“Tang who is this person? Why did he appear at this moment? Why is he asking about the Chaotic demon?”

“I-I don’t know Patriarch…”

“You don’t know?”

The atmosphere in the room became stuffy after an old man’s body started getting engulfed in flames. It was the Patriarch of the Onyx Moon sect that was known as the demon of immolation. He was talking to the elder that the unknown master was asking for.

“What’s with this timing? Could it be a coincidence?”

The old man started scratching his chin with one of his thin fingers. Suddenly a knock on the door made him extinguish the flames that were making everyone sweat.

“Patriarch, the honored guest is waiting for you…”

“Tang, you better take care of this in secret… This person seems to have a grudge against the Chaotic Demon. We don’t know what he will do if he finds one of his bastard's acolytes here.”

“Y-yes Patriarch, I will keep it a secret, I had my people prepare the Enticing Pavilion.”

“The Enticing Pavilion? Yes, that should give us time, let him stay there until our esteemed guest has left, don’t let the two meet!”

“It shall be done!”

…

‘Should I just storm their sect ground? This is getting suspicious did something blow my cover?’

He wasn’t sure what was happening, normally no one would make a scary demonic cultivator like him wait this long. Yet he was stuck in this restaurant that was playing gaudy music and watching some women perform hip dances. For someone with a wife that looked a lot better than this, he wasn’t quite impressed.

‘Could they think I’m up to no good and are already preparing to attack me?’

It was hard to tell as the people here didn’t trust anyone here. Demonic cultivators could turn into enemies at a drop of a hat if it suited their needs. It was hard to imagine that they would just attack him out of the blue. Yet this was not out of the question, perhaps they were preparing a trap at the next place they would lead him to.

‘If they invite me into the sect's territory I need to be careful also I should speed this up. The less time I give them the better.’

“Enough, how long are you going to keep me here, where is that elder Tong!”

Acting like an offended master wasn’t hard. He only needed to slam his fist into the table while releasing some of that energy. With his Dao being able to affect souls his aura become even more bizarre. The people here had the feeling that their vital energies were being sucked, if they continued like this they would have their vital energies sucked out!

“P-please Senior, Elder Tong is just a busy person…”

“Is he too busy to meet someone like me? Do you want me to show you what happens to people that make me wait? Maybe I should talk with your Patriarch, what was his name again, Demon of Immolation or something like that?”

The people in the restaurant dropped down to the ground. They all knew that the person they were up against could turn them into dried-up corpses in a matter of seconds. There was no way for them to escape other than pleading. Luckily for them, the sliding door burst open and finally, a person from the sect appeared.

“Please, Senior appease your anger, Elder Tong is expecting your arrival and will answer all of the senior’s questions, I will guide you there!”

It was a young man in a lavish-looking robe. Zhang Dong could tell that he probably belonged to the core disciples of the sect. The robe was similar to the one that Meifen was wearing but it was more intricate. It was a clear distinction between their ranks.

“So you finally decide to show up and you still want me to follow?”

Yet he still needed to show his displeasure, they did make him wait. This elder Tong didn’t seem like someone that he should be considerate about. If the sect leader was the only nascent soul master here then this elder should have been a pinnacle core formation cultivator at most.

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“T-this…”

The young man dropped down to his knees as expected. Even though he had his head down, Zhang Dong could tell that his face was showing something else than remorse. It was clear resentment towards him that was performing the act. This young man was probably of the young master variety and wasn’t used to not getting his way. most likely he had a silvery tongue but it was impossible to use it with tons crushing down on his shoulders.

‘I’m having more fun with this gravity Dao than I expected… maybe there is another way to extract them without gathering the rare boss drops’

‘A possibility exists.’

‘Bob? How unusual for you to speak up by yourself. What did you have in mind?’

‘It is possible to gain the power of origin through absorption of the human soul core.’

‘Wait… you want me to extract it from their souls or something?’

‘Affirmative, it is possible to proceed as long as a soul core exists.’

‘Can you be more specific Bob?’

‘A soul core is what the user understands under the term soul-divinity that is formed once a nascent soul is created.’

‘I see, so I can gain insight into the Dao if I absorb souls… I’m sure I’ve absorbed some souls that were on that level though, don’t remember gaining any knowledge. Wait, or was that because of my soul core?’

‘Affirmative.’

It was a strange sight for the people around Zhang Dong. A young prodigy appeared and was instantly forced down to his knees. Even now he was getting surrounded by a strange purple haze and getting crushed. The person performing this task though had his eyes pointing up as if he was thinking about something.

‘So, now after my soul core had formed into that seed thing, I might be able to absorb Dao’s via soul divinities?’

This wasn’t something that he was inclined to do. It wasn’t different then what the demonic cultivators were going through. If a soul of a person was destroyed then they could not be brought back or reincarnated. But he wasn’t sure if that was even possible or not just some kind of legend. While souls and ghosts existed, there was no way of telling if something like an afterlife was there.

‘Even if you reincarnate, if your memories get erased, are you even the same person… I guess this isn’t the time to worry about things like that…’

He was undecided about absorbing people's souls to gain their powers but this was not the place for it. What he needed to do was find Wang Long or clues to his whereabouts. This could also be a dead end and his opponent could have already escaped somewhere else.

The initial trace was the Chaotic Demon that recently appeared and apparently turned the whole demonic island around. During his stay in the tavern, he continued to ask about this person and was told many stories. For some reason, they were mostly positive but he knew how to read between the lines. It was clear that they feared this cultivator, perhaps his influence was even strong here.

“Fine, you may have your pitiful life, now don’t waste my time anymore.”

“Thank you, my lord, for sparing this one's life.”

The young man started bowing while showing a fake smile. Animosity was oozing from his whole being as Zhang Dong could see through that fake smile. It wouldn’t be strange if he wasn’t led into a trap now. Yet he wasn’t worried, the people in this city would not be capable of holding him or killing him. Perhaps if multiple of their best masters ganged together they could have a chance.

‘Was I always this cocky?’

Zhang Dong moved his hands behind his back and started floating a few centimeters off the ground. While following after the young man he continued to look around. Even though he was strong, there was always a chance of something going wrong. After the string of easy victories, he had been becoming a bit more confident in solving all of his issues. If he could only get to Wang Long before he became more powerful, then all of this could be over.

“We welcome the great senior!”

‘So this is the entrance to their sect?’

At first, he was confused that the area was this small but after getting closer he noticed the folded space. The inside of the large tower would be much bigger than he initially assumed. Only at this range was he able to decode the various layers of formations and this place had a plethora of them.

‘Is their master a formation master or something? Though he would be more of a hothead like Qiang. Usually, the Dao corresponds to how they act.’

There were certain truths in the world and this corresponded to Daos. Some personality traits were attributed to a person's mind Dao, fire for instance was usually studied by cultivators that had fiery characteristics. The wind was mostly studied by people that liked to travel a lot and the water Dao to the calm and collected.

Yet there were also exceptions, it was possible to get proficient in a Dao that a person wasn’t suited for. This could be achieved with the help of treasures and magical items. This was a demonic cultivator, he could have unearthed some kind of high-level mantra that used flame energy for cultivation.

While he would struggle to go against his nature with a help of a powerful technique or item it was possible to go above the inborn limits. This was similar to how Zhang Dong’s disciples had shifted their Dao towards lightning due to his involvement.

“Hm…”

“Please Senior, come in, our sect welcomes you with open hands, we have a special place prepared.”

He didn’t like how this place looked, there were many slaughtering and illusionary formations everywhere. If he wasn’t a formation master himself he would have probably declined out of fear. If someone without proper knowledge entered this place they could find themselves trapped even if they were nascent soul masters.

“Good, lead the way.”

‘It shouldn’t be a problem but I’m not sure that they want me here. Are they part of this new upstart faction and are testing me?’

There was a possibility of his getting attacked or poisoned after arriving at his destination. His spiritual sense was spreading everywhere but even he was having trouble getting through all the various defensive formations. It seemed that the demonic cultivators were a notch above the orthodox ones when it came to formations.

‘Well then, what do you have in store for me here…’

Finally, he strode toward his destination, with some luck he could get his information and remove himself from the city…