83 A Demon!

Sheng Feilong gnashed his teeth. Glancing behind him, he could see his Spirit Souls, Spirit Essence and Soul Bone bunched together again. They didn't move and only stared at Sheng Feilong, still not letting their guard down against whatever lies behind the horizon. He could see feel concern and worry even without them communicating to him, but still decided to walk forward.

Soon after Sheng Feilong began moving into the direction of this strange presence, he felt the pressure on him lessen. The oppressive feeling lessened with each step and Sheng Feilong soon heard the otherworldly, booming voice in his head again, beckoning for him to continue. Although still terrifying, it seemed somewhat more calm than before.

He continued to walk forward at a steady pace, cautiously observing the horizon. It took him about half an hour before he reached the point where he could see the other side clearly. Until now, he had only walked in the silvery white world, that was still as calm as ever, but the further he walked, the more nervous he became.

What he had seen before was only just the tip of the iceberg; Unlike what Sheng Feilong had thought before, the strange black world wasn't just an area somewhere in his spiritual consciousness. Instead, it stretched out as far as his eyes could see, clearly parting his spiritual consciousness in two; One half being the serene, silvery white world and the other a desolate, dark wasteland.

Continuing for a while Sheng Feilong finally reached the edge of the silvery white world and was just a few steps away from the dark wasteland. The ground on the other side looked completely dead, with no traces of the lush green grass of this side to be seen. The blackish grey earth was dry and cracked open,completely flat and desolate, no matter where he looked.

The 'border' that separated the silvery white world from the dark wasteland was constantly shifting back and forth, only a few centimetres at a time at the very most, but the ground was still being corroded before than quickly being overgrown by the green grass again; it seemed as if both sides were fighting for supremacy in complete silence. Sheng Feilong observed the border a little longer before stepping into the dark wasteland ahead of him.

Just a step separated him from the lush greenery, but the whole atmosphere changed as soon as he passed the border. The air felt heavy and had a putrid smell to it, while the ground beneath his feet cracked at his every step, sending dust flying around his feet. Sheng Feilong couldn't make out where the putrid smell came from; There was absolutely nothing here that could produce such a stench.

Shaking his head with a slightly ugly expression, he decided to bear with it and continued walking into the direction of the slowly pulsing, greyish-green light. He felt somewhat unwell since he entered the dark wasteland, not because of the stench or heavy air, but because he felt something staring at him from a distance, unceasingly watching his every step; This felt similar to being stared down by a hungry wolf.

He continued onward, slowly nearing the ever growing greyish green light and this uncomfortalbe feeling rose with every passing minute. Sheng Feilong's nerves were completely taunt, so taunt, in fact, that he completely missed the fact that the strange, booming voice hadn't talked to him on the whole way. Slowly closing to what seemed to be the middle of this wasteland, a few ruins came into Sheng Feilong's view.

The were broken down, dusted and cracked, but it was the first instance of anything other than just the dead earth in the whole wasteland. Glancing them over a bit more, they seemed to be made from just the dirt and could barely account to more than unshapely bulges in the ground, but the closer he got to the greyish green aura, the higher and more common these bumpy ruins became.

Sheng Feilong frowned lightly. He had glanced over the area a bit and from what he could see, the general outline seemed to fit a castle or fortress of some sorts. He couldn't be sure for now, but his guess should soon be confirmed, as he now stood in front of a half broken double door made from some unidentifiable material. The walls surrounding the door to form some kind of room were strangely well preserved and about a head higher than Sheng Feilong.

The origin of the greyish green aura was definitely inside this room; just behind the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed one side of the door open and stepped into the room in one fell swoop, looking at the source of the aura with a determined gaze, only to suddenly freeze in place when he saw what was in front of him.

He stood in a throne room. A small throne room, free of all decorations and with barely any of its walls intact. No pillars, banners or anything the like, just a single throne in the back of the room, exactly opposite of the doors. Half broken and with no adornments whatsoever; looked like it would crumble to dust at any second. But Sheng Feilong didn't pay any heed to the throne. He only stared at the thing that sat on the throne.

Even seated, this thing was over three metres tall, with a humanoid shape and proportions. Greyish black, charred-looking skin, pervaded by muddy green, vein like stripes, that slowly pulsated in the same rhythm as the aura radiating off its body. Its arms had a more bestial, more demonic look, as they had long claws of a greyish green colour and an armour like rough surface that reached up to the elbow.

Sitting on the throne, a tattered, reddish cloth hang down its legs and in the middle left of its torso – where one would expect the heart – it's body was split open. The same greyish green aura seemed to hold its body together, pulsating strongly while strange veins crawled around the wound's edges. This wound reached all the way up to its shoulder, covered with the greyish green aura and veiny pattern; This wound had the same proportions as the scar on Sheng Feilong's chest!

Atop its shoulder, a human skull like head rested; its jaw split in two, once again pulsing with the greyish green aura behind the jaw, empty eye-sockets and a third such socket in the middle of its forehead, all pulsing with the greyish green aura. From the sides of its skull, two massive horns grew out, curving upwards while they were slightly tilted to the back, pervaded by the veiny green pattern, as well.

Sheng Feilong's back was drenched in cold sweat. This thing looked nothing like anything he had ever heard off; It couldn't even be described as a beast! If anything, this was a demon from from hell, like the ones talked about in fairy tales! They were depicted as cruel, merciless monsters that killed humans and devoured their souls! And in front of Sheng Feilong sat one such monster in the flesh!

The demon had long since noticed Sheng Feilong. Ever since the latter entered the room, the demon stared at him, the greyish green aura in its eyes flickering ever so slightly. It didn't move from its place, nor did its mouth move, but Sheng Feilong once again heard the otherworldly, booming voice in his head.

>You have finally come. Let me fulfil your craving for power. Surrender your body to me.<

Sheng Feilong's heart beat sped up and his face turned pale. Dread painted his face when the demon asked for his body; Now that he was standing in front of this demon, the oppressive feeling from before had increased a hundredfold, if not more and he had no chance to resist. If not for the fact that he couldn't more his body in the slightest, he would have already run for his life! Still, despite his helplessness, the demon didn't move. It only continued to silently stare at Sheng Feilong after saying its piece.

Seeing that the demon did nothing, Sheng Feilong slowly calmed down. He still didn't dare to move, but took another deep breath and stared back at the demon with a certain stubbornness flashing in his eyes. "Just what in the world are you? Why have you called me here?"

Silence took hold in the hall once again. The aura in the demon's eyes flickered before Sheng Feilong heard the booming voice once again, but its tone had somewhat changed, though Sheng Feilong couldn't point out what changed exactly.

>I am what you crave for most. Surrender your body to me, and I shall satiate your desire for power.<

Sheng Feilong was frowned; This demon is after his body. He wanted to flee immediately, but with the demon staring at him like that, he still didn't dare to move. He couldn't back down here. If he did, he will most likely lose his life! Clenching his fists once more, he stared at the demon and spoke in a grave tone. "You are right; I do want power. Power to protect those close to me. But for that, I still need my own body. I cannot surrender it to you, demon!"

The demons eyes ominously flickered once one, but it remained silent for a long time, staring at Sheng Feilong. The oppressive aura it radiated slowly calmed down as the light in its eyes somewhat dulled. Just before the aura completely disappeared, the otherworldly, booming voice echoed in Sheng Feilongs head once more.

>Your greed is great, human. Remember this: There is no power that can be obtained without giving up on something of equal value. I will take what is mine in due time.<

Silence. Sheng Feilong quickly realized that the demon had seemingly ceased to exist. Although its form still stood in front of him, all of the oppressive aura and terrifying presence was gone. What stood in front of him felt oddly familiar. Sheng Feilong cautiously moved closer to the demon. It didn't react in any way and soon, Sheng Feilong stood right in front of it.

Reaching out with his hand, Sheng Feilong touched the demon. A cold feeling washed over him and the familiar feeling became stronger and stronger. Suddenly, a strong headache assaulted Sheng Feilong and a storm of memories engraved itself into his head as the demons aura flared up once again, coursing through Sheng Feilong's arm.

He took a step back while holding his head, staring at the demon with an incredulous expression. He remembered what happened after he went to 'rest' back then. He remembered the greyish, muddy green aura coming off of his body; originating from the mortal wound to his chest, the same weird, green energy mended his chest back together, still with no flesh connecting to it, as his body stood up on its own. His skin slowly turned into a unhealthy, greyish tone as green veins began pulsing through all of his body and his arms and hands morphed into demonic, armoured claws. While two thick horns spouted from his head.

He remembered attacking the Doomstinger Dragonfly, tearing away at its body while the incredibly powerful corrosive aura destroyed the area around them. The Soul Beast was also unable to withstand the energy, its carapace cracking and breaking down under the continuous attacks of Sheng Feilong's body. It tried its best to resist the attacks, only to have its body mutilated and corroded by the energy. Soon after, it was dead. The transformed Sheng Feilong stared down at the Beast before releasing a powerful, bestial roar as the aura surrounding his body once again flared up to its peak state.

In his spiritual consciousness, Sheng Feilong's face turned deathly pale as he also remembered gnawing at the Doomstinger Dragonfly's flesh while absorbing its blood. With the energy from the Soul Beast's blood, the wound on his chest began quickly mending itself as his whole body was strengthened. The most horrifying thing, though, was that, at some point, Sheng Feilong grabbed at the Doomstinger Dragonfly's bright red, 100.000-years-old Soul Ring and devoured that as well, causing a bright red light to radiate from his body for some time, before he once again roared, a gigantic Soul Ring appearing behind his back; Red at the centre, while seemingly corroded at the outside and of a muddy grey colour – the pressure it gave off even superior to the original Doomstinger Dragonfly's Soul Ring!

Sheng Feilong shook lightly, kneeling on the ground as all of these memories struck him. He took a while to process everything and slowly spoke with a deathly pale face. "Netherworld Putrefaction Demon..? Just how powerful is that thing...?"