"What in the world…"

"Wow! So beautiful~"

"Are the heavens collapsing?"

Throughout the realm, various exclamations echoed as people stared at the wonderful yet chilling phenomenon in the sky.

"It's a battle skill! It's a heaven tier battle skill!"

"So this is what a Heaven tier battle skill looks like."

"Aren't Heaven tier Battle Skills only usable by Core Foundation stage experts?!"

"Who even is that?"

People were quick to realise what was going on. Many were recording this phenomenon, but none dared to approach it.

Such a technique could only be used by a Core Foundation stage expert. Yet, someone here could use it? Who in the world was that? As far as everyone knew, the strongest person here was Ye Han, with cultivation at the rebirth stage.

...

The space surrounding me was constantly trembling as the sword emitted a golden light.

All the crystals in the sky converged into the sword in my hand which was pointed upwards.

A huge sword light formed as those crystals merged into my sword . Terrifying sword qi soared, causing the nearby land to shudder

Those nearby felt despair. Some fainted, while others knelt, trying their best to withstand the pressure.

After a moment, the phenomenon stopped and everything returned to normal.

"T-that w-was…. Was that sword intent?!"

"No way."

They hadn't encountered real sword intent, so they couldn't recognize it. The aura that suppressed them moments ago was just pressure, a terrifying one.

…

I feel like this skill has strengthened too. Surely, it's because I entered the state of inheritance usage before trying it.

I didn't launch the attack as I was just testing its strength. And I was really satisfied.

I quickly rushed back to my cave, quite exhausted. I made sure to change my appearance so no one would recognize me. I sat down in a lotus position and started replenishing my energy.

…

Now that I've checked almost everything with my body, I had to focus on the plans to move on. Next, I should do something about Ye Han's disappearance.

I planned to somehow deceive everyone into believing that I, Ye Han, had died. If I could do so, the only thing I'd have to worry about would be escaping after this realm closes.

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But this wasn't easy, considering how strong I was in the eyes of those disciples. Before doing so, I had to eliminate the slightest details, such as my ring, since it contained various survival measures. An example would be the teleportation talisman given to me by Xin Yang. People know that I have one, and they'd rather think I had escaped with it, even in a life-and-death situation.

Right now, I was thinking how to get rid of those details.

Of all the people, deceiving Shen Ming would be the toughest. Heck, I remember him predicting someone's thoughts after seeing a slight movement in their muscles. That was just too ridiculous along with his godly instincts, which could tell him if his predictions were true or false. He was completely cracked for a protagonist.

"Sigh… I gotta do something about it."

As I was pondering, I sensed two figures near my cave. Compared to before, there were even more disciples wandering around this place, most likely due to me. They were probably appointed by some young masters to observe my actions. I cared nothing and ignored them since I knew they wouldn't act recklessly.

But now, I heard clear footsteps from near the cave entrance.

As I went ahead, two youths suddenly landed on the hill. They seemed to have jumped up till here.

I flinched upon noticing one of the two who had arrived. I knew him well; he was the youth from the Blood Moon sect whom I had saved earlier, Xiao Yating.

The previous wounds on him were fully healed.

The person beside him was a man who had pitch black hair and red eyes. His handsome face adorned with sword-like features, had a calm expression. He was rather lean and looked younger than me. He wore a beautiful earring which stood out from his all-black outfit. His aura was strange and powerful, one that didn't match that of humans.

A demon!

Most of the demons looked exactly like humans, the only way to distinguish them was by their aura.

Wait... these features?

I don't know why, but I kept repeating a name in my mind after seeing his appearance.

Shen Ming

I tried to erase that thought and calm down, but I couldn't.

'No, please don't be Shen Ming, I'm not prepared yet. Please…'

As I repeated this in mind, they both came near and greeted me.

"Greetings, senior" Xiao Yating said this while the other just cupped his fist.

I was trying my best not to panic. No words came out of me as I stared blankly at them. Not because I couldn't, but because I was too scared. I knew Shen Ming better than anyone. Every single word I say would only expose me as he was a fucking lie detector.

Thanks to this body, I looked calm. Otherwise, he would have sensed the fear in me, if he really was Shen Ming.

Seeing no responses, Xiao Yating was about to speak but was suddenly interrupted by the person beside him.

"My name is Shen Ming and he is Xiao Yating. If it's okay, can we have a chat for a moment, brother…"

He stopped and looked at me, intending to hear my name.

He was really Shen Ming? What was he doing here? There was nothing like this in the original plot. Shouldn't he be cultivating along with his girlfriends at this time?

It was surely because of the variable: Xiao Yating.

No, he wasn't exactly the variable here. I was the one who created a variable such as him, so I should be the variable.

At this point, I myself couldn't believe how calm I was in front of him.

He called me 'brother' which meant that I was safe for now. It was one thing the author of Devilizing stated about his personality again and again.

After a pause, I said.

"Zhao Fan"

It was the name of someone from another novel. He'd find it to be a lie, but I knew he wouldn't pry for no reason either.

"Right, brother Zhao, so… shall we?"

Denying wasn't an option, and accepting it outright would seem abnormal for my current persona..

After hearing this, I looked towards Xiao Yating and replied.

"You don't have to thank me, I didn't do-"

"Brother Zhao seems to have misunderstood something, we're not here for that." Said Shen Ming after cutting me off.

Of course I knew that. There was no way Shen Ming would come all the way here just to say thanks.

I said that solely to keep the conversation going. Thankfully, it worked.

I could barely think straight, thanks to this body.

I continued staring at him, without saying anything.

Shen Ming carried on,

"This matter involves your cave, so we're here to ask for your cooperation"

So it was like that. Eh? Matter involving my cave?

"There happens to be a large ruin right below your cave, which we would like to explore. If you're interested, we could work along and split the rewards equally"

After saying that, he looked at Xiao Yating, who then took out a map.

"I received this from a powerful dead spirit. Earlier when I was going there, I was interrupted by that corrupt disciple."

Now this makes sense.

After handing it over to me, both of them looked at me as if to see if I'll decline it or not.

For them, declining meant that I intended to go there on my own, to get all the treasures by myself.

As far as I knew, Shen Ming was very righteous and wouldn't think of going there after my disapproval, since I was the one living here now. If I decline it now, I'm pretty sure they both would turn around and leave.

Honestly, I want to just decline the offer and do nothing about this 'large ruin'. But on another thought, that wasn't the best option.

As my thoughts wandered around, I saw Shen Ming looking towards Xiao Yating with a confused look as if to ask "how long is he going to think"

Ah.

Forgot about that.

I then opened my mouth and said.

"alright"

…

'This was just returning a favour, to think that he'd actually let us go with him…'

Pondered Shen Ming as his mouth curled slightly upwards.

They both were expecting to hear the disapproval. Although they were quite interested in this large ruin, they came here mainly to return the favour.

Shen Ming wanted to learn more about the other's personality, which was why he said that they needed his cooperation.

From this, he briefly understood the other party. He was different, way different from those other geniuses.

Either he was too dumb or too smart. Or perhaps, he was just too… kind-hearted? Of the three possibilities, the third one was the least credible.

Shen Ming sensed no malice from him, thus he decided to go along…