Way of the Devil

Panda Novel

The messy God Clock journey ended under Lu Sheng’s complete control.

Zhou Quanwu was captured. The other mortals, her father included, were collectively put under psychological guidance and became great helpers to Lu Sheng in controlling the situation.

Other than a few Geshas who died in the beginning, the others were forcibly controlled by Lu Sheng.

Even those with strong willpower were forcibly put under psychological guidance after Lu Sheng clobbered them up and they partially lost consciousness.

It was almost too easy for Lu Sheng to control Geshas, who had weak spirits but formidable combat powers.

After the situation was stabilized, Lu Sheng brought Du Xia and Du Qiu home so that they could be reunited with their parents. His father, Du Xuning, and the others were safe. Perhaps the other Geshas thought that they would be able to deal with Du Xia smoothly; hence, they did not make any extra movements.

That saved Lu Sheng quite a lot of trouble.

On the other hand, he stationed some men to guard the God Clock while he returned to the plains silently.

…..

The cold wind was like a blade as it blew through his hair, making it dance wildly.

Lu Sheng stood calmly before the God Clock. He gently touched the surface of the extremely huge rocky surface.

“Have you brought all the men I’ve had you prepare?” he asked softly.

“I’ve brought them all!”

Behind Lu Sheng, an angry-looking Zhou Quanwu wielded a long sword. She wore a beige-colored singlet which exposed her muscle-knotted arms. Root-like veins popped and filled her bronze-colored skin.

The Imperial Phoenix stood at Zhou Quanwu’s left side. Star Sand’s leader, the Left Star King, stood on her right. The two of them had shaved their heads bald. They wore white trousers and singlets with a huge character “Fist” sewn onto them.

The Imperial Phoenix licked his lips. Then, he waved a head and shouted, “Bring them all up!”

Soon enough, a mini truck drove up from behind.

A dozen individuals were bound on the back of the truck. They were young people under 16 years of age. Most of these young people looked fierce and menacing. There was an occasional ordinary student, but his eyes were also filled with a sense of brutality.

The Imperial Phoenix stepped forward, and explained, “These are the kids who committed murder in the federation in recent years. They were all that we can capture.”

Before this, he was ready to fight to the death against Lu Sheng. Currently, under the correct psychological guidance, he became the most loyal lackey of Lu Sheng.

“Mm-hm.” Lu Sheng nodded slowly. He swept his gaze across these people.

“There are no mistakes, right?”

“It’s impossible. These children here have either robbed, murdered, raped, dealt drugs, or kidnapped young girls. Some even worked as hitmen. There are all sorts of criminals here,” the Imperial Phoenix spoke with scorn. As a Gesha organization that had relations with the government, the force the Imperial Phoenix could mobilize far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Lu Sheng nodded slightly.

“Bring the goods here.”

After the order was passed, several men carried a huge basin with a diameter of several meters.

The round basin was completely black. It seemed to have been made out of some black jade. Various mysterious symbols and patterns were inscribed on the sides, and there were also four peculiar bat-like beast sculptures perched at regular intervals on the basin.

“Begin.” Lu Sheng nodded.

In no time, two smaller strong men stepped forward. They each held a criminal, and they swiped the knives in their hands across the criminals’ necks.

“Pchht!”

Two jets of blood shot out and landed precisely into the great basin on the ground.

When they saw this scene, the other gagged and bound teenagers immediately trembled. All color drained from their faces.

Blood flowed quickly from the opened necks. Initially, the blood gushed out, then it slowed, and finally dripped until it went dry.

The two strong men casually tossed the corpses away. Then, they picked up two other children and repeated their actions.

Nobody felt sorry for them. These teenagers captured by the Imperial Phoenix had committed grave crimes. They were largely evil, and had distorted personalities and short tempers.

There were no innocent souls here. They were all individuals who were spared judgement because of the loopholes in the judiciary system.

Streams of blood flowed continuously into the black jade basin. The peculiar thing was that despite the cold temperature, the blood in the basin, which had been outside the body for so long, did not coagulate.

After all the criminals had been drained of their blood, Lu Sheng clapped his hands. A strong fat man more than two meters in height walked up immediately.

“Toss all the ingredients into it,” Lu Sheng instructed.

“Understood!” the fat man hastily responded. He removed the plastic bags he had been carrying on his back.

“Swoosh…”

The bags of red powder were emptied into the basin.

The blood in the basin began to turn white. The original red tint faded. In its place was a faint fragrance.

Lu Sheng flicked his fingers. Spots of colorful light shot out and plunged lightly into the basin.

“Fuh!”

The entire black jade basin burst into flames. The flames were not scarlet; instead, they were semi-transparent and colorful.

“It’s done. Let’s have someone try it out.” Lu Sheng swept his gaze across the people gathered there. At least half of the people gathered here were Geshas.

Zhou Quanwu stepped forward and calmly spoke, “Allow me, Master.” She walked slowly to the black jade basin and grabbed two beast sculptures on the edge of the basin.

“Uohh!”

Her limbs swelled up swiftly as they were filled with blood. The front of her singlet split open with a tearing sound by her expanding muscles. Her skin-tight inner garment was exposed.

“Argh!” she roared. Her legs were one size larger than before. Huge triangular muscle complexes which resembled armor even bulged on her back. Countless green blood vessels resembling spider web appeared on her body.

“Fooh!”

The black jade basin was immediately lifted above eye level. The jade basin was initially light as a feather before this. Currently, it weighed several orders heavier compared to before, just as if it was filled with heavy metal.

“Splash!”

Zhou Quanwu lifted the great basin and tilted it toward herself. The milky-white blood which burned with colorful flames immediately drenched her body.

The colorful flames swiftly spread onto her body as well.

“This… This sensation?!” Zhou Quanwu put the jade basin down. Her body shook, and she could not help but fall to her knees on the ground.

The colorful flames burned intensely as if they were eroding away something on her body.

Lu Sheng looked on silently as he stood at the side. After waiting for a little while, Zhou Quanwu slowly pushed her body back up.

“I’m… alive?!” She extended her hands in incredulity. She looked at her own slightly swollen fingers.

Lu Sheng had the clearest sensation as he stood there at the side. The flames had burned away all of Zhou Quanwu’s Gesha Power.

Now that the flames had stopped burning, it meant that her Gesha Powers had been completely burned away. Simply put, from this moment on, Zhou Quanwu was no longer a Gesha. She no longer needed to supply her own longevity into the Gesha Core.

The blood within the jade basin had replenished her lost longevity as well.

“It’s a success.” Lu Sheng nodded slightly.

“That took more than expected, but as long as it’s worth it. Next.” He looked at another Gesha, the Imperial Phoenix.

“Roger!” The Imperial Phoenix slowly took a step forward.

An hour later, the Geshas had passed the test. The conclusion was that Mi Guangyin’s method was simple and easy to apply. Other than its price being heavier, there were no obvious shortcomings.

However, the said price was a few lives, though this was not a problem for the Imperial Phoenix or Earth Star Pillar’s Star Sand.

On the contrary, after having their minds infiltrated and controlled by Lu Sheng, most of them started to think that it was a great bargain by giving up a few lives in exchange for their own safety.

After five consecutive Geshas had tried it out in the plains, Lu Sheng confirmed that this method was effective in extracting all Gesha Power and replenishing the lost longevity.

He quickly arranged for Du Xia and Du Qiu to undergo the purging process. He stripped them completely of the Gesha Power and replenished their longevity.

Time passed slowly by. A few days had passed in the blink of an eye.

***********

Four days later… Within the God Clock.

Lu Sheng walked slowly into the rift. He suddenly stopped before even reaching the cavern where Mi Guangyin was.

He reached out slowly and placed his hand on the rock wall on the side.

Lu Sheng had controlled the Gesha Core for a few days now. At first, Mi Shenglong would still appear and curse somewhat. When he noticed that his insults were not working, he switched tactics and started groveling or resorted to trickery.

It was clear that after the Gesha Core left the God Clock, Mi Shenglong could not get his supply of energy; hence, he was really flustered.

The power he accumulated was not limitless. He needed a huge amount of energy to maintain his spirit’s existence. However, Lu Sheng had brought the Gesha Core out and used it to strip the Geshas of their powers. Although some of his power was regained in this way, the extraction of the Gesha Power also incurred a high energy cost. When the input and output of energies were calculated, Mi Shenglong practically gained nothing.

Mi Shenglong’s struggling and begging could not move Lu Sheng in the least. Lu Sheng was currently figuring a way to gain the greatest benefits from this world.

The first thing he was considering was this God Clock which surely contained a lot of Mental Energy.

He snapped back to the present. He ran his hand softly over the rocky inner wall of the God Clock.

“Pchht!”

Suddenly, he stabbed his fingers into the wall up to his wrist. His fingers pierced the wall as if they were sharp blades.

“Spare me…” Mi Shenglong’s voice could be heard from the Gesha Core in his pocket.

Lu Sheng ignored him. When Mi Shenglong grew weaker, the overall defense of the God Clock grew weaker as well.

The Mental Energy contained within loosened as well. Now was the moment for him to receive his payment for all his hard work.

“Hiss…”

Formless Mental Energy surged wildly into Lu Sheng’s body through his palm.

1000, 2000, 3000, 4000…

His Mental Energy store spiked wildly.

Before Lu Sheng’s eyes, Deep Blue’s interface was already open. He clearly saw the numbers of his Mental Energy rocketing up.

In less than 10 minutes, the vast Mental Energy contained within the God Clock flowed out like air from a punctured balloon. It surged into his body.

The God Clock’s original characteristics remained unchanged; it looked no different from before. Mental Energy did not have much of an effect on objects to begin with.

“Pchht!”

Lu Sheng withdrew his hand. Deep Blue’s interface closed slowly.

“You’ve come. Have you thought things through?” Mi Guangyin’s voice suddenly came from within the rift.

“I have.”

Lu Sheng continued walking further inward.

“Before I can confirm my decision, I have a question for you.” His expression was calm. It was clear that he had made a decision a long time ago.

“What is it?” Mi Guangyin asked with a smile.

“I want to confirm… just how powerful you are!” His voice barely faded when Lu Sheng charged toward Mi Guangyin with lightning speed. His right hand formed a blade and he brought it toward her forehead.

Mi Guangyin lifted an arm covered in black armor to parry Lu Sheng’s hand blade.

“Boom!”

Two great forces collided loudly. Gray air waves shot outward.

“I have… no interest in joining a weakling’s group!” Lu Sheng shouted furiously. He swung his elbow toward her, but the attack was blocked by Mi Guangyin’s other arm.

“Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!”

The two of them fought fiercely in close quarters. They did not use any supernatural powers. They merely unleashed the pure strength from their bodies.

The intense and wild collision sounds practically formed a dragged-out sound. The densely packed sound waves sent vibrations throughout the entire God Clock.

Countless rubble rained down.

Lu Sheng’s moves were wide. He did not defend himself, and went all out in offense. His body was extremely hard. Even if Mi Guangyin managed to land a few blows, he would only be slightly grazed at most. Under the support of his spirit-prompting threads and Yang Essence, his wounds healed quickly.

Mi Guangyin’s body was covered in black armor. Faint, transparent ripples spread across it as they blocked the incoming punches and kicks.

“Divine Might!” Lu Sheng brought his palms together. In an instant, he lashed out with it with a terrifying speed several times quicker than before. He formed a blade with his joined palms and brought it down.

“Hahahaha!” Mi Guangyin laughed loudly. She pulled her right hand back and pulled out a black, slim curved blade out of thin air. She made a forward slash with it.

“Pchht! Boom!”

The hands and blade of the two opponents met.

A ring of black ripples suddenly appeared. It contracted slightly before erupting with a loud boom. In an area of several thousand meters, the plains cracked open as fissures of unknown depths spread across the land.