From Dao to Demon, Changes in Martial Souls

The following night, inside Xue Qinghe's bedchamber at the Prince's Mansion.

"Sister Xue, we'll enter the Dao Demon Space together later."

Tonight, Xue Ke and Qian Renxue would undergo the second step of cultivating the Dao Heart Seed Demon Method: turning Dao into demon, transforming their Dao Seeds into Demon Seeds. This step had to be carried out within the Dao Demon Space.

Qian Renxue solemnly nodded, then made her preparations.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously activated the Dao Seeds within their bodies. A black hole two meters in diameter appeared above them, and Xue Ke and Qian Renxue turned into clouds of black mist before being drawn into it.

Xue Ke and Qian Renxue slowly opened their eyes. All they could see was endless darkness.

"So this is the Dao Demon Space? It truly is different from the Douluo Continent," Qian Renxue said.

"Sister Xue, let's begin."

The two sat cross-legged, their palms pressed together as they activated their Dao Seeds. Spiritual energy flowed between them through their palms, jade-green light intertwining with golden light.

A mass of black mist appeared within the Dao Demon Space and joined the jade-green and golden radiance. Xue Ke felt that the spiritual energy circulating between them seemed to have changed, becoming far denser. Qian Renxue noticed it soon afterward as well.

Warmth spread through their bodies. Looking inward at their dantians, they were shocked to discover that their Dao Seeds were quietly changing along with the circulation of spiritual energy.

Xue Ke's jade-green Dao Seed gradually transformed into a dark-green Demon Seed, while Qian Renxue's golden Dao Seed became a Demon Seed streaked with gold and black. The two had successfully completed the process of turning Dao into demon.

Both Xue Ke and Qian Renxue were overjoyed. They tried cultivating their soul power and discovered that their cultivation speed had become nearly fifteen times faster than before!

The two began cultivating frantically. Half an hour later, Xue Ke broke through to level 38 in one go, while Qian Renxue smoothly advanced to level 58.

"The Dao Heart Seed Demon Method is simply incredible! At this rate, I'll probably break through to level 60 in less than two months!" Qian Renxue cried out in delight.

Staring at the dark-green Demon Seed within her body, Xue Ke suddenly had an idea. She used Martial Soul Possession with her Jade Swan Martial Soul, guiding the spiritual energy emitted by her Demon Seed into her martial soul.

The jade-green swan behind Xue Ke gradually transformed amid the swirling black mist into an ink-black Black Swan. The jade-green hexagonal scale on its forehead gradually turned dark black, and dark flames blazed all over its body.

The Black Swan let out a resounding cry, spreading its black wings. Dark flames flickered faintly within its bright, spirited eyes.

Qian Renxue stared dumbfounded at the change before her, unable to understand what had happened to Xue Ke.

Xue Ke turned to look at her martial soul. Three soul rings—yellow, purple, purple—slowly appeared, each shrouded in a layer of black mist.

Xue Ke had a strong feeling that, under the influence of the Demon Seed, not only had her martial soul undergone an earth-shaking transformation, but even her soul skills had changed as well.

The yellow soul ring around Xue Ke lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Black Flame Ray!"

The Black Swan behind her spat out a ray of black fire that shot rapidly forward.

Xue Ke's first soul skill had changed from Song of Life into Black Flame Ray. It fired a ray of flame that, upon striking a target, could instantly burn both the target's body and soul.

Xue Ke estimated that if she fully activated her Demon Seed, the power of her first soul skill would be enough to kill a low-level Soul King.

Xue Ke then examined her second and third soul skills. The original effect of her second soul skill had been a 100% attack boost. Now, it had become the targeted soul skill Black Flame Seal, which planted a Core Flame inside the target's body and gradually sealed the target's soul power and soul skills.

With Xue Ke's current total soul power, activating her second soul skill consumed nearly a third of her soul power, and she could only seal opponents whose Soul Power Level was no more than ten levels above her own.

The original effect of her third soul skill had been a 100% Defense Boost. It had now become the area-of-effect offensive soul skill Black Flame Swamp, creating a field of fire within a certain range that burned targets inside it, reduced their movement speed and soul power circulation speed by 50%, removed all enhancement effects from them, and prevented targets within the fire field from receiving any boosts from support-type soul skills.

Xue Ke tried stopping the circulation of her Demon Seed and withdrew the black spiritual energy from her martial soul. The Black Swan Martial Soul instantly reverted to its original form, becoming the Jade Swan once more.

"Xiao Ke, what exactly happened to your martial soul?" Qian Renxue asked curiously after witnessing the entire process.

"Sister Xue, I tried circulating my Demon Seed just now and injecting its spiritual energy into my martial soul. Both my martial soul and soul skills changed because of it. My martial soul now has two forms. One is the support-type Jade Swan, while the other is the assault-type Black Swan."

"No, Black Swan sounds far too ordinary. It needs a more imposing name."

Xue Ke lowered her head in thought. After pondering for a moment, Qian Renxue said, "Let's call it the Dark Flame Emperor Goose!"

"Good, that's a great name!" Xue Ke clapped her hands in agreement.

"Sister Xue, why don't you try it too? Let's see whether your martial soul changes as well," Xue Ke suggested.

At Xue Ke's urging, Qian Renxue released her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul before Xue Ke for the first time. A pair of immaculate white wings grew from her back (she would have four wings upon breaking through level 70, and only six after reaching level 90), while a golden angel phantom slowly emerged.

"Gulp..." Xue Ke swallowed hard, staring unblinkingly at Qian Renxue.

After using Martial Soul Possession with the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, Qian Renxue's graceful figure was tall and poised, beautiful as fresh snow on a mountaintop—pure and untouched by the world, radiant as a goddess. Her eyes shimmered with innate nobility, making her seem like a heavenly maiden descended to earth, leaving no room for profane thoughts.

A unique, delicate fragrance wafted from Qian Renxue into Xue Ke's nose and seeped into her heart, giving her the sensation of melting away.

Though beauties on the Douluo Continent were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river—such as the Shrek Three Sisters, Spirit Hall's Three Beauties, the Tianshui girls, and so on—in Xue Ke's eyes, only Qian Renxue possessed a celestial aura among them all. Perhaps this was what they meant by beauty being in the eye of the beholder.

Following Xue Ke's instructions, Qian Renxue infused the spiritual energy of her Demon Seed into her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. Sure enough, the golden Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul changed as well.

The left half of Qian Renxue's wings remained flawlessly white, but the right half turned dark black. The angel phantom behind her became an eerie dark gold, and five soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black—appeared, each surrounded by a layer of black mist.

Qian Renxue sensed her soul skills, then slowly said, "Although my martial soul changed under the influence of the Demon Seed, my soul skills remain the same. However, my Angel's Fire has evolved into ultimate fire, and the power of my soul skills has increased severalfold."

"Congratulations, Sister Xue!"

However, today's surprises did not end there.

After completing the second step of the Dao Heart Seed Demon Method, a new external technique appeared in Xue Ke's mind: the Bird Crossing Technique.

Bird Crossing Technique General Principles: Follow the righteousness of heaven and earth, command the discernment of the six energies, and roam through boundless qi. Focus the mind and guard the One, forgetting both self and object. Meet things with the spirit rather than the eyes; let the senses know while the spirit wishes to move. Ride the wind as though mounting a great roc, and let heaven and earth naturally grant me freedom to soar.

Cultivating the Bird Crossing Technique could greatly increase ground and aerial movement speed, improve the cultivator's comprehension of the Law of Space, and, upon reaching great perfection, allow one to freely traverse space and truly roam between heaven and earth.

At that moment, Xue Ke could only think:

Damn, I'm so uncultured that one "holy shit" can carry me through the world.

One update every three days, at six in the afternoon. Until the status changes, this is how it'll be for now. Stop urging me to update—I don't get paid even if I post more.