"All hail the king!" Blitzing through the sky, the Armored Lion King arched his head back, laughing heartily.
From the moment that he'd received the Devil Orb's foul blessings, the Lion King felt that nothing under the heavens could resist a casual paw of his. Several beast ranks still existed above rank seven, and yet this feeling of invincibility filled the lion with such overwhelming confidence that he dared to face any expert of the Great Desolation world.
Even without Xinzi's orders to guide his course, the Armored Lion King would have still sought out various superpowers to challenge and establish his "royal dominance" through a storm of blood. "Hehehe, in theory, the ordained servant cannot resist Infernal Master's will. But isn't that also because the Infernal Master's cultivation usually exceeds the ordained servant's by an enormous margin? What happens when the master's cultivation cannot match the servant's? Maybe I can find a way to break the master's control and become a true overlord!" The Lion King spoke his mind out loud. Recent success got to his head, making the newly made demonic creature consider his options.
Little did he know that cultivation had nothing to do with the master-slave bond. Regardless of how deep the gap between his cultivation and Xinzi's was, our monk could do with him as he saw fit.
"Mhm…but at the same time, this master's background is as unfathomable as it gets. His potential also leaves that odious nun breathless. Maybe I can coast to rank 10 on his halo? What about rank 11? Yeah…let's just be a loyal dog." As he reconsidered his treasonous thoughts, the Armored Lion King neared Burning Spear supercity.
To guarantee a sensational entrance, it'd reduced its size to two meters and hid at over 5,000 meters of altitude, planning to expand as it dropped on Burning Spear supercity to make all its citizens quiver in sheer horror. At that time, pink haze flashed on its forehead, our monk's new directives echoed, and the Klesha Heart appeared above the Lion King's left shoulder.
'Keeping the Thousand Road monks' souls was a nice move. Good job, but my Klesha Heart will turn you into an avatar and control things from here on,' Xinzi said, and without giving the Armored Lion King time to air his grievances, shut down his consciousness.
Subsequently, the Klesha Heart sank into the lion's metallic skin—settling in his monster core, right by his main heart. Pink light flashed in the Armored Lion's sanguine eyes as the Klesha Heart fused with his core, and by the time the light dispersed, it had turned into an avatar of Xinzi's will.
'Excellent body. By combining his raw power with my Klesha Heart, we should be able to match an early-stage Void Tribulant expert—almost makes me want to keep my Klesha Heart stored here permanently.' Xinzi thought. Though high-ranking demons could keep their extra hearts out of their main bodies—thereby granting themselves extra lives—they couldn't access the heart's powers while it stayed outside.
For Xinzi who routinely plotted against fellow cultivators, giving up on the Klesha Heart's mind-altering abilities for extended periods of time didn't seem reasonable.
While the Heart settled in the Lion King's body, its appearance underwent a drastic change. Its hulking frame shrank into a slender, more compact version. The lion head morphed into a handsome human face, with curly black hair that paired with the slender frame to give our monk the appearance of a winged Greek god statue.
With one step, Xinzi vanished, crossing several kilometers to appear before the center of Yanzhou Province: Burning Spear supercity.
As expected of a place where Golden Cores filled the streets and Nascent Souls trod carefully, the Qi Density in the area made most Yanzhou sects look like barren wastelands. Grand pagodas carved in spirit stones pierced through the sky, overlooking golden chariots that flew across the air, driven by cranes, winged horses and other flying mysterious beasts.
In Burning Spear supercity, not everyone had the right to fly. In fact, barring Dao Revelation level elders, even the scions of the various spirit clans had to rely on their families' flying permits to cross the air. The city guard and registered officials were an exception to this rule. And as soon as Xinzi appeared above the city, the defensive formation kicked in, warning the city guards of an unauthorized flight attempt.
Seven rays of fiery light shot up the sky, materializing in the form of seven city guards that faced Xinzi with undisguised murderous intent.
Clad in bright orange armors, the city guards each wielded a long flaming spear, with two burning mirrors hovering at their left and right. Without exception, their cultivation base had all reached the Nascent Soul realm, a standard for Burning Spear supercity's guards.
"Your Excellency doesn't seem to hold a flying token. Could you please…" the guard leader started with tame words. After all, unless their brains had been trampled by a stampede of donkeys, someone who dared to ignore a supercity's laws likely possessed the strength to back their move. But as soon as the guard leader registered Xinzi's appearance, the polite words died in his throat, and alongside his subordinates, his eyes stretched impossibly.
Xinzi didn't say a word, but his Evil Qi flowed out, confirming the guards' thoughts.
The metallic ebony skin, wings and tail were bad enough. But as soon as Evil Qi filled the air, the guards broke into a cold sweat and fled towards their tower.
"D-d demon…demon! By all the lords in Heaven, ring the city bell! It's a demonic invasion!" The leader's voice boomed out! Spiritual Senses flew left and right, carrying alongside them mental messages that sent the whole of Burning Spear supercity into a panic.
Xinzi didn't interrupt the guards, giving them a small head-start to bring the attention of Burning Spear supercity's powerhouses to him. His lips curled up, and he raised his right hand. "To all the citizens of this supercity. This King is willing to leave you a way out. Surrender your souls to This King, and hell will not harvest your lives," Xinzi said in the Armored Lion King's voice, and carried by heart-wrenching waves of Evil Qi, his voice reached all households.
The Spirit clans were the first to react, sending their human and beast slaves as fodder to fuel the city's defensive formation while the top expert gathered for a prompt meeting.
Yan Zhong, the Yanzhou Hegemon and lord of this city, had suffered a grievous injury at Qingxin's hands and was far from recovering. Without him to lead the troops, the Commandant of the Burning Spear guard, also master of the Fen Spirit clan, became the de facto leader. For centuries, Fen and Yan had been clashing for dominance, giving our monk the opportunity to enact a dastardly plot.
"Bold demon! The scions of the Fire Spirit race will never surrender to your corrupt tactics!" Surrounded by five Dao Revelation elders of the Yan Spirit clan, Yan Zhong rose into the sky. The Yan clan's experts followed without delay, adding to the city guard whose numbers ballooned at breakneck speed.
Over 400 Nascent Soul experts assembled up above, backed by 160 Divine Transformation officers of various ranks, with the Dao Revelation leaders standing at the back, either to protect the injured Yan Zhong or align with the Fen Commandant.
The defensive formation kicked into gear. Seven burning spears took shape, expanding to a staggering 100 meters while tongues of fire rose from the scattered array node, locking the city behind a searing barrier.
"Is that so? Well, well. It's not like I haven't given you a choice," Xinzi said, amused by the clear divide between the Yan and Fen forces. Worse, the commandant that should be focusing his efforts on the city's defenses seemed more concerned about Yan Zhong stealing his opportunity to shine under the citizens' terror-struck eyes.
Dark-purple rays gathered in our monk's right hand. A palm-sized ball of Evil Qi took shape, then broke down into a myriad of foul arrows that rained on Burning Spear Supercity's barriers. From the monster core in Xinzi's body, Burning Spear supercity's leaders sensed a cultivation level comparable to a Dao Revelation level expert. So at first, they believed that even with demonic battle prowess, this attack wouldn't be enough to shake their city's foundations.
But as the myriad arrows covered the sky, they realized how badly they'd underestimated their opponent's infernal bloodline…bloodlines even!
The seven burning spears darted towards the arrows, becoming colossal flame meteors that met the descending bolts with startling momentum. In an explosion of berserk energies, the two forces met. The array nodes shook, making the human and beast slaves that fueled them alongside the spirit stones, spurt large mouthfuls of blood.
The burning spears' size advantage was of no consequence. Xinzi's dark-purple bolts pierced holes upon holes in the spear meteors, digging their way past them before slamming into the barrier proper.
The entire city shook. And with that one move, cracks formed on the ancient formation, making the citizens who watched this scene despair instantly.
"Coordinate with the formation and execute this fiend!" The commandant took charge. Orange rays rose from the array nodes, connecting to the city guards' armors as their leader led a bold charge towards Xinzi.
Our monk's smile turned into a broad, fiendish grin, and he vanished—reappearing above the Fen clan master!