Volcanic Age

Zhou Xuchuan was left completely speechless, and he looked as if a hammer had struck the back of his head. This sight was so surreal that he couldn't quite figure out what to say.

"Sect… Master?"

"If you believe the Sword Immortal's identity rests with his flesh, then you're right. After all, this body used to belong to Mount Hua's Sect Master."

The Blood Demon laughed while pounding his chest. Unfortunately, the skin on his jaw had all been ripped off, making it hard to decipher his expression. "However, the spirit and qi do not belong to the Sword Immortal but to me, the Blood Demon! So you'd be wise not to project someone else's identity onto me."

"…!"

Zhou Xuchuan clamped his mouth shut. His irises, which had been swimming precariously like a pair of fish, rapidly regained their stability.

The Sect Master has… passed on. Panic and confusion tried to flood his thoughts, but Zhou Xuchuan steeled his mind to stop himself from getting washed away by them. His nails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists. His teeth sank into his lips, eliciting blood.

Many questions appeared in his mind. Is Sect Master really dead? Or has the Blood Demonsimply stolen his body temporarily? Also, what's the true nature of that coffin?

Questions after questions invaded his mind, but now wasn't the time to entertain them.

"Everyone, run!" Zhou Xuchuan roared, his glare never moving away from the Blood Demon.

"…!"

Zhuge Xiuluan held her breath. She, too, was stunned by what had transpired just a few moments ago, but it didn't take long for her to regain her calmness, which was as expected of her rational personality.

Switching out one's body for someone else's? No, taking it over forcibly? She had never heard of such a thing before. This was unprecedented even in the murim's lengthy history.

Worse still, her mind needed a surprising amount of time to process the information, perhaps owing to the fact that it was so absurdly surreal!

Zhuge Xiuluan wanted so badly to unleash the torrent of questions that were making a mess of her head, but to her credit, she recognized that now wasn't the time for that.

She assessed the situation and decided. "We need to retreat."

"But Young Lady Tactician Phoenix!" Hong Gao cried out in protest.

"No, sir. This is the best option for us."

Zhuge Xiuluan raised her hand to stop Hong Gao.

"I don't know why, but Blood Demon is focused only on Young Master Zhou. The wise thing to do here is to exploit this small opening to retreat and seek help as quickly as possible," she explained quickly in a voice as cold as the northern blizzard.

"…I'll pray for your success, Young Master Zhou."

Zhuge Xiuluan turned around and raised the Martial Alliance's flag before waving it from side to side.

That's the sign to retreat!

The members of the special task force receded like a tide.

Good. It's better to be alone.

Zhou Xuchuan surreptitiously looked around. His mind relaxed a little at the sight of Zhuge Xiuluan ordering the special task force to retreat.

Being alone meant he had the option of escaping without worrying about anyone.

He certainly couldn't protect anyone when facing off against the Blood Demon.

The deaths of the Seal Dragon and the Exalted Sword Immortal had thrown the future of the righteous faction's Martial Alliance into doubt. Zhou Xuchuan simply couldn't afford to lose two more key players in the future wars in this place.

Should I have brought Little Ghost with me?

Zhou Xuchuan's chest heaved.

He left Little Ghost behind before joining the Great War of Good and Blood. While he couldn't care less about the enemies spotting her, his allies noticing her presence could become a bit of a headache, which he wanted to avoid.

Zhou Xuchuan could already imagine his allies' reaction upon sensing the presence of an assassin nearby.

If she could stay undetected throughout the duration, that would be great, but even someone as capable as Little Ghost wouldn't be able to remain hidden in a gathering of Harmony Realm experts.

Besides, everyone was deeply tense due to the upcoming war. Zhou Xuchuan wanted to avoid sowing chaos in that kind of atmosphere. Thus, he left Little Ghost out of this war, but he regretted that choice at the moment.

"What are you pondering so seriously about?" the Blood Demon asked and reached out. The Death Yin Staff flew out of the deep crater and landed accurately in his hand.

…Is his real body dead? Zhou Xuchuan thought. The Blood Demon's previous body was mangled beyond recognition. Ten swords were sticking out of it, and it was devastated by the subsequent attacks.

What was so strange about that corpse, however, was that not a drop of blood had leaked out from the wounds. It had become a desiccated "thing," like a withered thorny branch, reminiscent of Hao Dechang's fate.

"All I did was switch my body with a new one. In the process, I took over the Sword Immortal's aged body. That's all," the Blood Demon casually answered Zhou Xuchuan's questions. He seemed amused, as he chuckled and explained like an old man who loved telling tall tales.

"What you see behind me is called the Black Coffin, an artifact created during the Qin Dynasty. Place a living person inside, and the coffin's mysterious power will separate the person's body, mind, and will. Don't you think that's an amazing power?"

When You Riwen plunged into the coffin, the Blood Demon emerged instead of the former. Just that alone was enough to prove that the ominous coffin was indeed an artifact.

"The Death Yin Staff alone is shocking enough, but they had a treasure like this… Truly surprising, indeed." The Blood Demon lightly tapped on the Black Coffin. The sound coming out from it was hollow as if it were saying that there was nothing inside of it.

"They? Are you talking about the Dark Heavens Association?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, but he sounded certain of the answer.

"That's right," the Blood Demon said, nodding exaggeratedly. Then, he pointed at Zhou Xuchuan with Death Yin Staff. "Since time immemorial, people have been giving something back upon receiving something.

"I also want to know something about you."

"Are you talking about the Violet Haze Divine Art?"

"Kekeke. How lamentable. You're not wrong, but your guess is not correct, either. No, the correct answer is… I'm curious if you've already reached the Coruscant Realm."

Why is he so obsessed with my cultivation base? Zhou Xuchuan combed through his memories and realized that the Blood Demon was far too curious about his cultivation base. Even during the battle against You Riwen, the Blood Demon wanted to know the answer to that question?

Zhou Xuchuan remained quiet.

The Blood Demon lightly shook the Death Yin Staff around to make some noise and draw attention toward himself.

"It's not nice to drift into your own little thoughts in front of other people. Looks like you're trying to decipher my intentions. If that's the case, stop racking your brain and just ask me. I'll be especially generous and give you an honest answer."

That was another mystery in itself—why was the Blood Demon so considerate?

"All cultivators should already know that the difference between the Harmony Realm and the Coruscant Realm is like that of heaven and earth.

"Understandably, you'll require different types of materials, more time and effort, and even sorcery to turn a Coruscant into a jiangshi. Making a foolish mistake somewhere and losing a valuable corpse will be too lamentable, wouldn't you say?"

As I thought… Zhou Xuchuan had no detailed information about the Coruscant Realm, but he heard that the structure of the cultivator's body would change upon entering that realm.

Supposedly, even the nature of the cultivator's body would change, too.

This information would be crucial to a practitioner of jiangshi arts.

The Blood Demon chuckled. "More importantly, if you're indeed a Coruscant Realm expert, I'll have to discard this aged body and occupy yours instead. Wouldn't you say that it is indeed an important topic worthy of my attention?"

Just… what did the Dark Heavens Association give to this madman?! Zhou Xuchuan sucked in a deep breath while clutching his fists. None of this happened in my previous life!

He had been recalling his memories for a while now, but he couldn't remember any of these events happening during his past life's Great War of Good and Blood, never mind the information regarding a mystical coffin!

The story remained the same during the death of the Blood Demon, too. A piece of information as important as this wouldn't have been left out of the records, after all.

Which means I should assume that my interference has irrevocably altered the course of history! Zhou Xuchuan knew his actions would change the future in many unpredictable ways, and sure enough, many things had changed.

"I'm sure you don't need to ask that, though?"

Zhou Xuchuan wanted to stall for more time, but things could get even more troublesome if he were to push his luck too far. That was why he replied at what he felt was good timing.

"Hmm, is that right? I was unsure, but in the end, you haven't reached the realm beyond the wall."

In all honesty, the Blood Demon's question was a pointless exercise. What was the point of lying or bluffing? When was it possible to fool the eyes of a Coruscant Realm Empyrean Overlord?

Even if Zhou Xuchuan were at the uppermost limit of the Harmony Realm, he still wouldn't be able to hide the truth from the Blood Demon.

Besides, his mastery of the Violet Haze Divine Art had surpassed the tenth level, too. The art's unique stealthiness had vanished as a result; not even the Divine Phantom Art could mask the signs.

"But that means a cultivator who isn't even the Sect Master's disciple has inherited the Violet Haze Divine Art. How is that even possible?"the Blood Demon asked, sounding unconvinced.

A famous righteous sect had strict customs and rules. Needless to say, they couldn't be changed on a whim as well, especially when it came to handing down the first great divine art of the sect master.

Even if a cultivator was revered as a hero and had achieved feats fully deserving of that title, they wouldn't be exempt from those rules.

"No, no, no." The Blood Demon shook his head. "If that is true, why are the remnants of this body's ego so surprised, suspicious, and concerned?"The Blood Demon's left and right legs began moving past each other."The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan!"

The Blood Demon's voice grew weightier and graver than ever before. Even the hint of amusement within those burning eyeballs had been replaced by something much more ominous.

"When they told me to kill you no matter what before handing this Black Coffin to me, I was genuinely curious—why are they so insistent on killing a mere brat in his twenties, even if he's the hero of the righteous faction?

"You're not even the head of the Martial Alliance or the Sword Immortal!"

The Blood Demon was surprised when he first saw Zhou Xuchuan.

Throughout the lengthy history of gangho, almost no one had reached the Harmony Realm in their twenties and had etched their name in the list of One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. As a matter of fact, no one in the ongoing era—besides Zhou Xuchuan—had achieved all those feats.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Thus, if Zhou Xuchuan were left alone to mature, he'd become the worst enemy imaginable to all factions, barring the righteous faction.

"Indeed, someone as crafty as Blessed Existence wouldn't hand over a supreme treasure like the Black Coffin for no reason. Otherwise, the trade wouldn't make much sense."

The Blood Demon was definitely not an idiot. One could even say that he was exceptionally smart. Despite being a practitioner of demonic cultivation, he hadn't lost himself to madness.

Of course, he, too, wasn't originally so sane at the beginning. In fact, his demonic nature was easily worse than his peers—making him a true great demon!

However, he broke through the wall of limitations and stepped into the next realm, giving him the ability to control his uncontrollable demonic nature. The breakthrough also gave him the patience to suppress his various desires, and it improved his reasoning as well. In addition, it enhanced his five innate natures and personalities: joy, rage, greed, fear, and concern.

The Blood Demon said, "If their plan is to weaken various factions of the murim by pitting them against each other in this grand plan. I should do my part and ensure that the balance is just right."

The Evil Faction had been weakened, and it was the Righteous Faction's turn to suffer the same fate. That was why the Dark Heavens Association gifted the Death Yin Staff to the Blood Cult and pushed them forward into this war.

Obviously, the Blood Demon had seen through their plans, but he played along with them, as he knew that he would profit from this war, too.

Besides, he was confident of crushing the Dark Heavens Association if they ended up doing something unwise in the future.

"The best outcome for the Dark Heavens Association is both sides suffering massive losses and falling into a lull. To that end, maybe they will even resort to assassination to get rid of me later. With the Black Coffin in play, however, their task is no longer a mere headache-inducing matter."

A huge burden… No, the matter with the Blood Demon would become a lot more than that with the Black Coffin. After all, he now possessed the power to wield an army of death where its soldiers would only increase the more casualties there were!

"With all that said…"

Paht!

The Blood Demon moved at a scarcely believable speed, leaving behind afterimages.

"Just who is the man named Zhou Xuchuan, I wonder?"

Whoosh!

The Blood Demon punched, fast and hard. The air split apart into two as a fist strike reminiscent of Mount Tai falling to the ground closed in on Zhou Xuchuan.

"Huph!"

Zhou Xuchuan sucked in a deep breath while twisting out of the way. Thankfully, the punch missed his torso.

"Mm!"

The Blood Demon seemed displeased by the sight, and he swung the Death Yin Staff with great strength.

Smack

"Argh!"

Zhou Xuchuan sank down on the spot, and his shoulder seemed to have been crushed by the Death Yin Staff. An unbearable pain instantly pervaded him.

"Now, then. Tell me, the one rousing my curiosity. What is your true identity?" the Blood Demon asked.

"I am…"

Zhou Xuchuan's shoulders shuddered. However, it wasn't because he was scared, nor was it because it was too painful. He was kneeling, but his back remained tall and ramrod straight. He focused his strength on both of his shoulders and began pushing back against the Death Yin Staff above him.

The pain was extreme, but he couldn't care less.

"I am Mount Hua's fourth-generation member…!"

Zhou Xuchuan raised his head, and his eyes burned brighter than ever.

"I am Zhou Xuchuan!"