The sky burned like a canvas, flames radiating outward from Furylo as the center. Everything the fire touched turned to ash, and soon half the sky was gone. When the flames reached above Quinn Shepherd’s head, the entire sky of his world was incinerated, leaving nothing behind.
The demon world vanished, and another realm appeared before his eyes.
Quinn didn’t look at Furylo approaching ahead. Instead, he scanned his surroundings: black towers rose like a forest in the endless gray mist, countless demons hustling like industrious ants, forging gigantic siege engines and drilling for battle.
Only when he saw a dim, broken sun hanging in the eastern sky did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He was still in High-Emperor Heaven. The demon world Furylo had shown him earlier was truly terrifying—he had no desire to stay in that ruined realm.
The sun in High-Emperor Heaven was an artificial god-made sun. Its light was never strong enough to dispel the demonic haze over the demon territory. The few rays that touched Quinn’s skin felt cold, carrying no warmth at all.
The world Furylo showed him just now had indeed been nothing but an illusion.
“Senior Furylo, you went to great lengths to bring me here. Surely it’s not just to show me the suffering history of your demon race?”
Quinn withdrew his gaze and said in a deep voice, “You should know—the tragedies of your people have nothing to do with me. But your invasion of High-Emperor Heaven, inflicting suffering on humans, that’s what concerns me.”
Furylo walked up beside him and said slowly, “Are you so certain, Quinn, that you’re truly human?”
Quinn’s eyes flickered. “What are you trying to say, Senior Furylo? Speak plainly.”
“You are a demon.”
One of Furylo’s faces turned toward him and said, “And not just any demon—an extremely high-born one! Perhaps your bloodline is even nobler than mine.”
Quinn froze, then pointed at Furylo and burst out laughing, so hard he could barely breathe.
Furylo remained expressionless, quietly waiting for Quinn to finish laughing and fall silent. Only then did he say, “Has no one ever told you that you’re a demon?”
Quinn straightened up, caught his breath, and chuckled, “Actually, someone has. When I was a child in the heart of the Great Ruins, I met a sealed demon god in the Hall of Calamity-Seal. He told me I was a demon. But he only wanted to trick me, to seize my body and escape his prison. Too bad I saw through him and managed to swindle two and a half demon seal arts from him. That demon god tried to fool me for my flesh—so, Senior Furylo, what exactly are you trying to trick me out of?”
Furylo strode forward, his neck twisting so the back of his head moved to the left. “I’m not trying to trick you out of anything. Our demon race may speak half truths and half lies, but the other half is always real. That demon god who tried to possess you said you’re a demon—he wanted your trust, so that part was true.”
Suddenly, Quinn seemed to melt, his body turning into a shadow that slid along the ground.
He moved at incredible speed—within moments, the shadow had raced more than a hundred li.
Quinn let out a breath and emerged from shadow form, only to hear Furylo’s voice: “You still don’t quite believe it, do you? But have you noticed how, when you use demon seal arts, your yuanqi flows perfectly, without the slightest resistance?”
Quinn paused, realizing that despite all his running, he was still neither far nor close to Furylo—only now he was on Furylo’s left side, whereas before he’d been behind him.
Furylo chuckled, “You can master demon arts so easily and wield them without the slightest hitch—that’s because you’re a demon too!”
Quinn shot into the air, unleashing the Stealing-Heavens Leg Art to its limit, tearing through the sky.
After a while, as Quinn sprinted wildly, he saw Furylo standing directly ahead. His face changed dramatically and he swerved, racing off in another direction.
Moments later, he realized he'd looped around and was now sprinting on Furylo’s right side.
Quinn halted in midair, plummeted to the ground, and sank into the earth. He tunneled underground for an unknown distance, then poked his head out—only to see Furylo’s heel right in front of him.
He was still among the towering black spires, and Furylo was still strolling ahead at a leisurely pace.
“But you’re also human. You’re just as adept at cultivating human arts.”
Furylo’s voice came from ahead: “You’re half human, half demon. That’s why you can so easily master the arts of both races. Your talent moved me, so I brought you here.”
Quinn brushed the dirt off his clothes and sneered, “Sovereign King, your way of inviting people is certainly... unique.”
He gave up trying to escape and simply strode after Furylo. Furylo noticed Quinn had stopped calling him ‘Senior’ and switched to ‘Sovereign King’; one of his faces broke into a smile.
Quinn’s change from ‘Senior’ to ‘Sovereign King’ seemed casual, but it was deliberate. Calling someone ‘Senior’ implied he was the junior, making it awkward for the elder to kill a younger generation outright.
Calling him ‘Sovereign King’ was another ploy. That was the demon race’s term for Furylo—Quinn was now putting himself in the demon’s position, trying to lower Furylo’s guard.
Of course, such tricks were useless against Furylo.
“Demons aren’t like humans. Humans have vast, fertile lands, blessed by heaven, but demons come from the Netherworld.”
Furylo gestured for Quinn to keep close. “The Netherworld is full of wronged souls. Their accumulated grievance and demonic nature, over ages, gave birth to the demon ancestors. These demon gods, born of malice, bred among themselves and created the demon race.”
Quinn was taken aback, not quite sure why Furylo was telling him all this.
“After demons were born, the Netherworld didn’t welcome them. Tu Bo drove us out, so from the start, my people were exiles, forced to wander and find places to live. Other races didn’t accept us either, and the lands we found were always dangerous. Even so, we survived, but…”
Another of Furylo’s faces turned toward Quinn. “But our world still fell to ruin. For our race to survive, we had to invade High-Emperor Heaven. In truth, I came to you seeking a way for humans and demons to coexist. The moment I saw you, I had an idea!”
This face looked utterly sincere, offering a tempting proposal: “Help me unify High-Emperor Heaven, and I’ll let you rule the humans! You govern the human race, keep them safe; I govern the demons, preserve my people. Isn’t that a perfect solution for both sides?”
Furylo’s eyes gleamed, fixing on Quinn, waiting for his answer.
Quinn pondered for a moment, then probed, “Sovereign King, you said demonfolk speak half truths and half lies. Out of everything you just told me—which parts were lies?”
Furylo twisted his neck, switching to another face—this one dark and cold. “What do you think?” he replied blandly.
Quinn smiled, “Your proposal sounds great. Why not do exactly as you suggest?”
Furylo’s face froze. Quinn continued, “Let’s split High-Emperor Heaven in two—I’ll rule the humans, you rule the demons, and we’ll live in peace. Sovereign King, you can hand over all the humans in demon territory to me right now.”
Furylo’s cold, dark face stared at him. Suddenly, with two sharp cracking sounds, his neck rotated a full circle, revealing a third face—green-skinned, fanged, and grotesque.
Quinn let out a long breath and laughed, “Now I know which parts of your story were true and which were false. Your goal isn’t High-Emperor Heaven—it’s the Great Ruins. High-Emperor Heaven is just your stepping stone. If I help you conquer it, you’ll blood-sacrifice the realm and break into the Great Ruins!”
Furylo snorted, leading Quinn to a cliff’s edge, his face fierce. “My disciple, General Furyak, died by your hand, didn’t he? I can let that grudge go—offer you glory and riches—but do you take me for a fool? You think the Celestial Teacher can stop me? You think your few human gods can block my way?”
Quinn stepped forward and looked down—his face changed drastically.
Below lay a vast abyss, where countless demons and humans toiled, carving out gigantic, ornate sacrificial altars.
There were hundreds of altars!
Once, the Woodcutter Sage summoned twenty-four stone statues from the Great Ruins. Those statues awakened as gods, and the twenty-four golden pyramidal altars lined up in a breathtaking row.
But now, the scene in this abyss was far more spectacular than those twenty-four altars!
Hundreds of altars—were they planning to summon hundreds of gods and demons?
Quinn’s eye twitched. His voice was hoarse: “You can’t possibly summon that many gods and demons! Even the true Heavenly Court couldn’t give you that much power! You wouldn’t dare accept an army that vast!”
Furylo shook his head, “I could summon Heavenly Court gods and demons, but I wouldn’t dare.”
Cold sweat broke out on Quinn’s forehead. He shook his head, “Your world is connected to High-Emperor Heaven, so the ones you’d summon aren’t demon gods from your world—they can come straight in. After twenty thousand years of war, your world’s demon gods must have died in droves. Not many remain, so you don’t need all these altars…”
Furylo stared at him coldly, “Keep guessing. If you get it right, I’ll spare your life.”
Quinn’s heart clenched. He balled his fists, suddenly realizing what Furylo meant to summon.
“The demon ancestors—those demon gods spawned from the Netherworld’s pure grievance and malice! You mean to summon them!”
Furylo burst out laughing, quite pleased with himself. “So, what do you think of this plan?”
Quinn steadied himself and shook his head. “Sovereign King, you must be desperate to summon them. But with those demon gods born of pure malice, it won’t just be humanity they destroy—they’ll wipe out all of High-Emperor Heaven!”
“That’s why I need to blood-sacrifice High-Emperor Heaven.”
Furylo smiled faintly; all three faces spoke in unison, “High-Emperor Heaven will be the stepping stone into the Great Ruins! But I have an even better idea—I hear you built a World Bridge. If you make a few more for my demonfolk, I’ll spare your life.”
Quinn tested him, “You’d really trust me to build bridges for the demonfolk? Aren’t you afraid I’d sabotage them?”
Furylo’s expression darkened. “So you’re dead set on refusing me?”
Quinn hurriedly replied, “Senior…”
Furylo swept his sleeve and sneered, “Don’t try tricks! Calling me ‘Senior’ won’t help! I’m sincere with you—I see your talent. Even the Celestial Teacher couldn’t invent the World Bridge, but you did, so I spared you for your genius! Do you think I won’t kill you? When have demons ever kept their word?”
His demonic aura surged. Quinn’s face went pale, crushed by the pressure; he staggered back, gasping, and shouted with his last breath, “Actually, I come from Carefree Haven!”
Furylo was about to strike, but stopped at once when he heard this. He sneered, “You come from Carefree Haven? Prove it!”
Quinn’s face flushed red—he couldn’t breathe.
Furylo withdrew his demonic pressure. Quinn gulped for air and pulled a jade pendant from his chest. “I have a token from Carefree Haven to prove it! Sovereign King, you should recognize it, right?”
Furylo reached out, and the jade pendant slipped free, flying into his hand.
Quinn’s heart pounded wildly; he forced himself to calm down. 'The Judge said never let the pendant leave you, or disaster will strike. Now I have to rely on it to escape—hopefully it works… Wait, why hasn’t anything bad happened yet? Maybe I’m still too close to the pendant?'
[Irrelevant author’s note about chapter update and monthly ticket request—skip translation.]