Chapter 806: Who is Righteous, Who is Demonic?
As his body underwent a transformation, Zhang Yu could feel that after circulating this breathing technique for a while, his absorption of spiritual energy had slowed drastically. Instead, he was drawing impure and chaotic energies from the world into his body.
“This effect is too damn negative…”
So, Zhang Yu chose to forget the technique again, relearned it from scratch, and then triggered another mutation.
This time, the breathing technique changed differently. Zhang Yu felt the spiritual energy of the world begin to vibrate with each breath he took.
It was as if gentle waves were gradually rising on a once-calm sea.
“Hmm?”
A thought stirred in Zhang Yu’s mind. “Accelerating spiritual energy absorption by vibrating it? This effect is quite interesting.”
After some consideration, Zhang Yu decided to raise the basic cultivation art back to level 50. Instantly, the vibrations of the world’s spiritual energy surged with even greater intensity.
Besides, he had already used up all his chances to forget the basic cultivation art. Even if he wanted to try for a different mutation, he wouldn’t have the opportunity for now.
“Unfortunately, I’ve extracted too few Immortal Dao Technologies from Immortal Sect Techniques so far, and I haven’t drawn the ‘Cultivation Art Oblivion’ reward yet. Otherwise, I could try mutating another Immortal Sect Technique.”
Through this series of mutation attempts, a conclusion began to form in Zhang Yu’s mind.
“To make mutations work, I need a large number of draw rewards from the Myriad Laws Immortal Clan Dao Seed. That’s the only way to play this game.”
“I need enough ‘Selected Cultivation Art Entry,’ ‘Selected Cultivation Art Level +1,’ ‘Selected Cultivation Art Oblivion,’ and ‘Selected Cultivation Art Mutation’ rewards… Only then can I repeatedly mutate techniques to eventually get a good result.”
Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Basic cultivation arts are numerous and easy to extract Immortal Dao Technologies from, which means I’ll get more rewards from the Myriad Laws Immortal Clan Dao Seed, making this process easier.”
“To achieve the same with Immortal Sect Techniques… my current foundation isn’t strong enough.”
“I need to learn more Immortal Sect Techniques and extract more Immortal Dao Technologies from them before I can finally roll for a good mutation.”
While Zhang Yu was silently cultivating, Qin Chuan, the Minister of the Ethereal Communications Department, was on a call with another Deputy Minister, Jiang Xuyi.
Qin Chuan asked, “Why haven’t you gone back these past two days?”
He was asking why Jiang Xuyi hadn’t returned to seize more Yin Qi.
Jiang Xuyi sighed helplessly. “Minister, I was severely injured by an expert while trying to seize Yin Qi.”
Qin Chuan was startled. “Who injured you?”
Jiang Xuyi explained, “Someone won my Dantian at a gambling table in the Spirit Realm.”
“You damn fool… Why were you gambling while on the job?” Qin Chuan cursed. “Can you afford to be distracted while gambling? How many times have I told you not to work while gambling, especially when facing experts? How many years will it take you to earn back the money you lost?”
After scolding Jiang Xuyi thoroughly, Qin Chuan continued, “Then deploy your Primordial Spirit.”
Jiang Xuyi was surprised. “Minister, Zhang Yu has been holed up in his room for over a month, never stepping outside and unable to find anyone to help him. It looks like he’s been completely abandoned. Do we really need to test him further?”
Qin Chuan replied, “Just do as I say.”
Jiang Xuyi, seeing no way out, said, “If I deploy my Primordial Spirit, the price won’t be the same.”
As a Spirit Transformation Cultivator, Jiang Xuyi understood perfectly well that a Primordial Spirit was far more efficient than a physical body, several times more, even when calculated by the hour.
To pay off his debts, Jiang Xuyi’s Primordial Spirit was already working at full capacity around the clock. Every second was money. After all, with the speed of a Primordial Spirit, even delivering goods made him a champion in the transportation industry.
Hearing Jiang Xuyi’s response, Qin Chuan said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be well rewarded.”
Moments later, on the other side of the Former Days Graveyard, a streak of divine light shot into the sky, heading straight for Zhang Yu’s location.
This divine light was Jiang Xuyi’s Primordial Spirit.
As he rapidly approached the dormitory, he thought with a sigh, “I truly admire the first person who ever gambled.”
“Because they might lose, they might lose everything.”
This was Jiang Xuyi’s thought the first time he encountered gambling.
“To risk the potential you’ve painstakingly accumulated, potential that could evaporate in an instant, and place it on the gambling table requires supreme courage.”
“This act embodies great courage, great perseverance — a person’s rebellion and charge against dissatisfaction with life and the injustice of fate.”
“The moment we step onto the immortal path, we place our entire lives on the gambling table.”
“In the end, some win, but others lose.”
“And you…”
Hovering above the dormitory, Jiang Xuyi looked down at Zhang Yu’s location and thought grimly, “…have already lost the gamble.”
“You chose the wrong side, and your cultivation is unremarkable. You’ve lost this round completely.”
“Now it’s time to pay the price.”
At the same time, spiritual energy swirled violently around Jiang Xuyi’s Primordial Spirit. In an instant, it began to devour the spiritual energy and Yin Qi both inside and outside the dormitory like a whale swallowing the sea.
At that moment, he became a massive vortex in the heavens and earth, intent on draining every last trace of spiritual energy and Yin Qi within a radius of several hundred meters.
Meanwhile, beside the Spirit Transformation Pool, Zhao Tianxing flickered and suddenly felt the Yin Qi in the world vanish completely, leaving him weakened.
“What’s happening?!” Zhao Tianxing cried out in alarm.
Zhang Yu looked up toward Jiang Xuyi’s Primordial Spirit and said calmly, “Someone’s come to cause trouble.”
He sent a message directly to the other party, asking for the reason.
Jiang Xuyi replied: “The Review Team needs to collect a large amount of Yin Qi for the next Soul Cultivator Experiment. I’m absorbing it a bit forcefully, so just bear with it.”
Watching the dormitory and its surroundings being drained dry in an instant, Jiang Xuyi thought smugly, “This is the gap in strength. With a simple breathing technique, I can crush you completely.”
Just as Jiang Xuyi was thinking this, he suddenly felt wisps of spiritual energy flowing toward Zhang Yu’s location.
Noticing this, Jiang Xuyi was slightly surprised. “This kid… dares to compete with me head-on?”
Jiang Xuyi knew that Zhang Yu had only recently broken through to the Spirit Transformation Realm from Nascent Soul. In terms of cultivation, foundation, and strength… how could he possibly compare to a veteran like himself?
Jiang Xuyi’s first reaction was that the other party was arrogant and utterly clueless.
His Primordial Spirit activated its Profound Art, and Jiang Xuyi snorted coldly. “Today, you won’t get a single wisp of spiritual energy or Yin Qi.”
But in the next moment, Jiang Xuyi’s expression changed slightly. He felt the efficiency of the other party’s breathing technique continuously increasing, and the spiritual energy in the heavens and earth began to tremble.
“1, 2, 3, 4…” While Zhang Yu silently circulated the spiritual energy swallowing technique within his body, the apertures opened by the Myriad Transformations Self-Sovereign Art burst open one after another. Simultaneously, his True Clones began to operate their cultivation arts and perform the breathing technique.
Under normal circumstances, with the limited spiritual energy in the heavens and earth, Zhang Yu would only need to activate four or five True Clones at most. Any more would cause power outages in the dormitory’s various devices.
But now, faced with Jiang Xuyi’s deliberate provocation, Zhang Yu held nothing back.
As thirty-two True Clones simultaneously executed the breathing technique, it was as if thirty-two black holes had exploded within his body, frantically devouring the surrounding spiritual energy.
Moreover, all thirty-two clones were operating the mutated breathing technique.
If a single clone using the mutated breathing technique was like stirring up waves on the sea…
Then with thirty-two clones performing the breathing technique together, the spiritual energy and Yin Qi in the heavens and earth surged like a cataclysmic tsunami.
In that instant, Jiang Xuyi felt the once-docile spiritual energy and Yin Qi spiral completely out of control, turning wild and violent, no longer obeying his commands.
“How can this kid’s breathing technique be so powerful?!”
Jiang Xuyi let out a low shout as the magic power within his Primordial Spirit surged out violently, solidifying into a tangible force that enveloped the entire dormitory.
Since the spiritual energy and Yin Qi in the heavens and earth no longer obeyed him, he would use brute force to seize them.
Jiang Xuyi was confident that in a contest of raw power, this Lower Cultivator who had just entered the Spirit Transformation Realm would be no match for him.
But on the other side, Zhang Yu pressed his palms together, unleashing the Kunlun in the Palm technique, which he had just pushed to level 50.
It wasn’t just him; every True Clone within his apertures also pressed their palms together, simultaneously activating their own level 50 Kunlun in the Palm.
At level 50, Kunlun in the Palm’s activation speed, range, and space-warping capabilities were all greatly enhanced, and its ability to seize matter had become even more astonishing.
In an instant, as thirty-three layers of Kunlun in the Palm activated simultaneously, it was as if thirty-three layers of space had enveloped everything around them, forcefully seizing all the boiling spiritual energy and Yin Qi from the heavens and earth.
At that moment, Zhang Yu resembled a divine Buddha holding the entire world in his hands, coldly watching Jiang Xuyi’s futile struggles.
Witnessing this, Jiang Xuyi was stunned once more, his mind reeling in disbelief. “Where did this kid get so many Spirit Transformation-level Spatial Magical Artifacts?”
As a cultivator of the Sect Layer, Jiang Xuyi hadn’t practiced any space-related cultivation arts himself, but he had a decent understanding of Spatial Technology. He had even owned several Spirit Transformation Spatial Magical Artifacts in the past, though he’d lost them all at the gambling table.
In his perception, Zhang Yu had unleashed dozens of spatial powers in an instant, clearly activating numerous Spatial Magical Artifacts. Each artifact radiated immense power, all at the Spirit Transformation level.
This left Jiang Xuyi utterly shocked. “So rich!”
Although Immortal Dao Technology related to space was widely used in the Sect Layer, Spirit Transformation-level Spatial Magical Artifacts were by no means cheap.
Dozens of such artifacts represented a massive fortune even to Jiang Xuyi, enough to have a deterrent effect.
“How can this guy be so wealthy?!”
“Avoid his edge!”
His instincts screamed at him not to make an enemy of someone like this, it was too easy to lose money.
But just as Jiang Xuyi was thinking this, an overwhelming pressure descended from above, enveloping the entire dormitory. It was the Primordial Spirit of Minister Qin Chuan.
The divine light emanating from the Primordial Spirit instantly swept across the scene.
At the same time, Qin Chuan’s authoritative voice reached both of them.
“Gentlemen, the Ethereal Communications Department is not a place for your internal strife.”
“You are both suspended for one month. Use the time to reflect properly.”
With those words, Qin Chuan’s Primordial Spirit flickered and vanished from the scene. Soon, news of the incident spread throughout the entire Ethereal Communications Department.
As Zhang Yu’s outsourced employee, Yan Qianji was immediately expelled from the office building and forbidden from accessing any work-related matters.
Yan Qianji thought grimly, “Sigh… He’s using this as an excuse to strike at us, excluding us from our duties and cutting off our access to the Department’s authority.”
But Yan Qianji knew that as a Deputy Minister, Zhang Yu had no recourse against Minister Qin Chuan’s attack.
“Unless Dao Monarch Bu intervenes…”
However, when Yan Qianji arrived at Zhang Yu’s dormitory, he found Zhang Yu calmly cultivating as if nothing had happened. It seemed the one-month suspension was a welcome development for him.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xuyi sought out Qin Chuan and voiced his concerns. “Minister, this Zhang Yu has quite a few Spatial Magical Artifacts.”
Minister Qin Chuan replied, “They’re nothing more than gifts from Dao Monarch Bu in the past.”
“But even after all this, no one has come forward to intervene. This proves he truly has no one backing him anymore.”
“We’ll let him stew for another month, then slowly deal with him.”
Jiang Xuyi understood. The Minister was slowly boiling the frog in warm water, probing step by step. As long as no one came forward to support Zhang Yu, he would gradually and completely suppress him within the Ethereal Communications Department.
Jiang Xuyi thought to himself, “Even if Dao Monarch Bu still remembers him, she hasn’t shown up. In another year or two, she’ll probably have forgotten Zhang Yu entirely.”
Meanwhile, Zhang Yu remained unconcerned. He only wanted to use this free time to advance his cultivation.
Even with thirty-two clones, his days were packed. He had to refine his body, practice breathing techniques, train in martial arts, extract Immortal Dao Technology from cultivation arts, and constantly monitor the Spirit Transformation Pool.
Zhang Yu felt his days were incredibly fulfilling, with endless tasks to complete. His strength grew steadily each day.
Despite the daily progress and fulfilling cultivation, a nagging worry lingered in Zhang Yu’s mind.
“I’m almost out of money.”
Not only had he spent all his original savings, but he had also nearly exhausted the 200,000 Immortal Coins he had borrowed.
He thought grimly, “At this rate, I won’t be able to repay the loan. I need to find a way to earn some money.”
Whether it was the daily operation of the Spirit Transformation Pool, the consumption of cultivation resources, or the monthly loan repayments, Zhang Yu spent at least tens of thousands of Immortal Coins each month.
If he wanted to purchase Immortal Sect Techniques or even Immortal Sect Magical Artifacts, he would need even more Immortal Coins.
To solve this problem of his expenses exceeding his income, Zhang Yu’s first thought was the unique feature of the Former Days Graveyard: exploring the labyrinth.
Within the Former Days Graveyard, more than half of the territory had been ravaged by the great war of the Immortals back then, plunging it into a distorted and chaotic spatial anomaly.
To enhance his Immortal Descendant status, Zhang Yu needed to find the remains of his ancestors and merge with their Inheritance Spaces — what Ling Feng called Grotto-Heavens.
It was possible that Ying Xintian had hidden these very things within the labyrinth of the Former Days Graveyard.
Furthermore, the labyrinth contained a vast amount of lost items from various sects — corpse components, equipment, products, and more — all scattered due to the spatial chaos.
“Exploring the labyrinth and retrieving items from within… I can turn them over to the sect or sell them to others. This is one of the main ways to earn money in the Former Days Graveyard.”
“And with the Immortal Descendant ability, I might have an advantage in exploring the labyrinth.”
Not long after, a gentle breeze swept past the dormitory building, drifting toward the labyrinth.
This breeze was Zhang Yu’s physical body, transformed after he activated the Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation. It allowed him to become a wisp of wind, floating almost undetectably through the world.
Meanwhile, his Primordial Spirit remained in his dormitory, continuing to soak in the Spirit Transformation Pool.
In addition, Zhang Yu left a clone behind to stand guard, creating the illusion that he had never left his room.
With the transformative power of the Blood Tide Essence Qi Sacred Contemplation, the innate concealment of his Feather Spirit Root, the Evil God Ritual, and Fu Ji’s keen sensitivity to Spirit Realm surveillance…
At this moment, Zhang Yu felt his stealth abilities had reached their absolute peak.
Fu Ji: “Zhang Yu, don’t worry. With me here, I’ll detect any Spirit Realm surveillance for you, clear as day.”
Zhang Yu: “I’ll raise your salary next month.”
Fu Ji: “By how much?”
Zhang Yu declared magnanimously, “Double!”
As Zhang Yu flew over the Ghost City and reached the outskirts on the other side, a blurry, bizarre boundary appeared on the distant horizon.
That was the other half of the Former Days Graveyard — a vital industrial park once composed of countless corpse component factories, laboratories, and office buildings.
But now, from a distance, all that could be seen were countless chaotic, distorted spaces, haphazardly pieced together from the former factories, laboratories, and office buildings. It resembled a colossal glass maze standing between heaven and earth.
Anyone who entered would have their sense of direction completely scrambled, making it impossible to navigate.
One moment you might be on a rooftop, and a few steps later, you’d find yourself underground, utterly lost within the tangled, interacting spatial distortions.
This was the labyrinth of the Former Days Graveyard, a chaotic space that attracted countless cultivators to explore, yet also trapped many, some never to emerge again.
Zhang Yu had no intention of teaming up with others. He casually found a spot along the boundary, where the breeze had already transformed into a hand, reaching gently forward.
Simultaneously, as he activated his Immortal Descendant ability, a spatial entrance opened in his palm.
The next moment, as his hand drew near, the once twisted and chaotic space appeared normal in Zhang Yu’s eyes, allowing the gale he had become to surge straight through.
“Just as I thought,” Zhang Yu mused silently.
“The labyrinth of the Former Days Graveyard was left behind by Ying Xintian.”
“And my Immortal Descendant power can indeed help me explore this chaotic space.”
But Zhang Yu could feel that Immortal Descendant only helped him see the path ahead, making it easier to explore the labyrinth; it had no power to destroy or repair the chaotic space.
“This entire labyrinth… it’s as if some force is constantly maintaining it. Even if I repaired or destroyed a section of space, its structure would gradually twist back to its previous chaotic state, or even become more disordered.”
At the same time, Zhang Yu felt waves of craving from his Immortal Descendant power, just like when he had encountered Ling Feng’s corpse.
“Is this another one of Ying Xintian’s hidden treasures?”
Following the senses of his Immortal Descendant, Zhang Yu pressed deeper into the labyrinth.
Along the way, he saw that under the chaotic spatial structure, countless abandoned buildings were jumbled together like haphazardly stacked blocks, pieced together in twisted, bizarre ways.
Fortunately, with the power of Immortal Descendant, Zhang Yu could see the buildings’ original forms as he approached and traverse the distorted space to reach their correct locations.
As Zhang Yu searched the labyrinth, he began to find some of the sects’ lost items.
One category was corpse components.
The term “corpse components” referred to materials, devices, and equipment ultimately crafted using human bodies as the raw material.
Items like the bone ash and relics Zhang Yu had used before, and even some Bionics, could all be classified as such.
At this moment, Zhang Yu stared at an eyeball he had just found and tried to store it in his Immortal Space.
The next moment, lines of text materialized within the Immortal Space.
This was the new ability he had gained after his Immortal Descendant ability reached level 2: the power to read information from corpses, with corpse components also falling within its scope.
“Eye of an unknown cultivator.”
“It is said that living beings in this world never truly die but will one day be reborn. However, the eyes that could find them no longer exist.”
Staring at the floating text, Zhang Yu paused, thinking, “Is this the kind of information the Immortal Space can extract from ordinary corpse components?”
He felt the message hinted at something profound, yet it was too fragmented and vague to truly understand.
Zhang Yu continued his exploration, collecting corpse components, equipment, and materials along the way while following the senses of his Immortal Descendant ability, trying to locate whatever Ying Xintian had hidden.
He tossed all the corpse components he gathered into the Immortal Space, obtaining numerous fragmented pieces of information.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, in an underground chamber, Zhang Yu discovered a peculiar corpse.
It was the corpse of a tall, imposing figure, yet its body was covered in a dense network of scars.
Countless marks resembling suture lines crisscrossed the entire body, making Zhang Yu feel as if the corpse had been shattered into pieces and then forcibly stitched back together.
It was unclear whether the reassembly was poorly done or intentionally botched, but the result was a grotesquely ugly face.
“I wonder whose corpse this is,” Zhang Yu murmured. “Given what I saw last time… it might be another senior from the Myriad Laws Sect.”
He approached the corpse, activated the power of his Immortal Descendant trait, and reached out to touch it.
The next moment, as Zhang Yu absorbed the corpse into his Immortal Space, he felt his consciousness drawn toward it. An extraordinary wave of fury surged over him.
Boundless rage!
Endless hatred!
Roars that seemed to tear through the firmament echoed in Zhang Yu’s ears.
He could feel it, a fury so intense that all the waters of the world’s rivers and lakes could not extinguish it. The sheer force of it sent a tremor of fear through his own heart.
Zhang Yu thought, “What kind of memory… what kind of dream could provoke such rage?”
The next instant, the light and shadows shifted, and he felt as if he had been transported to another world.
Fu Ji, watching the scene unfold, remarked, “Here we go again. Time for another show.”
Within a crimson formation, countless men, women, and children trembled uncontrollably. As the surrounding cultivators cast their spells, they were transformed into streaks of blood-red light and drawn out.
Zhang Yu frowned. “Is this… refining mortals into something?”
Just then, bolts of thunderlight descended, obliterating the demonic cultivators who were casting the spell.
Amid the joyous gazes of the countless mortals, several cultivators with the bearing of Immortals and awe-inspiring auras descended from the sky to rescue them.
Among the rescued was a twelve-year-old boy named Huang Er. The son of a common farmer, he watched the scene with a growing look of determination in his eyes.
From the day he was saved, Huang Er resolved to walk the immortal path and become an Immortal Dao cultivator.
He knelt before the Immortal Master who had saved him, wishing to become his disciple.
But after examining his constitution, the Immortal Master shook his head expressionlessly. “You have no Spirit Root, and your meridians are completely blocked. You lack the aptitude for the Immortal Dao. Don’t waste your time.”
Ignoring Huang Er, who remained kneeling, the cultivators soared into the sky and vanished over the horizon in an instant.
But the cultivators’ rejection did not shake Huang Er’s resolve.
Ignoring the pleas of his family and friends, and disregarding the ridicule of others, Huang Er embarked on the path of seeking immortality.
He begged his way across the land, searching for an Immortal Sect, hoping one day to be accepted and cultivate the Immortal Dao.
In that era, the Immortal Dao flourished. Although the Righteous and Demonic Paths were in conflict, both widely opened their gates, recruiting disciples from all corners.
Yet Huang Er wandered the world, seeking masters everywhere, only to be rejected or deceived. In the blink of an eye, he was twenty-five years old. Clad in rags and covered in filth, he looked as weathered as a beggar in his thirties or forties, constantly bullied and driven away.
Just as he was losing hope, convinced he would never find the path to immortality in this lifetime, he happened upon an old woman who had fallen into a river.
Braving the bone-chilling cold, he leaped into the water and, after great effort, saved her. His selfless act was witnessed by a monk from the Immortal Armaments Bureau, who accepted him into the sect as a Handyman Disciple and taught him a basic breathing technique.
After joining the Handyman Quarters of the Immortal Armaments Bureau, Huang Er threw himself into every task. Whether it was practicing his breathing technique, sweeping and cleaning, chanting scriptures, or chopping wood and fetching water, he was always the first to volunteer, striving to excel in everything.
His ultimate goal was to successfully reach Foundation Establishment or catch the eye of a sect elder, which would allow him to enter the Inner Sect.
But years passed. Some disciples in the Handyman Quarters were accepted into the Inner Sect and taught the next stage of cultivation methods. Others, unable to endure the austere mountain life, left the Handyman Quarters and descended the mountain.
Unconsciously, Huang Er became the oldest disciple in the Handyman Quarters. “The path to immortality is hard to find…”
Though he had joined a sect, the closer he got and the more he understood, the more distant the true path to immortality seemed. He felt himself drifting further and further away from it.
“Ages six, twelve, and eighteen… these are the optimal times for testing one’s aptitude. The so-called ‘Three Screenings’ determine one’s fate.”
“If one has no Spirit Root by age eighteen, their path to immortality is hopeless, forever trapped in the Qi Refining Realm.”
Huang Er’s heart burned with unwillingness, yet he was powerless. He could only watch as he grew older, his cultivation progress slowing to a crawl, the Foundation Establishment Realm remaining hopelessly out of reach.
One day, now over fifty years old, Huang Er watched a young disciple enter the Inner Sect. Finally unable to bear it any longer, he sought out the supervising Daoist Master.
This Daoist Master was about the same age as Huang Er and had once trained alongside him in the Handyman Quarters. However, he had entered the Inner Sect early and had now formed his Golden Core, taking on the responsibility of managing the Outer Sect.
Facing his former fellow disciple, Huang Er saw not a trace of camaraderie in the other’s eyes, only endless strangeness and distance.
He asked the Daoist Master, “That youth is incorrigibly unruly. While in the Handyman Quarters, he attacked and crippled someone. On what grounds was he allowed to enter the Inner Sect?”
The Daoist Master looked at him and said calmly, “He has an Immortal Spirit Root.”
Huang Er retorted, “He spends his days idling and doing nothing. In the month since he joined, he hasn’t even completed a single Breathing Technique session…”
The Daoist Master repeated, “He has an Immortal Spirit Root.”
Huang Er said, unwilling to accept it, “Does that mean even if he murders, commits arson, rapes, and pillages, he would still be accepted into the sect?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Huang Er felt a pang of regret. Just as he braced himself for a harsh reprimand, he heard the Daoist Master say, “He has an Immortal Spirit Root. If he were to murder, commit arson, rape, and pillage, it would be all the more reason to bring him into the sect for strict discipline, to prevent him from causing a greater catastrophe.”
“Huang Er, you’ve been in the sect long enough to understand. Whether a person has immortal fortune is decided the moment they are born.”
“You either have it, or you don’t.”
“You lack the aptitude. Even if you toil for another ten or thirty years, no matter how intelligent, resolute, unyielding, upright, or magnanimous you are… you will never walk the immortal path in this lifetime.”
“Whether a person has the potential to step onto the Immortal Dao… depends solely on their aptitude.”
The Daoist Master looked down at him condescendingly and said coldly, “This is reality. This is the Heavenly Dao.”
Huang Er stumbled backward, muttering, “Decided at birth? It’s all decided at birth?!”
“On what grounds?!”
Watching this scene, Zhang Yu sighed and thought to himself, “At least the current Kunxu gives most people a chance to walk the Immortal Dao.”
Immortal Slayer suddenly spoke up, “This Huang Er… I think I know who he is.”
Zhang Yu asked curiously, “Who?”
Immortal Slayer replied, “We’ve both met him. You’ll see if you keep watching.”
Three years later in the dream, Huang Er watched as the youth, now a successful Foundation Establishment cultivator, was eagerly courted by numerous sect elders. Huang Er silently left the Immortal Armaments Bureau.
Now over fifty, he had completely despaired of the Immortal Dao. He had gradually accepted that he could no longer advance on this path and prepared to return to his hometown, to let his leaves fall where his roots lay.
On his journey home, Huang Er encountered a strange sect called the Heavenly Sect.
“Education without discrimination? Regardless of aptitude, all can cultivate immortality?”
Hearing these words, Huang Er’s first thought was “swindlers.” He decided to feign joining them, infiltrate their lair, expose their scam, and awaken the deceived before they suffered the same fate he had.
But after entering the sect’s gates, he discovered something peculiar about this Heavenly Sect.
Its members worked together and cultivated together day in and day out, spending so much time with one another that it was sometimes hard to distinguish between master and disciple.
Their cultivation method was called “Mutual Aid Cultivation, Collective Ascension.”
“We all cultivate together, then transfer our cultivation to the eldest fellow disciple.”
“After that disciple breaks through, they will lead us in our cultivation, and we will then channel our cultivation into the second-eldest disciple.”
“By helping one another in this way, all brothers and sisters can climb to the Apex of the Immortal Dao together.”
At first, Huang Er was skeptical. But after spending some time with them, he found that the members of the Heavenly Sect truly cared for one another like family.
In fact, many new members would spread the word, bringing their friends and family to join the Heavenly Sect, cultivate immortality, and progress together.
Thanks to his age of over fifty, Huang Er quickly became a recipient of cultivation infusion. Through day after day of cultivation, he finally broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
After decades of bitter cultivation, he had finally reached Foundation Establishment. In that moment, tears streamed down Huang Er’s face.
He then returned to his hometown and brought back his parents, his brothers and sisters, his friends from the Handyman Quarters who had failed to enter the Inner Sect, and even old companions who had left the mountain years ago.
Huang Er led them all to join the Heavenly Sect, determined to practice Mutual Aid Cultivation and achieve Collective Ascension.
From then on, Huang Er’s cultivation soared, and his friends and family rose with him like “chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.” Their cultivation advanced rapidly, and they all formally stepped onto the Immortal Dao.
It was only then that he learned the Heavenly Sect’s true name: the Heavenly Demon Sect.
But Huang Er refused to believe the Heavenly Demon Sect was a Demonic Sect.
“When the Righteous Sects shut their doors to me, it was the Heavenly Demon Sect that guided us onto the immortal path, helped us increase our cultivation, and extended our lifespans.”
“When the Righteous disciples cared only for aptitude, it was the Heavenly Demon Sect that taught us to love one another like family.”
“If even a sect like the Heavenly Demon Sect is considered demonic, then I would rather cultivate demonic arts to walk the Righteous Path.”
Years later, Huang Er’s name was no longer known.
Having become a Heavenly Chosen of the Heavenly Demon Sect, he roamed the world, spreading the Dharma and guiding countless mortals onto the immortal path. He became an object of worship for innumerable people. Some called him the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Master, others the Grand Dharma Master, and still others called him…
“Heavenly Demon Prince!”
The sky tore open, the earth twisted, and a world-destroying torrent of billions of lightning bolts, mingled with furious roars, rained down, shredding countless Heavenly Demon Sect disciples to dust.
The attacker was a monster with a green face and protruding fangs. It wore the sun and moon as a crown, its colossal form propping up the firmament. Its breath blew away countless mountain peaks, and a single wave of its hand caused heaven and earth to collapse.
This terrifying monster tore the Heavenly Demon Prince’s disciples, friends, and family to pieces one by one. With supreme, unstoppable power, it annihilated everyone connected to the Heavenly Demon Prince, reducing them to nothing but dust.
Watching this unfold, the Heavenly Demon Prince’s eyes turned crimson, the rage in his heart threatening to boil the seas and incinerate the mountains.
“Ying Xintian! You have destroyed my family and friends, you slaughtered my disciples! I will not rest until one of us is dead!”
BOOM!
The last thing Zhang Yu saw was the Heavenly Demon Prince being viciously struck by a palm descending from the sky, turning into fine powder.
As the dream faded, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Heavenly Demon Prince? This corpse… it actually belongs to the Heavenly Demon Prince?”
Zhang Yu recalled the memory dream of Ling Feng he had seen before.
“So… did Ying Xintian succeed in hunting down the Heavenly Demon Prince in the end?”
“The immortal corpses he hid weren’t just his own people, but also Demonic Path experts?”
As Zhang Yu pondered this, the Heavenly Demon Prince’s memory dream dissipated, and lines of text radiating an incomparably dominating intent appeared before him.
Zhang Yu knew this was a message left by Ying Xintian.
“When I finally found the Heavenly Demon Prince and fought him, I discovered that he had already devoured his friends and family, refining their souls into a Heavenly Demon Banner.”
Reading these words, Zhang Yu thought, “Is this a beautification of memory? Did he portray the act of devouring his loved ones as a process of cultivating together with them?”
“And Ying Xintian, who appeared at the end, was incomparably powerful, majestic, and terrifying in the Heavenly Demon Prince’s memory…”
Immortal Slayer sighed, “The process of the Heavenly Demon Prince cultivating and circulating energy with his friends and family… I’m afraid that was actually his method for digesting them and refining their souls.”
As Zhang Yu pondered, the text before him continued to appear.
“But neither the Heavenly Demon Prince nor those he devoured had any regrets…”
As the message gradually materialized, Zhang Yu read its contents, feeling as if he were witnessing the confrontation between Ying Xintian and the Heavenly Demon Prince firsthand.
“Devouring people?” the Heavenly Demon Prince roared. “I was leading them in cultivation! Only by cultivating with me could they learn spells and attain longevity. Otherwise, they would have long since turned to dust!”
Within the Heavenly Demon Banner, ten thousand ghosts wailed, “If not for the Immortal Master’s mercy, our souls would have scattered and our spirits extinguished long ago! How could we have this chance to comprehend the Immortal Dao now?”
“The Heavenly Demon Prince roared, ‘Ying Xintian, you people are merely born with talent for the Immortal Dao! If you had no talent, you’d be just like us — forced to rely on this method to cultivate the Immortal Dao. You’d still be devouring people just like us, or be devoured.’”
Ying Xintian asked coldly, “Was every single person you devoured truly willing?”
The Heavenly Demon Prince burst into maniacal laughter. “Ying Xintian, look into their eyes! Look at the mortals you ‘saved’! We’ve already shown them the Immortal Dao. Even if they’re unwilling now, give them a chance, and they’ll devour others just the same!”
“So what if you saved mortals? I was once a mortal! Who in this Heavenly Demon Banner wasn’t once a mortal? As long as there’s a sliver of a chance for immortality, we will all seek the Immortal Dao!”
“In this world, only those like you, with true talent for the Immortal Dao, are too lazy to devour people.”
“As for the rest, whether they’re mortals or lower cultivators with inferior aptitude — if they get the chance… if they can climb to the Apex of the Immortal Dao, pursue longevity, and live just a few more years… they will all devour others, or willingly be devoured.”
Ying Xintian said coldly, “You’ve all gone mad.”
“Mad? I’ve never seen things so clearly!” the Heavenly Demon Prince roared. “Without Immortals, there would be no Demons! It was you, the so-called Righteous Sects, who showed us the Immortal Path, only to shut the door in our faces! That’s what created us—mortals willing to do anything to walk that path.”
“What is the Demonic Path? It’s nothing more than a treacherous trail we carved out for ourselves to climb the Immortal Dao, yet you still refuse to tolerate it.”
“The Righteous-Demonic Conflict? What Righteous? What Demonic? It’s just you, those who climb the Immortal Dao on talent alone, who can’t stand the thought of us mortals catching up. You can’t bear to see the privilege you were born with eroded by us, so you brand us as ‘demonic’!”
“We are all willing participants. What right do you have to stop us?”
Ying Xintian replied coldly, “The Righteous and the Demonic Paths cannot coexist.”
The Heavenly Demon Prince laughed. “If all the people in the world willingly become demonic, then who is righteous? And who is demonic?”