ASER - Chapter 220
Chapter 220: Human-Demon
A secret realm that could only be breached by concentrating internal and external forces on a single point was now being repaired and was sinking. Even if everyone doubled their critical strike damage, they still couldn't break it.
As it turned out, they truly couldn't do it.
In such a major incident where a large group suffered harm, few could still dwell on previous personal grudges or factional stances. Even A'Diao knew to act with humanitarian sentiment and offer assistance in such matters, even though most of these people—who had coveted the ruins and ignored advice—belonged to factions hostile to her.
It was politically correct, after all.
A'Diao outwardly offered practical help, but her heart remained cold; she felt no ripple of emotion whether these people lived or died.
She too felt it was a pity for the human race to lose strength—provided these people weren't trying to kill her or siding with those who wanted to kill her. Otherwise, they were enemies.
Since they were enemies, it didn't matter if they were good or bad, or whether they were human warriors.
You are? Am I not? The demonic spirit corpses I've slain could encircle all your ancestors' graves three thousand times over!
Besides, the old timer had warned them, yet they showed no vigilance. Who was to blame?
So, the moment A'Diao saw the island completely submerge, she immediately stopped, coldly watching it disappear beneath the waves. Many cultivators, unwilling to give up, dived into the water to investigate.
This included the three great Mountain Heads and several old men from the imperial families, all top-tier figures. But A'Diao didn't go down. She stood high in the sky, took out a milk tea, and sipped it, her expression indifferent.
Many felt a subtle unease, a hidden dissatisfaction, thinking her too cold, like a demon. She could leisurely drink milk tea and even shared a cup with the equally cold Qu Xia'er.
Was this a normal person?
But soon, their opinion of A'Diao changed, because…
Splash… Tong Guang and the others emerged from the water, their expressions grim. Clearly, the outcome was not optimistic. Yu Xuanji said to A'Diao, "It vanished. That old man didn't reappear either. There was no Demon Cave engulfing it underwater; it seemed more like a technique."
A'Diao seemed thoughtful. "A water world displacement technique?"
Now that her strength and knowledge system had caught up, conversing with these Mountain Heads became much easier for her. This was a convergence of their respective cognitive levels.
Yu Xuanji: "Yes, it couldn't be found. It was completely displaced. This level of skill is truly unfathomable."
He wasn't being sarcastic; he was genuinely worried about something that surpassed his understanding.
First, the other party controlled the Guixu Ruins, indicating their methods connected to the Primordial Era and that they knew hidden secrets.
Second, they built a secret realm upon the Guixu Ruins and used genuine secret manuals as bait to lure everyone in. If they hadn't failed, the other party could have annihilated half of the human race's current top-tier peak forces in one fell swoop, including the young generation's rising stars, thereby inflicting severe damage on the human race.
Third, an ultra-large-scale technique like the underwater displacement required preparation. This showed that the mastermind was cautious and had made thorough preparations, including means of escape in case of failure.
Fourth, a mastermind capable of meeting the first three conditions must have backing no weaker than any of the Nine Cauldrons Powers, perhaps even stronger and more extensive. However, they currently knew nothing about it. Or perhaps, someone among the Nine Cauldrons knew, or was even colluding with them?
In any case, the Nine Cauldrons Powers now distrusted each other, filled with suspicion.
In the silence, A'Diao suddenly spoke: "Everyone, there's something I need to say."
Given her current status, when she had something to say, it was like an old leader speaking; everyone had to turn and look.
And then they saw… actually, they didn't see clearly. The movement was too fast. They only felt the surrounding energy turn violent. Terrifying techniques like spirit gathering formations and super-large spirit gates erupted instantly, along with an instantaneous Myriad Laws Unified attack and a mental divine weapon.
Immediately after, a dragon claw swiped upwards.
The explosive power was too terrifying, catching everyone off guard.
Then, one person did indeed unleash their defenses, but still… BOOM!!!
This person was sent flying, crashing into a high mountain on the distant coastline, directly blasting open the mountainside.
Everyone was utterly shocked. Even Baiyue Mochou and Yu Xuanji felt their hearts skip a beat.
Because the one who was struck was Tong Guang, the Mountain Head of Bronze Mountain.
Currently the acknowledged number one in the human race? At least, ostensibly number one—as long as certain hidden figures and the three great founders didn't appear, and the Great Spirit Kings had not yet revived, he was recognized as the strongest.
Yet he had been struck.
The one who struck him was only 19 years old.
Everyone was shocked. Zhao Foshou and the others trembled, while A'Diao stood in the sky, Yin-Yang energy threads twisting like small, coiling snakes above her dragon claw.
In truth, at this moment, many self-righteous moralists or people from Bronze Mountain and other factions should have jumped out like a disturbed hornet's nest, clamoring and preaching about human unity and other moral high grounds.
But no one did.
If a good person suddenly erupted, everyone would point fingers, because they believed that good person wouldn't harm them.
But Chen A'Diao was not like that.
She looked disdainfully at Tong Guang, who was spitting blood as he flew out from the distant mountain, and said with a slight smile, "Life is about rules. Since they are rules, don't talk about human sentiment or morality. I was the one who mentioned bed-warming. They weren't capable enough to get into my bed, so they got angry and attacked. They couldn't win, so they called for help. Is that how a decent person acts?"
Her gaze swept over the crowd, especially those from Bronze Mountain and the Tang Song Imperial Family, most of whom felt their hair stand on end and scalps tingle. Taihao Zhen, who had luckily survived, wished he could hide in a spatial rift.
"Oh, by the way, don't learn this bed-warming, hot-bed sort of thing in the future. It's unhealthy."
"Warming graves or sweeping tombs, however, that's acceptable."
She rolled her eyes, took a large gulp from her milk tea cup, and finished it. The cup burned to ashes—it burned so well, the ashes even formed the shape of a heart.
Everyone: "?"
Xia Sanlu suddenly jumped out, fawning and agile, saying, "I've recorded it, Junior Sect Master, would you like to take a look?"
"Look at what? As if I wouldn't look good on camera. Let's go."
The meaning of her words was—I'll look good on camera anyway, but the Bronze Mountain Head definitely won't.
Could this video be released?
Of course, it would be released. Xia Sanlu was widely recognized as the person in Lushan with the most grassroots appeal. Even though he was in the Star Realm, he couldn't shake off his shrewd, rustic air of always looking for bosses to invest.
However, this person had a great advantage: he knew how to maneuver and how to make choices, a truly smooth operator. Thus, with A'Diao's rocket-like rise, he had long since secured his position in her camp and decisively released the video to a wide audience.
Offend Bronze Mountain?
Why be afraid? My boss is Chen A'Diao!
At this moment, A'Diao glanced at her Mental Power, which had skyrocketed to five hundred stars, and felt extremely satisfied.
Her gaze towards Tong Guang even held a hint of affection.
Thanks to the old fellow for cooperating with the performance.
It was just that there was still a Founder above him… plus, she wasn't sure if this person had any life-saving treasures. She couldn't make a move; otherwise, if she killed him, perhaps a thousand stars could be squeezed out.
The outcome of the island incident had two main hot topics.
First, over three hundred elites failed to escape in the end. Their cultivation was at least at the Star Realm level, accounting for one-third of the original group that entered. This wave was definitely a trauma for the human race.
Second, Chen A'Diao.
The former concerned the collective strength of the human race; the latter concerned the glory of the human race in the current era, even spanning both the Primordial and current eras.
At least, for most of the human race, the second hot topic was a source of excitement. They subconsciously believed it was a manifestation of the human race's undiminished karmic luck, which somewhat compensated for the anxiety caused by the first hot topic.
Regarding the island incident, Yu Xuanji and others were still there handling the investigation. However, A'Diao directly brought the Qu sisters (Qu Xia'er and Qu Jiangnan) and Xiao Jin back to Lushan. Song Ling and the others had already returned anyway.
Upon arriving at Lushan, Shen Huajing and others were naturally fearful of Qu Xia'er, given the inherent separation between their kinds. However, when parting with Qu Jiangnan, many subconsciously bid her farewell.
"Goodbye, Teacher Qu."
"Teacher Qu, goodbye."
Qu Jiangnan was no different from before, inherently dignified, her humanity unsuppressed, and her previous memories intact. So, she was taken aback for a moment and subconsciously looked at Shen Huajing and the others.
Come to think of it, among these prodigies, only Song Ling and A'Diao were her students. These youngsters, however…
"Teacher, no need to be shy. They are all my admirers; it's to be expected. It's good enough they haven't called you mother-in-law."
Pfft!
One sentence made Nie Yuanyuan and the others choke, cursing inwardly as they left.
Damn A'Diao, she can't go a day without taking advantage of someone.
After these people left, Qu Jiangnan flicked A'Diao's head in annoyance. "So young, what are you thinking about all day long?"
Qu Xia'er glanced askance at A'Diao.
Thinking about what?
This kid even tries to win over older women; would she spare her master?
However… she was still somewhat cute.
A'Diao rummaged through the kitchen looking for food. Song Ling didn't say anything, casually made a large salad, and brought it to the dining table. A'Diao, holding a fork, speared a tomato and ate, pairing it with a donkey meat sandwich, while asking Qu Jiangnan and Xiao Jin about the situation.
They were all women, and apart from A'Diao, most had light palates. While eating salad, Xiao Jin said she had discovered a problem beneath the rift valley. Later, after A'Diao and the others went in, she took Qu Jiangnan to the rift valley. However, Qu Jiangnan didn't find any skeletons below but did detect some corpse qi.
"At that time, we guessed there might be other entrances."
Through their combined efforts, the two found an entrance from the outside. It was also a coincidence, as they happened upon it just as everyone was about to come out.
Fortunately, this matter was within an acceptable range, as their own people were unharmed.
It was just… Xiao Jin observed A'Diao's expression. "Logically, you should be unhappy. After all, you didn't gain any substantial benefits, fell for the so-called ruins' trap, and it was like all that effort with the first secret manual was for nothing. You haven't exploded on the spot and still have the mood to eat… Do you have a plan?"
Her thoughts mirrored Song Ling's doubts, so they both looked at A'Diao.
A'Diao swallowed a piece of cantaloupe, took a sip of water, and didn't answer directly. Instead, she said, "The secret manuals are real, the Guixu Ruins are real, and naturally, the ruins themselves are also real."
"I'm wondering, what exactly is the purpose of this mastermind."
Hmm? Song Ling was surprised. "Isn't it to weaken the strength of the human race?"
Qu Xia'er: "They could revive Yan Xi and had means to control him. There was no need to make a fuss on the Guixu island. With such resources and methods, they could have restored Yan Xi to the Great Spirit King level and directly and safely taken down everyone. The motive doesn't match the means."
She had the most authority to speak on this matter.
Hearing this, Song Ling and the other two also felt something was amiss.
Song Ling: "So, is this person's goal the island itself? For example, the true legacy treasures of the Celestial Clan and the Langya Clan? And opening them required luring so many people… Could it be that our process of comprehension itself was already fulfilling the other party's objective?"
These words didn't exactly enlighten everyone, because everyone here was a genius and had basically thought of it simultaneously. Even Qu Xia'er had figured it out long ago. She wasn't eating, but she was drinking water.
Her fingers held the water glass, the clear liquid within swaying. Her gaze swept by as she said, "If one undertakes such a complicated affair of truths and falsehoods, then the ultimate goal must be related to the 'true' aspect. In the Primordial Era, there was a kind of Sumeru Formation that could gather the power of will from comprehension, equivalent to pooling everyone's spiritual talent. Perhaps this Sumeru itself guided our comprehension and was used for other purposes, such as unlocking certain secret vaults. You must know, the Langya lineage was the strongest clan in the Primordial Era. Even if they were besieged and killed by the combined forces of the human race back then, Lord Changting was, after all, their leader. He might have learned some techniques from the Celestial Clan and sealed the secret vaults."
So the real purpose wasn't the battlefield ruins; after all, ruins are just the property of the dead. It's possible the mastermind had always wanted some of the legacy treasures of the Langya Clan and the Celestial Clan.
And these were also things that the imperial families of the Three Kingdoms and other powers had failed to obtain back then.
Anyway, they couldn't uncover the truth now. It all depended on what methods A'Diao had.
A'Diao, however, just drank her water and said nothing.
After the water world displacement, the Guixu Ruins vanished, returning to the dimensional space where it had once been hidden.
Within the secret realm, where the ruins had once appeared—those ruins were real, everything was real, but A'Diao's clone was also real.
She was hiding in the shadows, a hidden piece she had arranged from the very beginning.
At this moment, she saw that the cultivators who had been left behind were all unconscious on the ground. Not dead, just unconscious.
The ruthless old man from the mountain wall raised his hand, retracting the black qi of slaughter, while his gaze swept the surroundings.
His eyes no longer held the compassionate air from before; they were clearly cold and merciless.
Every place his gaze swept over seemed to be a secret he was prying into.
He was suspicious.
Suspicious of what?
The black qi was not fully retracted. He flipped his hands, releasing it into the sky.
With a whoosh, the entire space of the island turned into a dim world. In this gloom, the old man raised his hand to search, strands of black qi roiling… What was he doing?
Countless eerie red pupils opened in the sky, densely packed, looking like giant pomegranates at first glance.
And it was inspecting, inspecting the entire island.
The old man's pupils also turned red.
Toilet: "Is he looking for Yan Xi?"
A'Diao: "Yan Xi split his primal core in half. The problematic half is with Qu Xia'er. He should have broken free from control, so this old man is looking for him. But it's also possible he's looking for me."
Toilet: "Such deep treachery and cunning."
It knew why A'Diao had suddenly erupted and counter-attacked Tong Guang.
Because in that situation, she couldn't kill him. That being the case, it would have been better to suppress it and assassinate him later, to avoid giving the world cause for gossip.
Yet she still did it.
Although everyone thought she was, as usual, doing it to gain fame in the world, Toilet knew her best. Was she doing it for Mental Power?
No, this time it truly wasn't.
She did it for the mastermind to see.
The other party must be paying attention to all of this, paying attention to A'Diao and her group.
A'Diao had to let the other party know she had truly gotten out; at least, that was one of her objectives.
While the two were talking, the red pupils had already scanned the place where A'Diao was hiding. Unfortunately, all it saw was one piece among thousands of rubble.
The methods A'Diao used now weren't just the kind where "even her parents wouldn't recognize her"; there was also her mutated physique—she discovered that her main body hadn't undergone any special changes, but she could alter her molecular structure to a certain extent.
It didn't sound like much, but it was actually quite terrifying.
It was just that she was still in the exploratory phase. At that time, she had only roughly simulated the transformation into a stone. At least her outer shell was entirely stone material, without any flaws; even a Great Spirit King wouldn't be able to detect her.
Therefore, A'Diao was very confident she could evade this old man's detection.
The old man indeed didn't become suspicious, but he did search carefully, repeating it several times. Almost the entire island was scanned. Finally, he frowned but still activated a teleportation formation.
This teleportation formation was one-way—teleporting from somewhere else to here.
Only then did A'Diao and Toilet become nervous.
The mastermind?
A'Diao: "Cross-spacetime teleportation? Impressive. This person's spatial techniques are stronger than mine."
Toilet was astonished.
Just who could design such a conspiracy?
A'Diao was truly quite curious; her curiosity was almost bursting out of her throat.
Under the watchful eyes of one person and one toilet,
A black-robed figure appeared within the formation.
The figure happened to have their back to A'Diao. She could only make out that the person under the black robe was a little over 1.8 meters tall and slender. And this old man actually bowed to the figure, respectfully and humbly.
"My Lord, Yan Xi has lost contact and fled, but he should still be on the island. However, Chen A'Diao's presence has not been detected."
"His primal core has split. This person truly lives up to his former fierce reputation. Seeing half his primal core severed by Qu Xia'er, he seized the opportunity to split the core completely, leaving the other half with Qu Xia'er."
The old man: "Then, Your Highness, can you indirectly control Qu Xia'er?"
The figure chuckled. "How could that be possible? That woman is not easy to deal with. Not to mention, the seed grows within the primal core, coexisting with it. After the primal core split, its activity was greatly reduced. Even if she saw the primal core at the time, she didn't fully absorb it. I could only let the seed self-destruct to cut off her means of investigation and avoid exposure."
The old man frowned. "I didn't expect Chen A'Diao and Qu Xia'er to be so troublesome. This generation has produced two aberrations, much harder to deal with than originally judged. Especially Chen A'Diao; I initially thought she could still be used as a pawn. My Lord, how do you plan to deal with them?"
"Every generation has extraordinary individuals, just like this Yan Xi. If he hadn't been backstabbed by the Three Kingdoms back then, he wouldn't have died so tragically after successfully besieging Langya… which made it convenient for you to succeed." The figure paused for a moment, then said, "Chen A'Diao is too great a threat. We indeed cannot allow her to grow stronger. I suspect she has already reached this level before the Great Spirit Kings have even revived. For some reason, this person always gives me a sense of fear. This person might be non-human."
"Non-human?" The old man fell silent. "This person is bizarre. Previous DNA tests must be discarded. She should have left blood on the island this time. I will collect it later and investigate again."
The man tacitly agreed, but he hadn't come this time to discuss these matters.
Meanwhile, A'Diao and Toilet heard about the blood. Toilet was somewhat worried, but A'Diao didn't care. She was more interested in seeing what this black-robed person looked like.
But she knew these two were formidable and didn't dare use any techniques to spy, only praying silently in her heart.
Turn around, turn around, turn around…
The next second, the black-robed person indeed turned around.
And revealed a simple white mask.
A'Diao and Toilet: "…"
Damn it!
This mask was no simple item; it was at least of Transcendent Superior Grade, because even A'Diao's Eyes of the Yellow Springs couldn't see through any trickery. Just as she was feeling annoyed,
After this person turned around, facing the unconscious cultivators scattered on the ground, they spread their hands. Cracks appeared in their palms, and two tentacles extended out.
At that moment, A'Diao and Toilet were both shocked.
Demonic Spirit!
This person was actually a Demonic Spirit, yet different from most Demonic Spirits. A'Diao couldn't quite describe it, only feeling it was bizarre.
Neither human nor demon.
What kind of creature was this? A Celestial-human hybrid like herself?
However, this one was a human-demon hybrid.
The black-robed person released them from their palms. The tentacles landed on the bodies, inserting with a squelch, just like A'Diao usually slurped her milk tea. With a gurgle, the bodies shriveled up. Flesh, blood, bones, and everything were instantly devoured and absorbed by the tentacles. A'Diao even sensed that the spirituality and minute karmic luck these people carried were also sucked away.
This…
A'Diao and Toilet's hearts pounded in terror.
For her to plunder karmic luck, she had to defeat the opponent and suppress them on the level of human faith, a rather troublesome method. How could it compare to this direct absorption?
Was this normal?
And Demonic Spirits could absorb human karmic luck?
Toilet: "Impossible! This method is too outrageous."
A'Diao: "This is a new breed, a mix of human and demon. So it can directly devour human karmic luck while also possessing the advantages of a Demonic Spirit. The Primordial Era didn't have such abominations."
Even A'Diao was frightened and dared not expose herself even more, because she vaguely felt she was definitely not this entity's match right now—one had to know, those powerful secret manuals had been under the other party's control for many years.
Who knew how much this person had assimilated? Perhaps they had learned all ten volumes.
A'Diao could only obediently and timidly remain hidden for now.
And in a short while, more than three hundred human elites were gone just like that.
One must know, these were elites that could only be born from who knows how many hundreds of millions of humans plus countless resources.
Gone just like that.
A'Diao and Toilet almost trembled… This human-demon was even more terrifying than Yan Xi.
And the human-demon, having devoured several hundred people in just a few minutes, exhaled a breath of turbid air.
"Although it's barely satisfactory, at least the goal has been achieved."
It had grown stronger, probably reaching a certain level. Then, its elegant, pale fingers formed hand seals.
The main event was here!
A'Diao's eyes widened as she watched this person's technique seals strike into the void with a palm.
The original site of the ruins whooshed, the secret realm twisted and transformed, and soon, the scene before them turned into a stretch of desolation. Within the desolation, as it was ruins, the ground was littered with corpses and various leftover items.
But neither the old man nor this entity paid much attention, as these were things easily obtained. Their true goal lay ahead—a classical yet undamaged redwood pavilion appeared before their eyes.
Its doors and windows were tightly shut, covered with dense, ancient, and mysterious golden patterns.
It was sealed.
It had not been opened for three hundred years.
The hem of the black robe fluttered slightly. The human-demon looked at the red pavilion before it and sighed softly.
"The Langya Red Pavilion, dust-sealed for centuries. Lord Changting was indeed ruthless… even in death, he didn't forget to desperately guard all this."
The old man bowed his head. "The pavilion's core holds a Dragon Spring, concealing a Karmic Luck Dragon Vein, and it surely also contains everything the Divine Maiden once bestowed upon Lord Changting. This servant first congratulates My Lord on being about to obtain it and henceforth reign supreme in the world."
The human-demon was noncommittal. "It's still unknown if the will of the secret manuals collected earlier can open it…"
It reached out its hand, and the mountain wall surprisingly transformed entirely, becoming a stone vessel that floated in its palm. Clearly condensed upon it was the will released by A'Diao and the others through their combined comprehension earlier.
Seeing this scene, A'Diao and Toilet both cursed inwardly.
Fuck!
That bastard, they dug such a huge pit!
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