Chapter 69: The Old Man II

Chapter 66: The Old Man II

The entire situation suddenly felt so surreal to Seana that she was left momentarily speechless.

She couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle as she looked back and forth between her defiant boyfriend and this newly proclaimed master.

"But, Old Man," Seana asked, her voice breaking the heavy tension in the chamber. "When did I ever agree to become your disciple?"

"Hmph." The old man snorted, stroking his white beard with an air of absolute authority.

"The moment you successfully refined a Perfect Earth-Grade Mind Cleansing Elixir in my Knowledge Room, your fate was sealed. You are my disciple."

"What?!" Ye Cangming stared at the old man in pure disbelief.

The Cursed Soul Butterfly Demon looked at Seana, then back at the old man, his mind reeling.

This ’Old Man’ was the second brother of his own master—a legendary figure in the Demon Realm. In all the countless millennia Ye Cangming had served the lineage, he had never seen the old man even consider taking a student.

In all the realms, only his master—the Demon Lord—could keep this old demon in check. Yet now, a human girl had not only passed the trial of the Knowledge Room but had refined a perfect earth-grade elixir.

What sort of monster is she? Ye Cangming wondered, his previous arrogance completely extinguished.

The old man, however, ignored the Ye Cangming’s shock. With a casual wave of his hand, a surge of brilliant silver Qi rushed into Lothe’s battered body. Within seconds, the agonizing internal damage began to vanish.

PING!

[Soul-Ripping Curse has been purged by supreme-tier Qi!]

[Host’s soul essence has been stabilized and repaired.]

Even without the system notification, Lothe could feel the change. The silver Qi flowed through his meridians like a cooling spring, sewing his fractured soul back together. The sheer ease with which the old man performed this feat was terrifying.

Lothe unknowingly clenched his fist, his dark eyes hardening with a new, silent vow. I will never be this helpless again. Never.

The old man performed the same feat for Seana, healing her wounds in the blink of an eye. Then, he turned his sharp gaze toward Ye Cangming, scolding him like a disobedient child.

"Cangming, haven’t I always told you? Never judge a book by its cover."

"Yes, Second Master," Ye Cangming replied, his head bowing low in submission.

The terrifying executioner from moments ago was gone. He turned toward Lothe and Seana and performed a deep, formal bow, his hands clasped before him.

"I offer my sincerest apologies for nearly executing you due to my poor judgment. I do not know how I can make amends for such a slight."

Lothe and Seana stood in stunned silence. The sincerity in the demon’s voice was unmistakable.

It forced Lothe to reevaluate his perception of this ancient being. He was not necessarily ’evil’—he simply followed a ruthless, absolute logic.

"If you truly want to make amends," Lothe spoke up, his voice steady once more, "then explain what you meant. You said I was using your master’s Abyssal Hell Technique."

The old man’s expression turned serious. He, too, remembered the purple-black tendrils Lothe had summoned—a power that belonged exclusively to his elder brother, Mo Wuyuan.

He searched Lothe for a bloodline resonance, but found nothing. No demonic trace, no family connection. Just a human using a power he shouldn’t possess.

"I cannot explain why a human like you can manifest it," Ye Cangming spoke slowly. "Though your version is incredibly weak and unrefined, the ’will’ behind the power... it is identical to my master’s."

Seana looked at Lothe, her mind flashing back to how his Qi had aided her breakthrough.

"I don’t have an answer for you," Lothe admitted honestly. "I only know that when our world changed and Qi appeared, this power awakened alongside my spatial abilities."

The old man caught a specific detail in Lothe’s words. "What do you mean by ’when your world changed’? Are you saying humans weren’t always able to cultivate?"

Lothe and Seana looked at the ancient demon, realizing the massive disconnect between their eras.

"No," Lothe shook his head. "The world we come from had no Qi. We only became capable of cultivating very recently. Most of our population that was incompatible with the sudden energy turned into mindless monsters—zombies—and animals mutated into predators."

"What?!" Ye Cangming shouted, his eyes darting to the old man.

The old man didn’t shout. Instead, a visible tremor passed through his frame. His eyes glazed over as his mind raced through ancient histories and forgotten wars.

"Not possible..." the old man whispered, his voice cracking. "Impossible. We won the battle... we succeeded in the attack..."

He began muttering to himself, his expression filling with a growing, palpable dread. Lothe watched him closely, noticing the raw fear hidden within the old man’s gaze.

What attack? What battle? Lothe’s thought raced through his mind.

After several moments of haunting silence, the old man’s gaze shifted toward the suspended black coffin at the center of the hall, guarded by the four beasts.

"Mo Wuyuan..." the old man murmured, his voice barely a breath but enough for both Lothe and Seana to hear.

"Don’t tell me your prophecy is finally coming true."

He turned back to Lothe and Seana, his face solemn and heavy with shadow.

"If what you say is true, boy... then your world is in serious trouble." He paused, his dark eyes boring into Lothe’s.

"Not ’simple’ trouble. I mean a catastrophe beyond your imagination."

Lothe and Seana felt a chill run down their spine.

"The zombies and the beasts... they are nothing," the old man warned, his voice like a death knell.

"They will be the very least of your problems. Believe me."

Lothe exchanged a glance with Seana. Neither of them spoke.

They had fought mutated beasts, survived hordes of zombies, and even stood before a Demon Lord’s disciple. Yet the old man’s words made all of those dangers seem insignificant.

Just what kind of catastrophe was waiting for them?​