Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
[In the past, several lives ago]
Scarlet King sat across from a man with pale skin, long black hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a white robe lined with blue patterns. The man began pouring wine for Scarlet King and spoke:
"Scarlet King… a toast to you."
Scarlet King replied—this time without his usual clothes, with white hair and fully black glowing eyes, dressed in a white robe marked with golden lines:
"Thank you, Great Shimmering Moon Emperor, but I do not drink wine."
He continued as he poured himself some natural juice infused with ruler qi:
"Intoxicating wine corrupts even the purest minds and clouds thought. That is why I prefer natural juice… it purifies the mind more."
The Shimmering Moon Emperor laughed softly, then replied with his eyes closed:
"You are still the same…"
"A person… who never changes."
"No matter what life, heaven, existence, or nonexistence attempts."
Scarlet King smiled and raised his cup of juice in a toast to the Great Emperor:
"Congratulations, Yue Guang Shi, on becoming a new Great Emperor. I did not expect you to break through to this realm after entering the Existential Furnace… I did not expect you to succeed."
The Emperor smiled happily as he raised his cup.
"Without your help, I would never have become a Great Emperor. Even thank you is not enough."
"Whatever you ask of me in the future… I will be the first to fulfill it."
The place was calm in an almost irritating way.
They sat inside the vast imperial palace beneath the shining moonlit sky, with a weiqi board before them and several pieces already placed upon it.
But the truth was—
every black or white piece…
was a complete universe.
Scarlet King moved a black piece.
It shifted.
And somewhere—
a universe collapsed…
with all its narratives, all its timelines, all its possibilities… and everything within it.
The nearby lake reflected the moonlight beneath the white stone dome where they sat cross-legged on the ground.
The Emperor smiled coldly.
"Tell me…"
"Do you still see universes… as pieces on the board?"
Scarlet King answered with a clearly sinister smile:
"I have not changed."
"And I never will."
He rested his hand against his cheek.
"What do you expect from the crystallized plague of existence?"
The Emperor replied with his eyes closed:
"Interest."
A quiet silence fell… heavy as weight.
Scarlet King asked as he opened his eyes:
"Interest… huh?"
"You know me well. In the end… you know I am the Devil of Rebirth."
The Great Emperor laughed, and the moon behind him trembled.
"I know you well, O—"
His words distorted,
preventing him from finishing the sentence.
But Scarlet King heard it.
He fell silent.
A faint look of surprise appeared on his face… closer to curiosity than shock.
"How do you know my true name, Yue Guang Shi?"
Yue Guang Shi answered:
"Simple… when I became a Great Emperor, I gained direct contact with every concept in existence."
"And because of that… I learned your name."
He smiled—
a brief smile.
"So… you are trying to blackmail me?"
The Emperor's smile disappeared, and he sighed lightly.
"You are mistaken."
"I am not trying to provoke you…"
"I am trying to see… whether you are suitable for my daughter."
An odd silence descended over the place.
Scarlet King replied:
"So… that is why you became an Emperor?"
The Emperor moved and placed another piece on the board.
And somewhere far away—
[A group of cultivators in the Eighth Dimension]
"Have you heard the news? In hell… the Heaven-Devouring Emperor is facing sixteen Emperors! And six of them are already dead! What a catastrophe!"
Another cultivator replied:
"Calm down, Brother Wang… the Heaven-Devouring Emperor is dead."
Wang slapped him and shouted:
"I am afraid the demonic dimensions will use the Emperors' deaths and invade us!"
"Can't you see the sky cracking? Life dying? The earth collapsing? Space-time splitting apart?!"
"Every Great Emperor governs a concept! If one dies… that concept is damaged!"
Suddenly—
because of the piece placed on the board—
a massive black hole formed.
It swallowed the cultivators…
and swallowed the nearby universes.
Light fractured…
sound folded inward…
Then—
nothing remained…
except a black hole drifting in emptiness.
[Back at the board]
The Emperor spoke:
"I care about nothing… more than I care about my daughter."
"I would abandon the title of Emperor… for her."
Scarlet King replied with scorn:
"Oh? And your way of caring for your daughter… is to offer her on a golden platter… to a devil like me?"
"Besides… you are not even married."
The Emperor laughed and covered his mouth.
"True."
"But… do you remember when we went to meet the Great Emperor of Fate's Will?"
"He told me… that I would have a daughter."
"But how… I do not know."
"He is always vague… just like the Heaven-Shaking Emperor."
Suddenly—
a blue starry spatial gate opened.
A man stepped out and immediately knelt.
"I greet the Great Emperor…"
"We have received terrible news… but there is one good piece of news as well."
The Emperor stood at once and asked in alarm:
"What happened?!"
"Was Kuang Shi Ming killed?!"
The servant began sweating.
"My lord… six Emperors have died…"
"But we do not know the condition of the Heaven-Devouring Emperor."
The Emperor of the Moon hurled the cup to the ground.
"What?! Six Emperors… against only one?!"
Scarlet King smiled and drank the rest of his juice.
"Hah… Kuang Shi Ming truly is a genius."
"The Law of Heaven-Devouring Battle… may devour its user if he makes a mistake."
"And yet… with it, he devoured six Emperors."
"That is… truly pitiful."
"Sixteen against one… and still… six of them fell in hell."
Scarlet King rose and placed his hands behind his back, then turned.
He raised one hand—
and split existence.
A massive spatial gate opened.
"I will see…"
"how Emperors die… with my own eyes."
[Back to the present]
Scarlet King arrived at the Heavenly Food Sect.
He descended slowly…
dragging Long Wei and the assassin behind him—
heading toward the court.