Published: March 2, 2025
The three met in the sovereign's great hall. After Tang Haofei and Bai exchanged greetings, the entire hall fell into silence.
After a moment, the sovereign finally spoke.
"It has been too long..."
"For this moment, I have truly waited for far too long..."
His murmuring voice, like that of a demon, softly echoed, seemingly striking directly at the hearts of the two.
A tremendous force surged forth in an instant—at this moment, the sovereign was so excited that he couldn't control his own power!
Hearing this, Bai's face suddenly turned pale, and he unconsciously took two steps back. It was Tang Haofei who quietly moved forward, standing in front of Bai to block the sovereign's power fluctuations.
Every move Bai made was closely observed by the sovereign. The surging power instantly retracted, returning everything to tranquility. He looked at the two below and chuckled softly.
"I apologize for the disturbance."
"Not at all..."
Bai and Tang Haofei hurriedly shook their heads, and the sovereign did not linger on the matter that had just occurred.
He spoke again.
"You should already be aware of the purpose of my summons this time, right?"
"To kill... cough, cough, to kill the demon lord and reclaim the Heavenly Gifted Stone."
Bai struggled to speak after catching his breath for a long time.
The sovereign nodded lightly.
"Indeed, however, this time the main force will not be you two, but the spirit of the demon lord within the Demon Palace. You two will enter Demon Palace Layer 999 together with the spirit of the demon lord, and you must witness the spirit killing the demon lord. Then, you will retrieve the Heavenly Gifted Stone from the spirit."
This information had already been summarized by Bai, but it was the first time Tang Haofei and Bai heard the sovereign speak it directly. They remained silent and listened until Tang Haofei took a step forward to ask the sovereign.
"What if the spirit of the demon lord cannot kill the demon lord?"
"You will take action yourselves and deliver the finishing blow to the demon lord."
"And if we cannot kill the demon lord either...?"
"Then you can just die. The rest will have nothing to do with you."
To the sovereign, failing to kill the demon lord was merely a repeat of the encounter. After all, the sovereign had plenty of lifespan; he could wear the demon lord down eventually.
"Then, if the spirit of the demon lord obtains the Heavenly Gifted Stone and does not give it to us, what should we do?"
"Then kill him and take back the Heavenly Gifted Stone... As long as you help me recover the Heavenly Gifted Stone, I will help you fulfill all your wishes!"
After saying this, the sovereign stared seriously at the two, affirming, "I keep my word!"
"I have no issues with that," Tang Haofei said, stepping back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Bai.
"And here are these two items."
The sovereign spoke again, waving a hand to toss two light spheres.
"One of these is the positioning device for Demon Palace Layer 999 in the void realm. Once inside, just follow the guidance of the positioning device, and you will find the residence of the demon lord—the Temple of the Void Realm."
"The other is an observation marker that I release for you... After you enter the void realm, I will see everything that happens. Don't try any tricks, understood?"
Both Tang Haofei and Bai nodded in unison. The sovereign waved his hand and spoke his final words.
"Bai will lead; return early..."
...
"This old fellow is anxious..."
Leaving the sovereign's great hall, Bai secretly communicated with Tang Haofei, talking as they walked.
Only Tang Haofei frowned, deep in thought about everything.
After a moment, old Tang seemed to catch onto something. He paused and quietly asked Bai, "Are we... really going to do as the sovereign said?"
"What else could we do?"
Bai shrugged and retorted...
Only Tang Haofei continued to murmur.
"This doesn't seem quite right... Look, if we really do as the sovereign said, and the spirit of the demon lord indeed kills the demon lord and presents the Heavenly Gifted Stone to the sovereign, wouldn't the sovereign's goal be achieved? Wouldn't he then possess the complete Heavenly Gifted Stone?"