The Dao of Reincarnation (402-403) (Patreon)

Chapter 402: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 13)

Liu Yizhi's performance proved outstanding.

He rose swiftly from the ranks of the outer sect, even comprehending a spear technique to the level of major accomplishment. In the outer sect competition, he defeated Zhao Jingfu along with many senior brothers and sisters, shocking everyone and securing a place in the inner sect.

Less than five years after joining the Heavenly Origin Sect, the boy who had entered at thirteen stepped into the inner sect at just eighteen, becoming one of the outer sect's legends.

Once inside the inner sect, the pressure on him increased sharply. The mask had turned him into a genius, yet every disciple who entered the inner sect was a true genius. They were not false prodigies who relied on external aid as he did.

Still, Liu Yizhi refused to give up. He threw himself into hunting demonic beasts and wanted demonic cultivators, accumulating sect contributions without rest. Drawing on the cultivation resources left by the dead elder, he gradually closed the gap with those true geniuses and even showed faint signs of surpassing them.

He understood clearly that the only path open to him was to work harder than any of them.

In the blink of an eye, thirty years passed within the inner sect. During those decades, Liu Yizhi finally pieced together the identity of the elder whose inheritance he had claimed. Only Elder Li Zhiyuan matched every detail. He came to understand that Li Zhiyuan had been the legendary Masked Man who purged evil and upheld justice. With Li Zhiyuan's death, that legendary figure had vanished as well, fading into myth.

Another ten years slipped by, and Liu Yizhi successfully broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm.

He was not yet sixty. At that age, he became one of the younger elders of the Heavenly Origin Sect. Cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm enjoyed a lifespan of three hundred years, so breaking through before sixty still counted as youthful among them. In the years ahead, he might even attempt the Spirit Soul Realm.

Liu Yizhi had never forgotten the vow he once made to Li Zhiyuan. He intended to avenge him. Some of the demonic cultivators who had once besieged Li Zhiyuan had grown old, some had been killed by others, and some had simply disappeared. Liu Yizhi felt no urgency. He waited in silence.

At last, after a full century, he hunted down the final demonic cultivator, severed the man's head, and carried it as usual to a remote wilderness.

In that desolate place stood a large tomb marked by a stone stele. Around it lay countless skulls that had long since turned to bone.

No. Something was wrong.

Liu Yizhi noticed an extra figure standing by the grave, a middle-aged man whose face bore the marks of time and hardship. Sensing danger, he tried to leave, yet it was already too late. His feet grew as heavy as if filled with lead, locking him in place.

"Great Elder!"

The weathered middle-aged man was none other than the Great Elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect, one of its two absolute sovereigns, a cultivator of the Profound Connection Realm.

Liu Yizhi's heart leapt into his throat. His mind went blank. The gap between the Spirit Sea Realm and the Spirit Soul Realm was already as vast as heaven and earth. The Profound Connection Realm stood even higher.

My life is over!

Concealing an elder's death was a grave crime.

To his astonishment, the Great Elder neither struck him dead with a single palm nor delivered any stern judgment. Instead, he took the severed head from Liu Yizhi's hand and placed it among the surrounding skulls. Then he spoke in a mild voice.

"Well done."

Liu Yizhi wondered if he were hallucinating. Had the Great Elder just praised him?

He discovered that he could move again. This time he did not flee. Confusion held him in place.

The Great Elder saw the puzzlement in his eyes and smiled.

"Did you think I would punish you?"

Liu Yizhi said nothing, yet his gaze betrayed him.

The Great Elder only chuckled.

"I am not so narrow-minded. The Heavenly Origin Sect has no shortage of disciples who keep secrets. So long as their hearts remain loyal to the sect, we will not dig into those secrets."

Liu Yizhi's face flushed with shame.

"It was I who proved narrow-minded. Thank you for your guidance, Great Elder."

The Great Elder nodded.

"Your actions show that young Li found a worthy successor. Cultivate well."

His figure vanished. Liu Yizhi's deeds might have escaped the notice of others, yet within the Heavenly Origin Sect, how could they ever have hidden from a powerhouse of the Profound Connection Realm?

"That mask… it seems somehow familiar."

Atop a distant peak, the Great Elder reappeared. His gaze rested on the direction Liu Yizhi had taken. The mask on the young man's face stirred a faint sense of recognition, yet no matter how hard he searched his memory, he could not recall where he had seen it. In the end, he could only attribute the lapse to age. A cultivator of the Profound Connection Realm lived eight hundred years, and he had already passed the halfway mark.

…

Another century slipped by. Liu Yizhi broke through to the Spirit Soul Realm by the narrowest of margins.

Yet the Wooden Scenery Dynasty was far from peaceful.

Demonic creatures rose one after another across the land, stirring disasters great and small. Even when they were put down in time, the losses remained heavy.

People throughout the realm began to wonder whether the demonic races were about to return in force.

In the great war of that earlier age, the Wooden Scenery Dynasty had suffered grievous losses. The balance of power had been reshuffled. The once-lofty royal house, stripped of its Profound Connection Realm sovereign, had plummeted in status. Though it still claimed the title of royal family, without a Profound Connection cultivator to anchor it, the house existed in name only.

Some factions declined while others rose. The Heavenly Origin Sect, in particular, had produced two Profound Connection Realm experts and had become the undisputed uncrowned king of the land. On the surface, the Wooden Scenery royal house still ruled the dynasty, yet in truth, the Heavenly Origin Sect could replace it whenever it wished.

Such had been the shifting of power over the past few centuries. The defeated demonic forces truly had returned. That savage demon king, after hundreds of years, still refused to abandon his ambition of bathing the Wooden Scenery Dynasty in blood so that he might break through to the Void Refining Realm.

"What… the defenses of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty have fallen?"

The sudden turn of events caught everyone unprepared. Before they could grasp what was happening, the border fortresses, long thought impregnable with their countless formations and stationed experts, were overrun by a vast demonic army that poured through without resistance.

Liu Yizhi understood at once that the situation was grave. Perhaps that demon king had already broken through to the Void Refining Realm and become a Demon Emperor. If so, the Heavenly Origin Sect itself stood in danger of collapse.

As an elder of the sect, he could not stand aside. Without delay, he led a contingent of disciples to reinforce the Wooden Scenery royal house.

Inside the royal palace, however, he discovered he had walked into a trap. Powerful demonic cultivators had already infiltrated the heart of the Wooden Scenery court. In the space of a few breaths, the entire relief force was surrounded, with no hope of escape.

"Why?" Liu Yizhi demanded, his heart aching with rage. "You are the ruler of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty! Why would you collude with demons and slaughter your own people?"

The border had not fallen because a demon king had advanced in cultivation. It had fallen because the Wooden Scenery royal house itself had joined hands with the demons.

"Ruler?" the Mu King spat, eyes blazing with hatred as he stared at Liu Yizhi and the other Heavenly Origin Sect cultivators. "What a joke. Your Heavenly Origin Sect is the true ruler. My Wooden Scenery Dynasty is nothing more than a dog you keep on a leash.

"How laughable that the third-generation ancestor of my house died fighting for the common people of this world, only for your Heavenly Origin Sect to snatch the fruits of that sacrifice!"

As the demonic experts struck, Liu Yizhi knew his doom was sealed.

Chapter 403: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 14)

"Human, do you still refuse to yield?"

The strange figure covered in green moss spoke slowly as he looked down at the sole remaining man. Every disciple and elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect, save Liu Yizhi himself, had already fallen.

The flame of Liu Yizhi's life burned fiercely. He still lived only because the demon before him preferred to wait until that flame burned itself out rather than risk mutual destruction.

When the last spark faded, Liu Yizhi would die. He wasted no breath on words. Gripping his long spear, he poured every remaining ounce of strength into a single point at its tip and thrust.

The wooden shield the creature had formed shattered beneath the strike, the spear tip driving straight toward the demon's core.

"Even if I die, I'll take one of you with me!"

Beneath the mask, Liu Yizhi's resolve was absolute, his voice cold and final.

The thrust was blindingly fast, his final trump card, held in reserve until the green demon's vigilance slipped.

Now!

He watched the creature's face contort in shock.

Yet when the spear tip came within an inch of the demon's core, it suddenly stopped.

The shock vanished from the green demon's features, replaced by a human-like sneer in its emerald pupils.

Blood dripped steadily onto the ground.

"How… how could this…"

At some unknown moment, a towering demon had appeared behind Liu Yizhi. Eight thick, razor-sharp bone spikes had pierced straight through his body. Bright red blood continued to fall.

Liu Yizhi still struggled. One of the bone spikes tore free from his flesh and swept across in a single swift motion. Blood sprayed outward. A masked head tumbled from the air and landed at the feet of a richly dressed boy of about ten.

"Thirteenth Prince, that thing must not be touched!"

An elderly eunuch tried to stop the boy from reaching for the mask.

The boy was quicker. With agile hands, he lifted the mask from the severed head. It looked like an ordinary bronze mask, nothing remarkable about it.

Expressionless, the boy crushed the still-open-eyed head beneath his foot.

The old eunuch was now filled with terror.

A voice like rolling thunder rang out from the sky.

"Excellent, excellent. So young yet already so ruthless, willing to strike even against your own kind. You are a talent indeed."

A violent wind rose. The earth heaved like a dragon turning over, dust filled the air, and a deep crater opened in the ground.

From within the crater, a fearsome demon of pure black descended. Eight bone spikes, dripping with dark viscous fluid, protruded from its back. Fragments of human flesh still clung to those spikes, the remains of the dead Liu Yizhi.

With the complete annihilation of the Heavenly Origin Sect force, the Wooden Scenery King hurried to the scene. Seeing the horrific sight, he struck the boy hard across the face without a word and then dropped to his knees.

The boy quickly followed suit.

"Please forgive us, my lord. The fault lies in my failure to discipline my son."

The Wooden Scenery King's heart pounded with fear as he faced the savage demon. In that moment, a faint regret stirred within him.

The powerful demon smiled.

"King of Wooden Scenery, you are a friend of my Li Demon Clan. Without you, my master would never have found so easily the opportunity to break through to the Void Refining Realm.

"My clan values integrity above all. We will eliminate the Heavenly Origin Sect for you and secure your royal house's position. We only ask that you do not forget the promise you made to my master."

The Wooden Scenery King nodded repeatedly, sweat dripping from his cheeks.

Void Refining Realm!

The demon's words could not be false. The master of the Li Demon Clan had truly broken through.

"This son of yours is impressive. Would he be willing to join my Li Demon Clan?"

The child raised his head and looked up at the towering, ferocious figure. He nodded.

"It would be my greatest honor."

When he lowered his head once more, a flicker of humiliation and hatred, almost too faint to notice, shone in his eyes.

The Wooden Scenery King, however, was overjoyed. This meant the Li Demon Clan had formally accepted him.

The Li Demon Clan placed the highest importance on bloodline.

Inside the Heavenly Origin Sect, the Great Elder lifted his head and gazed into the distance.

A sudden tremor ran through his heart.

Something terrible seemed to have occurred, leaving his spirit unsettled.

When he looked farther out, the clear blue sky and white clouds had turned into a murky gray haze. Within that haze, something dreadful appeared to be gestating, raising the hair on his body and filling him with the sense that a mortal enemy stood before him.

Demonic qi. An indescribably terrifying demonic qi.

He had once left the Wooden Scenery Dynasty and witnessed the brilliance of the outer world, so he knew at once this was not the aura of any demon king.

This belonged to a Demon Emperor. A powerhouse of the Void Refining Realm. And the direction of that aura pointed straight toward the capital of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty.

"This is disastrous…"

...

The child who had picked up the mask was named Mu Ziqiang.

The name meant unceasing self-strengthening.

At that moment, Mu Ziqiang felt only irony.

Demonic armies swept across the land, committing boundless slaughter.

The noblest blood of this nation flowed through his veins.

Yet because of the folly of his so-called father, the current Wooden Scenery King, that noble blood had been tainted and turned into the blood of demons. Looking at his own ugly reflection in the mirror, Mu Ziqiang's eyes burned with a hatred etched into his very bones.

He thought of the mask he had taken earlier.

He had not wanted the head of the Heavenly Origin Sect, Elder Liu Yizhi, to fall into the demons' hands. The mask left behind by that accidental act could at least hide the hideous face he now wore.

The moment he placed the bronze mask over his features, something changed.

"This… this is…"

Mu Ziqiang realized he had become different. He quickly understood that his comprehension had risen. Many things that once baffled him now became clear in an instant.

A treasure capable of improving comprehension was something he had never even heard of, yet this mask achieved it. He knew at once he had obtained a true treasure. Moreover, the mask proved to be a divine-grade artifact that could conceal one's aura.

From that moment, the gears of fate began to turn in silence.

While a terrifying aura swept across the outside world, Mu Ziqiang, under the Wooden Scenery King's guidance, witnessed a battle of pure slaughter.

One powerful sect and clan after another was annihilated. The Wooden Scenery Dynasty would become the exclusive domain of the royal house, for every force that posed a threat had been eradicated. The dead and wounded numbered in the tens of millions. After this day, the Wooden Scenery Dynasty would become nothing more than a slaughterhouse for the Li Demon Clan.

Only the Heavenly Origin Sect remained.

A dazzling silver-white blade of light swept across the field. Thousands of demons died in an instant.

Among them fell the fearsome demon with eight bone spikes protruding from its back.

The strongest expert of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect, had finally taken the field.