On the other side, Danila was in a meeting with a group of Saint-tiers from the Dark Demon Cult.
“Lord Danila, where did this Lord True Demon come from?” one Saint-tier asked, a look of doubt on his face. The others nodded as well, voicing their shared curiosity about Zhang Ye.
After all, this branch was located in the middle of nowhere. The sudden arrival of a genuine demon was bound to raise suspicions.
“The origin of Lord True Demon is not something for the likes of us to pry into. All you need to know is that Lord True Demon is immensely powerful!” A strange glint flashed across Danila's eyes before he spoke with a solemn expression.
“How strong is he?” The crowd grew even more curious. After all, none of them had ever seen a true demon before, so they had no concrete concept of what one was capable of.
“As you can see, Lord True Demon's cultivation is only at Tier Nine, yet a casual strike from him can unleash the power of a Three-star Saint-tier!” Danila said. “I witnessed it with my own eyes!”
In Danila's eyes, Zhang Ye's instant casting was proof of a “casual strike.”
Hsss... The gathered Saint-tiers gasped in shock.
A Tier Nine having the power of a Three-star Saint-tier with a mere casual strike—this was simply... unheard of!
How terrifying! If Lord True Demon were to ascend to the Saint-tier, even Five-star Saint-tiers wouldn't stand a chance against him!
Compared to him, those so-called geniuses who could fight above their rank were like night and day.
Even if those prodigies could fight above their rank, it was usually only by one or two minor sub-ranks. The stronger ones might leap across one or two major tiers, but who among them could jump four or five major tiers like Zhang Ye, especially across the massive chasm that was the Saint-tier?
It was truly terrifying!
In an instant, the reverence everyone held for Zhang Ye deepened even further.
However, one Saint-tier still asked dubiously, “But according to the records I've read, members of the Demon Race all have horns. The horns are the manifestation of a demon's power, ranking from lowest to highest as gray, white, cyan, blue, purple...”
“Yet this Lord True Demon doesn't have any horns. I wonder if he could be someone else in disguise—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a terrifying force blasted him backward, slamming him violently against the rock wall. Had the wall not been reinforced by a magic circle, he might have crashed right through it!
Spitting up blood, he fell to the ground with a pale face, then dropped to his knees, trembling as he choked out, “Lord Danila, please appease your wrath...”
Danila pulled back his hand and snorted coldly. “I said before, no disrespect toward Lord True Demon!”
“He possesses such a pure demon aura, and you still suspect Lord True Demon of being an impostor?”
“Has your brain been devoured by Soul-devouring Bugs?!”
With that, he placed his hands behind his back and spoke slowly, “It is true that demon horns are the manifestation of demonic power, but do not forget—this is the Mortal Realm!”
“Having descended here, Lord True Demon naturally needs to disguise himself. Otherwise, if he were discovered, he would inevitably be hunted down by the Holy See and all the other races. It would be extremely dangerous!”
“Therefore, Lord True Demon obviously hid his horns!”
“To fail to grasp such an obvious truth—what a waste of your Saint-tier status!”
“Go receive your punishment!”
“Yes!” the Saint-tier replied immediately.
“Enough. Lord True Demon is beyond our right to speculate.”
“How are the preparations for the super-long-distance teleportation magic circle coming along?”
“They are nearly complete. Only the final refinements remain, and it will take just seven days to finish setting it up!” another Saint-tier answered at once.
Hearing this, Danila shook his head. “I will give you five days. Within five days, you must complete the magic circle and send Lord True Demon to headquarters!”
“Earlier, I sensed the Light energy of the Holy See, which rattled my spirit. It is highly probable that the Holy See has discovered this place. Thus, we cannot afford any delay—we must ensure the safety of Lord True Demon and the Water Spirit's avatar!”
“This is our Master's grand plan. There must not be a single mishap!”
“Understood!”
“By the way, prepare some fine delicacies shortly. I shall deliver them to Lord True Demon personally.”
“Yes!”
Unaware of their discussion, Zhang Ye was currently researching how to make his demon aura even denser.
He brought up the magic circle for [Demonized · Vine King’s Great Arrow] and studied it intently.
Though it was a Tier Seven magic circle, its profundity far exceeded that of a Tier Ten magic circle. It was no wonder it could unleash Tier Ten power with only Tier Seven mana consumption.
Zhang Ye felt there had to be some specific transformation at work. If he could identify it, he would be able to master this formidable power.
And so he began his research, spending over three hours on it.
And as luck would have it, he actually discovered the secret behind it.
Looking at the profound rune group he had isolated from the magic circle, Zhang Ye stroked his chin.
He recognized these symbols—it was the Demon Race's language, specifically demon script and runes, which had sparse mentions in historical records.
Records were scarce, and research on it was equally sparse, as demons rarely appeared in this world, making demon script even rarer.
Fortunately, Zhang Ye possessed the system's translation capability, allowing him to comprehend its meaning.
Zhang Ye realized that it was these demon runes that bestowed the power of demonization upon the [Vine King’s Great Arrow].
These demon runes were likely the key to communicating with the Demon Realm and gaining the empowerment of Demon Realm power.
Zhang Ye then delved deeper into his research, attempting to isolate the demon runes one by one, analyze them, and integrate them into other magic circles.
He wanted to see if these demon runes could also induce [Demonization] in other spells. If they could, his strength would take a massive leap forward!
However, the research did not go smoothly. Zhang Ye discovered that as soon as he substituted these demon runes into other magic circles, the spells collapsed instantly, leaving him somewhat baffled.
Soon, he uncovered part of the reason.
These spells seemed to repulse demon runes. Whenever a demon rune was inserted into a magic circle, the other magic sets would actively avoid it, causing operational errors that led to a complete collapse.
But why was this happening?
Zhang Ye brought up the magic circle for [Vine King’s Great Arrow] and compared it with [Demonized · Vine King’s Great Arrow]. Apart from the additional string of demon runes, there was no other difference, which puzzled him even more.
At that moment, Hainowei softly woke up. Seeing Zhang Ye's knitted brow, she asked, “What's wrong?”
Upon hearing her, Zhang Ye's eyes suddenly lit up. He asked Hainowei, “Hainowei, can you see any difference between these two magic circles?”
Hainowei tilted her head slightly. “What magic circles?”
Only then did Zhang Ye remember that the magic circles generated through analysis were virtual and invisible to others. Thus, he cast the magic circles of both spells into the air for Hainowei to see.
Hainowei observed them for a moment before pointing at [Demonized · Vine King’s Great Arrow]. “This magic circle is shrouded in laws.”
“Laws?” Zhang Ye paused in surprise.
Why couldn't he feel them? Was it because he was too weak?
That didn't make sense either; Hainowei's current cultivation was only slightly higher than his own.
Noticing Zhang Ye's confusion, Hainowei smiled and explained, “I am a Water Spirit, so I can perceive certain laws of the world.”
“I see... Wait, are you saying this magic circle is wrapped in laws of the world?” Zhang Ye asked, pointing at the magic circle for [Demonized · Vine King’s Great Arrow].
Hainowei nodded. “Mhm.”
Zhang Ye fell deep into thought. A moment later, he reached out, gathering mana in his hand to trace that string of demon runes in the air. “Then can you tell if these runes are shrouded in laws of the world?”
Hainowei shook her head. “No.”
Zhang Ye then inserted the demon runes into the magic circle of [Vine King’s Great Arrow]. As long as he didn't activate it, the circle wouldn't collapse.
“What about now? Is this magic circle wrapped in laws of the world?”
Hainowei still shook her head. “No.”
Hearing her response, Zhang Ye pondered once more. Gradually, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, until he finally slapped his forehead. “How could I have mixed this up?!”
“What do you mean?” Hainowei asked, puzzled.
Zhang Ye said excitedly, “These are demon runes, but the runes aren't the root cause of a spell's [Demonization]. The true root cause is one's own [Demonization]!”
“Demonization of oneself triggers the laws of the world. Only with the intervention of the laws of the world can the demon runes establish a connection with the magic! Otherwise, the magic will simply reject the demon runes!”
As he spoke, Zhang Ye's thoughts became increasingly clear!
“To make magic undergo [Demonization], I must first undergo [Demonization] myself!”
“That's the core of it! How could I mix up such a simple cause and effect?!”
Having figured it out, Zhang Ye exhaled, but then his brows knitted together again.
That brought up another question.
How could he demonize himself?
Leona had mentioned that demonization required generating extreme negative emotions to communicate with the Demon Realm and receive the empowerment of Demon Realm power.
In that case... communicating with the Demon Realm was the true key to demonization, while extreme negative emotions were merely the trigger for that communication.
Was there a way to communicate with the Demon Realm without generating extreme negative emotions?
Zhang Ye stared at the string of demon runes, their meaning automatically surfacing in his mind.
“God and demon are born from the heart...”
...
...
Rate on N.U.
