoom out and enlarge.

People finally saw clearly.

That terrifyingly powerful Abyssal Demon Hand was not the protagonist at all.

It... was merely a base.

Or rather, a stepping stone.

Above that demon hand, a massive foot wearing simple, gray-white ancient war boots was using it as a platform, slowly descending.

The image continued to move upward.

Leg guards, war skirt, chest plate... until it reached that imperial head that seemed to tower into the clouds, shrouded in Chaos mist.

It was a supreme imperial shadow carrying a five-colored divine wheel, with an aura of eternal desolation swirling around him!

He did not look at the demon hand.

He just stood there quietly, as if he had stepped on a bedbug, his gaze indifferent as he looked through the mirror at the—ant-like sentient beings outside.

"Crack."

A faint but clear cracking sound that made hearts stop came from above the Heavenly Gate.

A crack appeared on the pristine surface of the haotian demon-illuminating mirror.

Then came a second, a third... "No... how is this possible?!"

The hideous grin on Lei Lie's face instantly froze, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

The haotian mirror... cracked?!

This was a Divine Artifact capable of reflecting the Origin of a Spirit Emperor! What was it reflecting? What on earth did it see?!

"Roar—!!"

The Abyssal Demon Hand in the mirror let out a shrill scream, and then, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, it was crushed into black dust by that imperial war boot.

That was an absolute suppression of status.

The abyss?

At the end of desolation, even the abyss must kneel!

"Pfft—!!"

The seven Kunlun Law enforcers responsible for controlling the Formation sprayed blood almost simultaneously. Their bodies were sent flying as if hit by a heavy hammer, and the dharma plates in their hands shattered into pieces.

"Stop!! Quickly stop!!"

A white-haired Kunlun Elder tumbled out of the Void Realm, ignoring his image as he screamed at the top of his lungs: "The mirror is going to explode!! Quickly cut off the spirit source!!"

Too late.

Lu Sheng stood in the center of the square, his eyes, which had completely turned ash-gray, met the gaze of the imperial shadow in the mirror from across the space.

"What level of mirror thinks it's worthy of reflecting me?"

Lu Sheng sneered, and his right hand, which had been flipping the bird, suddenly clenched into a fist.

"Shatter!"

This single word was like the final Mount Sumeru that crushed the camel.

"Boom——————!!!!"

The haotian demon-illuminating mirror, which had hung at the Kunlun Heavenly Gate for thousands of years, exploded violently at this moment!

Countless bronze shards, carrying the power of Law, shot out in all directions like a lethal meteor shower, indiscriminately.

"Run!!"

"Shields!! Quickly open the shields!!"

The square instantly turned into a chaotic mess.

Those experts from various sects who had just been shouting for blood now wished they had two more legs as they scurried away with their heads in their hands.

A palm-sized mirror shard, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, whistled past Lei Lie's cheek.

Splat.

Half an ear along with a large chunk of scalp was sliced clean off.

"Aaaaaahhh!!"

Lei Lie clutched his blood-drenched head and rolled on the ground in pain, no longer possessing even a shred of the dignity of a Spirit King expert.

Dust billowed, and rocks flew through the air.

How was this a Holy Land's Heavenly Gate? This was clearly the scene of a large-scale demolition accident!

It took half a cup of tea's time for the commotion to slowly subside.

The originally majestic Heavenly Gate archway had been half blasted into collapse.

The ancient mirror that symbolized Kunlun's majesty was gone, leaving only an empty bronze frame swaying in the wind, making a mocking "creak-creak" sound.

Lu Sheng stood in the center of the ruins.

Within three meters around him, everything was clean; not even a speck of dust remained.

All the shards were silently swallowed by the Five Elements Life-Extinction Wheel the moment they drew near him, converted into his nourishment.

*Burp.*

Lu Sheng brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, his gaze sweeping over the disheveled and shaken so-called great experts around him.

"Who was it that said that was a demon seed just now?"

Lu Sheng pointed at the smoking mirror shards on the ground and spread his hands with an innocent face: "The quality of this thing isn't up to par. I just looked in the mirror, how did it explode?"

"Could it be..."

Lu Sheng grinned, revealing a row of snowy white teeth, his smile extremely malicious: "Is this mirror also a counterfeit product? Did your Kunlun procurement take kickbacks?"

The entire field was deathly silent.

Only the sound of the wind wailing through the ruins could be heard.

Lei Lie lay on the ground, looking at the man standing in the light and shadow, his entire body trembling.

It wasn't just the pain; it was sheer terror.

In that moment just now, the figure he saw in the mirror... that was not human at all! That was a supreme horror that transcended the limits of their cognition!

Even a Divine Artifact couldn't reflect it and was instead shattered by the pressure... what kind of monster was this?!

Just then.

"Enough."

An old, flat voice that seemed to contain the ultimate truths of heaven and earth rang out abruptly in everyone's ears.

This voice carried no trace of anger, yet it caused the Five Elements light wheel behind Lu Sheng's head to instantly stop rotating.

An unprecedented sense of crisis caused the bone spurs all over Lu Sheng's body to stand on end.

At the end of the Heavenly Gate ruins.

An old man wearing hemp clothes and bare feet appeared there at some unknown time.

He held a broken broom in his hand and was slowly, bit by bit, sweeping up the mirror shards on the ground.

He was clearly just a floor-sweeping old man.

But even the Spirit King realm experts present bowed their backs the moment they saw him, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"A sweeping monk?" Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes and made a silent comment in his heart, but his body was tensed to the extreme.

This old man... was very strong.

Stronger than everyone he had encountered before.

The old man finished sweeping the last shard before slowly looking up, his murky old eyes turning toward Lu Sheng.

"You shattered the haotian mirror and demolished half of the Heavenly Gate."

The old man's tone was flat, as if he were just saying the weather was nice: "This debt, what does your Dengxian Island plan to use to pay it back?"

"Pay back?"

Lu Sheng, facing that pressure which felt like mountains and seas, did not retreat but instead took a step forward.

"Old man, even a scam needs to follow basic logic."

Lu Sheng pointed at the empty mirror frame above his head, his voice clear and resonant, reaching everyone present:

"It's clearly your mirror that was too small and couldn't contain my stature."

"And you're blaming me for that?"