Free Web NovelChapter 978: He Really Lives Up To His Title; How Domineering!
Luo Chen had taken on very few missions ever since he joined the Society. In particular, he had never once taken the common task of hunting demonic beasts, so he was not quite familiar with how such transactions were handled.
Within Peaceward Fortress, several Initiates were still appraising the demonic beasts he had brought out, the work already dragging on for half a day. Whenever they encountered something they could not evaluate, they would turn to transmission artifacts to consult more experienced appraisers elsewhere. Only after much back-and-forth did they finally come to a conclusion.
The merit points gained from the transaction would also be enough to raise Luo Chen's demon hunter rating from five stars to six. This was well within Luo Chen's expectations; after all, these were four late-stage Demon Kings, each comparable to a late-stage Adept. For most people, killing even one would be a lifetime achievement, yet Luo Chen had slain four in a single shot. If anything, it was weird they didn't raise his rank straight to seven stars.
What caught his attention was the price—the four demonic beast corpses could be sold to the division for 2.6 million spirit stones. Over the years, he had handled enough transactions to develop a good grasp of market value. A typical first-tier demonic beast corpse was worth around 1,000 low-grade spirit stones; second-tier ones usually fetched about 10,000, provided the corpse remained intact. As for third-tier demons, they were far more valuable, but the prices varied wildly. Early- and middle-stage Demon Kings each had their own price ranges, while late-stage ones were worth several times more, even tens of times more in special cases. In any case, the average price for a middle-stage Demon King corpse would be somewhere around 1-200,000.
Of course, that was the market in the Eastern Wilderness. In the Northern Sea, where the oceans were vast and demonic beasts appeared in droves, prices tended to be lower. But even so, these were four late-stage Demon Kings. No matter what, they should have been worth at least 7-8 million spirit stones! fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Are you saying these are only worth 2.6 million? You sure know how to joke around," Luo Chen commented in a somewhat threatening tone.
Under his spirit pressure, the Initiates trembled and cast pleading looks toward Saberstorm.
Saberstorm let out a helpless sigh. "The division usually buys these at about half the market price. Fellow Daoist, have you never looked into this?"
Luo Chen snorted coldly. He was naturally displeased, though he understood the reasoning. No wonder Zhang Jiadi and Wen Xiu had once risked selling their loot at Giant Whale Harbor. These internal prices were far too ridiculous. In fact, had it been a 50-50 split as Saberstorm claimed, that would have been one thing, but these people were robbing him of at least 60 percent, maybe even 70 percent of the money.
Seeing Luo Chen's displeasure, Saberstorm reminded himself that he still needed Luo Chen's help and patiently explained, "The price might be lower, but part of that difference is effectively converted into merit toward your demon hunter rank. And whatever you lose there can be made up through the discounts you get at higher ranks when you exchange for internal resources. So it's not as bad as it looks. It's always been done this way. And besides... you know the corpses you brought in are a bit damaged, so they wouldn't fetch top prices anyway. Oh, and remember that when you get nine stars eventually, you'll get priority access to Nascent Soul resources. Compared to that, this kind of loss is nothing."
Seeing this battle freak go into such detail, almost to the point of nagging, Luo Chen chuckled inwardly. "Fine, fine. Two million it is. I can't be bothered to argue with you."
To ordinary Adepts, the sum was staggering, enough to rent a third-tier spirit land for a long time. But to Luo Chen, it barely registered. The yields from Surging Lake alone were steadily rising, and more than that, Liang Baizao had actually left behind more than thirty million spirit stones in his ring! A great sect artifact creation was bound to be rich beyond imagination. The sect master had salvaged most of the assets when their estate was destroyed, only for them to end up in Luo Chen's hands.
Compared to the money and resources he'd gotten, this amount was nothing. So his earlier displeasure had never been about the price itself; he simply disliked taking a loss. If those were the rules, then it really wasn't worth starting a fight over it.
"Hold on—wasn't it 2.6 million?" Saberstorm said with surprise.
Luo Chen snorted. "As if. I'll be keeping the Overtide Devil Flood Dragon."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and stored the dried corpse of the Overtide Devil Flood Dragon in his Thundernet Hoard Ring. The surrounding appraisers exchanged uneasy glances, but none of them dared to speak up.
Saberstorm had the urge to remind him that, by the rules, anything taken from a hunt was to be kept for personal use or sold to the Society. If it ever made its way onto the open market, the division would definitely come knocking. The words were on the tip of his tongue... but, in the end, he swallowed them back down.
Luo Chen had already agreed to let him have the teeth of the Scorching Flame Sawtooth Shark at a price far below market. That was a tremendous show of face for Saberstorm. If he offended Luo Chen now over a technicality, that would be nothing short of foolish. Besides, rules were equal for everyone only on paper. The Society kept a tight rein on low-tier cultivators, but when it came to high-ranked demon hunters, there was always some room to maneuver. Luo Chen was definitely not the stupid kind, so it was best to just leave him to his own devices.
With matters settled, Luo Chen saw no reason to linger. He gave a brief farewell and returned to his cave residence. Then, after resting for two days, he set out once more for the Sunken Sea.
Not long after his departure, a title began to circulate around Peaceward Fortress—Devil Lord Azure Yang.
This time, the stir among rogue cultivators was quite substantial. When Saberstorm had slain the Golden-Horned Silver Rhinoceros, it had caused a ripple, but that was all. His strength was already well known, and that feat had only served to reinforce it. But this Devil Lord was different. Within the Society, he had long been known for his skill in artifact creation. Yet on his very first venture into the battlefield, he had produced a record so dazzling it left everyone stunned. How could people not talk about it?
And talk they did. Only, the more they talked, the more unsettled they became. The reason? No one could actually explain how he had done it. It was obvious that he was strong; that much was beyond doubt. But where did that strength come from? Was it some terrifying enchanted treasure? A secret technique? Or something else entirely?
***
Somewhere on a small island, there was a lake hidden beneath dense mist saturated with ghostly energy.
Luo Chen hovered in the sky, right below the layer of mist. The blazing sun burned fiercely overhead, yet not a single ray could pierce the fog to reach him. Yet within him, it was as though another sun burned; his Golden Core spun ceaselessly, radiating the same brilliance. By his side, the Primordial Unity Cauldron shone as it radiated wave after wave of mana. The mana flowed outward in controlled streams, guided through intricate formation patterns that spread across the surrounding space and sealed it completely. Within moments, the entire area was locked down, forming Luo Chen's Pseudo-Domain, the Infinite Blaze Prison.
Below him, more than a thousand low-tier demonic beasts wailed in despair. Among them, a middle-stage Demon King lifted its head and roared toward the crimson-robed figure in the sky. It tried to summon a flying sword, but the motion was clumsy and unnatural. The weapon wobbled out of its control and fell to the ground.
Under the restraint of the Infinite Blaze Prison, only the most powerful Demon Kings could resist ever so slightly. As for the rest, they stood no chance at all. They could not muster their demonic power, and their stolen enchanted treasures were also unresponsive. Even that middle-stage Demon King could not properly mobilize its demonic power. Left with no other option, it tried to charge the crimson-robed man with its body alone. Yet the surrounding ghostly energy surged at once; Ghost Kings darted out from the haze and slipped into its body, throwing it into chaos until it could no longer even control itself.
Through it all, Luo Chen remained calm. He activated his primordial true fire, forcibly refining the demonic beasts alive and devouring their life force!
The prices the Society offers for demonic beasts are far too low. If I can't sell them for good money, I might as well use them to strengthen myself.
While maintaining the Infinite Blaze Prison, Luo Chen guided his primordial true fire through the trapped swarm, steadily absorbing their life force. But even as he focused there, his mind remained clear, with room to spare for other thoughts.
At one point, his Withering-Flourishing True Fire swept across the battlefield and fell upon a Demon King that looked like a strange mixture of deer and sheep. The Ghost Kings inhabiting its body scattered at once, instinctively making way for the fearsome fire.
After a dozen breaths, Luo Chen withdrew his primordial true fire. With that, the pressure of the Infinite Blaze Prison faded; the sealed space loosened, and the Domain dispersed entirely. He remained suspended in midair with his eyes closed, quietly sensing the changes unfolding within his body. Over a thousand low-tier demonic beasts and a Demon King... and they didn't give me even half the life force of that merman. But even small gains add up. I just need to give it more time.
On the shore of the Sunken Sea, late-stage Demon Kings were seldom seen, but low-tier demonic beasts were everywhere. Even if he spent all day herding them in and refining them, more would spill in from the Heaven of Northern Yama. Thus, Luo Chen was not in a hurry. So long as he kept at it, there would always be gains, and the process itself was not all that troublesome to him. The only issue was that the life force returned by the Withering-Flourishing True Fire seemed to be diminishing.
At first, he had thought little of it. But as the change grew more apparent, he could not help but frown. Was it because the demonic beasts were too low in tier? Had his own body reached some kind of limit? Or was it the fire itself that was causing this?
The thought lingered for a moment before he shook his head and let it go. He opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath, then raised his hand.
Whoosh!
A black banner flew back into his hand. At the same time, the Ghost Generals, Ghost Kings, and the surrounding ghostly energy were all drawn back into it. Only then did the blazing sunlight and countless expectant gazes fall upon him.
"It's Devil Lord Azure Yang, he's out!"
"Watch your tone. You should be calling him Senior Azure Yang!"
"What do you know? Some bigshots actually like being called weird titles."
"Forget about that, did you see how it went?"
The onlookers' gazes naturally fell upon the lakebed beneath Luo Chen—indeed, the lakebed and not the lake. There was no water remaining, only the scorched, barren ground. And there was not a single demonic beast corpse, only a small mound of ash. The crowd exchanged looks as an unbelievable thought rose in their minds. Could it be...
"No way... the demonic beasts on this island specialize in coordinated attacks. Even Adept Guo and his group of five couldn't handle them. Are you telling me Devil Lord Azure Yang wiped them all out on his own?"
"What's so weird about that? Adept Guo and the others weren't even true Adepts, they refined demon cores into pseudo-cores. If they couldn't handle it, does that mean the Devil Lord can't?"
"But, brother... there's nothing left. Not even bones... nothing at all."
Luo Chen seemed completely unaware of the astonishment he was causing. His gaze fell upon the five Adepts at the front of the crowd. When they noticed he was looking at them, they instinctively cupped their fists in greeting.
"Greetings, Devil Lord!" said the leader, Guo Fengdao.
Luo Chen did not bother recalling their names. To him, Pseudo-Adepts were nothing to write home about. Still, he had something to ask. Based on the intelligence he had received, the demonic beast swarm should not have appeared on the island, and that meant something had gone wrong. Since he intended to continue hunting low-tier beasts, it was best to clarify things now. Thus, without beating around the bush, he got straight to business. Guo Fengdao and the others did not dare waste his time either, and immediately began recounting the recent movements of the demonic beasts.
Great Frogmouth Whirlpool, Azure Plains, Slowflow Sea and Three Pillar Gorge...
Luo Chen committed all these names to memory; these places where low-tier demonic beasts gathered in large numbers. This kind of up-to-date information was far more useful than the distribution map Shentu had given him; after all, most demonic beasts did not stay in fixed locations. With cultivators hunting them constantly, they shifted from one place to another, and any map would quickly fall out of date.
Once he had responses to his questions, he gave a brief nod in thanks and flew off at once. Finally, once he was out of sight, Guo Fengdao and the others relaxed. Yet they stood where they were, exchanging glances, and no one spoke for a long while.
Though they were merely Pseudo-Adepts, they still possessed a core with mana. Because of that, they could sense Luo Chen's power more clearly than everyone else here. Even though Luo Chen had restrained much of his pressure, the depth of his mana still felt like an unfathomable sea, overwhelming them.
After a long silence, Guo Fengdao finally let out a slow breath. "If he wanted to kill us, he might not even need three moves..."
***
Over the following months, Luo Chen appeared again and again wherever demonic beasts swarmed in the Sunken Sea. Every time he went, the sequence was the same. He first unfurled the Myriad Soul Banner, shrouding the area from sight, then brought down the Infinite Blaze Prison. Then, he set his primordial true fire loose, refining the demonic beasts alive and drawing out their life force.
Even when faced with stronger Demon Kings, he rarely needed to do much. A few Azure Yang Great Handprints were usually enough, and if he found it troublesome, he would simply use Mirror Flower Water Moon to end things outright. By the time he was done, what remained was a fistful of ashes. Hundreds, thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of low-tier demonic beasts would vanish without a trace, leaving behind not even bones. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
At first, such ruthless efficiency left the rogue cultivators of the Society shaken. But as the scenes repeated themselves, shock gave way to a kind of numb acceptance. The title of Devil Lord gradually overshadowed the title of Azure Yang.
Luo Chen could naturally feel the growing reverence in others' gazes, but he paid it no mind and continued as he pleased. At one point, an Adept was sent under Shentu's orders to ask how he handled the corpses of the demonic beasts he killed; after all, this was quite blatant. But Luo Chen offered no explanation. He simply said they had been reduced to dust and left it at that.
As his reputation grew day by day, Shentu found himself with little he could do, and in the end, he could only allow Luo Chen to act as he pleased. After all, the results spoke for themselves. With such large numbers of low-tier demonic beasts being wiped out, the pressure on Peaceward Fortress steadily eased. Who would dare complain?
***
A streak of light descended over a turbulent stretch of sea. Luo Chen slowed and looked ahead, where three towering peaks rose straight from the ocean. Between them, seawater roared through a narrow gorge; currents surged and crashed against one another, yet remained distinct as they flowed side by side without ever mixing.
This was the Three Pillar Gorge. It was a dangerous region that connected the Sunken Sea to the Flowing Sea Region. From what Luo Chen had learned, there were at least thirty thousand demonic beasts gathered here, with now fewer than five Demon Kings among them. There was even a late-stage Demon King lurking in the waters on the side facing the Sunken Sea. Luo Chen's target, however, was not that late-stage Demon King but the thirty thousand low-tier demonic beasts.
"If I can take the life force of this entire group... heh, that should be enough," Luo Chen muttered to himself and stepped forward toward the Three Pillar Gorge. But just as he was about to start doing his thing, he paused. Across the rolling waves, a burly figure was approaching with a saber in hand.
"It has been a while, Fellow Daoist Saberstorm."
Saberstorm's expression tightened slightly. When he saw Luo Chen's flushed complexion, his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. The long saber in his hand trembled, and a surge of bloodthirst stirred from within. How is this possible? He's been fighting nonstop; his mana should be drained by now. Why is he even stronger instead? That surging blood, that overwhelming life force... What's going on? Even my saber is stirred more by him than by the late-stage Demon King... What?!
Saberstorm suppressed the turmoil in his thoughts and kept his composure. "Devil Lord, it has been a while. What brings you to Three Pillar Gorge?"
Luo Chen gave a faint smile, answering with a question instead. "What about you?"
Saberstorm frowned. "I'm here for that Great King Squid."
Luo Chen let out a soft sound of acknowledgment, then laughed lightly. "Well, I did say I'd leave those to you, so go for it. I'll take care of the rest."
Saberstorm was briefly taken aback. Aren't you a bit arrogant?
"There are usually other rogue cultivators hunting demonic beasts around here. You should be a bit more careful."
"Haha, people like us still worry about such things?" With that, Luo Chen leapt forward, plunging straight into the towering gorge.
Saberstorm remained where he was, watching Luo Chen's figure blaze ahead. He muttered under his breath, "This Devil Lord... really lives up to the title. How domineering!"
