Great Wilderness Demon Lord

dark.

The boundless darkness, like ink seeping into one's very bones, enveloped Xiao Lan's remaining consciousness.

Then came the sound—vague, distorted, like a chant coming from underwater.

The voice was not uttered by one person, but rather by dozens or hundreds of people chanting together. The tone was eerie, the words unfamiliar, yet it carried a kind of heart-stirring rhythm that pierced through the darkness and reached the depths of the soul.

"With crimson blood as the guide, it transforms into form; with compassion and defilement as its vessel, and bliss as its wings… We respectfully welcome the Heavenly Venerable's descent into the world…"

Xiao Yunlan felt his body being moved.

Rough fingers gripped his limbs and laid him flat on the cold, hard stone surface.

He tried to struggle, but his body felt as if all the bones had been removed, and he couldn't even lift a finger.

My eyelids felt as heavy as if they were being crushed by a thousand-pound boulder; I could only glimpse blurry, flickering light and shadow through tiny gaps.

Those were flickering torches, their flames a ghostly green.

There were also distorted figures—they wore wide black robes with symbols embroidered on the hems that he couldn't understand, and their faces wore grotesque wooden masks.

The expression on the mask is frozen on the edge of ecstasy and pain; behind the empty eye sockets is the fanatical gaze of a real human being.

He was stripped of his outer garments, leaving him only in a thin sacrificial robe. The chill seeped up from the dark stone slab beneath him, penetrating to his very bones.

The stone slab was covered with densely packed runes, which, under the glow of the eerie green firelight, emitted a faint, dark red light that flickered slowly, like breathing.

altar.

He realized it.

This is a huge circular altar, no less than ten zhang in diameter, built of some kind of black stone.

Eight stone pillars stood at the edge of the altar, their shafts also covered with runes, and their tops burned with eerie green flames.

The air was thick with an overpowering, nauseating spice scent—a mixture of musk, myrrh, and the smell of burning unknown herbs and plants, which mingled with the cold, musty smell of the stone itself, creating a dizzying and eerie atmosphere.

He remembered.

Three days ago, in the side courtyard.

The matriarch, Lady Liu, arrived in person, dismissed the attendants, and said to him: "The heretical cult 'Four Heavenly Venerables Cult' has been rampant in recent years, repeatedly sacrificing the direct descendants of aristocratic families in an attempt to defy Heaven."

They have their eyes on Yun Yuan. You are about the same age as Yun Yuan, and your build is also somewhat similar.

I want you to impersonate Yun Yuan and go alone to Fulong Temple in the west of the city at midnight three days from now.

They will take you away and perform a sacrificial ceremony. The Xiao family and the Imperial Observatory have laid a trap.

After this is accomplished, you will be officially adopted into my family and become the second legitimate son of the Xiao family. As for the Ministry of War, the substantive position of "Pioneer Colonel" is yours.”

The Colonel of the Expeditionary Army, a sixth-rank military officer. He was tasked with conquering and expanding the frontier. That was a path that an illegitimate child could never possibly reach.

He agreed. Without hesitation.

At this moment, the chanting of the cultists on the altar reached its climax.

The man in black robes walked around the altar with strange steps, like some kind of lost witch dance.

The chief priest raised his staff high, the black gemstone at the top of the staff emitting an eerie purple light.

"The time has come! Using the bloodline of the Xiao family as a catalyst, break through the Heavenly Gate!"

Xiao Yunlan felt the cold blade pressed against his chest. It wasn't meant to kill him—the tip of the blade sliced ​​through his skin, and blood gushed out, flowing along the grooves pre-designed in the stone slab.

When the blood touched the runes, the dark red light suddenly blazed brightly!

Excruciating pain!

It wasn't the pain of being cut by a blade, but a tearing sensation from the depths of one's soul!

It was as if something was being forcibly pulled out of nothingness along the path of his blood flow, trying to enter his body!

From eight directions, the eerie green flames atop the eight stone pillars suddenly surged up, transforming into eight beams of light that shot into the sky!

Within the pillar of light, distorted images faintly appeared—a blood-red battlefield, a chessboard of intrigue, a rotting plague, a life of debauchery… Eight completely different scenes, eight extreme emotions and concepts, frantically assaulted his consciousness.

Just then—

"boom!!!"

A loud bang came from the outer perimeter of the altar! The ground shook!

"The Imperial Observatory has been ordered to exterminate evil! Those who kneel and surrender will be spared!"

"The Xiao family's inner guards are here! Protect the altar!"

Shouts of battle, the clash of weapons, screams, and the explosions of magic suddenly erupted, like a long-awaited downpour!

Xiao Yunlan tried his best to roll his eyes.

Through the flickering firelight and chaotic figures, he saw dark figures surging in from various entrances of the abandoned temple like a tide—these were the inner guards of the Xiao family, dressed in light armor with runes, moving as swiftly as the wind, their blades cutting down black-robed cultists like mowing grass.

Further away, there was a figure dressed in a dark blue official robe with star and moon patterns embroidered on the cuffs.

They did not engage in close combat, but instead formed a battle formation, their hands flashing with incantations, and golden rune chains appeared in the air, crisscrossing and binding the cult leaders who were trying to escape or resist—these were the cultivators of the Imperial Observatory.

The battle escalated rapidly.

The cult members were clearly caught off guard by the attack from both inside and outside.

However, they were not a mob. In particular, the core members wearing silver masks unleashed astonishing evil power, fighting against the Xiao family's inner guards and the Imperial Observatory cultivators.

The light of magic intertwined with the cold glint of weapons, blood splattered, and severed limbs were tossed up and down.

The high priest on the altar roared angrily, "Stop them! The ceremony cannot be interrupted!"

More people in black robes surged onto the altar, using their bodies to block the incoming arrows and spells.

The priest's staff shone brightly with purple light. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the gem at the top of the staff.

"With my blood and soul, hasten the sacrifice! Eight Extremes Demonic Thoughts, enter this body!"

The beams of light on the eight stone pillars suddenly contracted, transforming into eight beams of light of different colors—crimson, dark red, deep blue, ghostly green, golden yellow, pink, turquoise, and gray—like eight ferocious poisonous dragons, roaring as they rushed toward Xiao Yunlan in the center of the altar!

"Stop him!" shouted an old Taoist priest with white hair from the Imperial Observatory team, his bronze compass spinning wildly in his hand.

Several golden chains shot towards the eight beams of light, but it was a moment too late!

The eight rays of light represented eight extreme "demonic thoughts" collected, refined, and worshipped by the cult—bravery, slaughter, wisdom, cunning, passion, indulgence, medicine, and plague—as if they had found the most suitable container, rushing to enter Xiao Yunlan's body!

"Ughh ...

A bloodcurdling scream, inhuman and agonizing, erupted from Xiao Yunlan's throat.

It wasn't physical pain, but the feeling of having eight gaps forcibly torn open in one's soul, filling it with the wrath of eight violent, ancient beings filled with a thirsty will!

A surge of heat, like magma, coursed through his veins; it was the burning desire of a demon, yearning for battle and glory.

A chilling, icy aura, like black ice, coiled and spread along my spine; it was a murderous demonic intent, thirsting for blood and death.

A viscous, swamp-like substance seeped into my internal organs; it was the demonic intent of plague, craving decay and death.

A sharp, blade-like force pierced through the mind's sea of ​​consciousness; it was a cunning, demonic thought, yearning for calculation and control.

There are four other types: warm yet obsessive, that is passion; seductive yet decadent, that is indulgence; vibrant yet strange, that is medicine; insidious and unpredictable, that is cunning.

Eight forces, eight wills, eight demonic thoughts that had been bound for countless years, clashed, tore, and fought wildly within his body! They wanted to possess this newborn body, to break free of their restraints, and to satisfy their own endless "cravings"!

Xiao Yunlan's body convulsed violently, and blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

The field of vision was completely stained with a blood-red and chaotic color.

He felt his consciousness being torn apart, being devoured by these eight ferocious beasts...

"Seal it! Quickly!" The old Taoist's roar seemed to come from a great distance.

Several cultivators from the Imperial Observatory rushed onto the altar despite the danger, scattering talismans like snowflakes and attaching them to various parts of Xiao Yunlan's body.

The white-haired old Taoist bit his fingertip, using his blood as ink to rapidly inscribe a complex array on Xiao Yunlan's forehead.

"Heaven and Earth, black and yellow, seal!"

Golden light burst forth from the array, transforming into eight flowing chains that probed into Xiao Yunlan's body, forcibly binding the eight rampaging demonic thoughts and dragging them towards his dantian, forming a complex yet fragile balancing seal.

The demonic struggle did not cease; the chains vibrated incessantly, emitting a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

But at least, they are temporarily confined to fixed positions, restraining each other and no longer wantonly destroying the host's body.

Xiao Yunlan's consciousness was like a candle flickering in the wind, tossed about by waves of excruciating pain and chaos.

In his last moments of vision, he saw the high priest impaled by several spears and pinned to a stone pillar.

The eerie green flames gradually died down. The armored guards and blue-robed cultivators were cleaning up the battlefield, finishing off any surviving cultists, and collecting the remains of their comrades.

Blood pooled in the cracks of the altar's stone slabs, forming a small stream that flowed slowly. An arm that had been gripping a scimitar lay at his feet, its fingers still twitching slightly.

"Here! The Second Young Master is still alive!"

Someone called out. Footsteps approached.

Xiao Yunlan used the last bit of strength to pry open his heavy eyelids.

In the blurry double image, a tall, middle-aged man with his mask lifted and eyes as sharp as an eagle knelt on one knee beside him, his fingers reaching towards the side of his neck.

"Her breath is weak, but her pulse is still there!" the middle-aged man said in a deep voice, a sense of relief in his tone. "Quick! Carefully lift her up, and don't touch the altar runes!"

Then, Xiao Yunlan felt himself being helped up. His body was like a rag doll, supported entirely by the strength on both sides.

Inside the body, the eight temporarily sealed "foreign objects" were like eight raging vortexes, struggling wildly under the restraint of the chains. Each impact caused the internal organs to tremble, bringing a new round of excruciating pain.

Eight overlapping voices roared, howled, and whispered deep within his mind, their sounds exploding directly in his consciousness, each syllable heavy with the weight of millennia of resentment and endless yearning.

Xiao Yunlan's head was throbbing with pain, and his vision was completely swallowed by darkness.

Finally, what reached his ears was Liu's calm, undisturbed voice, as if it came from the depths of a distant sea: "Take him back..."

Darkness collapsed, and all things fell silent.