Redemption of a Born Demon

Chapter 319 - 242: True Realm in a Painting, True Immortal Mountain in the Void (Part 1)

The Demon Flame flared up in an instant. This was the result of the Demon Flame Fire Seed that Yi Beidou had planted in Hoffman’s body being stimulated, causing it to erupt.

This was precisely why Yi Beidou had specifically instructed that a Saint Level expert be the one to remove the needles.

Many of his techniques were already beyond what ordinary people could withstand.

"Let me try, too!"

A glint flashed in Meng Qianyuan’s eyes. He pressed down on the skin where the next Silver Needle was located, then pinched it between two fingers and pulled it out.

WHOOSH!!

A Blood-Colored Demon Flame erupted just the same, shooting up like a sharp spike. Meng Qianyuan immediately felt a stinging pain in his palm.

With the power of his body post-Ascension, he was practically impervious to blades, water, and fire. This meant the damage from the Demon Flame was even more severe than a burn from a real flame.

’It’s this powerful?!’

Meng Qianyuan was also shocked. His strength had been improving at a tremendous rate recently. After all, he had just achieved Ascension, and this period of familiarizing himself with the new realm was a time of rapid progress.

He’d thought he was at least closing the distance to Yi Beidou, but it was clear he couldn’t even see his shadow.

Based on the power displayed by this remotely detonated Demon Flame alone, they hardly dared to imagine how overwhelming Yi Beidou’s presence would be if he were actually standing before them.

Just the Demon Flame alone could probably suppress their strength to less than sixty percent of its full potential.

"He’s grown stronger again. The speed of his progress is truly astounding."

Meng Qianyuan lamented. Today’s events reminded him of his early days following Yi Beidou.

’Is there even a limit to how much stronger he can get?’

"He did, after all, accomplish the incredible feat of one man taking on an entire nation. He likely even killed an Ancient One in a direct confrontation. His spirit and willpower have probably reached a realm beyond our imagination."

Wang Chen’s eyes also held a look of awe.

’So this is the power of an expert who can take on an entire nation by himself?’

"We still have a long way to go," Meng Qianyuan said, shaking his head.

"This also shows us the importance of defending against experts of this caliber."

Wang Chen’s expression turned grave.

The incident with Yi Beidou served as a wake-up call for many countries and organizations. They knew full well that if you took all the entities of the Hidden World into account, Yi Beidou probably wasn’t even the strongest.

And yet, he was already capable of taking on a nation by himself, even causing the deaths of Japan’s two most important figures. This was enough to strike terror into the hearts of many.

Fortunately, he was from Donghua and wouldn’t move against his own country. But just because Yi Beidou wouldn’t, didn’t mean other powers from the Hidden World would show the same restraint.

Recently, the security details around Donghua’s highest-ranking officials had been increased several times over.

This also created a more urgent need among the top brass to cultivate more individuals with high combat strength and to establish more robust systems to manage them.

「A day passed quickly.」

There’s no such thing as a perfect secret. News of the incident quickly spread among the upper echelons of countries around the world, and rumors even began to trickle down to the general public.

"Have you heard? There are rumors that the Emperor was killed and Number One is dead, too! And the one responsible for it all is supposedly Yi Beidou, who’s been missing for days!"

"What? Yi Beidou is still alive?! And both the Emperor and Number One died because of him?! You’ve got to be kidding me! No way, that’s definitely just some back-alley gossip!"

"I don’t know, it might actually be possible. I heard there was a huge shake-up at the top recently, though I don’t know the details. A lot of factions are being completely reshuffled!"

"..."

Similar rumors appeared across the internet in Japan and around the world, spreading further and further.

This instantly sent shockwaves through the global populace.

The two most powerful men in Japan were both dead at the hands of Yi Beidou? That was equivalent to him single-handedly changing the fate of an entire nation!

This was especially true for the Japanese People. The Emperor was, after all, their national symbol. While there had been instances of emperors dying or being assassinated throughout history, for one to be successfully assassinated in a direct confrontation by a single person—a foreigner, no less—was likely unprecedented. And that wasn’t even mentioning the death of Japan’s Number One.

Public outcry erupted, and people demanded that the Japanese government issue an official statement.

Unfortunately, the Japanese government remained completely silent. However, online public opinion, guided by certain forces, continued to spread. Amidst the growing discussion, the narrative of the incident began to take a clearer shape.

An insider revealed that Yi Beidou had indeed been missing for days because he had been in danger. The story went that the Emperor, unwilling to bow his head and apologize, had used the Royal Family’s private forces, dispatching a powerful expert to assassinate Yi Beidou.

The assassin failed and was instead killed by Yi Beidou. However, Yi Beidou was injured in the process and had been lying low, only to reappear now.

This assassination attempt thoroughly enraged Yi Beidou. Upon his return, he immediately retaliated, carrying out a counter-assassination on the Emperor and succeeding in one fell swoop. The news of the Emperor’s death soon reached Number One, who was so violently shocked that he suffered a fatal heart attack.

All these narratives were designed to place the bulk of the blame on the Emperor and his affiliated factions, preserving the reputation of the official Japanese government as much as possible.

This, of course, wasn’t just baseless speculation. It was a deliberate campaign orchestrated by someone to further weaken the influence of the Emperor’s faction, led by the Fukuda Clan, in preparation for taking control of Japan.

But public opinion was, after all, just public opinion. The Japanese government never gave a direct response. It wasn’t until three days later that officials formally held a press conference.

That evening, the hall for the official press conference was packed with reporters from every outlet, and camera flashes lit up the room continuously.