The Dao of Reincarnation (404-405) (Patreon)

Chapter 404: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 15)

In Mu Ziqiang's pupils, a blade aura several thousand meters long tore across the sky. Then a middle-aged man in plain cloth robes stood proudly alone, blocking the path of a hundred-thousand-strong demonic army without the slightest trace of fear.

"The strongest of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty!"

Five figures emerged from within the demonic ranks. Each radiated an aura of extreme terror.

Five demon kings.

They intended to join forces against the Great Elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect.

The Heavenly Origin Sect stood on the brink of annihilation.

The Great Elder's cultivation had long reached the peak of the age. He had attained the eighth level of the Profound Connection Realm. Given another two hundred years, he might have challenged the Void Refining Realm.

He no longer had that time.

At the critical moment, a streak of crimson light flashed past, forcing one of the powerful demons back. A woman of elegant and noble bearing stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Great Elder. She was Ruan Hongyao, the current sect master of the Heavenly Origin Sect.

The Great Elder gave a bitter smile.

"Why did you return?"

Ruan Hongyao answered, "If I left, we would have no chance at all. The sect has already preserved its final spark. Whatever comes next, we will face it together."

She moved closer to the Great Elder and looked at the silver-white blade in his hand.

"Do not hesitate. I know you cultivate the Emotionless Blade Path."

For the first time, struggle appeared in the Great Elder's eyes. He truly possessed a great opportunity: the incomplete inheritance of an ancient venerable that required one to sever all emotion and cut off the mortal path in order to reach perfection.

Yet throughout his life, he had been bound by emotion. The sect, friends, family, the one he loved…

"Do it."

This time, the Great Elder showed no hesitation. As the long blade descended, an even more terrifying aura erupted from his body, stirring the wind and clouds.

Mu Ziqiang could barely keep his eyes open. That dreadful blade aura split the dark clouds in the sky in two. When he opened his eyes again, screams rang out. In a single instant, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect had slain three demon kings. Yet the one holding the blade was no longer a middle-aged man. He had become an elder with hair white as snow.

Just as the white-haired elder was about to continue his slaughter, a rift suddenly opened in space. As the crack widened, a demon whose body was covered in rock-like muscle stepped forth. Clear layers of texture marked those muscles.

The Li Demon Emperor, the chief culprit behind the invasion of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty.

The sharp blade's aura actually cut through the Demon Emperor's skin, drawing blood as black as ink.

The Li Demon Emperor raised a fist and smashed both space and earth. He struck the elder from the sky down to the ground, shattering an entire mountain peak.

The elder had not died. He drove his long blade into the earth. White hair flew wildly, covering his face and eyes.

The ground cracked apart. Countless demons of the army turned into blood mist in an instant, caught by the residual aura. Between heaven and earth, only a single blade aura remained, piercing from sky to ground and facing the Li Demon Emperor directly. With the power of the Profound Connection Realm, he sought to slay an emperor.

A knife wound appeared on the Li Demon Emperor's body. Flesh tore open from top to bottom, revealing stark white bone.

A laugh like rolling thunder echoed through heaven and earth.

"I did not expect a true warrior. You are just like the one who defeated this emperor centuries ago. Whenever the human race faces Scourge, people like you always appear to hold up the falling sky."

The Li Demon Emperor walked slowly forward. When he drew near the elder's body, the old man still gripped the hilt with all his strength. Yet he would never wake again.

"Had you been given another ten years, the power of that single strike might have been enough to kill this emperor."

The Li Demon Emperor's voice carried both regret and relief. He watched as the dead elder's body, from feet to head, slowly scattered like dust in the wind and returned to heaven and earth. The blade vanished with him.

The two highest-cultivation experts in the history of the Heavenly Origin Sect.

Current sect master Ruan Hongyao and current Great Elder Sun Ao had both fallen in battle.

Mu Ziqiang felt an indescribable sorrow in his heart. The human race of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty had suffered total defeat.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

After the deaths of the Heavenly Origin Sect's master and Great Elder, a few disciples managed to escape, yet it no longer mattered. The Heavenly Origin Sect's orthodoxy had been extinguished, and the Wooden Scenery royal house stood alone in dominance.

The price was steep. Every year, the Wooden Scenery royal house was required to offer tribute to the Li Demon Clan. The tribute consisted not of treasures or pills, but of living people: either powerful cultivators or young prodigies of outstanding talent.

When the tribute fell short, even members of the royal house itself became part of the offering.

Whenever Mu Ziqiang thought of this, he felt only bitter irony. Rather than remain a true king, his father had chosen to become a dog. He did not choose death.

Mu Ziqiang joined the Li Demon Clan. His blood was replaced with that of the Li Demon Clan.

Through this, he learned of a far broader world.

Demonic races were many and varied. Though the Li Demon Clan was powerful, it ranked as nothing special among them. The truly mighty demonic races could contend with the human Sacred Mountains. It was only because the human race possessed those Sacred Mountains that it had survived to this day, clinging to a fragile existence.

Mu Ziqiang performed well. After obtaining the mask and wearing it, the talent that had already marked him as a once-in-a-century genius of the royal house advanced at a terrifying pace. He became the foremost genius of the Li Demon Clan. During a contest, he caught the eye of the Holy Son of the demonic sacred clan, the Demon Qilin, who took him as a retainer.

The Demon Qilin was the foremost genius of the demonic side in ten thousand years. Once he matured, he stood a real chance of completely destroying the human Sacred Mountains and claiming dominion over this world.

Mu Ziqiang earned the Demon Qilin's recognition through sheer ruthlessness.

The Demon Qilin despised any lingering connection between demons and humans. He demanded that Mu Ziqiang sever every last blood tie from his human past.

Mu Ziqiang slaughtered the entire Wooden Scenery Dynasty, including all his relatives and even his own parents. That ruthlessness won the Demon Qilin's approval. Even among demons, such merciless figures were rare.

Mu Ziqiang carried out many tasks for the Demon Qilin, infiltrating the human race and eliminating numerous human geniuses.

This deepened the Demon Qilin's trust.

"Mu Mo, when I one day become a Saint and rule the Sacred Mountains, whatever mountains and rivers you desire, I shall grant them to you!"

The Demon Qilin laughed heartily and kept Mu Ziqiang constantly at his side. When other demons mocked Mu Ziqiang for his human origins, the Demon Qilin killed them without mercy.

All of this continued until five hundred years later.

Sensing that his cultivation had reached a level sufficient for self-preservation, the Demon Qilin took Mu Ziqiang and slipped into human territory, intending to test the strength of human experts.

What should have been a flawless plan went awry.

After the Demon Qilin entered human lands and killed several powerful humans, he sensed that something was wrong.

In complete silence, a dagger slid into the Demon Qilin's chest. At the same time, Mu Ziqiang revealed strength far beyond what he had previously shown.

"Why… why would you betray me?"

The dagger contained the blood of a human Saint. It suppressed the Qilin soul within the Demon Qilin and severed his connection to the demonic Saints.

At that moment, human martial artists stood in the void on every side.

The Demon Qilin understood at once. He had been betrayed.

Chapter 405: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 16)

The Demon Qilin could not understand. He had treated Mu Ziqiang well and regarded him as a friend. Why would Mu Ziqiang choose to betray him?

The Demon Qilin was far too powerful. Even with the dagger sealing every spiritual meridian in his body, he was still beyond the reach of most human martial artists.

Several human warriors who hoped to capture him and claim great merit were simply smashed to death by his overwhelming physical strength.

Mu Ziqiang sensed the danger too late. A demonic claw seized him at once, leaving him no power to resist.

Looking into those pupils laced with black lines that formed terrifying runes, Mu Ziqiang forced down his fear and spoke.

"You fool… I am human. From beginning to end, I have always been human!"

The Demon Qilin roared in fury.

"You are human? Look at the monstrous form you wear now. Will they accept you? Within the sacred clan, I gave you boundless honor and endless wealth, things the human race could never offer you. Yet you still chose to betray me!"

Mu Ziqiang struggled and gave a bitter laugh.

"The blood of sinners flows through my veins… disloyal, unfilial, without benevolence or righteousness. All I can do is wash away the unjust blood that stains the generations before me."

At that moment, a streak of purple sword light tore through the endless void and transformed into a colossal dragon spanning ten thousand li, ready to swallow the Demon Qilin whole.

The Demon Qilin flung Mu Ziqiang aside. The terrifying purple sword dragon engulfed him at once. Heaven and earth darkened; the sun and moon lost their light.

A young man in purple robes stood within a crack in the void, holding a divine sword whose radiant edge carried the power to tear space itself.

"Borrow the methods of Heaven and Earth, cycle the Five Elements, summon the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends, bind the ground and purge evil."

From the other five directions, powerful figures radiating different auras arrived in turn. They laid down an inescapable net, transforming it into Five Element chains that bound the hands, feet, and head of the figure within the mist.

"You are not enough to kill me!"

Before anyone could feel relief, a terrifying force erupted. The faces of the five figures changed drastically.

Through the mist, the Demon Qilin could be seen with both feet rooted in the earth. His hands reversed their grip on two of the chains while his teeth clamped down on the chain binding his head.

He exerted sudden force.

That strength nearly dragged the three figures controlling the array eyes of the Five Elements Heavenly Gang Formation straight toward him.

Shock filled every eye. No one had expected the Demon Qilin, whose spiritual meridians were sealed, to remain this powerful.

The young man in purple remained expressionless.

"Nine Nether Profound Fiend, hear my command. Turn the sword into a prison and extinguish all souls."

The Heavenly Gang Five Elements Formation had been nothing more than a delaying tactic.

The moment the words fell, the Demon Qilin let out a furious roar and forcibly shattered the formation. Three of the experts turned into blood mist on the spot. The remaining two spat blood violently, their survival uncertain.

He transformed into a pitch-black torrent that no one could clearly see and charged straight at the purple-robed youth.

Mu Ziqiang steadied his mind. He was still alive. He did not know why the Demon Qilin had not killed him.

He looked up.

In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to freeze. The tip of the purple-robed youth's finger touched the Demon Qilin's forehead.

The Demon Qilin's sharp claw stopped a mere millimeter from the youth's chest.

"I win."

Profound Fiend energy struck directly at the soul.

The Demon Qilin's body remained motionless. The light in his eyes slowly drained away. His soul was erased completely.

The strongest prodigy of the demonic race had fallen.

Watching the Demon Qilin die before his eyes, Mu Ziqiang felt no joy. Instead, an emptiness filled his heart.

"Thank you for your aid, righteous one."

The purple-robed youth cupped his hands toward Mu Ziqiang.

He knew that without the man before him enduring humiliation and carrying the heavy burden, they would never have been able to eliminate the Demon Qilin. Once the Demon Qilin fully matured, the entire human race would have stood on the brink of disaster.

Mu Ziqiang did not answer. He lowered his head and looked at his own ugly body. He was no longer human.

"Righteous one, if you have any request, we will do our utmost to fulfill it."

The purple-robed youth showed no disdain for Mu Ziqiang's appearance.

Mu Ziqiang removed the mask.

"There is no need…"

He declined the youth's kindness.

Stroking the mask, he murmured, "Following someone like me has been a burden for you."

Disloyal, without benevolence, unfilial, and without righteousness.

Mu Ziqiang sat cross-legged.

The purple-robed youth let out a soft sigh. As demonic energy surged wildly, Mu Ziqiang chose to scatter his cultivation and embrace death.

Watching the mask extended toward him, the purple-robed youth took it casually and saw the arm fall limp.

The purple-robed youth's name was Zhou Chong. He was a successor of the human Sacred Mountains. He vaguely understood why his wine-loving senior uncle often said that humans were contradictory creatures.

"Senior Brother Zhou, that is a dead man's mask. Keeping it is far too inauspicious."

Nearby, a young man in black robes spoke with an arrogant expression, a trace of disdain in his eyes as he looked at the mask in Zhou Chong's hand.

Zhou Chong replied mildly, "This is not inauspicious."

The black-robed youth paid it no further mind.

They were all elites of the human race, the foremost prodigies from the highest powers. The mask was at best a divine-grade artifact.

Zhou Chong put the mask away.

Their successful encirclement of the Demon Qilin had resolved a future crisis of human extinction and bought the race a period of respite.

When the demonic race learned that the Demon Qilin had been killed through a human scheme, they flew into a rage. Demonic Saints personally took action and launched an unprecedented demonic tide.

The human Sacred Mountains responded in kind.

The war lasted a full century. Without absolute overwhelming power on either side, neither could force a decisive victory, and the conflict settled once more into deadlock.

A hundred years later, the war between humans and demons subsided.

The demonic race had suffered heavy losses, and so had the human Sacred Mountains.

Zhou Chong, having slain the Demon Qilin and later killed numerous powerful demons during the century-long war, earned a brilliant reputation. He became the new leader of the Sacred Mountains, guiding the direction of the human race across the continent.

Zhou Chong ran his fingers over the bronze mask in his hand. It was the very mask Mu Ziqiang had given him before dying.

Though it was only a minor divine-grade artifact, Zhou Chong still wore it. In truth, the mask was far from ordinary and was by no means a simple divine-grade item.

He nourished it with the power of the Sacred Mountains, yet the mask remained completely unmoved. This astonished him. The power of the Sacred Mountains gathered the destiny of the entire human race. Even an ordinary mortal weapon would become a powerful quasi-sacred artifact under its blessing.

Zhou Chong felt deep regret.

Over these years, the strange mask had played an indispensable role in allowing him to surpass many older-generation geniuses and become the strongest beneath the Saints.