Chapter 421: Suppression

Chapter 421: Subjugation

Fu Liye, ah, Fu Liye... That old coot really ought to thank me. If I hadn’t followed him into the fifth layer of the Dragon City Illusion, if the Nine-headed Dragon Hykula hadn’t sensed the aura of the Heavenly Soul Pearl on me and regarded me as its savior and the contract-breaker from the ancient pact, then staged this elaborate act to lure me into its scheme just to willingly hand over the Nine-Eyed Heavenly Pearl... Even if there were ten thousand Fu Liyes, they would’ve been torn apart by it back then.

Unfortunately, with my current Tiger Peak-level power, I’m clearly not qualified to summon Hykula. Of course, I already knew this beforehand. But beyond that, each Heavenly Soul Pearl corresponds to another unique ability.

Old Wang hasn’t yet figured out the power of the Nine-Eyed Heavenly Pearl, but the corresponding One-Eyed Heavenly Pearl should be the core—or rather, the starting point—of the Heavenly Soul Pearls. With the One-Eyed Heavenly Pearl, he can vaguely sense the presence of other Heavenly Soul Pearls, but not vice versa. Though this sensing is faint, the general direction and location can still be discerned. Some are extremely far away, while others... are very close!

If my senses aren’t mistaken, there’s one right here on Darkmoon Island!

Could it be hidden within this so-called Six Paths of Reincarnation? The Six-Eyed Heavenly Pearl? Old Wang couldn’t help feeling a thrill.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Old Wang, fired up, gave his ice bees a strict order: "Don’t hold back on the bombs—spice it up for your master!"

......

Half an hour, one hour, two hours...

The Old Wang Squad waiting on the beach grew increasingly impatient.

Didn’t Wang Feng say it wouldn’t take long? It’s been over three hours now, and there’s still no news at all.

They steered clear of the mist where the ship was anchored, so they walked along the shoreline, hoping to find a possible way in... And hey, they actually found a glimmer of hope.

On the backside of Darkmoon Island—a good ten kilometers from where they’d docked—a dark river flowed out from a cave. Though the surroundings were still shrouded in white mist, according to the intelligence relayed by Winnie’s Spirit Beast, the cave seemed free of the disorienting mist. Instead, it twisted and turned, seemingly leading straight into the heart of Darkmoon Island.

Everyone’s spirits lifted, and they were about to slip inside when, just as they approached the cave, a gust of icy wind whipped through. A group of figures cloaked entirely in black surrounded them.

"You cannot enter," their voices were mechanical and cold. Unlike the Puppets, however, their eyes burned with intensity—more like disciples of Darkmoon Island.

The black cloaks blocked soul power detection, so Winnie couldn’t gauge their strength. But given how they’d appeared silently and surrounded them so effortlessly, their strength couldn’t possibly be lacking. And there were over a dozen of them, far outnumbering the Old Wang Squad. It was clear they were no match.

"...Hey there, mister~~" Winnie’s face took on an innocent, angelic expression, her voice soft as silk, her demeanor innocent as a lamb. "I just haven’t seen our companion in so long, and I wanted to go in to find him... Our companion was invited by your Island Lord as an honored guest~~ We’re all family here, all good kids. We won’t cause any trouble—we’ll follow your rules. Please let us in? Pretty please~~"

After half a day of sweet-talking, the black-cloaked figures remained unmoved, standing like stone pillars without so much as a twitch.

"Damn it... Are you zombies or what?!" Winnie’s sweet expression darkened. Had her sweet-talking act been wasted? Even if they wouldn’t let her in, could they at least have the decency to respond?!

"What do you mean we can’t go in? Who the hell made this rule?" Winnie switched to a fiercer tone, glaring. "When that Momosang invited us onto the ship, didn’t he say we were honored guests? How come you’re turning your backs on us now?"

As she spoke, she tried to sidestep the blockers and march straight in. The black-cloaked figures still didn’t answer, but their bodies phased like specters, silently reappearing in front of her.

"Seriously?! Now you’re just dicking us around!" Winnie was furious. They wouldn’t budge no matter what. After finally finding a way in, she snapped, "Move! Do you even know who I am? I’m—"

The cloaked figures continued blocking her path. The Li name might carry weight among the upper echelons of the League of Blades’ great duchies, but here... they probably hadn’t even heard of it.

"We’re here for a challenge match! Either Darkmoon Island refuses the challenge, or you let us in! We’re a team from Rose Holy Sanctuary—there’s no reason our captain should be in there alone!"

The cloaked figures remained unresponsive. As long as Winnie didn’t attack, neither would they.

"Fine! Then we’ll just have to fight!" Winnie’s face darkened as a ball of blue flame ignited in her palm. But before she could throw it—

*Fizz.*

The flame extinguished on its own, without warning.

"Fight it is! Who’s scared of who?! These spook patrol are way too damn arrogant!" Behind her, Fantaxi and the others, unaware of what had just happened, pumped themselves up, ready to throw down. But a chill sweat instantly froze on Winnie’s forehead.

She could’ve sworn the black-cloaked figure directly in front of her had just... gently blown out her flame. This was her evolved soul fire—the basic Hellfire! Dousing it would’ve only fueled it. Yet one puff snuffed it out?

What kind of power was this? What kind of restraint was this? But then again, considering that Dark Demon Island was known as the gateway to the underworld, playing with hellfire in front of its inhabitants was truly like bringing a knife to a gunfight...

Of course, that wasn’t what frightened Winnie the most. What was even more terrifying were those two ghostly blue eyes within the black cloaks...

Deep, distant, and boundless—gazing into them felt like stepping into thin air over an abyss, plunging endlessly into a terrifying, fathomless abyss!

Cold sweat poured down Winnie’s forehead in fat drops.

The cloaked figures around them remained silent, showing no reaction to the Rose faction members rolling up their sleeves, ready for a fight. Only their pairs of blue eyes deepened, glowing eerily, beginning to shimmer as if brewing and conjuring some unspeakable dread!

"Stop!"

Seeing Fanteixi already preparing to transform, Winnie quickly raised her hands behind her, halting everyone’s movements.

The others looked at her in surprise as Winnie muttered, "...Fine, we won’t go in... Hah! As if I give a damn about going in anyway!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a bone-chilling gust howled, and all the black-cloaked figures dissolved like shadows, as if they had merely been illusions.

The others were both shocked and delighted, thinking Winnie had somehow cracked some arcane seal or broken a hidden mechanism. But to their surprise, the previously defiant Winnie suddenly slumped to the ground, wheezing.

"Let’s just wait here obediently," Winnie said, her heart hammering, cold sweat drenching her body. She was growing to hate this place more and more. Thank goodness she had settled in Rose—if her old man had sent her here instead, forced to face these freaks every day... Winnie felt she’d have gone mad within two months.

Seeing her near-collapsed state, the others realized she must have endured some horrifying soul attack. The thought sent chills down their spines. On the surface, everything had seemed calm—no one had even sensed Winnie being attacked. Yet she had already fallen victim. If the Dark Demon Islanders had truly intended to strike, more than just Winnie would be lying helpless on the ground now.

No entering, no barging in, not even questions allowed—and even if asked, no answers given.

It seemed Dark Demon Island truly was the last line of defense for the conservatives, a place where rules were meaningless. But... what about Old Wang?

They exchanged helpless glances. Was there really nothing they could do?

………

The canyon was in complete disarray. The once-majestic hellfire on the three-headed hellhound had been utterly "extinguished," its body covered in gaping wounds as it lay half-dead, barely breathing, more dead than alive.

Pitiful. Tragic.

The hellhound had been tortured to death—even after collapsing, Wang Feng, still wary, lobbed two more Skyshakers at it to ensure it couldn’t so much as twitch. Only then did Old Wang leisurely glide down from the icy bees high above, keeping a safe distance from the corpse in case it suddenly revived for a final, deadly strike.

He strolled casually to the gate. Peering inside from the entrance revealed a sight entirely different from what he’d seen from the sky.

From the aerial view atop the icy bees, the area beyond the gate had appeared as an empty canyon. But now, looking in from the gate, he saw a blood-red staircase ascending step by step, the entire space thrumming with sinister energy.

This was why he hadn’t simply flown over the gate earlier—doing so would have led to nothing. The gate clearly connected to a strange spatial passage. Now, it truly began to feel like the Wheel of Samsara.

"The top of these stairs must be the second trial—the Path of the Hungry Ghosts?" Old Wang quipped with interest as he climbed.

………………

Just as Old Wang set foot on the bloodstone steps, at the heart of Dark Demon Island, inside a grand hall...

This was the Six Paths of Reincarnation Temple, a place shrouded in myth.

Outwardly, it seemed no different from an ordinary temple, supported by thirty-six massive pillars—though exceptionally tall.

But to someone like Wang Feng, with special pupil techniques capable of "qi perception," the truth was clear. Each towering pillar was entwined with white light, converging into a holy luminescence that shot skyward from the temple, standing firm between heaven and earth—like the Monkey King’s Ruyi Jingu Bang, steadfastly suppressing the evil vortex beneath the island.

This was the Six Paths of Reincarnation Temple, the core of Dark Demon Island.

The temple wasn’t built by humans later—it had existed from the beginning, its origins lost to time. Now, it was merely under the control of Dark Demon Island’s inhabitants. For those who cultivated dark-aligned souls, this place offered immense benefits, ranking among the finest cultivation sites on the continent.

At this moment, six figures in cloaks and a masked man were present here.

The masked figure was clearly one of the most mysterious figures on the continent—the Dark Demon Island Lord. He appeared extremely gaunt, not only wearing a mask but also completely hidden under a billowing black cloak. He sat cross-legged in the main seat of the hall, seemingly in meditation, or perhaps simply waiting in silence.

No one spoke around him. Not only the masked Island Lord, but the other six Dark Demon Elders also remained completely expressionless beneath the shadows of their black cloaks. Only their gleaming eyes slowly shifted, glowing with an unnatural light, as if to show they weren’t mere puppets.

Dark Demon Island was actually an existence far older than the Holy Sanctuary... It had already been established long before the Holy Sanctuary was founded. Thus, in essence, Dark Demon Island was never truly part of the Holy Sanctuary. However, after the League of Blades and the Holy Sanctuary came to rule these lands, they established certain cooperative ties with Dark Demon Island.

After all, Dark Demon Island itself was a barren land, yet they still needed to recruit disciples to inherit their legacy and uphold the sacred duties of the island.

Therefore, the League of Blades and the Holy Sanctuary handpicked the most gifted disciples within their domain for them, providing substantial funds and supplies every year. In return, Dark Demon Island was required to fulfill two obligations.

First, while training their own successors, Dark Demon Island also had to operate as a Holy Sanctuary branch. This was mainly because, in its early days, the Holy Sanctuary wasn’t well-established enough and sought to leverage Dark Demon Island’s formidable reputation as a counterbalance to the Nine Heavens’ War Academy. It was a justifiable arrangement—after all, their disciples were carefully selected and delivered by the Holy Sanctuary, and even their food, drink, and supplies were provided by them. Merely lending their name was hardly a reason to refuse.

Second, Dark Demon Island had to complete at least three tasks assigned by the League of Blades or the Holy Sanctuary each year. Though the requirement was three, sometimes the League would issue more, and Dark Demon Island often took on additional tasks, saving them up for later years. This way, if they encountered any troublesome matters they wished to avoid, they could simply claim they’d already met their quota as an excuse.

This time, provoking Rose and eliminating Wang Feng was actually a task issued internally by the Holy Sanctuary to Dark Demon Island.

At first, the Elders paid little attention to it, considering such a task way below Dark Demon Island’s pay grade. When had the mighty Dark Demon Island ever concerned itself with the petty power struggles and nonsense among the various Holy Sanctuaries? What did Rose’s expansion or recruitment of beastmen have to do with them? Moreover, for an entity like Dark Demon Island to target a mere Holy Sanctuary disciple was a total joke. Yet, to their surprise, the Island Lord actually accepted the task...

Frankly, it was baffling. If the Island Lord thought the task was too easy and a bargain, that would hardly align with his usual demeanor... And when Wang Feng arrived on the island, the Island Lord’s actions became even more incomprehensible to the Elders.

If the goal was simply to complete the task, why not just kill the kid outright? As for someone like Winnie Lee, who shared the same boat, there was no need to bother with her. Did Dark Demon Island need a reason to kill? Did they owe anyone an explanation? Who would dare demand one from them? If they lacked even that much deterrence, they wouldn’t be Dark Demon Island at all!

Yet the Island Lord refused to act, instead going to great lengths to deploy the Six Paths of Reincarnation...

True, aside from the Island Lord himself, no one on Dark Demon Island had ever cleared the Six Paths alone—not even the Elders. Entering meant facing the six Elders, which was tantamount to death. But was this really necessary? Frankly, the Elders couldn’t help but wonder if the Island Lord was just fucking around.

The hall was silent. After a long while, the black-robed figure seated at the far end of the lower row suddenly shifted slightly. His face remained hidden in the shadows of his cloak, but his voice betrayed his age—vigorous and full of vitality, like a man in his prime around thirty.

"He cleared the Path of Hell," the younger black-robed figure said.

The other five Elders had already opened their eyes, now slightly surprised. "Elder Lin, you weren’t going easy on him, were you?"

The young black-robed man was called an old monster but showed no irritation, as if long accustomed to the title. "The Island Lord ordered us to go all out. How could I fake it?"

"Did the Ferryman fall for his tricks? I heard this Wang Feng kid is quite the smooth talker. The Ferryman you picked always seems to have a few screws loose," someone chuckled, his tone light. "But what about the Hellhound? How did he fool that dumb dog?"

Hearing his beloved hound called stupid... the black-robed man visibly bristled. The Six Paths of Reincarnation—the Path of Hell represented demonic descent. He was the Demon Elder.

His shadowed blue eyes turned toward the Elder who had spoken. After a pause, the Demon Elder said slowly, "He killed the Ferryman. He killed Little Three... Heh, old ghost, you’d better watch out. The second path is yours! With me, you can joke around, but that kid’s Skyburst Grenades don’t discriminate."

"Not my problem," the Ghost Elder laughed heartily. "The maze is right there. My walls aren’t slapped together like your rickety gates. If he wants to blast through with Skyburst Grenades, hah, then more power to him."