The Gray Mist and the Demon King

On the endless blood-red earth, three great mountains crumbled like paper under the surging gray mist, collapsing and then vanishing into nothing, leaving not a trace behind.

A faint rustling sound drifted through the air, like wind blowing over sand. But the power within it was beyond measure, capable of annihilating all things.

"It's coming!"

The gray mist surged from the horizon like a tidal wave, its sound still soft—like falling leaves, a gentle whisper with no trace of violence. Yet all three of them sensed immense danger. The gray vapor carried the power of death itself. Even Tianwaitian and Renwairen, as powerful as Half-Ancestors, wore grim expressions.

"Run!"

They retreated decisively. Before this uncanny fog, even their hearts quailed with an indescribable oppression.

The soft gray mist seemed slow, but it moved with terrifying speed—in the blink of an eye, it had swept dozens of li and was already upon them.

At this point, even the Eight Aspect Extreme and spatial teleportation were useless. The gray mist caught up.

"Bang!"

Tianwaitian punched through the void, shattering space itself. The three dove into a dimensional rift, hoping to escape the gray fog.

But beyond belief, the gray mist extinguished dimensional space itself. Nothing could withstand it; only the great world could contain it. Sub-spaces were crushed and obliterated.

"Flee!"

All three changed color, fleeing with all their might. A power that could terrify Half-Ancestors was nothing short of horrifying. The gray mist swayed, seemingly gentle, yet it carried an overwhelming force that could smash all with irresistible might.

"Boom!"

Just as the fog was about to swallow them, Renwairen thrust out a tiny white fist and blasted backward. It was like a star crashing into a vast sea—turbulent waves swept heaven and earth. The gray mist rippled, exuding a primordial aura, and absorbed the power of Renwairen's strike in an instant, leaving not a trace.

"Rustle…"

The gray fog finally surged over them, drowning all three.

"Chi!"

Tianwaitian and Renwairen joined forces to raise a screen of light, a barrier that kept the mist at bay. Xiao Chen seized the opportunity to retrieve the cracked stone statue from his acupoint space—though it was difficult, for the statue's immense power made it hard to store and release.

In a flash of light, he merged with the stone statue.

Renwairen's expression shifted. "No good! This fog is too insidious!"

The mist was corroding the light barrier, refining and absorbing the Half-Ancestors' power. At this rate, they could not hold out.

"Bang!"

The barrier shattered. The power within the gray mist was terrifying—it was like a Heavenly Thunder Hammer smashing into their bodies. Tianwaitian and Renwairen felt piercing pain, as if their bones were cracked and shattered.

Even powerful Half-Ancestors could be wounded!

Xiao Chen's stone statue gained more cracks. If not for the divine light of the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree within his body, filling the fissures, the statue might have shattered entirely.

"What is this fog? We must leave, or we'll be refined into dust!" Tianwaitian shouted. His whole body flickered with faint divine radiance as he fought off the erosion and charged in one direction.

Renwairen and Xiao Chen followed closely, desperate to break out of the dreadful mist.

But the gray fog seemed endless. They flew for who knows how long, yet remained trapped within it. And the terrifying power never ceased eroding them, trying to refine them into part of the mist.

Three days passed in an instant. They could find no way out, and the situation grew critical. At this rate, even immortal Half-Ancestors would truly fall.

Relatively speaking, Xiao Chen was safer. The divine light of the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree could actually resist the gray mist.

"Seniors, let me take you into the stone statue," he said.

At this point, Tianwaitian and Renwairen cared not for pride. They dove into the statue, temporarily easing the crisis.

"This is no permanent solution. The sacred tree's divine power will eventually run out. We must find a way out," Tianwaitian said, deeply frustrated. They had to reassess the Death World—it was far more dangerous than imagined, and they were still far from its deepest reaches.

But they could not find a way. The domain covered by the gray mist felt like an endless world, with no exit in sight.

Time flowed. One year, two years, three years… ten years…

The three continued to grope forward, but it seemed they were forever sealed here. Trapped in the death-filled gray mist for thirty whole years, still without a clue—like being lost in a labyrinth of destruction.

"Boom!"

In the thirty-second year, they were suddenly attacked. A tremendous force slammed into the stone statue's spine, cracking it with dozens of new fissures.

Xiao Chen was now certain that without the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree, the stone statue would have long since scattered. The power of this attack was immense—definitely the destructive force of a Half-Ancestor.

In a flash, he sidestepped hundreds of zhang, but the attacker stuck to him like a shadow, relentlessly hammering the statue's back.

"You're asking for it!"

Tianwaitian and Renwairen were both furious. After all, the stone statue contained three Half-Ancestors' power. They channeled their divine energy into Xiao Chen's body, letting him control the statue and fight back.

"Boom!"

Seven-colored divine light erupted from the statue, even thinning the gray mist. The attacker was sent flying.

Xiao Chen wheeled around and struck forward. Over a dozen coldly gleaming War Swords assembled into a sword formation, instantly surrounding the ambusher.

"Clang! Clang!"

The swords crossed and slashed, cutting in all directions.

When the three inside the statue got a clear look, they all laughed.

This attacker was in a miserable state—his bone body was full of holes, corroded and pitted, barely holding together. Almost every bone was riddled with pits and scars.

'Sovereign' was the word that came to their minds, but this one was certainly in dire straits.

"Stop! We're all lost souls here—why fight?" The tattered white skeleton transmitted a mental fluctuation.

"You tried to kill us just now, and you want to stop? Let's take you apart first!"

Xiao Chen released all twenty-seven War Swords. The deadly sword formation completely trapped the king. In an instant, sword aura filled the sky, brilliant beams interweaving like divine rainbows, dazzling and fierce.

"Clang! Clang!"

Unexpectedly, even the sharpness of the War Swords could only dismember the king's lower body. He clutched a bone fragment, using it to shield his upper half and fend off the attack.

"What is that? It didn't shatter?" Tianwaitian showed curiosity. "Could it be the bone of an Ancestral God?"

He and Renwairen poured their divine power into the stone statue, causing it to radiate with light. The War Swords seemed to resonate, their sword aura growing even sharper.

"Chi! Chi!"

The swords stabbed in all directions, rainbows of light weaving a net of destruction. The king was engulfed. He was essentially bearing the assault of three Half-Ancestors and could no longer withstand it.

Finally, with a thunderous crash, his bone body collapsed entirely, leaving only a skull and a bone fragment floating in the gray mist.

The moment he left the bone fragment, the king, now only a skull, screamed in agony. The fire seed within his skull seemed to be corroded by the mist. He rushed back to the fragment, stabilizing only then. And he immediately chose to flee, the fragment wrapping him in light like a meteor shooting into the distance.

"Do you think you can escape now?"

The stone statue shot out seven-colored light. The twenty-seven War Swords transformed into divine rainbows and chased after him, almost instantly trapping the king's skull.

After so long without seeing another soul in the gray mist, they certainly were not about to let him escape. They quickly suppressed the king.

"Will you talk, or shall we force you?" Tianwaitian, clearly experienced, began to threaten directly.

"Talk about what? What do you want to know?" The fire seed in the king's skull flickered, cold and malicious, though the venom in his eyes faded quickly.

"What is this gray mist?" That was what Xiao Chen and the others urgently wanted to know. If they were trapped here forever, they might as well choose death.

"No one knows what the mist is. Beings beyond a king's level may survive, but anyone else swallowed by it faces only death."

"Surely someone has speculated? You're obviously not telling the truth," Tianwaitian pressed unhappily. Xiao Chen seized the bone fragment.

"Aah!"

The king screamed again as the mist invaded him.

It was terrifying to say—even a king could not resist the gray mist. Here, the mighty were as weak as ants.

"What is this thing?"

As Xiao Chen examined the bone fragment, Tianwaitian also sent out his divine sense, but could not identify its origin. The fragment was pure white, warm as jade, and though it had no flowing light, it contained a special power—that was what had allowed the king to survive.

"Give it back…" The king cried out in agony, enduring terrible pain.

"What is this bone fragment?" Tianwaitian asked.

"It's a treasure I refined… that can resist the gray mist. You already have the stone statue—don't take my fragment! Give it back!"

"Liar. There's no way you refined this fragment yourself." Xiao Chen did not believe him.

"Eh? There are strange markings on the other side," Renwairen said in surprise.

The bone fragment was only palm-sized. One side was smooth as a mirror; the other bore hard-to-understand patterns.

"This looks like a map… Could it be…?"

Xiao Chen, Tianwaitian, and Renwairen all seemed to think of the same thing at once.

"Is it the map that the corpse was looking for?"

"Exactly like an oracle bone map!"

"You lying scum, you dare deceive us even at death's door?"

The three spoke together.

"If you want to live, tell the truth now, or we'll forcibly search your fire seed's memories." Tianwaitian was not joking—he was an expert in such matters.

The king, reduced to only a skull, surrendered completely. He no longer dared to hide anything and began to answer every question.

Xiao Chen and the others were astonished to learn that this king had been trapped in the gray mist for over a thousand years. If not for the protection of this mysterious oracle bone, he would have perished long ago.

A thousand years of imprisonment had left him at his last gasp. Even with the bone fragment's protection, he could barely hold on.

The gray mist was one of the most dangerous substances in the Death World, containing 'World Force.' Once swallowed by it, neither flying nor tunneling could escape. It was like being sealed in a box, slowly refined into nothing.

According to the speculations of certain kings, this gray mist was either the destructive yin fog before the creation of heaven and earth, or the lingering consciousness of a fallen Ancestral God. Anyone below the level of a supreme king would inevitably perish—body and soul.

As for the bone fragment, the king knew little, only that it was a treasure map that could move even those above the king level. If all the scattered fragments were gathered, they would lead to a mysterious place.

What that mysterious place held, not even kings knew—only those beyond the king level might understand.

"Are there beings beyond the king level in the Death World?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Since I gained awareness, I have never seen nor heard any tales of them appearing. But…" The king paused slightly. "There should be… I think the deepest part of the Death Continent could give birth to such beings."

Once they had learned all they could, Tianwaitian shattered the king's fire seed, and Xiao Chen collected it.

Perhaps it was cruel, but to show mercy to an enemy who had tried to kill them could lead to their own destruction. After all, this was a king—if he harbored resentment and attacked again, it would be unimaginably terrible.

Xiao Chen tried to refine the fire seed, but as he had suspected, after reaching the Perfected Man realm, absorbing fire seeds no longer advanced his cultivation. He absorbed more than a third of it, yet his realm did not increase in the slightest.

However, he vaguely felt that his potential seemed to have improved—though it was only an intuition. No one could truly measure growth in untapped potential.

Whether it was intuition or an illusion, Xiao Chen absorbed another third.

Inside the stone statue, divine light blazed. Xiao Chen's body was crystalline and translucent, the king's fire seed's radiance enveloping him utterly.

Finally, Tianwaitian could no longer bear the waste. He had Xiao Chen save the remaining third of the fire seed—the half-ancestor, like a delinquent youth, had his own disciple, Sha Polang, in mind.

"No, this time I really feel it. The king's fire seed power seems to have merged with my latent potential."

Xiao Chen's whole body was bathed in divine light, his flesh almost transparent, like a supreme deity, radiant and dazzling.

"If I reach the king level, this potential will awaken. Then I alone would have the combat power of two kings."

"You already can fight several opponents at the same level," Tianwaitian said with a roll of his eyes, putting away the remaining third of the king's fire seed.

The divinely transformed acupoints, the stored potential of a king… Xiao Chen's foundation was exceedingly deep. He believed that whenever he advanced, he would be among the strongest at that level.

Time flowed like water.

In the blink of an eye, they had been trapped in the gray mist for fifty full years. Still, they found no way out, groping forward day after day.

Tianwaitian and Renwairen could not help but marvel at the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree—it seemed to have inexhaustible divine power, its light never dimming.

"This is an Ancestral-God-level sacred tree!" That was their highest praise.

For fifty years, the three could only pass the time by cultivating, enduring the monotony and isolation.

In the fifty-sixth year, Tianwaitian and Renwairen suddenly became alert, and Xiao Chen also sensed an unusual fluctuation.

They immediately became cautious, piloting the stone statue slowly forward.

Ahead was blurry. Even a Half-Ancestor's divine sense could not extend far in the terrible mist. Something massive seemed to be moving within the gray fog.

Xiao Chen and the others approached carefully.

It was a floating island—an island suspended in the gray mist!

This discovery surprised them all. How could an island float in this annihilating fog?

They drew closer and finally saw it clearly. It was less an island than a floating boulder, about half a square kilometer in size.

In this dead, silent region where only mist existed, it was indeed a colossus.

The black stone had no luster, but it emitted weak energy fluctuations that could resist the erosion of the gray mist—proving its extraordinary nature.

"This is top-grade material—probably used by Ancestral Gods to forge artifacts. I've never seen anything like it." Tianwaitian rubbed his hands excitedly, extending his divine sense to examine the black stone.

"Wait," Renwairen suddenly noticed something unusual. "There's someone on it."

There was indeed a humanoid figure on the stone, but he seemed to be at his last gasp, lying motionless on the black boulder.

"That's a demon!" Xiao Chen was surprised.

It was indeed a demon. He stood about two meters tall. Except for his head, his body was covered in fine purple scales. His blue hair had long lost its luster, and he had spiral silver horns on his head. If not for the scales, the demon's face was actually quite handsome. What was especially striking was that he had a pair of furry bear ears, which softened his fierce demonic aura.

"Damn it! I just swore by the female relatives of the highest existence of the Death World that if… if he let me see another person in this godforsaken place… I'd die happy even if I died right after! Highest existence… mother of his! I really saw someone! Does that mean I have to die?!"

The demon struggled to his feet, cursing weakly as if he barely had the strength to speak.

He was definitely a king-level existence. Only a king could survive here—any other being would have no chance.

"It's over… I'm really going to die… talking… wasted my last strength." The demon collapsed again, lying stiff and straight.

Xiao Chen landed on the black stone. He found the demon interesting and did not attack immediately.

"I know… you stone lump wants to kill me. Go ahead, give me a clean death… This oracle bone map is yours." The demon gasped for breath and tossed a warm bone fragment over.

Since the demon had not attacked them first, Xiao Chen and the others had no intention of killing him. Catching the fragment, Xiao Chen crouched nearby and began to converse with him.

But the king-level demon was indeed terribly weak, barely able to speak. Xiao Chen sent a beam of seven-colored light into him, allowing him to continue talking.

Through conversation, they learned that this demon had been trapped on this black stone for a full ten thousand years.

Such a long time was truly horrifying!

The demon had almost exhausted all his essence. Even with the protection of the great black stone and the mysterious bone fragment, he would soon die.

The demon had a very interesting name—Yingxiong. Yes, 'Yingxiong,' not 'hero' [the words are homophones in Chinese, but the demon's name is literally 'Brave Bear'].

"Highest existence of the Death World… I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations! I just made that oath… and you really sent a stone man! Mother of yours!"

Xiao Chen, Tianwaitian, and Renwairen couldn't help but smile. They found this fellow amusing, and the gray world was far too dull. They decided to save him.

"Boom!"

"What's that sound?!" They were all startled.

A vast, majestic aura rolled in from the distance. An enormous shadow was slowly approaching, many times larger than the black stone.

"That is…"

When they finally made it out, they could hardly believe their eyes. It was a stretch of magnificent heavenly palaces, stretching endlessly.

"Highest existence of the Death World… his mother! Could it be… he's really come to fetch me in person?" Yingxiong cursed weakly, muttering to himself.