Chapter 1220: Nether Monarch
Xiang Shaoyun was fully focused on the diabolic dragon. Additionally, he had exhausted his saint soul greatly and was too preoccupied with facing the curse. Thus, the sneak attack from the Devil Sovereign caught him by complete surprise.
The Devil Sovereign had not attacked from above the ground. Rather, it had attacked from under the ground. The attacker was an earth devil, a devilish beast that survived by consuming soil. Its entire body seemed to be made of soil and stones, giving it an odd appearance. It might not look the part, but it was truly a living being.
It had been lying in wait for a long time. Only when Xiang Shaoyun dropped his alertness did it attack. It opened its mouth wide and prepared to bite Xiang Shaoyun. As it moved, the soil beneath Xiang Shaoyun collapsed, staggering him. By the time he realized something was wrong, the earth devil had already closed its jaws around him.
Xiang Shaoyun felt his vision go dark. Numerous odd energies a.s.saulted him from all directions, trying to tear him apart. He finally realized that he had fallen victim to an attack. Without thinking twice, he slashed his Radiant Saint Sword around.
The earth devil was only a Devil Sovereign. How could it withstand the Radiant Saint Sword"s might? Its body was sliced apart, and Xiang Shaoyun flew out from its dismembered body.
Xiang Shaoyun turned back to look at the attacker. When he noticed that it was an earth devil, he took its devil core and quickly fled.
I nearly died. I really can"t afford to be careless here, thought Xiang Shaoyun.
Even while fleeing, his mind was still in a mess. The diabolic dragon"s curse was too powerful. Even the Nether Dragon Soul Curse could only defend against it and not defeat it. If this continued, it would only be a matter of time before he sank into full confusion.
He couldn"t even continue fleeing. After picking a random spot, he dove down and hid before releasing the saint soul from his body. He couldn"t allow the cursed soul to remain in his head, or it would mess with his decision making.
The first thing he did after releasing his soul was to activate the Nether Soul Dragon Headband. He believed that he would be able to fully display the Nether Dragon Soul Curse"s might using the headband. With the headband"s help, he would be able to remove the diabolic dragon"s curse.
The headband proved worthy of being the Imperial Nether Clan"s treasure. With Xiang Shaoyun"s activation, the two dragons on the headband wriggled and then proceeded to devour the diabolic dragon"s curse.
The Nether Soul Dragon Headband had an extraordinary origin. The Imperial Nether Clan had forged it from the tendons of a powerful dragon. Its might could restrain the diabolic dragon"s curse.
The curse was pulled into the headband, and then the curse vanished completely. Only then did Xiang Shaoyun feel better. When his soul entered his body once more, he couldn"t stand the exhaustion and fainted.
However strong one was, a spiritual injury was no joke. He had nearly fully exhausted his saint soul"s strength after attacking with the Yin Mother Sword. After exhausting the last bit of his strength to deal with the diabolic dragon"s curse, he was fully drained of energy. It was extremely dangerous to lose consciousness in the Devil Domain.
Fortunately, Money had been adhered to Xiang Shaoyun"s arm and knew what was happening. He quickly flew out and brought Xiang Shaoyun to a safe hiding place. After he had returned to the Ziling Sect from Xiang Clan, Xiang Shaoyun had given Money the lightning origin energy he had collected.
It wasn"t easy for Money to digest the powers of the celestial horn and the lightning origin energy at the same time. Thus, he had been sleeping. If Xiang Shaoyun hadn"t fallen unconscious, Money might have stayed asleep.
...
At the depths of the Devil Domain was a place with numerous odd buildings. The buildings looked like not only apartments but also castles. They greatly resembled human dwellings but were completely different in certain aspects. The buildings were ancient and shrouded in thick devilish energy.
At the very peak of the tallest mountain in the area was a palace that was so tall it seemed to prop up the very sky. Above the palace was a stone s.h.i.+ning with a dull gray radiance. It was akin to a star that had gathered all the surrounding devilish and yin energies, and it discharged the energies into its immediate surroundings.
At the peak of the palace stood an old man that greatly resembled a human. His gaze was focused on the stone; his wise eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything. The old man was completely motionless, as though he was a statue, presenting an odd sight.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he muttered to himself, "A descendant of the clan has summoned nether yin devils to fight. The battle happened at the distant second layer."
After a while, his figure flickered as he reappeared before the palace. He then shouted, "Check immediately. Which clan member has left the clan? Report back to me as fast as possible."
A voice replied from the darkness, "Yes, Nether Monarch."
Any devil who hears the term "Nether Monarch" would tremble in fear, and so would its entire clan. In the Devil Domain, the person called Nether Monarch was the supreme leader of the Imperial Nether Clan. In other words, he was the clan"s true leader. He led the powerful Imperial Nether Clan, and numerous devils were subservient to him.
During the ancient past, one particular Devil Domain"s offensive was initiated by the Imperial Nether Clan. During that time, a part of them had managed to settle on the surface world, transforming an entire territory into an independent land of devils.
One command from the Nether Monarch shook the entire Imperial Nether Clan. The Nether Monarch had always lived a simple life. He rarely showed himself unless something major was happening. Thus, this command of his was highly regarded by the entire Imperial Nether Clan. Everyone worked to investigate what he wanted to know.
Before long, several st.u.r.dy imperial nether devils appeared before the palace. The imperial nether devils greatly resembled humans, but they were taller and had a bigger build. Numerous enchanting devilish marks could be seen on their bodies, demonstrating the prowess of these particular devils. The most obvious characteristic of the imperial nether devils was the complicated devil rune on the forehead. This rune was exclusive to the Imperial Nether Clan.
When the group arrived, they knelt down and said, "We seek an audience with the Nether Monarch."
"Rise. Tell me," the Nether Monarch"s voice rang out from within the palace.
"Based on our investigation, n.o.body has left the clan," answered one of them.
The person in the palace sank into a short silence before saying, "A descendant of our clan had summoned two nether yin devils at the same time on the second layer. Go and investigate. If they aren"t from the clan, they might be some descendant we had accidentally left outside. This person has the purest bloodline in our clan. Bring him back, and don"t let him continue to wander around outside the clan."