It was at the moment when Su Nan used the Life Tribulation Technique.
In an unknown location.
Here, there was endless darkness, without a trace of light. It was oppressive and lifeless, devoid of any vitality.
Suddenly, it seemed like something was gathering in the darkness, a rolling black mist coalescing within the darkness. The black mist merged with the surrounding darkness, making it impossible to discern its specific form.
"That damn kid! I, Kong He, swear that once I escape from this ghostly place, I'll turn you into my puppet!" A deep roar echoed in the darkness, filled with hatred.
However, before the words had even finished, it suddenly seemed like a long-lost power descended upon this space, landing on the gathered mist.
In an instant, the just-congealed mist rapidly dissipated.
"This... this is the power of heaven and earth!"
"How is this possible? I've only died twice, how could the power of heaven and earth descend?"
"No! This can't be real, my luck can't be this bad!"
As if encountering something bizarre, the angry voice was instantly replaced by panic, and ultimately, it turned into resentment.
Soon, as the mist dissipated, the dark space once again returned to complete silence.
[Congratulations, you consumed one hundred points of Human Race Luck, and Kong He's calamity arrived prematurely due to your Life Tribulation Technique.]
[Kong He's Devil's Thought failed to fully coalesce and dissipated into primal demonic energy under the power of heaven and earth.]
"The Devil's Thought dissipated?"
"One hundred points of luck caused the Devil's Thought to dissipate? This seems a bit too smooth, doesn't it?"
Su Nan was surprised; he had only wanted to try it out, but he didn't expect that just one hundred points of luck would cause Kong He's Devil's Thought to dissipate.
After some thought, he came up with a possibility.
"Perhaps, even though demons are not truly immortal, they are like the recent resurrection of the Demon Emperor, defying the heavens. When obstructed at such a time, it can have a tremendous effect."
Moreover, there must be a reason for the relatively small difference in strength between the two sides and the fact that Kong He's Devil's Thought failed to fully coalesce due to his recent death.
If he were to use the Life Tribulation Technique on the demon he had killed in the Heavenly Wolf Valley right now, it wouldn't have the same effect.
Regardless of the specific reasons, it seemed that his Life Tribulation Technique was particularly effective against recently slain demons!
Su Nan's eyes revealed a smile.
The Flame Spirit Essence could burn demonic energy, and now his Life Tribulation Technique could threaten Devil's Thoughts. These two methods finally made up for his previous lack of effective means against demons.
"Now, where is the stronghold of the Demon God Palace?" Su Nan looked at the Grand Princess.
Although the demon was dead, the matter was not over yet.
He still hadn't figured out what the Demon God Palace was planning, and he wanted to continue his investigation.
If he could find out what the Demon God Palace was up to, that would be best.
"It's in a small courtyard owned by a wealthy merchant named Jia at the end of Shiquan Road in the outer city," the Grand Princess said, providing the specific location.
Su Nan nodded, and with a thought, his personal space appeared before him.
According to his previous plan, the best way to deceive the King-level demon was to enhance the demonic energy on his body.
The item with the most concentrated demonic energy on him was undoubtedly the demonic sword, followed by the Demon Source Pearl.
However, he couldn't take these two items out.
His gaze swept over his belongings, and finally, a drop of dark red blood, encased in a crystal-like shell, appeared in his hand.
This was the reward he had received for helping Huxuetian break free from his Devil's Thought.
Demon Blood!
[Demon Blood: The essence of a powerful demon's blood that has coalesced after its death, containing pure demonic energy.]
The game's description of Demon Blood was brief, but the condition for obtaining it, the death of a King-level demon, was enough to show how precious it was.
And the demonic scripture he had obtained earlier required the baptism of Demon Blood to temper his body.
"What is this?" the Grand Princess asked, looking at the Demon Blood in Su Nan's hand. Even though the demonic energy was sealed within the crystal-like shell, the Grand Princess could still sense the unusual nature of the reddish-brown liquid.
"This is a drop of blood from a King-level demon," Su Nan replied.
"King-level demon blood?" The Grand Princess was astonished. "How do you have something like that?"
"I'm an outsider," Su Nan didn't explain further. Instead, he looked at the crystal-encased Demon Blood and prepared to break it.
The crystal shell that encased the Demon Blood was made of an unknown substance, perhaps a product of the game. It completely isolated the demonic energy of the blood. Carrying it in this state would serve no purpose; he needed to break the crystal shell to unleash the demonic energy.
However, doing so might have unknown consequences.
To be cautious, Su Nan chose to use foresight.
Soon, the foresight was complete.
To his relief, breaking the crystal did not lead to any abnormal occurrences. The only change was that the demonic energy within the blood would gradually dissipate over time.
If carried for an extended period, it would inevitably be eroded by the demonic energy.
Su Nan had no intention of carrying it for long; he would only use it temporarily and then store it in his personal space. He wasn't worried about the demonic energy eroding him.
With no further hesitation, Su Nan took out a jade bottle and, with a strong grip, a crack appeared in the crystal shell encasing the Demon Blood. The rolling demonic energy quickly escaped through the crack.
He reacted swiftly, immediately sealing the Demon Blood in the jade bottle.
The jade bottle couldn't completely isolate the demonic energy, and a small amount of it continued to slowly seep out. However, this was exactly what Su Nan needed.
With the jade bottle in hand, the demonic energy on his body, whether in terms of quantity or quality, far exceeded what it was before.
"This should be enough. Let's give it a try."
Su Nan looked at the foresight once again.
[You know that there is a Demon God Palace stronghold in the imperial city, and four demons are plotting something.]
[You plan to disguise yourself as the demon you killed not long ago and investigate the stronghold.]
[With the assistance of the Shape-Shifting Technique and the Counterfeit Life Stone, you transform into a mid-stage King-level demon. One minute later, you arrive at the Demon God Palace stronghold.]
[There are already three mid-stage King-level demons and a masked youth present here.]
[Two minutes later, the final mid-stage King-level demon arrives.]
[As soon as the King-level demon arrives, he immediately notices that the demonic energy on your body is stronger than before. However, the King-level demon believes that your strength has improved further and does not suspect you too much.]
[The King-level demon explains the reason for gathering a few demons, and three minutes later, you finally understand that there is a place in this imperial city where ancient sealed demons are located. There are a total of ten sealed demons there.]
[The Demon God Palace is planning to sneak into that demon-sealing location tomorrow while the Yao Clan launches its final attack on the Human Clan, and release the sealed demons.]
This foresight went smoothly and was not detected as unusual.
The information he obtained surprised Su Nan.
"There are more than ten sealed demons in this imperial city!"
"The Demon God Palace intends to release the demons?"
Su Nan was shocked by the madness of the Demon God Palace. Releasing dozens of ancient sealed demons, if they succeeded, it would be a significant blow to the imperial city.
"It must be stopped!"
Chapter 239: Official Power
Su Nan immediately wanted to intervene. The Imperial City was now the last stronghold of the Human Race, and they couldn't afford any more problems. Of course, he knew he couldn't handle this situation alone.
He thought for a moment and then released his doppelgänger, instructing it to transform into the appearance of an ordinary player and head to the Demon Slayer Bureau.
"What? You've found demons?"
At the entrance of the Demon Slayer Bureau, two guards initially didn't intend to let Su Nan's doppelgänger in. But as soon as they heard the word "demon," their expressions changed, and they immediately went to report to the bureau chief.
Moments later, Su Nan saw a figure named Ma Hong rising into the sky from the Demon Slayer Bureau, leaving a trail of light and arriving over the outer city in an instant.
Soon after, it seemed that Ma Hong had also noticed the presence of demons. He attacked vigorously, and flames rained down like meteors.
A surge of demonic energy erupted, and a middle-aged demon ascended into the sky, seemingly wanting to challenge Ma Hong.
Su Nan didn't need to guess to know that it was a King-level demon; only they could fly freely in the air.
However, even though the demon's strength far exceeded those of the same level, it was no match for a transcendent Emperor-level expert. In just a few breaths, the demon was heavily injured during the battle.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, the demon attempted to flee, but Ma Hong wouldn't let it escape. Under Ma Hong's final attack, the King-level demon was turned into ashes.
The battle came and went quickly, lasting only a few breaths. It was only after it ended that the many warriors and players below reacted.
"Demons! They're demons!"
"What? Are they the legendary demons?"
Some warriors recognized the aura emanating from the demons. When they heard that the middle-aged demon was one of the legendary demons, many players, instead of being fearful, were excited.
This was the first time they had encountered demons in the game, even after playing for so long.
"Let's go."
Seeing that the situation was resolved, Su Nan, as the instigator of this event, left with the Grand Princess.
He left the Imperial City directly and headed north.
That direction led to one of the nodes of the Heavenly Sky Divine Restriction, where Qianshou Town was located.
Meanwhile, his doppelgänger, under his control, changed its appearance and headed to the Celestial Palace.
First, it spent fifty drops of Profound-level monster blood to purchase a large quantity of life-replenishing items before heading northeast.
That was another node location and the site of Wang Nan's Human Race crisis side quest.
"Today, Zhang Yang and Wang Nan have only completed one task. Unfortunately, there are not many demons left in this Mid Heaven County area. We can only wait until we reach Qianshou Town."
Zhang Yang and Wang Nan's tasks were both about hunting demons. They had previously hunted a Spirit-level demon, and now they needed to hunt one King-level, two Profound-level, one Spirit-level, and one Common-level demon.
Su Nan had one King-level demon in his Qiankun Ring, which he intended to use to complete the task. However, he hesitated when he thought about another issue.
"Do contribution points only count towards killing the demons attacking the nodes at the beginning of the side quest, or do they count for killing any demons?"
"If it's the former, I can leave the demons until the side quest begins and then kill them. That way, I might get a lot of contribution points."
"If it's the latter, I can kill the demons now, but I might not get as many contribution points."
A King-level early-stage demon was worth more than four thousand contribution points. If the latter option was true, it would be like gaining an extra four thousand contribution points.
However, judging from the contribution points obtained by other players, the former option seemed more likely. If killing any demons contributed to the side quest, the Three Sects and Six Schools could easily capture demons before the quest started and save them for their respective players to kill later.
"Whether it works or not, I'll wait and try it tomorrow."
Su Nan didn't dwell on it too much. If it worked, he would essentially get four thousand contribution points for free. If it didn't, he would only miss out on the rewards for "killing a King-level demon" in the quest. It was a small loss.
Half a day later, Su Nan arrived at Qianshou Town.
It was the northernmost town in the Mid Heaven County.
Before entering the town, several tens of miles away, Su Nan saw groups of players hunting demons.
There was no doubt that they were all waiting to participate in the side quest.
However, at this stage of the quest, it was no longer something ordinary players could join.
"If this quest involves the Yao Clan sending a large number of demons of various realms, players can take the opportunity to hunt some Common-level demons and gain the last bit of contribution."
"On the other hand, if the Yao Clan sends high-level demons like last time, no matter how many players there are, they won't even be cannon fodder; they can only be spectators."
Of course, this was a good thing for Su Nan.
After all, he still had the character Lang Shisan.
Su Nan glanced at the group of players hunting demons. He found that they weren't hunting ordinary Common-level demons but rather late-stage Spirit-level demons!
Moreover, the players participating were not ordinary; there were five Spirit-level players among them!
"So many Spirit-level players... This shouldn't be a small guild."
Su Nan was somewhat surprised. Although the number of Spirit-level players had reached six or seven hundred, that was the total number of players in the entire Dongchen Province. If you subtracted the solo players and those in small groups, a guild with dozens of Spirit-level players was already considered a top-tier guild.
Su Nan couldn't help but take a closer look and quickly identified the faction.
"Official!"
"These are players from the official faction!"
Su Nan noticed that these players were highly organized, cooperating with each other in a disciplined manner. It seemed like they had planned ahead meticulously, something that other factions couldn't easily achieve.
Relying on their coordinated efforts, this team, consisting of five Spirit-level early-stage players and over ten Common-level players, managed to severely wound the late-stage Spirit-level demon.
"Even the official faction dares to compete with the official side for demons?"
Su Nan became interested and wanted to see who had such courage.
However, what happened next surprised him even more.
(End of this chapter)