Before committing to action, the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord wanted to make one final probe.

“What you’re after is nothing more than the Demon Lord’s Pearl. What if I gave it to you as a gift, a token of alliance between us?” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord had never in his entire existence offered anyone terms this generous. The young man before him had genuinely moved something in him — a sincere appreciation of talent — and this was his final attempt. Because he understood all too well what a young man like Yue Yang represented: if he failed to kill him, this would be an adversary who would give him headaches for the rest of his life. The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord sincerely hoped things wouldn’t develop that way, especially given that his divine sense was still sealed inside the Demon God Hall and unavailable to him.

What was the Demon Lord’s Pearl exactly?

Back at the Sky Tower, Tianzhu had once given Yue Yang a “Great Demon Lord’s Pearl” — a quasi-divine artifact ranked as a treasured centerpiece of the Hall, used to obtain two Ghost-Fire Ravens as war beasts for Tianzhu’s second-in-command Tianjian. The Underworld Emperor at the time had similarly traded the “Netherworld’s Eye” for war beasts. Because both artifacts were so unusual, Yue Yang had taken them to ask Her Majesty about them.

Having made himself thoroughly unwelcome with Her Majesty, naturally, Yue Yang had gotten no answer.

But both artifacts had been a mystery lodged in his heart ever since.

He’d been deeply hoping for answers.

Now, hearing the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord casually mention the “Demon Lord’s Pearl,” Yue Yang felt something in his chest stir.

“You’d give me the Demon Lord’s Pearl?” Yue Yang naturally wasn’t about to admit he had no idea what the Demon Lord’s Pearl actually was. He gave a cold laugh instead, indicating his utter contempt for the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s low and transparent attempt at bribery. But even as those words left his mouth, something appeared in the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s hand — a divine artifact bead radiating faint, unearthly light, clearly storing energy beyond measure, held lightly between two fingers of the left hand.

“Take out the Demon Lord’s Seal as well, and I can even tell you how to use it.” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s sincerity appeared genuine.

“I’m not an idiot.” Yue Yang refused without hesitation.

No matter how desperately he wanted to know the truth, his vigilance was absolutely not going to drop. Besides, trust had to be calibrated to who you were dealing with — the person in front of him was the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord, who had once dreamed of conquering the entire Heavenly Realm, an ancient monster who’d lived for tens of thousands of years. Most terrifying of all, his style of “conquest” was nothing like Vivienne’s — Vivienne’s ambition was primarily to overthrow the Central Divine Hall and become the Heavenly Realm’s supreme powerhouse, while the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s conquest meant obliterating every resisting force in the Heavenly Realm, occupying it entirely, and becoming its sole master with all the countless races serving beneath him as slaves.

An old creature with an appetite this enormous — if Yue Yang allied with him, he’d essentially be selling himself to the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord and then helping him count the proceeds.

Yue Yang could work with almost anyone in the world. But a small few were absolutely off the table.

One: the Central Divine Hall’s Divine Hall Supreme. Two: Ji Wuri, pouring everything he had into clearing the Trial Grounds to claim the final Divine Codex. Three: this Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord, whose appetite could swallow the entire Heavenly Realm and still want more.

All three shared one defining characteristic.

Their desires could never be satisfied.

Yue Yang didn’t dare ally with someone whose ambitions were this boundless — because people like that were insatiable lunatics with no capacity for loyalty or gratitude.

The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord smiled faintly, then, with the casual ease of tossing a pebble, flicked the divine artifact bead — of incalculable value, peerless among the world’s treasures — across to Yue Yang. Before Yue Yang even extended his hand, he’d already run through the question at lightning speed: was this a trap? If he caught it, what would happen? In the end, with the domain energy’s harmless probe and the temptation of a divine artifact both weighing on him, he reached out and caught it gently.

Never mind if the sky collapsed and the earth cracked open — what Yue Yang wanted right now was the divine artifact in hand.

Divine artifact in hand, the world was his.

But what moved Yue Yang most wasn’t simply the divine artifact.

The thing that truly made him reluctant to let go was that the Demon Lord’s Pearl seemed to call to him — as though it had been waiting for him specifically across tens of millions of years. This thing belonged to him. It felt like a part of himself that had been separated long ago and was finally returning to where it should be.

“The Demon Lord’s Pearl is an unclaimed divine artifact. I’ve attempted to bond with it for years without success. Perhaps it truly belongs to you — I’ve made my peace with that over time. Hold it in your hand, then bring out the Demon Lord’s Seal, and use the Pearl’s energy to break the seal…” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord laid out the truth of the artifact without any concealment at all.

“……” Yue Yang’s heart was pounding. If the artifact hadn’t already been in his hands, he would never have taken anything the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord said at face value.

But the other side had already given him the Pearl, a divine artifact.

Should he actually do as instructed?

Breaking the seal on the Demon Lord’s Seal — was that the reward for clearing this gate within the Demon God Hall?

Or was the Demon Lord’s Seal itself a second divine artifact? Or perhaps it was the key needed to bond with the Demon Lord’s Pearl?

The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord shook his head. “I understand your caution, and I understand your feelings. You’re unwilling to trust me — and truly, I’ve given you no foundation for trust. But I genuinely want to work with you. The divine artifact is in your hands now. Whether or not the seal gets broken is nothing to do with me. All I hope for is your promise — an alliance, mutual benefit, mutual assistance. At the very least, don’t make an enemy of me.”

Yue Yang thought for a very long time.

At last, he made a careful and measured promise: “If I successfully bond with the Demon Lord’s Pearl and receive the reward for clearing the Demon God Hall’s gate, then I promise not to make an enemy of you, and under certain circumstances, to form an alliance with you.”

It could be said with absolute certainty that Yue Yang did not trust the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord.

Not one bit.

He understood perfectly that an enemy could speak ten thousand words without a single true one among them.

But he also had no desire to pick a fight with the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord right now. After all, what he most wanted at this moment was to break the seal, bond the divine artifact, and increase his own strength.

“Take your time with the unsealing. I’ll go check in on how Ren Tiange’s group is faring. If they’re willing to set aside their greed, I’ll let them go — the greater the killing inside the Demon God Hall, the stronger my divine sense’s seal becomes. If they hadn’t been scheming first, I’d have had no real interest in a large-scale slaughter.” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord gave a casual wave, his silhouette dissolving like a shadow into the endless void.

“……” Yue Yang fell silent again for a long time.

Only when he felt certain the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord was truly gone and no longer lurking to ambush him did Yue Yang slowly make his way out.

Out through the second secret gate. Out through the first.

Back into the Dark Sky Nest underground city ruins.

Yue Yang found complete silence around him. Not a soul in sight.

Finally, unable to contain the longing any longer, he produced the Demon Lord’s Pearl with barely restrained excitement. This was a divine artifact — since when did divine artifacts get handed out like cheap cabbage? Whatever scheme the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord was running, at least one thing was certain: the Demon Lord’s Pearl was now in his own hands.

The Demon Lord’s Pearl was his. Then what about the Demon Lord’s Seal?

Was it the second divine artifact? Or the key object needed to bond with the Pearl?

No idea.

Yue Yang’s mind churned with questions.

Curiosity killed the cat — but Yue Yang forced it down, made his way out into the Dark Sky Nest ruins, and then simply couldn’t hold back anymore. He produced both the Demon Lord’s Pearl and the Demon Lord’s Seal.

After careful deliberation, and a thorough search of the surroundings — not another person anywhere nearby.

Safe.

Everything was perfectly still.

Following the method the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord had just described, Yue Yang held the Demon Lord’s Pearl in his palm, slowly stimulating it with the purest energy he could summon, then channeled the awakened energy from the Pearl into the unassuming Demon Lord’s Seal. At first, Yue Yang moved cautiously and slowly — adding the tiniest thread of energy and then stopping, scanning carefully in every direction, guarding against ambush.

But the surroundings remained desolate and empty. Every carefully alert action was met with nothing.

The moment a thread of the Pearl’s energy entered it, the previously unremarkable Demon Lord’s Seal underwent a striking transformation. It seemed to be expanding, and somewhere within it, as though limitless energy were straining against the seal, pressing to burst free. If it were fully released, this Demon Lord’s Seal was clearly something far beyond an ordinary divine artifact.

Even Yue Yang’s Heaven’s Eye hadn’t seen this before.

This small, unassuming Demon Lord’s Seal possessed power of this magnitude.

Yue Yang suppressed his surging excitement and drew in a deep breath.

He immediately poured his energy in, driving the vast reserves stored within the Demon Lord’s Pearl rapidly into the transforming Seal.

At first, a degree of caution remained — staying alert, controlling the flow at all times. But as the Demon Lord’s Seal continued its increasingly dramatic transformation, Yue Yang’s habitual care gradually loosened its grip. The Pearl’s enormous energy surged in like a flood, and yet the Pearl’s own reserves didn’t diminish — they only seemed to grow more immense, as though storing inexhaustible power within. The Demon Lord’s Seal in his other hand stretched and elongated in response, slowly taking on the shape of a divine sword. As the Pearl’s energy poured in without restraint, the sealing force layered over it began to dissolve.

The energy inside the Demon Lord’s Seal grew more active by the moment, like a dormant volcano struck by an earthquake.

When the boundary of the limit was reached.

A sound like thunder.

The sealing force shattered completely, erupting in an instant, its power more terrifying than any volcanic explosion, the shockwave sweeping across the entire underground city ruins.

The Demon Lord’s Seal’s true form revealed itself at the same moment — a divine sword capable of cutting down all things, its color a deep purple-black, its blade long and narrow, its edge peerless, the sword qi, sword light, sword energy, and sword soul carrying the vivid quality of a living thing, piercing from the heavens to the depths of the earth.

The moment this divine sword emerged, the entire Dark Sky Nest shuddered without stopping, as though trembling and crying out beneath the might of its birth.

“The seal is broken. What a blade — what a Demon Lord’s Sword.” Yue Yang watched the divine sword rising into the sky with dominating force over all of heaven and earth. He reached out excitedly, as though to take this divine artifact in his own hand. The divine sword suddenly rang out, scattering ten thousand rays of light, too brilliant for Yue Yang to look at directly. The sword was clearly rejecting him — divine artifacts chose their masters, and even a Sacred-tier weapon, let alone a supreme divine artifact with genuine spiritual awareness, would not lightly select someone to bond with.

Yue Yang understood this perfectly.

He didn’t give up.

He kept reaching, trying to take hold of this sword that was refusing him.

Even if it took all the time in the world, he would form a bond with it…

Just as Yue Yang was attempting to approach the sword, a shadow appeared in front of him with casual grace, completely ignoring the sword’s rejection, casually reaching out and taking the sword in hand. The divine sword in the shadow’s grip responded like a pet seeing its owner — a delighted, resonant ringing that went on and on without stopping.

The newcomer was, of course, the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord.

He stood now with his eyes closed, one hand gently tracing the flat of the sword’s blade, his touch as tender as someone caressing a lover’s skin.

“Old companion — we’ve been apart for tens of thousands of years. You’ve finally returned to me.” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord sighed with incomparable feeling. “Though my gift of precognition told me long ago you would come back to my side, this extraordinarily cautious young man still had me on edge the whole time. I was truly afraid he’d seal you and the Demon Lord’s Pearl away forever — then we’d never see each other again. Without you drinking the blood of my enemies, even if I became king of the world, it would bring me no joy. Welcome back — the Demon Lord’s Sword, companion of my conquest across the Heavenly Realm. From this day forward, I swear — no one will ever separate us again.”

Hummmmm! The divine sword unsealed from the Demon Lord’s Seal rang and rang without stopping, as though answering the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s words.

“Are you serious right now, you ancient bastard — you used my hands to unseal your own sword?” Yue Yang was furious.

“To thank you for breaking the seal, I’ll end your life as painlessly as possible. Before I had the Demon Lord’s Sword in hand, I didn’t dare make such an offer. But sword in hand once more — who in all the heavens and earth can stand against me?” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord raised the Demon Lord’s Sword with arrogant pride and gave the air a light tap upward. Thousands of lightning bolts, nearly ten thousand, wove together like living serpents into a massive column of thunder and drove it into the ground with crushing force.

BOOM!

In just one strike, the Dark Sky Nest underground city ruins ceased to exist.

Everything on the ground was reduced to nothing. Beneath that thunder column, apart from a gaping chasm shaped like the maw of some primordial beast, nothing remained.

“What the hell—!” Yue Yang’s heart lurched. The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord without his sword had already been formidable enough — with the Demon Lord’s Sword in hand, this ancient creature’s strength had shot up at minimum tenfold. With that kind of gap, what kind of fight was even possible? But Yue Yang’s brain, set afire with rage at being used so thoroughly, simply had no room to think about whether the fight was winnable. The only thing on his mind right now was putting this terrifying ancient monster with the gift of precognition flat on the ground — ideally with the old creature kneeling there and begging him through tears.

“Except for the time I was sealed, I have never been defeated in my entire life.” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord shot Yue Yang a contemptuous sideways glance. “With my gift of precognition, I am undefeated. No one but the ancient gods themselves can bring me down — not even you, this once-in-ten-thousand-years genius, will be the exception.”

“You’ve already foreseen my defeat?” Yue Yang gave a cold laugh. “If you really had, why would you still need to scare me with your precognition?”

“True enough — you are the one fish my precognition cannot catch.” The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord curled his lip with boundless arrogance. “Perhaps you possess some special gift that interferes with my foresight. But with your current strength, I could crush you to death a hundred times over with one finger.”

“Then let’s find out.”

Yue Yang suddenly produced the Prison Emperor’s Divine Seal — the one he almost never used in battle, typically reserved for cracking walnuts on little Yue Shuang’s head — his face lit with complete battle-readiness.

If Princess Qianqian and the others had been watching, they would have recognized something they’d never seen before: Yue Yang, more serious than he’d ever been in his life.

Not the fury of someone who’d been deceived.

But the blazing, absolute limit of a warrior’s fighting spirit.

The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord took one look and his expression darkened in an instant, rage exploding behind his eyes. “What? Don’t tell me you unsealed the Demon Lord’s Sword on purpose—”

(End of Chapter)