This time, Qin Mu felt a genuine, bone-chilling terror.
Back when the Grand Preceptor of Yankang fought outside Daxiang City, Qin Mu had stood atop a mountain peak gazing down at the battlefield, yet he could not make out the techniques of those powerhouses. The Dutian Demon King had borrowed his eyes to observe the battle, allowing Qin Mu to see the Grand Preceptor of Yankang, the Poor Scholar, and the others' moves with perfect clarity—even enabling him to grasp the profound mysteries behind those terrifying existences' techniques!
But back then, Qin Mu had believed he concealed himself well enough, that he had not alarmed the Demon King.
Yet now it seemed that his little schemes had been utterly useless. The Dutian Demon King had detected the fluctuations in his heart long ago—even guessing his innermost thoughts!
"Foolish summoner, you play what you think are clever little tricks before the greatest ruler of Dutian. They are of no use whatsoever."
The Demon King's voice continued to echo through his mind, the vibrations so powerful they made his eardrums hum: "Such a feeble creature as yourself should not presume to scheme before me. My power is beyond your imagination! Submit to me, offer yourself to me—this is your only path."
Qin Mu steadied himself, then suddenly laughed. "Great Lord of Dutian, I am the only one left in this world who understands the Ghost-Summoning Spirit-Commanding Talisman Script. I alone can still cast this art."
The Dutian Demon King fell silent.
After a moment, his voice rang out again. "An interesting little brat, daring to haggle with me. Very well, very well..."
Qin Mu's heart was unease, uncertain whether his bargaining this time would succeed.
If it failed and the Demon King turned on him, he would most likely be finished.
But if the bargaining succeeded and he saved his life, then once he returned to the village, he could ask the Village Chief and the others to slowly dispose of the Dutian Demon King.
Judging from the Demon King's behavior, destroying him was entirely possible.
After all, when Qin Mu traveled with the Grand Preceptor of Yankang, the Dutian Demon King had remained perfectly still, hiding quietly within Qin Mu's body.
It was only when the Grand Preceptor of Yankang was battling the Poor Scholar and other sect-master-level existences that the Dutian Demon King dared to borrow Qin Mu's eyes to observe the fight—both to gauge the Grand Preceptor of Yankang's true strength and to probe for weaknesses.
But at that time, Qin Mu had been surrounded by experts of the Celestial Demon Sect, and the Demon King had not made a sound.
Later, as Qin Mu treated the Grand Preceptor's injuries along the way, the Dutian Demon King had remained silent throughout.
After Qin Mu parted ways with the Grand Preceptor and arrived at the Imperial Academy, where he encountered the Cripple and Master Ma, the Dutian Demon King still did not reveal himself.
Now that Master Ma and the Cripple were gone and only Qin Mu remained, the Demon King finally appeared.
If the Grand Preceptor, Master Ma, and the Cripple posed no threat to him, there would have been no need for such caution.
In other words, he had shown his fear.
Which meant he could be destroyed—unlike Li Tianxing in Granny Si's sea of consciousness, who was virtually impossible to erase. As long as the methods were sufficiently skillful, the Demon King could indeed be obliterated.
"My Dutian is finished, destroyed, with nothing left but endless darkness. That is why I must find a new world for my people—a place where they can reproduce and thrive."
The Dutian Demon King's voice continued: "I went to great lengths to transmit the Ghost-Summoning Spirit-Commanding Talisman Script to this world, to the people of this world. Now only you understand this art. You should know that I will not let you go easily."
Qin Mu finally relaxed, letting out a long breath. "So you want me to perform demon summoning again, to summon you here?"
The Dutian Demon King coaxed him patiently. "That was my original intention, but having now witnessed that this world's natives also possess some powerful existences, I merely wish to use your hands to send a few of my people to this world. I do not want to provoke a war between the powerhouses of two worlds—it would be bad for you and bad for us. My Dutian is already finished. I simply wish to prevent my race from going extinct. I have no designs on occupying this world."
"Yeah right! Believing that would be foolish!" Qin Mu thought.
But he could not say those words aloud—the Demon King would kill him without hesitation if he did.
At this moment, the Demon King's consciousness was parasitized within his own body, along with a thread of magical power. The strength of gods and demons was far beyond what Qin Mu could hope to match. If the Dutian Demon King turned hostile, this consciousness and magical power could kill him without much trouble.
The Demon King currently had need of him, so he would not strike. But the moment he realized Qin Mu had never truly intended to summon him, he would surely turn and kill.
"You need not summon me. You can summon a few of my subjects instead."
The Dutian Demon King spoke: "After that, I will leave your body, and you may go about your life freely. You need only do me this small favor, and I will decipher the text on this gate for you."
Qin Mu laughed. "The writing on this gate—my elders most likely recognize it. There is no need to trouble the Demon King..."
"Heh, recognize it? This is the script of Youdu. Even if you recognize the characters, can you read them aloud?"
The Dutian Demon King said in an unhurried tone: "Youdu's script is useless if you cannot read it aloud. And this scroll—it records the arts of Youdu. Don't you want to know?"
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. "I cannot yet make out the writing on the book, nor the text on the gate. Learning Youdu's script would serve no purpose right now. Besides, not learning it would hardly affect me. Demon King, I have absolutely no need to make a deal with you."
"Hahahaha!"
The Dutian Demon King burst into laughter. "It seems you still haven't truly grasped the profound mysteries of your realm! Once you learn the script of Youdu written here, you will surpass the Grand Preceptor of Yankang at this level! Didn't the Grand Preceptor say that everyone else was a triangle while he was a straight line? As long as you master the text on this gate, your straight line will be longer than his!"
His voice raced around inside Qin Mu's head with no fixed location—now left, now right, sometimes echoing from the front and sometimes from behind the skull, making it impossible for Qin Mu to pin down where he was hiding.
"A lowly creature such as yourself probably has no idea what Youdu even is. Let me tell you what Youdu is!"
"Youdu is the ultimate destination for all you mortal wretches after death! Every soul shall ultimately enter there—the realm ruled by the Great Emperor Tubo, governing the afterlife of all living beings across every world!"
"He is a truly ancient and primordial god, a god of the beginning, who commands all death. Even gods and Buddhas are enslaved by him after they die!"
"Youdu is not the hellspeak of gods and Buddhas—those hells are merely fairy tales meant to frighten mortals like you. Youdu is a hundred times more brutal than any hell!"
"When you master Youdu's script and Youdu's arts, they will strengthen your soul—and that is the true ladder to godhood!"
Qin Mu's heart was deeply stirred. He laughed and said, "Empty words prove nothing. No matter how grandly you describe it, you cannot convince me. Tell me one Youdu art, and I will believe you."
The Dutian Demon King chuckled. "You should already know one."
Qin Mu was startled and blurted out, "The Soul-Calling Art? The Soul-Calling Art is a Youdu art?"
"The Soul-Calling Art is not a complete Youdu art. It was reconstructed by mortals of your world using mortal language—nowhere near the true power of Youdu's arts."
The Dutian Demon King said: "True Youdu arts use Youdu's script. That script is far more complex than the runic characters of your world. Your runic characters are merely simplified versions of Youdu's script."
Qin Mu's heart trembled as he gazed at the phantom of the book scroll in his hand. Was the text on this book written in the Youdu language?
The Soul-Calling Art could bring the dead back to life. If one could master the Youdu language and use it to cast arts, what level of power might that reach?
There was another point—the Dutian Demon King had said that Youdu's script must be spoken aloud, that one must master the language to cast it. That was no lie.
That day on the surface of the Yong River, the Nine Nether Sect Daoist who had used the Soul-Calling Art to summon spirits had chanted an obscure verse, causing black mist to surge forth and a terrifying dark gate to materialize in the middle of the river.
Much of what the Dutian Demon King said was false, but some of it was true.
"Demon King, I once saw an old man by the river at night, escorting the dead. Someone told me he was a spirit messenger. What does this spirit messenger have to do with Youdu?" Qin Mu recalled something and asked.
The Dutian Demon King replied, "Just a functionary under Tubo, responsible for maintaining order. So—are you going to learn the Youdu language or not?"
"Yes!"
Qin Mu blinked. "Teach me quickly!"
The Dutian Demon King chuckled. "Summon my subjects first, and I will teach you."
Qin Mu hesitated. "Once I summon them, if you break your word, I'll be the one at a loss. How about this—I'll craft a wooden figure mechanism, and you can inhabit it. Then you can summon them yourself. You teach me the Youdu language first, and do your own summoning. Won't that make everyone happy?"
The Dutian Demon King sneered. "Not a bad idea. But the moment I leave your body, you could call someone to kill me. Do you think I'm that stupid? I'll stay right inside you, and you will conduct the great summoning ritual! After you summon them, I will teach you the Youdu language!"
Qin Mu sneered back. "And after I summon your subjects, what if you refuse to teach me? Your subjects would kill me in an instant, you'd be free, and I'd be dead—my soul heading straight to Youdu! Don't forget, last time I summoned you, you didn't care whether I lived or died!"
Silence fell between them.
After a moment, the Dutian Demon King laughed. "Clever little brat, sharp as a ghost. Hard to fool, aren't you? How about this—I will swear a covenant oath with you. You summon my subjects, and I will teach you the Youdu language. Should anyone violate the oath, Tubo himself will appear and seize the oath-breaker's soul! What do you say?"
Qin Mu calculated briefly. "Agreed. But don't think you can fool me—I know some demon language too. Don't try to play any tricks with the oath!"
The Dutian Demon King laughed. "You filthy little brat, cunning as a ghost. Fine, I'll be generous this once—no tricks."
A profoundly obscure demon language echoed through Qin Mu's mind. The words were twisted and difficult to understand—even Qin Mu could only catch half of them. The youth's heart pounded wildly. "Stay calm, stay calm. I can't let this Demon King see that I'm only half-competent..."
Shortly after, the Dutian Demon King finished reciting the oath. A phantom shape slowly materialized in Qin Mu's mind—the form of a half-open gate, resembling half the Gate of Youdu.
"Your turn," the Dutian Demon King said.
Qin Mu steadied himself, carefully pondering the meaning of the other half of the demon language he had not understood. The Dutian Demon King grew slightly anxious and urged, "Hurry up, or the Gate of Youdu will dissipate!"
Qin Mu sneered. "You're trying to trick me. I'm not going through with this oath."
The Dutian Demon King laughed. "You little brat, you really do know some demon language."
The half-formed Gate of Youdu dissolved, and the demon language sounded again. This time Qin Mu understood seventy or eighty percent of it, though a few words remained uncertain. He continued to deliberate.
The Dutian Demon King said, "Fine, fine. You've got some ability." With that, he dissolved the half-gate once more and began reciting the covenant oath again in demon language.
Qin Mu suddenly laughed. "Demon King, you keep playing tricks. Why don't we swear the covenant in human language instead?"
The Dutian Demon King was silent for a moment, then cursed: "Cunning as a ghost! You half-understand the demon language and are trying to steal it from me, aren't you, you little brat?"