Chapter 503 - 488: The Stirring Dark Power
The rest was simple.
Although Shen Lang had added many restrictive clauses to the contract, he also offered sufficiently tempting conditions, all without crossing the Evil Eye Lord’s bottom line.
The Evil Eye Lord was cunning, but unfortunately for it, the man it encountered was even more insidious.
Moreover, he was able to produce many things that were impossible to refuse.
’Make him an offer he can’t refuse.’
Coercion was merely a supplementary tactic; enticement was the only way to truly bind a creature like this.
Without the lure of benefits, even a contract’s restraints wouldn’t necessarily last.
So, Shen Lang first used overwhelming force to beat it into submission. Then, just as the Evil Eye Lord was feeling utterly suppressed and helpless, he dangled all sorts of tempting offers.
And just like that, he had claimed this strange, multi-mutated Demon Beast for himself.
He also put away the nine Spirit Pattern Pillars.
"This thing might be strong, but is it stronger than the Elder Ape? I don’t get what’s the use in subduing it," Nalan Ziyun grumbled, perplexed. "Look at it! It’s huge! How much does it eat in a day? Aren’t you afraid it’ll eat you into poverty?"
"And look at how disgusting it is! A giant eyeball on every single tentacle. The sight of it makes me want to chop off all its tentacles and burn them to a crisp!"
Nalan Ziyun’s words sent a chill through the Evil Eye Lord, and it subconsciously retracted all its tentacles.
It was terrified this woman would actually fly into a rage and subject it to some ancient, cruel torture.
Nalan Ziyun’s cultivation was only at the Spirit Martial Realm Ninth Heaven, completely beneath its notice. However, the aura emanating from the petal she carried—one that could Transform at Will—was astonishing...
"It took some effort for you to gather so many Demon Beasts. Call them over. I’ll take them all," Shen Lang said with a wave of his hand.
Nalan Ziyun froze. "No way. Are you going to kill all these Demon Beasts?"
The moment Nalan Ziyun finished speaking, the Demon Beasts that had been prostrated on the ground began to rise.
One by one, they padded over to Shen Lang’s side, as docile as cats.
Shen Lang gave Nalan Ziyun a helpless look. "I guess the ’busty and brainless’ stereotype isn’t entirely baseless. Who told you I was going to kill these Demon Beasts?"
Nalan Ziyun was furious, but she couldn’t find a reason to retort.
’If he’s not killing the Demon Beasts, what is he planning to do?’ she wondered. But asking would just make her seem even dumber...
She could only glare resentfully at Shen Lang before turning to face the Evil Eye Lord’s tentacles. She took out the small petal, Tears of Paradise, and began to gesture with it, pondering how she could most quickly sever all of its tentacles.
The pitiful Evil Eye Lord had to control several thousand Demon Beasts while simultaneously watching Nalan Ziyun with trepidation, ready to defend itself. All it could do was curse silently in its heart.
Though there were many Demon Beasts, Shen Lang still took them all into the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, batch by batch.
"You want to know what the Evil Eye Lord is useful for? And why I’m gathering so many Demon Beasts?" Shen Lang said with a smile.
"Here’s the most direct use... It’ll be much easier for me to subdue Demon Beasts in the future, right? I won’t have to spend half the day painstakingly persuading them with threats and bribes like I did today."
"With the Evil Eye Lord, Ling Xie, and the Elder Ape, I’ll have one for mental control... oh, no, mental *enlightenment*, and one for threats and intimidation. Soon, I’ll be able to form a powerful Demon Beast army!"
"Then, I can give you, and all the members of War Wolf, one or two Demon Beasts with matching Attributes. Your strength will skyrocket in a short amount of time. What do you think of that idea?"
"..." Nalan Ziyun was dumbfounded.
Only then did she finally understand why Shen Lang had been so focused on this Evil Eye monster.
Building a Demon Beast army—the thought alone was exhilarating. Besides the powerhouses of the Demon Race, who else could possibly achieve such a feat?
Even a Sect like the Beast Emperor Palace, which possessed countless Cultivation Techniques for controlling Demon Beasts, only had a very limited number of them.
But with the Desolate Domain Demon Ape to intimidate them with its Upper-Rank aura, and the Evil Eye Lord for subtle mental influence... or even direct control, subduing Demon Beasts would be, if not as easy as flipping one’s palm, at least incredibly simple!
She imagined the members of the Profound Dao Sect in battle, summoning a horde of powerful Demon Beasts with a wave of their hands... Nalan Ziyun’s eyes began to shine.
The way she looked at the Evil Eye Lord completely changed.
The Evil Eye Lord felt Nalan Ziyun’s excessive enthusiasm and found it unbearable. It wished it could immediately dive into that Magical Treasure of Shen Lang’s where he kept the Demon Beasts.
’This woman... she’s even more terrifying than Shen Lang!’
"Boss, I’ve already swept the entire battlefield," Bone Two reported, scampering back and handing a Sumeru Ring to Shen Lang.
After following Shen Lang for so long, the fellow had gotten much smarter.
He now knew what to do without being told.
"Alright, let’s go check on the fissure." Shen Lang had Bone Two, Yuan Bupu, and the Evil Eye Lord enter the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.
He had only taken two steps when Nalan Ziyun hurried to catch up.
A jade-like hand reached out, intertwining its fingers with Shen Lang’s left hand and holding it tight.
Shen Lang froze for a moment, a strange feeling blooming in his heart. He turned his head and met Nalan Ziyun’s pure, flawless gaze.
Within her eyes was an inexpressible affection, a touch of heartache, and unwavering resolve...
If this world is to be destroyed.
Then let’s cherish every minute, every second we have together before the end...
Reading her heart’s silent plea, Shen Lang broke into a smile. "Let’s go."
The mist formed by the Ghost King lifted the two of them and flew swiftly toward the northwest of the Desolate Land.
They flew for over two hundred li. The closer they got to the northwest, the colder and more sinister the air became.
However, Shen Lang gradually noticed that this sinister cold seemed to be changing slightly.
This was no longer the pure chill of Supreme Yin Qi, but a cold mixed with Death Qi and Corpse Qi.
This cold pierced the bones and flesh, seeping in from all sides, making it unbearable.
A strange, gloomy, and ominous feeling washed over them, blanketing everything.
"Old Ghost, do you feel that?"
Because he had used the Silver Eyes of Truth multiple times earlier, Shen Lang’s Divine Thought was greatly depleted, so he had to ask the Ghost King.
As a ghost at the Xuanwu Realm Seventh Heaven, he was the foremost authority on Death Qi and Corpse Qi.
"Boss, this aura is terrifying. The Supreme Yin Qi is mixed with an endless amount of Corpse Poison Qi. A few of its currents shake my very soul, making me subconsciously want to turn and flee... I’m afraid the zombie horde that big-eyes mentioned has started to move!" the Ghost King said in a grave tone.
"Ahem, a small correction. I am the Evil Eye Lord. My name is Ling Xie. Not ’big-eyes’," the Evil Eye Lord’s voice drifted out, wavering in pitch, sounding even more ghostly than the Ghost King’s. In this frigid land, it was especially Gloomy and Terrifying.
Nalan Ziyun nearly flew into a rage. "You two, talk normally! Speak like humans!"
This was truly asking the impossible. The Ghost King was a ghost, and the Evil Eye Lord was even more bizarre—a tentacle monster covered in eyes. Asking them to speak like humans?
Shen Lang’s expression flickered as he suddenly said, "For its aura to terrify even the Old Ghost, it must have a cultivation of at least the Xuanwu Realm Ninth Heaven or higher... Moreover, Zombies are monsters formed from the accumulation of endless Vengeful Qi. Not only is their Evil Qi astonishing, but their Corpse Poison is also terrifyingly insidious and impossible to guard against..."
"This matter with the fissure is no small thing. To be able to seal such tyrannical Supreme Yin Qi, an Emperor Martial Realm expert from the Imperial Dragon Sect must have acted personally... How could it be easy to destroy a Seal set by an Emperor Martial Realm expert? This situation is likely not as simple as it seems. You should enter the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron first."
"Okay." Seeing how seriously Shen Lang spoke, Nalan Ziyun nodded and immediately entered the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.
Inside the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, Evil Song sat in the pool where the Water Spirit Pearl was placed. Her entire body was submerged, and a vortex formed around her as Water Spirit Qi continuously converged upon her.
Elsewhere, on the Third Floor of the Ice Soul Water Jade Formation, You Yue had completely transformed into an exquisitely beautiful ice sculpture, sensing the Ice Realm.
On the Fourth Floor of the Ice Soul Water Jade Formation, the humanoid Yuan Bupu had also become an ice sculpture.
Unlike You Yue, however, he was not sitting cross-legged. He stood straight as a javelin, looking like a loyal guard poised to strike.
In his hand, he held an Exotic Weapon that resembled a sharp claw. A layer of ice crystals coated the weapon, making it sparkle. It was none other than the Dragon Beard Hook he had obtained from the Holy Light Sect’s Elder Ancestor, Song Lin, back in the Dark Moon Abyss.
Farther away, the Evil Eye Lord hid alone in a corner, sulking and drawing circles...
Surrounding them was a cylindrical curtain of light, which made the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron seem completely transparent, allowing them to see everything outside. They watched as mountains and giant trees flew past on either side.
...
’The most urgent task is to get to the fissure and find the people from the Imperial Dragon Sect!’
Shen Lang sped toward the northwest of the Desolate Land like a bolt of lightning.
Along the way, the bone-chilling wind and Vengeful Qi grew increasingly alarming to Shen Lang.
The Corpse Qi became so dense that Shen Lang had to close most of the pores on his body and activate the Star Moon Bodhi Prayer Beads to resist the corrosion of the Corpse Qi and Vengeful Qi.
More and more Demon Beasts appeared in the Desolate Land, but the number of Martial Artists was even greater.
It was as if all the major powers from near the Imperial Capital had gathered here.
Although there were many Demon Beasts, in other parts of the Desolate Land, they were being hunted down and killed by various factions.
Clearing out the frenzied Demon Beasts seemed to be regarded by many factions as a way to train their disciples, as well as a chance to plunder resources...
No one realized that the true crisis was about to arrive.
’Why have so many factions come to the Desolate Land?’
Seeing this, Shen Lang, who had been relatively calm, began to grow anxious.
The Evil Eye Lord wasn’t exactly sure how many Zombies were in the Hidden Moon Tomb or how powerful they were, and Shen Lang couldn’t guess either.
But any force that dared to destroy the fissure’s Seal was definitely not to be underestimated.
Now, in this Desolate Land, even a group like the Jifeng Mercenary Corps was trying to come and skim some profits. There was no telling how many factions had entered.
Putting aside how powerful the Zombie horde might be...
The moment the Seal is broken, the suppressed Supreme Yin Qi will erupt violently.
And the disciples of the various factions in the Desolate Land will be the first to bear the brunt of this Supreme Yin Qi’s assault.
The fissure was right here in the Desolate Land. At such a close distance, even powerful Seventh to Eighth Level Demon Beasts couldn’t withstand the corrosion of the torrential Supreme Yin Qi, let alone the Spirit Martial Realm disciples from the various factions.
Once the Seal is broken, the Supreme Yin Qi will sweep across the entire Desolate Land, its Momentum unstoppable!
Aside from a few experts who might have a chance to escape, the Desolate Land will be utterly transformed into a Chaos Scene!
’This is even more trouble than I imagined...’