To Hold the Emperor Hostage to Command the Lords

["Combat!! Awesome!!!"]

[Seeing a mere Soul Condensation realm cultivator like you charge straight at him with an elbow strike, Huo Feihuo felt you were truly looking down on him.]

["An ant that doesn't know its own strength! Take this axe!!"]

[Huo Feihuo's axe expanded to dozens of meters in size, chopping down right at your head as you hung in midair.]

[Forty meters tall, weighing thirty thousand tons, one elbow to settle the universe!]

["Rumble!!!"]

[Just a simple jump and smash seemed to carry the power to shatter the heavens and split the earth. The entire ancient city ruins trembled as countless clouds of dust shot into the sky.]

[With your Qilin Arm leading the charge, the scalding, sharp, and tyrannical giant axe in Huo Feihuo's hands couldn't even scratch your right arm, which was radiating a red glow and was visibly several times thicker.]

["Crack!!"]

[The magma giant axe blocked.]

[Shattered with one elbow!]

["What?!"]

[Huo Feihuo folded his fleshy wings forward, trying to block you.]

[Broken with one elbow!]

["Ah!! Xita!!"]

[Huo Feihuo's body burst into flames, erupting with peerless power. The ground beneath his feet cracked wildly as a massive fireball exploded from his body, clashing with you head-on.]

[Unfortunately, the Qilin Arm was invulnerable to water and fire. Enduring the pain of the Qilin Arm, you let out a furious roar.]

[Pulverized with one elbow!]

["Impossible!"]

[Huo Feihuo, with his towering physique, robust flesh, and cultivation as high as the Martial Saint realm.]

[Flattened with one elbow!!]

[The entire process was very fast.]

[In the eyes of Long Yang and the others, you simply jumped up, smashed down, and Huo Feihuo was flattened by you.]

[Hu Tiangong and the Qilin Soul were completely dumbfounded.]

[This was the Dragonkin race that had destroyed the Demon Realm!]

[This was an enemy with Saint-level cultivation!]

[And his physical body was just smashed apart like that?]

[Strictly speaking, you didn't kill Huo Feihuo in a single move.]

[It was just that Huo Feihuo didn't dodge at all. After taking your elbow head-on, he had no ability to resist anymore.]

[He tried to restore his physical body at one point, but your fists rained down like a violent storm, giving him no chance to catch his breath.]

["Bang bang bang..."]

[The massive and thick Qilin Arm pummeled Huo Feihuo until he couldn't even take care of himself.]

[In no time at all, he was reduced to a puddle of mush.]

[There was still the second phase.]

["Oaaahhh!! To actually destroy my physical body! I won't forgive..."]

["Smack!!"]

[The second phase ended.]

[Huo Feihuo, whose soul had just flown out, hadn't even finished speaking before his head was grabbed by your muscular Qilin Arm.]

["Is this right?"]

[Just like in the last simulation, Huo Feihuo was left speechless and choking on his words.]

["Bang bang bang!!"]

[You grabbed Huo Feihuo's soul and slammed it left and right until his soul scattered and turned into a wisp of green smoke.]

[Keeping this fiend alive was useless.]

[The Myriad Soul Banner could not convert Huo Feihuo.]

[Because it was still an artifact, and how much power it could unleash depended on its master's strength.]

[You had to be at a higher realm than the target to successfully convert them when activating the Myriad Soul Banner.]

[Killing Huo Feihuo also yielded loot.]

["Black Wind, eat!"]

[After regaining your rationality, you fed the Dragon Pearl that dropped after Huo Feihuo's death to Black Wind.]

[It still melted in the mouth.]

[After eating Huo Feihuo's pearl, Black Wind's entire horse body was enveloped in a ball of black flames.]

[These flames had no heat; they only possessed a soul-shaking coldness.]

["Black Wind?"]

["Don't worry, boss, I'm fine! I'm about to evolve again! Please give me some time!"]

[Black Wind's voice faded as the black flames formed a cocoon, isolating him from the outside world.]

[As expected of a Dragon Saint's Dragon Pearl; one was worth a huge pile of ordinary Dragonkin pearls!]

[You stored Black Wind into the Cauldron Realm, letting him undergo his metamorphosis in peace.]

"It's a pity the Qilin Arm came late, otherwise Brother Wang and the others wouldn't have had to die."

Outside the simulation, Chen Yi watched with a sigh of emotion.

However, this was the randomness of the trait system.

One never knew what the next trait would be.

[The Qilin and Hu Tiangong came to your side, looking up to examine you.]

["Just who exactly are you, sir, to be able to kill Huo Feihuo all by yourself?"]

[You clapped your massive hands and said calmly.]

["Just luck. Wait a moment, let me shrink a bit. It's inconvenient to talk like this."]

[You could grow large or shrink small, fully displaying a man's true nature.]

[Saying it was luck wasn't entirely modesty.]

[Huo Feihuo had clearly underestimated his enemy.]

[What looked like a basic attack from you was actually your ultimate move.]

[He took your ultimate move with his physical body, putting himself at a massive disadvantage right from the start. It would be weirder if he didn't lose.]

[You explained your purpose for coming to the Qilin.]

[You hoped he could help you return to the Human Realm.]

[This might be a bit cruel to the Qilin.]

[Having just ended a thirty-thousand-year imprisonment, he now had to burn himself to light your way home.]

[But you knew that, at least objectively, it was inappropriate for the Qilin to continue existing. He was already dead, and his lingering soul had been tormented in every way possible, leaving no chance of recovering into a normal lifeform.]

[If his ghost continued to linger, the ones who would suffer were the remnants of the entire Demon race.]

[Subjectively speaking, judging from the last simulation, the Qilin was also aware of this and was willing to sacrifice himself.]

["I do have a way to send you back to the Human Realm, but I hope you can agree to a presumptuous request of mine."]

["Senior, please feel free to speak."]

["Take the Young Master to the Human Realm. There are still demons there. Let the Young Master return to his people."]

[Hu Tiangong refused on the spot.]

["I won't go! Protector, I want to stay in the Demon Realm. This is my home. Even in death, I will remain with the Demon Realm!"]

[The Qilin Soul sighed.]

["In this vast void and the forest of myriad races, where does the name of the Demon Realm still exist? Young Master, your soul is still mostly intact. If you go to the Human Realm, there might be a way to reforge your physical body so you can live another lifetime."]

["What use is it for me to live another lifetime! My people are dead! My father is dead! The Demon Realm has perished! What meaning is there for me to still be alive!"]

["The Demon Realm may have perished, but the Demon race has not! Those clansmen exiled in other worlds might still need you right now!"]

[The two demons argued for a while.]

[You weren't in a hurry either.]

[After all, they had been stranded outside for so many years.]

[Ultimately, the Qilin Soul convinced Hu Tiangong.]

[Hu Tiangong entered the Myriad Soul Banner, willing to accompany you on a trip to the Human Realm.]

[However, once in the Human Realm, it wouldn't be easy for him to leave the banner.]

[The world rules of the Human Realm were normal.]

[Wandering ghosts and wild spirits like him would be targeted by the power of the Underworld, unless Hu Tiangong had a way to temporarily evade the soul reapers.]

[On second thought.]

[Having the son of the Demon Emperor in your hands?]

[Well, good heavens...]

[To the Demon race over in the Human Realm, wouldn't you be holding the emperor hostage to command the nobles?]

[The Demon race fighting the Dragonkin was originally based on bloodline hatred. If you raised the grand banner of the Demon Emperor's son, wouldn't the demons turn into zealot warriors?]

[It was still the Qilin Soul, this protector, who was the most thoughtful.]

[Led by the Qilin Soul, after traveling for a period of time, you arrived at that familiar stretch of the ocean.]

[Everyone entered the Cauldron Realm. You stowed the Jiuzhou Cauldron into your Sea of Consciousness and followed the Qilin Soul to the seabed, where you saw that equally familiar glowing blue stone.]

[A small breach, which could be reopened using the power of the Qilin Soul, was located right here.]

["Finally, we can go home!"]