Chapter 420: Black Dragon Riding the Face (Bonus Chapter, Requesting Subscription)

The Life-and-Death Platform of the Seven Kill Demon Palace, once activated, forbids outsiders from interfering and can only end when one side is dead.

"Song Zhong…"

Cai Zhujin's eyes turned dark: "I long anticipated you'd force me onto the Life-and-Death Platform. Do you know why I agreed? Because I planned to turn your scheme against you—and eliminate you here!"

In his hand, a semi-transparent longsword, as if forged from frozen ice, materialized; streams of water flowed around it, resembling translucent jade dragons.

Simultaneously, a deep blue pearl appeared in his palm, its surface flickering with countless array patterns.

"A soul-core treasure?"

Song Zhong's expression instantly turned grave.

"Knowing you reclaimed the Heartflame Battle Knife, I naturally prepared myself… Blue Prison Cage!"

Cai Zhujin shouted sharply, and countless deep blue threads emerged.

These were the most refined water-elemental rules, crisscrossing like a vast net, resembling a prison, descending from above.

Extreme cold radiated outward, instantly turning the surroundings into a frozen wasteland of ice and snow!

"No holding back."

Song Zhong commanded: "Go!"

Fang Xing roared, revealing his true form—a two-decimeter-long, two-winged black dragon.

His body instantly became ethereal; with a gentle flap of his wings, he seemed to glide through empty space, each scale perfectly fused with the void.

Then…

Both Song Zhong and the black dragon's forms turned insubstantial; the deep blue net swept over them, as if trapping nothing but air…

Zuu!

A flash of silver light—Fang Xing had already brought Song Zhong before Cai Zhujin, executing a "Black Dragon Riding the Face" maneuver!

"A Grand Void Dragon… you've comprehended the Way of Void!"

The disciples watching from the periphery were stunned, but only Blood Butcher Elder nodded, a hint of interest appearing on his face.

But the next instant!

His expression also changed sharply!

Zuu!

On the Life-and-Death Platform, Song Zhong roared and hurled his crimson-tasseled spear.

Crimson threads converged on the spearhead, tearing through the defense formed by the water-dragon streams.

Then—he gripped the Song family's ancestral treasure: the Heartflame Battle Knife!

"Heart like flame, will like blade… Today, I, Song Zhong, shall end you with one strike!"

Song Zhong spoke softly, no longer concealing his understanding of the law.

Within him, the "Heart of Flame" coalesced; waves of firelight flickered across the Heartflame Battle Knife.

Deep within the blade's core, a heartbeat sound suddenly emerged.

Thud!

Thud!

Violent flames surged skyward, melting the ice and snow.

Then…

A world of fire descended.

In this fire world, everything was composed of flame—mountains, rivers, flowers, trees—all volcanoes, flowing lava, sparks, and fire-trees.

Even the birds in the sky and beasts on the ground were spirits formed of flame.

Heartflame Battle Knife's Second Layer—Flame World!

A technique requiring Ninth Layer of Mortal Realm and second-stage comprehension of the Fire Rule.

Moreover… Song Zhong held nothing back—he had already activated his third-stage comprehension of the Fire Rule, fueled by the Heart of Flame, making the Flame World's power even more terrifying!

The Flame World descended, forcibly repelling and suppressing other rules.

Whether the water-dragon streams or the blue threads from the pearl, they all shrieked and vanished instantly.

Clang!

A flash of blade-light—the Flame World descended, engulfing Cai Zhujin, who could not evade.

Instantly, Cai Zhujin's eyes filled with terror; he couldn't utter a word before turning to ash.

Only a beast-skin pouch and the blue pearl—the soul-core treasure—floated in midair, clearly left behind intentionally by Song Zhong.

"Winner—Song Zhong!"

Blood Butcher Elder nodded, immediately lifting the restrictions; as he looked at Song Zhong, he even forced a smile: "Song Zhong? You're quite impressive… your comprehension of the Fire Rule has reached the third stage—you can now break into the Nascent Soul realm with a single thought. You're one of us now."

Song Zhong bowed in thanks, silently accepting, then retrieved the deep blue pearl.

Even among soul-core treasures, power varies.

For example, my family's Heartflame Battle Knife bears two secret engravings—making it an upper-tier soul-core treasure.

This blue pearl is far inferior, likely possessing only one secret engraving.

Of course, even if two engravings are present, without sufficient cultivation or rule comprehension, one cannot activate them.

"Heh… this 'Water Essence Pearl' seems familiar—it appears to belong to a True Disciple…"

Blood Butcher Elder chuckled, enjoying the drama: "This matter doesn't seem over yet…"

"True Disciple?"

Song Zhong's expression grew slightly serious, then added: "If pushed to the brink, we can simply meet again on the Life-and-Death Platform."

"Hah! Well said."

Blood Butcher Elder's gaze grew even more approving: "Our Seven Kill Demon Palace excels in the Path of Killing. To comprehend the Dao, one must kill often. Besides, your current rule comprehension isn't inferior to those True Disciples—your only weakness is the quality of your Qi. I find you agreeable. I have a favor for you—dare you accept it?"

"What's there to fear?"

Song Zhong replied boldly.

"Then take this bronze tally—you may enter the Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall for one session. That's a privilege reserved for True Disciples."

Blood Butcher Elder chuckled, tossing a bronze tally; his form dissolved like wind: "Don't bother thinking of repaying me—I'm merely intrigued."

【This Blood Butcher Elder… is clearly stirring up chaos on purpose.】

Fang Xing lay sprawled on Song Zhong's shoulder, watching coldly, silently shaking his head.

"Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall?!"

Song Zhong clenched the bronze tally: "I should go… perhaps it will advance my Fire Rule further—giving me the confidence to face True Disciples."

Inner Sect disciples seeking to become Seven Kill Demon Palace True Disciples must also undergo trials.

But the next True Disciple trial is still far off—too late to make it.

…

The Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall is, strictly speaking, a "place of Dao comprehension."

Its essence lies in the ten thousand "Ten Thousand Manifestations Demon Steles," said to have been seized personally by the Seven Kill Daoist.

No matter which Dao a Seven Kill disciple cultivates, they can always find a matching demon stele and make progress.

Today,

Outside the Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall, Song Zhong, clad in black robes, stood before the entrance.

Two bronze beast statues flanking the hall's entrance instantly glowed red, scanning Song Zhong.

Song Zhong quickly produced the bronze tally granted by Blood Butcher Elder.

On his shoulder, Fang Xing lay lazily, feigning indifference, yet actually highly alert.

He resolved to use this patronage quickly, since he'd learned the soul-core treasure was borrowed by Ning Qian, a True Disciple.

【If Ning Qian forces me onto the Life-and-Death Platform, as a spirit pet… won't I end up facing Xiao Huang?】

【When did the spirit pet world get this competitive? Should we just fake it and slack off together?】 【But for Xiao Huang, the old bond of drinking and eating peaches might not outweigh his master's current orders…】

Before arriving, Fang Xing had confirmed that spirit pets could accompany disciples into the Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall.

This was a perk granted by the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.

But for True Disciple teachings, no such privilege existed.

It was said each True Disciple must bow before the statue of the Seven Kill Daoist in the Ancestral Hall.

Moreover, they must pass through a "Heavenly Oath Stone" to receive their cultivation techniques.

Upon receiving the technique, they automatically swore a soul oath—never to reveal the lineage, or face immediate soul annihilation.

【When I bow before the Seven Kill Daoist's statue, who knows what tricks might unfold…】

【That Heavenly Oath Stone will surely scan my soul thoroughly… my Ten Hearts Secret Art may not be safe enough…】

【Better to take all the benefits first, then flee…】

【The Qingyuan Great Realm is vast—humans, demons, and countless factions intermingle. I'll never become a core member among humans, but I can join a demonic power and become a Saint Son or something similar…】

Fang Xing never felt superior because he came from an interstellar era.

Though the Seven Kill Demon Palace still seemed stuck in an ancient society, its top-tier power was astonishing.

Even the Seven Kill Demon Palace isn't among the true peak powers in the Qingyuan Great Realm!

Fang Xing naturally sought to humbly learn advanced cultivation methods from other worlds.

Crack!

As he pondered, the two bronze beasts completed their inspection; their red glow faded.

Simultaneously, the bronze tally in Song Zhong's hand turned to ash.

"Inner Sect disciple Song Zhong, recommended by Blood Butcher Elder, may enter the Ten Thousand Manifestations Hall for three days."

A withered voice rang out.

Song Zhong quickly bowed, then stepped into the Ten Thousand Phenomena Hall.

"So huge!"

Song Zhong's first impression of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Hall was its size.

It spanned ten thousand li in diameter and rose a hundred li high—clearly, some kind of void art had been cast within, making it appear boundlessly vast.

Dozens of black stone steles, each tens of li tall, rose from the ground, each radiating a distinct aura, forming a forest of steles.

The moment Song Zhong laid eyes on the first Ten Thousand Phenomena Demon Stele, a look of obsession appeared on his face.

Upon the Demon Stele, in crude, ancient strokes, was depicted a one-horned monstrous beast.

Around it seemed to coil countless thunderbolts—each wisp of blue and black lightning… was the ultimate embodiment of the "Thunder Dao"!

"A Dao-awakening treasure?!"

Fang Xing was equally startled: "A Dao-awakening treasure just like the Fire God Pillar of Yuanzhong Divine Palace—perhaps even more potent… Even someone like me, who knows nothing of Thunder Laws, feels that after meditating for a day and night, I could easily enter the realm of Thunder Laws! No… meditating on this Ten Thousand Phenomena Demon Stele comes at a cost! No wonder it's called 'Demon'!"

Song Zhong soon noticed something amiss: as he focused his attention on the Thunder Demon Stele before him, though his Dao insight surged rapidly, his essence, qi, and spirit… seemed to drain away at an alarming rate!

It was as if this demonic stele were an insatiable thief, endlessly stealing his vigor, leaving him gaunt and hollow…

"If this continues… in three days, I will surely die!"

Song Zhong gasped: "No wonder only three days of meditation are permitted… but these steles are truly supreme treasures."

His eyes blazing with fervor, he immediately summoned firelight and turned toward another Demon Stele.

This Demon Stele depicted a demonic dragon formed from countless streams of water, illustrating the "Thousand Waters Dao"—more akin to Cai Zhujin's path of insight.

If that dead man were here, he'd be utterly entranced.

But Song Zhong merely glanced at it and leapt past.

Earth Dao, Wind Wing Dao, Dark Dao, Xuanming Dao, Black Water Dao…

One after another, the Laws unveiled their mysterious veils before the observers.

"No wonder it's called the Ten Thousand Phenomena Demon Steles… Do all Dao paths of the world reside within them?"

Even Fang Xing was shaken.

Finally, Song Zhong halted before one Demon Stele, upon whose surface a lava demon god was imprisoned, bound by countless chains.

"Fire Demon Stele?!"

Song Zhong murmured, then immediately became lost in meditation.

Fang Xing too felt a pull.

"What a magnificent Dao-awakening treasure… If I could meditate on it for three days, my proficiency would surge dramatically… In the future, advancing Fire Law to Master level would surely become far easier…"

Song Zhong was also meditating on the Fire Dao.

For him, this was the perfect choice—but not for Fang Xing!

He flicked his tail, striking Song Zhong behind the ear.

Song Zhong snapped back to awareness; though reluctant, he immediately flew toward the next Ten Thousand Phenomena Demon Stele.

"This Ten Thousand Phenomena Hall… beyond Dao meditation, its true purpose is testing—to let the True Disciples discover which Dao path they excel in?"

"At least… all common Dao insights are represented here…"

"Ten Thousand Phenomena Demons… where did the Seven Kill Daoist originally obtain this treasure?"

"And with such Dao-awakening treasures, the Seven Kill Demon Palace has produced not a single Heaven Immortal who fully comprehended a Law in tens of thousands of years… Clearly, that final step to complete Dao comprehension is truly excruciating."

Fang Xing felt deep awe as he passed from one Demon Stele to another.

Finally, he stopped before one.

Within the stele was a strange worm, slithering through different parallel three-dimensional caverns…

"Void Demon Stele!"

Fang Xing's heart stirred: "Above the third layer of Illusory Void, there truly are so many spatial structures… If I fully comprehend it, perhaps I could extend my consciousness into the fourth layer of Void…"

"But I have the Gates of All Realms—when I traverse them, I sense the origin of space. It seems even more effective than this Void Demon Stele…"

"With such a rare opportunity, I must tour all ten thousand steles… to understand what I'm truly best at."

"Sometimes, choice matters more than effort!"

Under Fang Xing's control, Song Zhong, tireless, passed from stele to stele.

Even though he lingered only briefly before each, the total time consumed was remarkably long.

Before they knew it, a full day had passed.

"After viewing all ten thousand Ten Thousand Phenomena Demon Steles, even death and fate hold little allure for me…"

"Overall, these two Demon Steles stirred my heart the most!"

Fang Xing gazed ahead and saw two towering Demon Steles standing side by side.

They were slightly taller than the others; their pitch-black surfaces glowed—one like azure water, the other like primordial yellow and vast emptiness…

(End of Chapter)