I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 34
Chapter 34: Top of the Demon Lord Ranking
The fiery explosion of Sun Qing’s Golden Core became the final act of his life.
That chaotic energy, a twisted blend of terror and venom, transformed several Jade Slips he had imbued with his Divine Soul and Origin into crimson meteors that tore across the night sky in all directions.
One of these streaks, hurtling across thousands of miles of darkness, crashed with pinpoint accuracy before the Council Hall of the Azure Cloud Sect.
Buzz!
The Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation activated, a stream of light capturing the Jade Slip and whisking it inside the hall.
Yun Lan, Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect, who had been meditating with closed eyes, abruptly snapped his eyes open.
With a wave of his hand, the Jade Slip hovered in his palm.
An ominous, bloody aura emanated from it, mingling with the frenzied thoughts of a Golden Core cultivator on the verge of death.
Li Qingcang frowned, probing the slip with his Divine Sense.
In the next instant—
Boom!
A series of hellish scenes exploded in his mind!
Fang Zheng, wreathed in Demonic Energy, wielded the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, a flag that devoured countless ghosts.
With a single strike, he shattered the Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation of Hundred Herbs Valley.
Standing high upon an altar, he proclaimed he would grant the villagers “rebirth” through a Blood Sacrifice.
Crimson light soared into the heavens as thousands of mortals instantly transformed into black miasma, sucked into the Great Formation!
The soaring resentment, the Demonic Might so pure it felt tangible—even relayed through the Jade Slip, it made Yun Lan, a Late Stage Nascent Soul cultivator, feel a pang of relief.
After all, better to sacrifice a Fellow Daoist than myself. Looking back, sending Fang Zheng away was undoubtedly the wisest decision.
The scene on the Jade Slip shifted.
The sky tore open, revealing a writhing, fleshy chasm from which an indescribable Evil God descended.
Then came an even more terrifying sight.
Behind Fang Zheng, a colossal Demon God’s phantom materialized, its form towering over the heavens and earth.
With a mere lift of its hand, the phantom seized the aberrant Ancient God, treating it like mere sustenance, devouring it alive… piece by piece… until nothing remained.
Pfft!
Yun Lan spat out a mouthful of blood, his face instantly ashen.
He wasn’t merely frightened.
His Divine Soul had been injured by the overwhelming, domineering aura of the Human Emperor’s phantom, which had surged through the Jade Slip like a tidal wave.
“Sect Master!”
Several Elders, sensing the commotion, rushed into the Council Hall and were horrified by Yun Lan’s condition.
“Quick! Summon all Elders! High Tier! Immediately! At once!” Yun Lan’s voice trembled as he clutched the Jade Slip, his knuckles white with strain.
Within moments, all the core Elders of the Azure Cloud Sect had gathered in the Council Hall.
When the contents of the Jade Slip were revealed…
The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
A pin drop could be heard in the hall.
Every Elder’s face was etched with disbelief, terror, and dread.
That… that disciple who had been sent away from the Demon Sealing Pagoda not long ago—Fang Zheng?
What a joke! This was clearly the reincarnation of the Myriad Ages Demon Sovereign!
Devouring an Ancient God?!
What did that even mean?!
“This fiend… this fiend must be eliminated!” An explosive Enforcement Elder slammed his fist on the table, his voice trembling with fury. “He has completely fallen to the Demonic Path—the greatest threat to the Righteous Dao in ten thousand years! We must immediately…”
“Immediately what?” another Elder interrupted him, his voice trembling. “Send who? You? Or me? He devoured even that Evil God summoned by who-knows-who as if it were a snack! Do you think the Azure Cloud Sect’s paltry resources would even fill the cracks between his teeth?”
The words silenced everyone once more.
Indeed.
We can’t defeat him.
We can’t defeat him at all.
Even glimpsing the Demon God’s phantom through the Jade Slip had shaken their Dao Hearts to their core.
If they faced him in person, they would likely be reduced to ashes in a single encounter.
Yun Lan slammed his fist on the table, his voice cracking like thunder. “From this day forward, the Azure Cloud Sect has no disciple named Fang Zheng!”
He rose to his feet, his icy gaze sweeping over each Elder present, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.
“Issue the Sect Master’s Token!”
“First, Fang Zheng is to be completely purged from the Sect’s records, effective immediately! He has no further connection whatsoever to the Azure Cloud Sect!”
“Second, all information regarding Fang Zheng’s former status as a Sect disciple is to be suppressed! If outsiders inquire, claim ignorance! Any breach of this directive will be considered treason against the Sect, punishable by annihilation of both body and Divine Soul!”
“Third, in the name of the Azure Cloud Sect, issue a Blood-Colored Bounty Order of the highest level across the entire Profound Heaven Continent! The reward for Demon Lord Fang Zheng’s head: ten million High-Grade Spirit Stones, a Heaven-Grade Magical Artifact, and one million Sect Contribution Points!”
“Fourth! Immediately contact all other Righteous Sects to share this Jade Slip! Inform the world that a world-destroying Demon has descended! The Azure Cloud Sect stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Righteous Dao, uniting all forces to jointly eradicate this fiend!”
Four consecutive orders, resolute and ruthless!
Without the slightest hesitation, without a trace of sentimentality.
Their immediate task wasn’t to wage war.
It was to sever ties!
To cut all ties with the name “Fang Zheng” swiftly and completely!
Otherwise, by the time the world reacted, the Azure Cloud Sect would be forever branded as the “Demon Lord’s Cradle”—a stain that even the Celestial River itself couldn’t wash away!
Meanwhile, another Blood-Colored Jade Slip traversed immeasurable distances, soaring into an aerial pavilion suspended above a sea of clouds.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
The most mysterious, neutral, and well-informed organization on the Profound Heaven Continent.
The Jade Slip descended into an ancient hall, where an invisible hand caught it.
Within the hall, several Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Elders, clad in Starry Dao Robes and radiating an ethereal aura, simultaneously opened their eyes.
Their Divine Sense swept over the Jade Slip.
In an instant, the very air in the hall froze.
Hiss…
Even these Elders, who had witnessed countless world-shaking events and divined countless futures, couldn’t help but gasp.
“Using Resentful Souls as soldiers, Blood Sacrifice as an array…”
“Most critically… that Demon God’s phantom, that ‘Plunder’ Dao… this is an unprecedented path!”
“He’s not merely destroying—he’s plundering! Devouring! This is a higher-level energy conversion method! It completely shatters the millennia-long balance of power between the Righteous and Demonic Paths!”
“Who… exactly is this person?”
An Elder waved his hand, and a massive Water Mirror materialized.
Countless names and information flashed across the mirror’s surface.
Finally, it settled on the two characters: “Fang Zheng.”
Birthplace: Outer Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect.
Aptitude: Lower Grade.
Record: Diligent, honest, once triggered an anomaly in the Demon Sealing Pagoda…
The record was short and unremarkable. So ordinary, in fact, that it seemed utterly disconnected from the peerless Demon God who devoured gods within the Jade Slip.
“We can’t trace his origins… It’s as if he materialized out of thin air…”
“No, not from thin air. This aura, this overwhelming dominance… It’s exactly like the descriptions of that forbidden entity in the Ancient Classic Texts…”
“The Ancient Demon Sovereign?!”
The moment this name was uttered, every Elder felt a primal tremor in their very Divine Souls.
“Whether he is that Sovereign or not, we must treat him with the utmost urgency!” the leading Elder declared solemnly. “Update the rankings immediately!”
“Which ranking?”
“All of them!”
“List Fang Zheng on the ‘World’s Demonic Fiends Ranking’!”
“At what rank?”
“Top position!”
This decision sent shockwaves through everyone present.
The top spot on the World’s Demonic Fiends Ranking had remained vacant for three millennia!
“It is decided!” the leading Elder declared, his voice ringing with finality. “Not only will he top the Demon Lord Ranking, but his name will be inscribed in blood-red vermilion, positioned at the very apex of the list!”
“His threat level? ‘Absolute’ grade! No, even that’s not enough! We must define a new category… let it be known as ‘Archdemon’!”
“Proclaim this to the world!”
The orders were issued.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion whirred into motion, its gears grinding at breakneck speed.
Within a mere hour, a freshly updated Demon Lord Ranking emerged from the pavilion, spreading like wildfire across every corner of the Profound Heaven Continent.
World’s Demonic Fiends Ranking
Top Rank (Archdemon): Fang Zheng
Title: God-Devourer
Magic Artifact: Ten Thousand Souls Banner
Achievements: Blood sacrifice of ten thousand souls at Willow Wind Manor; devouring the avatar of an Evil God.
Abilities: Unknown (suspected to command the ‘Plunder’ Law, capable of devouring all things to fuel endless self-strengthening).
Overall Assessment: A demon unparalleled throughout history, whose very existence heralds calamity. All cultivators below the Tribulation Transcendence Stage are advised to flee at first sight and never engage in direct conflict.
The ranking’s emergence shook the world to its core!
Countless Righteous Sects, upon seeing the list and the accompanying Jade Slip footage, were plunged into utter panic.
A Demon Lord who could become infinitely stronger by slaughtering and devouring others!
How could they possibly fight this?
The more he killed, the stronger he became!
This was utterly unsolvable!
A shared thought rose in the hearts of all the Righteous Dao leaders:
We must not let him grow stronger!
Before he becomes truly invincible, we must crush him in his cradle with overwhelming force, nipping him in the bud at any cost!
A massive storm targeting Fang Zheng, poised to engulf the entire Righteous Dao Cultivation World, was brewing with terrifying speed.