Chapter 280.2: The Ten-Year Term Arrives and the True Body Descends! Lu Changsheng Tears Through and Departs! (II)

The Demon Progenitor's words brought a strange look to Lu Changsheng's eyes. There was no denying that a being who could fuse with the world and become indestructible was truly frightening. He had even deduced the purpose behind Lu Changsheng's coming to this world. Fused with the world as he was, the Demon Progenitor knew every change within it intimately and there was likely no hiding anything from him.

As Lu Changsheng remained silent, the Demon Progenitor went on, "Flesh and Blood Progenitor, you are in fact welcome to anything in this world. Even destroying it would not trouble me, but I have only one request. Let me break free of this world and out of this cage, and send me into the world you come from.

"How about it? As long as you agree, not only will I not stand in your way, I will actually lend you all the help I can. If you refuse... Well, this Martial Dao condensed from the masses would be very hard for anyone else to erase but for me. You see, fused with the world as I am, erasing it would be child's play..."

With that, the Demon Progenitor lifted his hand, seemingly grabbing at the sky.

Rumble!

The sky shook, and Lu Changsheng felt clearly that the Martial Dao in the sky seemed to be pushed out by the world, and it was showing faint signs of breaking apart. Feeling that, his heart tightened in spite of himself.

Lu Changsheng reluctantly formed his reply. "Hah! You're truly outstanding! Truth be told, helping you leave this world is not difficult. You guessed it right. What I want is the Martial Dao condensed from the masses. I promise you that within a year, I will help you break out of this cage without fail. In return, you must promise me not to damage the Martial Dao condensed from the masses!"

"Good, then we have a deal!" the Demon Progenitor said at once.

Lu Changsheng gave the Demon Progenitor a long, careful look. Then, he left the Demon Progenitor Hall swiftly with the blood descendants. Leaving the demon nation, he made his way back to the Temple of Flesh and Blood in the capital of Jing.

Before returning to the temple and the capital, he briefly took a "stroll" through every corner of the Jing Dynasty. In reality, he was leaving behind a trace of his flesh wherever he went, in case he ever needed it. He did not entirely trust the Demon Progenitor. What if the creature decided to move against him?

Their clash had proven that Lu Changsheng did not fear the Demon Progenitor. Even so, being fused with this world meant the power of the Demon Progenitor would never run out. In other words, there was no outlasting him in a war of attrition. All Lu Changsheng could do was prepare more thoroughly.

On the other hand, if all the Demon Progenitor wanted was to break free of his cage and escape the shackles of this world, that was something Lu Changsheng truly could do with the power of his true body once it descended. When that time came, forcibly pulling the Demon Progenitor out of his world and taking him to the Immortal Martial World would be no problem.

In fact, the Demon Progenitor was astonishingly gifted. He had worked out the world fusion method all on his own. Once he reached the Immortal Martial World, he would surely do well for himself. Not only could he hope to become an Earthly Saint, he might even become a Heavenly Saint!

Still, all of that would have to wait until the power of Lu Changsheng's true body arrived in a few months. In the meantime, he would see whether the Demon Progenitor could keep his word.

With everything settled, Lu Changsheng gave the order for the blood descendants to withdraw from the demon nation.

On the other side, the Demon Progenitor had evidently given orders as well for the demons to halt their slaughter of the blood descendants. They even left the human kingdoms completely untouched. For a time, humanity, the demon race, and the blood descendants actually settled into a strange balance.

That balance, however, was in fact very fragile. Humanity was the weakest of the three, and humans were steadily being converted into blood descendants. Of course, the conversions were not forced but voluntary. After all, blood descendants never fell ill, lived long lives, and had boundless strength. Moreover, they could even counter the demon race. What human would see all those benefits and resist the temptation to convert?

As time went on, the human population would shrink steadily. In the end, this world would become a contest for supremacy between the demon race and the blood descendants.

That, however, no longer had much to do with Lu Changsheng. He had created the blood descendants for one purpose, and that was to spread the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao widely to condense a Martial Dao. Having accomplished that, all that remained was to wait for the power of his true body to arrive so that he could quickly shatter the Martial Dao and collect the Martial Dao fragments.

As the days went by, Lu Changsheng spent some time training a number of blood descendants, bringing them all the way to Fifth Growth! The blood descendants were, after all, his own creation. He knew perfectly well that once he and the Demon Progenitor left the world, the demons and the blood descendants would go to war again, and he could not bear the idea of the blood descendants being wiped out.

Lu Changsheng was at Sixth Growth, and because of that, he could still force blood descendants up to Fifth Growth as long as he was willing to pay a price. In turn, Fifth Growth could match an ancient demon among the demon race.

Of course, there were not many of them. In roughly over ten months, he raised about ten blood descendants, roughly one per month. He figured that ten blood descendants at Fifth Growth were about enough. Even if they could not beat the demon race, protecting themselves should be no problem. At worst, he could have the Demon Progenitor get rid of a few ancient demons before the two of them left so the two sides stayed in balance.

As for how the struggle between the two races turned out once they were gone, that was more than Lu Changsheng could concern himself with. After all, the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao could be cultivated. Anyone with high enough talent could train their way to Fifth Growth, or even Sixth Growth.

Of course, such cultivation was not easy, and if, after Lu Changsheng left, the blood descendants grew corrupt and decadent, stopped striving, and were beaten by the demons, that would only prove they were beyond help. In that scenario, Lu Changsheng would no longer be concerned with them. He could help them for a little while, but ultimately they had to help themselves.

Just like that, time slipped by. The ten-year term was drawing near.

One day, an uninvited guest arrived in the capital of Jing, completely unnoticed by anyone. The uninvited guest made his way to the sealed chamber in the Temple of Flesh and Blood and stood quietly outside it. Only Lu Changsheng noticed him.

Rumble.

As the door of the sealed chamber opened, Lu Changsheng came into view and he saw the figure standing outside.

Lu Changsheng spoke slowly. "Demon Progenitor."

"Flesh and Blood Progenitor, the year is almost up. It is not that I distrust you, but no matter how hard I think about it, I simply cannot work out what method you could use to free me from this world's bonds. Could it be directly related to the world that is colliding with ours?"

Despite his calm demeanor, the Demon Progenitor was growing rather impatient. He had been waiting for this for countless ages, and the wait grew more unbearable with each passing moment.

"Don't be so anxious, Demon Progenitor," Lu Changsheng said with a smile. "You know this world is converging with mine, so you should also know that the point at which the two worlds converge will be the point they are closest to each other. When that time comes, I will naturally have a way to help you break free."

Lu Changsheng spoke with total conviction and great confidence. Seeing how sure of himself he was, the Demon Progenitor gave a nod of approval. Still, not wanting to go back yet, he sat down with Lu Changsheng to discuss the Dao.

The Dao was the same whether in the Immortal Martial World or another world: it was everywhere. Immortal cultivators, martial artists, and beings like the Demon Progenitor all needed to comprehend it. In essence, the Dao was the law by which one grasped the nature of the world and the nature of all things. Every world had a Dao of its own.