412 Probing 1

Lu Sheng glanced at the Believer of Pain, then looked at the trident the elderly centaur gripped in his hand, and immediately knew the trident was the 'material' he was suppose to extract.

'Work of an Evil Art Master?' He didn't plan to put much effort into this mission, but he was at least slightly interested now that he saw the Divine Weapon.

"Enough. Give me the Divine Weapon, and I may spare your life," Lu Sheng said calmly.

Through the vibration of the altar, his voice was transformed into a mental pulse, and delivered directly into the elderly centaur's ears.

"Whoosh!"

The immense trident abruptly paused above the altar, its tips trembling violently. The elderly centaur was obviously conflicted.

"Most Esteemed Emissary! This is not the result we wanted!" the Believer of Pain complained loudly.

Lu Sheng glanced over.

"Bam!"

He kicked up a rock and slammed it with his palm.

The rock shattered, while countless shards that moved far faster than bullets all shot toward the Believer of Pain.

Immediately, blood bloomed out of the Believer of Pain like flowers. He didn't have time to make any sound, while the martial art skills he'd trained so hard on was completely useless. Only a faint layer of turquoise Black Membrane appeared momentarily before being shattered by the rock shards. 

"Clang."

The Believer of Pain fell backward. His body was filled with at least a hundred unevenly sized holes, while his head had been shot to a bloody mess. He was thoroughly dead.

The little girl he was holding screamed, and promptly fainted.

"I don't like being interrupted when I'm talking." Lu Sheng took back his hand, and again gazed toward the elderly centaur. 

This Verdant King had a solemn expression on his face, and stared tightly at Lu Sheng's hand. He was shocked when he couldn't find any sign of damage.

"Are you… serious?" the elderly centaur asked in a low voice.

"I'm not interested in attacking weaklings. A massacre doesn't benefit me," Lu Sheng said casually. "I just need you to put down the Divine Weapon you are holding."

The elderly centaur clearly didn't believe him, but didn't make any moves, either. The rest of the Believers of Pain appeared to be anxious, but no one dared to interrupt after the first one was slaughtered. They all stood in place, waiting for Lu Sheng's orders. 

After a while, the cavern suddenly shook. A wave of explosions sounded in the distance, while the faint roar of something enormous could also be heard. 

The elderly centaur's face turned ugly slightly. He then looked at Lu Sheng and the little girl.

"I surrender. This is my birth Divine Weapon, Trident of Forest King." He carelessly threw the Divine Weapon toward Lu Sheng, and charged toward the girl at the same time. He grabbed her, jumped up firmly, and flew through the roof of the cavern.

Lu Sheng grabbed the trident, then casually swiped back.

The trident moved slightly toward the Believers of Pain.

"Puff!!"

Countless amounts of invisible blades of wind appeared in a flash. All the Believers of Pain were killed and dismembered within a second.

That was for destroying the evidence.

No screams, no cries. The Believers of Pain exploded into a mess of bloody foam and flesh one by one after they were struck by the trident's blades of wind before they even realized what had happened.

Lu Sheng held the trident, and surveyed his surroundings. No living being was anywhere nearby. He gripped the trident, and his mouth cracked to his ears.

'It should be fine if I eat one tip, right…?' An intense anticipation started to build up. 

As long as he had enough Mental Energy, he could get stronger and stronger at an illogical pace as well as evolve his Core Law, Death Blaze, even further. 

As the Yin Flame evolved to Death Blaze, Lu Sheng already sensed that his previous categorization of Infinity Technique's level was not practical at all. He was only at the second tier of Collection phase, yet he could at least unleash the power of a pinnacle Jade Star cultivator if necessary.

After some hesitation, Lu Sheng decided against eating it. He held the trident in his hand, and blocked all its attempts at communication with Yang Essence.

With the trident in hand, he lightly jumped through the hole in the roof of the cavern.

He flew up along the opening, and was soon greeted by a dark, starry sky. He landed on a black cliff, and saw an enormous white city burning intensely in front of him.

The city was filled with ancient trees reaching toward the sky, and delicate patterns were engraved on all the buildings. From Lu Sheng's view, he could see two shapes being surrounded by countless people.

With his vision, Lu Sheng could easily tell that one was the tiger-masked man, while the other was the cold-faced woman. Both had been teleported here just like Lu Sheng.

Swirls of white flame constantly fell from the man's hand and landed on the ground.

The centaurs surrounding them all angrily waved around similar-shaped but smaller tridents, their bodies surrounded by a faint green light. They charged into battle like comets, but their attacks were like moths diving into fire, completely useless. Vast amounts of centaur bodies fell down to the ground like dumplings being dumped into a pot. 

On the other side, the cold-faced woman was battling the elderly centaur from before. He could tell both sides were evenly matched, and there wouldn't be a winner for a long time. 

Both focused heavily on speed, and a layer of gray mist in the shape of a skull surrounded them. Booming sounds constantly rang across the sky.

Lu Sheng didn't show any intention of helping. It seemed the two could handle the mission by themselves.

With the trident in hand, he sat on the cliff and watched the battle.

After about half an hour, the battle in the sky ended. The elderly centaur seemed to be the strongest in the city, but fell into the ground like a meteorite after the cold-faced woman struck her palm on his head. After shattering countless buildings, he finally stopped and ceased breathing.

Fire had consumed everything in the white city, and dense black smoke rose into the sky.

The tiger-masked man casually threw down a dark gray torch, and turned toward Lu Sheng.

"Why didn't you help?" His eyes clearly showed the question.

"I did. I extracted the material." Lu Sheng raised the trident in his hand.

In truth, though, if he hadn't taken the elderly centaur's Divine Weapon, the two of them wouldn't have had such an easy victory,

"Haha. "

The cold laugh of the woman came from far away.

Flames consumed the enormous white city below. The black smoke dyed the sky within the radius of tens of kilometers gray. 

Surrounded by the black smoke, slivers of gray mist appeared around the three people. After they were completely surrounded, the mist exploded, leaving nothing behind.

***

Time flew by, and a few months passed in a blink.

The war between Devil World and the Great Yin was still in a stalemate. After destroying a fort while riding his Black Sun Dragon, Devil Emperor Vera was ambushed by two Weapon Grandmasters from the three major sects. After a lengthy fight, both sides were wounded badly, and were forced into retreat to their respective bases.

The three major sects finally did something of use for the Great Yin Imperial Court.

As the situation stabilized, Lu Sheng also completed a number of missions for the Black Society. All were material extraction related like his first one.

Lu Sheng perfectly extracted four Jade Star level Divine Weapons and Devil Blades. After three sacrifices, he was slowly adjusting to the strange atmosphere of the Black Society of the World of Pain.

Shizi Xing was slowly trusting him more and more.

She knew that most new recruits of the Black Society didn't join out of their free will, but after they were forced into several missions, their body would be tainted by the Aura of Pain. Once that happened, they would experience increasingly intense and hellish pain if they didn't come back to the World of Pain once in a while.

After completing the first mission and receiving the approval of the Mother of Pain, betrayal was no longer an option. It was likewise impossible to detach from the Black Society.

Besides, the Black Society truly provided many benefits. Lu Sheng appeared to have given up completely, especially after she explained the true difference between the Human World, Devil World, and the World of Pain. 

In truth, the Divine Weapons and Devil Blades both Human and Devil World relied so heavily on were merely the scraps or unfinished works of the World of Pain. If it weren't for the dimensional barrier between the three worlds, the Evil Art Masters could easily appear in both worlds, slaughter everything, and use it as materials.

Especially the few Weapon Grandmasters that had reached the pinnacle of their level. The Evil Art Masters had been drooling for a long time to get their hands on them.

In the times that followed, Lu Sheng completed all his missions perfectly. All the Divine Weapons or Devil Blades were usually kept in pristine condition.

This made Shizi Xing appreciate him even more. Since she'd wanted an assistant in the first place, she slowly started to allow Lu Sheng to help her in some of her endeavors.

In truth, there were political rifts between the Evil Art Masters and Mirror Spirit Masters even within the Black Society. Shizi Xing actually didn't have much power to back her up within the cult district she was in charge of.

And Lu Sheng wasn't like the other new recruits, either. Under the corrosion of the gray mist of Pain, all his powers were greatly reduced.

On the other hand, his strong body guaranteed his survival inside of his cult district within the World of Pain, even though such power might seem to be irrelevant in Shizi Xing's eyes.

After his final mission, Shizi Xing finally decided to allow Lu Sheng to join her plan to expand her cult district.

She was in desperate need of more manpower.

***

"Is there something I'm needed for?" Lu Sheng wore a gray robe that covered most of his body. He pushed open the door, and walked into Shizi Xing's assigned hall.

Here, in her cult district, Shizi Xing had a hall assigned specifically for her as befitted her position of the supreme leader within the district.

Everyone else lived scattered among the other houses within the town.

Shizi Xing sat in one corner of the hall on a wooden rocking chair. She was slowly flipping through a book in her hand.

Ashes were burning in a fireplace to her side, somehow emitting a mysterious chill.

Lu Sheng walked until he was a few meters away from Shizi Xing, and calmly waited for her instructions.

After the contact throughout this period of time, they had both reached some sort of unspoken agreement. He didn't know how powerful Shizi Xing truly was, but he did notice the greed and caution on her face every time she mentioned a Weapon Grandmaster.

"You have completed many missions after joining the Black Society, right?" A thick blanket covered her. She was still using Xiao Zizhu's body, and her voice had a magnetic quality to it as a result.

"Yes, Ma'am. Everything went smoothly, all thanks to you," Lu Sheng replied calmly. 

Shizi Xing smiled, and looked at Lu Sheng, whom she'd forcibly recruited.

"You should really be thankful. If you'd remained in the Great Yin, you would never have had the chance to achieve your true potential, and would instead die there quietly. Only in the World of Pain can you have the right and opportunities to reach higher."

"Ma'am has spoken well." Lu Sheng nodded. This part was something he couldn't deny. 

"I have a mission here. Take a look." Shizi Xing handed Lu Sheng a letter.

Lu Sheng accepted it. They didn't use the mental transfer of mission objectives Lu Sheng had received during his initiation. It was actually seen as a very rude method in the World of Pain.