My apologies for the erratic updates these past few days; here is a four-chapter offering today as penance.

"Can he?" Qian Jin looked at Lucifer Serig with deep curiosity. Even if the Imperial Duels didn't feature the absolute strongest of the younger demon generation, they certainly brought out the top tier of young combatants.

Engaging with such demon experts would not only provide an understanding of the current strength of the younger demon generation but also allow him to extrapolate the capabilities of the younger cohort within the Zhence Dynasty.

That was correct! The Zhence Dynasty and the demons had fought for so many years without either truly dominating the other, precisely because their overall power levels remained relatively stable, and the comparison between their younger generations was never drastically skewed.

"It's possible," Lucifer Serig let out a wry smile. During the Imperial Duels, those young Devil Warriors wouldn't care about anyone's status; everyone wanted to showcase themselves before His Great Demon King.

Historically, there had been several instances where Princes personally entered the fray to make a name for themselves, only to be brutally beaten by the contestants—sometimes even resulting in the Prince’s death.

"Oh, then sign me up." Qian Jin turned back, surveying the surroundings again. "Your Highness, you should attend to your other duties. Tell these surrounding demons that from this moment on, everything here is under Jiliu Feijing's command."

Under Jiliu Feijing’s command? Lucifer Serig's brow showed a hint of displeasure. What was the Prince’s standing here? Even when the previous Sisi Mingxiang was in charge, he dared not speak to me in such a tone!

Never mind! Lucifer Serig sighed inwardly. It couldn't be helped; this Blood Demon carried half the lineage of the Lucifer clan. That arrogance and pride were deep in his bones. Now that Sisi Mingxiang was dead, this was the only demon he could rely on—if he wasn't proud, who would be?

"Did you all hear that?" Lucifer Serig looked at the other demons surrounding them. "From now on, you will all obey the commands of Master Jiliu Feijing. Do whatever he says!"

After speaking, Serig turned to a dark, burly demon following him and whispered quietly, "You take a few demons and keep a close watch on this Jiliu Feijing. If he does anything untoward or excessive, kill him on the spot!"

"Your Highness, rest assured. Tu Cha is only half a step away from achieving sainthood. No matter how strong he is, what can he do?"

Serig nodded with satisfaction. Jiliu Feijing was, after all, just an ordinary Devil Warrior; even if his strength was immense, he was nearing his limit. Unless he personally forged a Soul Weapon for Serig, which would still take time, Tu Cha could easily keep an eye on him.

Qian Jin silently moved among the rows of coffins, occasionally glancing at the metal sphere atop the largest one. How could he detach the sacred artifact from the coffin? It appeared to be a single, integrated unit. Even with his immense strength, carrying away such a massive alloy structure was impossible.

Shifting it might be possible, and destroying it might also have a solution, but taking it? Qian Jin didn't believe he could lift that colossal coffin with one hand and toss it into his own Battle Realm to escape.

Qian Jin slowly approached the central coffin. Looking up, he realized it was far larger than he had imagined. Small and large metal spheres were embedded within it, radiating an indescribable chill.

What is this? Qian Jin’s vision suddenly blurred. Staring at the metal spheres for too long, he began to see strange images unfolding in the air—scenes of combat involving Devil Warriors of Fallen Angel lineage. Their opponents included warriors of Elf King lineage, warriors of War God lineage, warriors of Three-Headed Golden Dragon lineage, and even other Devil Warriors of different demon clans.

Scene after scene unfolded in the air, the momentum overwhelming and shaking the spirit! Within them, the warrior of the Iron Mantis lineage appeared again!

They were a group of fearless fighters, always charging at the forefront of every battle!

"What do you see?" The large, dark man, Tu Cha, appeared behind Qian Jin without him noticing. "This place is very strange. Every demon sees a different scene. What did you see? Whatever it was, I advise you not to watch for too long."

"Hm?" Qian Jin looked at Tu Cha, confused.

"This thing is bizarre," Tu Cha stated calmly. "More than one demon has become engrossed in watching here, and then, when the others weren't looking, they jumped into a coffin and chose suicide, all while shouting, 'I want to be with them! I want to pursue eternity with him!'"

The faint words at the end turned chilling. Tu Cha mimicked the tone of those maddened demons, and a chill immediately ran down Qian Jin's spine.

"Is that so?" Qian Jin placed his hands behind his back and began to slowly circle the massive coffin, scrutinizing the surrounding inscriptions with a tightly furrowed brow. He started to realize that Tu Cha's words were not mere threats. Many aspects of the coffin's inscriptions could indeed interfere with the spirit, much like the spirit-type mages of the dull Zhence.

In that case... if one were to actually touch the metal sphere? Qian Jin was certain that a single instant might be enough to drive someone completely insane, unless the person possessed incredibly strong spiritual power but was not a Grand Mage.

Mune Nè Zhence! Qian Jin realized that if he truly wanted to successfully take this metal sphere, perhaps only Mune Nè Zhence could avoid going mad from the influence in a short period.

"Master Feijing, please start presiding over the construction aspects quickly," Tu Cha watched Qian Jin coldly. "Time waits for no demon. His Highness needs to obtain everything within this place soon."

Qian Jin turned to look at the demon who claimed to be helping but was actually monitoring him and nodded. "You are right. I'll give you a material list later; I need to create a model first to make an estimation."

Tu Cha nodded silently. Sisi Mingxiang had done similar things before. It seemed all inscription masters created such models for testing before undertaking large-scale projects.

Qian Jin watched Tu Cha leave with the long material list, a faint smile touching his lips. A model? Who said the extraction array needed to be incredibly massive?

As long as he could forge an inscribed piece of equipment to wear, combined with a model, he could extract what he needed. A huge magic array?

Qian Jin let out a cold laugh. While he didn't know exactly what Sisi Mingxiang had intended, doing it that way was certainly not the best way to extract the contents.

Smaller coffins! Qian Jin moved through the rows of coffins again, searching for the smallest one, hoping to steal one to take outside for thorough research.

Tu Cha watched Qian Jin's retreating back and sneered coldly. "Arrogant fool, actually thinking about participating in the Imperial Duels? Can you possibly comprehend the power of a Bloodline Warrior? This time, we'll have to trouble the Crown Prince to make arrangements everywhere, asking the other participants to go easy on him."

"Go easy? How could that be!" Lucifer Zenshi restored his proud black hair befitting the Lucifer clan. Hearing the demands relayed from his subordinate, the Prince’s attendant, he let out a cold laugh. This was too good! He didn't know how Sisi Mingxiang died, but if he was dead, Jiliu Feijing might become Lucifer Serig's top inscription master.

This absolutely could not be allowed to happen! Jiliu Feijing had to be killed during this Imperial Duel! As for Serig's inscription assistant? This Prince would send another one over himself!

The Imperial Duels were a tremendously important event for the Lucifer Royal Family and the entire demon race. Although held annually, this year’s Duels held far greater significance than any before.

In the past, the Great Demon King himself usually presided over the Duels, with high-ranking officials from various clans attending as observers.

This year, barring any unforeseen accidents, things would have proceeded just like previous Imperial Duels.

But accidents had occurred!

Jiliu Feijing! This name, like the sun suddenly rising in the dead of night, instantly illuminated the entire demon territory. Almost every demon knew of this young Blood Demon Master, who, during the peak period of the Imperial Duels, followed the qualified participant Lucifer Liushui into the City of Fallen Souls.

Princess Lucifer Liushui had already publicly declared her firm intention to participate in this year's Imperial Duels. Therefore, would Jiliu Feijing, as the Princess's escort, also participate?

A demon who had not awakened his bloodline power rarely garnered much attention in combat. In this era where bloodline power was almost supreme, demons usually focused on which bloodline Devil Warriors were participating.

However, this convention was unintentionally broken by the appearance of Jiliu Feijing.

The status of a demon wielding the power of both the Blacksmith Guild and the Inscription Guild was enough to attract the attention of countless demons. Furthermore, in just a few days after entering the City of Fallen Souls, after meeting with both the Alchemist General Guild Master and the Mysterious Alchemist General Guild Master...

The masters of two mutually hostile guilds simultaneously issued a joint statement, transferring the authority of the General Guild Master to this young Blood Demon.

While demons were still reeling from the shock of such a young demon becoming the master of four major General Guilds, the Devil Warrior Guild Master also came out with a statement: Jiliu Feijing was slated to be the next Devil Warrior Guild Master; for now, he would temporarily serve as Vice Guild Master to familiarize himself with guild affairs.

This news, like a forbidden spell, once again threw the already restless demon race into an uproar.

The previous four General Guilds, while each possessing considerable influence and maintaining combat-ready Devil Warriors and mages, were not genuine formal military forces.

The Devil Warrior Guild! Although not built on bloodline power, its membership was the largest—so large that even the major bloodline families dared not genuinely disregard the entire Guild’s existence.

A bloodline warrior could disregard one ordinary warrior, ten ordinary warriors, a hundred, a thousand! But they would never ignore the entire Devil Warrior Guild!

Five great guilds consolidated under the hands of one young Blood Demon! What kind of power was that? As long as he didn't choose the foolish path of rebellion, even His Great Demon King would only seek to recruit such a demon deliberately, never intentionally antagonize him.