One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

The dust cleared, and where the Shadow Scorpion Lord once stood a huge crater had exploded into existence, its bottom fused into glassy lava, dark red in hue, from which thick black smoke was now billowing.

The air was filled with a perilous scent of sulfur, and in an instant the temperature rose by several dozen degrees.

"I didn’t expect that despite being gravely injured you could still unleash a blow of such power!" the Shadow Scorpion Lord spat out a mouthful of charred smoke, his face blackened.

In his gaze toward Qin Shunying, there was bewilderment and then a cold laugh, "But what does it matter how formidable you are? In front of me, the Ruler of Corpse Mountain Demon Country, even the senior sister of the Fiery Sun Sect is but an ant that can easily be crushed, a death throes struggle."

The Shadow Scorpion Lord suddenly looked up at the sky, his arms outstretched.

Explore stories at empire

Such an eminent Dark Deity now wore a look of admiration on his face, as though a devout believer beholding their worshiped deity, an image truly terrifying.

"He’s here!" the Shadow Scorpion Lord said calmly.

Wu Hanhai followed the direction of the Shadow Scorpion Lord’s gaze and suddenly felt an oppressive sensation, as if he couldn’t breathe.

In the distance, a shadow emerged on the clear sky, at first just a straight line which rapidly elongated, stretching until in the blink of an eye it obscured half of the heavens.

Below the shadow, a storm swiftly arose.

The raging wind and tornadoes swept away everything, raising a dust storm across the vast desert.

The shadow drew ever closer, the storm growing fiercer, the booming noise like a tidal wave confusing one’s mind.

Wu Hanhai’s mouth agape uncontrollably, his pupils trembling. It was then that he slowly realized that what shrouded the sky was not dark clouds nor a mere shadow, but the pitch-black wings of the Peng monarch.

As it moved through the storm, it was the source of the tempest.

Tornadoes and fierce winds obeyed its will, destroying everything without restraint, and as its wings lowered, easily plunged the whole world into gloom.

In the darkness, columns of blood-red smoke rose to the heavens, like pillars supporting a grand hall of the world.

In this vast desert, each plume of smoke signified the presence of a Dark Deity.

The Peng monarch had yet to arrive.

But a mighty wind that could sweep across the lands approached like dark tidal waves, rolling forth.

The earth vibrated continuously, as if unable to bear this world-shattering force, the black waves created by the fierce wind engulfing everything, darkening the skies.

The sand dunes, rock walls, and ruins in its path were all devoured and destroyed. Streaks of crimson lightning exploded across the sky, deafeningly loud.

"Roar!"

Wu Hanhai let out a bellow.

His hair fluttered wildly, his body radiant with golden light.

He burned his life energy to unleash a punch with all his strength, yet it only momentarily cleared a sanctuary.

But in the span of a breath, the light emanating from him could no longer hold, flickering like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment.

"Now, quick!" Wu Hanhai shouted.

Without hesitation, Qin Shunying took a step forward, her figure turning into a streak of red firelight, rapidly disappearing into a golden portal beneath the sandy sea.

Boom!

In the instant Qin Shunying vanished,

The sandy sea exploded violently, countless coarse black gravel surged into the sky, then rained down.

The wild wind swept through everything, the sky remained overcast, but the dust storm was quickly subsiding. Wu Hanhai spat out a mouthful of old blood, his body at first swept up lightly into the air by the fierce gales. Then, uncontrollably falling, he crashed heavily onto the ground.

Unbelievable that he was still alive.

He shakily opened his eyes, struggling to his feet, and looked around.

Those fellow refugees from Farhope who had come with him had been reduced to corpses, buried by the sands. The only consolation was that Qin Shunying was still alive, the last hope, having successfully entered the Golden Crow Secret Store.

Wu Hanhai tried to stand up, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a foot clad in a black boot stepping down.

"Who gave you permission to look upon the Ruler?" chuckled the Shadow Scorpion Lord, then ground his foot onto the top of Wu Hanhai’s head.

The immense humiliation clenched Wu Hanhai’s fists tightly.

"Let him rise," a calm and majestic voice came, and Wu Hanhai looked up. Under the gloomy sky, atop the rising sand dune, surrounded by many Demon Lords, stood an imposing figure who seemed to say, ’Who else but me?’

Capes draped over his shoulders, and his body was covered in black feathers. He had human-like facial features, but his mouth was a metallic black beak. His eyes, too, were unlike any human’s or beast’s, composed of triple concentric rings, the innermost layer blood-red.

Honestly, with the Demon Lords as a backdrop,

The Demon Country’s Ruler wasn’t particularly tall or robust, but there was a magic about him that demanded attention the moment one laid eyes on him, then took over all the senses with his domineering presence, overshadowing everything else.

Wu Hanhai looked at the black feathers on the Demon Country’s Ruler and suddenly burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" the Demon Country’s Ruler asked calmly.

"I laugh at your self-imposed foredoomed life; you are doomed to die soon," Wu Hanhai said with a cold laugh.

Enraged by his words, the Shadow Scorpion Lord lifted his leg to stomp down fiercely. But the Demon Country’s Ruler raised his hand to stop him, his expression unchanged, "How so?"

"You are trying to embrace the Demon God Residue scattered across this desert," Wu Hanhai said, "You dare to cultivate with a power even the ancient Golden Crow couldn’t bear. I didn’t expect the mighty Demon Country’s Ruler to be so foolish. I remember you once had golden feathers, so majestic and grand, yet now they have turned pitch black."

"The power of the Demon God Residue is going out of control within you."

"Well said," the Demon Country’s Ruler said with a smile, "Worthy of the sacrificial bloodline, truly well-informed."

"But since I dare to cultivate using the Demon God Residue, I must have a way to control it. Although the Golden Crow has fallen, in its last moments, it successfully deduced a method to counteract the Demon God’s corruption. If I can integrate the Golden Crow Remains, then I can complete my transformation, be reborn, and ascend to another realm."

"Hahaha!" Wu Hanhai laughed out loud, blood seeping from his nose and mouth, "You’re dreaming!"

"The Golden Crow Secret Store has been completely sealed; you will never be able to enter it," he asserted.

"Is that so?" the Demon Country’s Ruler said, unconvinced.

"Even if you force the Secret Store open, it will trigger the tomb’s self-destruction," Wu Hanhai said coldly.

"I know you’re stalling for time, and I know what you’re afraid of, but it’s no use," the Demon Country’s Ruler said, looking down upon everything, "I have planned this for a millennium. Every possibility is within my control, just as it was thousands of years ago when we three brothers annihilated Yuan Xi. The outcome of this matter has been fated."

A slow smile crept across the Demon Country’s Ruler’s face, "Or do you think a girl not even a hundred years old could possibly stop me?"

He reached out his hand, spreading his fingers wide.

A Demon Lord with horns on his head respectfully placed a feather in the palm of the Demon Country’s Ruler.

Seeing the dazzling golden light emanating from the Golden Crow Feather, Wu Hanhai’s expression turned grim, and a tinge of despair gradually tinged his once bright pupils. The Demon Country’s Ruler smirked, waved his hand, and threw the Golden Crow Feather forward, opening the gate that had been closed.

The Demon Country’s Ruler stepped into the portal made of flames, followed closely by more than a dozen Demon Lords.

Bang!

The gateway reached its limit and went out.

The desert returned to tranquility, leaving only the Demon Country’s Ruler’s cold voice echoing in the distance, "Kill everyone who approaches here."

"As you command!" The Shadow Scorpion Lord savored the despair on the sacrificial face.

Then he pierced his head with a scorpion’s tail.

"Mission accomplished!" The Shadow Scorpion Lord stretched lazily, her curves revealed.

"When the Demon Country’s Ruler comes out of the tomb anew, perhaps he will have completely transformed, stepping into a realm beyond death. By then, with the Ruler’s ascension, the rest of us will ride his coattails to glory, wouldn’t you say?" The Shadow Scorpion Lord smiled at the Pan Niu Demon Lord beside her.

The Pan Niu Demon Lord was bulky above and short below. His thick, black horns arched upward, forming a curve; though his appearance seemed disproportionate, he was exceptionally strong.

He was serious and did not respond but looked off into the distant desert.

Displeased, the Shadow Scorpion Lord was about to make a quip when she heard the Pan Niu Demon Lord’s solemn voice, "Someone is coming."

"So soon?" The Shadow Scorpion Lord’s charming face flickered with excitement, "Perfect, there’s more fun to be had."

She stood on tiptoe, looking in the direction of the Pan Niu Demon Lord’s gaze.

In the midst of the gray dust storm, a towering dark figure was approaching.

As the man and demon locked eyes from afar, the man’s gaze was calm without any murderous intent, and his realm seemed ordinary. But in the moment of their gaze, the Shadow Scorpion Lord’s beating heart couldn’t help plummeting, her body turning cold, and her charming expression gradually stiffening.