novelsky Chapter 911: Devil's Island
Chapter 911: Devil's Island
This is the Demon Island."Is this the Demon Tower City?"
Tang Er stared at the chaotic street before him, hiding his trembling hands behind his back.
At this moment, his clothes were tattered, his eyes bloodshot and filled with unconcealable exhaustion, making him look completely different from the person he was three days ago.
The reason for his wretched state was precisely the rule before entering the Demon Tower City.
—He needed to fight to the death with another hundred registered Battle Masters on a small island.
Only by reaching the center of the island and waiting for the person who would take him away could he successfully enter the Demon Tower City.
In three days, he had killed over eighty formidable Battle Masters, among whom was even a Peak Battle Master above level ninety.
That battle had also severely injured him, nearly costing him half his life.
If that Peak Battle Master hadn't been poisoned, perhaps he would already be dead.
One could only say that luck had favored him once again.
"Hey there, handsome, you're new here, right? Come stay at our inn. We have everything here, you can play with anything~"
As soon as he stepped through the city gate, a group of seductively dressed women began to flirt with him.
Sensing the auras emanating from these women, Tang Er's pupils involuntarily contracted.
—These women were actually not ordinary people; each one was an existence at the Battle Saint level.
A Battle Saint, outside the Demon Tower City, could already serve as the Vice Dean of a Battle Master academy.
Yet here in the Demon Tower City, they were actually reduced to women of the night?
It seemed the Demon Tower City was far more treacherous than he had imagined.
Tang Er recalled the warning an old man had given him before boarding the island—do not trust anyone in the Demon Tower City; here, there is only slaughter and desire; everyone is preparing to kill others, everyone is striving to survive until tomorrow.
Thinking of this, his gaze toward those women instantly grew more wary.
He adjusted the mask on his face, took a deep breath, and walked toward the massive bird's nest-shaped structure in the center of the Demon Tower City.
The Demon Tower City Colosseum, the very core of the entire Demon Tower City.
It was also the place where the God of Death's Divine Trial began.
Right now, he had no mind for anything else.
He only wanted to become stronger, so strong that anyone who saw him could only bow their head in submission.
Then, he would take his revenge.
...
On the other side.
An island somewhere in the Endless Sea.
The salty sea breeze carried black waves crashing against the reefs.
A hundred Battle Masters sent from various places stood on the beach, maintaining wary distances from each other, their eyes filled with unease and vigilance.
Their figures varied, with men, women, old, and young among them, their clothing styles indicating they came from different countries.
Li Qingran was clearly among them.
Chen Huaian hovered behind Li Qingran, like a silent shadow.
To make himself appear more like a Battle Soul,
he used Battle Power to obscure his face, blurring his clothes and attire into a hazy mass.
However, a Humanoid Battle Soul was truly unprecedented and likely never to be seen again. Despite trying to keep a low profile, he still attracted quite a few gazes.
Suddenly.
Rumble—
A grand, icy voice boomed across the sky above the entire island, exploding in everyone's minds like thunder:
"Welcome to the entrance of hell—Demon Island."
"If you wish to enter the Demon Tower City and enjoy its endless resources and shelter, you must prove you have the qualification to survive."
The voice, devoid of any emotion, announced the chilling rules:
"Trial Period: Three days."
"Objective: Reach the teleportation platform at the island's center."
"Condition: The Killing Token in each person's hand must absorb 99 souls of the deceased.
In other words... only one person can leave this island alive."
Whoosh—!
As these words fell, everyone's hearts jolted. The originally somewhat quiet crowd instantly erupted into chaos.
One hundred people, only one survivor?
Although they had heard rumors about the cruelty of the Demon Island trial,
experiencing it firsthand now still sent shivers down their spines.
Was this even a trial?
It was clearly breeding gu!
"Giggle giggle~ May you... enjoy the hunt."
Accompanied by a malicious, sinister laugh, the eerie voice gradually dissipated in the wind.
After a brief, deathly silence.
Thud!
Blood splattered.
The fastest-reacting Battle Master in black had already plunged his dagger deep into the heart of the person beside him who was still frozen in shock.
"Kill!!"
That stab was like a spark igniting a powder keg.
Chaotic slaughter instantly erupted.
Multicolored Battle Technique lights exploded across the tidal flats.
Screams, roars, and pleas for mercy intertwined,
instantly transforming the once scenic beach into a living hell.
...
At a corner of the island.
Behind a protruding rock.
Li Qingran watched the instantly blood-stained sand and the slaughtering crowd in the distance, her small face pale.
Although she was already a Legendary Battle Master and had killed people before in the Cangyun Realm,
those she killed were those who deserved death, enemies with conflicts of hatred and interest.
But this kind of beast-like cannibalism among her own kind before her eyes still made her feel physically uncomfortable.
"Husband, what should we do now?"
She instinctively looked at Chen Huaian beside her.
Although she didn't want to participate in the slaughter, she remembered her purpose for coming here,
—ultimately, to obtain the Million-Year World Ring to help her Master unseal his power.
So, if her Master wanted her to fight, she could join in.
Chen Huaian stood with his hands behind his back, his Divine Soul power silently spreading out, instantly enveloping the entire island.
"A No-Fly Domain..."
He sensed a powerful Law energy enveloping the sky above the island.
This Law energy restricted everyone's flight ability.
Even space had become extremely viscous; even attempting to teleport a short distance was very difficult.
Of course, with his Golden Immortal methods, forcibly breaking through this restriction and leaving with Li Qingran would be as easy as lifting a hand.
But there was no need.
Since they came for the Divine Trial, they would play by the rules here.
Listening to the successive screams rising and falling across the island, Chen Huaian's expression remained indifferent as he casually tossed out a few Spirit Stones.
Hum.
An invisible ripple spread out. A Concealment Array instantly took shape, hiding the location where the two stood.
He could see that Li Qingran didn't want to cause excessive slaughter.
Of course, he also didn't want excessive killing to become a psychological burden for her.
"No rush."
Chen Huaian sat down cross-legged, his tone lazy:
"Let them clear each other out first."
"We'll wait a day. When they've killed each other enough, we'll go directly to the island center to finish up."
...
The night passed without incident.
With the help of the Concealment Array, no Battle Master discovered Li Qingran and Chen Huaian resting within.
Li Qingran slept very well that night.
Morning came. Chen Huaian opened his eyes, clearly sensing that the screams on the island had thinned considerably.
The first wave of the most brutal slaughter had ended.
Those remaining were either experts or crafty old foxes skilled at hiding.
"Let's go." He gently woke the still sleepy-eyed Li Qingran, then withdrew the Concealment Array.
The sea breeze, carrying a strong scent of blood, rushed toward them.
"Ugh!" Li Qingran gagged.
The drowsy sleepiness in her mind vanished completely, and she was instantly alert.
Steadying herself, she forced herself not to look at the corpses floating by the beach and walked toward the island's center.
But even if she didn't want to look,
corpses kept appearing.
The journey was truly littered with bodies.
Some corpses were burnt to charcoal, some dismembered into pieces, and others still had faces frozen in extreme terror from the moment of death.
Li Qingran looked at the corpse of a young girl by the roadside,
the girl still tightly clutching an unsent letter to her family in her hand. A pang of pity welled up in her heart.
"Husband... does it have to be this way?"
She sighed softly: "Among them, perhaps some were forced to come here out of desperation? These rules are too cruel."
Chen Huaian looked back at Li Qingran, his hand hovering over her head in a gentle gesture, his voice soft: "Your Master knows you feel sorrow for these Battle Masters who died tragically on the island, thinking of whose parents, whose children, whose lovers they were. But you don't understand why these people came to Demon Island, or why they must go to the Demon Tower City."
These things, Li Qingran did not know.
But he knew.
Now, his Divine Sense could cover half an empire.
On the way to this Demon Island, they had passed through three empires of the Canglan Realm.
The various restrictions in the libraries of those empires' Battle Master Academies were like nothing to his Golden Immortal Divine Soul.
By perusing various materials in these libraries, he had gained a thorough understanding of the so-called Demon Island trial and the Demon Tower City.
"Husband, do you know something?"
Li Qingran tilted her head.
Chen Huaian was by her side every day, inseparable.
Logically, her Master shouldn't have had the time or opportunity to learn about the Canglan Realm.
But since her Master said he knew, she believed he knew.
Because he was the omnipotent Master in her heart, mightier than the heavens.
"Your Master has reviewed quite a few materials and already understands the details of the Demon Tower City.
It is a lawless land in the Canglan Realm, a true gray zone; even the hand of the Battle Soul Hall dare not reach into it.
Only two kinds of people enter the Demon Tower City.
One kind are desperate outlaws who willingly abandon everything in pursuit of ultimate power and resources.
The other kind are heinous, evil individuals who are at the top of the wanted lists in various empires.
They would be hunted down anywhere they appeared in the Canglan Realm; only the Demon Tower City is a place that can shelter them."
He looked into Li Qingran's eyes, his gaze passing over her to rest on the corpse of that young girl, speaking calmly:
"There are no innocents here."
"Every person who sets foot on Demon Island has hands stained with blood and is prepared to kill others."
"Am I right, young lady?"
As soon as Chen Huaian finished speaking,
that young girl's 'corpse' suddenly moved, springing up from the ground with a jerk. Seven World Rings appeared at her feet. She instantly merged with her Battle Soul, transforming into a monster with a human body and a fox head. Howling, she brandished flaming claws and pounced toward Li Qingran's back.
"Die—!"
A chill ran down Li Qingran's spine.
The girl was too close, and with her guard down against a 'corpse',
it was too late to turn around now.
She could only use the Sword Technique - One Man Holds the Pass for a passive counterattack.
Her World Rings had just begun to glow, and a silver-white Sword Curtain was forming before and behind her.
A wisp of gentle breeze had already brushed past from behind her.
Those claws ultimately failed to land on her.
When Chen Huaian's figure solidified again, he was already standing behind the girl.
Click—!
He sheathed his sword, and the girl's pouncing movement also abruptly ceased.
A crack appeared from between her eyebrows, extending all the way down to her abdomen.
Blood gradually seeped from the crack.
Finally, with a 'thud,' she split into two halves from the middle, falling to the ground.
Li Qingran turned her head, staring blankly at the two halves of the corpse on the ground, her pretty face turning a few shades paler.
"So you see, Disciple."
Chen Huaian's sigh finally slowly sounded.
"Do not have any pity for these people!"
...