Chapter 0, Section 43: Contributing to the Cause
“You are a Demon Lord of the Abyss?”
“You have heard my name, yet you still question it. Have the current Abyss Citizens truly forgotten me completely?!” the ancestral spirit calling himself ‘Ninh Gu’ exclaimed, his body trembling with rage.
“How can you prove it?”
“Prove it?”
Ninh Gu gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, and demonic markings surged in his eyes. If not for the fact that his Dao Body was no more, he might have summoned his Demon Lord’s Robe right here and now.
Seeing this, Qin Gou immediately reached out, and the giant mountain suppressing Ninh Gu vanished without a trace.
“What is going on? How are you connected to the Eternal Night Marquis clan? And what about the promise from the Demon God you mentioned earlier?”
“Why do you ask so much? I have countless questions right now as well, but since you do not have the Demon God’s command, I cannot speak to you further.” Ninh Gu meant that he hoped Qin Gou and the Zhenyu Demon Lord behind him would communicate directly with the Demon God, which would naturally bring him up.
“Now, no one can receive the Demon God’s command anymore, including the promise the Demon God made to you.”
“What did you say?”
Ninh Gu’s emotions ignited by Qin Gou’s latter statement, and he immediately pressed for details.
Qin Gou shook his head, “How long have you been away from the Abyss? Don’t you know the Abyssal Divine Bridge has been severed?”
“Nonsense!” Ninh Gu roared.
“You should know best whether it’s nonsense. When was the last time you received a decree from the Demon God?” Qin Gou asked calmly, “Why would Qin and the Zhenyu Demon Lord deceive you?”
Ninh Gu paused for a moment before saying, “Then who on earth dared to do such a thing?”
“It was me.”
“You…” Ninh Gu’s eyes were filled with fury.
Qin Gou spread his hands in helplessness, “Those who truly knew the truth have almost all perished.”
“But what am I to do? Is this why my soul is still imprisoned? How many more years will I be trapped?!” Ninh Gu roared hysterically.
“So, the decline of the Eternal Night Marquis clan to this extent is all your doing? This is something the current Abyss Citizens should remember!” Qin Gou began to guide him.
“It’s useless, all of it! What does a little bit of fame count for?”
Ninh Gu seemed to have completely lost control, his eyes crazed, “From beginning to end, I was extremely cautious, secretly misleading batch after batch of fools, doing everything in my power to cut off the Eternal Night Marquis’s inheritance! I maximally strangled any possibility of those surviving Eternal Night Marquises from the past to make a comeback through painstaking rediscovery and their own formidable talents, all for the Demon God to reshape my Dao Body. Now, it seems, it was all for nothing!”
“So that’s how it is. Even if the strong elders perished and the talent records were burned, the Eternal Night Marquis clan could still have found a way to begin again under the protection of the Sea Race, eventually rising from the ashes. And your move truly left no room for defense… However, I remember you mentioned before that I am not the only one who can sense your existence?”
“Why are you still asking these things now? What’s the point? Back then, there was indeed a junior Eternal Night Marquis who could sense my presence, but that was very late in the game. Her cultivation was so low then, and coupled with the incomplete and fragmented inheritance knowledge she possessed, it was simply not enough to question me.”
Ninh Gu, full of unwillingness and rage, spoke intermittently and incoherently, “Now, I just want to ask you one thing! Just one thing, when will the Demon God return?!”
“Qin is working hard to reawaken the Divine Bridge Consciousness.” Qin Gou spoke the truth.
He had already planned to go to the Divine Bridge Sanctuary and subdue another Divine Bridge.
This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the Divine Bridge destroying itself after answering questions about other Demon God Creations worth a lot of Merit points or important matters concerning the Demon God. At that time, he would only need to compensate A Xi with an identical Divine Bridge, and the premise for all of this was to first awaken the Divine Bridge Consciousness.
“Is that true?” Ninh Gu became excited, “Can that really be done?”
“As far as I know, it is indeed extremely difficult to restore the Divine Bridge to its original state, but if it’s just a matter of making it occasionally awaken for a period of time, it is absolutely feasible.”
“How many people in the Abyss are preparing for this?”
“Quite a few. Several Demon Lords have been working towards this goal.”
“Excellent!”
Ninh Gu became even more invigorated, “In that case, whether the Demon God can return to the world will depend on you!”
“Of course!” Qin Gou nodded solemnly.
“It’s a pity that I can’t do anything now. I can only wait. Even though I wish to contribute to the Demon God like all of you, I am unable to.” Ninh Gu sighed deeply, appearing very helpless, but his eyes, now gleaming with a renewed light, had truly come back to life.
“Demon Lord Ninh Gu, you mustn’t underestimate yourself.”
“Comrade, you don’t need to comfort me. I know my own situation,” Ninh Gu chuckled, “Besides continuing to toy with those Eternal Night Marquises who are no longer a threat, I am of no further use.”
Qin Gou remained resolute, “This is by no means a comfort or polite talk. After all, you are a Demon Lord of the Abyss!”
Ninh Gu found it even more amusing. He thought his judgment was correct. Indeed, only after he revealed his true identity as a Demon Lord did this junior from the Abyss finally show the proper etiquette and treat him with deference. This had nothing to do with his current predicament, but was the respect a senior of the Abyssal Demon Race deserved.
Otherwise, if this brat were still shouting threats and being rude, the mysterious ‘Zhenyu’ Demon Lord behind him would certainly not agree.
“Fine, then tell me, how can I help when I don’t even have my Dao Body anymore?”
“Ding. Host, when will you eliminate this scoundrel?” the System suddenly asked.
“This person cannot be killed.”
“Why is that?”
Within his consciousness, Qin Gou’s voice, filled with pleasant surprise, responded not only to A Xi but also to Demon Lord Ninh Gu.
“What a coincidence, to awaken the Divine Bridge Consciousness, we need a large amount of Soul Power!”
“Bastard! Are you joking?” Ninh Gu was furious.
“It is not a joke.”
“You intend to sacrifice my soul?!”
“Everyone is contributing, and Fellow Daoist Ninh Gu also wishes to participate. This is naturally a good thing. And the Soul Power required by the Divine Bridge Consciousness may not necessarily devour you completely, truly.”
“Beast! Evil spawn!! The so-called comrades of the Abyss cannot be trusted!”
Ninh Gu tried to flee but found that he could no longer move at all. His face contorted in a ferocious expression as he cursed, “Back then, the Demon God only sacrificed my heavily injured remnant body, yet you won’t even let go of my last soul. You rascal… you’re even more ruthless than the Demon God!”
