While Fang Ning was using Demon Singing Buddhist Mantra, on the other side of the vast ocean, in the eastern suburb of San Francisco on the west coast of the USA, there was a splendid Chinese villa.
In the home theater of the villa, a black-robed man was currently leaning back on a purple sofa, staring at the extra large high-definition curved screen opposite him.
Behind him, a charming western white woman waited on him respectfully with great care.
A myth series was playing on the screen. It seemed to be a very old production.
The plot was old, and the cinematography was even older. There were some rough fighting scenes from time to time which were nothing like the high-definition movie effects now.
However, the black-robed man still paid rapt attention.
What was more surprising was that the images on the screen were moving very fast.
The frames flashed quickly, showing that they were being played at high-speed.
The black-robed man was plain-looking, but he had a cold brow and a chilly glow to his eyes, causing others to shudder.
The most frightening this was the silence around him.
It seemed as if the air around him had become completely frozen by his cold mood and had stopped moving altogether. There was no airflow at all.
If ordinary people were to appear beside him, they might actually suffocate alive because of ‘lack of breath’…
Afterward, while the man was looking intently, he suddenly frowned and looked west, as if detecting something.
A smile then spread across his face. The cold aura around him disappeared, and his surroundings seemed to have suddenly returned to normal.
The summer wind outside the window blew inside, bringing along with it some dryness and heat.
“Hehe, Fang Ning, you’re just a mortal after all. You’re greedy, so even after the twists and turns you took, you still took the bait. Was my Demon Singing Buddhist Mantra so easy to learn and use?”
He said something mysterious, but the white woman beside him remained silent, not uttering a sound.
Before long, the black-robed man waved his hand, and the images on the screen suddenly stopped.
Afterward, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“I see, it’s not that you’re too smart, but that your race was given enough knowledge. I, Demon Lord Zhi Nan, didn’t lose to you alone, but to you as a group.”
Zhi Nan smiled faintly. He understood why Fang Ning could see through his only weakness.
The knowledge on earth had given him a hint long ago.
Coupled with the fact that Old Mo had revealed his plans, it would be weirder if Fang Ning did not actually think of it.
For an ordinary mortal such as Fang Ning to be chosen by the spirit of the True Dragon of the Upper Realm and rise to become the Pharos of the East in just one year, stunning the entire world to the point where no demons dare to poke their heads out, there indeed was something special about him.
However, the true reason for his failure was the undetectable, mysterious existence that faintly condensed into the state of a rule.
Was it the spirit of True Dragon attached to him?
Nevertheless, he knew everything in the Upper Realm, and the True Dragon clan was no exception. In fact, although he kept an extra close eye on Fang Ning, he still managed to ruin his grand plans twice…
However, in his memory, there was nothing like the spirit of the True Dragon.
The True Dragon Clan clan leader Long Wu sprouted nonsense a few times before by saying there was a legend of a Supreme True Dragon that was mysterious and valiant. Everyone had burst into laughter after hearing that, and not many Saint Buddhas had believed it because it was not the first time he spouted nonsense like this.
That should be it. Otherwise, no matter how special Fang Ning was, it would still be impossible for him to rise so fast. Even he, the Great Demon Saint, the Demon Lord was trapped by him.
Dragons were indeed cunning. No wonder when he became clan leader, those True Dragons all remained proud and did not share any blood relations with him.
This was called ‘what is true can be regarded as false, and what is false can be taken to be the truth’.
On the surface, it seemed like he had deliberately made something up to scare others and let them think that it did not exist and that he was speaking nonsense. This was known as the ‘black under the lamp’. 1
Others would naturally go and search, but when they did not find anything, they would not be particularly wary of it in the future.
Even a Demon Saint like him thought that the Supreme True Dragon did not exist at all, but he ended up getting viciously beaten instead.
Otherwise, he would not have been so careless and lost a precious body. After all, in order to travel through the Lower Realm unharmed, he had spent countless hours in the Upper Realm and used countless precious materials to reach the Diamond Realm.
Unfortunately, once you went beyond Diamond, it would be hard to guard against a thief in your family!
Currently, with this body that had temporarily condensed, it would be hard to contend with the same strength as Vigilante A.
How unfortunate, how detestable, how lamentable, it was a cruel relationship.
He paused his thoughts, stood up, and lightly said, “Claudia, how did the task I entrusted to you go?”
The white woman was actually Claudia, Claude’s younger sister.
She transformed into a stone and hid with her clanmates in Vigilante A’s Yin Energy Realm. She had not seen her brother return in a long while.
Afterward, she was discovered by Zhi Nan, who entered the arcane realm. He brought her out with him, and now she worked as a temporary staff for him.
Although she hid very well, Vigilante A did not use his Heaven’s Eye, but in the eyes of the Demon Lord, it was naturally as easy as finding a blazing fire.
When Claudia heard him, she hurriedly bowed and said, “Supreme Demon Lord, everything has been done according to your instructions.”
Zhi Nan smiled and nodded, “Not bad, did it take a lot of effort?”
Claudia replied politely, “The Demon Lord is wise. Everything went as you expected. Success will come when the conditions are met.”
“Very good. As expected, what mortals need are just spiritual sustenance,” he smiled faintly.
Claudia bowed her head and said in admiration, “The Demon Lord is brilliant. The people outside are panicking, and we managed to acquire all the technology companies you named at a low price. There were even many people who wanted to give the companies to us for free in exchange for a place in Paradise.”
“Hehe, humans are different from one another,” A smile appeared on Zhi Nan’s face at her words, but it turned slightly disdainful, “In my Paradise Realm, some are worth to cast away like an old shoe, but some should be regarded as precious treasures.”
“Some people don’t want to enter even if you drag them in, and some people can’t enter no matter how much they beg to.”
“One day, the existences who abandoned us will regret it…”
He spoke each word clearly, and his face finally became cold again.
Claudia did not dare to respond. She knew very well who the ‘existences’ he was referring to were.
At least, Vigilante A was definitely one of them.
In front of her own brother, she could freely comment about Vigilante A, just like how ants could point out elephants.
Right now, standing in front of another elephant, of course she did not dare to say anything.
Zhi Nan quickly controlled his fluctuating emotions and looked at the still image of the myth series, deep in thought.
After a while, he seemed to have made a decision.
He pulled off the new black robe on his body and tossed it at the screen in front of him.
Claudia was astonished. What exactly was he doing?
Even if he wanted to obtain data, the screen in front of him was still a monitor. If he wanted to throw his robe, he should have at least thrown it to the main computer…
She was just about to open her mouth to remind him, but soon, she became very glad that she did not say anything.
The black robe was like a snake. It dived into the screen in an instant.
After a while, a middle-aged man with a plain face appeared.
His mustache was curved on both ends, exactly like one of the characters in the screen had, and wore the black robe that threw inside the screen.
The moment he appeared, he knelt on the ground and pressed his palms together.
“Black Robe greets Buddha. The Buddha dominates the heavens throughout the ages.”
“Hehe, not bad. You still have the memories from inside.” Zhi Nan nodded and smiled.
Black Robe replied respectfully, “Thank you, Buddha, for your generosity in allowing Black Robe to incarnate in this world. From today onwards, Black Robe shall walk through flame and fire for the Buddha’s great cause.”
“Very good. It’s a shame that the robe I wore was destroyed by Vigilante A. Otherwise, you would have reached the peak of this world’s power upon your incarnation.” Zhi Nan was even more satisfied, but became deeply resentful towards a certain individual.
He did not mention that he destroyed his own body. He even used Morality to crush it to powder. Otherwise, he could have reunited it from the void itself.
He considered, and said, “In that case, I’ll send you to Paradise Realm now, where you can absorb strength. Come to see me when your soul reaches the so-called Lake-level of this world.”
Black Robe nodded again and pressed his palms together, “I shall obey the teachings of the Buddha.”
After speaking, the black robe on his body suddenly shook and enveloped him.
Afterward, his entire person disappeared.
Seeing this, Claudia immediately felt envious.
When she was at the Upper Realm, she had heard that the Damon Lord Zhi Nan’s Paradise Realm could help a soul rapidly become strong.
If your soul was strong, you would naturally get twice the result with half the effort in anything you did, no matter if it was cultivating or studying.
Even after dying, they could linger a few days longer than others.
In the words of Earthlings, the scene earlier was equivalent to the Demon Lord giving that black-robed man an extra large golden finger. 2
She then decided that she would work hard for the Demon Lord. She believed that the Demon Lord, who was famous for his wisdom, would give out clear punishments and rewards.
She regretted that she did not know where her brother was, and that there was no way to contact him.
Although there was a faint bloodline sense, she knew that he definitely was not dead. However, she suspected that he did not encounter fortune as she had.
If he were around as well, the efficiency of her service would be greatly increased.
After all, her brother was the clan leader of the Heliotropes, and he held the true power.
Claude, who was currently toiling in the Draconic Realm, shuddered and wiped the sweat on his head.
If he knew what his sister was thinking, he would definitely say that if it was this easy to hug a Demon Lord’s golden thigh, he would not have considered the Yin Energy Realm in the first place.
It was not that the arcane realm was bad, but that the cost-performance difference was too large.
Vigilante A and Go Buwei were afraid that the Demon Lord ‘Zhi Nan’ would escape.
However, to demons like them, they had nowhere to run anyway.
Zhi Nan was not someone who picked up every Tom, Dick, and Harry…
He did not even take interest in someone as strong as the black cat Tom.
As for Saki Yamanashi, although she appeared to be a regular lady, she was actually a descendant of the Heavenly Demonic Energy.
The people he took an interest to were all those who could match the Heavenly Maxim and influence the future direction of the world.
Zhi Nan shed his black robe which revealed a modern western suit underneath. Then, he stood up.
“Let’s go. Let me see the crystallization of human science and technology. I believe that will bring me an even greater pleasant surprise.”
Claudia quickly followed the example of the black-robed man from before and pressed her palms together, “I shall obey the teachings of the Buddha.”
The Demon Lord Zhi Nan nodded and smiled.
At this moment, the confidence that he had lost suddenly returned to him.
He held something to threaten Vigilante A within his hands, and he knew who his true opponent was.
Of course he had confidence.
He believed in his own wisdom. His ideals would no longer be a castle in the air, but it would become reality.
‘Earth’s Heavenly Axiom? The Supreme True Dragon?
‘Just let me, Demon Lord Zhi Nan, the Demon Saint, the Incarnation of Wisdom, duke it out with you two honorable legends.
‘I’ll make it so all laws disappear, and rid the heavens of its existence.
‘Then I, Zhi Nan, shall create the laws of the world!’