Chapter 401: Cursed Death

On the other side, within a small grotto-heaven in the human world.

The Golden-Armored Emissary stood there, while Nine Abyss Demon Sage and Black-Robed Beijue proactively came forward to greet him, bowing respectfully, "Emissary."

"Nine Abyss, you are aware of the tasks the Emperors have assigned you, aren't you?" the Golden-Armored Emissary said.

"Your subordinate understands," Nine Abyss Demon Sage replied respectfully.

"Good."

With a flick of his wrist, the Golden-Armored Emissary produced a crystalline, foot-long box and handed it to Nine Abyss Demon Sage. "This is for you. Do not disappoint the Emperors."

Nine Abyss Demon Sage gazed at the box with burning eyes, excitedly took it, and repeatedly assured him, "The Emperors can rest assured; your subordinate will spare no effort."

It had been waiting for this for too long.

Even after possessing a body and infiltrating the human world, even after recovering to the strength of a Demon Sage – making it the only true Demon Sage of the demon race in the human world – the most precious item the Emperors had previously bestowed upon it was merely a Blood Fiend Battle Armor.

But what was inside *this* box... that was what it had truly yearned for, a legendary treasure of the demon race.

"I never imagined that because of Meng Chuan, I would actually get this treasure earlier," Nine Abyss Demon Sage thought to itself. "Regardless of whether the Emperors' plan ultimately succeeds or fails, at least I have obtained what I wanted. I hope everything goes smoothly next, and Meng Chuan dies obediently."

"Beijue."

The Golden-Armored Emissary instructed, "From this moment forth, you shall temporarily take charge of this small grotto-heaven and also temporarily command all demons within the human world."

"Understood," Black-Robed Beijue responded respectfully.

Nine Abyss Demon Sage and Black-Robed Beijue then completed their handover, and the Golden-Armored Emissary departed.

"I'll leave these mundane matters to you, Brother Beijue," Nine Abyss Demon Sage said with a smile as he left. Black-Robed Beijue, however, secretly wondered, "What plan are they executing? They're even deploying Nine Abyss for it?"

Emperor Peng was secretly mobilizing forces, preparing the 'Assassinate Meng Chuan' plan. For the three Emperors of the demon world, eliminating Meng Chuan was paramount, even at any cost; this time, they were going all out.

The Demon World.

Emperor Peng arrived beside Empress Xuanyue and also watched Emperor Xinghe write the incantations.

"Everything is ready?" Empress Xuanyue asked.

"According to the plan we set earlier, everything is prepared," Emperor Peng said. "To deal with Meng Chuan across an entire world, we've done everything we can. If we fail this time, there will truly be no other way to deal with Meng Chuan."

Empress Xuanyue shook her head, "Failure is impossible! Our preparations are very thorough. In fact, Emperor Xinghe's willingness to sacrifice a hundred years of his lifespan for this curse assassination already gives us great confidence. Our other preparations might even be superfluous."

"A hundred years of lifespan? Should we ask Xinghe to expend more, say, two hundred or three hundred years?" Emperor Peng asked.

"We would need to pay several times the price, perhaps even ten times, for him to agree," Empress Xuanyue shook her head. "And frankly, expending a hundred years versus two hundred years... the effect isn't significantly different; the curse's power would only increase by twenty or thirty percent. To achieve a qualitative leap in the curse's power, he would need to expend a thousand years of lifespan. That is something Xinghe would absolutely never agree to."

For Emperors with lifespans of tens of thousands of years, a hundred years for them... is like one year of a mortal's life.

Even among non-mortals, how many would easily give up a year of their lifespan?

If an Emperor lives an extra hundred years, perhaps within that final century, they could break through to the 'Tribulation realm'! Their lifespan could then greatly increase.

Therefore, an Emperor's lifespan not only represents their duration of existence but also their hope for breakthrough. It was only because they had truly encountered a grave threat, and the three Emperors' plan might be jeopardized by Meng Chuan, that Emperor Xinghe was willing to expend a hundred years of his lifespan for the curse assassination. Otherwise, for tasks that could be accomplished by having the demon kings below fight to the death, he would absolutely not be willing to sacrifice his own lifespan.

Even if ten or eight Demon Sages died, how could that compare to the importance of his own hundred years of lifespan?

"Alright then," Emperor Peng nodded. "It's already rare to get Xinghe to act. I hope everything goes smoothly."

"It will go smoothly," Empress Xuanyue said, her eyes filled with anticipation. "That human Meng Chuan will surely die instantly, without any chance to resist."

Time flowed on.

Days passed by.

Every day, every hour, Emperor Xinghe meticulously wrote the incantations. These incantations were condensed from fresh blood, and more importantly, they incorporated Emperor Xinghe's own lifespan. It was only by paying such a tremendous price that the incantations' power was sufficient.

Finally, on the ninth day.

Emperor Peng and Empress Xuanyue, who had been silently observing, grew somewhat tense. This crucial strike would make conquering the human world ten times easier if successful, but much harder if it failed.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." Emperor Xinghe calmly completed the final section of the incantation.

At this moment, in his perception, the distant young man's image became hundreds, even thousands of times clearer, and the karmic link rapidly intensified.

"Kill."

Emperor Xinghe softly uttered the word – his first utterance in nine days of writing the incantations – while simultaneously touching his finger to the black disc.

Boom!!!

A terrifying attack, passing through the profound and mysterious karma, instantly flew out of the demon world, bypassed the obstacles of the human world, and directly entered Meng Chuan's body in Jiangzhou City of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

World barriers were extremely potent!

Emperors normally couldn't project attacks into another world, but it was different when transmitted through 'karmic links'. Throughout the vast river of time and space, countless cultivators were entangled by karma. Killing enemies through karma was a common technique used by powerful experts at the Tribulation realm. No matter how far or how specially one hid, one could at most blur or weaken karmic links, but never truly sever them. Ancestor Cangyuan, including Grandmaster Fei Yu, none of them could sever karmic links.

As long as one lived, karma existed.

Of course, as a medium-sized world, the human world also significantly suppressed and weakened karmic connections.

Without this weakening? A dignified Emperor cursing a Marquis Godfiend wouldn't need to expend any lifespan at all.

"Boom."

Emperor Xinghe's nine-day curse assassination was unleashed, descending upon Meng Chuan.

Meng Chuan was currently in his meditation room, comprehending the Tribulation realm ultimate arts, "Thunder Realm" and "Three Lives Blade." During the day, he would scout and hunt demon kings, but in the evenings, he would still spend a significant amount of time studying these two ultimate arts he had acquired, which had proven very beneficial to him.

He had been completely unaware of Emperor Xinghe's daily 'bows' prior to this.

It was only at the moment the entire incantation was completed, the instant their karmic link surged, that Meng Chuan vaguely felt fear and a sense of panic.

"What's happening?" Meng Chuan's mind flashed with this thought.

"Boom."

Just as the thought arose, the curse assassination descended immediately after.

The curse assassination was too bizarre, formless and intangible; Meng Chuan didn't even know how to defend against it.

"Hmph." Meng Chuan's nose bled, and he involuntarily opened his eyes, a look of shock in them.

"Puff, puff, puff."

Ghastly wounds appeared across Meng Chuan's body, blood instantly staining his robes. His internal organs began to split apart, and then Meng Chuan's consciousness roared, everything before his eyes blurring.