Chapter 1: Disciple Li Xuanxiao, Requesting the Sect Leader to Die!!
"Evil? So what if it's evil? Does evil deserve to be eradicated?"
The deep chime of a bell echoed through the clouds.
Li Xuanxiao walked through the misty peaks, holding a black, antique-looking box in his hands.
Inside the box, a voice kept speaking:
"Heretic cultivators? So heretic cultivators should just die?"
"You people from Shushan call yourselves righteous, so why not try to save me instead?"
"Buddhism teaches that if one lays down the butcher's knife, they can immediately attain enlightenment. Even Buddha is willing to give us a chance to reform."
"...."
Li Xuanxiao remained indifferent and continued forward.
The sacred Three Radiance Divine Water flowed through the mountain. Tossing this box into it would completely eradicate the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord sealed inside.
"Aren't you curious? Back then, when your First Senior Brother came here, why did he take me back to Shushan instead of throwing me into the Three Radiance Divine Water?"
Li Xuanxiao did not respond.
The Sky-Devouring Demon Lord sounded anxious.
"Your First Senior Brother was a once-in-a-millennium prodigy, an unparalleled genius. Aren't you even a little curious why, at the last moment, he failed to complete his mission?"
Li Xuanxiao remained silent, his steps quick and steady.
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord: w(ﾟДﾟ)w!!!
As expected, even a Demon Lord can't handle being ignored.
"Fine! I'll tell you now. The reason is—back then, your Sect Founder and I were sworn brothers! We made an oath upon the Dao to live and die together, intertwining our fates."
"Now, if I die, your beloved Sect Founder will die as well!!"
"Think about it. He raised you from childhood and treated you like his own. Can you really bear to kill him?"
"When you return, how will you face your fellow disciples, knowing it was you who personally killed your own Sect Founder?!"
The Sky-Devouring Demon Lord was practically shouting.
Li Xuanxiao had already reached the Three Radiance Divine Water.
The Three Radiance Divine Water was composed of Sunlight Divine Water, Moonlight Divine Water, and Starlight Divine Water—each an irreplaceable, priceless treasure, yet also the deadliest poison.
Even an immortal of the Great Dao Realm would suffer greatly if they so much as touched it.
The Sky-Devouring Demon Lord was, of course, utterly terrified.
Li Xuanxiao's gaze was firm.
"We disciples of Shushan exist to eliminate demons and uphold justice. Sky-Devouring Demon Lord, you have slaughtered countless lives. The only reason you're still alive today is half due to your own karma and half due to our sect leader's indulgence."
"Our Sect Founder, as the leader of Shushan, has allowed personal desires to cloud his judgment. If he dies now, it would only be fitting, a way to atone for his past sins."
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord
Wait… that doesn't sound like what the other Shushan disciples said before.
"A person without emotions or desires—is that even human?" the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord quickly countered.
"I don't believe for a second that you have no evil thoughts at all!"
Even the First Senior Brother, with his immense cultivation, had succumbed to his dark desires under the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord's influence.
Surely, this disciple before him would be even easier to manipulate.
Immediately, the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord peered into Li Xuanxiao's inner thoughts.
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord must die!
Kill the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord!
The Sky-Devouring Demon Lord should be dismembered piece by piece—just letting him die would be too easy.
A thousand cuts! A thousand cuts!
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord: ....What terrifying evil thoughts.
But despite the overwhelming darkness in Li Xuanxiao's mind, the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord didn't dare to provoke them.
If he didn't trigger Li Xuanxiao's evil desires, he would die.
If he did trigger them… he might die even faster!!
This was a no-win situation. No matter what, he was doomed.
Li Xuanxiao formed a hand seal.
"Disciple Li Xuanxiao, requesting the Sect Leader to die!
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord:
"Shouldn't you at least ask your sect leader if he's willing to die?! I know him too well—he has so many regrets, he still dreams of becoming an immortal, he… he… he even has a first love!!"
Now, the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord was truly desperate.
"This is moral coercion, you know that?! How can you just sacrifice someone else to fulfill your own selfish desires?!"
The Sky-Devouring Demon Lord tried using morality to guilt-trip Li Xuanxiao.
Li Xuanxiao simply replied, indifferent:
"Enough nonsense. Get in the water."
Sky-Devouring Demon Lord: "Nooo——"
The black box fell into the Three Radiance Divine Water, and a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air.
Shushan Sect.
The Sect Leader calmly ate a roasted whole lamb.
This might be his final meal, but he didn't seem to care.
Several groups of disciples had attempted this mission before, yet all had failed. Even the First Senior Brother, the sect's greatest prodigy, had succumbed to his inner demons in the end.
The Sect Leader's emotions were complex.
Who truly wants to die?
But if the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord wasn't eliminated, the reputation of Shushan would be ruined.
If that boy, Li Xuanxiao, ever found out that killing the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord would also mean killing him…
He would never go through with it.
The Sect Leader still remembered carrying a deathly ill Li Xuanxiao up the mountain. If it weren't for him, the boy would've died long ago.
Li Xuanxiao grew up in Shushan. Aside from his master, the only person he was truly close to was him—the Sect Leader.
Everyone in Shushan knew that the Sect Leader treated Li Xuanxiao like his own grandson.
That boy was fiercely loyal. In his heart, the Sect Leader was probably no different from a kind, loving grandfather.
Shaking his head, the Sect Leader thought,
That kid would never go through with it.
But soon, the seal on the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord would no longer hold.
Perhaps he should reconsider his strategy.
Maybe this wasn't a task for Shushan's disciples.
After all, the moment they learned that killing the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord meant killing him, no one would be willing to do it.
He was beloved by all—kind, warm, treating every disciple like his own child...
Just then, five disciples entered the hall.
Seeing their Sect Leader leisurely eating roasted lamb, they weren't the least bit surprised.
"By now, Li Xuanxiao should have reached the Three Radiance Divine Water."
"Sigh, he's still so young… I doubt he can handle such a heavy burden."
"Indeed. Especially considering how deeply he cares for the Sect Leader."
"...."
"Disciple Li Xuanxiao, requesting the Sect Leader to die!!"
The five disciples were whispering among themselves when—
A voice resounded across the heavens, rolling like thunder.
The Sect Leader looked up, utterly stunned.
An overwhelming force surged forth, enveloping him in an instant.
His entire body trembled violently.
Sect Leader: (⊙o⊙)…
Then, under the invasion of this mysterious power, his soul began to dissolve—melting like ice in a raging fire.
In mere moments, the Sect Leader's soul had vanished without a trace.
Only a dead silence remained, along with the terrified gazes of those left behind…