Chapter 129: Demonic Source Upgrade
Shi Hao sat cross-legged within the magic circle drawn with the Undying Child’s blood.
The matricide’s heart and the Heroic Deeds Blade were placed at opposite ends of the circle.
Six candles, each coated in the Undying Child’s blood, stood nearby.
He lit the candles with demonic fire, and plumes of green smoke rose, swirling around him.
He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and began chanting the incantation.
Darkness, like a tidal wave, surged towards him.
The six candles erupted in green flames, the Undying Child’s blood burning with a sizzling sound.
The flames spread, engulfing the magic circle.
Shi Hao sat within the circle of fire, the burning runes twisting and intertwining, forming a blood-red chamber.
He was submerged in a sea of blood… but his eyes were closed.
He couldn’t open his eyes, no matter what he saw… That was Su Mei’s explicit instruction for this ritual.
Although it seemed bizarre to “see” with his eyes closed, nothing was impossible in a demonic ritual.
Despite not opening his eyes, he clearly “saw” the scene before him.
He felt a strong urge to open his eyes and confirm whether it was real or just an illusion.
He resisted the urge, continuing his chant.
He saw skulls floating in the sea of blood, their eyes burning with ghostly flames, their jaws snapping at him.
Unfazed, he continued chanting.
Beside him, the Heroic Deeds Blade radiated a powerful aura, driving the skulls away.
“Your life is mine!” A female demon, wearing a red crown and a crimson cape, her claws outstretched, lunged at him from above.
Her long fingernails, curved like blades, and her bloodshot eyes, glowing in their hollow sockets, her face narrow and elongated, her breasts grotesquely large, her appearance monstrous and terrifying.
Her claws reached his chest, about to tear him apart.
He felt the phantom pain of his flesh being ripped open.
The heart beside him, as if enraged, suddenly pulsed with life.
A bloody hand emerged from the heart, grabbed the Heroic Deeds Blade, and slashed at the demon.
The demon shrieked, her cape swirling around her as she vanished.
Darkness enveloped him.
A creaking sound echoed, as if a massive gate was opening in the darkness.
“Oh my, it’s you again, handsome,” a hand caressed his chest, its touch sending shivers down his spine. “It hasn’t been long, has it? Why are you back?”
The voice was seductive, the hand, seemingly passing through his clothes, tracing his skin, reaching his face, “Handsome, hee hee, I like you more and more each time I see you. Come on, let’s have some fun.”
Shi Hao ignored her, continuing his chant.
“I like you so much. Why are you so cold and distant? I know many things, things that will bring you pleasures you’ve never imagined.”
The woman seemed to be clinging to his back, her hands sliding down his shoulders, across his stomach, lower and lower.
He ignored her, treating her as if she didn’t exist… perhaps she didn’t.
He simply repeated the incantation, over and over.
“Alas, such a heartless man,” the woman’s voice was filled with mock sorrow, “Fine, since I’m so fond of you, I’ll give you a warning. Handsome, you’re surrounded by beautiful women. Be careful. Stay away from them, or you’ll suffer the consequences.”
Her voice faded away.
A blue meteor descended from the sky, crashing into him.
Shi Hao opened his eyes. Silence. He looked outside. It was evening. He hadn’t felt the passage of time, yet the entire day had passed.
The magic circle drawn with the Undying Child’s blood was gone, no trace remaining, the candles burned down to puddles of wax.
The heart and the saber were still there, but the heart had rotted, its stench filling the air, as if it had been there for days.
And the Heroic Deeds Blade was dull and rusted, its sinister aura gone, its once-sharp edge now blunt, an ordinary, unremarkable blade.
Shi Hao examined his internal state. His demonic source had been replaced, a more powerful demonic energy now residing within, waiting to be unleashed.
He sighed in relief. The ritual had been successful.
As for the female Yin Demon’s “warning,” he dismissed it.
Su Mei had warned him not to trust anything those demons said, not to dwell on their words. Paying attention to them was playing into their hands.
Especially vague “prophecies” like this. “Recently?” How recent? “Stay away from beautiful women?” How far away? “Suffer the consequences?” What consequences? It was all meaningless.
Neither the Holy Jade Immortal nor Su Mei had ever mentioned anything about “fate” or “destiny.” Su Mei had even said, “Human calculations are more reliable than fate.”
He trusted his two wives.
Shi Hao jumped up, stretched, and with a flick of his wrist, unleashed a demonic flame that incinerated the rotten heart.
He couldn’t stay in this room anymore. He left.
He washed himself in the pond, returned to the pavilion, changed into clean clothes, and sat down on the bed, cross-legged.
He swallowed the elixir he had refined, its energy spreading through his body, a warm current flowing upwards, merging with his internal elixir in his mind.
Although he had already formed a seventh-rank internal elixir, having mastered the Gathering Essence Flowing Pearl Technique, it was unstable, formed through the forced influx of True Dragon energy, a fragile and flickering flame in his upper dantian.
Now, the internal and external elixirs merged, forming a nascent soul.
Ice crystals bloomed above him, their petals falling around him like snowflakes, a beautiful and ethereal sight.
This was the manifestation of the Gathering Essence Flowing Pearl Technique, having reached its peak and merged with the external elixir.
He began cultivating the Three Origins Flowing Pearl Technique and the Nine Yin Demonic Primordial Technique.
The energy from his Daoist nascent soul, combined with the energies of the Immortal Ice, True Water, and Profound Wind Techniques, flowed through his meridians like a gentle stream.
The energy cultivated through the Nine Yin Demonic Primordial Technique, however, was strange and elusive, unlike any energy he had encountered before.
As Su Mei had said, it was useless for combat. Its sole purpose was to enable the Nine Yin Demonic Transformations.
Having just advanced, the energies of the Three Origins Flowing Pearl Technique and the Nine Yin Demonic Primordial Technique were still weak.
But having reached the sixth rank, he tried circulating the Unfettered Demon’s Boundless Art, and its power surged, merging with the Mysterious Charm Technique.
He struck out with his palm, a blast of wind and swirling flames erupting before him, then dissipating.
Although the Gathering Essence Flowing Pearl Technique, taught by the Holy Jade Immortal, was a seventh-rank technique, it allowed for the external projection of energy.
The Unfettered Demon’s Boundless Art, however, normally couldn’t be projected outwards.
But he was now mid-rank, and projecting his internal energy was no longer a problem.
The Nine Yin Demonic Primordial Energy was still nascent, not yet strong enough for him to begin practicing the Nine Yin Demonic Transformations.
He sat cross-legged and tried extending his Primordial Energy further. Having reached the mid-ranks, his range of perception had increased.
He could sense the fish swimming in the pond, the chirping of crickets in the grass.
Two figures stood guard at the garden gate, one short, the other tall: Dragon Girl and Huan Tingting.
Beyond the wall, in a distant corner of the garden, two women were talking. The one with the cloud bun and ample bosom was Yue Yaotai, the leader of the Moon Lotus Pavilion. The other, standing before her, was Xu Xiaoyan.
He couldn’t hear their conversation, but he could tell Xu Xiaoyan was upset.
After a while, she turned and left, her figure lonely and forlorn.
Shi Hao left the pavilion and went outside. Dragon Girl and Huan Tingting hurriedly bowed, “Young Master.”
Shi Hao, his hands clasped behind him, nodded and said to Huan Tingting, “Tell your Pavilion Lord to come here.” He turned and walked back into the garden.
As Yue Yaotai arrived, Shi Hao sat in the pavilion, looking out at the pond, his demeanor relaxed and casual.
“Young Master,” Yue Yaotai bowed.
Shi Hao glanced at her, “What were you and Xiao Yan talking about just now?”
Yue Yaotai was inwardly startled. They had chosen a secluded spot for their conversation, not wanting to be overheard, not even by Dragon Girl and Huan Tingting, who were guarding the gate.
As a fifth-rank expert, her senses were sharp. She should have been able to detect anyone within twenty zhang.
And with the walls and the rock garden providing cover, no one should have been able to eavesdrop.
Yet, the Young Master, so far away, had somehow known about their conversation.
She looked at him. Although his expression was calm, there was a hint of displeasure in his eyes. She realized he had misunderstood. She quickly bowed, “Xiao Yan came to me, asking about her sister. Although she has connections to our Moon Lotus Pavilion, she’s not a disciple, and this matter involves the previous Pavilion Lord’s secrets, so I shouldn’t have told her.
“But since she’s with you now, Young Master, I decided to tell her the truth.”
Shi Hao asked, surprised, “Xiao Yan’s sister?”
Yue Yaotai lowered her voice, “Xiao Yan has a twin sister, but they were separated when they were young. She doesn’t know where she is.”
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