Su Sheng had no extra items on hand. He simply drew out the small knife and aimed it at the Demon King. The dark power of the abyss was too heavy; even the light summoning array had failed, let alone the magic of the summoning staff.
Without a suitable weapon, he was at a disadvantage. But Su Sheng was not afraid. Even without a weapon, he believed he could leave if he wanted to, and the Demon King wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Li Xier leaned half against the wall, neither speaking nor moving, as if he had no intention of fighting.
The atmosphere remained tense and stagnant. Finally, it was Li Xier who broke the silence first.
“I can let you leave, and I can let your friend go as well. However, you must agree to one condition.”
The Demon King leisurely picked up the potion bottle that had fallen on the floor, playing with it in his hand while his gaze lingered on Su Sheng, carrying a hint of barely noticeable probing.
Su Sheng narrowed his eyes in thought before asking after a moment, “What condition?”
“Give me a bottle of your blood.”
Blood?
What did he want to do?
Su Sheng refused without hesitation. “Impossible.”
No one would agree to such a request, because once a highly skilled mage obtained one’s blood, it would be akin to handing over half of one’s life. A mage capable of casting spells could place any curse or contract on you with just your blood.
The Demon King narrowed his eyes, about to say something more.
But then Su Sheng added, “I advise you to give up any thoughts of threatening me. Luo Ren is nothing more than a passerby to me.”
The Demon King let out a low chuckle. “How cold-hearted.”
Seeing that Su Sheng remained silent, he sighed regretfully. “Very well. Since you’ve kept me company for so long, I’ll just take a small reward.”
“Wha-”
In an instant, the Demon King moved from four or five steps away to Su Sheng’s side. His cold, pitch-black eyes were now filled with amusement. His thumb traced along Su Sheng’s jawline to his Adam’s apple, gently stroking it. After a brief pause, the Demon King stared at his lips, his gaze rippling with emotion. A moment later, he looked away, his voice slightly hoarse as it echoed in the air:
“Done.”
Su Sheng: “…”
He didn’t understand what the Demon King was doing.
Why was the Demon King staring at his lips?
This expression was strangely similar to Luo Ren’s earlier deranged state.
Could it be that he wanted to cast some kind of magic on his lips?
Su Sheng thought with a strange expression, but since the Demon King didn’t seem intent on revenge, it was convenient for him to wrap things up.
“Go on. Your friend is waiting for you.” As Su Sheng turned to leave, the Demon King smiled and spoke from behind him.
Just as Su Sheng was about to disappear from sight, Li Xier raised his head, his eyes filled with a startling intensity of desire. His possessiveness was now laid bare: “Norton, sooner or later, your heart will belong to me.”
“And what I want, you will also offer with both hands.”
…
After leaving the castle, Su Sheng immediately sent a message to Luo Ren. Fortunately, Luo Ren replied right away.
In his message, Luo Ren said he had been trapped in a forest near the castle, lost his belongings, and asked if Su Sheng had found the Silver Star Orchid.
Su Sheng replied that he had found it and arranged a meeting place, the same spot by the stone as before.
When they met, Su Sheng handed the bottle containing the Silver Star Orchid to Luo Ren and said, “I’ve fulfilled what I promised you, and I’ll deliver the gift I agreed to give you as well. I think we can part ways here.”
The words came too abruptly, leaving Luo Ren with a stunned expression, his body frozen as if he hadn’t heard clearly. He repeated, “What?”
“I said,” Su Sheng emphasized his tone, coldly averting his gaze, “let’s part ways here. Thank you for taking care of me all this time.”
Luo Ren refused to give up and added, “My dear Norton, I don’t think you understand the Abyss. It’s thousands of kilometers from here to the outskirts. Even with magic, it won’t be easy for you to leave, especially since you’re not at your peak condition right now, are you? You don’t even have a suitable weapon.”
“I’d be very worried about you if you go like this.”
After speaking, Luo Ren’s sapphire-blue eyes stared directly at him, filled with sorrow and concern, like precious gemstones.
Su Sheng pursed his lips, his hand hidden beneath his sleeve tightly gripping the void, only to relax moments later, as if trying to grasp something but appearing utterly powerless.
He had been deceived once before and couldn’t give anyone a second chance to hurt him.
At this thought, Su Sheng’s gaze turned icy, and his entire demeanor shifted, becoming more aloof, indifferent, and unapproachable. He slightly parted his lips and said, “I think our cooperation ends here.”
Good, very good.
Luo Ren forced himself to keep smiling.
Truly worthy of the Holiness of the Bright Continent.
Norton Similias.
What a fine specimen.
But no matter how guarded you are, I will make you willingly and unreservedly stay by my side.
Instead of getting angry, Luo Ren smiled. “Since you’re so determined, then let it end here. I hope we have the chance to meet again.”
After parting ways with Luo Ren, Su Sheng walked along the road.
During a break, Su Sheng took out his water pouch and walked to a nearby stream. The mirror-like stream reflected his figure, while clusters of silver-grass swayed in the wind along its banks. Nearby, a crooked-neck tree stood silently like an old man leaning on a cane.
As he scooped water, Su Sheng inexplicably felt the scene before him familiar and couldn’t help but glance around. When his eyes fell on the crooked-neck tree, his thoughts momentarily drifted.
“Your clothes are dirty, give them to me. I’ll wash them for you.”
“Feeling uncomfortable?”
“My dear Norton, I never expected you to be so pure…”
Su Sheng didn’t know why he suddenly remembered these things. They were moments that made him uncomfortable, and he should have forgotten them.
Rubbing his temples, he pushed these images out of his mind. He shouldn’t be thinking about these things, much less about that person.
After walking for three consecutive days, he finally left the castle’s vicinity, and the number of demons he encountered along the way increased.
After collecting some demon remains, Su Sheng found a place to rest.
He burned the limbs of high-level demons into powder, mixed them with silver-glow flowers, and scattered the mixture around his resting spot. This would repel low-level demons, allowing him to sleep peacefully through the night.
Magic wasn’t inexhaustible, especially in the dark Abyss, where replenishing it was extremely slow and required ample rest.
After waking from his sleep, Su Sheng prepared to continue his journey, but he stopped after taking only a few steps.
There was no other reason, a faint scent of blood lingered in the air.
A human had come here.
Who would be so bold?
Su Sheng hesitated for a moment, his gaze inadvertently falling on the dagger in his hand. He decided to go and investigate.
Following the scent of blood downward, the number of demons around him grew, but none paid him any attention, instead rushing with bloodshot eyes toward a single direction. Su Sheng simply cast a concealment spell on himself and followed the demons.
“Have you heard? You Li caught a human, blond with blue eyes. I heard he’s locked up there, being prepared for a feast.”
“I heard. I can smell the blood in the air. Ah, it smells so good. It’s been years since I’ve smelled such fragrant, fresh blood.”
Listening to the demons’ descriptions, a faint sense of foreboding stirred in Su Sheng’s heart.
Damn it, that human couldn’t be Luo Ren, could it?
He quickened his pace toward that direction and soon arrived.
It was a wandering demon’s stronghold. Perhaps because a human was imprisoned here, the number of demons in what was usually a base of only a few dozen had multiplied tenfold.
In a massive valley, dozens of demons gathered on the grassy ground around a cage, guarding it closely, their gazes fixed on it with ravenous hunger.
Su Sheng’s sharp eyes spotted a blond young man lying inside the cage, eyes closed, soaked in blood, it was Luo Ren!
His heart tightened slightly. Su Sheng averted his gaze and scanned his surroundings, climbing into a recessed crevice in the rocks.
He wasn’t afraid of the demons here, but their numbers were still increasing. If he used magic here, the leaked magical aura might attract even more powerful demons. If his magic were depleted, both he and Luo Ren would likely perish here.
Su Sheng lay hidden in the crevice, a blind spot in the demons’ line of sight. His gaze calmly swept over the demons in the valley as an idea slowly formed in his mind.
He used a dagger to cut his wrist, drawing a small amount of blood, then retreated ten miles away with it. He cast a replication spell on the blood.
Soon, an exact replica of himself appeared before him, formed from his blood, capable of running and jumping, almost identical to him.
But it could only last for fifteen minutes.
Su Sheng deliberately cast a few light magic spells here, hoping to attract the demons. The effect was remarkable, and soon a group of demons gathered.
Their eyes lit up at the sight of “Su Sheng.”
“Heavens, what kind of day is this? Another human?!”
Seeing that enough had gathered, Su Sheng, hidden nearby, commanded the other “Su Sheng” to run in the opposite direction.
By now, only five minutes remained.
In these five minutes, he had to eliminate all the demons and rescue Luo Ren.
Returning to the valley, Su Sheng immediately cast a massive magic circle to destroy the remaining demons. This spell consumed a great deal of energy, so by the time it ended, beads of sweat had formed on Su Sheng’s forehead, and his face had noticeably paled.
He approached the cage, attempting to break it open with magic, only to discover with shock that it was a prison made of magical materials, ordinary magic couldn’t open it.
That meant he had to find the key.
The demons’ bodies had already been incinerated. Among the pile of remaining clothes, Su Sheng found the key.
But as he walked over, he suddenly frowned, the replication spell had ended half a minute early.
This meant that the other “Su Sheng” had been killed.
Or perhaps there was another possibility, his blood had been taken, causing the magic to end prematurely.
The last possibility was extremely slim, as Su Sheng had cast a defensive spell on the blood. Once touched, it would trigger.
Few in this world could break his magic.
A few minutes later, Su Sheng carried Luo Ren on his back and quickly left the valley.
Just minutes after their departure, the demons returned.
“I never thought it would be your turn to save me this time,” Luo Ren woke up, lying on Su Sheng’s shoulder, and chuckled softly with his head buried.
Su Sheng looked rather displeased, his tone equally unkind: “Weren’t you quite capable in a fight? How did you end up in the hands of a group of demons? And lift your head, don’t smear your blood on my clothes.”
Luo Ren smiled, rubbing his head against Su Sheng’s shoulder. But seeing Su Sheng’s expression grow increasingly grim, he rubbed even harder, saying, “My dear Norton, I never thought you’d be someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”
Su Sheng’s head seemed to radiate a chilling aura as he gritted his teeth: “Shut up!”
Meanwhile, in the massive spired castle.
The Demon King gently shook the potion bottle in his hand. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the labeled bottle contained half a vial of blood.
He appeared somewhat troubled, sighing as he murmured to the blood-filled bottle: “What should I do, Your Holiness? My replication magic is about to expire as well.”
It seems we will meet again soon.
Norton Similias.
The Demon King’s gaze pierced through the void, precisely fixed on Su Sheng.