Interlude – Looming Clouds of the Devil Sword
Southwest of the Profound Sky Continent, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Late into the night beneath a waning moon and sparse stars.
The imminent arrival of a new moon was precisely when the bright moon was at its most incomplete state. It was currently late into the night and the sky was veiled behind a thin layer of black clouds. If one raised their heads and looked into the distance, they would only vaguely see an indistinct, slender crescent. Not long after, dark clouds of unknown origins began to silently float over, coming together to form a cluster until they gradually blocked out the light from the waning moon and stars, causing the entire world to not have the slightest sliver of light.
The time of a waning moon at night was also when the power of a certain seal was at its weakest.
In a certain secret underground space so dark that one couldn’t see anything, slow, light footsteps suddenly echoed. The sound of the footsteps echoed steadily. However, the owner of the footsteps had no intention of lighting a lantern nor illuminating a profound light and just continued to walk within the complete darkness, all the way to the bottom of this underground space.
Following the sound of the footsteps stopping, a dusky light was slowly lit. This beam of light appeared to be a murky gray and even released an especially eerie aura. If a normal person were to see this light, they would feel an uncomfortable chill.
What released this murky gray beam of light was astonishingly a sword… the sword was six and a half feet long and a foot wide. Its entire body was pitch-black and was surrounded by a strange black aura. What was even more stranger was that a pair of long and narrow black eyes slowly appeared on the oddly shaped sword hilt.
It was like the eyes of a devil which had suddenly woken up.
This pair of pitch-black eyes was sometimes clear, then dark, as its terrifying gaze looked at the human figure that walked up before it.
“Honored Devil Lord, it has been months since we’ve last met. Today is finally the time when the night is at its darkest during a waning moon.” The human figure slowly began to talk. From the voice alone, it seemed to have come from a middle-aged man.
It was because this sword’s seal would be at its weakest only during the darkest waning night. The “devil lord” in the sword would then have a short period of relative freedom… like being able to talk. Otherwise, if it were to forcibly appear during any other time, it would only cause the seal to accelerate its engulfment. This specific kind of engulfment was irreversible as well, causing it to disappear even quicker.
As for this sword, it had a well-known name.
Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!!
“How goes the process of undoing the seal… and that person named Fen Juechen!”
The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword uttered in a frightening voice. Like the mournful roar of a devil in pain, its voice bounced in waves inside the pitch-black space.
The middle-aged man faintly smiled, “Everything is going smoothly. In just two more months, it will be the precise moment when all thirteen stars are aligned. This happens once every three thousand years and will also be when the Devil Sword Conference is held. When all thirteen stars align, that will also be when the yin energy of the world will be at its pinnacle. The collective power of all the experts of the Profound Sky Continent can definitely undo the seal.”
“As for that Fen Juechen, he will also be there at that time. After all, he is the one who wishes to obtain the Heavenly Sin Devil Sword more than anyone else.”
Beneath the dusky light, one could faintly see the corner of the middle-aged man’s mouth curl into an extremely faint smile.
“Very good.” The terrifying voice rang from the sword, “Once you help this lord undo the seal and seize back the devil blood, this lord will naturally assist you in killing everyone to become the supreme ruler of this world! There won’t be anyone who could be your match then.”
“I only hope that you can keep your word. I wouldn’t want to get an unacceptable result after the troubles I’ve gone through for an entire millennia.” An ominous tone could be heard within the middle-aged man’s flat voice.
“Hahahaha, what kind of an existence am I? How can I possibly lower myself to scheme against you mere humans!? After all, in the end, this lord is but a sword so I do need a wielder. And you are the most suitable wielder!” The Heavenly Sin Divine Sword’s voice suddenly became malevolent at this time. “This lord had also said this to that man surnamed Ye. This lord only wishes to be free and didn’t even hesitate to lower myself to beg him. This lord even offered my only drop of devil blood, beseeching him to help me undo the seal, promising that I would grant them unrivaled power…”
“But once that man surnamed Ye obtained this lord’s devil blood and devil arts, not only did he not help me undo the seal, he had even added several more layers of seals, locked this lord inside the Flame Lake, and told his clan to stand guard there, swearing that this lord will never see the light of day again! If not for you saving this lord, the last wisp of this lord’s remnant soul may have already completely dissipated by now and I would have eternally become a dead sword!”
“You humans are truly the world’s most shameless, lowly creatures!!”
“Hahaha,” The middle-aged man laughed, “Do not worry, Honored Devil Lord, I am not as stupid as the Eternal Night Royal Family which bites the hand that feeds it. During these past years, I have paid an enormous price to slowly undo the seals the Eternal Night Royal Family added to your seal. For the purpose of undoing your last seal, I have even planned the Devil Sword Conference. All this is enough to show my sincerity.”
“This lord believes you! Whether in terms of strength or strategy, you can be considered to be at the peak out of the humans on this plane, worthy of becoming this lord’s wielder. If I were to talk about your greatest fault, it would be that you killed Ye Mufeng a thousand years ago without leaving a single bone! Otherwise, why else did you have to go through so much trouble?!”
The middle-aged man didn’t object, “I had not yet met Honored Devil Lord that year, so how would I know that Ye Mufeng’s bloodline would be of great use? However, in order to leave behind his bloodline, Ye Mufeng didn’t hesitate to call upon the wrath of heaven, using the “forbidden reincarnation technique” Honored Devil Lord mentioned to revive the devil blood that should have been extinguished. That was quite a great help, hahahaha.
“I sealed Ye Mufeng’s soul in the Soul Sealing Coffin, leaving it in Black Fiend Nation’s land of extreme yin, just to keep his remnant soul from dissipating. I even gave the key to the Soul Sealing Coffin to Burning Heaven Clan’s Grand Sect Master Fen Yijue after his son had reincarnated in Blue Wind Nation. I hinted in his consciousness that the key was an inheritance given by their ancestors that could be used during a desperate time. Everything went off without a hitch.
“I originally planned to slaughter Burning Heaven Clan three years before the Thirteen Star Alignment appeared and only leave Fen Juechen alive, letting him take the key to have a reunion with Ye Mufeng. Once he received the previous incarnation’s memories, in order to take revenge and obtain the power to take revenge, he would definitely wish to retrieve the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword and naturally be present at the Devil Sword Conference.
“I never thought that an unexpected accident would happen in my plans. Burning Heaven Clan was actually exterminated by that Yun Che brat. Fortunately, he did not kill Fen Juechen. He had almost ruined my great plans! If he did, dying more than ten million times wouldn’t be enough of an atonement for his crimes!” Contained within the middle-aged man’s voice was a clear-cut sinister killing intent.
“What happened after went exceptionally smoothly. Even though the time frame of my plan happened far too early, Fen Juechen successfully found Ye Mufeng’s remnant soul and his strength has even increased at a shocking rate. However, this event couldn’t be even more wonderful. If he’s too weak, it wouldn’t be easy to ‘logically’ allow him to obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword.”
The middle-aged man’s voice had been flat the entire time, yet within the flatness was an extreme proudness. It was as though nothing in the entire world escaped his eyes, as though any turbulent changes were within his control.
“Honored Devil Lord. I still don’t get it, why must Fen Juechen obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword? Why can’t we just capture him and forcibly take the devil blood?”
“Hmph, if that was possible, this lord would’ve done it twenty years ago instead of going through all this trouble!” The pitch-black devil sword quiety roared. “The seal on my body was in fact, left behind by a primordial god called the ‘Evil God’! Although a million years have passed since then with the seal having become extremely weak, this lord has still been engulfed, with only the smallest remnant soul remaining!! If this seal is not undone soon, this lord will completely disappear! At present, it is already extremely difficult for this lord to exist. It is fundamentally impossible for me to actively take away the devil blood power! That Fen Juechen must release the devil blood and offer it to this lord of his own accord! It can only be so!!”
“With a mere thought of his, this lord shouldn’t even think about seeing the light of day again! All of your hard work would vanish into thin air! Not to mention you forcibly seizing the devil blood!”
“So that’s how it is.” The middle-aged man slowly nodded with a face devoid of emotion. He turned around and then said indifferently, “The Thirteen Star Alignment will happen in two months. At that time, the world will be encased in darkness, yin energy will cover the sky, and it will also be the time when the seal will be at its weakest in three thousand years. By then, almost all of Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs will be there with a great majority of the Overlords. The gathering of the power of all those Monarchs and Overlords will surely break the seal open.”
“Honored Devil Lord, don’t worry. They will definitely do their best. After all, they are all incomparably anxious to know the ‘devil sword’s’ secrets. Even moreso, they wish to know the so-called ‘secrets of the Divine Profound’, hahahahaha…”
The sound of footsteps echoed once more within the loud laughter as the middle-aged man disappeared within the darkness.
He possessed enough power and influence to blot out the sky with one hand.
He also possessed a devil’s scheming and shrewdness… Even to this day, he still had all the heroes of the realm dancing in the palm of his hand.
Yet not a single person was aware of this.
Nor did was anyone aware that his monstrous plan of becoming the world’s master was already approaching its last step.
Mighty Heavenly Sword Master Xuanyuan Wentian!