Chapter 28: The Troublesome Ancestor of Night Demons

After unleashing the Demon Dragon Devouring Technique, the Night Demon Patriarch also employed a secret art known as "Host Devouring."

Once the giant black dragon swallowed the Night Demon Patriarch, the two merged into one. Enhanced by the dark magic energy, the giant black dragon took on the appearance of a true dragon with flesh and blood.

The three soul-burning grade God-Extinguishing Mystic Swords moved with incredible speed, thrusting directly at the dragon’s body. Bolstered by the dark magic energy and the Night Demon Patriarch’s soul, the dragon’s power surged, and it gained a bizarre new ability.

As the three swords struck, the dragon’s body proved not only impenetrable but began to emanate a black mist that consumed the spiritual energy of the blades. Faced with such resistance, the momentum of the soul-burning swords rapidly diminished.

Seeing that the swords could hardly harm him, the black dragon boasted smugly, "Is that all?"

The dragon’s frivolity struck Wushu as ridiculous, yet he was concerned that the Patriarch might block his soul-burning grade attacks. "Mystic Intent, coalesce," Wushu commanded.

A giant golden sword thrust toward the dragon. Sensing the immense pressure at close range, the dragon exclaimed in shock, "This..." Before the golden sword, infused with Mystic Intent, the dragon’s body was as fragile as paper. The sword pierced clean through, splitting the dragon into two.

Seeing the opportunity, Wushu struck with renewed force. He swiped his palm through the air, tearing a rift in space. With a quick reach, he retrieved the gargantuan Saint Son Mountain from the Forgotten Continent and instantly manifested it above the black dragon’s head.

Upon the appearance of Saint Son Mountain, Wu Zuo and Wu You, who had been controlled by the Night Demon Patriarch, suddenly regained some clarity. They exclaimed in disbelief, "How is this possible? How could the Saint Son Mountain from the Forgotten Continent be here?"

Wushu replied calmly, "Though suppressing you all has cost me a significant amount of spiritual energy, it is worth it."

"Subdue!"

As Wushu uttered the word, the sky-piercing Saint Son Mountain crashed down upon the Night Demon Patriarch, Wu Zuo, and Wu You.

However, to Wushu’s surprise, even while crushed beneath the mountain, the bisected dragon managed to mend its body in a short time. As the brain of the dragon, the Night Demon Patriarch shook the mountain in fury, roaring, "Damn you, boy of the Wu family! Let me out!"

The Saint Son Mountain trembled violently from the Patriarch's rage.

Watching this, Wushu sighed, "My physical body is too weak. Suppressing an ancestor-level powerhouse requires a bottomless well of spiritual energy."

Contemplating the path of cultivation ahead and the inevitable strong foes he would face, Wushu thought, "If I cannot tame this old monster soon, using century-grade spiritual energy to fight will become an insurmountable challenge. It seems this trip to the Giant Elephant Mountain Range has come at a steep price."

The thought of subduing the Night Demon Patriarch gave Wushu a headache. The reason he chose to seal him under the Saint Son Mountain was that the Patriarch practiced both the Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Escaping Technique and the Demon Dragon Devouring Technique. Given the current limits of Wushu's physical body, he could not easily kill the Patriarch.

Wushu’s expertise—spiritual attacks—ran directly into the Patriarch’s bizarre secret arts, which allowed him to strengthen himself by devouring an opponent's spiritual energy. Thus, Wushu had no choice but to seal him under the mountain, using the array to slowly grind away the Patriarch's will. Without this, even with his hundred-thousand-year-grade spiritual energy, Wushu might have fallen into the Patriarch's clutches today.

***

Within the realm of consciousness, the battle between Wushu and the Night Demon Patriarch had also terrified the Wu family ancestor, Wu Zhan.

When the Night-Walking Beast began to consume the dark magic energy within the War Ancestor, Wu Zhan had been overjoyed. After the great war, the War Ancestor had been riddled with wounds, and for ten thousand years, his body had been plagued by dark magic energy. Once that energy erupted, the bloodline curse further eroded his body, and the demonic soul within him grew even more formidable, leaving the War Ancestor helpless.

Thus, the War Ancestor had lain upon the Ageless Stone for thousands of years.

However, shortly after the Night-Walking Beast began feeding, traces of dark magic energy appeared on Wushu, who was healing with Blood Soul Fluid. Witnessing such an anomaly, the War Ancestor was deeply alarmed.

Wu Zhan quickly realized the gravity of the situation. The Night-Walking Beast had been controlled by the Night Demon Patriarch, who surely would have tampered with it. Now that the Patriarch was trapped within Wushu, even if Wushu were a genius with great fortune and a treasure to suppress the Patriarch, the influx of dark magic energy would exponentially increase the Patriarch's power, putting Wushu in grave danger.

Worried that Wushu might be facing a desperate situation in his consciousness, Wu Zhan struck the Night-Walking Beast, sending it flying. To his shock, even though he maintained distance after the bite, the dark magic energy within him continued to leak out, only to be swallowed by the beast.

Days passed, and to Wu Zhan's surprise, there was no explosion of dark magic energy within Wushu as he had feared. After multiple careful examinations over several days, he found Wushu’s body gradually recovering with the aid of the Blood Soul Fluid. Wu Zhan was torn between worry and joy—worry that if such a rare talent were possessed by the Night Demon Patriarch, he might have to choose between killing the boy or imprisoning him until the Patriarch was expelled.

He knew well how difficult it was to expel an ancestor-level demonic soul, as he himself harbored the soul of a Shadow Demon ancestor.

Still, the recovery of Wushu’s body and the signs of a major breakthrough were causes for celebration.

Within Wushu’s consciousness, after sealing the Night Demon Patriarch under the Saint Son Mountain, Wushu carved a complete set of Saint Seals and the Immovable Wisdom King Seal around it. With these assisting the suppression, the Patriarch was much more docile than in previous days. Wushu also deployed the Ghost Gate, the Demon Statue, and the Mystic Intent Array around the mountain.

With this formidable array of defenses, even if the Patriarch tried to revolt during a future battle, Wushu believed he would have ample time to deal with him.

Since he could not kill the Patriarch, grinding away his will over time was a necessity. Because of the suppression, his usable spiritual power would be limited, but as his consciousness returned to peace, Wushu felt a sense of relief.

Judging by the time that had passed, his body had surely fully recovered with the help of the Blood Soul Fluid.

"It is time to return to Dongsu City," Wushu declared with satisfaction in his consciousness.

Days later, when Wushu awoke, the War Ancestor was the first to appear before him, looking alert and ready.

Wushu knew that his body could not have been entirely unaffected by the dark magic energy during the battle in his mind. Yet, thanks to the Blood Soul Fluid, not only had his injuries healed, but his physical cultivation had broken through from the third stage to the peak of the ninth stage.

Standing up and feeling the surge of power in his body, Wushu stretched lazily. "The Night Demon Patriarch is indeed formidable; he had a fallback plan. If not for a great opportunity I encountered in the past, I might have perished today."

Wushu’s mind was clear, and he spoke as he always had. Worried, Wu Zhan asked, "What of the Night Demon Patriarch now?"

Wushu felt that this ancestor of his was a man of sense. Not wanting to hide anything, he said, "The Patriarch's soul is currently suppressed within my consciousness. Unless he achieves a breakthrough in power, I believe he will struggle to threaten me."

Hearing the mention of consciousness, Wu Zhan was stunned.

"Heaven has eyes," he thought. Not only was Wushu a talented master of arrays, but his spiritual power had reached the level of possessing a conscious mind. Moreover, Wu Zhan found no traces of the bloodline curse on this powerful descendant.

It appeared that the Dark Magic God’s curse did not affect those who cultivated spiritual energy. Wushu’s existence provided the Wu family with a path to break the curse, and Wu Zhan was filled with joy. He praised Wushu, "To develop a consciousness at such a young age is truly gratifying to this ancestor."

While Wushu was pleased by the affirmation, his thoughts turned to the ten days he had spent in the Giant Elephant Mountain Range, the state of his family in Dongsu City, and the complex internal conflicts within the clan.

Wushu said calmly, "War Ancestor, meeting you here is a grace from heaven. I am eager to learn the glorious history behind the War God Hall and the Zhenyue Hall, but our family has fallen, and my younger brother suffers greatly. I shall come to pay my respects to you another day."

Wu Zhan had heard of the Wu family’s plight in Dongsu City. Formerly, he had been plagued by dark magic and demonic souls, often losing consciousness. But after Wushu’s strike in the War God Hall—which shattered part of the dark energy—and the Night-Walking Beast devouring the rest, the War Ancestor could now control his own body with his spiritual power.

Seeing a path to overcome the bloodline curse through Wushu, Wu Zhan decided it was time to save his descendants.

He sighed, "For many years, you descendants have suffered."

The decline of the Dongsu City branch was undoubtedly due to the curse. Knowing that the curse was a price for protecting humanity, Wushu found no words to add.

Thinking of the Night-Walking Beast, Wu Zhan warned, "The Night Demon Patriarch tampered with the beast. After it bit me, it began devouring the dark magic energy within me. To prevent a counter-attack, I fear the Night-Walking Beast will become the breakthrough point for the Night Demon Patriarch to threaten you."