Fire Demon

Sandean received a letter, one from the Ice Temple.

It was personally written by his student, the Food Priest Lan, but after reading it, Sandean sensed that behind this letter lay inquiries from the Henir Dynasty and the Nine Great Temples.

Not long ago.

Several Spirit Realm priests from the Iron, Oil, Pottery, Weaving, and Ink Temples had disappeared, including some who were second only to the High Priests.

They were all elite members of their respective temples, not necessarily the highest in rank, but possessing some of the most powerful bloodlines.

These priests not only mastered various secret divine techniques but also wielded the power of rituals.

Lan had personally visited the scene at the Weaving Temple.

Based on the traces found, one of the Spirit Realm priests had been struck down with a single blow, then dragged away without putting up any resistance.

To be able to abduct so many powerful priests silently and without any resistance, everyone believed the attacker must be a third-level Seal Priest.

And currently, only Sandean and his two students possessed third-level power.

At the end of the letter, Lan wrote: "On the day this priest disappeared, a mysterious ship approached the port of God-Descended City, then quickly departed in the dead of night."

"There are rumors that this ship bore the mark of the Island of Mist."

Sandean stood up abruptly, holding the letter, anger rising within him.

He believed this was slander against the Temple of Truth by the Nine Priests. These temple priests had never gotten along with him or the Temple of Truth, always suppressing priests from the Temple of Truth.

If not for King Henir's decree, his student Lan would never have been able to become the High Priest of the Ice Temple.

"This is impossible."

"Ships from the Island of Mist visit various ports every month for supplies. What's strange about that?"

"Just because a few priests go missing, it must be related to the Temple of Truth?"

"Why would third-level power be needed to defeat a few Spirit Realm priests from the Nine Great Temples? Learning a few powerful divine techniques would suffice."

As the Sage of Truth, the most powerful priest of this era,

Sandean certainly had the confidence to say such things.

Although he said this, if Lan could make such a judgment, it meant he must have discovered some traces of third-level Seal Priest power.

Suddenly, Sandean remembered something.

Recently, Haru had said he was going to see Lan, but Lan's letter didn't mention Haru's visit at all.

"Haru..." Sandean murmured, a sense of unease growing within him.

In Haru's ritual workshop.

The Fire Demon Bottle was placed on the ground, with seven or eight fire demons traversing inside the sealed flask. These transparent spirit forms occasionally pressed against the glass walls, revealing their faces.

Haru stood opposite the Fire Demon Bottle, forming two symmetrical points.

Anhofus stood outside the ritual array, watching his teacher nervously yet excitedly.

Today, he might witness a miracle, he told himself with mounting excitement.

"This is mortal exploration of truth, the unveiling of life's mysteries."

Although a descendant of the Samo family of the royal bloodline, Anhofus considered himself a seeker of the Way. In this, he hadn't deceived his teacher Haru at all.

Compared to so-called noble bloodlines, he was more interested in pursuing the world's most powerful forces.

And this power was in the hands of his teacher and the Sage of Truth.

He admired the strong, and Haru was a strong one in his eyes.

After placing the last sacrificial item, he respectfully said to his teacher Haru.

"Teacher!" Anhofus exclaimed. "We're just one step away from success."

Haru didn't respond, staring blankly at the Fire Demon Bottle and the spirit forms wandering endlessly inside.

He had made his final decision and stood here, yet suddenly hesitated.

What worried him now was the same as what his teacher had thought.

"Is this power truly the correct path we seek? Abandoning the fragile Trilobite Man body to possess a powerful fire demon form."

"The secret art of reincarnation."

"A fire demon body."

He suddenly thought of his father who died so young, and those priests who died by his own hands.

Life is so fragile, he had known since he was very young.

Just a nod, a glance from those in power could take everything from the weak.

His father was killed by those people just for wanting to implement the ideals of his teacher Sandean.

And the reason.

It was merely to give his teacher a warning.

Just to give a warning, sacrificing an unknown nobody, such an insignificant thing.

Yet it took everything from him as a child.

Thinking of this, all hesitation instantly dissipated.

"Ah!" Haru exulted. "With just one step, I'll break free from the shackles of life, gaining a lifespan far beyond mortal limits."

His eyes revealed a desire for power and strength, and greed for possessing a powerful body.

In the deepest part, one could faintly see fear of death.

At this moment, the sound of bells came from outside the workshop.

Someone was coming along the cliff path; this was the warning he had set up.

Haru quickly put away the Fire Demon Bottle and hurriedly opened the workshop door with Anhofus.

Standing before the door was, surprisingly, his teacher Sandean and several temple instructors.

Haru was somewhat astonished; his teacher rarely came to his workshop, usually just summoning him to the castle for discussions.

"Teacher!" Haru exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice. "What brings you here?"

Sandean's expression was grave, his gaze complex as he looked at Haru: "I have some questions for you."

Powerful spirit power swept through Haru's workshop, a method of investigation extremely offensive to others, which even the Sage of Truth Sandean wouldn't use lightly on others.

Yet today he did.

He first looked at the front hall of the workshop, discovering nothing.

But when the spirit power swept over Haru himself, it was completely different. A strong spirit power fluctuation, originally sealed, suddenly erupted, sweeping through the entire hall.

Everyone present immediately saw the Fire Demon Bottle hidden under Haru's robe, and the fire demons circling within it.

Sandean was stunned for a moment, then sternly demanded: "Haru, where did you obtain this Divine Artifact? Answer me!"

Haru panicked and tried to put it away, but it was too late.

Faced with Sandean's questioning, Haru remained silent.

Sandean's voice grew even more severe; it was the first time he had spoken to Haru in such a tone: "I won't ask again, Haru. Where did this come from?"

Haru already sensed he couldn't cover it up. He originally wanted to explain, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn't bring himself to lie to his teacher.

He lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, his words heavy with resignation. "Teacher, trust me when I say you don't want to know the answer to that."

A temple instructor who had come with Sandean tapped the stone slab with his foot: "Sage, there's a hollow underneath."

Sandean waved his hand, and the floor was instantly lifted.

With a loud noise, a large hole opened in the ground, revealing a hidden underground altar.

Light dispersed the darkness, exposing Haru's hidden secret.

To ensure the success of the "Fourth Level Ability Power" experiment, Haru had personally killed several priests from ancient families, cruelly extracting their mythical blood and spirit forms.

Now his underground altar resembled a flaying purgatory, piled with the corpses of those priests, the most recent one killed just yesterday.

In the air, their resentment still lingered.

Sandean and several temple instructors stared at the bloody altar below, all dumbfounded.

He looked at his student Haru as if seeing him for the first time.

Sandean's originally stern expression instantly turned sorrowful, filled with disbelief. He had guessed his student had done something wrong, but never imagined it would be to this extent.

"Haru!" Sandean's voice quavered, a mix of shock, disappointment, and grief. "What in God's name have you done?"

Haru stepped back gradually, saying as he did.

"Teacher!"

"They were all conservatives, they were our enemies, enemies of all Trilobite Men."

"Teacher, didn't you kill them too?"

"For people like them, being able to contribute their power to the new era is their glory, and also atonement for their past ugliness."

He retreated along the passage into the innermost stone chamber, the room where he had originally prepared to perform the secret technique.

Sandean pursued closely.

While furious, he also hesitated.

He knew his student had made mistakes, but hadn't fully decided how to deal with this situation.

"Didn't I tell you before?"

"This is no reason for cruel murder. Divine Artifacts cannot be refined using others' lives."

"I avenged all your grievances for you. Everything about your father is over."

"None of this should continue through you."

Haru retreated to the center of the ritual array and stopped, taking out the Fire Demon Bottle from his sleeve.

At this point, Haru's initial panic gradually subsided.

He had finally made a certain resolve.

"Teacher, I still did it."

"Some things don't end just because someone says they're over."

His tone suddenly became higher, his voice carrying beyond the passage, audible even in the outer hall.

"But I'm not wrong!" Haru insisted. "They deserved to die."

As he spoke, the ritual array beneath his feet activated.

This was originally a ritual array for refining fire element, but now it acted not only on those sacrifices, but directly on Haru and the Fire Demon Bottle.

Sandean immediately understood what he intended to do and quickly pursued through the passage.

He wanted to interrupt the ritual's progress and snatch the Fire Demon Bottle from Haru's hand.

Sandean shouted at Haru: "Haru!"

"Don't do this, you'll regret it."

The ritual began, and vast, endless fire element filled the space.

"Boom!"

Intense flames erupted, blasting the charging Sandean away.

At the same time, it incinerated the body of Haru standing at the center of the ritual array to ashes.

From the roaring flames, a monster composed entirely of gas crawled out. It didn't have a completely stable form, constantly twisting before finally transforming into a terrifying fire demon.

The entire cliff instantly became a sea of fire, with buildings collapsing layer by layer.

Sandean was also blasted away, but his spirit power barrier blocked the flames, allowing him to land safely on the ground.

In an instant, everything on the cliff turned into a sea of fire and ruins.

The fire demon opened its eyes, and only then did Haru realize he had become a giant over ten meters tall.

From this perspective, everything seemed so small, even the entire island seemed unable to contain him.

Trilobite Men were like insignificant insects, while he felt like a god.

"Look, Teacher!" Haru crowed triumphantly. "I've succeeded!"

"What powerful strength! No longer bound by a fragile body."

"I won't die easily, won't age like mortals."

"Nothing in this world can easily kill me now."

The fire demon laughed, its face of flames somewhat resembling Haru, but looking so ferocious.

The fire demon, over ten meters tall, looked at Sandean and spoke to him.

"It's not as scary as imagined, teacher. You always worry too much."

"Didn't you say hesitation and uncertainty can't bring the future? Why did you hesitate this time?"

Sandean was furious: "Haru, do you know what you're doing?"

"You've abandoned your identity as a Trilobite Man. You've become a monster."

"Of all the principles I taught you, is this all you remembered?"

Haru had abandoned his Trilobite Man body to become a fire demon, a strange life form composed of gas.

Vast fire element surged within him, becoming the source of his power.

The fire demon lowered its head, speaking in a muffled voice: "I'm just following the principles you taught me!"

Sandean laughed in anger: "What nonsense are you spouting?"

The Sage of Truth launched an attack against the fire demon, immediately releasing the power of a third-level Seal Priest.

A stone giant broke free on the cliff, charging towards the fire demon.

He absolutely couldn't allow his student to become someone who casually sacrificed others to refine them into tools, and he feared an even more powerful and evil force than the Secret Art of Immortality spreading.

He wanted to restrain Haru and save his student from this dangerous path.

"Boom!" The moment the fire giant and stone giant collided, layers of fire and huge rocks could be seen falling from above, crashing into various parts of the island.

The stone giant tightly entangled the fire giant, trying to seal it.

The fire giant seemed somewhat afraid and dazed, not daring to directly confront the stone giant, constantly dodging and retreating.

But even so, the battle between the fire demon Haru and the stone giant was incredibly intense. To the people at the foot of the mountain, it looked like two gods fighting.

"Teacher!" Haru cried out, his voice a mix of confusion and fear. "Why are you attacking me? Do you want to kill me?"

"What are you doing? Why are you doing this?"

"I am your student."

Haru's eyes turned completely red. He once again recalled those who had killed his father, remembered the corpse he had seen as a child.

"Kill them, kill them all."

"I'm not wrong. They're all sinners."

"Roar!"

The fire demon let out an angry roar, intense flames shooting out from its mouth.

The tens of meters high flames enveloped the stone giant like a tornado, melting Sandean's stone seal spirit entirely. Even Sandean, wrapped in stone, had to explode his controlled stone giant to escape this destructive strike.

"Boom!"

The violent explosion blasted him away, slamming him heavily at the foot of the mountain.

Sandean hadn't expected that his power would be far from enough to deal with the fire demon.

He had been defeated by his own student.

And Haru was equally surprised that his once lofty teacher Sandean had been defeated by his own hands.

Seeing Sandean seriously injured, Haru finally regained his senses.

The fire demon Haru ran down the cliff step by step, anxiously looking at the badly injured Sandean at the foot of the mountain.

He was somewhat afraid, at a loss.

The terrifying giant face composed of flames showed bewilderment and unease: "Teacher~"

Sandean was supported by several temple instructors. The instructors wanted to take him away from the out-of-control fire demon; in their view, Sandean had been defeated, and this place had become dangerous.

All the instructors and students in the temple were terrified by the fire demon's horrifying power.

But Sandean broke free, staggering to his feet.

"Don't be afraid!"

"What is there to fear!"

"He is Haru, I am his teacher."

The bone armor on Sandean's body was shattered, covered in burn marks, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up at the huge fire demon on the mountain path and shouted.

"Do you remember?"

"Back then in the Sky Temple, when you were little, I once told you."

"You could become a great person who changes the world, or become an ordinary person who doesn't care about worldly affairs."

"But you couldn't become like those who killed your father, a greedy, depraved, evil person."

"How did you promise me back then?"

"Haru, it's not too late now."

Even at this moment, he was still trying to save his student.

Or rather.

His child.

But Haru dared not face his teacher whom he had severely injured. He turned his head away somewhat shamefully: "I haven't changed."

Sandean: "You have changed. You've become exactly like those who killed your father."

"Look at yourself now. Do you even recognize who you are?"

The fire demon roared in frenzy: "Teacher!"

"I haven't changed."

After saying this, all the flames on Haru's body extinguished at once.

He couldn't bear to look at his teacher anymore, transforming into a transparent gas that pierced through the cloud layer, flying towards the distance.

And the Temple of Truth was left in complete disarray.

Only Sandean remained standing amidst the ruins, gazing in the direction Haru had departed, speechless for a long time.

It wasn't until he staggered and fell to the ground that people immediately surrounded him.

"Sage!"