June 17th.
The martial arts world was shaken.
Chen Jiuyang, champion of the Dragon Country Martial Ranking, winner of the Asian Martial Ranking competition, a top four contender in the World Martial Ranking, and former Dragon Country Qian King, had joined the Demonic Path.
Countless people were in an uproar.
A prodigy at the fourth level of the Heavenly Realm, at the young age of twenty-three, a prodigy destined to be recorded in martial history, hailing from the Shu Mountain Chen family, had joined the Demonic Path.
What were the Shu Mountain Chen family thinking?
"Chen Jiuyang has been expelled from the clan. He is no longer a member of the Shu Mountain Chen family."
"To the ancestors of the Chen family, your unworthy descendant Chen Biandao..."
...
Within the Han clan territory of the True Demon lineage, one of the nine veins of the Demonic Path.
In an ancient grand hall carved from green mountains and jade, with exquisite jade craftsmanship.
Now that the Dragon Country had revived, many old ancestors who had been sealed in secret realms had awakened.
In this Han clan grand hall, hundreds of core elite clan members were gathered.
The Demonic Path ancestors chatted and laughed, their eyes filled with pride.
"Excellent, excellent. As soon as we awoke from our long slumber, a peerless prodigy has returned to our sacred path. Moreover, the Heavenly Charm Saintess has grown smoothly. It is destined for our Sacred Path's Nine Capitals Han clan to prosper."
Among the one hundred and eight veins of the Demonic Path, the Han clan ranked ninth, possessing profound heritage.
"The False Path is ultimately the False Path, all pretense and hypocrisy, merely a group of despicable individuals. However..." This ancestor glanced at the young man with a detached expression, clad in a dark gold brocade robe, and said, "There are still discerning and wise individuals in the False Path who know their place."
This ancestor was referring to Chen Biandao.
Chen Jiuyang's entire family relocated. Zhang Xiuzhen, Chen Jianmin, and Chen Yating moved directly to the Nine Capitals Han clan territory.
This place, akin to a paradise, was to their liking. Although they were mortals without any immortal martial cultivation, they held noble status and were arranged to reside in modern villas in the best locations.
The entire Han clan territory resembled a small county town.
The previous Han clan leader had abdicated, and a Nascent Soul stage elder, exuding an aura of ancient times, had taken over as clan leader.
The Han clan leader spoke, "Silence."
His words contained immense spiritual power, immediately quieting the bustling Han clan grand hall.
In the grand hall, people were seated in all directions. To the east were the old monsters of the Han clan, who had just awakened from their slumber, led by the clan leader.
To the west were the elite disciples of the current generation.
To the south were visitors from other veins of the Demonic Path.
To the north were Chen Jiuyang, Qiu Yihan, Granny Han, Chen Biandao, and those who had accompanied Chen Jiuyang.
The Han clan leader looked at Chen Jiuyang and said, "Chen Jiuyang, today is the ceremony for your entry into the sacred path."
"Among the nine veins of our sacred path, you join our True Demon lineage. You must pay homage to the Patriarch, offer a drop of your blood essence, and ignite your soul lamp."
"Agreed," Chen Jiuyang replied.
The Han clan leader slowly nodded, then with a solemn and reverent expression, said, "Please, Sacred Ancestor, appear."
Immediately, he rose and bowed respectfully towards the deep, dark expanse of the hall. Everyone in the Demonic Path bowed in unison towards the depths of the hall.
"Boom!"
A moment later, an indescribable aura erupted from the depths of the hall, and a massive ancient scroll painting floated from the depths.
It then slowly unfurled.
As the ancient painting unfurled, the first thing that caught the eye were countless floating lotus lamp stands, each burning with a blood-red flame. They were too numerous to count.
His gaze moved upwards, revealing vivid and terrifying portraits. Chen Jiuyang could not bear to look, quickly averting his gaze and focusing only on the lamp stands below.
A stream of light shot out from the painting, and a lamp stand floated before Chen Jiuyang.
Then, as instructed by the Han clan leader, Chen Jiuyang paid his respects to the Han clan ancestors, past patriarchs, the current Grand Elders, and the current Sect Master. He then pricked his finger and forced out a drop of blood essence into the lamp stand.
The lamp stand suddenly ignited with a golden flame, then transformed into a stream of light and merged into the ancient painting.
From this moment on, Chen Jiuyang was a member of the Demonic Path.
The members of the Demonic Path looked satisfied. A Heavenly Realm fourth-level prodigy at twenty-four years old, willingly joining them, and being the object of the Heavenly Charm Saintess's affections – they could not have been more pleased with Chen Jiuyang.
At this point, the Han clan leader stepped down, and the True Demon Sect Master, an elder with a terrifying and unfathomable aura, came forward. He looked at Chen Jiuyang with a detached expression and said,
"Chen Jiuyang, as you are a disciple of our Sacred Demon lineage, with your intelligent talent and pure character, you are directly ranked as a true disciple. You may request the ancient painting to bestow upon you several divine abilities to increase your strength."
"No need."
Chen Jiuyang had already deduced this future through the Creation Heavenly Mystery Jade Disk. However, he now possessed the moves of a peak Venerable Realm in the future and had no need for any gifts from the sacred artifact of the Demonic Path.
Chen Jiuyang cupped his hands and asked the True Demon Sect Master, "May I ask, Sect Master, how can I request the Patriarch within the sacred artifact to appear?"
Since he had joined the Demonic Path, his manner of speaking had to change.
The True Demon Sect Master hesitated for a moment, stroked his beard, and said, "To see the Patriarch within the sacred artifact, what is the matter?"
Chen Jiuyang replied, "On the eighth day of the eighth month, the pigs and dogs of the False Path will use my wife and children as keys to ascend to the immortal realm. Saint Sect disciple Chen Jiuyang requests the Patriarch to appear and save my wife and children."
As Chen Jiuyang's voice fell, the Demonic Path members in the hall erupted.
"The pigs and dogs of the False Path truly deserve death, to use the wife and children of our Sacred Path prodigy as keys to ascend to the immortal realm!"
"We must fight the pigs and dogs of the False Path, break through their sects, and vent our hatred."
The True Demon Sect Master frowned and said, "Silence!"
The hall fell silent once more.
The True Demon Sect Master looked at Chen Jiuyang and said, "To make the Patriarch within the ancient painting appear, even within our Sacred Demon lineage, there are only three opportunities."
"These are the enthronement of the Holy Son, the enthronement of the Saintess, and the enthronement of the Sect Master."
"The Saintess has already been enthroned, and I, upon awakening, also met the Patriarch after my enthronement."
"However, now that the Golden Age has begun, the position of Holy Son in our Sacred Demon lineage is still vacant. The selection for the Holy Son of the Sacred Demon lineage will begin on June 28th."
"If you can win first place and secure the position of Holy Son, you will naturally be able to see the Patriarch."
Chen Jiuyang listened calmly. The future deduced by the Creation Heavenly Mystery Jade Disk ultimately differed from reality, as it had not predicted this matter.
However, in the deduced future, he became the Holy Son of the Sacred Demon lineage, and within a few years, he ascended to the position of True Demon Sect Master, and a few years later, to the position of Holy Lord of the nine veins of the Demonic Path.
This meant that the Patriarch behind the Demonic Path was in one of the nine forbidden zones, which was why he had not appeared in the deductions.
After analyzing internally, Chen Jiuyang cupped his hands and said, "Thus, as per the Sect Master's order, this disciple will participate in the Holy Son selection competition on June 28th."
The True Demon Sect Master slowly nodded and said, "Good."
The Holy Son selection competition would have ten thousand participants, with prodigies from the one hundred and eight veins of the Demonic Path participating. These prodigies were all individuals with extraordinary talent who had been sealed throughout the long ages.
To win first place among these ten thousand prodigies and secure the position of Holy Son was considered very difficult.
However, for Chen Jiuyang, this was not only not difficult but also a good thing. Firstly, it allowed him to eliminate many prodigies and rapidly improve his cultivation. Secondly, it provided an opportunity to select subordinates for his eventual ascension to the position of co-lord of the nine veins and cultivate his own influence.