(Great Smash skill has risen to the second level)
"This is simply unbearable. Only two months for this skill to reach the second level? To reach perfection, I bet it'll take me ten years," I grumbled.
"You'll be lucky if it's ten years. Do you now understand why no one trains in too many techniques? Although it's useful to have many means of attack, it's useless if they're all weak," Ling Xi explained as a trusted teacher.
"Ugh, whatever. It seems this technique won't be advancing anytime soon. Uni, next technique."
(One remains: Tyrant's Body)
My eyes widened upon hearing the name. The skill that Wu Ruxian gave me. Even if she's dead, what guarantees that this technique isn't cursed?
"Uni, examine this technique. Are there any flaws in it?"
(Tyrant's Body: A technique based on consuming spiritual beast blood to advance by absorbing the blood's vitality and strengthening flesh and bone. It has a side effect of increasing the user's lifespan.)
Wait, increasing lifespan? You mean extending my life?
But this would only mean that Wu Ruxian truly cared about me.
What am I saying? She simply wanted to keep me alive so she could exploit me longer.
I sighed and stopped thinking about it. I pulled the scroll from storage and began studying it.
The basic principle was somewhat difficult, but compared to the Heaven-Defying Body, there was a overwhelming difference—like the gap between heaven and earth.
I've begun to understand a little just how powerful Ling Xi's former master was. He was a God, yet what would drive someone who serves under the world's will to create a technique to stand against it?
Well, let's try it out. I hummed and took out ten vials of various beast blood that I had hunted recently.
This technique was truly unique. The first level required the blood of ten first-level beasts.
The second level required the blood of ten second-level beasts, and so on.
But there was also quantity: a hundred vials of first-level beast blood could balance the equation and have the same effect, though not the same impact as second-level blood.
With the amount of blood I had, I could raise this technique to the fourth level.
I drank the vials all at once. The thick blood had a sharp, metallic taste.
Then I began circulating the technique through my body as described in the manuscript.
Suddenly, I felt intense heat spreading through my veins. My muscles began contracting and expanding uncontrollably, and my bones made a terrifying cracking sound.
I felt as if my body was being melted and reshaped anew.
The blood was fusing with my internal organs, feeling as if they were dissolving.
"Ahhh!" I doubled over in pain, cold sweat pouring down my forehead.
But with each wave of pain, I felt new power filling my body.
Then suddenly, a qualitative change occurred that I felt in my middle dantian.
(Tyrant's Body - First Level)
(Strength +50 / Endurance +100)
I struggled intensely with my internal organs for three full hours before I felt relief.
But more importantly, I felt a significant improvement in my body's durability. The Heaven-Defying Body strengthens the physique; in this case, the Tyrant's Body refines the internal organs.
Then I focused my attention on my lifespan. Originally, I had eight years left, but immediately my lifespan increased by half a year!
Even if it wasn't a big increase...
If this was only the result of the first level, what could the higher levels do?
Then I spent a week learning this technique. By the last day of the week, I had reached the fourth level, and my lifespan had already become fifteen years. Some black strands of my hair even began to return.
If this technique from Wu Ruxian was this amazing, what about the Heavenly Demon Records technique?
I turned my palm over and summoned the scroll I had obtained earlier.
Immediately, I brought it close to my forehead and began absorbing the technique.
It was a skill that relied on death Qi, and more than anything, it was what I needed.
This technique contained six fundamental techniques:
· Heavenly Demon Eyes
· Heavenly Demon Recall
· Phoenix Robe
· Black Turtle Shield
· White Tiger Claws
· Dark Dragon Rush
Hah, this technique is also unbelievable. The Heavenly Demon Eyes absorb Yin to function, usually by absorbing moonlight. Unlike Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes, which absorb purple Qi from the rising sun.
But if compared, I'm afraid the Heavenly Demon Eyes are superior, as they even allow you to see a person's essence and nature.
Then Heavenly Demon Recall, a death Qi cultivation technique. It's not only a growth technique but also a technique that enhances memory, attack patterns, techniques, etc. In short, you'll have a photographic memory.
Phoenix Robe is a healing technique, but it can only heal the user.
Black Turtle Shield is a defensive art.
White Tiger Claws is an offensive art.
And Dark Dragon Rush is a movement technique. All these skills are derived from the mythical beasts in humanity's ancient stories.
The Four Directions.
No, literally, I'm on the path to creating primordial chaos.
Well, I'd better not rush things and begin training on them.
After three months of seclusion...
The cave vibrated regularly with each new technique I practiced.
The stone walls that were once solid were now full of craters and deep cracks. Even the ground beneath my feet had turned into a flat expanse of fine dust after thousands of attempts.
Heavenly Demon Eyes
My eyes suddenly turned a deep purple color. The technique required Yin, which comes from the moon, and death Qi is also considered Yin, which enabled me to learn it quickly.
The world around me became clearer, as if I could see through things. Even the fine particles in the air became visible, though not with the quality of the Heavenly Eyes, but still...
"Amazing..." I whispered as I raised my hand before my eyes. I could see the flow of energy in my veins like rivers of purple light.
But suddenly, I felt a sharp sting in my eyes. Blood began to flow from the corners of my eyes like crimson tears.
"Ah! Damn it!" I closed my eyes tightly, trying to endure the pain. The eye technique required long adaptation that I would gain from entering battles.
After an hour of rest, I tried the next technique.
"Heavenly Demon Recall!"
My memory suddenly opened like a massive book. I could remember every moment of my life with amazing clarity, even the casual conversations I had heard years ago. But the flood of memories nearly overwhelmed my consciousness.
"Enough!" I shouted as I cut off the technique. My head was pounding as if about to explode.
Then after that, I continued with the White Tiger Claws technique.
My hands transformed into sharp, dark, ghostly claws, capable of tearing through rocks like paper, but each use consumed a great deal of death Qi.
Then I moved to the Black Turtle Shield, and death Qi coiled around me like a ball, covering me from all directions.
Then I took out the Dagger of Death in my hand and stabbed my leg without the slightest hesitation.
In an instant, a black robe appeared, hanging from my shoulders down my back, and the wound healed immediately.
Then came the Dark Dragon Rush. I took a low stance, then pushed hard with my toes.
Zooooom!
I moved at lightning speed, and death Qi merged with my lower body to form a dragon, making it appear as if I were riding one.
In an instant, I crashed into the stone wall at the end of the cave with tremendous force.
Craaash!
The wall collapsed completely, but I felt no pain—the technique had turned my body into a semi-ethereal state during movement.
All of these were amazing techniques. Then there were the true forms of the four beasts for each technique, but that could be achieved in their advanced stages.
(Basic level of the Heavenly Demon Records techniques mastered)
I sat on the ground exhausted, my entire body aching from the intensity of the training. But inside, I felt indescribable excitement.
The power I had gained during these few months surpassed what I had obtained in the past years.
I sat up and entered my spiritual sea. It seemed Yami and Murasama were busy with some things while Ling Xi was discussing something with Bing Di.
I didn't disturb any of them. All I did was head toward two spheres of energy in my spiritual sea—more precisely, the essence of two people's memories: Shen Wanyun and Wu Ruxian.
I reached out my hand and placed it on Shen Wanyun's essence. His memories transferred to my mind, and I immediately frowned. This scoundrel had an easy life.
Train a little in the morning, eat elixirs in the evening. Whoever bothered him got beaten. He lived in true extravagance.
This only deepened my hatred for him, and suddenly, it increased my understanding of the Law of Wind directly to the fourth level.
At least that scoundrel did something useful after he died.
Then I turned my gaze toward Wu Ruxian's essence. Her memories... somehow, I felt afraid. Three hundred years of demonic refinement. Somehow, its impact was terrifying.
I hesitantly placed my hand on Wu Ruxian's memory essence. I hesitated for a moment, but curiosity pushed me to complete what I had started.
The memories flooded like an irresistible torrent, devouring my consciousness in an instant.
I found myself in a wooden room. Three individuals: a father, a mother, and a little girl. The girl had white hair and sky-blue eyes and resembled her mother more than her father.
"You impure girl!" The man raised his hand and began striking the girl.
"Stop! She's still young!" The woman stood in front of the girl and began receiving the blows instead of her.
"Hmph, why should I care about another man's daughter? Damn it!" The man snarled. He wasn't even the girl's father—he was her stepfather after her real father had abandoned them.
The little girl, not yet eight years old, shivering from cold in a damp straw hut.
But that was only the beginning.
That year, when she turned ten, there was a drought that ended all green and dry. At that time, the girl clearly remembered the sound of her father bargaining with a huge man for a cheap price—just a bag of rice.
Her trembling gaze toward him was devoid of understanding, but she could feel it.
She was taken away, stacked like merchandise among other children's bodies. None of them knew what awaited them.
She was sold to a despicable gang. There, in the depths of darkness, in a narrow room covered with mud and foul odors, the first moments of hell began.
During that period, her body was violated. She felt like vomiting.
Even tears betrayed her and stopped. Her screams became silence. This continued until she was twelve, when she became a used commodity and was sold again—this time to a brothel.
In that place, between walls painted with kohl and shame, she met Man Qing, a girl two years older than her, as beautiful as she was sorrowful, speaking in a soft voice and smiling despite everything.
She promised she would take care of her. She was like a sister, a mother, and everything she had lost—or rather, everything she never truly had.
From that day on, Wu Ruxian began to smile again, even if it was a fake smile.
But happiness never lasts long. One winter night, a fire broke out in the house. Screaming voices roared, wood cracked, and fire devoured everything.
Man Qing tried to save her and pushed her out the window with difficulty, but a pillar caught fire and fell on her. She quickly ordered Wu Ruxian to run, then the flames consumed her body while Wu Ruxian watched from outside, burning alive, powerless to save her.
She was already fourteen, living a life of homelessness, barely surviving day by day.
That was when she was captured by some individuals who belonged to a demonic sect and was forcibly trained.
She trained there for years. No one was crueler than her, no one quieter, no one faster at learning.
She became an obedient tool, a skilled assassin. Her body moved like a feather in the wind, and her heart turned to stone.
She reached twenty when she was sent on a complex espionage mission to the capital. The target: a royal court official named "Hei Banliang."
She disguised herself as a maid in one of the subsidiary palaces and followed his steps like his shadow, recording his movements and gathering information. But he was not like the others.
He was handsome, eloquent, educated. He spoke to her with a gentleness she had never known. Over time, under the weight of fake tenderness, her walls began to crack.
She fell in love with him, little by little. She began to aspire to another life—a life not all about blood. After months of emotional attachment, she stood before him and told him everything.
But who would have expected that to be her mistake? After he extracted the locations of demonic sects and their secrets from her, he stabbed her in the back with a poisoned dagger, whispered in her ear, "You naive girl," and then threw her off a high cliff.
She miraculously survived. The wound was not in her body but in her soul.
From among the ruins, Wu Ruxian rose again. But the girl named Wu died that day, and the Heavenly Demon was born.
Her early years were spent in harsh training—stealing, deceiving, killing, betraying. She committed many massacres, took over several demonic sects one after another, destroyed strongholds, and burned entire cities.
When she reached forty, she established her own sect—the "Heavenly Demon Sect"—and declared herself the Demon Empress.
From then on, the two hundred dark years of her life began. She appeared like a ghost, interfered in the conflicts of kingdoms, spread plague through entire villages as punishment.
She quickly reached the rank of Emperor.
And she began challenging the Martial Emperors themselves.
She met the Crimson Sky Empress, Liu Yan, in one of the great wars. But what began as a battle unexpectedly ended in respect and friendship.
In the Crimson Sky Empress's palace, she found her receiving a visit from one of the kings—the Sword King.
He was unexpectedly very similar to Su Ming, but a darker, more aggressive version.
Then there was Huo Qiangda, the Emperor of Savage Strength.
They fought for days above Winged Serpent Mountain, and the battle ended with her losing an arm and inflicting a superficial wound on him.
She sought to advance to the rank of Heavenly Emperor. Nothing was lacking except passing the thunder tribulation. But at the critical moment, the Sacred Emperor appeared and ruined her chance at advancement, causing her death, and she fell into reincarnation.
What followed was her return through time and everything she had experienced up to now.
I opened my eyes suddenly, cold sweat pouring down my forehead. Wu Ruxian's memories were a living nightmare. Three hundred years of pain, betrayal, and brutality. I felt as if I had lived all those years in just a few moments.
"Damn..." I whispered in a hoarse voice, my hands trembling. I hadn't expected to see all this. I hadn't expected to feel all this.
Ling Xi appeared beside me suddenly, her wide eyes studying my face with concern. "What did you see? You were screaming."
"Three hundred years of hell," I answered in a raspy voice. "She lived more than I imagined... and suffered more than any human could bear."
A heavy silence fell between us, and the others approached cautiously.
"Does that mean she was telling the truth?" Bing Di asked in a faint voice. "About her feelings for you?"
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to organize my thoughts. Wu Ruxian's last memories before her death came back to me clearly—her look of surrender, her sad smile, her final words...
"If there is a next life, I will try then to win your heart deservedly."
This is all nonsense. There is nothing for her. There is no chance for her.
I suddenly opened my eyes. My decision was made. "I will work on her techniques and develop them into my own version."
A heavy silence fell over my spiritual sea after my words. Even Ling Xi, who is usually quick to comment, stood silent, her eyes studying my face deeply.
"You... are you serious?" she asked finally in a cautious voice.
"Yes." I nodded firmly. "These techniques are powerful, but my path is different from their creator's. I will reshape them to fit my own way."
Immediately, I exited my spiritual sea and looked at my hands. Using these four techniques as a foundation, I could create new techniques.
But even the talented cannot create techniques because, simply put, you need enlightenment. And I have what it takes.
I turned my palm over, and the Fruit of Enlightenment appeared. With its effect, I should succeed.
I put the fruit in my mouth and consumed it.