Published at 7th of December 2025 8:13 am

Chapter 1326: Counter Offer

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

It had been over a month since Hei Mang, the messenger from the Qinglin Zhai, had visited the infamous grove of corpses.

Since then, many more bodies had been impaled on spikes, making this patch of land even more macabre. The very atmosphere itself reeked of death, blood, and cruelty.

He couldn’t help but subconsciously gulp as he urged the horse to trudge through the broad, blood-stained path that ran through this deathly grove. The handful of people behind him were restless, believing any moment could be their last.

After all, the last group of men from their organization who had come here had been impaled. In fact, they even caught a glance of those poor men.

Ravens perched on their impaled corpses, digging through their eyeballs and enjoying the gruesome feast.

Caw! Caw!

A raven called out, its voice eerily beautiful. The men from the Qinglin Zhai shuddered. They did not want to be here. But they did not have a choice.

Finally, the group arrived before the rocky mound where the Heavenly Demon rested.

When Hei Mang cast his gaze on this man, he felt as if time had barely touched him. The Heavenly Demon looked the same as he did the last time he had come here.

The same tight-fitted white robes, the same oni mask, the same seating posture. Nothing had changed. Despite butchering scores of men and impaling them on the ground around him, there was not a speck of blood on his pristine white robes.

"We greet the Heavenly Demon," Hei Mang cupped his fists and spoke in a solemn voice.

The Heavenly Demon slowly opened his eyes, his gaze settling on the burly man with thick brown hair and a scar on his upper lip that made it seem like he was perpetually sneering.

"Come to die?" He asked, his voice cold.

Hei Mang shuddered. "N-no! I come in peace!"

In the depths of his eyes, a flicker of cunning emerged for a brief moment before he quickly hid it. "I carry a message from the Lord!"

"Oh?" The Heavenly Demon was intrigued. "Has he finally decided to meet me?"

"T-that is correct!" Hei Mang nodded, his face covered in sweat. "If I may..."

He slowly retrieved a scroll from his ring, then presented it to the Heavenly Demon with trembling hands. "T-this is a message from the Lord. F-for your eyes only."

As the Heavenly Demon grabbed the scroll from Hei Mang’s hands, he couldn’t help but remark, "You look nervous. Afraid I’m going to eat you?"

Hei Mang forced a smile. "How can someone pretend to be calm when they’re facing the Heavenly Demon himself?"

As he said those words, he slowly stepped back. The people behind him also subtly retreated.

Of course, the Heavenly Demon noticed it. His lips curled into an amused smirk, and he said, "There are worse ways to die than being impaled alive, you know?"

He slowly opened the scroll, his voice turning cold. "If you’re wasting my time, you’d be begging me to kill you."

Hei Mang’s heart sank. However, when he saw the Heavenly Demon unfurl the scroll, his eyes gleamed with a calculating light. He cupped his fists and smiled faintly.

"I’m just doing what I was ordered to," he murmured. "No hard feelings."

And then it happened...

Black chains emerged from the scroll, whipping up strong winds around the rocky mound. In the next moment, the chains tightly wrapped around the Heavenly Demon, locking his hands to his sides and preventing him from weaving hand seals!

Hei Mang grinned at the outcome. However, instead of going in for the attack, he ordered his men:

"Retreat!!"

A moment later, high up above the twilight sky, something shone with murderous brilliance. Before anyone knew it, a tall and muscular figure plummeted from the heavens, aiming his foot straight at the Heavenly Demon.

BOOOM!!

The ground was rocked from the impact. The mound exploded into shards of stone, and even the nearby impaled corpses were violently flung away from the sheer force of the kick.

Something shot into the distance from the cloud of debris, gracelessly rolling on the ground before finally coming to a stop.

The Heavenly Demon was still tightly bound by black chains as he slowly rose to his feet. He lowered his head and gazed at the chains with a solemn look in his eyes.

Sealing and concealment magic, he thought to himself.

There was no trace of danger. I detected nothing... not until the moment I was restrained!

He turned his attention towards the cloud of dust—the place he had earlier rested. His eyes flashed with a peculiar light when he saw a shadowy silhouette within the dust.

His lips curled into a faint smile, and he thought, He’s finally come. Good.

When the dust settled, an imposing figure emerged. It was a tall man with broad shoulders and wild brown hair. Thick eyebrows and a heavy beard framed his stern face, and his sleeveless garments revealed muscular arms crisscrossed with scars.

On his back, he carried a sinister double-bladed axe, known as a labrys. From a simple glance, it was evident that it was a Grade 4 Artifact!

The man’s lips curled into a smirk as he turned towards the Heavenly Demon. "Interesting," he said.

The Heavenly Demon straightened his back. He raised his chin and calmly stated, "Warlord of the Qinglin Zhai... we finally meet."

"You’re not bad," Wei Motian murmured. "Join the Qinglin Zhai. Become my right-hand man. I came all the way out here to recruit you. If you refuse..."

His eyes narrowed, and his words turned cold. "Then I’d have to kill you myself."

The Heavenly Demon cracked his neck, then flexed his shoulders. He tried to break free from the chains, but that was proving to be a task. It would appear the more force he used, the tighter the chains became.

He looked down upon the mighty warlord and made a counter offer:

"Wei Motian, get down on your knees and end your own life. You can forget about becoming my right-hand man. Instead, I will impale you and display you as my trophy to the world. If you refuse..."

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes flashed with cruelty.

"Then I’d have to kill you myself."

Share