The grey sky was dominated by a pale sun, and beneath a barren mountain range, a crimson stream snaked its way through the desolate landscape. Countless wisps of faint black gas rose from the earth, coalescing into dark clouds that obscured the sun's light.
Skeletons, piled high like eternal lamps, burned with a seductive red flame, serving as eerie streetlights along the path.
"Is this the Demon Realm?" Ye Yun, clad in armor and with an ancient sword on his back, hovered in the sky, gazing down at the land below with awe. His entire body was enveloped in true essence, and even Hei Yi, the black ant, was protected by it.
"Your true essence is as vast as the sea, young friend. You should leave this place quickly, lest you attract the attention of a large number of demons and expose the spatial node here," a hoarse voice echoed from Ye Yun's phone. It was Xue Daoyang. Traversing the black hole in reverse was not only demanding on the traveler's physical body but also a significant test of endurance.
With nowhere else to go, the old man had ended up possessing Ye Yun's phone, forcing Ye Yun to keep it in his chest pocket rather than his pants.
"Senior, you are a cultivator, after all. Can't you possess your own sword?" Ye Yun expressed his frustration. Following Xue Daoyang's directions, he headed east with Hei Yi.
"A sword is inherently sharp and carries the aura of combat, making it unsuitable for me to possess at this time. Furthermore, this sword has been refined by my grand-master, master, and myself over three generations. It has already developed a rudimentary sword consciousness. If you, young friend, nurture it further and regularly temper it with heavenly treasures, I believe it will soon give birth to a sword spirit. At that time, this sword will rank among the top spiritual swords in Huaguo and contend with other famous swords," Xue Daoyang said with immense pride.
"However, young friend, your pet is rather unusual."
Hei Yi no longer appeared as restrained as before. Upon entering the Demon Realm, it was like a fish in water, reveling in its surroundings. It would occasionally flap its wings and soar into the sky, a black cloud that quickly vanished.
"Heh heh, I came to the Demon Realm precisely for this fellow." Ye Yun let out a confident smile. However, when it came to Hei Yi, he always knew his limits. Both in the game and in reality, Hei Yi was his most loyal companion. In Ye Yun's heart, Hei Yi held a far more important position than the old man.
"It can actually feed on demonic energy. If this fellow were to remain in the Demon Realm, it might even become a powerful figure here," Xue Daoyang exclaimed in admiration.
"Heh heh, Senior, you should first adapt to your spiritual body world. It would be best if you could carve out a territory within the spiritual body world. If you can do that, it would be a contribution to the future of humanity," Ye Yun said with a faint smile. Now that he knew how Hei Yi could grow stronger in reality, merely being a formidable figure in the Demon Realm was not enough to satisfy Ye Yun's expectations for Hei Yi.
Roar...
Numerous demons, engaged in foraging, spotted Ye Yun in the sky. They immediately began to surge from the ground, their roars echoing as they pursued Ye Yun's silhouette. By now, Ye Yun had flown nearly a thousand miles from the spatial node.
"Master, I'll go down and deal with these guys!" Hei Yi, seeing the demons below, bared its fangs, saliva even dripping from its mouth.
However, Ye Yun stood suspended in the void, gazing intently in a certain direction as if in a trance.
"Master?"
Hei Yi turned its head to look where Ye Yun was gazing. It saw nothing but a vast canyon and asked weakly again.
"Go!" Ye Yun's brow furrowed deeply, looking at the canyon below as if he were witnessing a world-shattering sword strike.
Ye Yun unsheathed his long sword and stood in a specific spot, his sword tip pointed towards the canyon below, utterly astonished.
This massive canyon was carved by a single sword strike!
From "Tian Dao" to reality, Ye Yun had always followed the path of arcane arts. Although he possessed immense power in reality, his understanding of the physical combat system was not as thorough. However, gazing at this canyon, Ye Yun realized that when one's power reached its apex, they could indeed command the heavens and move the earth.
"This canyon was created when my grand-master and the first batch of disciples entered the Demon Realm and battled a Demon King. That Demon King's strike at the time killed nearly half of the disciples of my Southern Sect," Xue Daoyang's voice suddenly chimed in as Ye Yun gestured with his sword towards the canyon.
"What kind of existence are these demons?"
"Demons? You can say they are a fusion of physical body and strength. Humans, for example, are born with a mere two taels of strength, while demons possess ten times that of humans!"
"See those black gases? We call them demonic energy. They permeate the entire Demon Realm, constantly altering the demons' physiques and enhancing their strength. However, fortunately, demons cultivate demonic energy very slowly. If they could cultivate it as rapidly as other races, my grand-master said that demons would conquer this world."
Having an elder is like having a treasure. Xue Daoyang was a living encyclopedia when it came to cultivation.
"Who dares to fly in the territory of the Great Yin Demon Emperor! Land immediately and await judgment!" Just as Ye Yun was about to ask further, two giant birds suddenly flew from afar and stopped before him, their black iron arrows pointed menacingly.
"In the Demon Realm, besides flying creatures, ground creatures can only escape their limitations and fly if their strength reaches the fifth rank. The demons have a strict hierarchy, divided into nine ranks. Below the fifth rank are commoners, the fifth rank are scholars, the sixth are soldiers, the seventh are generals, the eighth are kings, and the ninth is emperor. These two in front of you still need the assistance of flying beasts, so they are likely fifth-rank demons. I just didn't expect that after a thousand years, the Great Yan of that time would have ascended to the ninth rank," Xue Daoyang expounded, completely disregarding the two demons before them.
"Fifth rank? If my strength were in the Demon Realm, what rank would I be?" Ye Yun asked with a frown.
Hei Yi also noticed the two demons in the air and abandoned the group of unintelligent monsters, soaring up to attack them.
"I don't know your strength precisely. I can only vaguely sense the strength of your power and physical body. However, based on my perception, your current strength against these two is roughly around the eighth rank," Xue Daoyang chuckled.
Eighth rank, Demon King?
Ye Yun was bewildered. He hadn't expected that his 36% manifested strength would only be equivalent to the Demon King level in the Demon Realm.
Bang...
Blood rained down as the two demons were completely blown apart by Hei Yi's attack. Their blood was rapidly devoured by Hei Yi. Ye Yun then noticed that as Hei Yi consumed the demons, a portion of black energy infiltrated Ye Yun's body, bypassing even his true essence shield.