I am becoming the ultimate demon.

Chapter 14 Sand Beast, a high-level calamity, a relic of the previous dynasty, and a candidate for H

The wind is getting stronger.

The sand that swept in covered the already severely desertified and dilapidated town with another layer of fine sand.

Looking into the distance, everyone could see two enormous whirlwinds, stretching from the sky to the earth, hurtling towards them, instantly plunging everything in their path into darkness.

"It's a sandstorm, run!!" Everyone panicked and scattered, each trying to save their own lives. The awakened ones also unleashed their demonic bodies and no longer hid.

At this moment, a voice rang in Ji Lin's mind: The system has detected a disaster.

[Calamity: Sand Beast]

【grade:??】

[Characteristic: Causes sandstorms]

It was a high-level calamity, a remnant of the previous dynasty, practically a chaotic world of demons and monsters. If he stayed here any longer, he would lose his life sooner or later. His heart began to race, and his breathing became rapid.

Ji Lin immediately transformed into a demonic form and began to flee at high speed.

"call……"

"call……"

The sound of the wind behind me was deafening.

The sandstorm swept in with incredible speed, and no one could escape its onslaught. The dozen or so people who were slow to run were quickly swallowed by the darkness, and their figures disappeared in an instant.

He ignored what was happening behind him and just kept running and swinging his arms, hoping to find a way to survive.

In less than a few breaths, Ji Lin could no longer sense the presence of even the few awakened ones running slightly faster behind him, which meant that he was now all alone.

Ji Lin immediately fell into despair. No matter how fast he ran, he could never outrun the terrifying force behind him.

"Damn it, there are such powerful anomalies here. I should have known better than to come to this godforsaken place."

As he ran, his foot suddenly slipped, and he cried out in alarm as his entire body sank into quicksand, sinking deeper and deeper into a channel.

He was terrified, surrounded by darkness and quicksand, wondering what other terrifying things lay below.

No matter how hard he tried to grab, he couldn't slow down his descent.

Finally, he simply gave up struggling and let his body slide down freely, finding peace in his heart.

Let it be. It's better than letting that sand beast swallow us up for no reason. Maybe a way out is right under our feet.

"BOOM!!"

Ji Lin finally slid to the end of the quicksand and landed.

He breathed a long sigh of relief.

He then began to observe his surroundings and found himself in a dark underground palace, with a lamp burning at regular intervals.

Looking ahead, there was a stone wall three zhang wide and one zhang high, covered with patterns and several strings of text at the end.

He started looking from the left.

The first image depicts several strange-looking creatures appearing and attacking humans, destroying houses.

The second image depicts someone leading people in a rebellion against monsters.

The third image depicts the appearance of a demonic dragon, during which most of those who resisted died.

The fourth image is a giant human figure that devours monsters and protects all living beings.

There were only a few strings of text that he couldn't understand.

At this point, the system displays a prompt:

The occurrence of anomalies is a cyclical phenomenon, repeating every three hundred years, with each cycle lasting for several decades.

[In ancient times, a celestial demon devoured all anomalies and became a god, thus leaving behind clues to its inheritance.]

[May those destined to succeed shoulder great responsibilities, embark on the path of the Heavenly Demon, ultimately ascend to godhood, and end the cycle.]

This system can actually be used like this? It can even translate text. That's a great feature; it's been a huge help.

It turns out that the previous dynasty perished due to cyclical anomalies. Now, the Great Qian Dynasty has been established for three hundred years and is in the initial stage of an anomaly's onset. This means that in a few decades, this land will once again become a remnant of a chaotic world of demons and monsters, unless...

Someone can become the ultimate demon, suppress the anomalies, and end the era of anomalies.

Ji Lin wanted to examine the patterns more closely, but the stone wall suddenly turned into ashes and scattered on the ground. Then a string of golden characters flew out and entered his mind.

He felt his body and found no changes; the system attributes were the same as before.

Just then, the system beeped.

【Ding! 】

[The system has detected ten abnormal substances. Store them?]

"Deposit!"

Ji Lin's eyes widened. Which senior secretly sent me resources?

This unexpected and generous gift filled him with immense joy, bringing him one step closer to completing the Path of the Heavenly Demon.

According to the clues on the stone wall, it seems that the only way to end the abnormal era is to gather all the power into one person. Only when one person becomes a god can the abnormal era be ended.

This was far more brutal and difficult than his previous ideal of "increasing his strength and establishing a regional power"...

But those things can wait until later. Right now, his primary goal is to escape this hellish place and get out alive before he can talk about those distant ideals.

He followed the tunnel through the underground palace, turned a corner, and discovered a burial chamber.

Inside the tomb was a stone coffin, upon which lay a golden suit of armor, seemingly the same one that had been repeatedly appearing earlier...

This strange phenomenon made Ji Lin feel extremely uneasy, and he decided to go up and find out what it was.

He reached out, intending to touch the golden armor.

Suddenly, a figure appeared from the side, shouting, "Stop! You damned demon, put down that treasure!"

As he spoke, the man swung his sword, and a metallic buzzing sound echoed through the air.

Ji Lin quickly dodged aside, and upon closer inspection, he realized it was Qin Dong from the White Cloud Sect.

He had already used Insight to check his information:

[Martial Artist: Qin Dong]

[Level: Grandmaster]

[Martial Arts: Qingfeng Swordplay]

He was quite surprised that this person hadn't died at the hands of that great terror; it seemed this person had some good luck.

"These are my things, how dare you take them?" Qin Dong shouted.

"You'll soon find out if you're a good match!"

Ji Lin narrowed his eyes, just about to activate his skill, when suddenly another person walked out.

"This was originally an unnamed object, so how could it have an owner? Besides, now is not the time to seize treasures. Holy Son, give me some face and let it go, okay?"

The man walked steadily, holding a folding fan, and had an elegant demeanor. It was none other than the Ninth Prince, Zhao Yuan. Sure enough, he had survived.

System prompt:

[Martial Artist: Zhao Yuan]

[Level: Grandmaster]

Martial Arts: Disappearing Step, Flowing Cloud Fan

Ji Lin took a deep breath. The strength these two had displayed during the trial was top-tier, even among Grandmasters. He wasn't confident he could defeat them together, so he had to be prepared to retreat at any time.

"So it's the Ninth Prince. Your Highness is right. I was impetuous." Qin Dong's tone softened as he glanced at Ji Lin beside him.

Ji Lin abandoned his fighting stance, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked calm and composed.

The three carefully examined the golden armor. Before long, cracks appeared on the treasure, and it eventually turned into ashes and drifted away.

"That ghost has disappeared again, what a damn bad luck!!" Qin Dong spat.

"Never mind, it's just an object. Let's walk forward a bit more and see if there's an exit," Zhao Yuan said calmly.

The three continued walking through the tunnel, and at this point, more and more trial participants gathered around, and quite a few of them had survived.

But no one dared to act alone. Going together now would increase their chances of survival, and if anything happened, they would have someone to look after them.

When the group reached the end of the tunnel, they found smooth stone walls all around them, and in front of them was a huge bronze door, dark green in color, rusty, and about two zhang tall.

"Is this the exit?" Amidst despair and terror, a glimmer of hope ignited within the crowd.

They tried to push, pull, or attack together, but the bronze door remained completely unmoved.

"Ugh! This damn door, how can it be so sturdy? If we don't get out soon, who knows what terrible things might appear! By tonight, we'll never get out!"

"Shut your mouth and think of a solution."

The crowd grew increasingly agitated.

"How about we look for other solutions?" Qin Dong suggested.

"No, we've already checked the other intersections. This should be the only exit. Besides, we don't have time to look for another one. Let's think of something first." Zhao Yuan waved his hand.

"Look! There's a keyhole here. Everyone, find the key!" someone shouted.

One of the female awakened ones used her skill to inject some ice into the hole, hoping to open the bronze door in this way, but the ice broke when she gently twisted it.

Seeing this, everyone looked around and obediently searched for clues about the key.

Ji Lin looked up and saw a lamp burning eternally more than ten feet above him, with a long, narrow object right next to it.

From a distance, it looks only as big as a fingernail; if you have poor eyesight or don't look closely, you won't notice it at all.

"Look, it's up there!!" He pointed directly upwards.

Everyone looked in the direction the finger was pointing and examined it carefully for a while.

"It really is! But how do we go up and get it?"

The crowd finally erupted into chaos, venting their emotions with a cacophony of curses and impotent rage.

It's over ten zhang high; no matter how skilled you are in light-footed kung fu, you can't climb up there to get it.

I want to knock it down with something, but the bronze lamp is blocking my way. What should I do?

Everyone was plunged into despair once again.

"I have a way," Ji Lin said calmly.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately fell silent and turned to look at him.

"Quick, what's the solution?" Zhao Yuan asked expectantly.

He summoned a swarm of red blood locusts, densely packed, their wings fluttering as they flew toward the ever-burning lamp.

"Buzz buzz buzz".

First, several blood locusts worked together to lift out a corner, and the rest also put their hands and feet on it. Then they easily lifted the long object out, flew back, and finally landed slowly in Ji Lin's hand.

The long, narrow object was dark green, with a rough, uneven surface that was incredibly hard.

Upon seeing this, everyone looked at each other, and long-lost smiles began to appear on their faces.

"Wow, that's actually pretty good!!"

"Great, let's try opening it."

Everyone watched with great excitement as Ji Lin slowly inserted the long object into the hole.

"Click!" The door slowly opened, and suddenly a blinding light shone out, enveloping everyone.

When everyone opened their eyes again, they found themselves on the red circular altar outside the main hall. The awakened ones were forcibly restored to human form by a powerful energy.

By then it was already getting dark, and if it had been any later, even with the key, they might not have been able to open the door...

The group cheered and jumped for joy, relieved to have escaped death, and rushed towards Ji Lin, lifting him high in the air.

"Hooray!!! We survived!!"

The Ninth Prince cupped his hands in greeting and said, "I owe my life to you, young master."

The remaining people put him down and then expressed their gratitude, whether sincerely or not.

Only Qin Dong was burning with anger. He knew very well that this feud had been formed and the person in front of him would not let it go so easily.

"Congratulations! Thirteen of you have passed the trial. Please proceed in an orderly fashion to receive your Demon Suppression Commander Tokens. From now on, you are all true Demon Suppression Envoys!"

Jiang Tianchen appeared behind him at some point, accompanied by guards. One of the guards was holding a dozen black tokens with the words "Demon Suppression Division" printed on them.

Behind the number of thirteen people he casually uttered lay a cruel truth... They still remembered that two or three hundred people had entered the canyon back then...

Everyone was nervous as they accepted the tokens one by one.

Ji Lin held the token in his hand. The token was hard, with clear patterns and a slight sheen.

"Please go to the rear hall to bathe and change clothes, and then proceed to the Fengtian Hall for a meal. His Majesty will personally receive you."

Ji Lin and his entourage then followed the official in charge of rites to a room in the rear hall for a bath.

Inside was a rectangular bathtub, steaming hot.

Immediately afterwards, a young and beautiful palace maid entered and fell into the pool to serve...

Only the Ninth Prince went to the Demon Suppression Division alone to report on what had just happened.

"Ji Lin? Not bad. I already had people investigate him before, and he does indeed have great potential. We need to keep a close eye on him in the future. For now, we can list him as a candidate for the Heavenly Demon..."

On his chair, the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty was reviewing everyone's files.

The first sheet of paper prominently displayed the four large characters: "The Devil's Womb is Approaching."

The commander of the Demon Suppression Division was also seated below, discussing the situation of the trial participants...

After bathing, everyone entered the Fengtian Hall and took their seats.

Before the banquet began, everyone reintroduced themselves, got to know each other, and toasted Ji Lin to express their gratitude.

At this moment, Jiang Tianchen walked in and said, "Everyone, I am very sorry, His Majesty is not feeling well and is afraid he will not be able to receive you. Please continue with your meal."

"Furthermore, those who wish to stay, please report to the Demon Suppression Division. Those who do not wish to stay may leave on their own. If any of you intend to come to the capital to seek official positions in the future, feel free to come to me, Jiang, with your Demon Suppression Commander's token. I welcome you anytime."

After the banquet, most people went to the Demon Suppression Division to report for duty.

Only Ji Lin and one woman chose to leave, and the two of them left the capital together the next day.

The woman was dressed in purple, with a round and beautiful face. She looked harmless, but she was a truly bizarre awakened being.

System prompt:

[The Deceptive Driver: Liu Qingmei]

[Level: Medium-level resentment]

[Skill: Mysterious - Frozen]

Ji Lin was very surprised. This skill had a lot of potential for development and could play a huge role in future battles. He thought that maybe he could try to win her over.

"Why doesn't Miss Liu stay in the capital as a Demon Suppressor? With that title, things will be much easier in the future," he asked with a smile.

"What convenience? With an official position comes responsibility. I am used to freedom and do not want to be controlled by others. I came here only to broaden my horizons," Liu Qingmei said solemnly.

Unexpectedly, she appears gentle and tender on the surface, but is actually incredibly strong-willed on the inside.

Such a chivalrous demeanor impressed Ji Lin, who could only temporarily abandon the idea of ​​having her join the Night Patrol.

"Great minds think alike. If you ever need anything, feel free to come to Xiong'an County to find me." Ji Lin said, then cupped his hands in farewell.

"must."

The two rode off quickly, unwilling to linger.

He was focused on getting home as quickly as possible to begin preparing for his path to becoming a demon...