Chapter 424: Imperial Prince

Ten Thousand Snakes Mountain.

This mountain rises tens of thousands of li high and stretches for light-years, its scope immensely vast.

On its surface, devoid of any vegetation, only bare gray-white stone remained, yet it bore terrifying traces of serpent paths.

Countless gray-white stone serpents freely climbed and played upon this mountain.

These serpents ranged from dozens to hundreds of meters in length, immensely massive, yet each possessed but a single vertical eye.

The strongest among them, the leader serpent, exceeded a kilometer in length; within its vertical pupil, a "Serpent Eye Pearl" had begun to form—capable of emitting strange light that instantly turned those struck into stone statues, cruel beyond measure.

Hisss!

A streak of light slashed across the heavens, causing one serpent after another to lift their heads and hiss.

A cliffside gorge.

Countless stone serpents coiled together, forming a colossal serpent ball.

Suddenly, the largest serpent ball unraveled, revealing a gray-white giant serpent over three thousand meters long.

It raised its head, its single vertical pupil locking onto the intruder.

"This stone serpent has definitely cultivated a 'Serpent Eye Pearl.'"

Fang Xing nodded, signaling Song Zhong to draw his battle blade and charge down first.

Hisss!

Hisss!

One after another, stone serpents lunged forward; Song Zhong remained unfazed, swinging his blade in rapid cuts.

Lines of crimson flame rules flashed, striking the gray-white scales—yet left only deep grooves.

"Hmm?"

Song Zhong frowned, activating the Seven Kill Scripture; his spiritual power surged again.

Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!

A continuous cascade of blade light descended, mowing down all before it; numerous stone serpents were severed into pieces, falling from midair.

Hisss!

The stone serpent leader shot skyward, every scale on its body erupting in gray-white light, radiating a weight as heavy as mountains.

"Earth Dao principle? No—Stone Dao principle?!"

"Born with innate comprehension of Dao principles? Or perhaps some kind of Dao-artifact creation…"

Song Zhong shifted his blade; a world of flame instantly formed and crushed downward.

Within the flame world, a thousand-zhang giant serpent roared, charging recklessly; any flame beast it swept with its vertical eye instantly turned to stone statue and fell from the sky.

"Die!"

Song Zhong gripped his blade with both hands and roared.

Lines of flame Dao principles converged into a brilliant blade Mang, exploding instantly to strike the leader serpent's scales.

Puff!

Gray-white scales shattered; the Heartflame Battle Blade sank three inches into flesh—then could advance no further.

Hisss!

A thick serpent tail whipped toward him, like a mountain descending, slamming Song Zhong into the earth.

Boom!

The ground trembled, leaving behind a massive crater.

Within the crater, Song Zhong's form was gone.

Zuu!

A flash of silver light—through Break-Space Flash—Fang Xing had seized Song Zhong and appeared beneath the leader serpent's belly, hurling him out.

Song Zhong merged with his blade; three crimson blade shadows fused into one, crashing down upon the serpent's original wound.

The giant serpent roared, its massive body splitting cleanly in two, collapsing to the ground—yet its vitality remained fiercely resilient.

Cht!

A crimson fire thread flashed, piercing deep into the serpent leader's single eye, extracting a gray-white stone pearl.

"So this is the Serpent Eye Pearl?"

Fang Xing took it without hesitation, murmuring softly.

Hisss!

Hisss!

At this moment, beyond the gorge, stone serpents surged as if in frenzy, surrounding them.

Among them, leader-class monsters exceeding a kilometer in length numbered dozens!

Given that even one could match Song Zhong in combat, if surrounded, not even Song Zhong—let alone a core true disciple of the Seven Kill Demon Palace—would survive without a life-saving trump card.

Even Break-Space Flash was too short-ranged to cut through this endless sea of serpents.

At this moment, Fang Xing seized Song Zhong; as countless petrified beams of light descended, their forms turned ethereal.

Somewhere in the Corrosive Poison Marsh.

A man and a dragon materialized.

It was Fang Xing, having activated "Teleport."

With his current mastery over Void Dao, carrying another in teleportation was effortless.

This technique, once used, instantly removed them from danger.

"But… collecting Serpent Eye Pearls seems difficult indeed…"

Fang Xing's consciousness ascended infinitely, piercing the Grand Void, arriving at the Illusory Void Layer.

From this higher-dimensional perspective, he could overlook the entire "Qinghua Small Realm," seeing the vast marshes, towering continuous stone mountains, and at its center—the blood sea!

"This blood sea… its diameter is roughly nine light-years…"

"More crucially… there are Void prohibitions. I cannot penetrate deeper, nor see its core…"

Fang Xing found this entirely reasonable.

After all, this was the legacy of a Heavenly Demon Sovereign—impossible to leave such a gaping vulnerability.

"Better to have Song Zhong kill more stone serpent leaders, gather Serpent Eye Pearls, then strike big…"

"After all, a worker's soul never quits… grinding here nonstop isn't a problem."

"Even if danger arises, I can always escape."…

Meanwhile.

Qingdi Palace, a certain cave dwelling.

"Fu Qing is dead?"

A serpent-man with emerald hair, his features faintly resembling Fu Qing, opened his eyes; his vertical pupils glinted sharply: "Though he was a waste… he was still my She Xi tribe's waste—how could he die?"

"Attend!"

He withdrew a token and barked.

Though merely a peak Great Demon of the Ninth Realm, the serpent-man radiated immense authority.

At his command, over a dozen soul-force energies descended, manifesting as various demon-clan Soul-Realm experts: "Your Imperial Highness…"

"I just sensed… my only blood brother has died…"

The serpent-man whispered: "Whoever killed my Fu Shan's brother must pay. Investigate!"

"Yes!"

An elderly Soul-Realm elder closed his eyes, then opened them immediately: "Your Imperial Highness, Fu Qing was recently traveling within the Qinghua Small Realm—he likely perished due to its dangers or the hands of Seven Kill Demon Palace cultivators. We have an agreement with the Seven Kill Demon Palace: Soul-Realm cultivators above the Ninth Realm must not interfere in the Qinghua Small Realm's struggles… and in truth, we cannot enter it at all."

"The Qinghua Small Realm… the legacy of Lady Qinghua… She once betrayed our clan for love, and ended tragically. I originally cared little for her legacy, thinking to grant other princes the chance… but for that worthless brother, I shall go myself."

Fu Shan said: "Any leads on the killer?"

"None so far… The Seven Kill Demon Palace currently has three true disciples active in the Qinghua Small Realm—we must investigate each one."

A Soul-Realm demon spoke.

"Then forget it—I'll go myself and kill them all… Hmm, I'll also expend my Merit Points to exchange for a 'Seek Cause, Find Result Talisman.'"

"Seek Cause, Find Result Talisman? Your Imperial Highness, reconsider—this is crafted only by a Cause-and-Effect Heavenly Demon who has fully comprehended the Cause-and-Effect Dao principle, and consumes immense resources…"

Other Soul-Realm demon kings hurriedly urged: "Merit Points are scarce, Your Highness—focus on your own cultivation!"

"My decision is final. Besides, I shall take Lady Qinghua's legacy and offer it to the tribe or palace—surely that will suffice as compensation."

Fu Shan spoke as if the Heavenly Demon legacy were already his own.

The other Soul-Realm demon kings nodded in agreement, feeling it natural that the prince would claim the legacy.

After all… Lady Qinghua had originally been a serpent, from the She Xi tribe!

And Prince Fu Shan was a serpent prince—not only by blood, but by talent, destined to one day reach the Heavenly Demon realm.

No matter how harsh Lady Qinghua's trials, he should surely pass… right?

…

Several days later.

Ten Thousand Snakes Mountain.

Cht!

A blade flash severed a stone serpent leader cleanly in two.

Crimson threads descended, extracting the "Serpent Eye Pearl" from its vertical pupil.

Hisss!

Around him, countless stone vipers raged, eager to swarm the figure riding the black dragon.

Whoosh!

A flash of silver light—and the figure riding the black dragon vanished instantly.

This scene had occurred many times already on Ten Thousand Vipers Mountain.

"Hmm… thirty-ninth one."

In a swamp, Fang Xing held the "Snake Eye Pearl" he had obtained, feeling quite satisfied.

Over these past days, he had struck repeatedly and gathered a large number of Snake Eye Pearls.

He felt he could soon head to the Blood Sea and try his luck.

As a demon race member, shouldn't he have an easier time acquiring legacies than humans?

Besides, since he was merely an awareness manifestation, most treasures were essentially useless.

But if a legacy clashed too violently with the rules of the main universe, it would be a real headache.

For instance, the body forging art he had chosen earlier required only starlight to train, making it highly adaptable.

As for the soul transformation technique, he still needed to examine it carefully.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, his soul force swept out and detected a demon race member.

"A cultivator from the Seven Kill Demon Palace?"

A green cloud drifted over, and within it, a green-armored giant hurled a massive hammer he held.

Boom!

The hammer glowed with strange radiance, slicing through the air—its target was clearly Song Zhong!

—To others, Fang Xing was merely a spirit pet; if they were to fight, they'd go straight for the master!

Having realized this, Fang Xing now always traveled with Song Zhong, using him purely as a decoy to draw attention.

As expected, whether it was the stone vipers or occasional demon race experts, no matter what strange techniques or hidden treasures they wielded… they all struck at Song Zhong first.

This had caused Song Zhong to shield him from no small amount of danger.

Fang Xing had even grown reluctant to let this excellent tool die, and thus found himself protecting him more than he wished.

Clang!

The Heartflame Battle Knife unsheathed; streaks of fire crisscrossed the void, forming a blazing world that crashed down with thunder.

Crash!

The hammer flew back, startling the green-armored giant, who then sneered: "You're a true disciple of the Seven Kill Demon Palace? Hah… you're dead. The Prince has already slain two of your true disciples—you're the third!"

As he spoke, the green-armored giant swung his battle hammer, closing in to engage Song Zhong—clearly determined not to let him escape.

'Huh? A prince hunting?'

Fang Xing lashed his tail, sending a terrifying shockwave crashing into the hammer while stealing some of the green-armored demon's inner thoughts.

He was stunned: 'What? Fu Shan is seeking revenge for his brother? He's been ruthlessly hunting Seven Kill Demon Palace disciples? Two true disciples already dead?'

Only two updates today

(End of chapter)