Chapter 568: Undercurrent

After leaving Vice Commander Xuan's manor, Mo Lihai's eyes were filled with joy along the way, and he wanted to speak many times but ultimately remained silent. After returning to Mo Manor, Mo Lihai took a deep breath, cupped his fist towards Wang Lin, and with a sincere look in his eyes, he said in a deep voice, “Brother Wang, for the Demon General Battle, I hope you will lend me a hand. This kindness, I, Mo Lihai, will never forget!”

This was the first time Mo Lihai had spoken to Wang Lin in such a tone. In his heart, at this moment, Wang Lin was no longer his equal, but a person who could force a Vice Commander to retreat repeatedly with a single Divine Ability!

With this person's assistance, Mo Lihai was confident that he could almost sweep through the Demon Generals!

He understood Wang Lin's Divine Ability the most, and he was extremely shocked. All along the way, his mind often replayed the power of that Divine Ability, and he imagined himself facing it in a simulated battle, only to realize he would surely be defeated!

Wang Lin's demeanor was neither arrogant nor humble, but as calm as usual. At this moment, he smiled and said, “Brother Mo, since I promised you regarding the Demon General matter, I will certainly help you!”

Mo Lihai laughed heartily, clearly very pleased. He smiled and said, “Brother Wang, I have some old wine buried for over five hundred years. Today, you and I shall drink to our heart's content!”

Wang Lin's eyes lit up, and he nodded with a smile.

At this moment, in the Emperor Sword Pavilion at the very center of Tianyao City, a person dressed in Yellow Robes, showing only their back, looked at the Emperor Sword within the Sword Pavilion's Formation and chuckled, “Had enough fun? Don't go to Hong Prison anymore. Just be quiet for a few days.”

The silver sword within the Formation immediately let out bursts of Sword Ray, as if extremely unwilling.

“If you're naughty again, I'll send you to Dragon Pool,” the person chuckled.

The Emperor Sword's Sword Ray suddenly stopped, and then seemed to lose its imposing aura, emitting a few weak Sword Rays. Despite this, its anger towards the 'food' that dared to provoke it grew even stronger.

In Hong Prison, after the Emperor Sword stopped coming to cause destruction, the blood-colored world at the bottom gradually recovered. A large number of serious offenders were thrown into it, and soon, the slaughter within that blood-colored world began a new cycle.

Among the endless blood pools, a black-haired man sat silently cross-legged in a blood pool. Strands of killing intent continuously surged from the blood pool into his body, and his slaughter qi grew thicker and thicker.

He occasionally looked up, and a trace of clarity actually flashed in his blood-red eyes.

“I must escape from here, just like him!!”

The slaughter began, and everyone in the blood pool soared into the sky, engaging in a frenzied battle. The black-haired man was like a God of Slaughter among them. His eyes revealed a strong killing intent, and his attacks were vicious and cruel, sweeping through like a blood Dragon.

After the endless slaughter concluded for the day, only this black-haired man remained in the sky of this blood-colored world. In the blood pools on the ground, those who had just revived were expressionless, not even glancing at the sky.

The blood mist outside the black-haired man's body was dense, about a hundred zhang thick. At this moment, he took a deep breath, and as red light burst from his eyes, a rare trace of clarity appeared. Within this clarity, the man furiously rushed out, heading straight for the exit.

However, just as his body had rushed out less than a few zhang, a silver light flashed in the sky. The Emperor Sword Silver Dragon suddenly appeared, and its giant claw instantly swatted towards him. On the black-haired man's face, which was wrapped in blood mist, a bitter smile appeared.

He whispered in a voice only he could hear, “Explode!”

As the word left his mouth, the man's entire body immediately exploded with a rumble. Along with the hundred zhang of blood mist outside his body, it violently churned, meeting the Silver Dragon's claw.

A rumbling sound echoed throughout the entire blood-colored world. The Silver Dragon roared and retracted its claw, which had multiple damages. To it, this was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire, and its previous hatred for Wang Lin was immediately re-ignited.

As for the black-haired man, he revived in a blood pool underground. He lowered his head, remaining silent.

The Silver Dragon roared, its fierce eyes sweeping around, immediately locking onto the black-haired man. With a roar, a Sword Ray flashed out from its mouth, heading straight for the underground blood pool.

The blood pool shattered with a bang, and the black-haired man within it died.

This cycle repeated. Each time the man revived, the Silver Dragon would kill him. After multiple times, the Silver Dragon proudly shook its body and disappeared into the sky.

It had already decided that since the Demon Emperor wouldn't let it destroy Hong Prison and it was restricted to being quiet for a few days, unable to go out and find that hateful 'food,' it would vent its frustration here.

Let's put aside the matter of Hong Prison for now.

There was still half a month until the Demon General Battle. During this half-month, the entire Tianyao City was enveloped in a tense atmosphere. Demon Generals from various cities within Tianyao Prefecture were all busily preparing.

Besides overt preparations, there were also many covert methods: pulling strings, or secretly making moves. The King Emperor of Tianyao City paid no attention to any of this.

Although there was order in the Demon Spirit Land, beneath this order was endless chaos. This was a chaotic era!

The Demon General Battle was of great importance. For every Demon General, it was an opportunity to rise to prominence. Missing this opportunity would likely mean stopping at the Demon General rank for life, with no chance of ever obtaining the Vice Commander position!

As a result, the level of importance these Demon Generals placed on it was unprecedented!

Becoming a Vice Commander meant gaining the qualification to become a full Commander in the future. For this qualification, any means could be employed!

However, even though it was a chaotic era, this chaos was still under order. There was only one rule: no life-and-death battles were allowed between Demon Generals; otherwise, their qualification for the great battle would be revoked!

Thus, all methods focused on the helpers of each Demon General. Killing a helper was equivalent to severing a Demon General's arm. Even more, killing a helper meant that the Demon General would lose their qualification to win!

Killing a Demon General's helper—this was a direct confrontation!

There were also covert battles, which involved assassinating Demon Generals. Demon Generals themselves could not engage in life-and-death combat, but their helpers could secretly kill people, or even hire assassins. This way, the order would not be violated.

However, although such actions did not violate the order, they did cross the Demon Emperor's bottom line. Therefore, once such an incident occurred, unless the killer of a Demon General possessed heaven-shattering cultivation, they would find it impossible to escape Tianyao City and would surely die!

After all, the death of a Demon General was a major event for an entire prefecture!

To describe this covert battle as 'taking a dangerous gamble' would not be an exaggeration!

These overt and covert battles grew more intense as the great battle approached! Mo Lihai rarely went out; he almost spent his entire day in seclusion within his manor, maintaining his Peak state while also deliberately avoiding repeated assassination attempts.

At the same time, he also set up Formations and dispatched many highly cultivated old subordinates to guard at all times.

Amidst these surging Undercurrents, only Wang Lin's heart remained peaceful. His life had not changed at all; he would always go out every morning and sit by the river, listening to the zither and drinking.

It was as if all the tension and turmoil before the great battle were merely fleeting clouds to him. Only the sound of the zither could truly capture his heart.

Every time he heard the zither music, Wang Lin's mind would become immersed in it, experiencing a peculiar sensation. His mind was being cleansed every single day.

As for whether anyone would try to assassinate Mo Lihai, Wang Lin wasn't concerned. Mo Lihai was by no means an ordinary person; he was very cunning and possessed many methods, far from the helpless state he currently displayed.

Wang Lin understood this thoroughly as he interacted with him. In his opinion, for Mo Lihai to be among the top Demon Generals, he wouldn't have survived until now without these methods.

Wang Lin sat by the river, his eyes closed, quietly listening to the zither music emanating from the approaching Pleasure Boat. He picked up his wine pot, but when he brought it to his lips, he found it empty.

He sighed softly, opened his eyes, and gazed at the sky, remaining silent.

Every time he heard the zither music, he felt a tremor in his soul. Under this feeling, he vaguely had a premonition of an impending Breakthrough. Unfortunately, the comprehension of the Heavenly Dao was too ethereal.

Feeling the zither music in his ears, Wang Lin immersed himself in it, silently contemplating. The Immortal Power within his body had long been accustomed to being restrained, as there was still an Emperor Sword in Tianyao City constantly searching for his whereabouts.

But at this moment, he frowned, his comprehension interrupted, and his listening disturbed.

“You, are Mo Lihai's Vice General?” A contemptuous voice forcefully intruded into the zither music, completely shattering the Concept of the music.

A hundred zhang away from Wang Lin, a Black-clothed Man stood with his arms crossed. A thin sword circled his body like a swimming snake. A trace of impatience showed on his face.

“Make your move. Killing you is equivalent to severing Mo Lihai's arm!”

Wang Lin put down his wine pot, but did not stand up. He didn't even glance at the man. His right thumb pointed at him, and the Finger of Annihilation instantly condensed, transforming into a black light that flashed out.

As the black light shot forth, a long black mark immediately appeared on the ground. The green grass on both sides of the mark instantly withered, turning into wisps of plant Qi that merged into the black light formed by the Finger of Annihilation.

The black light swiftly approached the Black-clothed Man. The man's expression changed, and he quickly retreated several steps. His Flying Sword swayed and shot towards the black light. However, the moment it touched the black light, the Flying Sword immediately began to collapse from its tip, sweeping down the blade like a hot knife through butter. Immediately after, the hilt also collapsed, and the Flying Sword almost instantly turned into countless tiny fragments.

The Black-clothed Man's eyes showed disbelief, and he retreated again. Unfortunately, his retreating speed was too slow! The black light, amidst the shattering Flying Sword, flashed out and directly imprinted itself on the Black-clothed Man's chest.

The man's body instantly transformed into a long, arcing line, thrown far away. Patches of blood mist spewed from his body until he fell to the ground. The blood mist still lingered in mid-air, not dissipating.

The Black-clothed Man lay on the ground, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes, which quickly dimmed completely. At the same time, a wisp of gray qi floated out from his seven orifices, swiftly came to Wang Lin's side, and disappeared into his right hand.

This person was not an outsider, but a person of the Demon Spirit. Wang Lin knew this clearly. This person's cultivation was only equivalent to the Late Stage Soul Transformation. Coming here was probably just a slight probe from some Demon Generals who didn't understand him.

Wang Lin continued to listen to the zither music…