307 Behind the Scenes 2

"Brother Lu… I don't know how to explain this, but I saw many, many, many tragedies and horrors. I want to change that instead of living uselessly like this. I want to do everything in my power to try to avert this," Li Shunxi said with a serious expression. "This trip to the Myriad of Demons Palace has only a slim chance of success. It won't be just as simple as going in and borrowing the potion like the Lin Family thinks."

"The Myriad of Demons Palace? That is in the North?" Lu Sheng asked casually. 

"Yes. They are led by King Ice Fox, Protector of the Northern Territories. One of the few Demon Kings the Great Song Empire knows about." Li Shunxi nodded. 

He wanted to avert this tragedy. The only person that didn't appear in his vision, had enough power to influence the event, and could be easily accessed by him was Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng was his best and only choice.

But like all powerful individuals, Lu Shen was stubborn once he made up his mind. Successfully convincing people like him was like a fantasy.

Silence ensued.

"You are still bent on leaving?" After a pause, Li Shunxi tried again. 

"In the future you saw, this trip to the Myriad of Demons Palace ended in failure?" Lu Sheng asked suddenly.

"Yes…"

"Why did it fail?" Lu Sheng asked again.

"Because King Ice Fox refused to lend us his treasured Potion of Demon Wisdom."

"King Ice Fox… I have read about him on a record somewhere. He has protected the Northern Territories for far too long; in fact, no one knows exactly how long. Hence, have you thought about why he chose to stay in the Northern Territories and nowhere else? And why he refused to lend you the Potion of Demon Wisdom? Does he not know that once the Devil Army is done with us, he will be next? They won't care if you are demon or human," Lu Sheng said calmly.

Li Shunxi suddenly blanked out.

Of course!

King Ice Fox was at least one step away from being a Devil Master. No, maybe he even reached the Demon Sage level long ago, which was equivalent to Devil Master, anyways. Why had he stayed in the Northern Territories for so many years, with no movements whatsoever?

Li Shunxi suddenly realized how strange it was too.

"The whole situation is too convoluted. Don't trust everything you see with your eyes." Lu Sheng stood up and looked at Li Shunxi's snow white hair. He sighed, and struck Li Shunxi's chest with his finger.

"Hiss!"

A sliver of black Inner Qi quietly snuck into Li Shunxi's body—the seed of the Yin Crane Net. Not even Li Shunxi himself noticed that something had hidden itself in his body.

"Go back. Don't look into the future too often from now on. You have paid a heavy price already." Lu Sheng flipped his sleeves and disappeared into the darkness.

Li Shunxi was left behind. He bit his lower lip as sweat beaded his brow: he was looking into the future again.

He knew very well that he was looking into the future at the cost of his own life; but every time, scene after scene of horrific images appeared, he started to use the Jade of Secrets almost automatically to try to avert the situation.

He wasn't a sage; he just didn't want more tragedy to unfold in front of his eyes.

***

Lu Sheng walked out of the loft and let out a soft sigh. The Yin Crane Net seed he'd planted in Li Shunxi would help him establish a network of Inner Qi, the flow of which would nourish the Yin Inner Qi without his body needing to help. It could also concentrate its power to protect him in life-threatening situations.

This was a little trick that he came up with after combining Devil Qi with Inner Qi, and used it to ensure the safety of his friends and family.

"We have to leave soon… Might as well go to the Devil's Abyss one more time to try to find that Ancient Devil. That golden plaza too…" Lu Sheng, thinking that he would give it one last try, darted toward the little lake of Devil Qi in the deep part of the Prime Devil Sect.

Soon, he stood in front of the lake. He dispersed his Devil Qi, then opened his Black Membrane to insulate his body, and walked slowly toward the bottom of the lake.

He soon found the tunnel leading toward the Devil's Abyss that he'd dug.

With the incredible speed he possessed, he tapped his foot lightly, and a torrent erupted behind him and dispersed in the shape of a pillar.

His whole body surged into the tunnel with the reaction force, soon disappearing in the depths of the black river. 

The Clear Void Earth Stomp Technique lived up to its name; as one of the best movement techniques, it only slowed down a little even when fully underwater.

On his way, Lu Sheng started to form an idea. 

"The martial art system I have right now is divided into the Outer Way, Secret Arts, and Inner Techniques—three categories. Clear Void Earth Stomp Technique is part of the Outer Way, and doesn't cost much to improve as it's just a movement technique. Even when I evolved it to level 20, it only cost two points of Mental Energy. The Earth Split tier 1 special effect came with this level of power and speed. What would happen if I continued to improve this movement technique to a new height?"

His heart was soon filled with anticipation and curiosity.

As just a movement improving technique, the Clear Void Earth Stomp Technique was only used for traveling after evolving it to level 20, and not much else. However, all signs pointed to the fact that this was far from the limit of this technique; it could still be improved.

"If I continue evolving it, would the speed improve to a point where I could achieve teleportation? Can the teleportation go from short distances to long distances, or even to the point where I can break out of my own dimension and enter a new world?" Lu Sheng started to imagine the possibilities.

On Earth, during his last life, countless fictions included the ethereal home of immortals, the mysterious underworld, and countless other worlds or even dimensions that could be traveled to. He had always been jealous of that kind of freedom.

After achieving the Ultimate Eight-Headed Devil Way, his intuition had been strengthened by the vastly improved subconsciousness of his body. He had great confidence that his theory might be correct.

"I still have a lot of Mental Energy left, so maybe I can give it a try when I have time to spare." After burying this thought deep into his brain, Lu Sheng continued to focus on his journey. Right now, his number one priority was to find enough pure Devil Essence to break through to the Devil Master level. 

Even though he had a feeling that breaking through to Devil Master would come with a whole host of problems, Lu Sheng wasn't worried at all. The Ultimate Eight-Headed Devil Way was created based on the Eight-Headed Mind Pearl, and had reached its limit on a fundamental level. The Yin Flame part even reached a level that could equal a Devil Master.

The only part he had to worry about was the mental part of the breakthrough. 

After combining all eight Devil Bodies, Lu Sheng finished the once long journey in just one hour. 

Of course, not needing to dig through dirt increased his speed.

"Whoosh!"

A pile of black rocks exploded inward into the cavern, revealing the shadow of a sturdy figure wrapped in a black robe.

The shadow raised its head and surveyed the cavern: the shattered altar was still in place, with slivers of Devil Qi leaking from it constantly. 

"This is the first level." Lu Sheng jumped over the altar and jumped down the door on the floor. 

King Shadow slowly looked through a crack. He was quietly absorbing the surrounding Devil Qi to re-establish his Devil Essence. He never would have thought that Lu Sheng would come back, and had to hurriedly pretend like the Devil Qi was gathering on its own.

Luckily, Lu Sheng was in a hurry, and didn't inspect the altar in detail. Otherwise...

"That human… is getting even stronger…" He let out a heavy sigh in the darkness. "Even an Ancient Devil couldn't stop him. Not a single Devil King sealed within the Devil Abyss is still alive; if the Devil World finds out about this, they are going to have a good laugh.

"But why would he come back? There is not a single devil in this abyss anymore. Everything has either been killed or fled." King Shadow was slightly confused. "Does he want to open the Devil's Abyss? That can't be right. That's a dangerous forbidden area—even by Devil World standards. If he opens it, as a Devil King... no, even a Devil Master won't survive it. The naturally occuring torrent of destruction will destroy everything, dead or alive."

Soon, he sensed that Lu Sheng had come back after circling around the seal on the lower levels and finding nothing.

"What did I say? They all fled; of course you couldn't find anyone." King Shadow shook his head.

"Might as check the golden plaza next." Lu Sheng seemed to be talking to himself. 

'Golden Plaza?' King Shadow blinked. He then shivered, and screamed involuntarily, "Wait!? Golden Plaza!!??" 

"Yes, I found that place by accident. Speaking of which, Devil's Abyss was just a surprise on my return trip," Lu Sheng said simply. He walked in front of the altar, his mouth curving into a smile as he looked straight into the dark crack.

"...." At this point King Shadow finally realized he had been discovered.

"Alright, speak. What does the Golden Plaza mean to you?" Lu Sheng spoke calmly.

"...Seems like you knew I was here all along…" King Shadow admitted defeat.

"Of course, I was just too lazy to do anything. I'm not interested in devils without their essence," Lu Sheng said casually.

How blunt…

"...Ok," King Shadow said wearily. He thought he had hidden himself quite well.

"Start talking. What does the Golden Plaza represent? I even found a door there with toxic water flowing from the cracks. There was also a crying girl with a melting face. That place doesn't feel right," Lu Sheng said calmly.

King Shadow smiled. "Of course. If the Devil Abyss is the most dangerous place in the Devil World, then that plaza is its counterpart in the Human World. The most dangerous, I really mean that—nothing else comes close. "

"Oh??" Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? If you explain it well, I might spare you."

"What you said." King Shadow let out a weary laugh. "The Human World is the center of the other three worlds. Devil World is one of them, along with two more mysterious ones. One is the source of Divine Weapons, while the other is the source of Devil Blades. The whole reason why the Devil World is invading the humans in masses despite the massive resources required is because of the strategic significance of the Human World."

"You mean… the Three Sacred Gates??" Lu Sheng immediately thought of the mysterious organization he'd heard of long ago.

"Correct. Gate of the Devil World, Gate of Pain, and Gate of Destruction. The Gate of the Devil World can only go to Devil World. The Gate of Pain leads to a place filled with pain. Legend has it that in there, there is no happiness nor any other positive emotion. The only thing there is pain.

"And lastly, as for the Gate of Destruction, I don't know much, either. I have only seen records and vaguely know that destruction will be unleashed if it's opened. That place is filled with forbidden things, and legend has it that once something… something in this world has reached a certain level, a mysterious being will be awakened to open the door to cleanse—to rebuild—everything."