Rise Of The Worm Sovereign

An eerie silence was filling the large hall.

The 'guests' couldn't help but feel cold on top of it, as an oppressive aura spread.

~Creak~

The sound of a chair being pushed was heard, and the silhouette behind the wooden screen stop up.

"Welcome, my guests. I heard, you've been desiring to meet me." A man's voice could be heard.

The voice was a mix of enticing while also being unnerving at the same time.

The weaker guests were too scared to speak anything, so the elders decided to take the lead.

"Thank you for granting us this meeting. I am Lord Cao." An elder introduced himself.

This was the same lord Cao who was once in a cooperative relationship with Ji Xiaolian, the elder sister of Ji Shirong.

"Ah, yes. Lord Cao, I know of you." The man's voice was heard again and his steps drew closer.

~THUD~

Finally, the silhouette reached the wooden screen and opened its doors.

He was dressed in extremely long black emperor robes. But these robes weren't embroidered like what a normal king's or emperor's robes would be like. Instead, they were plain black and instead had red accents on it.

The shoulder straps were red in color and the insides of the sleeves were red as well. The robes covered the man's feet too, making it hard to tell if he was standing or floating in the very air.

But the most eye-catching part wasn't the clothes of the shadow lord; it was his face.

In simple words, it could be described to be the perfect mix of elegance and evil. He had a chiseled chin, but his eyebrows were sharp and broad like sabers. His long black hair hung just below his waist, looking like an inky waterfall.

The Shadow lord pupils were pale red in color and felt like a deep abyss that might suck those that stared into them for too long.

Then in the center of his eyebrows there was a symbol.

This symbol was none other than the same symbol that was hanging from all the banners in the hall. It was the spiral helix with a crown on top of it.

"You can call me the Shadow Lord." The man standing between the doors spoke.

But no one responded to his words immediately. They felt a little too lost watching him.

~COUGH~ COUGH~ COUGH~

Then a few seconds later, the weaker guests directly coughed out some blood. Even the stronger guests looked a little pale.

'Just what is this man… his appearance alone is enough to give us minor backlash?' The elders were taken aback.

They quickly selected one word as an assessment for the Shadow lord: Dangerous!

Even if they had heard about his acts and his power. It had all been through a third person. They had never seen him, nor knew of his appearance until now.

"Ah, I apologize about that." The shadow lord spoke, seeing the guests cough. "This was one of the reasons I avoid meeting others. You see… they can't bear to see me at times." He said with a lazy smile.

"N-no… No need to apologize Shadow Lord. We were the ones who insisted on a meeting." Lord Cao replied, trying to maintain his composure.

The death of Ji Xiaolian had made his position fall quite a bit, and his network had also been torn apart. This had now made Lord Cao rather desperate to find some support. Thus when he had heard about the new lord in the city that had quickly taken control of many parts, he was very interested in him.

And now, his old hesitance was already gone.

'I knew my intuition was not wrong! This is a powerful person to stick with!' Lord Cao thought in his mind.

"Now then, is there anything specific you all wanted to ask me?" The Shadow Lord questioned.

"Well… many of us wanted to witness your grace in person. But we did have some minor inquiries." Lord Cao answered.

"Oh?" The shadow lord raised a brow.

"If the Shadow Lord may permit us to convey our inquiries?" another lord requested.

It didn't take long for them to quickly take on a submissive attitude. The aura and demeanor of the shadow lord was working perfectly well.

"You may ask." The Shadow lord permitted.

"Then… Shadow lord if I may ask, what is your goal?" Lord Cao asked. "I mean, I know our goal in Tieba city is to gain power and fortune. But I reckon someone like you and your strength should have no issues gaining power openly in the Long Continent." He explained.

"So this is it…" The Shadow lord smirked. "You see, I can definitely do what you are saying. And I have tried too."

"Tried?" some of the people were confused.

"Yes, tried. And I met certain obstacles." The shadow lord replied.

"What kind of an obstacle would stump someone as you?" the lord wondered.

"Like you said, your goal is to gain power and fortune. My goal is the same. It's just that my scope is wider… I prefer to keep my sights on the entire Ming Dao world." The Shadow lord stated, making everyone gulp. "I'd like it best if it was my personal property."

'That is borderline blasphemous…' many thought.

After all, Shadow Lord's words could easily be considered going against the guardian clans of the Ming Dao world.

"I see that the Shadow Lord is rather ambitious. So is the obstacle the other powers of the continent?" Lord Cao quickly grasped some unsaid points.

"Indeed. I reckoned it would be best to start with one of the strongest powers of the Long Continent. And I even succeeded. But at the last moment, someone interfered with my work." The Shadow lord answered.

Just this alone was enough to turn everyone pale. They knew very well what the shadow lord was talking about.

"The Cang Lan sect… you don't mean to say…" Lord Cao stuttered.

"Yes, that was my work. Or more accurately, the work of an ally: The Calamity Fiend."