The sword in Li Shenrong's hand carried an extraordinary origin, forged from the bone of an ancient Emperor. Without hesitation, he drove the blade straight into the massive tree trunk before him.
Few seconds passed by, everyone wanted to see the trunk being destroyed didn't happen.
"Badump" A low, thump pulsed from within the tree, like a heart as if coming alive.
"Badump… Badump…"
The sound quickened which made Li Shenrong frown.
The dead barks of the trunk slowly fell down, revealing a pile of red flesh. It had the shape of an infant. The surface of its skin was dry and scarlet.
"Hahaha…." Suddenly the black entity started laughing wildly. "Mortals! Welcome the arrival of prince of darkness!"
The infant opened its eyes, it was completely bloody red. It opened its mouth and unleashed a roar, it wasn't a sound of an infant, but a primordial bellow that crushed the wills of even the heavens. With just one roar, it suppressed the all twelve Emperor wills and broke the suppression over the demon generals.
Li Shenrong was blasted away a few thousand miles. His robes were now tattered. His brows were furrowed into a knot.
The most surprised were the Emperor wills. "What's happening? How could such a thing happen!" They spoke one after another in astonishment and anger.
"Fools! Do you think the likes of you could fathom the thoughts of the great one? Everything you thought and did had already been predicted by the great one a millennia ago." The black entity chuckled.
The Emperor wills roared angrily as they attacked. The red infant opened its mouth and released thick gray mist. In an instant, the entire ancient ruin was filled with thick gray miasma. Before, the miasma wasn't so dense and thick. Compared to now, It could be considered clear water and now its like deep dark swamp that one couldn't see the bottom.
"Forgive us fellow daoist… we failed… " The emperor wills gave Li Shenrong an apologetic look.
Li Shenrong smiled and waved his hand. "Don't lose hope yet."
"Do you have a plan?" They asked.
"Just assist me to certain things." He replied.
"Alright." The Emperor wills agreed.
Li Shenrong raised his hand and pointed the seven Emperor Cannons at the infant. The sky erupted with a brilliance like the birth of a thousand suns as the cannons discharged every last drop of their destructive power. The sky was rendered into dark void under sheer power.
When the light faded, the infant stood still. It had some superficial injuries only. It raised its two small plump red hands and the eight annihilation hooks connected to its back like snakes. The hooks stretched far beyond the ruin, their other ends anchored to eight separate continents.
"It's time." The black entity gave a hand signal.
…
Far above the Sword Sea Continent, several powerful cultivators floated in the air, scanning the horizon. One elder narrowed his eyes toward the east. Using his spiritual eyes he could see a vast network of formation interconnected with each other. The formation lit up in a heartbeat. His pupils shrank as he realized it wasn't only the east, but the north, south, west, even the central territories were ensnared in the same vast network. The moment the formation activated fully, a tremor ran through the continent.
Faint gray mist slowly started emitting from the ground. At first, it touched only the smallest of lifeforms. Insects, birds, and crawling creatures twitched as the mist coiled around them. Their bodies shriveled, eyes turning gray. Then it spread to beasts. And then, to men. Then, like a virus it started infecting cities and dynasties, everything like plague. The mortals all over the continent were in panic. Cultivators tried to find the source of the disaster but didn't know where to start.
Powerful cultivators wiped the sweat from their foreheads. The formation was too vast, its intricacies were like a million threads woven in endless loops. Destroying a node only caused it to regenerate. Finding the true core would be like searching for a single needle in an ocean of haystacks.
The infection did not spare the cultivators. Once the mist entered a body, it was an incurable disease. Once affected, you can only become a mindless killing machine.
In an obscure corner of the Eastern Territory, a man ran desperately with a thirteen-year-old girl at his side. His name was Shen Luo. His body was covered with sweat and injuries.
Behind them was a giant monster.
A wisp of gray mist entered his nose which made him change his expression. He stopped and clutched his heart tightly.
"Father…" His daughter shook his hand anxiously as the monster approached.
The monster was just one breath away and was about to tear the duo into pieces. Suddenly, A red light flashed and the monster was dissected diagonally.
Shen Luo started laughing maniacally as he kicked the monsters corpse.
"Father..?" His daughter was confused for a moment, since when her father became so strong and whats with this strange laughter.
Shen Luo turned around and smiled, "Father? Kekeke, little girl, I am the Archdemon Ignivar, the tyrant of the Shadow world!"
She saw her father's face was full of crack, his eyes were completely red and extremely terrifying. For a moment she felt fear from the bottom of heart.
"Don't… don't joke around… father…" Deep inside she refused to believe her father would be possessed by a demon.
Archdemon Ignivar took one step forward and appeared above the girls head. He stretched out his hand and wanted to crush her skull into oblivion. Suddenly he stopped midway. "What! No… this guy…" he frowned and looked like struggling inwardly.
"Alright, i'll spare this little girl." A pair of black wing protruded behind his back and he flew away.
The girl limped on the ground in fear as the figure of Shen Luo became smaller and smaller in her eyes.
Across the Sword Sea Continent, similar scenes unfolded. Great demons were awakening.
"I am Archdemon Thyrixa!"
"I am Archdemon Beltharion!"
The Demons received mental wave from Archdemon Ignivar.
"Hmm? Eastern territory, Blue bird kingdom?"
"Let's go, we need to protect the formation source." An Archdemon spoke and teleported away leaving behind the corpse of a Godking.
…
Inside the ruin, Li Shenrong and the Emperor wills were suppressed by the infant. Li Shenrong's whole body was bloodied, full of terrifying injuries. The Demon infant was far more powerful than anyone expected. The demon generals surrounded them like ants from all sides.
Across the continent, blood sacrifices flowed into the infant like rivers. It was growing, its power climbing to unimaginable heights.
"Do you know why you lost?" The black entity spoke.
The Emperor wills bound by thick black chains were silent.
"Back then, i was told to protect the prince until he revives. It was so long ago that i forgot many things. The prince was attacked by the heretics and had no choice but to hide in the lower world. A powerful trapping chain was placed on the prince and only under a special circumstances the chain could be shattered." The black entity continued to speak and sigh.
"His majesty the Demon king tried many methods but were in vain. The chain was killing the prince little by little. Later, we found that only a person bearing the dao of heaven and earth could shatter the chain. But where can we find such a person? The entire demon realm exists outside the heavenly dao. And our existence was reviled by the heavenly dao."
The black entity smiled and added, "One day, we were visited by the great one. He personally placed a concealment over the prince and gave him a supreme cultivation technique."
Li Shenrong suddenly interrupted, "Cultivation method to control the Curse power?"
"That's right."
"On one hand the concealment suppressed the chain of light and on the other hand because of it the demon prince couldn't come out. He could only cultivate the curse power inside the concealment seal. Only when the chain of light breaks the concealment seal would automatically lift itself. Kekeke, you personally destroyed the chain that bounded the prince of darkness. Things have transpired just as the great one expected." At this point he laughed wildly.
"Do you understand mortals! You are nothing infront of the great one!"
The Emperor wills were silent. They understood everything up until now was just part of a plan of some higher level being.
The red infant grew larger in size, almost hundred feet tall. Mix of black and gray mist exuded from its body. The thick demonic energy and gray mist intertwined, making it even more powerful.