Chapter 784: Another Patch of Night
The young demon lord said no more. He bent down, gently touched the demon lord’s forehead, and murmured something softly.
What he spoke was not ordinary demon language; it carried a naturally sorrowful tone, like a final prayer or blessing.
His father was about to die.
The brightness in the demon lord’s eyes had gradually dimmed, like that star in the northern night sky.
Nanke held his hand on the other side, but he paid her no attention.
He simply gazed quietly at the young demon lord, patted the back of his hand lightly, and then slowly closed his eyes.
As his eyes shut, his breathing grew longer and longer, until there was no gap, and it ceased altogether.
That faint blue starlight spread from the wound in his abdomen, turning his demonic body into frozen ice.
The cold wind no longer howled; the starlight fled into the distance. The night grew thicker and thicker, a profound silence settling in, as if time and space itself had frozen.
The demon lord was dead.
A legendary era had come to an end.
The most tumultuous chapter of history from a thousand years ago had finally drawn a somewhat hasty conclusion at this moment.
For the human race, that chapter had already ended when Han Qing left the pavilion before the Heavenly Book Mausoleum and when the Lingyan Pavilion collapsed.
For the demon race and the entire continent, tonight marked the true end.
No one knew how much time passed before the young demon lord wiped the tears from his eyes, ceased his grief, and stood up.
As he rose, the night sky seemed to surge into his body, making him appear immensely tall and even more powerful.
The inheritance of countless millennia of power was now formally and completely passed to him.
From this moment onward, he was the sovereign of the northern continent, the master of the demons, no longer requiring any prefix like “young” or “new generation.”
He was the demon lord.
He turned his gaze to Chen Changsheng.
“When a figure as great as my father leaves this world, it should not be so lonely or plain. Fortunately, having the human Pope as a burial companion is barely a consolation. Now, you can go die—of course, your possessions must stay behind.”
Chen Changsheng asked, “What exactly are you referring to?”
The demon lord was silent for a moment, then said, “The Garden of Zhou? The Heavenly Book Steles? Though I lost a father tonight, the compensation I can gain won’t be too little.”
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng confirmed that the demon lord truly knew the source of his confidence. So where did the demon lord’s own confidence come from?
“Don’t try to enter the Garden of Zhou,” the demon lord said, looking into his eyes. “Though I’m not a powerhouse like my father who could sever your connection to space, I assure you that when you attempt to traverse space, I have countless ways to make you fail.”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and asked, “The Black Robe?”
The demon lord was somewhat surprised. “You figured out the reason so quickly—your mind is still clear.”
Back when the Garden of Zhou incident occurred, the Li Palace and Lishan had spent a long time analyzing it, confirming that the Black Robe was very familiar with the Garden of Zhou and could influence its rules through some method. Back then, the Soul Pivot in Nanke’s hand that could control the beast tide was destroyed, and the Black Robe’s iron plate was pierced by the Sky-Covering Sword, but who could guarantee there were no other means?
Severely wounded by the demon lord’s hand, the little black dragon thrown ten thousand miles away, Qing Ye absent, the Heavenly Book Steles not yet fully understood, and the Garden of Zhou too risky to enter—no matter who looked at it, Chen Changsheng surviving and leaving alive at this moment seemed extremely difficult. But he himself didn’t think so.
“Leaving right now is very simple,” Chen Changsheng said, looking at the demon lord.
The demon lord’s expression shifted slightly. “Is that so?”
Chen Changsheng said to him, “All I need to do is kill you.”
As he spoke these words, he was very calm.
The demon lord raised an eyebrow slightly. “You think you’re qualified to say something like that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be qualified to say that?”
Chen Changsheng continued, “You’re older than me, but not by much. You’re good at biding your time, but your true talent isn’t necessarily greater than mine. You’re the demon lord, I’m the Pope. In terms of treasures and techniques, I’m not lacking either. From any angle, I’m no worse than you. Why can’t I fight you?”
In terms of realm, cultivation talent, fortuitous encounters, status, power, and influence—the young demon lord was undoubtedly the foremost in the world.
But on this continent, there were two people who could match the young demon lord in every aspect.
Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong.
The demon lord stared at him quietly, then suddenly laughed. “That does make sense, but you seem to be badly injured tonight.”
“Yes, but why have you been talking so much with me?”
Chen Changsheng said, “This shows you’re not confident you can kill me, and that gives me a lot of confidence—the confidence to kill you.”
With these words, he reached his hand into the night.
Several stone beads, transformed from the Heavenly Book Steles, silently flew back from the darkness and landed on his wrist.
He didn’t know how many bones in his body were broken, but his left arm was still intact. Earlier in the night sky, he had been preparing to strike with his left hand.
Now, his left hand still firmly gripped the sword, steady as ever.
Thousands of swords rose from the lake’s depths and flew out from the chaotic forest, gathering around his body, hovering silently, equally steady.
The demon lord felt the chilling sword intent in the night air and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Tell me,” he said, “if Su Li were the one wielding these swords, what would happen?”
This question had nothing to do with the current situation, making it seem especially abrupt.
Just like the demon lord’s attack.
The demon lord’s weapon was not the stone pestle called Star-Slaying, but a ram’s horn comb.
More precisely, it was a powerful artifact that greatly resembled a ram’s horn comb.
It was called the Demon Celestial Horn.
The Demon Celestial Horn descended toward Chen Changsheng, trailing countless thick streams of black energy.
Blackness spread through the snowy valley, blotting out the stars, like a true patch of night or a bottomless abyss, inspiring fear at the mere sight.
Watching this scene, Chen Changsheng recalled the patch of night he had seen on the snowy plains after leaving the Garden of Zhou years ago, and his expression grew somewhat solemn.
The young demon lord had endured in obscurity for years, hiding all his talent and brilliance beneath a wild and unrestrained exterior. Tonight, he finally revealed his edge.
Having received the complete inheritance, his realm was unimaginably powerful!
Among the younger generation of humans, it was hard to find anyone equally strong.
Whether it was him or Xu Yourong, they were clearly a notch below. Even if Qiu Shan Jun had come, he likely couldn’t surpass the demon lord.
Only those at the top of the Carefree List, like Xiao Zhang or Liang Wangsun, might have a chance to contend.
Now, severely wounded, Chen Changsheng’s sword-controlling power was less than a tenth of its peak. He could only rely on treasures and external tools to fight, making him even more outmatched.
But he hadn’t lied earlier—he truly intended to try killing the demon lord.
Because he still had other methods, other allies.