Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
The Voidquake Beast closed its mouth, devoured the surrounding spacetime, then crossed into the Primordial Chaos. After swallowing a portion of the Primordial Chaos, it entered the Void—a place of formless darkness, devoid of any recognizable existence. It swam through the Void as effortlessly as a fish through water.
Inside its mouth, Scarlet King was trapped between its teeth as his bones were crushed and his flesh torn apart. Eventually, he became lodged between its tonsils, but he quickly regenerated. His bones reformed, while his torn flesh and skin healed rapidly. As this happened, he thought:
(Well, since I am already inside, perhaps I will find a treasure. Who knows?)
Scarlet King forced his way deeper, making his way down the beast's throat. It was pitch-black inside, but after pushing forward, he finally reached its stomach. There was nothing of interest there except endless darkness, fragments of the laws of spacetime, and an enormous amount of Primordial Chaos, which completely restored his qi.
Scarlet King let out a sigh.
"Hah… If I were in the Path Initiation Realm, I could refine the remnants of these laws and obtain a portion of the Dao of Time and Space to cultivate my Time and Space Path. Unfortunately, I am still in the Qi Condensation Realm. That is yet another reason I keep pushing myself to cultivate faster."
He looked around with his hands resting on his waist.
"Well… how am I supposed to get out of here?"
He fell silent for a few moments, deep in thought. Then he remembered something extremely useful that would allow him to escape. Before acting, however, he noticed something glimmering inside the beast's stomach.
"Hm?"
He slowly approached it and picked up the object, which was covered in saliva and digestive fluids. Scarlet King exhaled a stream of scorching flames, evaporating the saliva and digestive fluids to reveal a ring beneath them.
"Good thing I possess the Blazing Dragon Breath Technique. This appears to be a spatial storage ring capable of storing items inside. It is a mid–Path Initiation-grade treasure… incredibly valuable. I will take it. Perhaps I will sell it, or perhaps I will keep it. Then again, it is only natural for a third-rank beast to kill and devour a Path Initiation cultivator."
Scarlet King slipped the ring onto his finger as he thought:
(The storage space inside this ring is roughly the size of a world measuring sixty-three kilometers in both length and width. That is a decent amount of space for storing things. There are also some rather interesting items inside.)
He closed his eyes and clenched his fist.
(Very well… time to get out of here.)
A black hole instantly appeared at the center of his body, swallowing his entire human form. It then expanded to a moderate size, and his familiar smile appeared once more.
"One of the advantages of the Black Hole Transformation is that it is not limited by size. I can enlarge or shrink it however I wish."
The black hole began expanding at an astonishing rate. Even the beast sensed something growing inside its body and attempted to use the laws of spacetime to expel it, but it was already too late.
The black hole swelled to an enormous size, causing the beast's stomach to bulge. Writhing in agony beneath the overwhelming pressure, the beast struggled violently. Then, all at once, the black hole compressed its swollen mass, instantly doubling in size.
The beast's body exploded like an overinflated balloon, bursting into countless pieces.
The black hole continued expanding until it reached a colossal size, nearly equal to fifty universes packed tightly together—one hundred times larger than the beast itself.
Almost immediately, the black hole began to feel exhausted from the expansion.
(The larger I become, the more qi I consume and the more exhausted I grow. The smaller I become, the greater the compression. The qi within me is constantly being compressed, and I can feel the pressure without end.)
He immediately returned to his normal size.
A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
(Master, some thugs from the Ruin Plunder Gang are vandalizing one of our faction's taverns!)
The black hole sighed before replying:
(Hold them off for a few hours. I will be there to deal with it.)
Without hesitation, he ascended into the Primordial Chaos and continued toward the dimensions at high speed. However, he suddenly came to a stop.
"There is a faster way to travel… but it is not Evaporation. I cannot use Evaporation when I am this far away from the dimensions."
The black hole's smile widened as he contacted the Yin and Yang Guards.
(When you return, bring Wei Xia Mo out.)
Meanwhile, as the black hole was making its way back to the dimensions, another incident was unfolding within the Heavenly Food Sect, specifically at one of the faction's taverns.
One of Scarlet King's servants stood there dressed entirely in black—a military uniform, a soldier's cap, and black cloth concealing his entire face.
"This is a violation of the sect's laws! Where are the elders? Where are the members of the Law Enforcement Hall?!"
Amid the wreckage and destruction inside the tavern stood a tall, nearly bald man with a ponytail, a scar running across one eye, and a muscular physique. He wore nothing but a pair of trousers.
"There are no laws in this world that can bind you as long as you are the strongest. The strong create the rules, and the weak obey them. I am the strongest here, so I will do whatever I want."
The servant angrily raised his middle finger at the ponytailed man.
"A bunch of idiots… Once Gu Yue arrives, every last one of you will be wiped out."
Enraged, the ponytailed man lunged at him, throwing a punch.
"Do not you dare insult me!"
Suddenly, a black figure flashed forward with incredible speed and effortlessly blocked the attack.
Everyone froze in shock.
Who could casually stop the strike of a fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator?
As the dust settled, Gu Yue appeared in his small human form, calmly blocking the ponytailed man's punch with a single hand.
"Do not you dare lay a finger on my father's followers."
The man staggered backward before forcing a confident smile.
"Hahaha… So you are Gu Yue? You seem strong, but unfortunately, the strong make the rules. I am the strong one here, so I order you to hand over the sec—"
Gu Yue cut him off, raising one hand.
"Then… I will enforce my own rules, since I am the strongest one here. Hegemon's Touch."
The man was instantly dragged toward Gu Yue.
Gu Yue clenched his fist and unleashed an overwhelmingly powerful punch, dislocating the man's jaw and knocking several of his teeth loose.
The man retaliated with a strike below the belt, yet Gu Yue showed no reaction whatsoever. Instead, he grabbed the man's leg and, using Hegemon's Touch, twisted it until it snapped. Then he answered with a punch below the belt of his own, forcing the man to collapse to his knees.
One of the servants behind him asked:
"Young Master Gu Yue, why did you not kill him?"
Gu Yue answered coldly without turning around.
"Because you are short-sighted. We do not want trouble with the gangs right now. If I kill him, his gang will have an excuse to wage war against us. Besides, the sect would punish me for killing someone."
At that moment, the Yin and Yang Guards descended from the sky and landed behind Gu Yue.
The Yang Guard spoke.
"Young Master, are you alright?"
Gu Yue replied:
"Did you do what I instructed?"
The two guards nodded, indicating that they had completed his orders.
The Yin Guard then asked:
"But, Young Master… how did you get here so quickly?"
Scarlet King raised his hand and pointed toward the location of the spacetime transportation formation.
The Yang Guard fell silent for a moment as he and the Yin Guard exchanged glances before immediately understanding everything.
Gu Yue had traveled here through the formation, creating a small spacetime formation from his previous location in the Void.
But what truly alarmed them was that Gu Yue had already anticipated the attack on the faction. He had deliberately allowed the spies to leave after transporting the faction's disciples to the black hole for training, knowing they would force him to reveal his ability to create spacetime formations.
He had done so for two reasons: to reveal the existence of the black hole to the sect, the gangs, and the other sects, and to let everyone know that he was capable of creating spacetime formations.
As a result, countless people became greedy for his abilities. By defeating the ponytailed man, he could now easily demand massive compensation from the man's gang while simultaneously discouraging the other gangs from provoking him.
Suddenly, Gu Yue transmitted his voice to them spiritually.
(I know what you are thinking. Let me add a few more facts. I acted brutally toward that man so that even the members of our own faction would fear me. That way, they would rather deal with Lin Yuan because he is kinder, more compassionate, and easier to approach. They will naturally begin following him instead of me, firmly establishing Lin Yuan as the faction's true leader.)
Just then, the sect's First Elder, Jing Guan, descended from the sky.
"What happened here?"
One of the tavern attendants immediately knelt, tears streaming down his face.
"First Elder… members of the Ruin Plunder Gang destroyed our tavern! We demand justice, Elder!"
Jing Guan remained silent for several moments before letting out a sigh.
"I will send an order to the Law Enforcement Hall to arrest everyone responsible. Do not worry."
He turned toward Gu Yue.
"Gu Yue… you have only completed one mission. Where are the primal stones proving you have completed the second?"
Gu Yue was stunned.
He had completely forgotten about collecting the primal stones. Between the Writer, the coffin, and the hidden chamber, the task had slipped entirely from his mind.
He bowed respectfully.
"My apologies, Elder, but I cannot complete the second mission."
The elder looked at him with quiet curiosity, suspicion lingering in his voice.
"Hmm… why not?"
Gu Yue answered:
"Because there is a poison cave beneath the main cave, making the entire cave extremely toxic and nearly impossible to explore deeply enough to obtain the primal stones. There are also many powerful zombies inside. My cultivation is too weak to venture any deeper."
The elder sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Hah… Very well. I will consider the mission completed under my personal authority. Now go and complete the third mission."
Gu Yue turned around and flew toward the Southern Forest to collect the pink honey.