Gu Chengxing stood at a high vantage point, silently gazing in Shen Ruochu’s direction. “Learning the sword? That works. I can teach her more.” Seeing everything gradually fall into place, he finally felt at ease.
His eyes shifted slightly, and a dim purple rhythm began to ripple across his skin. The traits of the Heavenly Demon Physique slowly surfaced.
The Heavenly Demon Physique. Born a demon lord, the source of calamity.
What was a Heavenly Demon?
Gu Chengxing did not know, because the original novel never explained it in detail. He only knew that the Heavenly Demon could be traced back to the Demon Domain. Beyond that point, the description became extremely vague. Perhaps even the author could not imagine further, so he blurred the details instead. Strangely, that made it feel even more mysterious, grand, and eerie.
A person with the Heavenly Demon Physique might appear once in millions of years.
There were two lines Gu Chengxing remembered with perfect clarity.
The first: When a Heavenly Demon rises, all ages fall into ruin.
The meaning needed no elaboration. In the later part of the original novel, the oppressive presence of the Heavenly Demon was written in full. A single Heavenly Demon, Gu Chengxing, was enough to shatter the great domains into pieces, plunging them into bloodshed and chaos. That alone proved the weight of those words.
The second line was: To become a demon is also to bear the demon.
This sentence was far more intriguing.
To become a demon was easy to understand.
But to bear the demon… that was another matter.
Did it mean inheritance, or endurance? Was it the inheritor of the Heavenly Demon, or someone worn by the Heavenly Demon? It was difficult to say.
Fortunately, the system had already removed the hidden danger of the Heavenly Demon Physique. That issue should have been resolved.
Yet Gu Chengxing could not help but speculate.
“Could it be that behind every Heavenly Demon Physique, there is some unpredictable existence watching, even controlling? If so, that would explain certain details in the original novel.”
The series of changes and subtle hints surrounding Gu Chengxing in the original novel made it impossible not to overthink.
Of course, if it was simply the author padding the plotline, then there was nothing to be done.
Today, Gu Chengxing activated the Heavenly Demon Physique to investigate.
The system removing its hidden danger meant that Gu Chengxing no longer faced the risk of falling into demonic corruption.
After receiving the Mission Reward from his first choice, he had clearly felt a powerful force forcibly seal off a mysterious “demonic source” within his body.
Before that seal, once the Heavenly Demon Physique was activated, that “demonic source” would continuously channel demonic aura into him.
It made him stronger, but it also eroded his sanity.
The longer it lasted, the more his mind was devastated, and the denser the demonic aura accumulated within his body.
Even more terrifying was that the demonic aura was not under his control. On the contrary, it attempted to control him.
All of this information came from the remnants of memory.
As for the original Gu Chengxing slaughtering the Shen family, the event had been chaotic, and he had no clear memory of it. But most likely, it was inseparable from that “demonic source.”
Thinking of this, Gu Chengxing could only sigh at the cruelty of fate.
This completely severed any path of reconciliation between him and Shen Ruochu.
Even if he had been corroded by demonic aura, the Shen family was still destroyed by his hands. No matter how one explained it, it was a dead end.
There was no solution.
In the end, Shen Ruochu would seek revenge against him.
Fortunately, he was not originally from this world. His ultimate goal was to return to the real world.
He also needed to be killed by Shen Ruochu.
If he died, then so be it. It was not a major problem.
Putting those thoughts aside, Gu Chengxing focused on the Heavenly Demon Physique itself.
Heavenly Demon Physique: One of the ten ancient top-tier Emperor-grade physiques. Its possessor not only has supreme cultivation aptitude but can also easily absorb all violent and malevolent energies in the world to temper the body. Ancient demonic aura can spontaneously generate within, granting absolute suppression over all cultivators of the Demonic Sect. Once born, such a being is destined to become the leader of all demons.
Gu Chengxing closed his eyes.
He began cultivating by activating the Heavenly Demon Physique.
Previously, the original Gu Chengxing had constantly suffered erosion from demonic aura, so he had rarely dared to use the Heavenly Demon Physique, let alone cultivate with it.
Even so, without activating it, his cultivation talent had already been at the absolute pinnacle.
Gu Chengxing cultivated for only fifteen minutes.
His eyes suddenly snapped open, and a streak of purple radiance shot out from them.
The Heavenly Demon Fatal Art?
The Heavenly Demon Fatal Art was the Saint-grade cultivation technique inherently tied to the Heavenly Demon Physique. It was overwhelmingly powerful.
As it circulated, he felt the spiritual power within his meridians automatically intertwine with demonic aura. The speed at which his meridians expanded was terrifying. The sensation left him stunned.
This cultivation speed was truly monstrous, more than ten times faster than his normal cultivation.
And Gu Chengxing’s normal speed was already countless times faster than ordinary cultivators.
Ten times faster than that was beyond description.
In short, it was absurdly powerful.
As cultivation continued, more detailed information about the Heavenly Demon Physique surfaced in his mind.
The Heavenly Demon Physique had seven stages.
To unlock them, one had to cultivate the Heavenly Demon Fatal Art.
The Heavenly Demon Fatal Art had seven levels. One level, one life. One life, one existence.
First stage, Heavenly Demon First Life Realm: Demonic Tide. Demonic aura surges and devours.
Second stage, Heavenly Demon Second Life Realm: Demonic Shadow. Gather demons into shadow and devour souls.
Third stage, Heavenly Demon Third Life Realm: Demonic Body. Shadow shapes the body, unparalleled.
Fourth stage, Heavenly Demon Fourth Life Realm: Demonic Delusion…
…
Great Zhou Empire, capital city.
Inside a guest inn, second-floor room.
“Miss Ling’er, there is a letter for you,” the shop attendant said softly as he knocked on the door.
“Is it news about Miss?”
Hope instantly lit up her face. She hurried to open the door and took the envelope.
Then she eagerly opened it to read.
But it did not contain what she expected. There was only a single sentence written inside.
You are born a prodigy. Why speak of Ruochu?
Ling’er fell silent.
She did not understand what it meant.
On the day the Shen family was exterminated, she had been knocked unconscious by Gu Chengxing while her Miss was taken away.
When she woke up, she was already in this inn.
She had asked the innkeeper why she was here.
The reply was simple: “Someone paid for one month, including meals.”
Originally, Ling’er had intended to leave immediately.
But she suddenly thought that this might have been arranged by Gu Chengxing. If she left, she might miss a chance to see her Miss.
After much hesitation, she chose to stay.
It had already been four days.
Today was the first time she received any message from outside.
“You are born a prodigy. Why speak of Ruochu… What does that mean? Ruochu… is it related to Miss?”
Ling’er could not make sense of it.
As she fiddled with the envelope, there was a crisp snap.
A crimson bead fell from inside and rolled across the floor.
Ling’er looked at it, puzzled.
Before she could react, the bead exploded with a sharp crack.
A cloud of pale red mist burst forth and rushed toward her at incredible speed.
Panic surged in her heart. She tried to dodge, but it was too late.
The mist reached her and seeped into her body as if it had never existed.
The temperature of Ling’er’s skin gradually rose.
A faint red glow began radiating from her body.
“What… is this?”
Her face filled with disbelief. She could feel that something about her entire being was changing.
Faint white scales even began to emerge beneath her skin.
“Have I… turned into a monster?”
An ancient, mysterious aura gradually enveloped her.
At the same time, that aura alarmed the distant royal court of the Demon Domain.
A terrifying force slowly turned its attention toward this insignificant human empire within the desolate domain.