Ch. 1320 - Their Lord Has Returned

In the northwest of the Ancient Demon Realm stood a vast prison suspended in the air.

This was the forbidden land of the Ancient Demons.

Among the Ancient Demon Race, no one but the Ancient Ancestor was permitted to enter.

It was said that even the Ancient Demon Race’s own leader had no idea who, or what, was imprisoned there, and was forbidden to approach.

Within the Ancient Demon Realm, this place was so taboo that even mentioning it was forbidden.

At that moment, eerie laughter echoed from within the Sky Prison, low and mocking at first, then louder and louder, shaking the air.

Meanwhile, in the Demon Mountain where the Ancient Ancestor resided, two great peaks stood.

The left belonged to Celestial Devourer, but it now lay completely empty.

Only the right peak remained silent and still.

Kneeling before the mountain, the Ancestral Warden spoke softly, “Ancient Ancestor, he has revealed his identity.”

Though his voice was quiet, the Ancestral Warden knew the one inside could hear him.

“Is there any disturbance within the Ancient Demon Realm?”

“None for now,” the Ancestral Warden replied.

“And the Demon Master?”

“The Leader hasn’t appeared, nor does he seem inclined to. Virtuous Heaven Demon went to investigate, but it amounted to nothing.”

“Tell the Demon Master to come see me,” said the rasping voice from within the mountain.

“Yes,” the Ancestral Warden replied with a nod.

When no further sound came from the mountain, he knew he was dismissed.

Yet he hesitated, then asked cautiously, “Ancient Ancestor… is that truly our Lord?”

“Too many questions.”

A single cold snort echoed like thunder. The entire mountain trembled, infernal energy erupting from every fissure like a volcano.

The Ancestral Warden shuddered in fear. Looking up, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a demonic shadow atop the peak, gone in an instant.

“Disciple knows his mistake,” the Ancestral Warden said quickly, bowing low.

“Leave,” came the hoarse voice. “Do not speak of what should not be spoken. Do not ask what should not be asked.”

“Yes,” the Ancestral Warden answered at once, retreating in terror.

Only after the surroundings fell completely silent did a voice whisper again from within the mountain:

“Why? I have remained stable for millions of years… and yet his mere appearance makes me feel as if everything will be taken away.”

The tone was complex, unreadable, somewhere between anger, sorrow, and longing.

Meanwhile, in the Victory Tower, though no one fully understood what was happening, everyone was stunned by the sight before them.

The demonic marsh above churned violently, threatening to swallow Xu Zimo whole.

But Xu Zimo was unbothered. His eyes burned with demonic power, the Infinite-Samsara God-Eye, one of the Ten Primordial God-Scriptures, had now fully fused with his infernal essence.

He renamed them the Infinite-Samsara Demon-Eye.

A single glance at the demonic marsh, and the heavens began to shift.

The void twisted, gales roared, and thunderclouds rolled like angry waves.

Heaven and earth themselves began to turn in the cycle of reincarnation, twisting the marsh along with them.

The once-vast marsh spiraled into a vortex, shrinking smaller and smaller, until it vanished completely.

Silence fell.

Someone gulped audibly.

With just one look, the terrifying demonic marsh had been swallowed by the ethereal power of samsara, leaving not even a trace behind.

Hong Jun stood frozen, unable to move.

Xu Zimo walked forward, step by step, until he stood before him. He slowly raised his right hand.

Hong Jun stiffened, instinctively stepping back, while the onlookers barely dared to breathe.

“I will not kill you,” Xu Zimo said quietly. “You will come to me yourself, and confess your guilt.”

With that, he walked past Hong Jun, his figure calm and unhurried.

He had been merciful enough toward the Ancient Demon Race, especially toward some of its people.

Only after Xu Zimo’s back disappeared did Hong Jun’s tense body finally relax.

Cold sweat drenched his clothes.

He didn’t understand what had just happened. When he looked into Xu Zimo’s eyes, it wasn’t fear he’d felt, not exactly.

It was something deeper, indescribable, a force that made resistance impossible.

“Mountain Lord,” one of his followers whispered, helping him stand.

“You may not recognize me,” Xu Zimo said, turning to face the hall.

He looked over the crowd, meeting their uncertain gazes. “Tell the entire Ancient Demon Realm, your Lord has returned. I intend to challenge Heaven once more. Whoever wishes to follow me, come find me.”

His words struck the hall like lightning.

“The Infernal Lord has returned?”

“Our Lord… has come back?”

The whispers exploded into shouts.

Expressions varied, shock, disbelief, awe, but everyone knew what would happen next.

Though only the Ancient Demons in the Victory Tower had witnessed it, the news would spread across the entire Ancient Demon Realm before long.

And when it did, the realm would shake to its core.

The younger generation was merely excited, but for veterans like Virtuous Heaven Demon and Hong Jun, countless ancient memories stirred within them.

Hong Jun’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, trembling.

Meanwhile, Wang Lin and the others stood stunned, as if dreaming.

The calm, refined Brother Xu… was the Infernal Lord?!

Wang Lin suddenly remembered, the question Xu Zimo had once asked them in the Ancient Demon Road. What is your dream?

Xu Zimo paid no further attention to those behind him.

He had revealed himself. Now the truth needed time to spread, to ferment.

The upper ranks of the Ancient Demon Race would take time to process it, to decide where they stood.

Xu Zimo was in no hurry.

He simply walked away from the hall.

One bold demon called out, “Lord, where are you going?”

“The Sky Pavilion,” Xu Zimo replied calmly, looking up.

At once, every heart in the hall tensed.

For the direction he gazed toward was none other than the forbidden land, the Sky Prison.

The very place where even the Demon Masters of past generations were forbidden to tread.

Most Ancient Demons didn’t understand, but Xu Zimo did.

He had read about it in the Hall of Hidden Light within the academy.

When the Ancient Demon Race had been defeated ages ago and the Infernal Lord vanished, Celestial Devourer and Hellfire Asura pretended to surrender to Heaven.

In truth, they sought to locate the Ancient Demons who had followed the Infernal Lord in the war against Heaven.

But eventually, the truth surfaced, most of those Ancient Demons had been sealed within the Primordial Demon Cave, and the Infernal Lord was declared slain.

The Ancient Demon Race’s feigned surrender became real.

Yet even among them, there were those who refused to yield.

“If our Lord truly has fallen,” they declared, “then we shall die alongside him. We will never bow to Heaven.”

Xu Zimo had read those very words in that book.

Those Ancient Demons had wanted to fight Heaven to the bitter end.

To them, a false surrender was bearable for the sake of their race’s survival, but a true submission was nothing less than betrayal.

Fearing their defiance would doom the rest, Hellfire Asura and Celestial Devourer created the Sky Prison to contain them.

And there they had remained, sealed for millions of years.

As Xu Zimo approached the Sky Prison, he could already hear the laughter from within.

It was laughter full of pain, madness, and joy all at once.

They knew,

Their Lord had returned.

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