An Unrestrained Devil

As soon as Devil left the Heavenly Path Province, he looked at the surrounding lands, scanning the region for thousands of miles around with his piercing crimson gaze. Ever since breaking through to the Dao Immortal Realm, not only had his strength increased by an unbelievable margin, but his senses had been enhanced a hundred fold.

Breaking through directly from the Nirvana Realm to the Dao Immortal Realm would always result in this sort of immense increase in power. After all, this breakthrough was essentially skipping past most of the Immortal Step, ignoring the True Immortal Realm and Ancient Immortal Realm and directly entering the final realm before Transcendence!

With this increase in power, came an entirely different world view - quite literally. When Devil looked out across the lands, he could see every single one of the 33 provinces on 7th Seal Island. He couldn't see every fine detail within this region, but he could at least identify the location of every Immortal Step being within these lands.

Usually, there wouldn't even be a single immortal residing on this island, but the appearance of the Heavenly Rebirth Formation had attracted attention from every immortal in the Demonic North by now. In fact, it wasn't only the Demonic North immortals who had taken notice of this formation…when the Dao Clone of Qi underwent his Immortal Dao Ascension Tribulation, the aura of the tribulation covered the entire planet, causing the Southern Continent's immortals to investigate.

When Devil looked out further, he noticed signs of an intense battle taking place above the surrounding sea. He squinted and narrowed his eyes for a few moments, before a faint smile crept onto his face.

"I see, so that peaceful idiot's actions attracted the Southern Continent's immortals to this place, causing them to clash with the Demonic North's immortals almost right away. The war that has been speculated for hundreds of years has finally erupted…haha, that peaceful moron, he did all of this to protect himself from this war, but in the end, he was the one to start the war! How amusing."

Devil chuckled and shook his head, then began casually walking towards the scene of the battle. He didn't hide his aura at all, causing the various immortals in the region to immediately take notice of him. However, despite noticing him, not one of them dared to approach, because Devil's killing intent was so immense that it made them shiver in fear.

Before long, Devil had left the edge of 7th Seal Island and arrived directly above the two immortals who were battling below. His aura erupted outwards, causing both immortals to break out in cold sweat as they stopped fighting and looked up with shocked expressions.

"Oh?" Devil raised an eyebrow and smiled in amusement as he examined the two below him.

They were both True Immortals, and they were clearly evenly matched. Both had accumulated wounds, and even though there were other immortals on either side hiding nearby, none of them had showed themselves yet. They would likely reveal themselves only when it looked like the immortal on their own side was in dire straights, but now, with Devil's arrival, their blood ran cold and they became completely unwilling to reveal themselves. In fact, the immortals on the Demonic North side actually retreated with haste the moment Devil appeared; their unity was clearly lacking.

Devil didn't recognise the old man covered in hideous boils from the Demonic North, but he actually did recognise the woman opposing him.

"Why, if it isn't Gentle Butterfly Immortal." Devil laughed and allowed his voice to echo outwards freely.

The woman was actually Gentle Butterfly Immortal, otherwise known as the Xuqi Sect Immortal Lord!

The old man covered in boils felt terrified. As he looked back and forth between the stunning woman surrounded by her seven butterflies, his most hated enemy in this world, and the monstrous devil standing above them, his thoughts started running wild.

'Dao Immortal, that's definitely a Dao Immortal! This, how does Gentle Butterfly Immortal know a Dao Immortal, are they allies?! Does the Southern Continent actually have a Dao Immortal backer?! No, hold on…this aura is far too evil to belong to the righteous path! Then…?'

The old man scrutinised the woman's facial expression, but she looked no less shocked than himself, not to mention bewildered.

As Devil smiled down at her, Gentle Butterfly Immortal, one of the three Xuqi Dynasty Immortals and the immortal currently overseeing the Xuqi Sect, stared back at him with fear in her eyes.

'How and why does this monster know me?!' She screamed internally, swallowing and doing her best to hide the terror from her face.

But of course, none of these immortals could hide their fear from Devil.

Devil's smile faded and he looked at the two with a sadistic gaze.

"Why have the two of you stopped fighting?"

The old man and the stunning woman shared a confused glance, before they both looked back at Devil. The old man remained silent, thinking that it made more sense for her to speak, since this monster seemed to know her. Cursing the old man in her heart, Gentle Butterfly Immortal forced a smile and clasped her hands as she looked up at Devil respectfully.

"Senior, we stopped as a show of our respect towards you…"

"Oh? What a pity, this Devil prefers to be respected with shows of blood. How about this…the two of you will continue your battle until the death, and none of those other flies watching from the shadows will involve themselves. I will permit the victor to become my subordinate, and I will also join your little game of 'war', taking my subordinate's side as my own subordinate force. Naturally, I will slaughter every immortal on the opposing side. What do you think, does my game sound fun?"

For a long while, the pair stared at Devil's wide demonic grin with blank expressions. They fell silent as they struggled to process what Devil had just said.

The old man was the first to react. He quickly turned towards Gentle Butterfly Immortal and pointed at her with his index finger. His finger exploded into a corrosive green mist, which shot towards the stunned woman at an incredible speed.

The explosive release of poisonous mist snapped her out from her trance. Gentle Butterfly Immortal gritted her teeth and hastily retreated whilst forming multiple hand signs, causing the seven butterflies flying around her to release countless beams of light towards the mist. Each beam of light was a different colour, and as they came together, the seven beams of light manifested into a series of circular runes of seven-coloured light. Unfortunately, she was forced to retreat continuously as these runes were broken through by the green mist one by one.

The old boil-faced man sneered and continued to point at her, releasing more and more green mist from his deformed, bloody hand. This was his strongest move, it was his ace, and a move that he had been keeping secret for hundreds of years now. Originally, he hadn't intended to reveal this trump card in his battle against Gentle Butterfly Immortal, because he wasn't certain that it would reach her, since she was already on guard against him.

However, Gentle Butterfly Immortal was distracted. She was born into the Southern Continent and raised by the righteous path. She was by no means incompetent, but compared to the demonic immortals in the North, her sense for survival was lacking. The old demon recovered from his shock a moment faster, which allowed him to act immediately, using his strongest killing move without restraint!

After all, this battle would decide the outcome of Planet Yushu's entire war…but not only would it end the war, this battle would be the deciding factor in the conflict between the North and South that had been ongoing across this planet for tens of thousands of years now!

If he, an ordinary True Immortal, could be the one to end this war…if he could become the first subordinate of this monstrous Dao Immortal, who clearly intended to rule over the surviving faction on the planet…

It would definitely change his life for the better!

The old man could see it right now - the glory, the riches, the strength that he could gain from this one simple battle! As his green mist finally broke through Gentle Butterfly Immortal's last rune and reached her body, causing her to release a shrill scream as her blood and flesh were rapidly melted by his corrosive poison, the old man roared with laughter, believing that victory was now within his grasp. After all, his only uncertainty was getting the poison into her body; once the poison had entered her flesh, he had no doubts that she would die soon after!

Devil watched the battle with a piercing gaze. He watched as the woman's flesh became horrendously disfigured, and she started choking on her own disintegrating blood.

Devil shook his head mockingly.

"You old fool. How could you fall for such a simple trick? You are not worthy to become my subordinate."

Right as the old man started laughing, thinking that he had already won, his expression froze on his face. His face suddenly became pale and with an expression of shock and disbelief, he looked down at the blade which had pierced directly through his chest. Sitting on the tip of this blade, was a single red butterfly.

"What…?" The old man only managed to squeeze out this one word, because in the next moment, the red butterfly fused into the sword. The sword glowed with a brilliant red light, then almost instantly, the old man's body exploded into a shower of blood.

The figure of the woman who had previously been screaming in agony froze, then disintegrated into countless shards of light. These shards of light were then absorbed into the seven butterflies, before each butterfly shot out a beam of light towards a single point. A few moments later, the various lights fused together, before transforming into the woman's 'body' once again.

The seven butterflies landed on the woman's head and shoulders, coming to rest peacefully.

Gentle Butterfly Immortal stared at the mist of red and sighed, shaking her head in pity.

"What a shame, I had managed to keep the secret of my true body being split into these seven butterflies a secret for all these years, but now, practically every immortal on the planet has seen the truth…oh well, no matter. I have gained something much more beneficial now."

With a bright smile, Gentle Butterfly Immortal turned to face Devil, who had appeared behind her and wore an intrigued smile. Her heart was still racing with a trace of fear when she faced him, but she clasped her hands and bowed…

She bowed sincerely, with no reservations about what she was doing.

"Junior greets master."

"Oh? You seem quite adaptable for someone of the righteous path." Devil chuckled, the intrigue in his eyes only increasing.

At this moment, a lone immortal suddenly appeared on the other side of Gentle Butterfly Immortal. She had already noticed that he was making his way towards her and her new master, but she ignored him entirely.

"Gentle Butterfly!"

Devil raised an eyebrow as the bearded man spoke to his new subordinate, but kept his gaze trained on Devil himself.

The man's beard extended halfway down his chest, and for a human Qi refiner, he was simply enormous at ten feet in height. He carried an imposing presence of authority and he possessed an ancient aura, showing that he had lived for many, many years.

"Hmm…I take it that he must be the Xuqi Dynasty Supreme Ancestor? This title is too big for such a fly. Little Butterfly, tell me how I should call this fly before I kill him."

Devil looked down at Gentle Butterfly Immortal, curious to see how she would respond.

Despite the situation, she kept her head bowed and answered him respectfully.

"His immortal name is Qi Mountain Immortal, master."

"Still too imposing. I will call him Qi Hill Immortal."

The bearded man's eye twitched, but for now, he kept his distance. He glanced at Gentle Butterfly Immortal with a furious and betrayed expression, but he didn't dare to approach that monster with flaming red hair…

However, he also didn't believe that Devil would kill him, because no Dao Immortal would be mad enough to kill the leader of a Divine Court subordinate force…right?

"Master, Qi Hill Immortal is the leader of the Xuqi Dynasty, and the Xuqi Dynasty is a subordinate force under the Divine Court. If you kill him, the Divine Court will learn of his death and investigate Planet Yushu immediately."

"Oh?" Devil raised an eyebrow. As he spoke, a smile appeared on his lips. Without looking up, he pointed at Qi Mountain Immortal.

A beam of killing intent shot out. Nobody even saw what happened, there was just a flash of red, and then…

The Supreme Ancestor of the Xuqi Sect was killed, just like that. There was nothing left behind, not even a single drop of vaporised blood. Just…nothing.

Gentle Butterfly Immortal trembled slightly, but she remained in the same position and did not say anything.

"Hahaha…Little Butterfly, you don't seem very to be particularly loyal to the morals of the righteous faction. Have you had a change of heart after spending hundreds of years under their wing, or were you a demon living amongst sheep all this time?"

Gentle Butterfly Immortal finally raised her head. She stood up straight and looked at Devil with a smile.

"Master, I have always believed in the principles of the righteous…but above that, I have always believed in the principle of strength. Until now, the righteous path represented strength on Planet Yushu, but with your appearance, this has changed. I am not so obstinate that I refuse to adapt to this change. You are strong, master, so Little Butterfly hopes to follow you from now on. The righteous path…is no longer worthy of my loyalty."

"You don't care even if I kill your own people?" Devil raised an eyebrow.

Gentle Butterfly Immortal sighed, then once again bowed.

"Master, you are strength itself, you may kill whomever you please…however, Little Butterfly has one request. I have a disciple…"

"Xuqi Laila." Devil stated plainly, causing Gentle Butterfly Immortal to look up in surprise before nodding.

"So long as she knows what's good for her, I will spare her." Devil said after a moment. Gentle Butterfly Immortal smiled and clasped her hands.

"Thank you, master."

"No matter. Oh, but there is one more from the Southern Continent that I must kill….it is you there, did you really think that you could hide from me?"

Devil pointed at an area that appeared to be empty, but as soon as he pointed, an old man appeared before him.

'Harmony Immortal!' Gentle Butterfly thought in shock. She hadn't noticed him at all…she didn't realise that Harmony Immortal had the ability to hide from her whilst being so close by!

Harmony Immortal, the ancestor of the Hukon Clan, and the Fragment of Qi's teacher, looked shocked when he was pointed out. Unfortunately, Devil didn't even give him time to speak.

"There is some karma between us, so I'm going to destroy it."

Moments later, after another flash of red enveloped the world, Harmony Immortal was dead. The ending to his long life was abrupt and left him feeling aggrieved to say the least…he was only a single tribulation away from reaching the Ancient Immortal Realm, and yet, he had died so pitifully…

"Good." Devil smiled in satisfaction. "This feeling of shattering karma via slaughter…it is very good."

The immortals all across Planet Yushu were thrown into a state of shock and terror.

Meanwhile, on the Spirit Plane, as Yaan spent those dozen years walking across the 6th Layer of Heaven whilst placing down his formations, he also witnessed and experienced Devil's actions.

Nobody noticed the faint trace of expectation which appeared within Yaan's heart when he felt a thread of his karma dissipate into nothingness.

Yaan was being followed by the Primordial Sage, so no matter what happened in the outside world and no matter how it affected him, he could not show any sort of reaction.

Likewise, nobody noticed the stab of pain which passed through his heart, when he finally confirmed the only way to ensure his survival.

'Is this really the only way…? Is this really the direction that my dao path must take…?'