6 Chapter 6: An Emperor's pressure

Inside the brightly-lit throne room, a tense and terrifying pressure can be felt coming from Ling. Ling intensely stared at the insect demon with a condescending aura surrounding him. The insect demon was hiding his fear by also staring back at Ling but his legs were shaking a little bit. The two demons by the stairs holding Qing Shao were surprised when Ling barged in and was about to attack him but when they felt the pressure coming from him, they decided not to because they felt that if they carelessly attack him, not only will their body be disintegrated, even their soul will vanish. Qing Shao saw Ling's majestic appearance and was enchanted but at the same time pissing his pants because of the pressure.

As time quietly passed by slowly, the insect demon by the throne decided to stand up and break the silence.

"Human, what are you doing here. What happened to the guards outside. Why would they let a human pass by and enter the throne room easily? What did you do to them." he stared at Ling trying to assess his strength. He felt no mana coming from him but he still felt a strong feeling of danger coming from him like an ancient martial master was before them.

Ling snorted then said nonchalantly. "Those fools? I already fed them to the blood-sucking core..." Ling then vanished from their sights. His slim pale body, slightly longer arms and legs, and godly appearance were nowhere to be found. With him was that heavy pressure.

The insect demon then panicked. "Wh-Where are you?!" he looked right and left, back to front, but that handsome young man was still nowhere to be found. He tried to scan the whole cave with his mana. When his mana reacted to something, he immediately flew down the stairs, rushed towards the hallway destroying that enormous wooden door with his own body, and continued to run.

...

Along the way, bodies of unconscious demons were found lying by the side of the hallway. "That human..." his eyes began to be filled with anger and fear. The demon stopped for a second mid-air and began to strengthen his legs with blue-colored mana. When his feet touched the ground, the spot where his feet landed began to crack. A second later he propelled even faster than before, creating a strong wind from behind him. "I'll break every bone on his body and grind his body into mincemeat then feed it to my demons... once I..." his thoughts were filled with many death threats against Ling.

A wave of weird mana surprised him from behind making his scaly skin crawl. The insect demon quickly ran even faster than before like he was running away from something. "A Sage! No! Even higher!"

Meanwhile, a figure appeared at the back of the throne. A black figure began to move forward revealing his appearance. It was Ling with an evil smile on his face.

Ling looked at the broken wood by the entrance of the throne room and noticed that the demons who were supposed to drag Qing Shao out of there was still standing there shaking.

"Hey, you two!" his eyes glowing red and his tone different than his tone a while ago.

The two demons who were so dumbfounded when their leader rushed outside the room were startled when they heard Ling behind them.

"Y-you... What are you doing there?! We thought our leader found you so he went and chased you outside!" their feet were shaking nonstop and their voice cracking. They looked like they just saw a freakingly huge dragon in front of them.

"Oh, him? He just abandoned you two idiots. I filled this cave with my killing intent and you did not feel it? Did you not see his pale face?" Ling explained.

"Abandoned? Our leader? But he's stronger than a human!" they shouted.

Ling shook his head and sighed, ignoring them.

The two demons thought that Ling was bluffing so they planned something. The two of them looked at each other and started communicating with their eyes.

"Let's surprise him. When he let his guard down, we kill him swiftly, without leaving him even a single opening for escape." the demon at the right side winked three times.

"Okay..." the demon at the left side nodded like he knew his intentions.

Ling saw them and slightly smiled. He sat down on the throne with his legs crossed and his head resting on his hand leaning at the left side of the throne.

They laid the body they were holding down the stairs and slowly went up. Just when they were preparing their attacks, a weird force pressed their bodies against the ground. The momentum of their bodies damaged the ground creating a crater.

"Wh-What... the fuck is this!" the demon at the right side shouted while the demon on his side had been knocked unconscious. He looked at Ling who was supposed to be standing at the side of the throne, but what he saw was an emperor's majestic and terrifying aura and a pair of crimson eyes like a lion's. His mind went blank and his vision began to fade.

"They were knocked out? By this little pressure? I did not even move a muscle..." Ling was disappointed when he saw them. He then slightly smiled when he remembered a certain someone. "He's still here inside the cave..." Ling then looked at Qing Shao's body and began calculating what his next move will be. "First leave this boy with a note outside this cave and cast a barrier surrounding this cave. I will cultivate here for a month and practice the Shadow Soul Reaping Technique." Ling then smiled and vanished from the throne.

He appeared near Qing Shao's body and picked him up. He then vanished again and appeared outside the cave with a letter written on a piece of cloth. He ripped that piece of cloth from his robe and wrote the letters with his own blood. "Just a little prick..." is what Ling said when he cut himself in his wrist with the sword he got from the kid earlier.

After he threw Qing Shao's body near the woods, he began to cover the entrance with his qi and with the blood from his wrist, wrote down runes by the entrance of the cave. "Sense Nulling Formation. This is the only formation I can do for now. With this formation, mortals here can not see and sense qi coming from the cave. With my blood, the formation is also strengthened." Ling thought to himself.

"Now, let us begin our true cultivation journey starting point. Blood-sucking Core filled with demonic qi. Just what I need for the Shadow Soul Reaping Technique. I think the upcoming banquet is still 6 months from now so I can cultivate in peace for now." Ling calmly said to himself.

Ling then entered the cave.

"Close..." Ling muttered.

After Ling entered, the entrance to that cave was nowhere to be found. It's like that dark hole by the side of the mountain just vanished into thin air and was covered with dirt.

...

After a couple of hours from when the cave entrance closed, Qing Shao woke up.