The power of the mandrill was sending shockwaves sweeping through the entire area in all directions, and all of the trees on the mountain were uprooted violently. Qin Ye was standing at the very center of the storm, and his clothes were flapping incessantly.
He didn't move. Instead, he closed his eyes and allowed the fierce wind to blow by him. He seemed to be calm and collected, but countless emotions were surging through his heart alongside countless questions.
The Yiguandao had lied dormant for several decades, and this scene was showing him that the Master and Mistress of the cult weren't the most powerful figures. Instead, there was someone above them, someone who had transcended beyond the Yama-King level!
Who could it be?
One name after another quickly flashed through his mind.
Could it be the Heavenly Dao? No, They were the creator of this trial, and during the previous two failures of the trial, no such grand entrance had been made, so it didn't make sense for one to be staged now.
Could it be Zhao Yun or the second King Yanluo?
That was even more implausible.
In that case, there was only one possible candidate left.
"You're the inner demon." Qin Ye opened his eyes to stare intently at the mandrill. To be more accurate, he was staring at Qin Zhongguo's soul, which was struggling in despair inside the mandrill's head.
He had searched for his grandfather's soul in the past, particularly on this mountain.
In fact, he had sent over 2,000 Yin soldiers there to scour through the area. His grandfather had perished during the past century, so he knew that his soul had to still have been in the mortal realm!
It had already been a very long time, and he didn't know if his grandfather's soul had already become a wandering ghost. However, the exhaustive search of the Yin soldiers proved to be completely fruitless, and he finally knew why that had been the case.
His grandfather's soul hadn't become a wandering ghost. In fact, there was a very good chance that it still existed to this very day!
It had been abducted by the inner demon! No wonder he couldn't find it!
A sense of killing intent instantly welled up in his heart, and countless blood-red flowers bloomed over the entire mountain. The killing intent was so intense and irrepressible that as soon as it reared its head, it manifested itself in the form of these flowers of death and destruction.
However, he didn't immediately act. Instead, he forced himself to hold back his killing intent.
This had to be the final part of the trial of inner demons, and there was still one question left to be answered: "How was this trial going to end?"
As things currently were, it seemed that there was only one possible answer, but it was also the most implausible answer...
He gritted his teeth as he raised Fate, which transformed into a long, silver spear.
In order to complete this trial of inner demons, he had to strike down the inner demon, which was a feat that no one in this world was capable of achieving!
The inner demon was something that would continue to exist so long as emotions existed, and it was precisely because of its existence that there were the 18 abysses of punishment and the six paths of reincarnation.
He was holding back his killing intent as he knew that there was no way he could defeat the inner demon. He desperately wanted to recover his grandfather's soul, but this wasn't the time to do that.
This was only a divine art, an illusion. Even if he could defeat the inner demon here, there would be no way for him to rescue his grandfather's soul.
In that case, what could he do? How could he put an end to this trial of inner demons?
The fierce wind continued to howl around him as he considered all of the possible conclusions of the trial of inner demons.
Right at this moment, a voice slowly rang out. "It's truly a surprise to see Yanluo Qin here."
Qin Ye immediately raised his head and cast an incredulous gaze toward the inner demon.
The inner demon had never met him before! It was perhaps aware of who he was, but this trial of inner demons was playing out in a scene from the past! At the time, he would've been nothing more than a child in the inner demon's eyes!
He had only become King Yanluo during the past dozen or so years, so there was no way that the inner demon from back then would refer to him as Yanluo Qin!
During the trial of inner demons, many things were hidden or concealed, but everything had to progress according to the passage of history.
However, the inner demon had broken this rule, which meant that this was the true inner demon!
The inner demon had just performed a divine descent, allowing it to pass through the boundaries between illusion and reality, piercing through the trial of inner demons to arrive in this illusion!
How is that possible?!
This thought only occurred to Qin Ye for a split-second before it was completely drowned out by his enormous killing intent. In the next instant, he abruptly vanished on the spot without any warning. By the time he reappeared, he had already adopted his King Yanluo form, and Fate had transformed into a silver spear in his hand, which was being thrust directly toward the inner demon's throat.
This spear strike was unleashed with unbridled killing intent, and even the wind was severed by its power.
There were no inhibitions or qualms behind the strike, and it had been unleashed with the pure intent to kill.
The inner demon seemed to be rather taken aback by this, but it then raised two if its fingers in a calm manner.
Clang!
In the blink of an eye, the entire image fell still.
Qin Ye's teeth were gritted tightly, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot as he looked ahead in silence. Behind him was a vast sea of Yin energy, within which were countless human faces that were howling, sobbing, warping, and twisting. The vast Yin energy was blowing his clothes straight upward, and all of the surrounding plants and animals were bowing in reverence.
The fury of King Yanluo was a force of nature in itself.
Right in front of him, the tip of his spear was caught between two of Qin Zhongguo's fingers, and no matter how much force Qin Ye exerted, the two fingers were as stable and unmoving as a pair of mountains.
At the same time, a boundless abyss also appeared behind the inner demon, from within which countless anguished howls could be heard, Within the boundless darkness, a golden eye abruptly sprang open.
The eye was massive. It was over 100 meters in size, and it was like the eye of a deity, with its gaze piercing through the entire world. It watched Qin Ye in silence for a moment before asking, "Why are you doing this?"
Only now did Qin Ye realize that he had been too rash in his approach, and he closed his eyes as he took several deep breaths. His hands were trembling slightly from fury, and only after a full 10 seconds had passed did he reopen his eyes. "Let's make a deal. What do you want in exchange for Qin Zhongguo's soul?"
The eye fell silent.
It seemed to be rather taken aback by this development. Qin Ye hadn't asked why it had descended here, nor had he asked why it had taken over this body. Instead, he had asked something that was completely unrelated.
After a brief silence, it replied, "I'm afraid I must refuse. Some things are simply indispensable."
Qin Ye forcibly repressed the killing intent in his heart as he said in a cold voice, "You have one minute to rethink your answer."
The entire scene fell silent again.
Despite the silence, one could sense that a storm was coming, and the killing intent in the air was extremely potent.
Finally, a voice that seemed to be an entity born from countless desires rang out. "Do you know who's tomb this is?"
Qin Ye didn't bother to reply.
He had never been a fan of battle. In contrast, he much preferred to play the coward, and he never fought battles that he wasn't confident in winning. However, he was willing to throw all of that out the window here.
There were some battles that he simply couldn't back down from!
Despite the lack of a response, the inner demon remained unfazed as he continued, "This is the tomb of Jiang Shang."
Qin Ye finally said something, but it wasn't in response to the inner demon's statement. "You have 45 seconds left."
The inner demon continued in an unhurried manner, "Jiang Shang possessed a regal bloodline that could be traced back to Yu the Great, and his body was able to attain sainthood. Only the tomb of a true saint could give rise to a Taisui fungus once every 1,000 years."
The inner demon looked into Qin Ye's eyes with a calm expression as it continued, "Those who consume the Taisui fungus and are fortunate become immortals who transcend beyond Yin and Yang, but most of them transform into mandrills and lost ghosts. I am responsible for devouring all of the inner demons that arise from this. He is no longer a human, he is only a monster in a human's skin, so why can't I devour him?"
Qin Ye slowly approached the inner demon with his silver spear trailing along behind him, and sparks were flying as the tip of the spear traveled along the ground. "You have 30 seconds left."
The giant eye behind Qin Zhongguo contracted slightly. "Yanluo Qin, I've existed for thousands of years, and I live to devour all of the world's inner demons. I have no intention of making you my enemy."
"20 seconds."
"I've seen you in the inner demons of many humans. Their awe and reverence toward you have all become sustenance for me. We oversee completely different domains, so our responsibilities are completely separate, and there is no conflict of interest between us."
"10 seconds."
The inner demon finally fell silent.
Time seemed to have fallen completely still in this instant, and even though no one was doing anything to escalate the conflict, the tension in the air was only continuing to build.
Qin Ye looked straight into the massive golden eye as he began a final countdown. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
"Are you sure you want to face me in battle?" the inner demon asked.
"Zero." That was the only response that he received.
In the instant that Qin Ye's voice trailed off, his Heavenly Dragnet erupted forth violently. At the same time, the Yin energy behind the inner demon also erupted into the heavens, and it was far more powerful than Qin Ye's Yin energy.
It was darker than any night could possibly be, and it was filled with boundless sin and evil.
The entire sky had turned pitch-black, and the sound of countless anguished howls and broken sobs rang out across this entire world. In the face of this vast world of darkness, Qin Ye was like a tiny raft on the vast. His presence was so tiny and insignificant that it was downright negligible.
His Yin energy was no match for the inner demon's Yin energy. There was far too massive a disparity in power between them, one that couldn't be bridged by powerful emotions alone. At the same time, the entire sky suddenly began to warp toward the center, where Qin Zhongguo's physical body was situated.
"Don't you dare!" Qin Ye roared as his Heavenly Dragnet plunged into the opposing darkness, only to vanish like sandcastles in the receding tide.
Inside this dark and twisted hell, Qin Zhongguo's head was snapped to the side.
Boom!
Never had Qin Ye been this furious before. Ever since he had devoured the Taisui fungus, he had never truly become enraged. At the very most, he would only scold his underworld emissaries for acts of incompetence, but those were only displays of stern authority that were devoid of any true anger.
However, he was furious beyond belief at this moment, so much so that his eyes had turned completely bloodshot. He was so enraged that his hands were trembling too violently for him to even thrust his spear forward.
At the height of his rage, he was unable to move a single muscle, and his entire body and mind were consumed by these intense emotions.
Crack...
Qin Zhongguo's limbs were snapped, and he began to curl up into a ball in mid-air like a broken ragdoll.
More cracks rang out as Qin Zhongguo's bones snapped one after another. Immediately thereafter, an invisible, giant hand crushed him into an unrecognizable ball of mangled flesh and blood, then tossed his mutilated remains down the mountain.
"I gave you a chance. Even the Heavenly Dao has to treat me with respect! Who do you think you are? Just because I'm stooping down to speak to you as equals, you think you can walk all over me? You are a death god, so why are you so attached to a human? How laughable!"
Right as the inner demon's voice trailed off, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through the air.
However, it wasn't a bolt of lightning. Instead, it was Qin Ye's silver spear, moving faster and glowing more radiantly than ever before.
The spear strike had been unleashed with Qin Ye's complete and undivided might, and it was so fast that it was untraceable to the naked eye. The only thing that could be seen was the streak of blinding light that it left in its wake.
The power of the mandrill was sending shockwaves sweeping through the entire area in all directions, and all of the trees on the mountain were uprooted violently. Qin Ye was standing at the very center of the storm, and his clothes were flapping incessantly.
He didn't move. Instead, he closed his eyes and allowed the fierce wind to blow by him. He seemed to be calm and collected, but countless emotions were surging through his heart alongside countless questions.
The Yiguandao had lied dormant for several decades, and this scene was showing him that the Master and Mistress of the cult weren't the most powerful figures. Instead, there was someone above them, someone who had transcended beyond the Yama-King level!
Who could it be?
One name after another quickly flashed through his mind.
Could it be the Heavenly Dao? No, They were the creator of this trial, and during the previous two failures of the trial, no such grand entrance had been made, so it didn't make sense for one to be staged now.
Could it be Zhao Yun or the second King Yanluo?
That was even more implausible.
In that case, there was only one possible candidate left.
"You're the inner demon." Qin Ye opened his eyes to stare intently at the mandrill. To be more accurate, he was staring at Qin Zhongguo's soul, which was struggling in despair inside the mandrill's head.
He had searched for his grandfather's soul in the past, particularly on this mountain.
In fact, he had sent over 2,000 Yin soldiers there to scour through the area. His grandfather had perished during the past century, so he knew that his soul had to still have been in the mortal realm!
It had already been a very long time, and he didn't know if his grandfather's soul had already become a wandering ghost. However, the exhaustive search of the Yin soldiers proved to be completely fruitless, and he finally knew why that had been the case.
His grandfather's soul hadn't become a wandering ghost. In fact, there was a very good chance that it still existed to this very day!
It had been abducted by the inner demon! No wonder he couldn't find it!
A sense of killing intent instantly welled up in his heart, and countless blood-red flowers bloomed over the entire mountain. The killing intent was so intense and irrepressible that as soon as it reared its head, it manifested itself in the form of these flowers of death and destruction.
However, he didn't immediately act. Instead, he forced himself to hold back his killing intent.
This had to be the final part of the trial of inner demons, and there was still one question left to be answered: "How was this trial going to end?"
As things currently were, it seemed that there was only one possible answer, but it was also the most implausible answer...
He gritted his teeth as he raised Fate, which transformed into a long, silver spear.
In order to complete this trial of inner demons, he had to strike down the inner demon, which was a feat that no one in this world was capable of achieving!
The inner demon was something that would continue to exist so long as emotions existed, and it was precisely because of its existence that there were the 18 abysses of punishment and the six paths of reincarnation.
He was holding back his killing intent as he knew that there was no way he could defeat the inner demon. He desperately wanted to recover his grandfather's soul, but this wasn't the time to do that.
This was only a divine art, an illusion. Even if he could defeat the inner demon here, there would be no way for him to rescue his grandfather's soul.
In that case, what could he do? How could he put an end to this trial of inner demons?
The fierce wind continued to howl around him as he considered all of the possible conclusions of the trial of inner demons.
Right at this moment, a voice slowly rang out. "It's truly a surprise to see Yanluo Qin here."
Qin Ye immediately raised his head and cast an incredulous gaze toward the inner demon.
The inner demon had never met him before! It was perhaps aware of who he was, but this trial of inner demons was playing out in a scene from the past! At the time, he would've been nothing more than a child in the inner demon's eyes!
He had only become King Yanluo during the past dozen or so years, so there was no way that the inner demon from back then would refer to him as Yanluo Qin!
During the trial of inner demons, many things were hidden or concealed, but everything had to progress according to the passage of history.
However, the inner demon had broken this rule, which meant that this was the true inner demon!
The inner demon had just performed a divine descent, allowing it to pass through the boundaries between illusion and reality, piercing through the trial of inner demons to arrive in this illusion!
How is that possible?!
This thought only occurred to Qin Ye for a split-second before it was completely drowned out by his enormous killing intent. In the next instant, he abruptly vanished on the spot without any warning. By the time he reappeared, he had already adopted his King Yanluo form, and Fate had transformed into a silver spear in his hand, which was being thrust directly toward the inner demon's throat.
This spear strike was unleashed with unbridled killing intent, and even the wind was severed by its power.
There were no inhibitions or qualms behind the strike, and it had been unleashed with the pure intent to kill.
The inner demon seemed to be rather taken aback by this, but it then raised two if its fingers in a calm manner.
Clang!
In the blink of an eye, the entire image fell still.
Qin Ye's teeth were gritted tightly, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot as he looked ahead in silence. Behind him was a vast sea of Yin energy, within which were countless human faces that were howling, sobbing, warping, and twisting. The vast Yin energy was blowing his clothes straight upward, and all of the surrounding plants and animals were bowing in reverence.
The fury of King Yanluo was a force of nature in itself.
Right in front of him, the tip of his spear was caught between two of Qin Zhongguo's fingers, and no matter how much force Qin Ye exerted, the two fingers were as stable and unmoving as a pair of mountains.
At the same time, a boundless abyss also appeared behind the inner demon, from within which countless anguished howls could be heard, Within the boundless darkness, a golden eye abruptly sprang open.
The eye was massive. It was over 100 meters in size, and it was like the eye of a deity, with its gaze piercing through the entire world. It watched Qin Ye in silence for a moment before asking, "Why are you doing this?"
Only now did Qin Ye realize that he had been too rash in his approach, and he closed his eyes as he took several deep breaths. His hands were trembling slightly from fury, and only after a full 10 seconds had passed did he reopen his eyes. "Let's make a deal. What do you want in exchange for Qin Zhongguo's soul?"
The eye fell silent.
It seemed to be rather taken aback by this development. Qin Ye hadn't asked why it had descended here, nor had he asked why it had taken over this body. Instead, he had asked something that was completely unrelated.
After a brief silence, it replied, "I'm afraid I must refuse. Some things are simply indispensable."
Qin Ye forcibly repressed the killing intent in his heart as he said in a cold voice, "You have one minute to rethink your answer."
The entire scene fell silent again.
Despite the silence, one could sense that a storm was coming, and the killing intent in the air was extremely potent.
Finally, a voice that seemed to be an entity born from countless desires rang out. "Do you know who's tomb this is?"
Qin Ye didn't bother to reply.
He had never been a fan of battle. In contrast, he much preferred to play the coward, and he never fought battles that he wasn't confident in winning. However, he was willing to throw all of that out the window here.
There were some battles that he simply couldn't back down from!
Despite the lack of a response, the inner demon remained unfazed as he continued, "This is the tomb of Jiang Shang."
Qin Ye finally said something, but it wasn't in response to the inner demon's statement. "You have 45 seconds left."
The inner demon continued in an unhurried manner, "Jiang Shang possessed a regal bloodline that could be traced back to Yu the Great, and his body was able to attain sainthood. Only the tomb of a true saint could give rise to a Taisui fungus once every 1,000 years."
The inner demon looked into Qin Ye's eyes with a calm expression as it continued, "Those who consume the Taisui fungus and are fortunate become immortals who transcend beyond Yin and Yang, but most of them transform into mandrills and lost ghosts. I am responsible for devouring all of the inner demons that arise from this. He is no longer a human, he is only a monster in a human's skin, so why can't I devour him?"
Qin Ye slowly approached the inner demon with his silver spear trailing along behind him, and sparks were flying as the tip of the spear traveled along the ground. "You have 30 seconds left."
The giant eye behind Qin Zhongguo contracted slightly. "Yanluo Qin, I've existed for thousands of years, and I live to devour all of the world's inner demons. I have no intention of making you my enemy."
"20 seconds."
"I've seen you in the inner demons of many humans. Their awe and reverence toward you have all become sustenance for me. We oversee completely different domains, so our responsibilities are completely separate, and there is no conflict of interest between us."
"10 seconds."
The inner demon finally fell silent.
Time seemed to have fallen completely still in this instant, and even though no one was doing anything to escalate the conflict, the tension in the air was only continuing to build.
Qin Ye looked straight into the massive golden eye as he began a final countdown. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
"Are you sure you want to face me in battle?" the inner demon asked.
"Zero." That was the only response that he received.
In the instant that Qin Ye's voice trailed off, his Heavenly Dragnet erupted forth violently. At the same time, the Yin energy behind the inner demon also erupted into the heavens, and it was far more powerful than Qin Ye's Yin energy.
It was darker than any night could possibly be, and it was filled with boundless sin and evil.
The entire sky had turned pitch-black, and the sound of countless anguished howls and broken sobs rang out across this entire world. In the face of this vast world of darkness, Qin Ye was like a tiny raft on the vast. His presence was so tiny and insignificant that it was downright negligible.
His Yin energy was no match for the inner demon's Yin energy. There was far too massive a disparity in power between them, one that couldn't be bridged by powerful emotions alone. At the same time, the entire sky suddenly began to warp toward the center, where Qin Zhongguo's physical body was situated.
"Don't you dare!" Qin Ye roared as his Heavenly Dragnet plunged into the opposing darkness, only to vanish like sandcastles in the receding tide.
Inside this dark and twisted hell, Qin Zhongguo's head was snapped to the side.
Boom!
Never had Qin Ye been this furious before. Ever since he had devoured the Taisui fungus, he had never truly become enraged. At the very most, he would only scold his underworld emissaries for acts of incompetence, but those were only displays of stern authority that were devoid of any true anger.
However, he was furious beyond belief at this moment, so much so that his eyes had turned completely bloodshot. He was so enraged that his hands were trembling too violently for him to even thrust his spear forward.
At the height of his rage, he was unable to move a single muscle, and his entire body and mind were consumed by these intense emotions.
Crack...
Qin Zhongguo's limbs were snapped, and he began to curl up into a ball in mid-air like a broken ragdoll.
More cracks rang out as Qin Zhongguo's bones snapped one after another. Immediately thereafter, an invisible, giant hand crushed him into an unrecognizable ball of mangled flesh and blood, then tossed his mutilated remains down the mountain.
"I gave you a chance. Even the Heavenly Dao has to treat me with respect! Who do you think you are? Just because I'm stooping down to speak to you as equals, you think you can walk all over me? You are a death god, so why are you so attached to a human? How laughable!"
Right as the inner demon's voice trailed off, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through the air.
However, it wasn't a bolt of lightning. Instead, it was Qin Ye's silver spear, moving faster and glowing more radiantly than ever before.
The spear strike had been unleashed with Qin Ye's complete and undivided might, and it was so fast that it was untraceable to the naked eye. The only thing that could be seen was the streak of blinding light that it left in its wake.
