Ch. 1322 - Demon Prison Emerges

When the violet radiance flared to its peak, it suddenly wove itself into a vast, roaring web that shot toward Xu Zimo, wrapping tightly around him.

The purple net constricted, drawing tighter and tighter, as if determined to crush him completely.

But Xu Zimo’s demonic aura surged to its fullest, the violet lines along his neck beginning to glow.

With a thunderous boom, the purple web exploded apart.

The veins on Xu Zimo’s forehead bulged, the muscles in his arms strained as if they would burst.

“Break!” he roared.

Behind him, the purple planet of the God World flashed into existence, channeling immense power through his body.

A crackling storm of energy coursed through the chains, the pop, pop, pop of breaking links filled the air.

Countless violet chains snapped apart, one after another, cascading like a dam bursting open.

Once the first chain broke, the rest followed uncontrollably.

The purple glow dimmed, then vanished entirely.

As the final chains shattered, the sealed tower began to tremble violently.

A voice echoed out, deep, ancient, and filled with madness.

“At last, we are free!”

“Hahaha! Hellfire Asura, you could never imprison us forever! None shall stop the Lord’s return!”

The shout was like thunder splitting the heavens.

Lightning tore across the sky. The world itself seemed to rage, black clouds billowed and churned like tidal waves.

The ground beneath fractured into a labyrinth of cracks. The massive sky-prison began to crumble, hurling stones and rubble from the collapsing heights.

Finally, the sealed tower burst open with a deafening explosion.

From within poured endless black vapor, swirling upward into the heavens, scattering in every direction.

They had been trapped for so long that freedom itself had become a forgotten dream.

Now, tasting liberty again, they could not restrain themselves.

Xu Zimo did not try to. He simply stood, watching as the sky was engulfed by their chaotic release.

After a time, the black mist began to descend, coalescing into millions of figures kneeling before him.

“We greet the Infernal Lord!”

Their unified roar shook heaven and earth, just as a bolt of lightning tore through the clouds, signaling the final collapse of the airborne prison.

Xu Zimo stood calmly amid the ruin, hands clasped behind his back, expression unshaken.

Around him, the countless freed Ancient Demons knelt, eyes filled with devotion and reverence.

“It has been a long time,” Xu Zimo said with a faint smile.

“Far too long, my Lord,” one demon choked out, weeping openly.

Xu Zimo lowered his gaze. There were more than a hundred million of them.

Each one distinct, each one unforgettable.

One demon had white hair and wore crimson armor shaped like the maw of an abyss, its layers folding inward like rows of devouring fangs.

A red cape draped his back, black robes hung loose beneath, and a golden sash girded his waist.

The armor rose to guard his throat.

Another was a being half-Buddha, half-demon.

One side of his face was serene, golden hair coiled in the monk’s knot, with a faint Buddha wheel glowing behind his head.

The other half was pure malice, black skin, hair spiking upward, fangs bared in fury.

Yet another wore garb that looked like wild calligraphy given life, part cloth, part armor, indescribable.

The surface shimmered like overlapping fish scales, each curved and gray.

He had four arms, each gripping the hilt of a colossal sword, together forming a bloom of deadly petals.

The sword was a hundred meters tall, bound in chains.

Even sealed, it radiated a terrifying purple light that made hearts tremble.

His face was narrow like a rodent’s, half-covered by long gray bangs, leaving one visible eye blazing with violet fire.

Every demon bore a unique and fearsome presence, each unforgettable at a glance.

“It’s been eons,” Xu Zimo said softly. “Tell me, have your ambitions to defy heaven faded?”

Time, he thought, was the greatest killer of all.

It erodes everything. And after billions of years, what could truly survive it?

One demon suddenly stood and tore open his robes. His skin was carved with countless words.

“Destroy the Heavenly Dao.”

“Defy the Heavens.”

“Follow the Infernal Lord.”

“Lie in wait through the ages.”

“These words will never fade while I still breathe,” the demon declared firmly. “If my flesh heals, I will carve them anew. Back then, I regretted not dying beside the Lord. For millions of years I have waited, waited to rise again and wage war against Heaven! If I must die, let it be on the road to defiance, not in cowardly survival!”

As these fierce vows rang out, Xu Zimo closed his eyes briefly.

The crowd fell silent.

A breeze passed, stirring a few strands of his black hair.

“Life is long, and yet, gone in a blink,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “Some see only dust. Others, the stars.”

Then his eyes snapped open, sharp as blades.

“And I,” he said coldly, “will spend my life chasing those stars!”

The “stars” he spoke of were not literal.

They were the ideal, the summit beyond life and death, beyond fate itself.

“My Lord,” one of the Ancient Demons asked after a moment, “what has become of the Ancient Demon Realm now? What of Hellfire Asura?”

They all still remembered, the one who had imprisoned them.

“You have just been freed,” Xu Zimo said. “Rest. There are old friends waiting, you may go and greet them. As for the Ancient Demon Realm… I will handle it myself.”

With a wave of his hand, a portal opened to the God World.

The Ancient Demons bowed deeply once more, then stepped through one by one.

When the winds finally stilled, Xu Zimo collected his thoughts and surveyed the entire Ancient Demon Realm.

Then he took a single step, crossing space and time in an instant, until he stood upon a desolate mountain.

The wind here howled like knives, cutting at the skin.

Among the jagged rocks, Xu Zimo found a boulder and sat down, waiting.

No one knew what, or who, he waited for.

At last, from the far side of the mountain, a man approached through the air.

He wore a long robe, his body wreathed in violent infernal energy.

His face was chiseled, his gaze deep and cold.

Yet his robe was not black, it was a scholar’s garb, gray and white, bound with a sash.

The first impression he gave was pride, pride with reason behind it.

Each step he took on the jagged rocks sounded sharp in the wind, crunch, crunch.

Aside from the screaming gusts, his footsteps were the only sound on the peak.

Finally, he stopped before Xu Zimo.

He looked at him calmly.

“You…” he began, but Xu Zimo interrupted.

“When you see me,” Xu Zimo said evenly, “why do you not kneel?”

The man’s expression changed. After a long silence, he slowly sank to his knees.

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