“It's true!” The demon nodded frantically. “That human is incredibly strong; he almost always uses a single strike... I saw it from a distance. With one sword, he cut down five of the young geniuses.”
“One sword?”
The Frostbone Demon Lord's voice was as cold as ice.
“A human killing Mordekaiser at the peak of the 5th-rank with a single strike? What kind of joke is this?”
“I'm not joking!” The demon was practically in tears. “And that human can use holy light, which has a restraining effect on us. Furthermore, he has a Demon Lord Seed in his body and can absorb the seeds from our bodies. He... he...”
“Holy light? A Demon Lord Seed?”
The Shadow Demon Lord furrowed his brow.
“An apostle of god? Or a defector?”
“Regardless of who he is.”
The Molten Demon Lord released the demon and turned to face the other three Demon Lords.
“He killed my Grom, so he must pay the price.”
“Agreed.”
The Frostbone Demon Lord nodded.
The Blood Pupil Demon Lord remained silent for a moment before also nodding.
The Shadow Demon Lord followed suit.
Four 9th-rank powerhouses simultaneously released their perception, spreading out in all directions like four invisible giant nets.
Their perception was incredibly fast, covering the entire Forgotten Swamp almost instantly.
Then, they simultaneously locked onto Jiang Lin's position.
At the edge of the Forgotten Swamp.
“Found him.”
On the other side, Jiang Lin, who was just about to pick up Little Black and run, suddenly felt his hair stand on end.
Four terrifying, suffocating auras had locked onto him.
Every cell in his body was screaming at him to flee.
Little Black also felt the terrifying auras and asked:
“Holy crap, kid, who did you piss off this time?”
Jiang Lin's expression was grave.
“I'm afraid it's the bosses of those four demon geniuses I killed.”
“What?”
“Never mind, there's no time to explain.”
Jiang Lin took out the ultra-long-distance random teleportation scroll Vice Dean Keith had given him from his spatial ring and crushed it immediately.
The next moment, violent spatial power swept over Jiang Lin and Little Black.
They vanished from the spot instantly.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
“Hm? He's gone?”
The Molten Demon Lord was puzzled.
He took a step, preparing to see if he could follow the residual spatial power to find the target, but his figure suddenly stiffened.
Because he felt an equally terrifying aura rapidly approaching from the distance.
That aura was no weaker than his own.
In fact... it was stronger.
The Molten Demon Lord stopped in his tracks, his red-gold eyes staring toward the east.
Everyone, including the other three Demon Lords, also felt that aura.
Around the rune array, thousands of gazes turned toward the east simultaneously.
Beneath the dark red horizon, an ice-blue light was rapidly approaching.
The light was like a meteor, tearing through the dark red sky and trailing a long ice-blue tail of flame.
When the light descended, everyone saw the newcomer's appearance clearly.
It was a man.
He looked to be in his early twenties, with cold white skin that seemed to have never seen the sun. His features were as exquisite as if carved from ice crystals by a master craftsman.
His eyebrows were like distant mountains brushed with ink, his nose was straight, and his lip color was as faint as a newly bloomed cherry blossom petal.
And his eyes were a rare purple, with depths that seemed to hold the profound solitude of a ten-thousand-year-old glacier. As his gaze shifted, tiny specks of light flickered within them.
His long hair fell like a waterfall, a black deeper than the night, reaching down to his waist and loosely tied at the end with a simple ice-blue ribbon.
A few strands of hair fell over his forehead, adding a touch of lethargy and mystery.
He wore a simple, ancient-styled ice-blue robe with no complex patterns, only silver thread tracing a minimalist sword-shaped design on the collar and cuffs.
A wide belt of the same color was cinched around his waist, with a sheathed longsword hanging on the left side.
The scabbard was also ice-blue, made of a material that was neither metal nor jade, resembling ice or crystal, with a faint chill flowing over its surface.
He hovered in mid-air, looking down at the four Demon Lords below.
Those purple eyes were as calm as water, containing no killing intent or anger—only a cold indifference as if looking down upon all living beings.
But it was precisely this indifference that made the four Demon Lords feel a sudden pressure.
“Who are you?”
The Molten Demon Lord spoke, his voice low like muffled thunder.
Loren did not answer.
He simply descended slowly, landing before the four Demon Lords.
His ice-blue robe fluttered in the wind, and his waterfall-like long hair swayed. His beautiful, androgynous face looked like a statue carved from ice and snow under the dark red sky.
Among the spectating demons, someone let out a low gasp.
“So... so beautiful...”
It was a young demon warrior, staring blankly at Loren with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, his face full of infatuation.
“I... I think I've fallen in love with him...”
“Me too...”
“Me too...”
Similar voices rose one after another from all directions.
Men and women, old and young, demons and beastkin, even a few humans.
They all stared blankly at Loren, their eyes filled with obsession.
Some were drooling, some clutched their chests, and some even had weak legs, kneeling on the ground.
“What... what did you do to me?!”
The Molten Demon Lord's face turned livid.
He could feel a strange power attempting to invade his mental sea.
That power was... charm!
Loren did not answer.
He simply stood there calmly, surrounded by a faint ice-blue mist.
Within the mist, one could vaguely see countless tiny specks of light flickering like stars.
“This isn't a charm technique...”
The Shadow Demon Lord spoke. His voice was still soft but carried a hint of gravity.
“This seems to be... a curse? And it's a demon-god-level curse from our demon race?!”
Loren still did not answer.
He merely raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together, and lightly tapped forward.
A wisp of ice-blue sword intent shot out from his fingertip, silently sinking into the ground beneath the Molten Demon Lord's feet.
BOOM!!!
The ground shattered as a bottomless crack extended from the Molten Demon Lord's feet all the way to the horizon.
The edges of the crack were covered in thick frost.
The Molten Demon Lord took a step back, a flash of horror crossing his red-gold eyes.
He looked down at his feet.
A thin layer of frost had formed on the soles of his boots.
The frost was spreading upward, attempting to freeze his ankles.
He let out a cold snort, and dark red magic essence surged, shattering the frost.
But when he looked up, Loren was already gone.
“Where is he?”
He looked around but could not find the ice-blue figure.
“He's gone,” the Shadow Demon Lord's voice came.
“He likely came to warn us.”
“Warn us?” The Molten Demon Lord frowned.
“The human who killed our successors must be his person,” the Shadow Demon Lord said calmly.
“His appearance here was to tell us that the human is under his protection.”
The Molten Demon Lord was silent for a moment before letting out a cold snort.
“A human dares to be so arrogant before us?”
“He is no ordinary human.”
The Frostbone Demon Lord spoke, a hint of solemnity in his ice-blue eyes.
“His sword intent... has already reached the realm of ‘Sword Soul.’”
“Sword Soul?” The Blood Pupil Demon Lord frowned. “What is that?”
“The highest realm of sword intent,” the Frostbone Demon Lord explained.
“Sword intent is divided into three stages: initial condensation, intermediate condensation level, and consummation. Above consummation is the ‘Sword Soul.’
“It involves refining sword intent into the soul; the sword is the person, and the person is the sword.
“One who possesses a Sword Soul can reform their body even if their physical form is destroyed, as long as the Sword Soul remains.”
He paused before continuing:
“And his Sword Soul has solidified to the point of being manifested externally. This means his individual combat power is not inferior to the four of us combined.
“Furthermore, combined with the demon-god-level charm curse he bears, it reminds me of a certain legendary figure.”
“Who?”
“Sword Saint Loren.”
“Loren?! The one who fought nine powerhouses of the same rank alone, killed five of them, and escaped unscathed?!”
“Loren?!” The Molten Demon Lord's voice cracked, and for the first time, genuine wariness appeared in his red-gold eyes.
“The Sword Saint Loren who was rumored to be cursed by the Succubus Ancestor?!”
“Who else could it be?”
The Frostbone Demon Lord's voice remained cold, but his clenched fists betrayed his inner turmoil.
“No wonder his sword intent is so terrifying. No wonder he dared to appear here alone.”
The four Demon Lords exchanged glances, all seeing the same decision in each other's eyes.
This matter would end here.
It wasn't worth offending a Sword Saint in the Sword Soul realm for a few dead successors.
Moreover, seeing Loren's nonchalant attitude just now, they weren't even sure they could win if they actually fought him together.
“Withdraw.”
The Blood Pupil Demon Lord was the first to turn, his figure vanishing into the dark red sky.
The other three Demon Lords left one after another, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered onlookers.
“What... what exactly is the background of that human?”
“I don't know, but to have the Sword Saint personally protect him, he must be someone special.”
“By the way, the Sword Saint is so handsome... can I marry him?”
“You're a man, what do you mean marry him?”
“What's wrong with being a man? Can't a man pursue true love?”
“...”
On the other side.
The effect of the ultra-long-distance random teleportation scroll was even more violent than Jiang Lin had imagined.
“Glug, glug, glug...”
Jiang Lin poked his head out of the sea, his long golden hair wet and plastered to his face, and he choked on a mouthful of bitter, salty seawater.
“Ptooey! So salty!”
He wiped his face and looked around.
An endless sea stretched out before him, the blue water shimmering under the sunlight.
The sky was very blue, white clouds drifted lazily, and occasionally a few seabirds flew overhead, letting out raucous cries.
There was no land, no islands, not even a single reef in sight.
“Holy crap, what kind of place is this?!”
As Jiang Lin treaded water, he pulled an inflatable lifebuoy out of his spatial ring.
He had bought this in Clearwater City, originally intending to use it for swimming at the beach, but he hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.
He slipped the lifebuoy over himself and finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Little Black! Little Black, where are you?!”
“Meow-uugh!”
A shrill cat cry came from behind him.
Jiang Lin turned to see Little Black clutching a wooden board, its four claws digging desperately into the edges. Its amber cat eyes were wide, and its face was a mask of pure “I'm going to die” terror.
“Where did you get that board?”
“Meow! I don't know! It drifted by! Save me! I can't swim!!”
Jiang Lin swam over, fished Little Black out, and placed it on the lifebuoy.
Little Black collapsed on the lifebuoy, panting heavily. It was soaked through, its once fluffy black fur clinging tightly to its body, making it look like a scrawny black rat.
“Scared the life out of me... scared the life out of me...”
It panted while patting its chest with a paw, looking thoroughly shaken.
“You're an evil god, and you can't swim?”
“What's wrong with being an evil god? Does an evil god have to know how to swim?!” Little Black's fur bristled. “I'm not a water god! Have you ever seen an evil god who can swim?!”
Little Black didn't want to deal with him and turned away to lick the seawater off its paw.
“Ptooey, so salty!”
After saying that, Little Black stopped licking its fur, intending to let it dry naturally.
After all, it was now a transcendent creature; a little moisture wouldn't make it sick.
But less than a second after stopping, its base instincts took over.
The wet fur on its body forced it to start licking uncontrollably again.
“Ptooey, so salty!”
Jiang Lin ignored the short-circuiting Little Black and began to observe their surroundings.
He looked up, checking the position of the sun.
It was noon, and the sun was slightly to the south overhead.
“We're in the northern hemisphere,” he judged. “The demon territory is on the east side of the continent, and the Forgotten Swamp is on the west side of the demon territory. I teleported out from the Forgotten Swamp; to the east is the demon territory, and to the west is the ocean...”
He recalled the map in his memory.
To the east of the demon territory was a vast ocean called the “Endless Sea.”
It was said that this ocean was enormous and that traveling far enough east would lead to another continent, but very few people ever made the trip.
“So, I'm currently on the Endless Sea.”
Jiang Lin reached a conclusion.
“Moreover, there's a high probability I'm in the waters east of the demon territory. Since the principle of the teleportation scroll is random teleportation that avoids solid matter, the chances of being sent to the sea were already quite high.”
He rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
“So, the question now is how to get back?”
He looked around; there was no land, no islands, and not even a single ship.
“Meow, what kind of crappy teleportation scroll is this? Sending us to the middle of the ocean—do you want me dead?”
Little Black complained.
“Be grateful. At least we didn't get sent into a volcano.”
Jiang Lin took a piece of waterproof cloth from his spatial ring, spread it over the lifebuoy, and then placed Little Black on top of it.
He then took out a rope and a wooden board, tying the board to the side of the lifebuoy to make a simple “oar.”
“What are you doing?”
Little Black looked at him in confusion.
“Paddling back.”
“Paddling back? Are you crazy? Do you even know which way the shore is?”
“I don't.”
Jiang Lin looked up at the sun's position and then at the shadows he and Little Black cast on the water.
“However, I can roughly determine east and west.”
“How?”
“The shadows.”
Jiang Lin pointed at the shadows cast by the man and cat on the lifebuoy.
“The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It's roughly afternoon now, so the shadows point east. Therefore, the direction opposite the shadows is west.”
...
Rate on N.U.
