Inside the light barrier, Wu Tianjun closed his eyes in silence. Lying on his shoulder, Xiao Qing was continuously and blissfully absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy and demonic energy. Six hours had passed, but he still could not establish communication with that artifact spirit, so he decided not to stay inside the light barrier any longer.
"Xiao Qing, cultivate here. I will go out and return shortly." Wu Tianjun set Xiao Qing down to let it continue its cultivation. He wanted to go out and search for that artifact spirit.
"Master, please be careful," Xiao Qing said quietly before resuming its absorption of spiritual and demonic energy to cultivate. It felt that it would very soon reach the mid-stage of the Human Dan realm.
"Go through that large gate. I can sense soul fluctuations," the Origin Soul said, pointing toward one of the doors. They had released their spiritual sense and quickly spotted three doors; the Origin Soul was referring to one of those three.
"Let's go." At this moment, the Demonic Infant took control of the body and walked out of the light barrier. Strangely, the light barrier did not obstruct him in the slightest, which was likely related to that Demonic Source Imprint.
Entering the large gate, Wu Tianjun assessed the path. It looked like an ordinary path with nothing unusual about it. After walking for a short while, he saw a platform about half a zhang high. Floating silently above it was a sphere of green light. Inside the light lay a tiny figure about one foot tall, currently pinned to the platform by a small black sword pierced through its chest, rendering it completely immobile. As if sensing something, it turned its head toward Wu Tianjun. Feeling the dense Primordial Demonic Qi radiating from him, it was overjoyed.
"It's you! You have come! Thank goodness you were not branded by that Demonic Source Imprint." The tiny figure's voice was weak, yet filled with pleasant surprise.
"You must be that artifact spirit, right? Were you the one who called me here?" Wu Tianjun asked, scanning his surroundings.
"Yes! It was indeed I who called you here..." the artifact spirit replied joyfully.
"Oh? Is that so? If I had also been branded with that imprint, wouldn't I have become your slave?" Wu Tianjun's voice suddenly turned cold. He was fortunate to have the Demonic Infant.
"I had no control over the branding!" the artifact spirit's voice trembled. "I was gravely injured long ago, as you can see. The imprint was set by my Master before his demise, simply waiting for his successor." The artifact spirit's voice was now filled with grief. Its Master had fallen—the very person who had granted it sentience.
"That person is already dead, so why set an imprint? To find a successor?" Wu Tianjun asked, puzzled.
"As long as someone possesses the Primordial Demonic Veins, they can inherit everything of my Master's. He created this place just to raise a few subordinates for the new master," the artifact spirit said sadly.
"New master? You don't mean me, do you?" Wu Tianjun said in shock. Training a bunch of God Venerables and Holy Gods just to serve as slaves—he wondered what unfathomable realm this member of the Demon Race had reached.
"Yes! You are the new master of this place, and also my master," the artifact spirit said weakly, its voice carrying a great deal of sorrow.
"With that person's realm, they were still killed? And what happened to you?" Wu Tianjun asked in shock. The Old Demon, with his heaven-defying realm, was killed, and this peerless demon was also dead. What on earth had happened?
"The great war back then was brutal; Master was besieged. As for me, I was wounded by a powerhouse of the Celestial Race using a divine soul sword, pinning me to the Divine Platform. I have depleted too much of my energy. If you hadn't come, I would probably have vanished soon," the artifact spirit said weakly yet furiously.
"Oh? Was that war at the end of the Primordial Era or the Ancient Era?" Wu Tianjun asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Huh? How do you know about that war?" the artifact spirit said in astonishment. Could the person before it be a reincarnated powerhouse? That seemed highly likely. Looking at how young he was, yet already at the Divine Lord Realm, he must have been a super powerhouse who reincarnated to cultivate anew.
"I know someone who participated in the Primordial Great War..." Thinking of the Old Devil, Wu Tianjun sighed.
"Participated in the Primordial Great War..." The artifact spirit gasped. Wasn't that era erased from history? It had only been born during the Ancient Era. "I was only born in the Ancient Era..." the artifact spirit said weakly.
"Ha! We can talk about that later! Did you say I am the new master of this place?" Wu Tianjun felt it was time to get down to business.
"Yes! As long as you refine this platform, you will become the master of this place," the artifact spirit said, pointing to the platform beneath it.
"Huh! How do I help you escape then?" Wu Tianjun asked, looking at the artifact spirit.
"With your current cultivation realm, you cannot help me break free..." the artifact spirit said dejectedly. If things continued like this, it would soon fade away.
"Oh? Isn't it just a Soul Sword? Just burn it," Wu Tianjun asked back in surprise.
"Burn it?! How are you going to burn it?" The artifact spirit was shocked, then spoke with disdain.
"Hey! I am your new master, after all! You dare look down on me? I'll teach you a lesson later!" Wu Tianjun said, feigning anger at its disdain. Then, his Demonic Infant opened its mouth and spat lightly, and a clump of dark green flame appeared in Wu Tianjun's left hand.
"Ah! Primordial Green Fire... You... You are of the royal family of the Primordial Demon Race..." Seeing this flame, the artifact spirit understood where his confidence came from. This flame was known as one of the Primordial Twin Ancestral Fires, alongside the Taiqing Divine Fire of the Primordial God Race. One was a Nascent Soul Fire, and the other was a Divine Sense Fire, capable of burning anything.
"Oh? You have some knowledge? Tell me, how long will it take to burn this Divine Sense Sword..." Wu Tianjun said smugly.
"If you use that, you will burn me to death as well..." the artifact spirit said in horror, before turning gloomy.
"Uh...!!!" Wu Tianjun hadn't thought of that. "Then how about this?" Wu Tianjun's Origin Soul blew gently, and a very pale bluish-white flame appeared in his right hand.
"Huh?... Taiqing Divine Fire... You... How can you have the Taiqing Divine Fire? What kind of monster are you?" The artifact spirit's body trembled violently. How could a single person possess the two divine fires of two races that were mortal enemies?
"Ha! Turns out there are things you don't know either." Wu Tianjun sized up the artifact spirit with great interest; he had thought it was a know-it-all. "Burn!" Wu Tianjun waved his right hand, sending the Taiqing Divine Fire toward the platform to burn the Soul Sword.
"Sizzle, sizzle..." Sizzling sounds rang out continuously as the Soul Sword slowly melted. This was because Wu Tianjun's cultivation realm was far lower than the one who had unleashed the Soul Sword. If they were close to or in the same realm, it would probably have taken only an instant.
"How do I refine this platform..." After waiting for nearly two hours, seeing that the Soul Sword had melted by less than a tenth, Wu Tianjun stopped waiting and looked at the artifact spirit to ask.
"A blood sacrifice..." the artifact spirit said. What on earth was this monster? He was so young, yet his cultivation realm was terrifyingly high, and he possessed two kinds of divine fires, yet he didn't even know how to refine a magic treasure. Was he really not a reincarnated powerhouse? Or had he simply not recovered his memories from his past life yet?
"A blood sacrifice, huh..." Wu Tianjun had heard of blood sacrifices, but he had never tried one before. Slicing his finger to draw a drop of blood, Wu Tianjun was about to execute the hand seal from the inheritance memories of his Demonic Infant when the platform suddenly trembled. This caused the entire great hall to shake, waking up the several old monsters cultivating outside. Even the ground outside shook violently, as if an earthquake were passing through.
"What kind of bloodline do you have...?" the Artifact Spirit asked in terror. Just a single ordinary drop of blood had caused its true form to shake like this, and it even felt a sudden urge to voluntarily recognize him as its master. Just how terrifying was this bloodline?
"Oh... Even you don't know? Then let's leave it for later," Wu Tianjun said, looking unfathomably profound.
The platform trembled, and then Wu Tianjun felt as if something extra had been added to his body. Yes, that was it—he felt as though he had gained an extra limb, which was the very structure surrounding him. This object was called the Demonic Dragon City. Its true form was a Demonic Dragon Saint Bone, which its previous owner had refined into the current Demonic Dragon City by adding various materials. It was a flying magic treasure capable of traveling through the starry void. At the same time, it could attack on its own like a demonic dragon, though it was weaker than the original dragon—roughly around the early Saint God realm. Its defense, however, was astonishing; even a Saint Ancestor could not easily break it. Furthermore, it had a cultivation ground that could accommodate twenty people cultivating simultaneously. This was a truly versatile demonic artifact! Wu Tianjun concluded.
"To recognize a master so quickly..." the Artifact Spirit said in astonishment before falling into a deep sleep. It was extremely weak. Once the Taiqing Divine Fire wiped away that Soul Sword, it would wake up again and find a way to recover. After all, it had already recognized its master.
"It actually fell asleep. Here, let's restore some of your soul power." Wu Tianjun glanced at the Artifact Spirit and tossed out over ten drops of Lightning Tribulation Liquid. This stuff would probably help it recover some of its strength. He still had many questions to ask the Artifact Spirit.
Nearly twenty hours had passed since Wu Tianjun entered the Demonic Dragon City. He was now walking out toward the cultivation ground, which was also the place where those twelve powerhouses were imprisoned. In a sense, they were the subordinates that the previous owner of the Demonic Dragon City had prepared for him.
"Wake up..." Wu Tianjun called out. Now in control of the Demonic Dragon City, with just a single thought, he dispersed the demonic qi in the area, leaving only dense spiritual qi surrounding them. Following this, the powerhouses woke up one after another, looking at Wu Tianjun with astonished eyes.
"Little brother, you can actually disperse the demonic qi?" an old man said.
"Do you have a way to leave this place?!" another one said excitedly.
"..." Several old men spoke up one after another.
"Hmph! I indeed have found a way to leave," Wu Tianjun said with certainty. "But why should I rescue you?" Wu Tianjun asked with a strange look. *You are currently my subordinates, so why should I let you go?* Wu Tianjun thought that with the strength of these twelve people, as soon as he got out of here, he could quickly avenge the Wu family. Furthermore, with their capabilities, he could much more quickly find the various treasures needed to save his mother and locate his lost clansmen.
"Why should you rescue us..." one powerhouse muttered.
"We have no grievances or enmity! Do us a favor, and we will surely repay you ten-thousand-fold in the future!" another powerhouse cried out.
"What exactly do you want?" the purple-haired powerhouse asked. With his half-step Saint Ancestor realm cultivation, his words immediately silenced the others.
"Hmph, as I said, you have been branded with the Demon Source Imprint. That thing is a means of enslaving the strong created by the Primordial Demon Race, and that is precisely your current state. Right now, I hold your lives in my hands." Wu Tianjun pondered for a moment before speaking, then raised his voice. "Acknowledge me as your master, and I shall spare your lives!" Wu Tianjun's powerful voice rang out.