Chapter 1 : Three Demon Master 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1 : Three Demon Master (1)
“Baa baa… baa baa… baa baa”
A young shepherd’s sheep made noises that echoed across the normally tranquil mountain range.
Li Qi Ye crawled on top of the cliff whilst the cold night breeze blew heavily; however, at this moment, perspiration drowned his body. At thirteen years of age, a little boy like Li Qi Ye was using all of his might to climb the mountain range; this scene in the night sky exuded a macabre sensation for any spectators that were around to witness it.
Although the night was quiet, his mind was tormented by a fire of uncertainty.
Heralding from a poor family, his parents were both peasants. At the age of seven, he started his life as a shepherd. He took the family name Li; his name was Li Qi Ye because he cried for seven days and seven nights after birth.[1]
Today, he was performing his daily task; however, during the evening dawn’s approach, he noticed that he was missing his leading sheep. Filled with worries, he rushed back to the mountain range to search for it. After what was seemingly comparable to scouring the entire mountain range, he still could not find even a shadow of the sheep.
Thinking about the missing sheep and its evil owner, Zhang Da Hu, Li Qi Ye feared for the worst in his heart.
Suddenly, Li Qi Ye thought of one place. There was only one place that he didn’t search, the Heaven Demon Grotto!
As he looked toward the Heaven Demon Grotto in front of him, the mountain range in the dark night resembled a fierce beast from the Ancient Desolate Era with its mouth gaping, hungering for human flesh. Hearing the wolves’ howls reverberating from side to side, he couldn’t help but shiver in fear.
The Heaven Demon Grotto was considered a cursed place in the surrounding area. Legend has it that an evil demon exists there, who instantly consumed any trespasser. No one had ever made it out of the cave alive.
At this moment, the sounds of Zhang Da Hu’s whips reverberated in Li Qi Ye’s ears. If he truly lost the sheep, then Zhang Da Hu would definitely whip his flesh into tatters.
Having reached this point, Li Qi Ye grinded his teeth and approached the cave as his body disappeared in the night.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh…”
The night screeched sadly along with the young boy’s scream.
Li Qi Ye’s horrified voice once again rang:
“You, you, what is your intention? … Ahh…”
Suddenly, the terrible screams came to an end.
An unknown amount of time later, at the depths of the Heaven Demon Grotto, the silence was broken with a menacing voice:
“Good, good, good, my immortal Dark Crow has finally been completed. Only a soul was missing; today I will coincidentally borrow your soul for a little bit!”
-Phwoosh… phwoosh… phwoosh!
A moment later, As each flap rung loudly, a strange, dark crow flew away from the Heaven Demon Grotto.
“Fly, fly, I will use your soul to find all the Forbidden Burials; fly across all the land. As long as the Nine Worlds exist, I will find you again!”
From the depths of the Heaven Demon Grotto, the heavy voice once again lingered in the air.
From then on, between this Heaven and Earth, a Dark Crow flew across the planes. From heavenly cities to the most dangerous edges and secret places, it flew without free will, straight through the Nine Worlds for eras without end.
As time passed, millions of years had come and gone; a new peerless master rose up as another fell. Slowly, the crow would appear again. It wanted to escape its master; it wanted to find a purpose to its life.
From the Medicine God to the Immortal Emperor Sky, Immortal Emperor Sanguine, Immortal Emperor Min Ren to Immortal Emperor Tunri and Immortal Emperor Bing Yu…all the way up until the Black Dragon King.
Behind each of these paragons lied the shadow of a crow; one that struggled to find freedom.
As these strongest beings came and went, the crow still mysteriously appeared in the river of time.
The crow was not willing to have his fate controlled, it wanted to oppose the most frightening character in this world.
Millions of years till now, and the changing of era from era…
***
Li Qi Ye who was floating in the river was suddenly dragged up by a person.
“Aaa!”
As he was being dragged out, Li Qi Ye suddenly woke up. His first reaction was jumping up as he was unfamiliar with his own body. He was unstable and almost fell down to the ground again.
“Ah, my body!”
Looking down and seeing that his body had stayed the same, Li Qi Ye was both ecstatic and scared. Even after the thousands of struggles while fighting against the unending waves and winds, the Dark Crow, Li Qi Ye, still couldn’t contain his emotions after regaining his own body.
Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and saw an old man in front of him.
“Hehehe, it is this Old Man that has saved you from your impending doom.”
The old man laughed loudly in an inglorious manner, revealing his three remaining yellow teeth. This made others to feel that his smile was very lowly.
Upstream, Li Qi Ye could still see the dimming structure of the Heaven Demon Grotto. His eyes became increasingly cold; his aura exceeds anything that a thirteen year old child could produce.
Li Qi Ye took a deep breath, and then stared at the old man. After a while, he finally asked:
“How should I address you, Old Man?”
“Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, San Gui Ye.”
The old man answered with his mouth agape revealing his three gold teeth, smiling and spitting everywhere.
“Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect…”
Li Qi Ye whispered under his breath. This name reminded him of the sealed memories in his head; the time when he was still imprisoned in the body of the Dark Crow.
“Right now, who has the Heaven’s Will?”
Li Qi Ye regained his composure and asked the man.
“Heaven’s Will eh? Right now, in this era, no one has been able to carry the Heaven’s Will.”
The old man was still smiling as he answered.
“Where is Immortal Emperor Ta Kong?”
After hearing his answer, Li Qi Ye’s complexion darkened. How long has he been asleep for? Over one hundred thousand years?
“Immortal Emperor Ta Kong has been missing for thirty thousand years.”
“What about Black Dragon King of the Heaven Protector Palace?”
Li Qi Ye inquired about the Old Man once again.
“No one knows, the Black Dragon King went missing at the same time as well.”
San Gui Ye shook his head.
Hearing this, Li Qi Ye crazily changed his expression. He looked back at the Heaven Demon Grotto again and finally knew why he had regained his body.
“Let us go.”
Wearing a sad expression, Li Qi Ye turned around and started to walk away, and didn’t care whether San Gui Ye was following him or not. After experiencing near immortality, he knew exactly what he had to do.
***
The Heaven Protector Palace has the strongest lineage of a peerless master in the current times. That era, when the Black Dragon King was still alive, no one could match her across the Nine Worlds. For three generations she was still respected!
Even though he has been missing for thirty thousand years, the Heaven Protector Palace was still residing arrogantly in this heaven.
At this moment, a young boy around the age of thirteen and a lowly old man with three gold teeth was standing outside of the Heaven Protector Palace.
Standing outside the palace’s outer city, Li Qi Ye was burning ceremonial money while whispering.
“Little Black Dragon, you don’t have to worry. This life, you have helped me by obtaining my body again; one day, I will stomp the evil land to get revenge for you.”