Chapter 830: Chapter 554: The Fall of the Demon Palace
"Though the Divine Alliance holds deep-seated hatred against the Human Clan, I don’t think they’ll collaborate with us. Between us, there is a blood sea of enmity." The Blood Ancient God and Lord Toad both shook their heads.
"Cooperation is certainly out of the question. What we need to do is find a way to ignite the flames between the Divine Alliance and the Human Clan, and watch from the sidelines."
"Will the Divine Alliance really fall for it?"
Lord Toad expressed deep skepticism.
The Witch sneered and said:
"That’s a bunch of fools living in old dreams, numbing themselves. They’ll fall for it. Even if it’s an obvious bait, the Divine Alliance will still bite, because that’s exactly what they want—they need a self-righteous excuse."
The Old Mother said:
"The Divine Alliance, as Divine descendants, has a profound foundation—they may even have Demigod Level heritage. Letting dogs fight is one thing, but if the Divine Alliance really succeeds, we might lose control."
The Witch shook their head.
"You’re mistaken. The Divine Alliance cannot possibly succeed. Even if they do, it won’t affect us in the slightest. The ancestors of the Divine Alliance were precisely the representatives of the backward factions within the old Divine Court. Back then, our victory came because we caused the Divine Court to collapse from within. Countless years have passed, but that arrogant, ignorant, foolish, backward nature in their bones has never changed—not one bit, even among the descendants of the Divine Alliance. After the Xia Realm War, I might admit I don’t fully understand the fleeting and ever-changing humans, but I know all too well the congenital flaws of the Divine."
After finishing, the Witch gazed at the assembled gods of the stars.
There was still one thing left unsaid in their heart.
"The immortal breeds are the most foolish and numb of all—no fresh blood, no metabolism, no change, nothing new under the sun, always unchanging, self-righteous, and aloof for millennia."
The Blood Ancient God laughed and said:
"Leave this matter to me. Let the Divine Alliance and the Human Clan fight. We’ll take the opportunity to catch our breath, accelerate the pace of our resurrection, and strive to dispatch a Demigod before the grand curtain shatters. In this way, the Three Great Fire Worlds will fall as easily as snapping a finger."
The Witch nodded.
"Good. As for the rest of you, continue to build up power throughout the Three Thousand Worlds and strangle the rise of Human Great Powers in the cradle. We already have two uncontrollable variables: the Dragon King and Lu Chenzhou. We cannot allow the birth of another one."
Lord Toad smirked and said:
"Do you think becoming a Great Power is that easy? Perhaps the Dragon King and Lu Chenzhou advanced rapidly before the Heavenly Realm, but every step past the Heavenly Realm is a new sky—you can’t hope to reach Great Power before our revival. The Dragon King, for all his fame, has been stuck at Breakthrough Seven for a whole sixty years, and hasn’t reached Breakthrough Eighth, has he? As for attempting Breakthrough Nine, you’d need centuries, at least.
In a few more centuries, our true selves might have already walked out from the Forbidden Zone. Even if he achieves Breakthrough Nine, he’s nothing but an ant.
As for Lu Chenzhou, sure, he’s a Demon Evil, but he hasn’t even made Breakthrough Seven. Even if he’s quicker than the Dragon King, he can’t possibly become a Great Power before we send out a Demigod!
The other Genius seedlings—not worth mentioning."
Lord Toad’s expression was arrogant.
After all, it was a Primordial being.
The Witch didn’t say anything more.
Within, they couldn’t help but sigh.
"As I thought, all immortal breeds are fools."
If the Desolate God was a Divine birthed at the Universe’s Heaven and Earth Creation, then Lord Toad, the Holy Lord, and their cohort are Innate Divines from the chaos at the dawn of the Land of the Stars.
They share a common trait.
Arrogance!
They fancy themselves masters of the Universe.
The Witch was utterly weary.
"I have no way out now. All I can do is find a way to drag these pigheaded Primordials to victory in this war."
...
Great Wilderness,
Lord Toad’s Forbidden Zone.
Lord Toad gently caressed the massive egg in front of it.
It gazed toward the direction of the other Forbidden Zones.
"Hatch soon. After hatching, grow quickly, help Father regain his peak, let Father be the first to step out of the Forbidden Zone, devour them all, and bring me to another level."
...
Xia Realm.
Million Mountains.
Deep underground, there was a Blood Pool filled with piles of corpses—both Human and Demon—haunted by vengeful spirits.
At the center of the Blood Pool was a chunk of flesh, greedily absorbing the pool’s nutrients. It grew rapidly, soon resembling a blood-colored sea star, with rudimentary facial features emerging.
Almost like Patrick Star...
After a while, the sea star transformed, turning into a short figure and uttering a voice still untouched by maturity.
"Good thing I hid a chunk of flesh and part of my divine soul here in advance. Now that my main body is dead, this clone has been awakened. Although it’s only at the early stage of Demon Emperor, at least I’ve shaken off the tailing of the Wanbang Council with this fake death, making it easier for me to move unseen."
The short figure was none other than Gu Yue Demon Venerable.
A projection of the Eye of Truth appeared.
The voice of the Blood Ancient God rang out.
"Gu Yue, what’s the situation?"
"All is proceeding smoothly."
"Your clone’s strength is unremarkable, so don’t show yourself lightly. The Eye of Truth’s main force may have withdrawn from Xia Realm, but we still need someone to keep an eye on the situation. Build a covert underground unit to monitor things in the Xia Realm from the shadows.
This is a [Jade Toad Ancient Coin], a Seventh Rank Causality Law Treasure, able to shield from causal detection. Lord Toad just spent a fortune to send it out of the Forbidden Zone—its rarity is on par with Heaven and Earth Treasures. You, the Shadow Stream Dominator, Red Lotus Demon Venerable, and the other agents stationed in the Human World each get one. Carry it with you at all times.
Unless there’s a Fifth Rank Law practitioner of Causality in the Human World, it will be nearly impossible for anyone to find your whereabouts. So long as you act carefully, even Lu Chenzhou can’t find you. If you do get caught, destroy it at once."
A white jade disk saturated with Causality Dao Essence took solid form, engraved with a motif of a Jade Toad gazing at the moon.
Gu Yue’s eyes lit up with joy.
"Thank you, my lord."
Stowing away the jade disk, it quickly departed.
Just out the door, Gu Yue’s expression changed in alarm, for he saw five streaks of radiance tearing through the sky—the leader clad in white robes.
Who could it be but Lu Chenzhou?
He stared in utter confusion.
At once, he crushed the jade disk in his hand.
"How can this be?"
"Hahaha! Gu Yue, you really are here."
The Old Ghost of the Yellow River laughed loudly, then instantly stabbed downward with his spear.
An invisible magnetic field pinned down Gu Yue Demon Venerable.
The Golden Silk Shoes trampled on Gu Yue Demon Venerable’s head. Li Xiuying’s gaze was as sharp as a sword, heroic and dashing, as she formed another sword seal.
Gu Yue Demon Venerable unwillingly asked:
"How did you find me?"
"You don’t need to know."
"It was Lu Chenzhou, it had to be Lu Chenzhou!" Gu Yue Demon Venerable was coldly cleaved apart by sword light. "It’s useless, I won’t die. We’ll meet again in a century."
Wild laughter echoed between heaven and earth.
This time, Li Xiuying’s Sword Qi scattered Gu Yue Demon Venerable into a mist of blood—no matter what powers he had, rebirth was impossible.
A residual soul floated forth.
Then, a colossal hand enveloping the stars and seas descended from the sky, seizing Gu Yue’s dissipating soul.
Lu Chenzhou descended from above.
He silently thought to himself.
"He almost escaped—the fake death of the main body cut off my causal tracking, this Gu Yue Demon Venerable really has skills. Fortunately, my Causality Dao is already at Fourth Rank."
With a grip, he refined it in an instant.
Gu Yue’s residual soul collapsed completely.
The Martial Arts Tree continued to grow.
[Blood Moon: Fourth Rank (1%) → Fourth Rank (10%)]
"My comprehension of Blood Moon has deepened again."
A blood moon was reflected in Lu Chenzhou’s eyes.
In a trance, he glimpsed a silhouette in a blood robe.
The figure looked at Lu Chenzhou and sneered.
Lu Chenzhou immediately severed the connection, his expression returning to normal.
"Blood Ancient God."
After checking the surroundings, the Old Ghost of the Yellow River asked:
"Young Lu, use your Causality Eye to check again—does Gu Yue Demon Venerable have any more clones left in the Human World?"
The other three powerhouses looked over as well.
"This is all thanks to Young Lu."
"Indeed, without his abilities, finding Gu Yue Demon Venerable would’ve been like fishing for a needle in the ocean."
"The Way of Cause and Effect is truly miraculous."
Emperor Hanu shook his head, only lamenting that, with his own Dao to walk, he had no time nor possibility to pursue another Dao. All he could do was hope for the new generation to study and master it.
Lu Chenzhou activated his third eye once more.
Some time passed before he let out a long breath.
"None left. But my Causality Dao is just at Fourth Rank, so accuracy against Heavenly Realm experts isn’t high."
Li Xiuying smiled and said: "Doesn’t matter. Whether Gu Yue Demon Venerable lives or not, the Demon Palace will cease to exist."
"Eh? What’s this?"
The Old Ghost of the Yellow River found a jade disk, but it was already shattered, wisps of Dao Essence escaping into the void.
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes narrowed sharply.
From this jade disk, he sensed an intense Causality Dao Essence, a level even higher than Youtong’s.
"Senior, I have need of this item."
Lu Chenzhou cupped his hands in respect.
He had just absorbed Gu Yue Demon Venerable’s residual soul; while there weren’t many memories, there happened to be information about this item.
Jade Toad Ancient Coin.
A possession of a powerful Evil God from the Forbidden Zone.
Seventh Rank Heaven and Earth Treasure, on par with the Void Dao Stele.
Its ability was to shield from causal detection.
Lu Chenzhou mused inwardly:
"Luckily, Gu Yue Demon Venerable had just obtained this before me—had he activated it one step earlier, with the strength of my Causality Dao, it would have been nearly impossible to find him again.
The Forbidden Zone has already deduced my abilities. To protect their hidden hands left in the Human World, they’re sparing no cost."
Seeing that Lu Chenzhou needed it, the Old Ghost of the Yellow River laughed: "Everyone, Young Lu is our greatest contributor in killing Gu Yue Demon Venerable. Surely none of us objects to giving him this?"
Li Xiuying gave a slight smile.
"No objections."
These two, both Da Xia Heavenly Realm, as well as Lu Chenzhou and his master, the Three Extremes Heavenly King, had a close relationship. They’d known Lu Chenzhou for a long time and regarded him as a family junior.
Emperor Hanu laughed heartily and said:
"No objections from this old man either."
The Alcohol King said:
"That jade disk alone isn’t enough. After the war, let the Elder Council grant Young Lu a few more rewards."
Lu Chenzhou clasped his fists.
"Many thanks, seniors!"
"But this is clearly an Evil God’s item, Young Lu—you must be cautious." The Old Ghost of the Yellow River warned especially.
Lu Chenzhou stowed away the jade disk.
The Martial Arts Tree began operating, madly absorbing the broken disk’s Dao Essence. Brother Tree could even swallow Divine Artifact laws and Evil God soul fragments—this disk was nothing.
Soon, the Dao Tree grew three hundred thousand zhang taller.
[Chaos: Fifth Rank (14%)]
[Causality: Fourth Rank (44%)]
"Causality Dao increased by 30%. Had the disk been intact, I could have gained over 50%. With two more like it, I could push Causality Dao straight to Fifth Rank."
In the storage space, the jade disk turned to powder.
After a brief rest, the group...
Reported the annihilation of the Demon Palace to the Elder Council.
Li Xiuying said: "With the Demon Palace destroyed, there’s no time to lose. Let’s head to Rashamon Ghost Country and see if we can find the Spider Queen. Though, it’s not looking likely."
...
Rashamon Ghost Country.
The four Heavenly Realm and Lu Chenzhou combed through the traceless sea of mists for seven days and nights.
Finally, they gathered together.
"Nothing."