Reborn as a Demonic Giant, Hunted by a Qi Refining Novice

Great Qian, Star Province.

Within Changjun City.

Seven figures flickered through the flow of people like streaks of light.

It was clearly visible that the seven belonged to two opposing camps: six in pursuit and one in flight.

"Rumors from the outside world claim Ancient Demon Gu has been acting strangely this past month, suspected of suffering a cultivation deviation. It seems the rumors are true; his Spirit Refining cultivation is performing worse than a Core Forming expert, and every strike he makes only worsens his internal injuries! Today is the day we, the Six Sons of Zhengyi, punish evil, promote good, and eliminate the demonic path!"

Among the six pursuers, one shouted a reminder: "He wants to use the crowded streets of Changjun City to slip away! Do not let him succeed! Everyone remember, the one wearing the red robe is Ancient Demon Gu!"

This shout made the fleeing figure ahead shudder. Taking advantage of a street corner, he quickly tore off his robe and discarded it.

Yet, even so, one of his pursuers quickly identified him again: "Over there! The one with the headband and long hair is Ancient Demon Gu!"

The person fleeing ahead trembled once more.

Taking advantage of a marketplace ahead, he dove into the crowd, discarded his headband, and used his sword to hack off his long hair, looking utterly wretched.

While fleeing, he was furious: "This isn't fair! They are the ones trying to kill me, so I fought back! And that gives me a Karma Buff? They're allowed to kill me, but I can't kill them!?"

He wasn't complaining to any person.

He was complaining to a Green Lotus in his spiritual world.

Because a projection resembling a xianxia world appeared on Blue Star, xianxia-themed games and movies became extremely popular, leading to an endless stream of related merchandise.

Gu Jinlai had picked up a Green Lotus figurine while passing by an abandoned construction site.

Finding it beautiful, he brought it home and carefully cleaned it.

During the cleaning process, he accidentally cut his finger on a lotus leaf...

The next moment, a burst of chaotic, clear light, brilliant to the extreme, flooded his vision.

When he woke up, he had become this Demon Sect elder who shared his name.

In his spiritual world, a Green Lotus was in full bloom, and his consciousness sat atop it.

When he killed those who were steeped in evil—those with Bright Red karma—he could obtain clear light to inject into the Green Lotus, aiding in enlightenment and increasing his cultivation.

If he harmed those of the righteous path, he would be plagued by karma, and all sorts of deadly vendettas would follow one after another.

As mentioned before, he had transmigrated into a Demon Sect elder.

That elder had already been destroyed, body and soul, by a cultivation deviation, but as if that weren't enough, he had left behind nine layers of Karma Buff!

A Bright Red Name.

Trembling in fear, he immediately abandoned evil to follow the path of good.

However, "Gu Jinlai" had only requested a transfer to Changjun City to avoid a rival within his own sect. His sudden, bizarre desire to turn over a new leaf immediately invited numerous probes from that rival.

In just one month, he had faced countless provocations and attacks.

He had endured them all, choosing to yield.

Yet, this forbearance seemed to confirm his enemy's suspicions.

Consequently, rumors spread like wildfire, eventually leading to the scene where the disciples of the Orthodox One Sect surrounded and attacked him.

He had intended to explain, but the Orthodox One Sect disciples had immediately moved to kill him. When he was on the brink of death, his ferocity was ignited, and he killed one of them in retaliation. As a result...

The Karma Buff stacked directly to ten layers!

The consequence was that no matter how he hid, he would always be "accidentally" discovered by the disciples of the Orthodox One Sect, who hunted him relentlessly.

"Ancient Demon Gu, you can't escape!"

Outside Changjun City.

Gu Jinlai was finally cornered by the Six Sons of Zhengyi.

The six true disciples of the immortal sect, dressed in fluttering white robes, looked heroic and spirited. Holding sharp swords, they surrounded him.

What a display of demon-slaying righteousness.

Gu Jinlai took a deep breath: "I was abducted at age six and entered the Purgatory Demon Sect. It took sixty years to reach Spirit Refining. Now, in my twilight years, feeling the weight of my monstrous sins, I have dispersed my demonic arts..."

"Demon, what are you trying to say!?"

The leader of the Six Sons of Zhengyi stepped forward and shouted sternly.

He was Ding Buqi, a top-ten true disciple of the Orthodox One Sect. He had opened all the meridians in his body and reached the perfection of Qi Refining. He was only one step away from refining Qi into Gang energy, allowing him to exhale blades and kill from ten paces.

"Give me a chance."

Gu Jinlai said in a low voice.

"How should I give you a chance?"

"In the past, I had no choice. Now, I want to be a good man."

"Fine. Go tell the Headmaster of Orthodox One Sect and see if he lets you be a good man."

"That is the same as asking me to die."

"I am sorry, I am Ortho..."

"Swoosh!"

Before Ding Buqi could finish his sentence, a sword light bloomed like a red lotus, transforming into over a dozen streaks of Red Lotus Sword Qi that shot out in every direction.

Ding Buqi, bearing the brunt of the attack, managed to shield himself with true energy at the very last second, yet he was still sliced by the sword qi, leaving behind several gashes.

The other five people beside him, whose cultivation levels were weaker, were slower to dodge and were pierced through by the sword qi.

Amidst the explosion of sword qi, Gu Jinlai leaped and vaulted across the land, darting toward the distant mountain forest like an arrow released from its string.

"Despicable and shameless! To actually launch a sneak attack!"

"Junior Sister Li!"

"Quick, send the signal! Notify the other disciples to come and surround the Ancient Demon! Everyone, let's attack together; there is no need to speak of righteousness when dealing with such a scourge of the demonic path!"

Deep in the mountain forest, Gu Jinlai was still fleeing wildly.

Although his burst of power had injured the Six Sons of Zhengyi, none of those six had a Red Name, so he dared not kill a single one of them. This only led the disciples of the Orthodox One Sect to believe that he was at the end of his tether.

Those elders and cultivators of the Orthodox One Sect who considered themselves no less capable than the Six Sons of Zhengyi joined the pursuit in droves. By now, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of Orthodox One Sect members in this stretch of forest.

Were it not for the fear of a trap, even their sect master would have been unable to resist coming out to claim the bounty on him.

It was no exaggeration to say they had mobilized their entire nest.

"It is fortunate that no one died just now, or else if I stacked another layer of Karma Buff, I would have no chance to catch my breath!"

Gu Jinlai wiped the sweat from his forehead and seized the time to recover.

"The Six Sons of Zhengyi are truly bold—a bunch of Qi Refining novices daring to hunt down a Spirit Refining bigwig!"

He had not inherited the memories of Ancient Demon Gu, but after over a month of transmigrating, he had figured out the cultivation system.

First, one must temper the physical body through the three steps of Body Tempering, Organ Refining, and Blood Changing, before stepping into the realm of Qi Refining.

Only after completing the three stages of Qi Refining, Gang Condensing, and Core Forming could one become a Spirit Refining True Person.

Such figures were of elder caliber even in top-tier sects, standing at the upper echelons of the cultivation world and known as giants.

"How is the behavior of these self-proclaimed righteous people any different from the demonic path? Yet, their Karma is not as high as mine; at most, they are Yellow Names or light Red Names!"

Gu Jinlai panted, "Is there not some weak, major demonic lord who would pursue me and gift me a few rays of clear light?"

But he knew well that how could someone weak become a major demonic lord?

They would have long since been wiped out by those righteous people under the guise of acting on behalf of Heaven.

"I cannot rest. The Karma Buff has not yet dissipated. Soon, the enemies of 'Gu Jinlai' and those cultivators eyeing the Bounty Board will arrive. If I were strong enough, I could naturally turn them into dust, but now... one wrong move and I shall perish before achieving my goal."

Gu Jinlai forced his exhausted body up and continued running into the depths of the forest.

He had not inherited the memories of Ancient Demon Gu; all the methods he possessed were those he had squeezed out time to learn during his month of transmigration. He had unleashed the renowned Red Lotus Sword Qi of the Core Forming level, yet he hadn't managed to kill a single one of the Six Sons of Zhengyi.

While it was primarily because he dared not kill, his half-baked skill was also a factor.

At this level, once he was caught by a Core Forming elder of the Orthodox One Sect, he would have no chance of escape.

One day, three days, six days...

Gu Jinlai had been fleeing in the mountain forest for ten days.

He was starved and in tatters.

Crucially, he had to endure immense mental pressure, never knowing if he would see tomorrow's sun.

The mental pressure was one thing, but he could not even kill his pursuers when he encountered them.

Otherwise, the Karma Buff would stack thicker and thicker, and those hunting him would become more numerous and powerful.

It was suffocating.

"I can barely hold on anymore. Three days ago, the pursuers I 'accidentally' ran into were just a few Qi Refining cultivators mixed with one or two at the Gang Condensing level. Yesterday, I actually encountered the Four Evils of Star Province; those are four Gang Condensing experts! The next step... will it be Core Forming!?"

Core Forming!

Gu Jinlai's body trembled.

After ten days of flight, having survived near-death experiences time and again, he had only just managed to grasp the basics of the Red Lotus Sword Qi, a Core Forming sword technique. As for the rest...

Movement techniques? None!

Secret arts? None!

Spells? None!

Finishing moves? None!

Combat experience? Virtually zero!

Under these circumstances, let alone Core Forming, he wasn't even sure if he could defeat the Four Evils of Star Province—four Gang Condensing experts who had more Karma than him—if they joined forces.

Those I can kill, I can't beat; those I can beat, I can't kill.

What a pathetic state of affairs!

"Blood-Changing Martial Artist are hunting me down now! Does a dignified Spirit Refining Giant like me have no face left? Are you lot not afraid that I'm being cunning and deceitful, feigning weakness to lure you in?"

Gu Jinlai held his breath, stifled by frustration.

Yet, looking at his own wretched state—clothes shredded, his body half-exposed to the wind...

He really had no face left.

This transmigration was worse than letting him return to Blue Star.

The Underworld Cultivation World—not worth staying in anyway.

At this moment, his sharp ears caught something.

Someone was there!?

He shuddered, scrambling up, ready to flee.

But soon, he heard clearly.

Two parties were clashing; they weren't coming for him.

Nothing is more paranoid than a man who has been bitten by a snake.

"It seems one side belongs to the Demonic path?"

Gu Jinlai drew a deep breath: "I must kill the Red Name, clear the air, and wash off this Karma Buff!"

Pondering this, he crept closer.

At this moment, on a path beneath the mountain forest, a group of over a dozen men were guarding three carriages.

Outside them stood four figures.

Though there were only four, they seemed to have surrounded the caravan of a dozen, preventing them from breaking through.

The highest cultivation base in the caravan belonged to an old man, who was currently fighting for his life, his Qi erupting.

His opponent was a middle-aged man in a blood-colored robe with a sinister face; his cultivation was already at the peak of Qi Refining. Were it not for the old man's desperate, life-risking attacks, he would have already been cut down.

"Blood Demon Ancestor! To cultivate your Blood Demon Art, you've slaughtered three villages in just one month! And you dare to appear outside Lingxiao City!?"

The old man fought without fear of death, attacking only, never defending.

"Hah! And what of it? Not only are you lot going to die today, but all two hundred and sixty-three members of your Li Family have been promised to me. Once I blood-refine your two hundred and sixty-three Li Family souls, my divine art will surely reach completion, condensing Qi into Gang. Then, the world will be vast, and where could I not go!?"

The man fighting the old man laughed wantonly, his voice carrying a power that rattled the mind, filling the dozen guards with panic.

"You... you really were hired by the Three Great Families!"

In the carriage, a young man in plain clothes, around twenty years old, rebuked sternly: "The Wang Family, Zhao Family, and Fang Family are colluding with the Crimson Blood Demonic Gate, using Lingxiao City as a transit point, taking advantage of the chaos caused by Demonic Beasts to abduct the populace so those demons can practice their dark arts. It has caused countless families to be torn apart, and after my father discovered it, they framed him... You will face retribution!"

"Retribution? The whimpering of a defeated dog. The trash in those three villages said the same thing, and the result? I am still living well, my cultivation growing ever higher, while those three villages—over two thousand souls—have been slaughtered clean by me!"

Blood Demon Ancestor laughed, the powerful sonic impact causing the old man's breath to falter.

"You devil!"

The young man's eyes widened in rage.

"Hahaha! Scream, curse! I love watching you look at me with such bone-deep hatred, yet unable to do a thing about it!"

"Hahahaha!"

Just then, a burst of laughter, seemingly suppressed for a long time and suddenly released, rolled over from the nearby woods.

The laughter was like thunder, filled with excitement, joy, madness, and even...

The survival of a desperate situation!

"Hahahaha, what have I found!? A big Red Name! The sins on your body are even greater than mine! Good! Good! This is simply too good!"

"Who goes there!?"

Blood Demon Ancestor's expression changed.

In the next instant, a figure shot forward like a streak of light. Before anyone could react, a blood-red sword light, carrying a sharpness capable of tearing through everything, had enveloped Blood Demon Ancestor.

"Go to hell!"