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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
Although it was many cultivators’ first time hearing of Dark Heaven, they somehow felt deeply affected by it. It was as if an unimaginable force travelled through time and space to get here only to scare the hearts of all people.
“We must not mention that name mindlessly, as an invisible entity will detect that,” an Elder with a high cultivation claimed with a stern face.
Those who hurried over were dumbfounded, peering at one another in disconcertment as they wondered where the so-called Dark Heaven came from and inferred that the True Daoists in black might have come from such an enigmatic force.
Prior to that, all had never heard of the existence of such a Force in the Upper Realm. Even Immortal and Formidable Forces that possessed ancient long-lived legacies were unable to send forth so many True Daoists at once.
“Dark Heaven, huh? I’ve never heard of such a Force. Perhaps they’ve only risen recently? However, the Gu Family had stood firmly since the Upper Realm came into existence, yet we have never heard of such a Force…” Seemingly muttering to himself, Gu Changge furrowed his brows as mild suspicion arose on his face.
All of a sudden, as if the Devil Ivy Supreme Being remembered something, she surprisedly stated, “They should be members of an organisation that was formed a long time ago. Judging by the disturbance the True Daoists had caused, the techniques and divine abilities they cast were all different, so they must not be from the same Force”
It was only at that moment she remembered how the True Daoists never used the same divine abilities during the battle. Although those cultivators were bound to have differences given their current levels, if they were of the same Force, they would inevitably display signs of it.
“Then, they are an organisation? What you say does indeed make sense. Although the men in black seemed to be under the same commander, they didn’t look familiar to one another.” With a pondering gaze, Gu Changge tense his brows and slowly nodded as he agreed to the Devil Ivy Supreme Being’s guess.
“How horrifying. How does such an organisation exist? It is as though darkness has seeped into every corner of the world…” The Devil Ivy Supreme Being grew silent for a while, suddenly feeling terrified by Dark Heaven.
Hearing their conversation, the nearby living beings and cultivators were shocked.
If Dark Heaven was really a secret organisation, then they probably have infiltrated the internals of Cults of Immortality and Supreme Sects. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent so many True Daoists to kill Devil Ivy Supreme Being and the rest.
Such an incident was unimaginably terrifying, and if it were spread out, the entire Upper Realm would be stupefied.
“This is bad. A few acquaintances of mine from the Great Yu Celestial Dynasty’s Capital were also in pursuit back then. Things would be grim if they were to split up!” With that, the Devil Ivy Supreme Being’s expression suddenly changed as she remembered the supreme experts from various Forces in the Great Yu Celestial Dynasty who were tracking down the man in black.
Although they were True Daoists who had cultivated for over millions of years and were able to overlook the world, the Devil Ivy Supreme Being herself almost perished once she was surrounded by three True Daoists.
Were it not for Gu Changge’s timely rescue, she would have become a bony corpse drained of all Life Force. As for the others, they would not have been as lucky.
“In that case, let’s hurry over and see for ourselves. I don’t feel good about this…” Gu Changge’s face grew taut after he heard her.
The Devil Ivy Supreme Being nodded as an unnerving intuition arose in her mind.
Right away, without any hesitation, the two cast divine rainbows and traversed the Star Territory, heading towards the distance.
“It seems something huge is going to happen in the Upper Realm…”
“This battle that just broke out must involve more than the True Daoists we saw. Perhaps something unexpected might have already happened…”
The remaining people looked at each other in silence, faintly guessing what was happening with weighty emotions as the terrible consequences might cause an even greater uproar.
Very soon, news about the incident swiftly spread across the Upper Realm as if they bore wings.
The Forces that received the news were instantly dazed, only to be overtaken by immense stupefaction and disbelief.
And so, Dark Heaven’s name was widely spread, causing turmoil with the size and ferocity of a violent tsunami.
In a withered, barren Star Territory, Gu Changge and the Devil Ivy Supreme Being surfaced, staring at the battle-scarred scenery as they grew quiet.
“It appears we’re too late. There’s still embers from the battle. A True Daoist has fallen here…” Gu Changge heaved a sigh and shook his head, as though he was filled with remorse.
Even without his claim, the Devil Ivy Supreme Being could detect the lingering after effects of the battlefield. The remnant fluctuations of True Daoists would barely fade away even after hundreds of thousands of years. She could even sense that the battle that took place here was even more brutal than the one she had experienced.
“Things don’t look promising for the others. Their lives are in danger. What purpose does Dark Heaven have? Why are they slaughtering True Daoists? Why did they make the True Daoists their target?”
The Devil Ivy Supreme Being subtly shivered with a sense of unknown terror.
Gu Changge’s eyes flickered with a strange light as he looked at her calmly.
Right now, he was only building up momentum for Dark Heaven, and there was still some time until they eventually manifested in the world. Even so, True Daoists were already so frantic and wary, let alone other cultivators.
Though, that was what Gu Changge wanted. In his vision, Dark Heaven would become a shadow that engulfed the Upper Realm, penetrating every corner and every inch of the void. Even the oldest and most powerful Forces would fear and worship it like a deity.
Later, Gu Changge and the Devil Ivy Supreme moved on to another Star Territory, only to be greeted by a scene that was very similar to the previous one.
The surrounding stars were shattered, and galaxies were broken and turned to dust, with not a hint of Life Force left. The Star Territory was devastated, as if it had gone through an apocalyptic war. Even the lightning sea withered as overflowing Chaos Qi attempted to break through the Star Territory.
One could imagine how terrifying a battle had taken place here.
“It seems everyone has died, and I’m the only lucky one who survived,” The Devil Ivy Supreme Being said with lingering fear.
“Let’s head back.” Gu Changge sighed lightly, as though he couldn’t stand the scenery any longer.
The Devil Ivy Supreme Being nodded in response.
Thereupon, the two stepped forward, tearing through the void and quickly advanced on their way back to Great Yu Celestial Dynasty.
Soon, as the gruesome battles that took place in various regions weren’t kept as a secret, cultivators eventually noticed them. News then speedily scattered, causing a huge commotion across regions. Thus, the manifestation of Dark Heaven in the world created great panic among all Forces.
No one in the world would ever expect that such a mysterious, terrorising organisation had been secretly operating in the dark. The True Daoists in black possessed fathomless strength, as though they were phantoms hiding in every corner of the world.
Forces such as Sky Emperor Mountain, Great Yu Celestial Dynasty, Lake of Origin, and Thousand Swords Dao Sect faced massive damage as their True Daoists had perished.
Nonetheless, despite their anger, they felt helpless as they couldn’t do anything against Dark Heaven. After all, they didn’t even know where such an organisation came from.
In many cultivators’ perspective, the chaos in Great Yu Celestial Dynasty might have been single-handedly stirred up by Dark Heaven.
That night, the True Daoists in black suddenly appeared, but after they failed to murder Gu Changge, who was already heavily injured, they hastily fled through the void.
With that, True Daoists from several Forces pursued them only to face annihilation on their way. Only the Devil Ivy Supreme Being fortunately survived thanks to Gu Changge’s rescue, while the rest were killed in different Star Territories.
If counted carefully, there were four True Daoists who died.
The Upper Realm had been calm for too long, and it had been a long time since an incident as shocking as this one last happened.
As True Daoists were basically ancestor-like beings with respectable positions and formidable powers in their respective Forces, their deaths left each Force feeling perturbed and unable to recover from it for quite a while.
However, the incident also made one thing clear to everyone. Despite carrying critical injuries, Gu Changge managed to fight and force three True Daoists to their escape. Such frightening strength at such a young age was truly astounding.
As such, many in various ancient cities were all discussing the matter. As those cities grew lively, one could even see photographic stones with the scene of the battle being auctioned in the market.
Those who viewed the footage on the stones were stunned and grew wordless for a long time. The battle was too horrendous, leading to the destruction of a vast Star Territory as Chaos Qi swarmed skywards through the clouds and turned the surrounding ancient stars full of life into ashes.
If it weren’t for Gu Changge’s sudden appearance and driving back of the three True Daoists in black, their murdering spree might have aggravated, causing tremendous suffering and death, and the Devil Ivy Supreme Being from Lake of Origin would have perished as did everyone else. Evidently, compared to the others, she was much luckier.
In the following days, everyone in the entire Upper Realm—not excluding schools such as Immortal Academy and Skyward Schloss—were talking about the matter.
Although Gu Changge was no longer cultivating in any of those academies, rumours of him remained to be hot topics.
His former peers, including the Phoenix Lady, the King with Six Crowns, and Chosen Monk Jin Chan, fell silent upon seeing the photographic stones of the battle before choosing to enter deep retreat as Gu Changge had become an insurmountable mountain in their hearts.
Even though he was only in his twenties, he could already contend with beings that were close to being Immortals.
Hence, many inferred that he must be a reincarnation of a supreme figure from ancient times, who must have possessed absolute power. He might have even been a king among Immortals. Otherwise, there was no way a person could possess such an alarming cultivation speed.
During this period, the Successor of Demonic Arts also caused numerous troubles, though compared to the emergence of Dark Heaven, they were nothing and were quickly dealt with.
Essentially, the Successor of Demonic Arts still needed time to grow, while Dark Heaven, on the other hand, had already been established a long time ago and was only hiding in the dark without revealing any tracks of itself, which was the most terrifying part.
…
Meanwhile, in a place deemed absolutely taboo by various Sects, where Devil Mountain stood, ominous clouds hung over, covering millions of kilometres. The area was filled with daunting mountains that were engulfed by Mists of Chaos, as though they had existed since the beginning of time.
There, an ancient, desolate aura drifted everywhere, as ferocious beasts lurked within.
On every mountain peak, there seemed to be vague figures. Some of them were absorbing the Principles of the world, while the others were either condensing the aura of Heavenly Dao or simply sitting still to contemplate the movement of Qi in an attempt to ascend to a whole new level.
Ever since Chan Honyi, the Demoness in Red, came out of Demon-Burying Abyss, demons of all kinds gradually followed her and eventually resided around Devil Mountain.
During the siege in Divine City, the Demoness in Red slaughtered ruthlessly, and the various Forces that went to face her suffered heavy losses.
And now, on the highest peak, in the deepest part of the Devil Mountain, it was peaceful and tranquil.
There was a slow stream flowing by a straw hut as green boulders floated in the sky, forming stone steps that led to a cold pond by the side. As the mountain breeze blew, accompanied by ambiguous mists, the scenery appeared exceptionally serene and natural.
A prominent, fatally beguiling woman in red was standing on one of the boulders with a deep, calm gaze. Her glossy hair danced in the wind as her snowy skin glistened gracefully. She seemed extremely serene, as if she was a divine goddess that detached herself from the desires of the world, and there was nothing murderous about her.
If there was an outsider here, they would refuse to believe that that woman was Chan Honyi, the Demoness in Red whose ruthlessness put the Upper Realm in fear.
Nonetheless, right now, no demonic energy or even a trace of magic power could be sensed from her, as though she had returned to a pure state, in which her Dao belonged to the world.
Behind Chan Honyi, a woman in a white dress stood. Her face was exquisite, and her hair was rich. Her eyebrows resembled the distant mountains, and she possessed a tall, slender body, resembling an elegant Immortal. She was none other than the Successor of Demonic Arts who was being searched for by the Forces of the Upper Realm—Su Qingge.
Nevertheless, compared to before, she seemed hugely different now, as she had perfectly combined with her other soul.
“Master…” Su Qingge muttered, referring to Chan Honyi as ‘Master.’
To be precise, her former other soul was the true Successor of Demonic Arts who had once fallen into Demon-Burying Abyss and coincidentally obtained Chan Honyi’s legacy. As time went by, she ultimately became one of the true Successors of Demonic Arts.
Thus, it wasn’t unreasonable that she referred to Chan Honyi as ‘Master.’ Besides, her other soul had also told her that should she face any life-threatening situation, she could seek protection in Devil Mountain, and Chan Honyi would lend her a hand due to the legacy she obtained.
Initially, Su Qingge was reluctant to believe it, but after she murdered a Successor of a certain Sect, she was pursued by the deceased’s guardian. Finding no way to flee, she eventually decided to hide herself in Devil Mountain.
And so, half a year had passed.
Meeting with Chan Honyi for the first time, Su Qingge assumed that her Master would be as ferocious and murderous as rumoured, but out of her expectation, Chan Honyi was ever so amiable, bearing splendid extraordinariness.
Seeing such a quality, she caught a momentary glimpse of Gu Changge’s shadow, given how similar he and Chan Honyi were.
“You’re leaving?” Chan Honyi blandly asked without any change in her deep, calm eyes, as if she was unaffected by all things in the world.
“Yes. Thank you for your care all this time, Master. The outside world is in chaos. I shall return as well,” Su Qingge answered.
Although she was no in Devil Mountain, she was still knowledgeable of the disaster in the outside world due to Dark Heaven, and she even heard about Gu Changge’s fatal injury, so she couldn’t help but worry.
“So be it.” Chan Honyi nodded. Although her voice sounded angelic, it was also monotonous.
“Master, before I leave, something remains to bewilder me. Does Dark Heaven, which is currently leaving the Upper Realm in great distress, have anything to do with you?” Su Qingge expressed her confusion, eagerly asking.
After all, many rumours claimed that Dark Heaven might bear significant relation to the Successors of Demonic Arts.
Hearing that, Chan Honyi shook her head. After a moment of thought, she replied, “No, but it may have something to do with him.”
“Him?” Su Qingge was baffled once again.
“Yes, he’s someone you should be familiar with.” Chan Honyi suddenly lifted the corners of her lips, seeming purposefully with a profound meaning, and the serenity and naturalness of her surroundings were shattered.
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