Chapter 1841

The wind of the dark world forever carries an unshakable chill.

When Li Lingjing descended upon this land stepping on cyan mist, beneath her feet lay black rock condensed from ten thousand years of malice, above her stretched a sky of eternal night, only sparse blood-red stars flickering behind the clouds, elongating her pure and graceful silhouette. She wore a long dress of ink-green, its hem embroidered with fine serpent-scale patterns that swayed with her steps, as if countless green serpents swam beneath the hem. In her hand, the cyan jade serpent staff gleamed with moisture, its tip a lifelike emerald serpent head, pupils swirling with a cold, secluded light—this was the object Li Luo had given her before her departure, forged by tempering the dark world's origin with worldly will, capable of drawing upon the dark world's power and restraining pure malice.

"Li Luo, you said the dark world needs someone to guard it, so I shall guard." She wiped her hand and lightly stroked the serpent staff, fingertips touching the cool jade, and unbidden, the gentle figure appeared in her mind. Back then, in the courtyard of Luo'an Manor, Li Luo had smiled as he handed her the serpent staff, his eyes full of utter trust: "Your serpent-physion origin is most compatible with the dark world; this cyan jade serpent staff can help you sort out malice, and if you encounter stubborn ones, show no mercy."

Show no mercy? Li Lingjing's lips curled into an extremely faint arc, a flash of coldness passing through her eyes. Her life had long since lost the words "show no mercy" when her mind was devoured by the Corrupting Spirit True Demon in the dark realm. Now reborn, her only task is to guard the land Li Luo entrusted to her, not to betray the trust in his eyes.

The dark world and the Outer Shenzhou world are two sides of one coin; here is the gathering place of malice, and also the breeding ground for aberrant beings. Though Li Luo had dispelled most wandering malice through the merit principle, in the depths of the dark world, the ancient demon kings who had dwelled for hundreds of thousands of years had long bound themselves to the dark world's malice origin, not easily swayed by merit power. Leading them are the Ten Sequence Great Demon Kings, each controlling one of the ten core malices—slaughter, greed, envy, wrath, and so on—each commanding hundreds of millions of demon subjects, the true rulers of the dark world.

On the third day of Li Lingjing's descent, following the dark world's ancient custom, she convened the Ten Sequence Great Demon Kings at the Ten Thousand Demon Hall in the heart of the dark world.

The Ten Thousand Demon Hall was entirely built of obsidian, within stood a hundred giant pillars carved with ferocious demon patterns, the floor paved with black jade bricks soaked in blood, the air thick with the stench of blood and malice. On the high platform at the front, once the empty seat of the Dark Sect Master when he had not yet fully controlled the dark world, now Li Lingjing sat upon it, the cyan jade serpent staff leaning against her side, her serpent-pupil eyes calmly sweeping over the ten great demon kings slowly approaching below.

The first to step through the hall doors was the Blood Prison Demon King, his stature burly, surrounded by thick blood mist, his bare arms covered in bone spurs, a pair of crimson eyes full of feral rage. He walked to the hall's center, not only failing to bow, but instead kicked apart the jade stone table before him, letting out a harsh, strange laugh: "Merely a corpse possessed by the Dark Sect Master, dare you claim to be master of the dark world? Li Luo gave you a little face, do you really think you can suppress us Ten Sequence?"

Close behind came the Illusion Dream Demon King, who transformed into a bewitching pink phantom, drifting to the Blood Prison Demon King's side, her voice alluring yet carrying a piercing chill: "Elder sister, do not blame Blood Prison Brother's rashness, after all, the dark world's rule has always been that the strong reign supreme. You have neither pacified the dark world nor possessed the power to awe the myriad demons—by what right do you command us?" She waved her hand, and suddenly countless illusions appeared in the hall—Li Lingjing being devoured by the Corrupting Spirit True Demon, her numb state as a puppet of the Dark Sect Master—each image precisely striking her past wounds.

"Impudent!" Before Li Lingjing could speak, a shout came from outside the hall. The Bone Sea Demon King strode in on a wave of white bones, his entire body composed of billions of joined white bones, a skull burning with ghostly fire floating above his head, his voice hoarse like metal scraping iron: "Since the Co-Master has entrusted the dark world to her, she is the legitimate ruler! Bone Sea, Illusion Dream, do you intend to defy the Co-Master's will?"

"And what if we do?" A cold voice came from the hall beams, the Toxic Mire Demon King transforming into a puddle of emerald poison that dripped to the ground, condensing into a hunched humanoid form: "The Co-Master is far in Outer Shenzhou; the dark world's affairs are not for outsiders to meddle in. Bone Sea, you lean too much on the Co-Master—if not for your betrayal in battle back then, the Dark Sect Master might not have fallen!"

The Ten Sequence Great Demon Kings soon gathered, the hall instantly splitting into three factions: Blood Prison, Illusion Dream, Toxic Mire, Blazing Abyss, and Gluttony clearly opposed, deeming Li Lingjing's assets and foundation too shallow, unfit to lead; Bone Sea, Integrity, and Sorrow chose to follow Li Luo's arrangement, supporting Li Lingjing; the remaining Greed and Envy held a wait-and-see attitude, their eyes darting between sides, clearly hoping to profit as the fisherman. "Enough." Li Lingjing's voice was not loud, yet carried a piercing chill that instantly silenced the hall's clamor. She slowly rose, the cyan jade serpent staff touching the ground with a "crack," a green fissure spreading along the floor, wherever it passed, the condensed malice aura was entirely absorbed by the staff. "Li Luo entrusted me to guard the dark world, not to contend with you for power and profit, but to sort out malice and quell chaos. If you are willing to cooperate, each govern your domain, restrain your demon subjects, and past grievances are written off."

"Written off?" The Blood Prison Demon King burst into wild laughter, blood mist surging around him, transforming into countless blood-colored blades shooting toward Li Lingjing, "When you were a puppet of the Dark Sect Master, did you not personally slaughter thirty thousand of my Blood Prison clan? This debt shall be settled today!"

The blood-colored blades tore through the air, carrying intense slaughter malice, ripping the air along their path into piercing shrieks. Li Lingjing's gaze did not waver; she lightly rotated the cyan jade serpent staff in her grip, the serpent head at the tip suddenly opening its mouth, spewing a cyan jade light curtain. The blood blades struck the curtain and instantly melted like ice meeting fire, turning into wisps of black air swallowed by the staff.

"Courting death." Li Lingjing tapped her toe, her form appearing like a ghost before the Blood Prison Demon King, the serpent staff pointing straight at his brow. Seeing this, the Blood Prison Demon King's arms swelled, bone spurs all popping out, sweeping horizontally toward Li Lingjing. He relied on being the Ten Sequence demon king with the densest slaughter malice, his flesh as hard as a divine treasure, ordinary attacks unable to harm him in the slightest.

But this time, as his bone spurs merely touched the cyan jade serpent staff, a "hiss" of corrosion sounded. Cyan jade energy spread along the bone spurs, wherever it passed, the hard bone spurs instantly became as brittle as rotting wood, snapping apart. The Blood Prison Demon King was horrified, wanting to retreat, but found his feet already entangled by cyan jade serpentine vines, the thorns on the vines deeply piercing his flesh, continuously drawing his malice power.

"You dare!" The Blood Prison Demon King roared, attempting to mobilize the dark world's slaughter malice for a backlash, yet found his internal malice like a river flowing into the sea, being ceaselessly drawn out by the cyan jade serpent staff. He clearly felt his power rapidly draining, his burly frame gradually withering.

"The slaughter malice of the dark world ought not to be so rampant." Li Lingjing's eyes were ice-cold, the serpent staff exerting slight pressure, "Today, let you taste the flavor of being backlashed by the very malice you excel at."

As her words fell, the cyan jade serpent staff suddenly burst into dazzling light, the serpent pupils at the tip shooting two cyan jade beams that pierced the Blood Prison Demon King's brow. His scream cut off abruptly, his body gradually petrifying under the beams' light, ultimately becoming a statue riddled with cracks, crashing to the ground, the slaughter malice within him entirely absorbed by the staff, transformed into nourishing origin power for the dark world.

The hall instantly fell into dead silence.

The Illusion Dream Demon King's face turned ashen, she had not expected Li Lingjing's power to be so terrifying. The Blood Prison Demon King ranked third among the Ten Sequence, yet could not withstand even a single round. She immediately withdrew her illusions, forcing composure: "Li Lingjing, my lord, Blood Prison does not know good from ill, death is just desert. We… we are willing to cooperate with you in governing the dark world."

"Oh?" Li Lingjing slowly turned, her serpent pupils sweeping over the Illusion Dream Demon King, "Just now, when you used illusions to humiliate me, was that your attitude?"

The Illusion Dream Demon King's heart tightened, she hurriedly knelt: "My lord, forgive me! Earlier was my momentary confusion, blinded by pig fat, daring to be disrespectful to you. I am willing to surrender the malice origin of the Illusion Dream Domain for you to dispose of as you wish." "Too late." Li Lingjing shook her head, the serpent staff swinging, a cyan jade serpentine energy shooting toward the Illusion Dream Demon King. She tried to deploy illusions to evade, but found the surrounding space already sealed by the staff's power, unable to mobilize any illusion power. The serpentine energy coiled around her body, instantly condensing her phantom into substance, then transforming into countless green serpents that burrowed into her flesh.

"Ah——!" A piercing scream echoed through the Ten Thousand Demon Hall, the Illusion Dream Demon King's body gradually dissipating under the serpents' gnawing, only a thread of pure illusion dream malice drawn by the staff, merging into the dark world's rules. She excelled at crafting false illusions, yet now, in ultimate pain, walked toward destruction, not even a chance to resist.

Seeing this, the Toxic Mire Demon King, Blazing Abyss, and Gluttony demon kings no longer harbored any hope, the three exchanged a glance and simultaneously fled toward the hall exit. The Toxic Mire Demon King turned into a puddle of poison, seeking to seep into the ground to escape; the Blazing Abyss Demon King ignited with raging black fire, becoming a meteor of flame rushing toward the hall door; the Gluttony Demon King opened his blood-filled maw, hoping to devour the hall's defensive formation and force a breakthrough.

"Since you came, just stay." Li Lingjing let out a cold snort, the cyan jade serpent staff tracing a graceful arc in the air, three cyan jade serpentine energies respectively shooting toward the three.

The energy aimed at the Toxic Mire Demon King instantly became a cyan jade ice domain, freezing the flowing poison into hard ice blocks covered in serpentine patterns, continuously suppressing the Toxic Mire Demon King's power; the energy aimed at the Blazing Abyss Demon King became a cyan jade water curtain, not ordinary water, but formed from purified dark world origin, instantly extinguishing his black fire, wrapping his body, continuously dissolving it; the energy aimed at the Gluttony Demon King directly became a shackle, locking his throat, preventing him from devouring anything, while continuously drawing out his gluttony malice.

Their resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; in just a few breaths, Li Lingjing completely subdued them. The Toxic Mire Demon King's ice-bound body was shattered by the staff, the Blazing Abyss Demon King's fire origin was devoured, the Gluttony Demon King was drained of all malice, becoming a withered corpse.

The remaining five demon kings in the hall—Bone Sea, Integrity, and Sorrow—showed reverence, all kneeling: "We pay respects to the Dark Lord! We swear to follow the Dark Lord unto death, assisting the Dark Lord in governing the dark world!"

The Greed and Envy demon kings' faces shifted unpredictably, they had not expected Li Lingjing to be so decisive, in just half an hour suppressing five of the Ten Sequence. Though they still harbored reluctance, they also knew the tide had turned; further resistance would only lead to the same fate as the Blood Prison Demon King and others.

"What? Do you two still have objections?" Li Lingjing's gaze fell upon the Greed and Envy demon kings, a flicker of coldness in her serpent pupils.