CHAPTER 23: ABYSSAL DEMONS SECRETS

Wang Chen ignored the glowing notification hovering before him, his gaze still sweeping the smoke-filled streets for any sign of life—or more demons. Yet the village lay silent now. No movement, no flicker of corrupted aura. It seemed only those six had been here, the same six whose bodies now lay scattered across the dirt road.

The smell of smoke and blood hung thick in the air. Charred rooftops still smoldered, the faint hiss of dying embers blending with the whispering wind.

Wang Chen exhaled through his nose. The sound was almost a sigh.

Turning away, his eyes fell upon Old Man Fang’s lifeless form. The sight drew another weary breath from him.

.

.

"This should be enough, right...?" he murmured, staring at the six-foot pit he had dug with trembling hands.

The earth was dry and stubborn—it resisted each stroke of his shovel, yet he kept digging, body moving through dull, mechanical motions. He knew well that six feet wasn’t nearly deep enough. In this world, a proper grave demanded ten. Otherwise, beasts—or worse, demons—could sniff the corpse out and drag it back to the surface.

Still, as distant screams rose from the east, he hesitated. He shouldn’t linger. Yet... the old man deserved better than this.

He clenched his jaw, ignoring the mocking laughter echoing faintly in the distance, and kept digging.

When the grave was finally done, Wang Chen lowered the body into the earth and laid a simple gravestone atop it. He pressed one hand to the mound, voice rough but sincere.

"Rest well, Uncle Fang."

Then he turned away. There was no more time to spare—his mission’s reward depended on speed. The longer he delayed, the smaller the bounty.

Looking toward the east, where the distant roar of combat thundered across the valley, determination flickered in his eyes.

"Information first," he muttered. "Only with understanding can I survive the next battle."

He started forward, boots crunching against gravel. According to Avatar’s memories, Dong Mountain was to the east—a safe haven the villagers had tried to reach. Judging from the sounds, that attempt hadn’t gone well.

Meanwhile, several miles away, a cluster of terrified survivors huddled at the base of Dong Mountain.

Panic had settled deep in their bones. Cries filled the air—some in prayer, others in raw despair.

"Why... why is this happening?" sobbed a young woman, tears cutting through the dust on her face. Her name was Rin Luan. She had fled the fishing village, believing the rumors—that a Foundation Establishment cultivator was holding back the darkness atop Dong Mountain.

But before help could be seen, death arrived.

The demons struck without warning.

Screams erupted as villagers were torn apart; survival instinct stripped away every mask of kindness or morality.

"You useless bitch! Buy me time—I’ll come back for you!" shouted the man who had promised moments ago to protect her with his life. He shoved her toward the encroaching shadows and ran.

Rin Luan fell to the ground, the betrayal cutting deeper than any wound. As the demons closed in, her fear hardened into something colder—resolve born of despair. If I ever get another chance,

she swore silently, I will never be this helpless again.

She waited for the killing blow, eyes squeezed shut.

But death did not come.

Instead, a sudden silence descended—followed by wet, heavy thuds and the sharp scent of iron. When she dared to open her eyes, the demons surrounding her had been reduced to unrecognizable pulp.

"What... what happened?" she whispered.

A calm, detached voice answered from behind her.

"Hmm... using the Doomclock against small fry like these is surprisingly efficient."

Rin Luan froze, then turned.

A slender young man stood not far away, his robes soaked crimson, his cool gaze seeming to dismiss the world itself.

Recognition flickered—shock followed.

"Wang Chen?" she breathed. "How... how did you become so strong?"

The young cultivator frowned, expression slipping into irritation as her voice pulled him from deep thought.

"Girl," he said flatly, "shouldn’t you be thanking the one who saved you instead of pestering him with questions?"

Rin Luan blinked, stunned into silence. No one had ever spoken to her like that. Ever since childhood, her rare beauty had turned others gentle, deferential. Even covered in grime and blood, her face held an almost ethereal allure. But this man didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

"You..." she began, but before she could continue, Wang Chen was gone.

She stood alone amid corpses and ruined earth, the echo of his footsteps already fading. Loneliness pressed in around her once again.

"Wait... don’t leave me here!" she cried, her voice cracking.

In the next moment, a roar rolled across the plain—a guttural demon’s bellow laced with hatred.

Rin Luan’s knees trembled as terror surged anew. She spotted Wang Chen’s silhouette in the distance and ran toward it instinctively.

"Hey! Wait for me! Don’t leave me behind!"

Far ahead, Wang Chen’s pace didn’t slow. The moment he finished absorbing the abyssal demons’ memories, his understanding of the Green Sky World—and its invaders—expanded rapidly.

"So... they can only cross realms through possession of living hosts," he muttered.

These were no ordinary beasts. They belonged to one of the Ten Abyssal Great Clans—the Twelve-Winged Soul Parasite Clan. The more wings, the higher the rank—the twelve-winged among them reigning as kings of the abyss.

The one he now stood before bore a single incomplete wing carved beneath its eyes. A scout. A weakling among monsters.

So these attacks are just the beginning...

The thought struck him like ice. But he didn’t let it linger. Without hesitation, his sword flashed once more, ending the creature’s life in a single stroke.

As the last demon fell, a chime echoed through his mind.

[Ding! Level Up]

[Level 5 Reached – Class Skill Unlocked]

A small smile touched his lips. Then his gaze turned east once more.

The real battle was only beginning, a plan was already forming in his mind to take care to cleanse this world of the demons as fast as possible.