Chapter 128: Inexplicable

"Dungeon!" Zhou Tian had officially committed the name of this organization to memory. Just as things in the capital were beginning to look promising, they had jumped out to stir up trouble. Although they were on opposite sides and it was reasonable for them to come after him, Zhou Tian had every reason to hold a grudge.

Zhou Tian was not satisfied with the meager intelligence he had extracted from peripheral members like Blood Fiend. Having a batch of assassin souls in his possession, he released the souls of the very assassins the Dungeon had sent to the capital to silence him.

However, the reactions of these souls were quite strange.

Zhou Tian had assumed that since these assassins were capable of committing suicide to avoid capture, they must have been core members of the Dungeon. He did not believe that peripheral figures like Blood Fiend would perform the desperate acts of a suicide squad.

Since they were suicide operatives, they should have known a great deal about the Dungeon. Yet, when he released them, Zhou Tian was astonished to find that they were utterly baffled by their current state.

Through the interrogation techniques of his Soul-Binding Orb, Zhou Tian easily extracted the information he sought. As he had suspected, the Dungeon faction working against him was indeed an affiliate of the Demon race. But contrary to his assumptions, these assassins were not core members at all. In fact, the core of the Dungeon consisted solely of Demons or half-demons; humans, no matter how powerful, could never enter the inner circle.

The reason these assassins had acted as suicide operatives was something they themselves did not understand. They were merely peripheral assassins who had accepted a mission, and upon reaching the capital, they had acted under some form of external control, unable to govern their own actions.

"Demon Orbs." This was the first thing that came to Zhou Tian's mind after hearing the souls' accounts.

There were two power systems in this world. One was the orthodox power controlled by the gods, such as Battle Qi and magic. While there were many classifications, they all fell under this umbrella, including forbidden arts like necromancy.

The other type of power was the "Demon Orbs" created by the Demons. To put it simply, Demon Orbs were a shortcut to power, somewhat similar to the Devil Fruits from *One Piece*.

When a Demon God perished, their comprehension of the laws would crystallize into one or more Demon Orbs, scattering across the four realms. Any creature that consumed such an orb could wield the power once held by that deceased Demon God.

Of course, there were trade-offs. Even gods were not selfless, and the Demons—being a malevolent race—would certainly not give away their power for free. In reality, mastering the power of a Demon Orb was difficult. After consuming one, one’s original orthodox powers were usually abolished, and one could only gain the ability to manipulate the laws within the orb from the most rudimentary level, little by little.

If that were the only drawback, Demon Orbs would still be treasures coveted by the weak. However, there were two major flaws that made them a "chicken rib"—useless but regrettable to discard—in the eyes of those in the know, and led the Church to label them as evil artifacts.

The first flaw was that the power obtained was limited to the specific law comprehension contained within the orb. If the orb contained the complete comprehension of a Demon God, one could eventually attain their full power. But if it only held a fragment, the consumer might not only fail to gain power but also lose their own original cultivation.

The second flaw was more of a trap set by the Demon Gods. The Church discovered that Demon Orbs contained not just law comprehension, but also the fragmented, hidden soul of the deceased Demon God. Over time, if that remnant soul awakened, it could possess the host. Thus, anyone who consumed an orb risked becoming a vessel for a new Demon God. The Church, viewing Demons as mortal enemies, deemed these orbs evil and executed anyone found to have consumed one.

Despite these flaws, some Demon Orbs held such potent laws that a commoner could easily become a match for a demigod or even a true god if they used them well.

Based on the assassins' reactions, Zhou Tian realized that someone in the Dungeon who had consumed a Demon Orb was behind this. By using the orb's abilities, they had turned the assassins into puppets without them even knowing it, allowing the mission to be carried out without wasting any core strength.

What annoyed Zhou Tian was that this tactic cut off his chances of gathering further intelligence. If those assassins had truly been core members, he would have had ways to break them. But since they genuinely knew nothing, no amount of interrogation would yield the information he wanted.

Although Zhou Tian could not find the headquarters, by combining the testimonies of the assassins with the information from Blood Fiend and other criminals, he was able to identify seven or eight locations of Dungeon outposts.

"You want to cause me trouble? Don't think you're getting away without paying a price," he muttered to himself. After leaving the secret room, he immediately launched his retaliation.

Would he take on the Dungeon directly? Of course not. He didn't know the full extent of their power, and he wasn't going to risk his life unless necessary. The power of laws belonged to the realm of gods and was on par with his own immortal arts; there was no reason to take such a risk.

Besides, the Dungeon had already targeted him. If he were to wipe out their outposts himself, he would land permanently on their blacklist. They had already made him look miserable with just a minor annoyance; he wasn't going to provoke them further without absolute certainty of victory.

His revenge was simple: he contacted the Church of Light and handed over all the intelligence he had gathered. The Church was the mortal enemy of the Demons; they would never pass up an opportunity to strike.

As expected, the Church acted immediately. Joining forces with several other churches, they razed the outposts Zhou Tian identified, killing tens of thousands of peripheral members and nearly a thousand core members.

Zhou Tian was relieved to learn that his caution was justified; the Dungeon’s power was indeed formidable. Even with the combined might of several churches—enough to topple an empire—the casualties were staggering, with nearly thirty percent of the strike force lost. This left Zhou Tian deeply shaken.

Fortunately, he hadn't participated directly. With such heavy losses, the Dungeon would likely lack the energy to bother a "small fry" like him for several years. With this time, he was confident he could reach a level where he could stand his ground against them.

Just as he was basking in the satisfaction of his revenge, a guard approached him.

"Reporting to the City Lord, most of the hostages we rescued have been returned to their families. However, two young women refuse to disclose their origins and instead... instead have requested to see you."

"Oh?" Normally, he wouldn't bother, but feeling good after his revenge, he decided to see them. "They want to see me? Fine, bring them in."

The guard retreated and soon returned with two young women.

Looking at them, Zhou Tian felt a flicker of familiarity, but he couldn't place them. "I heard you wanted to see me. What is it?"

"Of course there's something!" one of them snapped, then blushed. She lowered her voice and added, "Even though it was wrong of you to make my father force me to marry you, I'll give you a chance to court me, seeing as you saved me. Mind you, it's only a chance! I might not choose to marry you."

Zhou Tian was speechless. He didn't even know who she was, and she was already spouting this nonsense.

"Wait, wait. Let's put that aside. I want to ask, who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"If you don't know me, why did you propose to my father!"

"Propose?" Zhou Tian stared at Li Xuexin, dumbfounded. "I really don't recall who you are, and I have never proposed to anyone. You must have the wrong person." He paused, noticing her tone. "Wait, you kept calling him 'Father.' Are you a princess or a noble's daughter?"

"Finally remembered something?" Li Xuexin was frustrated. She had come to settle a score, but the target didn't even recognize her. It was like punching air. However, Zhou Tian’s question gave her an opening. She lifted her chin proudly. "My father is Li Jiahao, the Duke of the Empire, a member of the royal family, and the Marshal of the Northern Legion of the Yanhuang Empire! Now do you remember?"

"Li Jiahao? Isn't he a Duke? Since when is he a royal family member?"

"That... that..." Li Xuexin was stumped again.

"Forget it, it's none of my business." Zhou Tian had no interest in Li Jiahao's status. He had once considered him a friend, but Li Jiahao's recent actions had soured that. Now that he knew her identity, he had no desire to be entangled with them. "I don't care why you said those strange things. I'll have someone send you back. I have no interest in your affairs. If you have questions, ask your father."

Without waiting for her reaction, he called a guard and had them forcibly escorted out.