Chapter 0. Unexpected Departure
Abyss Palace.
“Mo Ning, go retrieve Mo Qingyang’s Great Seal,” said a man in an Abyss Guard black robe, his tone deep.
“Yes,” Mo Ning replied respectfully, cupping his fists. He turned and left.
Mo Yu followed closely behind, his expression bewildered as he asked, “Sister, isn’t that Xing Kuang? What does he want the Great Seal for?”
“He is no longer Xing Kuang,” Mo Ning sighed. “That existence is Death’s Halt Demon Lord, Ying Wusheng, who hails from the ‘Soul Plunderer’ clan. He excels at soul possession. Xing Kuang’s body has now been completely occupied by him, his soul scattered and spirit vanished.”
…
“Kill your fellow clan members.”
“Make your methods as cruel as possible!”
As soon as the words fell.
Qin Gou and Yan Chuchun exchanged glances.
“Clan Leader, what do we do?” Yan Chuchun’s face was ashen, his panic evident.
“Don’t rush, let’s wait,” Qin Gou said calmly. He walked lightly to the window of the tavern they were in and peered out through a small crack.
Yan Chuchun stood beside Qin Gou, his face ashen and his hands and feet unsure of what to do. He knew he was no match for Qin Gou, nor could he truly harm him. The Faceless Hermit clan would be fine without him, Yan Chuchun, but Qin Gou could bring hope for the clan’s revival.
“Ah!”
A piercing scream echoed.
Inside a shop not far from the tavern where Qin Gou and the others were, a demon cultivator with a blood-stained arm pushed the door open and stepped out, his entire body covered in a faint layer of golden radiance.
Seeing this, Qin Gou sent a probing spiritual energy attack towards the tavern door from a distance, but it was like a mud ox entering the sea, unable to stir a ripple.
“Is it true that we can only leave by obeying the command and choosing one of the two options?”
Soon, more and more demon cultivators successfully killed their clan members and walked out of the house. Qin Gou also carefully observed that the intensity of the golden radiance on each of them varied.
“Clan Leader, I am ready. We cannot delay any further, lest others gain the upper hand,” Yan Chuchun’s trembling voice suddenly sounded.
Qin Gou turned around and saw that although the man’s face was pale with dread, his eyes were filled with a resolute determination to face death.
“Don’t worry, Clan Leader Qin will not let you die,” Qin Gou chuckled, shaking his head. He tapped his chest and said, “Come, give me a punch.”
“What did you say?” Yan Chuchun was confused.
“I have my own way of avoiding death, so you don’t need to worry. Come, you can try to punch me first, but don’t use your full strength,” Qin Gou said with a smile, spreading his hands.
“But…”
“Didn’t Great Elder say that during this trial, you are absolutely forbidden to disobey my orders?”
“Yes!”
Yan Chuchun gritted his teeth and nodded, then threw a punch towards Qin Gou’s chest.
Qin Gou’s protective spiritual energy vibrated, and he remained motionless. After a slight nod, he directly dispersed his protective spiritual energy and said, “Another punch, use sixty percent of your strength.”
Yan Chuchun followed the order, his fist a blur of motion.
Qin Gou finally showed a pained expression. At the same time, a faint golden thread appeared on Yan Chuchun’s body, moving freely like a swimming fish.
“As expected, only by making the other party feel pain can this golden light appear… No wonder the previous command specifically requested the methods to be as cruel as possible. If one couldn’t bear to see their clan members suffer and opted for a swift kill, the golden light obtained would be minimal. This so-called Demon Lord Selection is truly perverse.”
“Clan Leader, I…”
“What you need to do is to make me feel as much pain as possible, gather a large amount of golden light to accumulate an advantage, and finally kill me,” Qin Gou suddenly pulled over a chair and sat down.
“How can I, Chuchun, do such a beastly thing?” Yan Chuchun’s eyes turned red, and he gritted his teeth.
“I told you I won’t truly die, and besides, not all pain only brings harm,” Qin Gou said with a smile, taking off his shoes and resting his legs on the wine table. “Come, press my Yongquan acupuncture point with force.”
“Clan Leader, what is the Yongquan acupuncture point?” Yan Chuchun hesitated.
Qin Gou immediately understood. The cultivation systems of humans and demons were completely different, so they naturally wouldn’t understand the major acupuncture points on the human body. He couldn’t help but chuckle and say, “It’s the sole of the foot.”
Yan Chuchun immediately cupped Qin Gou’s foot. With his current charming appearance, it gave Qin Gou the feeling of being in some sort of pleasure house.
Suddenly feeling an itch on the sole of his foot, Qin Gou said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “You should put more force into it.”
“Yes!” Yan Chuchun quickly gathered his strength and squeezed hard.
“Hiss…” Qin Gou, who had completely dispersed his protective spiritual energy, couldn’t help but tremble and gasp.
“Clan Leader, are you alright?” Yan Chuchun asked with concern. At the same time, another strand of golden light appeared on his body.
“Continue, use your spiritual power, don’t hold back at all!”
Qin Gou’s expression was resolute, and he said with a clear voice, “Chuchun, why are you so indecisive? Think of the clan’s great undertaking. For the sake of your wife and children, I, your clan leader, order you to torment me like this. Use more force! Attack my kidney reflex zone with all your might!”
“Clan Leader Qin!” At this moment, Yan Chuchun was so moved by Qin Gou’s selfless sacrifice that he couldn’t help himself. The dignified man’s eyes reddened, and he massaged Qin Gou’s feet with tears in his eyes.
He knew that Qin Gou had been comforting him earlier. Such a special form of torture had already caused Qin Gou such intense pain; how could it not have any drawbacks?
Yan Chuchun’s heart ached, and he suppressed his tears, shouting, “Your righteousness, Clan Leader, is something I, Chuchun, will never forget in this life. Even as a beast of burden, I could never repay it!”
“Enough, a technician shouldn’t chatter with a customer all the time. Cough cough… Continue!”
A moment later.
Yan Chuchun’s body was covered in flowing golden light, which no longer increased. Qin Gou abruptly pulled back his feet, which had been “massaged” a bit too much, and said without hesitation, “Come, pierce my brow.”
“Clan Leader, are you sure?” Cold sweat broke out on Yan Chuchun’s forehead, and he hesitated.
Qin Gou helplessly said, “I know, in your eyes, I must be that kind of peerless gentleman, a true warrior who fears no danger, but…”
Suddenly, Yan Chuchun’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, as if struck by a revelation, “That’s right! My brain is indeed like a pig’s. Clan Leader, you are not at all the kind of hero who would risk his life! Your composure today must be due to some reliance!”
“How dare you!”
Qin Gou’s expression stiffened, and his nose was almost bent with anger. He fumed, “Why do you have so much nonsense? Hurry up!”
“Clan Leader, I’m going to act?”
“Do it!”
Qin Gou completely dispersed all his protective techniques, even suppressing his cultivation as much as possible. After Yan Chuchun pointed a sharp finger at his brow, his eyes immediately became unfocused, and he fell backward onto the ground.
“Clan Leader…” Only after Qin Gou’s body suddenly turned into scattered starlight and completely dispersed did Yan Chuchun breathe a sigh of relief. Filled with reverence for Qin Gou’s profound methods, he pushed open the door and walked out of the tavern.
At the same moment, Qin Gou’s true body was instantly teleported to a random location by the death-substituting power of the Celestial Master’s Soul, ‘Shifting the Palace and Replacing the Feather’, appearing in a paper workshop within a shop.
However, before he could fully stabilize himself, he was again disoriented by a gust of invisible force, forcibly teleported, and stumbled into a dark stone cave.
“What is this?”
Qin Gou’s expression turned alert. He immediately infused his eyes with spiritual energy and could see clearly even in the dim environment.
Surrounding him was a vast crowd, thousands of demon cultivator corpses piled up like a mountain, and new corpses were continuously being teleported in.
“I’ve… actually been treated as a corpse by the Demon Lord trial laws?” Qin Gou’s expression was complex, and his mouth twitched severely. “Where in the world is this place?”
“Ding, Warning! Host has unexpectedly departed from the Selection Space. This is within the ‘Demon Lord’s Tower’, the dwelling place of the Ten Pillar Demon Lord, and the land where the Demon God’s decree is issued!”
“As the saying goes, ‘Better to die with righteousness than to live in shame!’ Host, as a Generation’s Celestial Master, your lifelong wish is to protect all beings, bravely fight against demons, and face death with composure. The opportunity to die heroically has arrived… Please!”
