Chapter 279

Chapter 279: Tai Sui Awakens, Strange Happenings in the Demonic Realm

Dang!

The new day dawned, the rising sun painting the sky as a clear, resonant tolling of a bell echoed throughout Linglong City.

The Heaven’s Machine Auction officially began.

Representatives from various forces surged into the Heaven’s Machine Auction House, holding jade tokens, and entered the Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow auction halls respectively.

"This old man, Qiu Qianli, extends a welcome on behalf of the Heaven’s Machine Auction House."

Standing on the stage, Qiu Qianli smiled broadly and bowed respectfully. "My thanks to all dear friends for gracing us with your presence."

"Shortly, this old man himself shall preside over this auction."

"The first lot is a top-grade Emperor Venerable’s treasure, the Door of the Unlimited, personally forged by the Limitless Emperor Venerable over ninety-eight thousand years. The opening bid is six million Star Yuan."

"Each subsequent bid must be no less than one hundred thousand more."

Qiu Qianli channeled his mana, and a majestic divine door manifested before them. It was imbued with the aura of the Unlimited Great Dao, profound and deep, as if containing a vast universe within.

"Six point five million."

An Emperor Venerable raised his bidding plate.

"Six point six."

Another Emperor Venerable chimed in.

"Trash goods." Gu Daojin showed no interest, his face slack with boredom.

"There are twelve auction items scheduled for today. The very first piece offered is the Door of the Unlimited. It stands to reason that truly exceptional treasures must surely appear later," Qin Feiyan remarked.

"I hope something useful appears," the Heavenly Talisman Old Man said.

They still held several tens of millions of Star Yuan currency, perfect for settling any purchases.

Ye Xu’s eyes flickered slightly.

Suddenly, within his Purple Palace, a disturbance arose. An immense and violent aura roused itself, heavy with the aura of primordial wildness.

"Tai Sui has awakened." Ye Xu’s eyes sparkled, and he instantly focused his consciousness inward, delving into his Purple Palace.

Roar!

Purple energy surged skyward, chaotic and indistinct. An enormous beast bellowed to the heavens. Tai Sui had grown dozens of times larger, almost choking Ye Xu’s Purple Palace entirely.

Its power had become increasingly terrifying, definitively reaching the true immortal level.

"At least it didn’t disappoint my hopes," Ye Xu thought to himself.

Tai Sui had devoured thousands of Chaos Divine Stones in the Heaven Deficiency Forbidden Land—equivalent to the combined power of over a thousand Emperor Venerables. If it still couldn’t advance to the immortal level after that, it truly would have been feeble.

However, Ye Xu was surprised by Tai Sui’s refining speed. In barely half a month, it had managed to absorb and refine such a massive amount of energy; it was truly astonishing.

"The Poison Emperor is also part of the Primordial being, Kui, but compared to Tai Sui, the difference is far too vast," Ye Xu pondered.

To purchase information about its body, the Poison Emperor had resorted to compromising means, even risking assimilation.

But Tai Sui only needed to devour energy to evolve continuously, without any bottlenecks. This was an extraordinarily fearsome ability.

If Tai Sui kept consuming energy like this… would there be a limit?

"Seven million, sold!"

Qiu Qianli’s gavel struck the table, marking the successful auction of the first item.

…

At that moment, Yang Xuanzhan rushed towards Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, his face etched with anxiety.

"Sir." Yang Xuanzhan’s expression was grave the moment he saw Ye Xu. "Something has happened."

Ye Xu’s cultivation base had already stabilized, his aura was deep as abysses and vast as prisons. His eyes brimmed with an intimidating divine light. He looked at Yang Xuanzhan and asked unhurriedly, "What is it?"

"The envoy we sent to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom to establish the Heaven’s Machine Bank has been killed." Suppressed fury simmered in Yang Xuanzhan’s eyes.

Ye Xu’s brow furrowed slightly. How dare the people of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom possess such audacity, to kill his men?

Yang Xuanzhan inquired again, "Sir, what shall we do?"

"You may leave first; I have my own plan. Today is the first auction for Heaven’s Machine Auction House; you and Qiu Qianli preside over it well," Ye Xu instructed.

Yang Xuanzhan withdrew from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"System…"

Ye Xu uttered the word but abruptly stopped.

If he asked the system to investigate the situation in the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, it would naturally waste heavenly secrets points. No matter how small, every mosquito was still a piece of meat. Now, with Tai Sui’s breakthrough, he could send his avatar to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

His intuition told him the Green Lotus Demon Emperor definitely had problems.

At the same time.

Ye Xu’s Second Primordial Spirit Avatar bid farewell to the Seven Immortals of Cloud Capital, Gu Daojin, Yu Ziwei, and the others, saying, "Daoist brothers and sister, I have some personal matters to attend to."

"Brother Ye, aren’t you coming with us to the Divine Ruins?" Yu Ziwei asked.

"If I finish in time, I shall accompany everyone."

Ye Xu vanished from the auction floor.

In just half the time it took for an incense stick to burn, his figure appeared within the territory of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

"Strange."

Ye Xu released his Divine Sense, spreading it outwards like a tidal wave. Yet, after extending only several hundred thousand li, he “saw” wisps of black mist floating in the void, condensed but not dispersing, emanating intense resentment.

Even Divine Sense found it hard to penetrate.

The space between heaven and earth was filled with a bizarre force that hindered his Divine Sense from probing.

"This strange fog… it seems formed from those ghostly creatures in Godfall Ridge…" Ye Xu frowned.

Back on the eve of Godfall Ridge’s unsealing, just after he attained the Dao and became an emperor, he had visited Godfall Ridge and encountered such black fog. It was identical to the strange mist now enveloping the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

Within the black fog, terrifying obsessions and hatreds gestated, forming bizarre creatures that fed on the flesh and blood of living beings.

After the Yuan Realm’s great change, the black fog had vanished without a trace.

Ye Xu had never imagined it would reappear in the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom.

"This is truly interesting."

A flicker of interest shone in Ye Xu’s eyes. The Green Lotus Demon Emperor had returned from the Burial Soil, and now such bizarre phenomena appeared in the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom… He was likely inextricably involved.

His figure stirred as he vanished into the void, flying toward the Holy City of the divine kingdom.

Demon Emperor Palace.

Green Lotus Demon Emperor sat imposingly on the throne. Beneath his command were several dozen Emperor Venerable level experts. Had Ye Xu been present, he surely would have recognized them—these Emperor Venerables were the last generation’s powerhouses, sealed at Godfall Ridge, who claimed to have lived a second life within the Burial Soil.

Lian Jiuyou occupied the very last seat, his eyelids lowered.

Ever since Green Lotus Demon Emperor’s return to the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, Lian Jiuyou had lost his authority, demoted from demon emperor to the divine kingdom’s crown prince. Yet in his heart, he cared little as long as his father was alive and reunited with him.

However, since Green Lotus Demon Emperor’s return, the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom had changed imperceptibly.

The once vibrant kingdom now languished under a pall of decay. Countless members of the demon clan had become Walking Corpses. An unspeakable, strange and indescribable power permeated the world.

Moreover, during this period, bizarre incidents had occurred throughout the land.

Until yesterday.

Several dozen Emperor Venerables who "lived a second life" arrived. Green Lotus Demon Emperor even decreed the subduing of the envoy sent by Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Lian Jiuyou finally understood: the being before him was absolutely not his father.

"My son."

Green Lotus Demon Emperor’s eyes were murky, his face handsome yet unnaturally soft, bearing a seven or eighth similarity to Lian Jiuyou. His gaze settled on Lian Jiuyou as he smiled, "Have you witnessed the transformation of our divine kingdom?"

Lian Jiuyou nodded woodenly.

"In the past, I alone elevated the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom to rule the Western regions. Now, I shall once more lead it to dominate the Yuan Realm."

Green Lotus Demon Emperor spoke with grand ambition, his eyes sweeping over the various Emperor Venerables as he laughed, "All these Daoist friends will lend their full strength to the divine kingdom."

"Moreover…"

An eerie smile touched Green Lotus Demon Emperor’s face.

Lian Jiuyou’s heart clenched.

"You need to become one of us."

"This is the privilege bestowed upon you, my sole legitimate heir."

Green Lotus Demon Emperor slowly rose and stepped toward Lian Jiuyou.

"I shall grant you eternal life!"

BOOM!

In that instant, the void solidified. Lian Jiuyou found himself unable to move even a hair.

"Who are you?"

Terror consumed Lian Jiuyou. With the secret unveiled and the dagger bared, he could restrain himself no longer. He roared at the Green Lotus Demon Emperor, "You are not my father! Absolutely not!"

"I am Green Lotus, but Green Lotus is not me."

Green Lotus Demon Emperor laughed strangely, stopping before Lian Jiuyou. His lips stretched wide in an unsettlingly sinister grin.

"Who are you?! Who are you?!"

Lian Jiuyou desperately propelled his magic power, attempting to shatter the Demon Emperor’s bindings.

Within the hall, the Emperor Venerables sat stiffly like animated puppets. None moved; none shifted their gaze to glance at Lian Jiuyou.

"The Burial Soil…"

Lian Jiuyou abandoned his struggles.

"No one has ever truly lived a second life, isn’t that so?"

"The senior didn’t lie to me. Father has long been dead."

"You—you are merely a monster reborn within my father’s husk."

Utter despair washed over Lian Jiuyou’s face.

After the Demon Emperor’s disappearance, since his youth, he had plotted step by step, toiled tirelessly to manage the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom, only for ruination to remain unavoidable.

"My son, join me in the bliss of eternal life."

Green Lotus Demon Emperor’s massive hand descended. Wisps of black mist, like ghostly threads, emanated and coiled toward Lian Jiuyou.

This was the Law of the Burial Soil.

"Oh? Such a large gathering? Quite the lively affair."

Suddenly, a figure materialized before the Demon Emperor Palace. Ye Xu stepped through the shattered void, his gaze fixed firmly on Green Lotus Demon Emperor.

"The dastard hiding behind cover finally shows its face."