Proofreader: Papatonks

“Who do you think?” Zhuo Fan’s eyes shone as he stared at Zhao Chen.

Zhao Chen’s face twitched, stammering, “T-that’s not possible. Master died, detonating his soul. He can’t be alive!”

“True, Zhuo Yifan couldn’t have survived with his soul destroyed, could he?”

Zhuo Fan smiled, “He died, but his yearning lived on, passed on to a dying youth in a strange coincidence as the second Zhuo Yifan. No, it should be just his thoughts that passed on. In the end, Zhuo Fan is not Zhuo Yifan.”

Zhao Chen’s face twitched, looking confused, “What does that mean? Are you Zhuo Yifan or Zhuo Fan?”

“Both, the Zhuo Yifan of before is the Zhuo Fan of today.”

Zhuo Fan mocked, “Fool, didn’t you always want to know the Nine Serenities Secret Records? This is one of its skills, yearning rebirth. Humans aren’t just flesh and soul, but also of mind and desires. You are what your heart is.”

Zhao Chen shuddered, staggering back, into the wall.

“Y-you’re Master…”

Zhuo Fan smirked.

“Spare me, Master! I was forced to do that. They made me. Please let me live!”

Zhao Chen plopped to the ground and kowtowed and whined, “They are the ones who you should take your anger on, not me. Give me any command and I shall follow it…”

Bang~

Zhao Chen kept knocking his head on the stone. Zhuo Fan merely smiled, yet his expression was devoid of sympathy.

Once Zhao Chen got to his hundredth banging, Zhuo Fan sighed, “Idiot, who told you I wanted revenge on you?”

“Uh, Master, y-you’ll let me go?” Zhao Chen perked up with hope.

Zhuo Fan grinned, “We’re master and disciple. I know they lured you after I’ve experienced their tactics. I could never blame you.”

“Master, thank you so much…” Zhao Chen went back to banging his head in gratitude.

Zhuo Fan continued, “Well, did you like cultivating the Demon Transformation Art?”

“The Demon Transformation Art?”

Zhao Chen was puzzled, “Isn’t it the Nether Script? Why…”

“The Demon Transformation Art is Nine Serenities Secret Records’ highest cultivation method. As a seeker of the demonic path, I of course would train in this cultivation method. How could I pass on to my disciple the Nether Sovereign’s art?”

“Oh, I see. Master passed on to me the Nine Serenities Secret Records. Thank you Master, thank you!” Zhao Chen was overjoyed.

Whether the Nether Sovereign or Demonic Sovereign, it was all the same to him.

Zhuo Fan said, “You haven’t answered me. How was the cultivation method?”

“It’s incredible, Master. My strength multiplied in just a few months. I believe in just a few more, I’ll become a Saint, ha-ha-ha…”

Zhao Chen laughed with pride and madness. His face looked eerie with all the black energy around him.

Zhuo Fan nodded.

Whoosh~

“Zhao Chen went this way, no mistake! Look at the spiritual signature!”

“Only he could leave such thick demonic energy. He must be nearby!”

…

“It’s them!”

Zhao Chen panicked, “How did they find me? I’m sure I’ve removed all traces.”

“Idiot.”

Zhao Chen found Zhuo Fan’s gaze to be that of a scolding parent, “M-master, what can I do for you?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to obey me? Now go and kill them to redeem yourself.”

Zhuo Fan spoke, “Atone for your betrayal and we will once again be master and disciple.”

Zhao Chen was thrilled, “Yes, Master, understood!”

He rushed out on the spot, under Zhuo Fan’s gaze.

[You never change, foolish disciple.]

“Sword Emperor, you fools actually came to find me. Now you shall all die, ha-ha-ha…”

The Sword Emperor’s team was looking around the mountain when Zhao Chen shouted with confidence, covered in a black energy so thick it wilted the nature around him.

The five gasped at his appearance, going at him with full power, “Zhao Chen, hand it over or today will be your last!”

“Planning on stealing my cultivation method? Why not die instead, ha-ha-ha…”

Zhao Chen disregarded the five in his madness, unleashing black palms at the two like rain, ‘Devil Palm!”

Sky breaker!

Dazzling Petals!

Wailing Wraith!

…

The five Emperors struck back as well.

The earth shook and the sky trembled under their might. Rocks fell in the black cave while the mountains around the area were reduced to dust.

Plop~

Under the huge backlash, each of them had their meridians strained. The Sword Emperor’s group coughed blood and looked weakened. Zhao Chen also spat foul blood, but he still cackled, jumping back at them with all he had, despite his wounds.

Boom~

The Devil Palms finally thwarted the five Emperors, with Zhao Chen looming over the defeated with a smug grin.

“Ha-ha-ha, I just have to kill them and then Master will forgive me. With the Demonic Sovereign’s cultivation method, the world will be ours, he-he-he…”

Blood rushed out of Zhao Chen’s mouth as he spoke, soaking him in it. His mind was focused on the the Sword Emperor’s group, closing in for the kill.

“The guy’s totally lost it!”

The Enchanting Empress looked tense, “He’s badly wounded yet still wants to fight us. He doesn’t care about death!”

“That’s what makes it so frightening when fighting lunatics. You never know what they’re capable of.” The Sword Emperor’s face shook, looking at Zhao Chen in fear.

[What’s wrong with him? There’s no order to his actions, only savagery as he stakes his life.]

[With that cultivation method, he should be cautious, so why risk himself? Why has he gone mad?]

[Damn it, I don’t want to die at the hands of a deranged cultivator!]

The five watched as Zhao Chen got closer and closer.

Zhao Chen had lost his mind, showing his bloody teeth as he stepped forth, “Die, old fools, ha-ha-ha…”

The malevolent and terrifying Zhao Chen up and froze in mid strike.

The five watched with horror as black energy rushed around him. From inside, wails of agony and terror leaked, like that of a beast.

“Ahhhh!”

Zhao Chen flayed on the ground in pain, before the shocked faces of the Emperors.

[What’s wrong with him?]

Zhao Chen’s words left them baffled and shivering, “M-master, what’s happening? Save me, Master…”