Shentu, the Demon Lord

I am Shentu, the Demon Lord—Helian Nanshan. When I was three years old, my entire family was slaughtered by martial artists. My master, the Bloodhand Demon Lord, found me in the aftermath and took me deep into the mountains, teaching me all his deadly arts. By the time I was fifteen, I had surpassed even him. On the two-hundredth strike, I killed the old bastard and officially graduated.

We of the demonic path live as we please—do whatever we desire. When Dongfang Qianxue, the eldest daughter of the Dongfang Clan, had the nerve to insult me—calling me a lecher—I decided to show her just how lecherous I could be. That very night, I snuck into her room and made her cry out in ecstasy. Her mother, the clan matron, came to investigate and met her end at my hands as well. Unfortunately, the noise alerted the clan's elite. I fought my way out, carving a path through more than fifteen hundred of them. In a single night, I erased the Dongfang Clan from the annals of the martial world. That was the night the name "Demon Lord Shentu" was born.

I once heard of the "Seven-Slaying Bandits of the Great Desert." The name irritated me, so I traveled over ten thousand miles just to wipe them out. I stormed their base, chased them relentlessly for three days and nights without rest, and slaughtered them all. Over two hundred heads were hung at the desert's edge. For ten years after that, not a single bandit dared raise their head in the Great Desert.

When it comes to the battles of the martial world, I take part in all of them. I kill from both the dark and the righteous factions. Anyone who wants to kill me could form a line from the Muzi Sword Sect all the way to the Nanxing Sect—but those who can actually succeed? Very few. As of now, I'm still alive and well. The mere mention of my name can make children stop crying in the night.

Hundreds of years ago, a disciple of the Boundless Sword Sect—Elder Chi Shang—publicly revealed the secret manual Heart Scripture of Demon Annihilation, a legacy of the Sword God Fengyun Wuji. That one act sparked twenty years of bloodshed, until nearly the entire martial world was drenched in blood. Then, almost overnight, peace and prosperity returned. People praised Chi Shang's decision as wise and noble. But I doubt even he could have foreseen the chaos the martial world would descend into now.

These days, tens of thousands of sects are at each other's throats for reasons no one can even remember. The scale of the conflicts keeps escalating. Some battles are so brutal that even I—an old demon—feel uneasy stepping in. Just yesterday, the Swift Sword Sect was completely wiped out. Sects are being annihilated almost daily. In the past decade, over five or six thousand sects have been erased. And this past year? Even worse. The whole world is in turmoil.

Damn it. With my cultivation, I was already close to ascension. I should have been ruling this continent. But these ancient monsters, who've lingered in the mortal realm for hundreds of years, just refuse to ascend. If it were only a few—or even a few dozen—I could handle it. But even a minor sect like the Water Moon Sword Sect has five elders at the Ascension level. How the hell is anyone supposed to dominate the martial world like this? Maybe it's time I just ascend and leave it all behind.

I dared not ascend anywhere near the cities. I fled deep into the wilderness. Once I was sure I was alone, I began the tribulation rite. But just as the energy surged, I caught a flicker of black in the corner of my eye...

"You, a venerable cultivator who has trained for centuries and reached the brink of ascension—ambushing me during my tribulation? Does that not shame you?" I wasn't sealed yet, and though I hung upside down, fear and fury churned within me. The elder of a sect I once slaughtered had finally come for revenge. I hadn't ascended in time.

I mistook Fengyun Wuji for one of those ancient old freaks who'd been hiding in the mortal world for centuries. Only that could explain how I was subdued so easily.

Fengyun Wuji held me upside down. Just from the contact of his hand, he sensed the evil qi within me and knew I was no saint. When I opened my mouth to speak, he barked, "Silence. I don't plan on killing you—yet. But if you keep yapping, I just might change my mind."

He had no interest in explaining himself to someone from the demonic path. Given his own past, he had no love for our kind—and no reason to show mercy.

Though I was known as the Demon Lord, my survival owed not just to brutality but also to my ability to read the situation. I swallowed my pride.

"If there's anything you need, senior, I'm at your service. Even if I must serve as your slave, I shall not complain," I said, not mentioning mercy at all. In the blink of an eye, the fearsome Demon Lord became a servant—such a shift would shock anyone.

Fengyun Wuji carried me outside a nearby town and dropped me in a secluded spot. Then he unsealed my acupoints and handed me a silver banknote. "Take this."

Even with all my cunning, I couldn't guess his intentions. I stared at him, baffled. "Senior, this is…?"

"Go into town and hire a fine carriage. You're taking me to the Muzi Sword Sect," he said coldly.

My heart skipped. I studied him closely. The average cultivator reaches the ascension stage after their forties. As their power grows, they regain a youthful appearance. But someone this young-looking… surely he must have been at the ascension stage for two or three centuries already. And his speed—it was as if he flew like a god. He might have been even older.

Could he be a long-retired elder of the Muzi Sword Sect? That didn't quite add up—Muzi's history barely spanned three hundred years. If he were from there, he'd know the way. Unless… he was going there for revenge?

Thinking of the sect's thousands of Ascension-level experts, my face turned pale.

"Senior… surely… surely you don't intend to attack the Muzi Sword Sect? Your power is immense, no doubt—but they have two thousand ascension experts…"

"Enough talk. Go. And don't think about running. If you think your martial arts or lightness skill can beat mine, be my guest—try it." With a casual swipe of his hand, he unleashed a blast of sword qi. The ground beside me exploded, leaving a massive crater. Dust filled the air, but none came within three feet of him.

I stood frozen, staring at the hole—big enough to swallow an ancient tower. I was stunned. Not even most Ascension-level experts could produce such power. Little did I know, that was but a fraction of Fengyun Wuji's strength. Had he used his full force, the entire town would've been leveled.

"Go. Quickly." His cold voice rang in my ears, making me shiver. I clutched the silver note and rushed toward the city gates.

Moments later, a luxurious black carriage rolled out onto the main road. I stepped down and, under the stunned gaze of the coachman, led Fengyun Wuji aboard. The coachman cracked his whip, and the ornate carriage rumbled northward, along the road leading to the Muzi Sword Sect…