Chapter 399: Secret Battles 2
"The Ultimate Devil Way of the Prime Devil Sect is indeed impressive. Sect Master Lu, you could truly be called a prodigy for creating such an unorthodox way by combining the essence of various Prime Devil Sect Devil Techniques!
"Compared to the founders of Prime Devil Sect I have slain, the Ultimate Devil Way of Sect Master Lu has reached a previously unseen height," the man exclaimed.
Lu Sheng's eyes narrowed. "You met the founders of my Prime Devil Sect?"
"A few, all of them from either the Enmity Flame Devil Body or the Evil Capitol Devil Body branch. Unfortunately, all lacked truly pure Devil Essence, and didn't stand a chance against me," the man said flatly. "In all honesty, you and the founders were all mistaken. Devil Essence is the product of Heaven and Earth, combined with the essence from the depths of the Nine Hells and the blood of all lives. You people, on the other hand, seem to be treating it like a part of soup recipe."
He flipped his palm and the purple ball within it expanded, seemingly disappearing in the air.
"You! You are the Phantom Heart Ancient Devil!" Lu Sheng suddenly remembered that the Prime Devil Sect experienced a catastrophic Devil Calamity during its prime time, during which a horrifying being called the Phantom Heart Ancient Devil nearly annihilated the entire sect. His attack nearly single-handedly caused the downfall of the Prime Devil Sect during that Devil Calamity.
Lu Sheng's face turned ugly as he thought of that.
"Phantom Heart? A mere title I made up for myself." Xiao Zizhu smiled. "Call me Xiao Zizhu. I like it better." Slivers of purple mist started to float around him, seemingly from the purple ball he released a moment ago.
"I must confess I planned to completely destroy this so-called Prime Devil Sect back then, but got distracted by something and forgot about it. Never expected it to produce a little monster like you after all these years."
"Destroy the Prime Devil Sect?" Something finally changed in Lu Sheng's eyes. "Did you truly forget? Or were you just not able to?"
"Hm?" Xiao Zizhu was surprised, and his previously mild stare started to change. He stared at Lu Sheng for a moment before speaking again. "Doesn't matter. Time to finish what I started all these years ago."
"You are welcome to try." Lu Sheng darted forward like lightning before he finished his sentence, while the Wei River Sword flew into his hand from his back.
"Sun Set, Morning Moon!" Lu Sheng casually shook his hand. The Wei River Sword flew out by itself, emitting a blinding blue light. A moment later, the blade exploded with a boom, turning into countless specks of blue light.
"Bam!!!"
Lu Sheng's fist met Xiao Zizhu's, and a gray shock wave radiated outward with the immense sound of their clash.
The scene around them had changed unknowingly. Below the two was a lake during the night, reflecting a round and enormous full moon in the night sky.
"Oh? Divine Weapon's Spiritual Scene? Seems your Divine Weapon isn't an ordinary one, either." Xiao Zizhu easily stepped back, likewise moving rapidly, while his hand formed into a series of hundreds of hand signs like butterflies floating amid flowers. From afar, he looked like a thousand-handed Bodhisattva statue in a temple.
"Hummm!"
The hundreds of signs were all different from each other, and somehow made no repeats. With the same smile and kind light in his eye, all of the signs crushed toward Lu Sheng.
"Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!"
Invisible force endlessly slammed into Lu Sheng's body, every single attack powered by the powerful corrosive Devil Essence of a Devil Master.
Lu Sheng's body trembled every time he was hit. This was the first time he fought someone equal to him in strength.
The power of Xiao Zizhu's attack increased by many folds with each consecutive sign, and showed no hint of stopping as more and more signs poured in.
They slammed into Lu Sheng's arms like a violent hurricane, and forced him to retreat non-stop.
The immense force of their clash caused a wave of ripples in the lake underneath.
Xiao Zizhu walked toward him like he was taking a stroll in his own garden. "You purposefully released the Spiritual Scene of your Divine Weapon to cover something. As long as you are alive, this Spiritual Scene will persist. What are you trying to hide?"
"Clang!"
The enormous last sign ruthlessly stamped itself on Lu Sheng's forehead, which shook his whole body and carried him backward into the lake. The resulting splash from the impact was at least ten meters tall.
The water turned white from the impact, and vapor lingered around after the explosion.
"Are you dead?" Xiao Zizhu was a little surprised. The lake was calm and shockingly quiet.
"You are still alive! How could I die!?"
"Splash!"
The lake opened up as a black shape shot into the sky. It was a pitch-black arm at least ten meters long.
His arm slammed down like a titan's where Xiao Zizhu stood. A huge trench stretching for tens of meters instantly formed amid the lake.
"Boom!"
"Infinite Seal." Underneath the arm, Xiao Zizhu, who was seemingly smiling, instantly formed another hand sign.
This time, the layers of illusive hand signs all combined into one.
Xiao Zizhu pushed it outward, and the sign firmly slammed into the black arm above.
The enormous arm was broken with a snap, and flew back into the lake.
But immediately thereafter, a 30 or 40 meters tall shape shot out from the lake, grabbed its broken arm, then smashed it toward Xiao Zizhu.
It was Lu Sheng in his Extreme Yang Form. At that moment, he looked more Devilish than an actual Devil—he had four arms, was surrounded by black smoke and flames, had an enormous pair of wings on his back, legs as thick as elephants, and a strong and tough tail that hung behind his unfathomably strong body.
One arm out of his four had been broken, but it wasn't a big deal.
Lu Sheng jumped high, his expression solemn. He switched to the Extreme Yang Form and unleashed his full power from the start because he knew this was a level of power he had never faced before.
"Divine Might!!" The rest of his tree hands struck toward Xiao Zizhu from three different angles.
"Bam, bam, bam!!"
After three loud rings, the lake sunk down and formed a giant funnel.
"Burden Sign." With another soft and casual remark, a half clear and shapeless sign slammed into the empty air at the center between Lu Sheng's three palms.
The sign was at least 10 meters wide and 20 meters long, and exploded immediately with a thunderous sound.
Lu Sheng's enormous body was slammed back with the explosion, and all three of his hands were instantly marred with blood and wounds.
He was shocked beyond belief. This was the first time he was forced back in the Extreme Yang Form. And wounded too.
'He is definitely no ordinary Devil Master!' Lu Sheng's mind raced as he thought of ways to escape.
If the difference between them was small, he might stand a chance. But with such an immense gap between them, acting tough was meaningless.
He retreated ten or so steps in rapid succession, stared at Xiao Zizhu, then abruptly shouted, "No need to play fair with a Devil like him! What are you two waiting for!?"
Xiao Zizhu's eyes widened; then, before he could react, he sensed two extremely sharp currents of air rapidly approaching him.
He didn't have the time to turn, and had to form two signs with both of his palms and press backward.
"Boom, boom!"
Two blood-red shapes struck out with their fist almost simultaneously, both landing on Xiao Zizhu's back. Even though the attacks were momentarily blocked by the seals, they still caused damage.
Xiao Zizhu lost his balance because of the surprise attack and leaned to one side.
"An opening!" Lu Sheng saw an opportunity, and immediately charged forward. His hands clamped together and formed a pitch-black knife with countless dots of blue starlight shining on its blade.
"Death of Stars!"
"BOOM!"
The knife landed, and a white ripple radiated outward. Swarms of purple flame instantly started to burn beside Xiao Zizhu, and surrounded him in the blink of an eye.
The two blood-red shapes followed closely behind, and struck out with their palms from both sides. The sharp caw of a bird came from the center of their palm, while a blood-red eye seemed to be opening at a rapid rate.
"Bam, bam!"
Both palms slammed into the center of Xiao Zizhu's back as he was distracted by Lu Sheng's attack.
"How interesting..." Xiao Zizhu stood stiffly in place as slivers of blood trickled from his mouth, ears, and nose. He abruptly shook his body, causing a wave of air to push all three of his opponents aside.
"White Lotus Seal." Three arms appeared in front of him, and simultaneously formed a series of hand signs that slowly expanded in three directions like petals of a blooming flower.
They were aimed directly at Lu Sheng and his allies.
"Puff, puff, puff!!"
All three people's chests sunk inward. They spewed out a mouthful of blood, then slammed into the ground.
With the splash of water in the lake, the Spiritual Scene finally slowly dissipated, and was instead replaced with a ruined path amid the mountain's forest.
Lu Sheng's enormous body slammed into the ground after breaking ten or so trees before finally getting stuck in a trench. His body was covered in blood, and his breathing was weak—he immediately fainted.
"Your regenerative power is nothing against my White Lotus Seal." Xiao Zizhu smiled and took one step, instantly covering the distance between them.
"Wouldn't have been this bad for you if you'd listened from the start. Let's go, time to pay your respects to His Imperial Majesty Vera." He reached out to grab Lu Sheng's enormous head.
But he abruptly formed a seal and slammed it ruthlessly into Lu Sheng's temple.
Blood shot everywhere, but Lu Sheng didn't make any noise. His body merely shook from the force of the slam, and a giant hole opened on his temple as blood streamed out.
"He actually fainted?" Xiao Zizhu blanked out. He'd expected it to be a trick.
He saw Lu Sheng's enormous body started to shrink rapidly before his eyes, while countless amounts of black smoke and sparks surrounded him. He pointed once again with his finger and struck Lu Sheng's stomach.
"Puff!"
Another bloody hole opened, but Lu Sheng still didn't move, seemingly completely unconscious.
After he made sure Lu Sheng had completely fainted, Xiao Zizhu finally coughed a few times. He didn't come out of the encounter with Lu Sheng's two allies without any scratches. They were just surface wounds that he forcibly ignored. After all, he was at least two tiers ahead of all three of them.
"I should cripple him just to be safe." Xiao Zizhu was very ruthless, and instantly struck out with at least ten signs, all of them landing squarely on Lu Sheng's huge body.
"Bam, bam, bam, bam!"
Within a breath, all ten signs slammed into Lu Sheng's body and caused his body to flip around. Blood flew everywhere, and the sound of bones cracking could be heard.
"That should be enough." He finally took a step forward, grabbed Lu Sheng's neck, and lifted him up.
"Snap!!"
Two crisp sounds, like a needle poking through paper, rang out.
Lu Sheng had unknowingly slammed his two arms into Xiao Zizhu's neck and waist like two knives. It nearly cut him into three.
His face was pale, but a savage smile lingered on his face.
"Such patience..." Xiao Zizhu looked at his wound, surprised. "You win this time, Lu Sheng of Prime Devil Sect. I will remember you..."
"There will be no next time." Lu Sheng unleashed all the strength he had left to move his hands.
With a giant snapping sound, Xiao Zizhu's entire body was ripped into three pieces like a piece of tattered cloth and landed on the ground.
"AHAHAHAHA! Impressive strength! Brilliant plan!" A red shape managed to stand up nearby. It was one of the masters Lu Sheng had invited for help.
"Thank you, Brother Gui, for your praise." Lu Sheng spewed out a mouthful of blood. He grabbed Xiao Zizhu's body and started to rapidly absorb Devil Essence to heal himself.
"We all thought Brother Lu was overreacting when you came to us. No one expected the Devil World to send in someone so powerful..." The other red shape also slowly stood up with a bitter smile on his face. It was a tall man with crimson light emitting from his body. A huge tumor protruded leftward out of his forehead. His was a strange face that no one would forget.
He looked at Xiao Zizhu's body in front of Lu Sheng.
"The Mind-Controlling Devil Master is an old bastard famous in both the Devil and Human Worlds. Even I am surprised that he died at the hand of Brother Lu here."