70Disclaimer: all characters and mentioned universes belong to their respective owners and/or creators.
This is a work of fiction.
'Italics means he is talking to himself /inner voice'
"inverted commas" means a normal conversation.
"different languages" means speaking in a foreign language.
[encyclopedic texts]
Thoughts of other characters
Eyes meant for the dark.
"Mother, I will be leaving today. I will be back and I'll take you to an even better place" I knelt on a knee as I spoke to her with my head bowed.
"Son, don't worry. Mother understands. You just make sure you come back safe. You're all I have sob left" she ran her hand across my hair and tapped my shoulder. "Go on. You have my blessings"
"Take care mother, I will be back very soon" I rose and made my exit from my mom's room. I couldn't turn back and face her tears, it might break my will to leave. I know, I am filled with guilt at what I did. And every time I see my mom cry, I feel even more guilty. But I will make it up to her and my family.
"Patriarch Yue! Are you leaving" an older child runs towards me. Yes, I was the official patriarch of the family now. After both, my grandfather and father passed I was next in line. And since I also saved them from doom everyone accepted it as so. I not only improved all our cultivation materials but I replaced all our demon spirit stones with extraordinary and god level growth type demon spirits. All of them would grow to become powerful cultivators with all these provided resources.
"Little Yan, you know I can't take you along. I need you to be here and keep the family safe alright. Make sure you watch over mother" He vigorously nods his head and takes a hero pose.
"I'll protect them all!" he says confidently. Yan, I hope you never lose your innocence. I smile and rub his head.
The other members gathered to send me off, our bonds were tighter than they ever were. After giving them words of advice and motivation I left through the gates
I sent a nod to the captain guard who nodded back and made a salute.
I swiftly waded through the thick forest. This was the infinite forest deep into the St ancestral mountain. I didn't even need a map as my premonition sense led me through the right path. I would've merged with ghost but I chose to ride fenrir instead. Yeah I can interact with it even when not merged, although he won't be able to do combat he can still be used as transport. And in such a forest he was king, his instinctual movements and maneuvers made moving through the forest swift and silent even with his giant form.
The place I was headed to was the first place with human inhabitants, leaving the confines of glory city, it was the Heavenly Fate Plateau.
The Heavenly Fate Plateau was at the summit of a mountain, the entire mountaintop looked as though a portion of it was sliced off, creating a huge plain in its place. A single path leads to the mountaintop. The inhabitants numbered more than a thousand. They were people that gathered together to formed a tribe within the safety of the plateau.
Due to the Heavenly Fate Plateau being located in a high terrain area, there was only one way up and down. It's a relatively safe place due to the single path that lead to and from the mountain top. Making it difficult for demon beasts to gain access to it.
However, it has a severe issue of food deficiency, so the thousands of people were only barely surviving.
I had many reasons for coming here but the main reason was to find the goddess that would be buried in the black spring located beneath the plateau. Underneath the Heavenly Fate Plateau, is an extremely dangerous region known as the Black Spring.
No one knows where the Black Spring came from, but they do know that it flows from the St. Ancestral Mountain directly into the bottomless abyss. The demon beasts surrounding the Black Spring are existences above Black Gold rank. Legend has it that in the bottomless abyss, there lives a group of extremely powerful Legend rank demon beasts.
If it wasn't for the natural obstacles, the Heavenly Fate Plateau wouldn't have been able to survive.
…
The early morning sun shined down on my form as I was walking on the path that led towards the entrance of the heavenly fate plateau. This would've been a peaceful day if it weren't for the people I spotted hiding. I sensed their souls, yeah with the advancement of my rank I began to notice new abilities my cultivation granted me. I could also see the darkness in souls.
These people were clearly trying to ambush me.
"Come out, I know you're there"
After a moment of silence, eight individuals rose from their hiding places. A large sun tanned man who wielded a giant hammer lead the group.
"You have good senses kid, but you're a stranger and this is my territory. So drop all your belongings and leave. Or I, Xiao lang will make you" he said threateningly.
"No, now move." I stated blandly.
I must have sounded amusing because a smile spread across his face as he began laughing, his men joining him as well.
"Brat, don't say I didn't warn you!" he leapt at me with the hammer positioned to drop and squash my head.
Clink his hammer was cleanly separated in half, my sword positioned at his neck. His eyes wide open. "Boss!" his men shouted. I took devourer away from his neck and sheathed it. I didn't kill him because his soul wasn't as dark as the ones I had seen before.
The Man dropped to his knees, he kept touching and feeling his neck and then he looked at me.
"Why didn't you kill me? I was going to kill you! Why didn't you kill me! Don't look at me with judgment! I did all I had to do to survive! This world is cold and ruthless, it took it all away!"
the Man looked at me with pain filled eyes
"I didn't start out like this. No one does, but people are evil! I have to do this so the others can survive! The children are dying of hunger, we the adults are dying of hunger and even in our shame we still can't provide. The others were so ruthless to us, we had to be ruthless as well to survive. So why didn't you kill me?"
This was just a man who lost faith in humanity, so he tried to give hope to others although his means we're brutal he had to do it to survive. Most people in this world would just go about indiscriminately killing without even giving thought to the situation. Psychopaths.
"Look, I don't care about what you think of humans or whatever, it would just be bothersome. So just let me pass" I moved around him.
I was back on my path to reaching the city. Sigh. "Didn't I tell you to let me be." they've been following me for hours now. I turned around "What do you want?" I asked annoyed.
"Lord, you have spared the lives of I and my men. I, Xiao Lang am not a good man but I know one when I see one. I will never be able to repay you, I owe you my life I will use it to serve you." He knelt on the ground and declared.
Nope the fuck not "Bulshit! Is your life that cheap? where is it written that I'm a good person? Why am I even asking you that. Look you owe me nothing OK, I don't need a servant either so shoo just go away." crazy people, you think this is a Japanese manga.
"I am the third strongest man in all of heavenly plateau city. I also know the place like the back of my hand, let me be your guide!" ….that actually would be useful for what I wanted to do.
"So you know where your Chief resides?" I asked
"Yes I als-" his sentence was cut short by my interruption.
"OK, you're hired." You're going to be working very hard soon.
…..
People parted to sides of the street, the once bustling market was almost now silent. They avoided Xiao Lang and his group of men, he had a notorious reputation in these parts of the city. Merchants would bow and send a greeting towards us, he would send a nod back in reply.
The stench of rotten waste wafted throughout the market, rotten meat, dried woods and dead roots were a luxury that the wealthiest of them could barely afford.
They wore deteriorating tatters called clothes that had more stitches than actual fabric. Beggars and malnourished children knelt beside stalls. Prostitutes and small-time thugs stood silently in corners, theirs eyes shifting around, gazing from one spot on my body to another, observing my every action.
Whispers began to spread in correlation with their gazes.
Not only was I a stranger, I must have looked like a king to them.
The dilapidated huts came into view, surrounded by a short mud wall.
this was the cleanest place in all of the city. It was where the chief and other leaders resided.
"Chief Xiao Wu! I Xiao Lang has arrived" Standing at my side Xiao Lang shouted out. He's one of the strongest men in this city, even the city lord doesn't openly oppose him, so I guess they were on equal standing.
"Who dares!" A person parted through the gathered crowds. The person was a bald young man, his torso was bare revealing his firm muscles. His face and body were also filled with sinister scars.
"Impudent! Xiao Kuang, are you questioning our boss?!" A skinny man who looked like your generic side character challenged the approaching bald man.
Anger was written on Xiao Kuang's face but at the sight of Xiao Ling, he cupped his arms Shit! What have I gotten myself into, it's boss Xiao Lang he thought to himself as he took a step back.
He just had a 3-Star bronze rank strength, going against Xiao Lang was suicidal. 'Coward' he was strong to the weak and weak to the strong.
I remember him being the second son of the chief.
An elderly but muscular man walked out of one of the huts. He had long dirty brown hair on his head and an almost grey combed moustache hanging at the sides of his mouth.
"Ah~ Xiao Lang, You came to visit this old man. I see you brought a visitor with you as well" He said smiling.
"Chief of the heavenly plateau city, I am Shen Yue. And I have come from very far." I responded.
"Young Master Shen Yue, I Xiao Wu welcomes you to our humble Heavenly plateau city. Please come this way and accept our accommodations" He said with a gesture towards a large centre Hut.
"I appreciate your hospitality, Elder Wu" he raised an eyebrow at my respectful tone, his smile became even wider.
I followed him inside a large Hut where all the other leaders were gathered at. They sat round on a wide straw mat with a short faded table at the centre.
After greetings and small talk I went to the reason for my trip.
I stood up, looking down at them I began to slowly speak.
"Your city is dying. Your people are dying. None of you are able to do anything about it so you watch in helplessness, You watch as poverty and suffering takes them away in wretchedness. Filth covers every inch of your lives, bright days are non-existent in your existence. All for what? Because you lack the materials because you lack the tools, because you lack the leadership, because you lack the power. Well today it ends."
Moving to the centre of the mat I took out a single piece of wheat bread, and I could feel them ready to kill for it. Their eyes were totally fixated on it. Then I crushed it into dust. "No!" "Why?!" They raised their voices in anger. I gazed at them.
"I Shen Yue, has the power to change your lives and the lives of your family. I have the power to raise you from your destitute and damnation"
I released my cultivation rank, power radiated throughout the Hut, their faces paled in surprise and astonishment at the level of my rank. I was at 1-Star black gold rank. I was the strongest person any of them had ever met in all their lives spent living here. The strongest amongst them was just a measly 5-Star gold rank.
This would never work in a democratic society. But here, in this world where might makes right, dictatorship, feudalism and imperialism reigns supreme. In a normal world the majority would conquer the minority almost every time. One Vs many almost always results in the many becoming victorious, it was a World where strength is second to actually political power, where no matter how strong you were you couldn't go against an army sent by a politician but here, strength is the first. Strength that allows you to stand against legions of armies, here, strength speaks.
"Submit to me and I will save you" 'of course it's for my own gains why else would I want to save anyone'.
They changed their posture into that of prostration and bowed before me.
"We submit to benefactor, Lord Shen Yue!" They said with such strength and vigor. It went way easier than I expected it to.
I later learnt that they had a prophecy that the saviour would come from afar and deliver them from their suffering and I was that person. 'Bulshit' these people just looked for someone to dump all their problems onto, if I had known earlier I would've saved my damn speech and just go straight for the kill.
...
Three months later.
A sea of people were gathered before the villa. I walked on the red carpet to reach the highest point of the pedestal and With smiles on their faces they loudly chanted.
"WE WELCOME LORD YUE!" The golden rays of the sun bore witness to this day, the clear skies smiled in accordance to the voices of the people, the shouts of children and the music of the birds. This was my official inauguration into the position of city lord. Yes, not Chief but city lord.
You'd be surprised at what a group of pseudo super humans could achieve when motivated.
The changes the city went through was staggering and unimaginable.
High Majestic buildings stood in place of what were once dilapidated huts and stalls.
The people where garbed in bright Luxurious attires and fabrics. Cemented pavements and roads decorated the now clean streets as horse drawn carriages stood parked on the side. Beautiful flowers grew on the high massive walls which formed a protective boundary around the city.
These people worshiped me, statues of my image were erected in the city centre and the various garden parks.
To them I was nothing short of a God sent saviour, not only did I bring them food but I also brought them a better life.
Where did I get all the resources? You do remember that I spent a lot of time to prepare right. You also remember that I was FUCKING rich! With all the profits from the pills and the gold from the expedition and my family vault I was one of, if not the wealthiest man in all of the ancestral mountain region.
The chemical fertilisers I built using my library not only made the land fertile but enhanced the growth rate of plants (too bad I didn't have a beanstalk). I filled storage rings with colossal amounts of seeds, foodstuffs, tools, building materials, fabrics, demon spirits and so much more. I made cultivation methods to suit fighters and ones to suit those who wanted to be demon spiritualists. I effectively built this city from the ground up to actually resemble its title "The heavenly city"
Of course there were the greedy ones, the ones averse to change, the unredeemable criminals and the ones too corrupted for my liking so I culled them. I didn't have to dirty my hands with that. Xiao Lang who was now my right hand man and also the leader of the newly established police/military force purged them put from the very roots, not a single one of their bloodlines were spared. In one night, enough blood was spilled to dye the streets red. To the masses it was an operation by the government to end rebels and revolters who wanted to cause disorder. This caused the public opinion to be totally with us, condoning our actions and giving us full support.
And now my rule was unshakable. Ruthless? Compared to the psychos here I was a saint plus you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
But the big question is why did I do all this? I wasn't going to leave my family to suffer from the results of my actions in glory city. They would have a comfortable life here, living like royalty. Or maybe it was just a way for me to clear my conscience.
I stood on the high pedestal as golden sun rays formed a brilliance to radiate from my majestic attire. I turned my gaze to my sides and saw my family and my men standing with their chest raised high. My mom had tears pooling in her eyes, her beautiful smile shone brighter than the sun to me. She's the real reason I did all this, I love this woman she has gone through a lot and I won't let her suffer again.
Turning back to the jubilating masses I Raised my right hand, the soldiers slammed the butts of their spears down on the floor, causing a soft rumble to radiate through the atmosphere as the masses became silent.
"None of this would've been possible without you. Each and everyone of you put your sweat, blood and tears to make this day a reality. Take pride in your achievements"
"We Submit To Lord Yue! He is our Sun! HE IS OUR RULER!" They said in booming unison, the multiple gazes of reverence showed their unfaltering loyalty.
And on cue the magnificent fireworks decorated the skies. As thunderous applause and shouts of joy accompanied the rain of flowers on my departure into the villa.
...
"huf~f" I softly exhaled and inhaled.
A cloud of purple smoke entered my skin with each inhalation the energy heading into my soul sphere, increasing my soul force. I was already at the 2-Star black gold rank and with this inhalation I broke through into the 3-Star Black gold rank. The energy caused my abyss sphere to slightly expand as it sucked in all the purple smoke. The process was painful since the purple smoke would continually temper the body, building and rebuilding the muscles and organs. There would be slight booming sounds like a hammer striking against steel. And with each strike the body becomes stronger and strength increases in toe with soul force.
Why is my cultivation level so high in such short amount of time? There were many reasons, I mean consider the fact that my soul talent is actually extremely high and then there's the abstruse gem stone that raises cultivation speed by three times. But that's all second to the amount of time I spend training, tempering my body through hellish pain, meditating and practicing my martial arts, incorporating my danger sense into vast aspects of my life and that involves a lot of harm and danger. Days spent in absolute solitude trying to understand my abilities and ways to improve, time spent trying to find the secrets of my sword.
I wasn't playing around, I've been putting myself through circumstances that would seem to lead to nothing more than suicide. Why? Because I will not fall behind, I will rise to greater heights and take my fate into my own hands.
Back to the rock.
The smoke was from the purple rock that Nie Li would eventually come over here for. He would be in for a shock because all the purple rocks and their mining sites were under the struck watch of the military. It's use were widely spread and circulated. The rocks were able to increase the cultivation and you couldn't buy them for less than a hundred thousand coins so it was mostly used as rewards for outstanding individuals and their acts, raising their value to be rated higher than gold. The only way to use them was to buy an inscription slate. What? I wasn't just going to pass info on the secret process that turns it into smoke out. No the inscription slate handled all of that and any form of tampering with the slate would result in its deterioration. That was just one of many security measures.
Rising from my meditative pose I stretched out my arms and legs receiving a satisfying crack. Now was the time to get to my real objective.
I was deep in the dark forest, the light only made the surroundings look gloomier, the dark poison fog floated everywhere. The dried skeletons of beasts and humans littered the forest floor but none of it impeded my advancement. My immaterial figure speed through the forest without making a single leaf rustle, I was integrated with ghost and was in an intangible state. After the forest came the poisonous mud marsh, it would trap people like quicksand and eat away at their skin like a corrosive acid.
Moving past the mud marsh came the black spring just below a very steep cliff. A trail of black spring water flowing down, formed a waterfall. On the bottom of the cliff was a bulged up platform. It seemed to have been man-made. In the bottomless pond that looked like an endless abyss came the faint roars of mighty beasts that hummed through the earth.
I would have like to explore it but even my strengthened body would disintegrate under the corrosive effects of the black spring.
I slowly floated down the cliff face on to the raised platform. Ancient inscription patterns were draw all over the platform. The inscriptions were absolutely complex…for any other person that might be the case but for me it wasn't. These patterns were very similar to the ones I got back at my expedition to Holy orchid city. I wouldn't even need more than two minutes to disable the patterns thanks to my vast knowledge stored in the library and my actual experience and intellect.
While working on the patterns I thought back to the time Nie Li abandoned these similar inscription patterns and alchemic formulas when he chanced upon them during the expedition, he only sought the shadow devil and temporal demon book page, ignoring such treasure because he felt that he knew it all. What an idiot, that old man in a young guy's body really just made it through by his plot armour and foreknowledge. Knowledge is never ending, the moment you think you're perfect is the moment it all ends for you. You have to constantly improve yourself imperfection in itself is a type of perfection.
Done - Rumble - the rock face began to slowly tremble, sending slight tremors through the cliff.
The walls parted apart as an opening was formed. The opening led to a serene and deep cave. The cave was damp, droplets of water would fall to the ground, converge together and formed a sparkling stream of clear water. The soothing crisp sounds of the stream reverberated through the pathway.
'Time to meet a god' I called back ghost into my soul realm as my body became tangible again. I was wearing my trademark attire which was the sasuke shippuden outfit. I easily made my way through the hall. I made sure not to trigger any defensive measure since my danger sense warned me of any offensive inscription patterns and traps. Of course I recorded each pattern it might prove to be useful in the future.
...
Dazzling lights were being emitted from a brilliant array of shining purple crystals that resembled the light of stars in the night sky. The lights gave the cave a sort of ethereal peaceful atmosphere.
In the center of this cave was an enchanting dark pond, although spring water constantly flowed into the pond there were absolutely no ripples on its surface. The pond was surrounded by an extreme defensive barrier pattern, that would take up immense time and energy just to lay the first part down.
I turned my gaze elsewhere and that there was a large rock on the edge of the black pond. Walking towards the rock I noticed the dried skeleton remnants and their rusted items. A weak energy that seemed to be a level higher than soul force was radiated from their skeletons, showing that these were once heavenly peak experts who had ultimately perished in this cave.
I took my time to examine each piece of armour and the inscriptions on them. The inscriptions were absolutely amazing, they were woven in such a way that would leave one in wonder. From my meta-knowledge I knew that these dried bones were from many millennia ago. And although some patterns were obsolete most of them were very innovative. After storing some of the armours I took all the storage rings on their bodies which amounted to Six in total. The storage capacity was equal to the ones I found during my expedition to Holy orchid city, but the items they held made them valuable. Of course the demon stones and elixirs had been rendered useless but I could look at the components of the elixirs to maybe try and reverse engineer them.
Going through the last of the rings I got the wind spirit armour that looked just like a transparent thin film of fabric.
I equipped the armour and watched as it thinned it self down to fit my form, it was surprisingly soft too and utterly transparent, if I wasn't wearing it I wouldn't have even noticed it.
With such a size and properties it's amazing how it can absorb 90% of attack damage made by even legend rank experts. It's defensive capability was astounding. It didn't seem to be from the inscriptions on the armour but rather the armour's material.
When I was done with my activities I moved back to the pond and observed the barrier. The inhabitant should be alerted by now, she had been observing my actions for a while now and I could feel the energy slowly surfacing.
The calm surface water of the black pond was disturbed by a full head of hair and them by the emergence of a humanoid figure. The outline of woman's figure became visible. A black muslin stuck close to her form, the side of the dress had slits which displayed the sides of her smooth alluring legs. Her breasts stood proudly pushing against the dress leaving little to imagination. She had a fiery aura that radiated from her body, her eyes held a deep gaze as she looked deep into mine. She had a pure but sultry charm about her. Yes she was beautiful alright. Would I smash? 110% yes I would. If that thought didn't cross my mind that I wouldn't deserve to be called a man.
But am I crazy over her? Nope. I just admire her beauty and her body but that's just it. I'm not lusting over her or anything like that.
As she moved her gaze the atmosphere above the Black Spring instantly changed, turning into an endless sea of stars.
Her gaze deep and moving, emitting a kind of faint light as though she could see through everything. She was radiating energy that was above soul force and this time I clearly felt it. This was Heavenly fate level.
Turning her gaze back to me
"I have waited for several tens of millennia. I never thought that there would finally be people arriving here. Young man, what's your name?" her voice was faint but clear.
"Hi pretty miss, I'm Shen Yue" I said with a calm smile. " What's yours?"
"I am Yu Yan, the fire spiritual god" she said lightly.
Even though I knew who she was I had to act like I didn't.
"Miss, I don't understand what you mean by that" I sent her a questioning gaze.
She had a gentle smile on her face and said, "Indeed, our time has long passed. We're the Spiritual Gods of this world, in control of all kinds of Laws in the heavens and on earth. I am in control of fire, it's just that my physical body has been dissipated. My Divine Spark has been destroyed, becoming extremely small clusters of dust that scattered to every corner of the world. However, we, Spiritual Gods, are indestructible. After a few tens of thousands of years, my Divine Spark will gradually re-gather and combine to reform my physical body."
"But who are the spiritual gods?" I asked.
"Spiritual Gods are the gods of this world. Every main world can only have thirty-six Spiritual Gods. One subsidiary realm can only have one Spiritual God. They wield one law from the heavens and earth. All Spiritual Gods represent the world's laws."
she spread fire from her hands. And continued.
"Since ancient times, among the thirty-six Spiritual Gods in our main world and all the affiliated seventy-two Spiritual Gods from the subsidiary worlds, one-fourth are represented by humanity, two-fourths are by demon beasts and one-fourth is by other living creatures. They are the powerful rulers of this world." Yu Yan slowly said, "In order to contest over the laws, the tribes that we have control of unfolded an endless amount of killing. In the end, many Spiritual Gods were extinguished. Some were like me, and had their Divine Sparks destroyed and physical bodies cease to exist."
So they could still die. I thought they would be truly immortal but they weren't.
"We wield the laws of the heavens and earth. Such as myself, I control the Law of Fire. Only when I'm truly dead and have lost the control over the Law of Fire, the next one can take over the Law of Fire and become the new Fire Spiritual God." said Yu Yan.
I nodded at her explanation.
"So where are the other gods? What happened to them? "
"Tens of thousands of years ago, the demon beast clan tried to kill all the Spiritual Gods of our human clan to gain control of our laws, which is why they launched the battle against the human clan. Although we combined our strength and utterly defeated the demon beast clan, we suffered casualties and were nearly exhausted. My dispersed Divine Sparks can sense that a Spiritual God has been born in the demon beast clan and is trying to destroy the heritance of my human clan. Pity that my Divine Spark has only been gathered to a third of the original. If more Spiritual Gods have been born in the demon beast clan and are in control of all the laws, then the human clans will be exterminated."
"My Divine Sparks can only be in the Black Spring as it slowly waits for the rest of my Divine Sparks to gather. Once I leave, the group of pinnacle level Legend rank demon beasts guarding the Black Spring will do all they can to stop me and destroy my physical body." she sighed in melancholy.
This was the reason why the humans of this world were driven to such dire straits. Since most of all the experts at the heavenly fate realm fell during the war. The cultivation techniques were eventually lost as well, hence the reason behind the lack of heavenly fate realm experts in the divine continent. 'Well if they had Australians I'm pretty sure the demon clan would be extinct' heh (What does that even mean?) (*Yeah that joke sucks Shen Yue*)
Well it's not like I cared that much about them, I wanted to raise my own strength and this was the best path for it. All I had to do was take the opportunity now.
Her gaze shifted into the distance as she sighed, "While waiting for my Divine Sparks to gather, the heritance of the human clan will probably be destroyed! Humanity would go extinct!"
She's a really good actress isn't she? You think I'm stupid to believe in the goodness of her heart or her generosity. She is just looking for someone who is able to succeed the process because if you don't you will die. How do you think those men became corpses? Not everyone can survive what she's about to propose and she knows it, but acts like its a privilege that only the luckiest will be able to get. I don't blame her, that's just the way the world is.
And so I played along.
"The human clan will never be wiped out. We will triumph over all obstacles. Please goddess tell me if there's a way for me to help" I said heatedly.
She looked at me with a smile that seemed pure but I thought otherwise
"I want to pass on the power of laws to you. As to how much you can comprehend and level you reach, that much will have to depend on you!" she said with an almost crazy tone.
Calming her mood, she slowly said, "Among the twenty-seven Spiritual Gods in our human clan, there are six that have thoroughly fallen. The remaining have their Divine Sparks scattered, some with unknown status. If you are able to comprehend the laws of the six experts, they'll naturally be the most suitable and easiest."
"Then I'd like to choose from the strongest laws"
That cause her to raise an eyebrow. Her gaze deepened.
"Are you sure? The stronger the law is,the harder it is to cultivate. Everyone can only cultivate one law, don't bite off more that you can chew. Choose what's most suitable for you"
"I still stand by my decision" I affirmed.
She looked at me a bit helplessly You're just a child, you will just have to experience it yourself to know how hard it is to cultivate
"OK then, among the six dead Spiritual Gods, the strongest are Light, Darkness and Primal Chaos, these three laws. Among them, I have personally witnessed the fall of the Primal Chaos Spiritual God. However, the Primal Chaos Spiritual God is the strangest existence, who knows if he had any contingencies. The remaining three are the elemental laws, Earth, Lightning and Gold law."
"The most important in comprehending the laws is to sense them. I will teach you the method to sense them." Yu Yan said "However, sensing the laws is extremely difficult. You might need to seclude yourself here for twenty years before you can sense a trace of a law."
I sent her a doubting gaze.
She smiled "20 years is already a very short period of time. In my time we had to spend much more and that was when the power of laws were abundant, not now that the power of laws are so meagre"
Once again I affirmed my decision and she could only sigh at it before ultimately accepting it.
...
"What do I do first" I asked as I stood before the black pond.
"The first step is to strengthen your physical body. This Black Spring contains portions of the power from my Divine Spark. I will open the barrier, so you can enter and soak yourself in it, which will reform and refine your physical body. If you sense the power of law when your physical body isn't strong enough, the power would destroy you." she answered.
"So a stronger vessel for a stronger power" I simplified.
"In essence, yes. But remember The power within the Black Spring is too strong. After you soak in it for a minute, you'll probably feel as though your skin is burning. When you really can't endure it, get out of the spring immediately"
"No problem"
And as I prepared to jump into the pond.
"Take your clothes off" a calm voice said at my side.
I turned to look her in the eye. And answered "OK" what? Should I have acted flustered and flushed? Yeah, right, not gonna happen. After taking off every article of clothing off of me. My bare body was displayed in all its glory. I won't lie, I really love my body, my muscles are so defined I look like a slimmer Goku.
A voice interrupted me from myself praise.
"What's this mysterious pattern on your back" I almost jolted when I felt her warm fingers slide on the inscription tattoo I had.
I walked toward the edge of the pond away from her arms reach. "That's the cross I bear" The tattoo was an intricate piece of a combination of inscriptions that formed a large cross on my back. I had to spend close to a year just to finish it and I don't know everything it does but it has astounding effects on my cultivation and soul realm. It grows along with my level, and it's one of the reasons for my explosive growth since it passively absorbs energy from the environment and feeds it to the void sphere. Where did I find it? I dreamt about it, yep I really dreamt about it and used all resources I had to make it a reality. I had a feeling that it was something very important.
With a deep breath I dove into the pond.
...
It felt like I was submerged in a viscous fluid that stimulated my nerves to a 110% all so I could feel even more pain. But that was secondary to the satisfaction of absorbing the pure energy that was similar but different from soul force. My abyss vortex greedily sucked in the energy it flowed through every cell in my body, my muscles, organs, tissues and cells were being augmented and enhanced. The best word I could find that fit the process was refinement. I was being rebuilt by the energy and an equal level of pain assaulted me.
As time passed I entered a meditative state busily absorbing the energy, the abyss sphere of my soul was never ending as it kept sucking it in.
Yu Yan looked at the extraordinary boy that drew all her attention. She wondered if this was the level humans had reached during her absence but she came to the conclusion that that would be impossible. He was extraordinary, Since he came into the cave she has been trying to read his mind or the thoughts of his heart but she couldn't find a thing. It was like looking into an empty, endless abyss. Perhaps he might be the key to all of this.
She saw him continuously break through his cultivation rank at an unimaginable pace. She tried calling out to him but he was in a trance as he went deeper into the pond absorbing the intense pure laws energy that filled the pond.
...
The energy deeper in the pond was way more potent and richer than that at the top. It was like the energy was trying to stuff me full till I exploded but that wasn't possible, the abyss sphere endlessly absorbed the energy and refined my body. All of this was to break the barrier that was blocking me from reaching the legend rank. The energy continually slammed against the walls trying to tear it apart but the sphere absorbed it all and when it got to a certain level I felt it.
Boom the sphere expanded and so did a cocoon of pure darkness that warped around me, I felt like I was in the center of the sphere that kept greedily sucking up the energy and fed it to my soul and body.
...
The cocoon was absorbed back into my being and I felt different, I was changed, I was reborn. My body looked and felt smoother but with so much more strength than I had ever felt in all my life. I was filled with power. The demon spirits in my soul realm had very noticeable changes done to them as well.
The weirdest thing was my vision, everything was clearer and I could see these lines, spots, waves, clouds and so much more. I was seeing the energy flow all around me and all around the atmosphere and then these other things I didn't know about. I could see it all, it wasn't all in colours of visible light but on a whole different spectrum. I didn't know what to make of it I had to slowly adapt to it.
But all of that would have to wait since I found myself next to the real body of the fire goddess Yu Yan, her body was in a red orb laying in a fetal position. Due to this new vision I could see the divinity and how the energy flowed to form it. I could see how it interacted with the energy to form her body.
I saw the power of law and how it actually interacted with the heavens and the earth to form these so called laws.
Touching it I was able to absorb a bit of the law to gain understandings and a form of enlightenment. The power of law alone couldn't take you to a higher level above the heavenly fate realm, you needed to combine it with cultivation energy to supplement it and form a beneficial relationship.
I slowly began replacing the soul force with the power of law setting up my foundation for when I would begin cultivating the higher form of heavenly energy.
….
After spending a month in the pond I thoroughly replaced my soul force with this heavenly power of laws, the energy that was a level above it.
I slowly rose to the surface of the pond exiting it. Yu Yan stood a while away with a pondering look on her face. When she turned her gaze to me, I noticed the slight blush 'Why's she blushing?'. I was now adapted to my new vision I don't actually know how I looked right now but I felt taller and more powerful, so my body frame might have developed even more.
"I never thought you would breakthrough to such a level, even your physique has been strengthened to the legend rank. Let's make use of the moment, maybe you'll be able to sense the laws themselves" she said.
"Alright then. How do I sense it" concerning the nature of laws themselves I knew little about them. But I could see the energy flow and going from my meta-knowledge I should be able to get it.
"I could sense slight chaos attributes of your soul when you broke through into the legend rank. To be honest I don't know much about primal chaos since it was so mysterious. So instead let's try the law of darkness and hopefully you'll be able to reach chaos from there. But I have to inform you, it's absolutely rare for someone to cultivate two laws, it all depends on your luck." she gestured for me to sit on the rock.
"With my guidance it should come easier for you. Empty your mind and calm yourself. Now imagine that you're in a bright warm place, feel the creeping cold that comes from the shadow of your being…" she patiently lectured.
I imagined the encroaching darkness, the silent cold depths where everything ends and begins. I don't know when but my vision turned absolutely black. I was in the vast darkness but it felt comforting to me. I was lost but I wasn't. I felt the path that would lead me to the void. The darkness is part of the void, the void is empty and cold. It is nothingness, primal chaos is the origin of all things. There were no rules here I was sinking into the abyss, living beings aren't meant to be here, I was falling into the deep fear but I wasn't afraid. I belonged here this was my soul, this is my realm. I was thoroughly submerged into the comforting nothingness, time had no meaning here, nothing mattered here. I understood the essence.
Ye Yun watched in astonishment as the boy comprehended the laws in a way she had never imagined possible. She watched as a cocoon of darkness swallowed him. It was like the laws of primal chaos found their ruler, and darkness found its king. A sensation she had never felt in all these millennia returned to her, fear. Fear of the unknown but also the strange charm it had. She was slowly feeling attracted to it, like a moth drawn to the flame she wanted to understand and that scared her. Those who fall into the abyss never make it out.
….
I awoke, from the peace of the void I was brought back into this world. See what I did was to actually connect to the real laws, not the inscription patterns that made up the fake laws governing this world, no I connected to the real law. The Real essence of the law was in me. I am part of the true darkness and void of the eververse and the void of the eververse is part of me. I need to achieve a higher level of cultivation to understand why the abyss is part of me. Why am I like this? I had to know. I would also be able to access more of the void with a higher realm of cultivation.
I turned my gaze to the goddess and she was almost lost in it.
"Close your eyes and withdraw your aura immediately!" she shouted out to me.
Upon closing my eyes and reining in my aura, I received info from the encyclopedia.
[True Eyes.
-See ? truth ?
-Disorder ?
-?
-? ]
When I saw it I understood. These eyes are meant to see the real picture. I was surprised but calm at the same time. I knew how to use it but I didn't know why I knew such.
Once again I opened my eyes.
She took a deep breath feeling relieved.
"I don't know what that was but it was like I was looking into the abyss, I was almost lost in it. I have never seen anything like it in all my existence. You must be careful in controlling your aura, you might unintentionally cause a lot of harm."
"Are you really human?" she asked with a very serious tone.
"Of course I am." I answered back immediately.
I felt that something was different. I took out a mirror from my storage ring and observed myself. I lost the strength in my arms as the mirror slid from it and broke into countless pieces of glass.
"Sh!t" Was The only fitting word I could find.
...
My eyes. Dammit, my eyes changed and so did my body. My eyes changed, the once dark iris was now a bright pure golden and my previously white scerela were now fully black. It gave off a kind of dark dangerous charm and there was absolutely no way to change it back (it's not like I wanted to give back the abilities it came with). It did allow me to see the weakest points of things, the flow of energy and things invisible to the naked eye. Since I haven't fully rested it out yet, I'm not a 100% on all its abilities, even when ignoring the ones I can't access yet.
I was reformed in the womb of darkness instead of a highly muscular look I previously had my body was as slim as a supermodel's. A f*$ ¥€&! Flower boy look! What happened to all my macho manly muscles dammit!? I still had them but It's like all my muscles were very condensed and compacted to a very slim profile form. And then I was remoulded with a maxed out charm stat, my flowing hair can tell you all about it. I looked like a beautifully handsome man. Yeah, angelic with a slender figure. Now imagine it with my eyes and then you can understand how f*cked I am. This is just an outward appearance, and appearances can be fooling. I was still powerful, way more than I previously was but dammit I was going for the batman bulky bulging muscle look. Now I'm an angel chunni looking bastard.
I don't know what else happened in that womb of darkness, all impurities in my body were expelled and as a by-product my skin was as smooth as a baby's but and and an ethereal dark glow on it. My body had an air of unnatural attraction about it, a mysterious alluring aura. It's painful to even talk about it because it would seem like I enjoy this. I don't.
But my cultivation method seemed to not be wholly based on demon spirit integration but also the advancement of the body. It was like those of the immortals in other worlds that would temper their bodies to ridiculous degrees. If that's the case then this evolved form must be the most efficient.
I won't lie, my hair was amazingly soft, (consider a bald look, it might grant you some machoness) hell no! If this is how I am now, then so be it. I'll accept myself because if I don't then who will? I'm not ashamed of who I am or how I look. Because I'm a badass and there are no two ways about it.
"goddess Yu Yan, are you ok?" I asked the goddess who was almost drooling staring at me.
"O-of course." she stuttered and turned her gaze elsewhere with a slight blush on her cheeks.
...
"And that's it" I said putting the finishing touches to the inscription patterns.
"Amazing! I can already feel speeding up. I can't imagine that such a miracle would ever be possible. It should have taken another millennium but now I'll most likely regain my almost peak condition in a year" She was elated...very elated.
I immensely improved on the inscription patterns that helped her reconstruct her body and gather her Devine sparks. She should be able to return to her peak state in less than two years, but we all know she won't be spending that long here when the mc comes around.
"That's the decoy, if you ever decide to leave here the demon spirits would never even notice it" I pointed to the a large ball of flames that hovered over complex patterns.
"Shen Yue if you ever need help, this big sister always has your back" she proudly pounded her chest, making her melons jinggle.
'No one has my back but me. I'll never be that naive again'
I simply smiled at her words. "Alright big sister, I'll be taking my leave. You focus on gathering your divine sparks and your cultivation. If you decide to leave make sure to visit the heavenly plateau city"
"Come, let big sister hug you. Mm~m" She held me before I could resist (I won't)
I do realise that she's pushing her boobs in my face, her fragrance was amazing. Ahh the boob hold, what a wonderful sensation. Too bad I have to leave.
I ran my hand down her waist and tapped her ass with a loud pat! My goodness what a damn great feel. I'd be insane if I didn't take this once in a lifetime opportunity to grope a goddess. This trip really was worth it! What? Don't judge me, I'm just a young guy I have feelings too. I'm not some 'holier than thou' mc
"Ah! Shen Yue, you're too naughty" she laughed pulling my cheeks. "Come visit big sister once in a while alright"
I nodded "Alright, Big sister I'll be taking my leave now" walking back to the cave entrance I merged with ghost and went invisible.
With her gaze on the disappearing figure of Shen Yue, Yu Yan thought to her What an interesting young man, such an enchanting aura. I wonder when he'll come visit. Ah~ Yu Yan what the hell are you thinking, I better get back to cultivating
I see it now. All this time I was blind to it but now I can clearly see. The will of the heavens are being turned against me. I knew I wasn't supposed to live this long, Shen Yue was supposed to be a stepping stone for Nie Li and then he would die in an unmarked grave. But that wasn't the case this time, my very existence was drawing the anger of the heavens. I was a threat to its precious pawn, I was making my own path when I should've just accepted my fate and it couldn't accept that, I had to either follow it's will or be wiped out. It wasn't like this before but the moment I broke through the legend rank Was The moment it began taking me seriously.
It was retracting all the heavenly energies around my being, it was trying to limit me from absorbing energy for cultivation.
But that's where this higher power or law or whatever the fuck it was, was mistaken.
If it was the me from before I broke through the legend rank then that would've been a severe issue since I would've still depended on the heavenly energy to cultivate, but the me of now doesn't necessarily need the heavenly energy, I had the void. I understand now that my very existence was against the heavens. The abyss wasn't heavenly, it was against it, and these eyes of mine made me see it clearly. The void devours all, and that includes the heavens. The void energy was everywhere, it was dark matter to matter. And the heavens were afraid of that void, the abyss, the primordial chaos, origin of all things and end of all things.
Raising my head up I looked at the high atmosphere "You can't stop me! You will try and you will continually fail. I was against you from the day of my birth, so please accept my words. FUCK YOU! And pawn!" I declared raising both middle fingers at the sky.
It may be stronger than me now, but I will reign supreme in the end. Arrogant? If I didn't have the will and ambition would I deserve to be strong. You need the right mindset to be able to persevere, know that nothing will be able to block you from reaching your goals, nothing but you.
Consequences? I will accept the results of all my actions.
Rumble the clouds shook as red lightning flashed in the darkening sky. The atmosphere turned gloomy and the speeding winds caused the trees to wail. The ground shook and trembled at the might of heaven.
BRRZZZZ! My danger sense warned louder than it ever had since the day I was born.
An almighty pressure pushed down on my body and spirit. It was like a giant palm was squeezing against an ant, I was in unimaginable pain, I could barely even move. The very ground I was on was sinking in due to the pressure. If I lost here I would die, my soul would be destroyed and dispersed. I released my dark aura, it spread around me to form a protective field of darkness, alleviating the immense pressure from above, my abyss vortex greedily ate at the pressure, further strengthening me. Using that opportunity, I took out an ancient looking inscription scroll and slammed it onto the ground, a transparent dome shield, similar to the one back at the cave was quickly formed over me. Over 80% of the pressure was immediately cut off. The shield wouldn't last long as made evident by the increasing waves on its surface. The pressure receded as the clouds cleared away. This was the heavens' message, telling me that I couldn't even go against an inch of its power. It was telling me to give up.
Even though blood fell at the sides of my lips, and my ears, even through the pain of injured organs I still had a truly mad smirk on my face. I will defeat it and when I do my victory would be made all the more sweeter. I will go against the very heavens, and I shall bring it below my feet. I chugged pills and assumed a meditative pose. And I was surprised, my cultivation actually increased and I was now at peak stage 1-star legend rank solidifying my cultivation. My abyss sphere seemed to have slightly expanded as well.
Heh! This is so much fun.
I walked through the hallways reaching my mom's room.
"Welcome Lord" The maids greeted. To which I smiled, causing them to blush. It's been sometime since my trip to the cave, when I first came back my new look did cause quite the stir. Heh, I still remember the incident of that night. I just held a maid who was about to fall over from staring at me and she refused to stand, it was strange until I felt her continually shudder in my hold. Yeah, she climaxed, just from skin contact. It's great right? Wrong, do you know how hard it is to talk to someone who just gets lost looking at you, and touching them would lead to something else. They would mess up half of my orders because they weren't paying attention to my words. Sigh Being so handsome should be a crime, you jealous? Haha, eat your heart out sasuke Uchiha.
Entering her chamber, I saw my mom peacefully seated with a book in her hand. Looking closely I saw that it was a book on skincare herbs.
"Mother, I really don't understand why you keep reading these books. You already look beautiful" I complimented her.
"Shen Yue, you've really grown. You're now using sweet words on your mother? Come let me Pinch your cheeks." setting her book down, she reached out her arms to my face.
"Mom, No. I'm not a child anymore. Geez woman." I rejected her.
Her expression turned sad, she put down her hands holding them together as tears began to pool in her eyes. She's guilt tripping me isn't she?
"OK, OK, I'm sorry, Mother, here I am." I'm too weak when it comes to her.
"Uwahh! Mother, you're killing me!" she pulled at my cheeks with a vengeance.
She giggled softly and rubbed my cheeks. "Child, don't grow up too fast, mother is still here for you." she took a comb out of her dresser and smoothed out my hair "My Shen Yue is so handsome, don't go using your sweet words to break girls hearts, you hear me."
"Loud and clear mam" I replied. My mom was the only person who was immune to my charm. I think it's because of her actual love.
...
I left my mom's room in the evening, I spent time with her for the whole day until she gradually drifted off to sleep in my arms, yes my arms. You gotta problem? I was going on a trip and it might be awhile before I ever see her again, so I cherished every moment I got to spend with her. She's a really great woman.
Elder Mo, would be in charge during my absence of course Xiao Lang would be keeping a close eye on him. Xiao Lang Was The second strongest person in whole of heavenly plateau city. Second to only me as he was now at the 5-star black gold rank, he would soon breakthrough into the legend rank. So I could leave matters concerning safety into his hands….well after the inscriptions and arrays that have been set throughout the the whole city.
In the whole year I spent travelling, I went around the world to widen my views and gain new experiences. From the grilling deserts of the east, to the freezing cold regions of the north, the the peaceful waters of the south and now back to the forests and mountains of the west. I met humanoid beings that turned Fantasy into reality. Hey I even hooked up with an elf chick(high five), lemme just say this now, elves aren't as pure as portrayed. What a time to be alive. I saw unexplainable sights, like the floating city of the blubs(heh) yes, you heard right, they were bubble like beings in bubble like floating cities, absolutely peaceful and literally very colourful guys.
I experienced absolutely exiting and interesting things, I gained knowledge on many fields, vastly expanding my encyclopedia and my own knowledge pool, while further consolidating my understanding of laws. I found very helpful artefacts and treasures, some being wearable like the piercing on my ears and some being inscriptions like the silver bands inscription tattoos on my arms. All the while slowly raising my cultivation even with the restrictions from the heavens will. I was now at the demigod rank equivalent to 5-Star legend rank.
I was currently in an underground network of narrow tunnels that led to the nether realm. I obtained the map from my family back when they were in cahoots with the dark guild.
The tunnels were buried deep under a massive mountain. The cold and damp pathway was littered with the decaying bones of corpses, and the stench of rotting fossils. The dark tunnel posed no threat to me, I could clearly see in the dark as though it were day. I would soon reach my destination.
Why was I going to the nether realm?(saying that makes me think about Mortal Kombat alot) Well, it's so I could get to the draconic ruins realm. The world above this one, where the real higher powers reside and the only way to do that was to get accepted as a disciple to those higher ups. The nether master would hold a competition in which he would choose various disciples to take with him to the higher realm, and if I wanted to not get left behind then it was a crucial step I had to take.
A barrier was between the end of the tunnel and the entrance to the nether realm, I didn't have to break it, that would draw too much attention. Integrating with the shadow devil, I teleported to the other side of the barrier. I had something a lot of people in this world seemed to be short of, common sense. Demon spirits can do much more than just fight, they have very useful abilities only if you'd take your time to figure it out.
After walking for a while, A scene that looked straight out of a movie unfolded before me. A vast burning barren land that looked gloomy, red glowing lava they flowed through snake like cracks were the only natural light source in this place, white fumes formed clouds above the volcanic vents. The smell of sulfur was enough to overwhelm the senses.
I saw the abundant dark energy that filled this place, it was almost perfect for my cultivation. But I couldn't waste time right now first I had to get the spiritual origin fruit
The Spiritual Origin Fruit was a very rare item that grew in places with abundant dark energy. From my meta knowledge I knew that Nie Li and his crew would gather most of them, but not before I did. The fruit contains an extremely well-refined energy that would be very beneficial for cultivation.
And then there was the Nine-Layered Deathlands which could normally only be accessed at the first level before any other level became available. However, in three days from now, the seventh layer of the Nine-Layered Deathlands will open. When it does, it will be possible to enter directly through the seventh floor.
But there was something I wanted to acquire before I stepped into the seventh layer.
...
The entrance to the first level of the Nine-Layered Deathlands was a long winding road that lead into a very dense fog.
Everything was shrouded in thick layers of fog, that would have severely limited my vision but that wasn't the case. I could see through the fog, yeah my eyes are that great. Illusions can't affect me. I could see the discarded armours on the floor and dried bones. There were some people who yelled out the names of friends because they got lost in the fog.
I easily avoided everyone and rushed towards the first spiritual origin fruit I found. It was highly likely that I would meet Nie Li and his crew here, you know what they say, enemies meet on narrow roads.
….
11. That's the number of spiritual origin fruits I was able to acquire, I was basically invisible since I merged with ghost. I did spot Nie Li and the team but now wasn't the right time to confront them, that would be soon enough, very, very soon.
In the depths of the Nine-Layered Deathlands' first layer
A terrifying roar sounded out all through the first layer of the Deathlands as the entire ground tremored. The atmosphere darkened and turned gloomy as a gigantic tomb arose from the depths and with it a giant skeleton. A murderous aura radiated from the tomb as more skeletons rose from the ground, their hostility was clearly felt. The giant skeleton had a bone armour that would alternate between spikes, swords and wings.
I was going to get the death god's law. Nope, not leaving this opportunity to the MC.
The giant skeleton floated above the tomb and it would turn it's fiery sinister eyes to attack every approaching individual. The demigod rank experts were busily held up with the skeleton, they were trying to get the divine spark of the death god which would allow them to break through.
Nie Li and his crew stood some meters away from the battle ground, they never noticed me as I went past them. It's not like they ever could, not when I was integrated with a now strengthened ghost the shadow devil. Not even the skeleton noticed me as I floated past it to reach the tomb entrance. My tracks were totally hidden.
On the tomb entrance was an overly complex and ancient inscription pattern, I could open it but that would be stupid since I would basically giving everyone free access. No, what I did was add layers of traps on to the inscriptions, any single input from anyone including myself would result in an explosion. Why? When the mc tries to open the tomb it would result in an explosion, buying me time.
So how would I get in? I activated ghost's intangibility and simply phased through the entrance. Heaven's pawn really was dumb, he had such a demon spirit but barely made use of it. All he did was hoard treasure but barely actually used them.
I moved through all the traps without triggering a single one as I made my way down the stairs, heading deeper into the tomb. I could see the congregation of death energy gathered at deepest parts of the tomb.
…...
Reaching the deepest parts of the tomb, I saw the floating heart filled with death energy, this must be where the death god is. And that was when a hoarse loud voice sounded through the cave.
"Hya! Hya! haaaaa! I never thought that anyone would actually be able to enter this place. You think that this tomb is where I hid my treasures? This ancient tomb is actually my real body! By swallowing you, I can gradually restore my Divine Spark. Ming Fei, you've been trying to restrain me, but that's impossible! My Law of Death is on an even higher level to your Law of Nether!"
Guess this is it.
"Oh, No, I've been caught! If it shoots death energy at me I would definitely die!" I didn't even put essence to my acting. This was just a dumb piece of consciousness and not the actual death god.
"Ha ha haaaaa! Take this!" it shot a pure concentrated beam of death energy at me. My void sphere instantly began to devour the laws and I began to understand it.
Boom! An explosion occurred, it was most likely caused by the inscriptions I laid on the tomb entrance. The other experts were quickly closing in on my position.
So I raised my acting by a level. "Ahh! I have to escape! If it shoots me another concentrated shot my soul would definitely dissolve and it would get stronger!" I said it loud enough for the consciousness to hear.
"Hya haha! You cannot escape! Perish and become nutrients for my soul!" an even larger blast was shot directly into my soul realm. A massive death aura coalesced on my form as it began to corrode my clothes. But I was smiling, my void sphere greedily sucked in the death laws.
"Look out!" the demigod experts who came in with the mc got trapped in the energy bindings. The vigorously attacked the death god but it was for naught as it continued to maniacally laugh.
I was understanding the law of death, I slowly comprehended parts of it. Death went into the void and it was absorbed and assimilated. The law of death was absolutely compatible with the abyss, I understood. I saw ways that it interacted with reality. It left me dumbstruck as to how the mc and the death god wasted such power and potential. This is the law of death! Do you understand what I mean when I say death? Even the universe dies and the one to wield these laws didn't even use half of its abilities. They used it for stupid stuff like growing bone armour and absorbing soul energy, no, death was much more than that. Even with the little portion of it that I understood, I knew outstanding ways to utilize it. Maybe it was the way it was assimilated into my primordial chaos and dark laws or it was just that no one really took time to look deeper into their powers.
When I opened my eyes, I could see the end points of things. The threads that kept them alive and where to cut to kill them. The death point, it was a micro red spot that would spell the demise of any loving being. The death point of concepts weren't stationary and sometimes they wouldn't even appear, I got this just from my understanding of death and these people wasted such power.
"In the presence of me, the Death God, you dare to behave so atrociously! You're seeking death!" Dark tendrils shot towards me, they were all absorbed into my void sphere.
"Impossible! How did you comprehend the law!" (you know I won't tell you) the death god roared out as massive hands made of pure death energy shot towards me. "Die! I am the true god of death! You imposter, you deserve to die!"
"Youth, watch out!" some of the demigod experts warned.
Looking at the consciousness I spoke "You're useless, so useless, You bring shame to grim reapers throughout the universe" I struck my hands out and drew in the death energy that made up the giant arms. I absorbed it till it just became wisps of death energy, my void sphere constantly rotated sucking it all in.
"Just who is that youth?" Xiao Yu questioned. As he slashed through dark tendrils.
"He looks familiar but I don't know why" Nie Li answered feeling unsettled.
"This is impossible! I am the God of Death and have been for tens of thousands of years! How could your comprehension of the Law of Death possibly surpass mine?" The consciousness roared out as a rain of bone spikes fell on me. You see the stupid shit I talked about? You're using death to make simple bone spikes, of all the things you could do with death, you made bone spikes.
"Don't expect me to answer your questions" my comprehension is way above yours and all I spent was mere seconds understanding it.
"This is impossible! How can this be?! I will not submit to it!" The Death God roared hysterically. You'd think that it would have a bit of dignity.
"Your death is inevitable" ironic wasn't it, A death god, dying (heh). I slowly approached the floating heart. A network Veins ran all over it, dark energy pulsated around it's form. I stabbed through its death point with my sword. Devourer swallowed the heart and all its energy. I saw the residual laws of death come rushing into my abyss vortex. The death god and all his concepts were absorbed into my void. I felt satisfied but not full.
During this time, the rest of the Demigod rank experts broke free of their bindings and walked up to me. As they remembered the scene that had just occurred, lingering fear resurfaced in their hearts. Although they were slightly unsure of what they had just happened, they were at least certain of the one who had saved them.
"Thanks for your help young master!"
"Many thanks to the young master for your rescue. My Dragonchant Family will forever remember this grace. If the young master has any task he wishes us to complete, we will definitely do our best!"
"The same goes for my Fiery Elf clan. Many thanks to the young master for your rescue. If young master has any request, we are also willing to serve."
The Demigod rank experts were all masters in combat. Aside from the fact that Shen Yue had saved them, they were also aware and in awe of his terrifying strength. In the future, what heights he would reach in his cultivation? If they could build a positive relationship with such an expert, it would definitely benefit them in the future.
I knew of their thoughts.
"Then I'll have to trouble you for temporary accommodations." I smiled.
"No problem at all young master, you're welcome to my Dragonchant Family house
"It's the same for me as well"
Now I have a place to stay for the meantime
"Then I'll have to trouble you all" I lightly laughed. We left the collapsing tomb.
…
Outside this tomb, several Demigod rank experts had finally dealt with the huge skeleton. One Demigod rank expert had spent tremendous effort to get his hands on the skeleton's half Divine Spark. Just as he was drowned in joy, the half of the Divine Spark in his hand shattered into pieces and disintegrated into powder.
"Damn! Got tricked!" That Demigod rank expert cursed. He turned his head and saw the tomb crumbling in the wind.
All of this seemed like an illusion!
"Damn, could this have been an apparition?"
All that wasted effort! The Demigod rank experts could only leave in irritation.
Walking out of the tomb Nie Li's crew came to welcome him.
"Nie Li, are you alright" Yi Ziyun checked up on him like a nurse. Xiao Ning'Er dusted his clothes and the guys looked up to him in worship.
Turning her gaze back she saw me, there was a moment of pause between our gazes. "Nie Li who's that? I felt like I've seen him somewhere" I heard her whisper.
"Wow did I change that much?" I asked walking up to them. "You guys really don't recognize me do you. Well I did become so much more handsome" That drew all their attention.
Xiao Yu stood with a inquisitive gaze.
"oh, Ziyun I guess you're not my wife anymore right?" I said with a dazzling smile.
Both girls blushed before realization dawned on their faces.
"Shen Yue!?" Nie Li shouted out disbelievingly. Oh man I loved the look on their faces.
"Since you seem to have matters to finish here, we'll bid our farewells now!" The Demigod rank experts cupped their hands in salute and left us to our matter.
"What do you want you bastard! You and your families are all traitors! Leave now or el-"
"Would you shut the fuck up. My goodness, I can't tell if you're talking from your mouth or out of your assistance with all the shit you're spitting" I said rubbing my brows, was he always this annoying?
"pfftt- sorry" one of the guys in his crew laughed.
Well let's mess with them some more.
"What did you guys do to yourselves. You have a soul brand over your souls and it's all connected to him." I pointed at the mc. "You don't understand do you? You're slaves to him, you will follow all his orders without even knowing about it. Tell me, has anyone of you ever gone against his orders since you got this soul brand? You all look up to him with worship like a pet would to it's master. He can control you and you wouldn't even have a way of resisting it." their faces began to pale as heaven's pawn face was full of anger.
Xiao Yu had a pondering look on her face.
"Lies, Nie Li would never do that to us!" Ziyun affirmed loudly.
"Really? Tell me, did any of you give him permission to put these things on your souls? I thought so" at first it was a joke but now that I think about it, I took a better look at the soul array and I wasn't that far from the truth. Heavens' pawn really was a bastard.
"Yinyang blast x10!" unable to hold his anger anymore, he merged into his panda form and shot a massive blast of energy at me.
Slice that was the only sound heard before the energy blast disappeared into thin air. Not a single one of them knew what happened, I caused the death of the blast and absorbed it into the sword. This bastard was trying to kill me. Heh, too late.
Devourer was a single cm from his windpipe. I encompassed him in abyss aura, he was paralyzed in fear, this was the primal instinct of all things to fear the great unknown. The others paled and had trouble breathing.
"Don't fuck with me heavens' pawn, I'm not a stepping stone, I am the rock that will not only break but crush you." I could kill him here but who's going to do all his mc shit? No, I will devour his plot armour and that would be the day of reckoning.
Putting away my sword and retracting my aura, I turned my back on them and started walking. "You guys should've thought more on who to trust"
"Oh and heavens' pawn" feeling his hostile gaze on me, I gave him the same middle finger I gave to the heavens.
That felt really good.
Above the dark skies a silhouette of a giant door could be vaguely seen as law energy began to materialise.
This was the door to the Nine-Layered Deathlands.
Upon observing my surroundings, I observed the multitudes of experts up in the sky getting ready to charge in at anytime. On the ground, were the many Black Gold rank experts, amounting to tens of thousands. All these gathered experts came here to participate in this competition. It was an opportunity they couldn't miss out on.
The huge door in the sky completed its gradual materialisation and a mysterious vortex appeared on it.
"The gate to the seventh layer has finally opened!"
"Let's go!"
They yelled out in excitement, a great race took place as experts rushed to get into the door. Yes, the weakest ones were trampled to death underfoot. It's a hard world, only the fittest survive.
Leaping through the doors, it was like moving through a speeding a tunnel of images. Desolate landscapes zipped past me, I suppose those were the first six levels of the deathlands. After a moment of disorientation an inscription pattern appeared below my feet allowing me and countless others to float above deep ravines that covered the ground. I immediately recorded the pattern, it was useful in the way it acted.
Several speeding figures appeared in the air and proudly stood before us. They were armed to the teeth. The giant black wings radiated a form of tangible pressure, they seemed almost as angels of death.
They should be the servants of the Master of the Nether Realm.
One servant's voice coldly spread throughout the seventh layer, the arrogance in it was not hidden "We have just received orders from the Master of the Nether Realm. According to the previous disciple selections, there are usually large numbers of deaths in the testing process. However, this time, we will hold a special test that will spare many lives through the seventh and eighth layers. All of you should rejoice and thank the Master of the Nether Realm for being so merciful!"
Heh, what bastards. While the others fervently celebrated, I silently laughed. The fatality rate was too high during the past tests and now they actually needed people so they instead just cut it short. I remember that a war should have just been fought in the higher realms, and the human side lost a lot of their members, so they now needed to fill those missing spots. It had nothing to do with generosity.
"The test begins!" One of the servants waved his hands and the Law Energy that gathered in the sky suddenly split into tens of thousands of pieces. One fragment landed in front of each person and gradually formed into a water ball that was roughly the size of a person's head. The water balls were transparent, however, there were fine threads running through them. They looked really similar to the toys the blubs use. Heh.
"This is the Sphere of Reverse Images. You are to expand the spheres by injecting your Soul Force or Law Energy along the fine threads inside. If you stray from the threads, the water spheres will explode. If you can extend the diameter by one foot, you pass. Those who are unable to accomplish this will be rejected!" another servant spoke condescendingly.
All these things tested were fine control of energy. The blubs used it to teach kids on how to maintain their forms. A large number of explosions were heard as white lights flashed signalling the disqualification of others.
I sent my energy into the bubble ball and made it expand. Growing large and then making it grow smaller, I altered it's shapes to different ones such as stars cubes and ovals.
At the end of the test only a quarter of the original numbers remained.
"All of you still here have passed the first test. Next, I will send all of you to the eighth layer of the Nine-Layered Deathlands. Once there, someone else will conduct the second test!" at the end of his voice I was once again transported to a different landscape.
It was desolate flaming wasteland, dry cracks covered the ground and through the cracks, flames that rose and licked the sky. The scorching heat was very much noticed.
A servant with larger form and golden Wings stood over us. The servant swept his eyes over the few thousand people as he coldly said, "Although there will be no deaths in this round, still beware! This is the second stage! If you are careless, you may become permanently crippled! In this wasteland, there is a Black Infernal Tower. It is a tower that has been left behind by a powerful expert."
"Inside that tower are supreme black flames and all kinds of demonic beasts. Although the demonic beasts have been chained, they can still discharge powerful energy. You are to cultivate yourselves inside that environment for ten days. Those who can reach the anatta mental state 1 of cultivation will have passed the test!"
…
The temperature of the black flames increased in relation to the distance closest to the tower. It was an almost funny sight watching people burst into flames, like walking popcorn. "Ahhh!" there goes another one. The flames burn not only your body but your soul as well. But being able to withstand the flames would further advance your cultivation and help your soul grow stronger. My abyss vortex was gluttony incarnate as the energy of the flames around me were being sucked into it.
…..
I did run into Nie Li and his crew but I left them back at the first level. The pressure from the black flames of the first four floors couldn't obstruct me, as the energy in it was being sucked into my soul realm by abyss vortex. I was peacefully laying down on the 7th floor just lazing around. I didn't have to do much anyways the void sphere was passively absorbing tremendous amounts of energy. The annata mental state? I already achieved that since the very first day. It was a while back when I heard explosions from the 5th floor heavens' pawn must have had his fight with the demon lord guy. Well things have been boring lately but I knew that was about to change.
A pure devilish aura slowly approached the entrance of the seventh floor and with it, a young man dressed in white robes who looked pure in contrast to his devil aura. I saw his true appearance, the immense pain he was going through. I saw the flames which licked at his cracked but still strong soul. It was the so called "demon lord".
Setting his sights on me he just had a thin smile on his face and sent me a nod. I don't know why he's acting civil to me but I suspect it had something to do with my dark aura as well. I just closed my eyes and went back to meditating that was until he sat right next to me. Of all the places he could've chosen, it had to be close to me.
"Sigh do you need something?" I asked with bored tone.
Smiling at me he answered "Nothing at all, this is just the best meditation spot." I don't know what this guy wants but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
…..
Today would be the deadline of the 10 day period for reaching the mental state.
"Hey, you're pretty good company" the demon lord said. Yea, well it's been just the two of us here for the past few days. So we've basically interacted with each other. The guy isn't so bad when you actually talk to him.
"Well, you're not so bad yourself"
"If you were a woman I'd marry you" he mumbled.
My sweat turned cold, the air stilled and after a moment of awkward silence I asked "What?" what the shit did I just hear? Maybe I heard wrong. This isn't a BL story. I absolutely must have heard wrong.
"I just said that You're a good man, I'm happy to have met you" that doesn't make it any less weird but it's better than what I thought I heard.
How do I even begin to answer that– Looks like I wouldn't have to. I was wrapped up in a white light as the inscription pattern came to live. I disappeared into a tunnel of light that was all too familiar. The test had officially ended and we should be heading to the gardens where the nether master was.
Materialising from thin air we landed in a garden.
It was a fine garden, with flowers blossoming in every corner. The entire scene was extremely aesthetic, disconnected from the barren wastelands of the lower floors.
Seven people stood before us. These seven people all emitted terrifying and powerful auras.
The one black robed expert from among the seven stepped forward "It's nice to meet you all. I am the Master of the Nether Realm that you all have no doubt heard of…"
The Master of the Nether Realm looked everyone over and casually smiled. "All of you are talents that we have chosen from within the Nether Realm. Perhaps you are still unsure of your futures. But from now on, all of you will be introduced to a whole new domain."
"This world that we currently reside in is called the Tiny World. It is only a small portion of the Draconic Ruins Realm. Furthermore, the Legend rank that you all have praised is only the beginning of true cultivation. Above Legend rank, there is still Heavenly Fate, Heavenly Star, Heavenly Axis, Dao of the Dragon, and Martial Ancestor." he added.
He went on to speak of how we were so privileged to have this opportunity, how lucky we are to be noticed by experts like them, how this and how that. These cunning people were not so subtlety using physiological attacks, telling us how weak and insignificant they saw us. And with our talents
The Nether Master's gaze swept over everyone. "The six experts here have the same motive as me. They are also experts born in the Tiny World. Each of you have already been chosen to become a disciple of these experts. If you are willing to establish a master and disciple relationship and bear the Soul Seal, then your master will bring you to the Draconic Ruins Realm. From there, you will join various sects, learn higher level cultivation techniques, and become supreme experts!" A soul seal is something I can't have on me. I mean its actually impossible for it to be on my soul, the seal would be devoured by the void sphere. And I don't trust anyone enough for me to put a binding on my soul nor will I ever. One of the artefacts I acquired on my journey would suffice for the situation.
Suddenly, Cang Ming stood out from the sidelines, bowed, and asked, "Esteemed lord, I would like to ask as who will be our master? Are we going to choose our own master?"
The Nether Master shook his head and said, "You master has already been decided. If any of you are unwilling, you are permitted to leave!"
See, you're deprived of the right to actually choose.
"After you have become a disciple, your master will explain to you in detail the situation regarding the Draconic Ruins Realm. However, all I have to say now is that no matter which sect you enter, all of you originate from the Tiny World. A person should never forget their origin nor betray their master! Otherwise, we will do all in our power to kill you personally!" he said with a murderous tone. What a bastard.
…
The nether master pointed at me, heavens pawn(Nie Li) and his accompanying lackey(Lu Pao) "You, you, and you come here! From now onwards, you are my disciples." well, narrow paths and enemies. Walking towards the netheraster Nie li would occasionally look at me with an indifferent gaze but would avoid my eyes. I could feel his anger and hatred towards me, those couldn't be hidden from my sight.
If the events had gone according to cannon, then a middle aged man would have taken my current spot. But I was rather chosen.
After placing soul seals on the two of them, it was my turn to receive it as well. Placing two fingers on my forehead he inserted his soul force along with the soul seal pattern. The force and seal pattern successfully wrapped around my projected soul like a binding. And were were connected, I could feel the restrictions on me, and the kill switch to end me should I go against my master or his wishes. The smile on his face couldn't have been any wider. But I was the one who was really laughing on the inside. The soul seal didn't actually wrap around my soul, no, that was something similar to a virtual soul, a projected solid clone that was indistinguishable from an actual soul. I just had to form a connection to it and it would function as a proxy. So instead of restricting my own soul, it went onto the proxy virtual soul.
….
"The next three months will be time for you to bid farewell to your families. Once the portal to the Draconic Ruins Realm opens, all of you will head for the sects." The Nether Master said to everyone.
'I guess it's Time to go home…. And see my mom' I really miss her. Yea, whatever I'm honest with myself. I couldn't stop the smile that surfaced on my lips at the thought of my mom.
Fireworks exploded through the air. The sounds of laughter mixed with the excited screams of the running children. I had been back in heavenly plateau city for almost three months now and I would set off for the Nether realm tomorrow. So they held a going away ceremony for me. I was really proud with the way the officials took care of the city. Everything was very well managed, the conditions of the city couldn't have been any better.
The officials were well rewarded for their hard work, I made sure of it.
…
"Mother, well this time I really will be gone for a while. And no, I'm not getting married or betrothed."
"Shen Yue, listen to mother ok. Xiao Yan, is a really good girl, why don't you just meet her?"
"No, I'm too young to be tied down. I don't mean it like that. What I'm trying to say is I'm just not interested unless they're like you mother." hah! now go against that.
"Oh, Shen Yue, why are you so naughty sometimes. Are you trying to smooth talk your mom?" She said with an amused tone, but that couldn't hide the slight blush on her cheeks.
You know now that I think about it, my mom is actually very pretty and beautiful. And she looks way younger than she should be, I mean look at her figure, all the right proportions in the right places…..I'm staring. And now it's awkward. 'Shen Yue, you might actually be a bastard.' what the heck was I just doing right now? Did I just check out my mom? There's a special place in heave- hell for me. I wanted to change the expression but I remembered that the heavens rejected me. What a life I live.
"No, I'm quite serious mother, you're such a great woman. You're the mother I need but don't deserve. I really do appreciate you and I know I don't say this enough but I love you mother, you're everything to me"
"Aww, I love you too my child. You always make me proud" she answered gently hugging me back.
…
The sunlight shone brightly. The clouds were like bundles of silk upon the blue skies, it was beautiful.
Cool winds blew past my face, the smell of grass and fresh soil drifted past my nose. I sat peacefully meditating. The energy I had accumulated was enough for me to attempt a breakthrough. I couldn't push it back anymore, it was now or never. The energy waves rushed and tumbled, my void sphere painfully expanded, it suck in the energy and began pushing past the set boundary. I controlled the energy to a fine point and pushed it against the boundary, forming a crack in it. Dark energy bombarded the boundary trying to break it down, the dark energy ate at the boundary while it relentlessly pounder at the wall. And each pound resulted in unimaginable pain, this was a very critical process. The backlash from a failure would not only be unbearable but would also push down my rank back to the bronze level and that would most likely destroy my body.
The atmosphere turned ominous as dark clouds blotted out the light of the sun, turning the bright day into a gloomy dark. My danger sense pounded on the inside of my skull like a stampede of elephants. I was very close to death, I could feel it's icy breath on the nape of my neck.
Rumble the mighty roar of thunder resounded through the skies, chains of malicious blinding lightning jumped from dark cloud to dark cloud. 'Heh, what an opportunist' The heavens' was trying to use this critical moment to end me once and for all. I could feel it's anger which was directed at me. I disobeyed its warning, I was trying to go against my "Fate"
The brewing storm reached its tipping point.
BOOM! Massive spears of lightning shot down towards me with an unrestrained ferocity. I couldn't move, not because of the pressure but because of my current state.
Clack crackle came The sounds of lightning impacting my preset Shields. I anticipated such an act, and as such I made as many preparations as I could. The golden shield blocked the first lightning spear, but another one was already on its way.
I was reaching the true start of real cultivation, qualitative Chang's would occur if I managed to successfully transition from the demigod rank into the heavenly fate realm. The danger from the lightning would soon be upon me, my shield could only block five attacks. I had to breakthrough before the shield collapsed.
The power of laws radiated through my being, it was coursing through my veins. The void sphere expanded, dark energy covered me, I never felt so alive and powerful. I was on the cusp of breaking through, the pleasure alone was greater than any other I ever had.
That was when I was hit with such soul rending pain, my mind nearly went blank. It was like someone tore through my spine with a jagged edge knife. I didn't have the strength to scream as electricity travelled through my body. I nearly forgot the lightning due to the pleasure I got from being about to breakthrough. I willed myself to concentrate on the task at hand instead of the pain, if I failed here then I would die.
And then something unexpected happened, the expanded void sphere spun so rapidly it looked stationary. The vortex ate the lightning with an unhinged veracity. It changed the energy of the lightning into one that nurtured my body and soul. The lightning meant to kill me, actually saved me. A hugh lightning pillar shot down at my form and upon contact with my body it disappeared, like a wisp of vapour under the sun. The void sphere sucked it all in and dark lightning began to crackle over my skin, in contrast to the red one in the skies.
The higher being's anger was clearly felt but I had already broken through, my soul was enhanced as was my body. I levitated off of the ground as I commanded the power in the me, the power that went against the heaven. The power that went against fate. I flew towards the clouds as it brewed a humongous ball of lightning the temperature soared causing my clothes to be ignited but that barely fazed me.
The lightning ball shot towards me and I rushed at me. Slice my sword had dark lightning dancing on its dark form as it slashed through the lightning. The clouds disappeared as a dark wave of energy swallowed up the lightning and everything in its path.
I spat out a mouthful of blood as the pain set in. Most of my organs were severely wounded, they would heal but it was still painful. The expenditure for that attack wasn't something I could always make up for. I needed to stabilize my new rank to avoid future issues.
*Booom! The longest chapter I have ever written thus far. Ahh my goodness, my fingers need ice. I wrote so much I feel just nauseous looking at the screen.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I did. Shen Yue the big bag. Heh. Is now a slender looking bamf.
Can be really go against heavens' plan? Well, stay tuned to find out.
I'll post chapters for my other fics soon so expect that.
Thank you all for your well wishes and support! I am really grateful.
Don't forget to like and fav the story, a parallel universe is born every time you do. Kek. Have an awesome day.
Victory!*
R.I.P STAN LEE, The god of joy. The marvelous man. Excelsior, oh glorious king.
