Chapter 42: The Egg of the Heavenly Demon, Shocking Reversal
In the latter half of the night, all was calm and peaceful.
The next day, the bell rang,
Until the end of the morning lesson.
Jiang Yan went to the dining hall and, under the frightened gazes of the Samanera, unapologetically ate ten portions of vegetarian meals. He only left when no more food was given.
Everyone gathered again.
Originally, Jiang Yan was to be excluded as an unstable factor, but due to last night's unexpected incident, having one more person meant one more strength.
The man in the suit said grimly, "Last night, it must have been that demon mentioned by the Abbot of Longevity Calamity trying to break through the seal."
Huang Mao nodded and said, "I also felt the ground shaking violently. Fortunately, it was suppressed by the Abbot. Seems like this fellow is the core BOSS of the Sick Domain."
Xiao Hei asked, "Then are we still following the original plan to explore the temple today?"
"Of course. Otherwise, we won’t be able to complete the mission or leave the Sick Domain."
The man in the suit said, "But I’ve already checked several places in the temple. There was nothing unusual during the day. I reckon even if we explore, we won’t gain anything. Moreover...
Last night, I was attacked by a blood-red humanoid monster that had been skinned. Fortunately, it didn’t break the warding boundary of the wing room."
"What!?"
Everyone was shocked.
Especially Jiang Yan, who couldn’t help but glance at the man a few more times.
Huang Mao said gravely, "Could it be that fellow’s target is us?"
"Very likely. After all, the temple’s layout is fixed. We’re the only variable."
Xiao Hei looked solemn and murmured, "There’s nothing to gain during the day, and at night that demon has its eyes on us. What should we do?"
Being targeted by a demon suspected to be at the Law Seed Stage, even if severely injured, was beyond what they could handle.
The Abbot couldn’t protect them every moment. A single lapse could mean becoming demon food.
Thinking of this, a trace of worry and frailty surfaced on that delicate face, stirring a strong protective instinct in Huang Mao.
Since entering the instance, he had always been regarded as the core. The man in the suit occasionally revealed admiration.
Over time, Huang Mao gradually developed a leader’s mindset.
He used to be a sickly weakling, rejected by others, thus loathing his own frailty.
After becoming stronger, he preferred to walk alone.
He believed others would only drag him down, but now it seemed...
It might actually be possible to recruit these talents and build a suitable team—especially those sisters, they had great potential.
Of course, that gluttonous sickly one was an exception.
Seeing him was like seeing his old self.
As long as there was no conflict of interest and he didn’t hold them back, Huang Mao didn’t mind letting the guy cling to his leg and get through the instance.
Thinking of this, Huang Mao spoke, "Since that’s the case, I actually have an idea. Our goal doesn’t conflict with that of the Abbot of Longevity Calamity. Why not seek his help to find a way to thoroughly eliminate the demon?"
Xiao Hei hesitated and said, "But even the Monkey King had to sacrifice himself. The Abbot probably doesn’t have a way either, right?"
The man in the suit and Xiao Bai shared similar views.
Huang Mao smiled confidently, "Our mission isn’t to subdue the demon, just to explore. This is the only way we can get key information from the Abbot and complete the mission.
When the time comes, we can either fight the demon or retreat and leave the Sick Domain."
"Brother Huang Mao is amazing."
Xiao Hei suddenly understood, his face showing admiration, and his tone became more affectionate.
"This method is indeed good."
The man in the suit nodded slightly and glanced at Jiang Yan, whose complexion had improved slightly but was still loafing around.
Compared to a talent like Huang Mao, this guy really fell short.
He had thought he was just hiding his strength, but it turned out he was truly ordinary.
As for Xiao Bai, she had been quiet since the morning.
Inside the Hall of Zen Resolution,
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity showed a complex expression after hearing their account. In the end, he sighed and said:
"Originally, this humble monk had no intention of speaking of it, but since all of you are sincere, then I shall tell you."
"What the Monkey King suppressed was an Egg of the Heavenly Demon. For some unknown reason, it floated up from the depths of the Historical Long River and fell into this world. Within it is a terrifying infant Heavenly Demon, and once it is born, it will bring calamity to all living beings.
And the blood-colored figure you spoke of is the Shadow of the Heavenly Demon. It excels at seizing human bodies for its own, with strange and sinister abilities."
Huang Mao looked at the exploration progress which had jumped to 5%, his heart stirred with excitement, but outwardly he remained modest and asked for guidance:
"How can it be resolved?"
"Originally, it should not have been said, but after the Monkey King suppressed the Egg of the Heavenly Demon, his body turned into a mountain. However, his three souls did not fully dissipate and were stolen by the claws of the Egg of the Heavenly Demon. They are hidden separately in three demonic caves not far from the rear mountain.
It once tried to use the Monkey King's souls in exchange for the Egg of the Heavenly Demon, but I refused."
"If you can retrieve the three souls of the Monkey King, perhaps this humble monk can attempt to awaken his spirit by dotting the eyes, and completely suppress the Egg of the Heavenly Demon."
Huang Mao's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Wasn’t this… a hidden quest in the game?
If he could assist in suppressing the mutated Egg of the Heavenly Demon, he would definitely earn a Grade A or higher rating.
However...
Huang Mao asked worriedly, "Are these Shadows of the Heavenly Demon very powerful?"
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity hadn’t been able to eliminate them for so long. Could they all be demons at the Foundation Establishment Stage?
"At night, with the empowerment of the Egg of the Heavenly Demon, their strength is no less than that of this humble monk. But during the day, they are only at the peak of the Spirit Awakening Stage."
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity sighed, "It’s just a pity that I must guard the Monkey King Sculpture at all times to prevent the Egg of the Heavenly Demon from breaking free, so I cannot leave the temple. Meanwhile, they hide during the day and only appear at night."
Huang Mao gave a faint smile, "Then leave it to me!"
That same day, Huang Mao led this new team over Peach Mountain and arrived at a cave shaped like a skull.
Inside was a massive spider with blood-red flowers growing on its abdomen, drinking water. Upon seeing Huang Mao, its compound eyes showed a shocked expression. The spider legs moved as it turned to flee.
It seemed unwilling to fight them!
"Evil creature, stop!"
Huang Mao gave a cold snort, and nine white bone flying daggers shot out from his body, instantly sealing off the escape route.
His ability was called White Bone Flying Daggers of Battle Energy, refining his own bones with his blood and battle energy.
The flying daggers born from this process were perfectly in sync with his will, moving as naturally as his limbs, achieving unity between man and blade.
They could continually absorb battle energy to strengthen themselves, and upon returning to his body, further enhance his physique.
One must know that the human body has 206 bones.
At the peak, he could summon 206 flying daggers with a single thought, embedding his blood and soul into each.
Transforming into blade escape.
Along his journey, Huang Mao had relied on his sword-control technique to be virtually invincible—just like his life.
"In the Spirit Awakening Stage, I am invincible."
Huang Mao murmured. However, the Heavenly Demon Spider before him was unexpectedly strong. The hairs on its body could transform into blades that tore through the air, blocking his bone needles.
For a moment, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.
"We’ll help you!"
The man in the suit struck, a fire dragon roaring forth.
Xiao Hei stepped lightly, lightning flashing around her wrist. She leapt forward and punched.
"Divine Firmament Fist Technique – Evil Slayer!"
The punch landed on the giant spider’s left side, making it stagger, then was quickly pierced by flying daggers, severely injured.
As for Xiao Bai, she stayed next to Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan asked, "Aren’t you going to help?"
Xiao Bai snorted, "Afraid you’ll get killed by the shockwaves of battle."
The two also felt it wasn’t right to slack off, so they joined in.
Jiang Yan used the blood thread power of the Coffin Spirit. Xiao Bai glanced over a few times, then pulled out a...
Coiled Dragon Staff!
Her fighting style was vigorous and fierce, every strike a critical blow.
Focused purely on overwhelming strength and blunt force.
With everyone working together, the massive spider was quickly defeated.
Boom!
The Heavenly Demon Spider collapsed unwillingly, its compound eyes glaring at Huang Mao as it turned to ash, leaving behind a blue light orb.
"Without the Egg of the Heavenly Demon’s blessing, it’s nothing much."
Huang Mao used the special jade bottle given by the Abbot of Longevity Calamity to store it. Seeing the mission progress increase by another 4%, he felt unprecedented confidence and prepared to press forward to find the remaining two claws of the Heavenly Demon.
In another demonic cave resembling a torso, they encountered a massive black beetle.
With coordinated effort, they successfully killed it.
Watching Jiang Yan and Xiao Bai chatting and laughing, Huang Mao frowned slightly, a trace of jealousy flashing in his eyes.
The last claw of the Heavenly Demon was a one-legged, one-eyed human-faced ox.
Its strength was formidable and vitality incredibly tenacious. It nearly shattered Huang Mao’s White Bone Flying Daggers.
He was forced to use several trump cards to finally defeat it.
The mission progress rose from 5% to 17%.
Just one step away from completing the Historical Mission.
"Heavenly Demon, nothing more than that!"
Slaying three demons in one day, with admiration from the beauty Xiao Hei and trust from his companions, Huang Mao was feeling extremely proud.
The so-called Heavenly Demon, nothing much at all.
By contrast, Jiang Yan had been loafing around the whole time, which made Huang Mao silently think: lucky bastard.
By the time they returned to the Monkey King Temple, it was already dusk.
Huang Mao and the others walked into the temple under the reverent gazes of many Samanera, high-spirited and glorious.
Inside the Hall of Zen Resolution.
"Truly heroes and men of valor."
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity praised them with a gratified expression. "Next, we can proceed to awaken the Monkey King. All of this is thanks to Mister Huang Mao and your companions."
Huang Mao replied modestly, "Master flatters me. It’s all for the purpose of ending the calamity of the Heavenly Demon."
As he spoke, he handed over the bottle in his hand, but before the Abbot of Longevity Calamity could take it, someone snatched it midway.
"What!?"
Everyone turned in unison, only to see Jiang Yan toying with the bottle in his hand, eyes filled with amusement:
"This game is indeed interesting."
The man in the suit had never expected that the guy who had been slacking off would suddenly cause trouble. He questioned:
"Do you even know what you’re doing?"
Jiang Yan smiled and said, "Of course—to stop you from making another mistake."
Huang Mao frowned. The White Bone Flying Daggers behind him floated up, gleaming with a cold light. He said coldly:
"Hand it over. I’ll let bygones be bygones and take you out of here with us."
Jiang Yan smiled cheerfully and said, "Are you sure you want to hand this over to them?"
"Don’t waste words on him. This guy is most likely mentally corrupted by the Egg of the Heavenly Demon and has become its puppet."
The man in the suit roared. Before he could act, his body was pierced by the hooked tail of the Shadow-Eating Serpent and nailed to the peach wood pillar.
His gaze was filled with shock. He couldn’t believe...
He had actually been... one-shotted!
"Damn it, I knew you weren’t a good guy!"
Xiao Hei, seeing this, sparked lightning in her hand and tried to assist, but was sent flying by a single tail swipe, tumbling across the ground.
Even while gravely injured, she didn’t forget to look at Huang Mao and said earnestly:
"Brother Huang Mao, there’s something wrong with him. Hurry... run!"
"Very well. You’ve truly enraged me!"
Huang Mao’s voice was icy. He gave no more chances, and nine White Bone Flying Daggers rose and howled toward Jiang Yan’s head and neck.
A single strike could sever the head!
However, that was only the ideal.
Reality was...
The Shadow-Eating Serpent appeared and swallowed the nine daggers. Crunch. It ate them like snacks.
It had been watching for nearly two days and had long wanted a taste.
"Pff!"
Losing all nine of his natal weapons at once, Huang Mao suffered instant backlash, spat blood, and collapsed to his knees with a loud thud.
He had actually lost!
Jiang Yan picked up the bottle, sat on the platform at the base of the sculpture, and looked at Huang Mao’s unwilling gaze. He said softly:
"With that kind of strength and brain, it’s hard to survive this Sick Domain."
The Dual-headed Shadow-Eating Serpent coiled behind him, its crimson eyes gazing down at everyone.
A scene played out—where the final BOSS swooped in to reap the fruits of victory.
Xiao Bai stared at this scene in a daze and said in a trembling voice:
"Why?"
Jiang Yan looked at her, was silent for a moment, and sighed:
"The paths we walk are different. There’s no way to work together."
As his words fell, Xiao Bai’s body trembled. As if she understood something, a bitter smile appeared on her face.
Huang Mao lifted his head, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said in a deep voice:
"To act so ruthlessly before the Abbot of Longevity Calamity—you’re seeking death."
"Amitabha."
The Abbot’s gaze was downcast as he said, "Hand over the Monkey King's souls, and I can let bygones be bygones. Otherwise..."
As he spoke, the temple trembled. The tiger-shaped ridge beasts on the eaves suddenly came to life, their eyes fierce and savage, exuding a terrifying aura.
They crawled down along the eaves, surrounding Jiang Yan tightly, emanating a suffocating pressure.
Each one possessed the combat strength of the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Yet surrounded from all sides, Jiang Yan looked at Huang Mao, uncorked the bottle, and tipped it upside down, chuckling lightly:
"This is my first time seeing someone so eager to hand over their 'self' to someone else."
"Why not take another look—are these really the Monkey King's three souls?"
"What do you mean?"
Huang Mao froze. He instinctively looked into the bottle, and the three light orbs within were gradually losing their glow, revealing the three Heavenly Demon claws they had slain today, imprisoned inside.
Only...
They each had a face.
And every face was...
Huang Mao!