Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 718. Guests in the Night
"Im... Impossible. I should be the only Demigod in this world...," Zhang Daofeng uttered. Three different auras pressed on him. All were stronger than his.
"You are not wrong," One of the three intruders answered with a chuckle. "We are not the denizens of this surface world."
"You... Are you from the upper world?" Zhang Daofeng asked.
"You have guessed correctly," A different intruder answered.
"What... What do you want with me?" Zhang Daofeng asked another question.
"We come to pick you up," The third intruder replied.
"Pick... Pick me up?" Zhang Daofeng stammered. He was at a loss for a second before he said, "There... There is no need for your illustrious selves to do that. I... I still have some unfinished business to settle here. I will head to the upper world once I finish those affairs."
The three intruders laughed after hearing Zhang Daofeng. Their laugh greatly unsettled him.
"After you finish your affairs, hehe... That’s cute," the first intruder said. "He thinks it was an option."
"What do you mean...? Are you going to force me to go to the upper world?" Zhang Daofeng asked.
"That is correct," The second intruder answered. "Anything above the Martial Realm may not dwell in this world."
"Wh–Why...?" Zhang Daofeng asked.
"The hell do you mean by, why? Cause we say so. Do you have a problem with that?" The third intruder asked.
"Hehe, do you seriously never wonder why all who transcended into the Demigod Realm left for the upper world?" The second intruder asked. "Do you think all of them suddenly developed a craving to leave this world and head over to a foreign world, with no idea what awaited them in that new world?"
"I..." Zhang Daofeng indeed never gave this issue a thought. The myth stated that those who transcended beyond the Martial Realm left for the upper world because it was considered a better place, a world where someone could further advance their cultivation journey.
Now that he thought about it, even if that was true, it didn’t explain why all the known cultivators who transcended immediately went on the journey. There was never a record where a Demigod Realm cultivator spent more than a week after their advancement before they left for the upper world. Certainly, some must have unfinished business, or preferred to enjoy their time first, like he did, before they carried on.
There should even be a possibility where one decided not to proceed and remained in this surface world. After all, such a being would be the ruler in this surface world. One who could do whatever he wanted with impunity, as he had demonstrated. Even if their cultivation could no longer advance further, the prospect of living with absolute authority over others was enough to entice anyone. Yet, there was no record of such a person.
However, if they were all forced to leave, that would explain a lot. That’s why there was never a cultivator above the Martial Realm in this world.
As Zhang Daofeng thought about the matter, he remembered that no Demigod Realm cultivator spent more than a week in Aetheria, but there was a record of a cultivator staying for five days.
Remembering that, he asked the three intruders, "Can you give me at least a couple of days to settle my unfinished business? I promise I will head to the upper realm once I am done."
"Normally, we would allow that, but you are special."
"How so?" Zhang Daofeng asked.
The three laughed again, hearing his question. This puzzled him.
"You see, you have committed a truly nasty sin. If you know what is waiting for you in the upper world, you will do your best to run from us and hide. Though we have a way to track you down in this surface world, we are not keen to go through with the trouble. So, no. We are not going to give you a couple of days."
"What are you talking about? What sin have I committed?"
The first intruder cocked his head and looked at Zhang Daofeng amusingly. "Oh, he doesn’t know what bad things he has done. This is hilarious."
The third intruder wasn’t as amused as his partner. He gave Zhang Daofeng a serious expression and said, "You have killed our lordship’s favorite pet. The moron who was supposed to keep tabs on her had been derelict in his duty. He should have interfered when her life was in danger, but instead, he only learned about her death after the fact. Our lordship, of course, was not happy about this. That moron was currently undergoing punishment for his negligence. You will join the moron soon."
"Who are you talking about? Who is this she that you..." Zhang Daofeng stopped mid-speech. He suddenly realized who the person they were talking about was. He asked, "Are... Are you talking about Mu Qin...?"
"She was placed here as the caretaker of this world. She took care of and nurtured this world’s survivors each cycle, preparing and watching over them until the next epoch arrives. Thanks to her existence, we no longer needed to bother ourselves with cultivating new seeds during the changing of epochs. You have ruined this by killing her."
"I... I don’t know...," Zhang Daofeng reasoned.
"Of course, you don’t. That’s the point. Her involvement was meant to be a secret. Nevertheless, your ignorance doesn’t acquit you from your sin. The Divine demands reckoning."
"The... The Divine...?" Zhang Daofeng asked. His tone sounded like he had heard the term for the first time.
"Do you truly think the faith Mu Qin had built upon this world is not based on something real?" The second intruder asked back. "Her faith and loyalty to our lordship, the Divine, is probably second to none. If not for her special constitution, she would have stayed beside our lordship in his citadel."
Zhang Daofeng went quiet. All this time, he never truly believed the temple’s teaching despite occupying its highest post. His diligence and piousness were only a pretense to further his ambition. He always thought that the Divine preached by the temple was an abstract representation of a power they should aspire to. He never imagined that the Divine was a true existence. Now that he learned the truth, a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"Are you ready to face your penance?" The third intruder asked.
An intense fear erupted in Zhang Daofeng’s heart. This fear terrified him so that he drew every ounce of power he could summon. He broke through the pressure applied to him and dashed toward the door.
His action surprised the three intruders. They didn’t expect someone who had just crossed over into the Demigod Realm to shake off the combined pressure from the three of them. Nevertheless, they were not normal cultivators who were easily stunned by unexpected situations. Their reflexes allowed them to move before Zhang Daofeng reached the door.
*THUD!*THUD!*THUD!*
*CRACK!*CRACK!*CRACK!*
Three impact sounds that occurred almost simultaneously were followed by three rapid sounds of bones breaking.
In an instant, Zhang Daofeng was hit from three different directions. The first intruder slammed a clawed hand into his shoulder, shattering it. The second intruder landed a fist into his side, breaking his ribcage. The foot of the third intruder snapped his knee.
"Aaahhh...!!!" His cry of agony echoed loudly.
The three intruders used the meridian points technique in tandem. They hit the points that paralyzed and silenced Zhang Daofeng. His screaming voice stopped like he had been choked. He fell limply on the floor. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
The third intruder picked him up and said, "Let’s go. His scream might have drawn the others. We can’t have the insects of this world see us. The lordship will not be pleased if that happens."
"Hehe. Easily fixed," The first intruder took out four talismans. He gave two to his partners and stuck the other two on his and Zhang Daofeng’s foreheads. They turned invisible afterward.
"Well, our concern is only so that we are not seen, right?" The voice of the first intruder was heard.
*BOOM!*
The roof of the room exploded. The night sky outside was now visible from the large hole above.
"With such devastation, this world’s people will wonder what happened here," the second intruder said.
"They will already be wondering when they learned this hierophant is gone and the two women there dead," the first intruder replied.
"I don’t care what those insects think. We have spent enough time in this garbage dump. Let’s leave," the third intruder said.
The whooshing sound of the air was heard, as if something fast moved out through the hole in the roof. After that, silence returned.
Several minutes later, the black ring on the nightstand flashed, and a woman with eight tails appeared. She took the ring and watched the hole above with wariness. After another minute, she avoided using the hole in the ceiling and moved to the windows. She opened one of the windows, looked out, and made sure no one was out there. She then jumped out.
