Becoming a Demon / The Strange Heavenly Demons ...

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

He bowed to the middle-aged man in the scene before him who held the same position as him, and then recounted to the steward in detail the information he had learned from these elders of the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

The Jade Pure Sect's efforts to prevent the chaos caused by the Heavenly Demons were not merely lip service. To this end, the Jade Pure Sect's original Enforcement Hall added a joint enforcement department called the Demon Extermination Gate. The Enforcement Hall was already a high-ranking and powerful institution within the Jade Pure Sect, with powerful and experienced elders and Supreme Elder serving as its hall masters and behind-the-scenes supporters. Even the current sect master had little special privilege in the face of the Enforcement Hall's actions.

The newly established Demon Extermination Gate is now a core part of the Enforcement Hall. Although it arose because of the Heavenly Demon incident, this pretext has led both the Sect Master's faction and other powerful figures to seek control of the Demon Extermination Gate and place their trusted confidants within it. If nothing unexpected happens, this will be a new direction for these powerful figures to seize power. Although it is located within the Enforcement Hall, the Enforcement Hall is only the main body; it contains all sorts of people, with the Sect Master being a core figure of the Sect Master's faction.

This made him all the more peculiar and distinguished. That's why he bowed to the person in front of him who held the same position, since that person's status was far superior to his own.

"Such a thing happened?"

The middle-aged man frowned upon hearing these words, but then relaxed and looked at the deacon in front of him.

"We must wait for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and that demon will naturally meet his end."

"Yes."

The communication was quickly cut off, and the deacon's previously respectful expression turned cold.

According to the normal procedure, he should first contact the Enforcement Hall in person, then the people in the Enforcement Hall should report the matter to the people in the Demon Extermination Gate, then the people in the Demon Extermination Gate should contact him to understand the implications of the matter, and then set off to exterminate the demons.

He used his own connections, which naturally made things much faster. Otherwise, this whole process, not to mention the quality of the cultivators sent, would have taken much longer, and the probability of something happening to the Heavenly Demon would have been too high.

However, connections are not something that come easily.

He glanced back at the elders of the Heavenly Dragon Sect one last time, said nothing, but mentally calculated a business deal for them.

To salvage the business that has suffered losses.

Chapter 322 Becoming a Demon

It should be said that this steward was quite meticulous in his work. While he was receiving the cultivators from the Demon Extermination Gate, Yotsuya Miko, who was far away in the Heavenly Dragon Sect, had already begun to consider whether she should leave the Heavenly Dragon Sect today.

Now that Meng Tianyu is gone, and the flesh and blood she left in Meng Tianyu's body are about to dissipate, it's possible that Meng Tianyu will reveal her secrets in a few days.

Furthermore, she has now degenerated to a point where she can no longer control herself, and it's time for her to find a place to end her own life. Even if she doesn't want to commit suicide, it would save her from killing everyone in the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

Miko pondered whether she should find a few larger sects and have their Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators kill her, since she could easily handle ordinary Spirit Manifestation Cultivator. However, this thought was quickly dismissed; she didn't want to die.

It's strange, yet not strange at all.

Although some thoughts told her to commit suicide and end her life, her body instinctively resisted death, and even her thoughts were skeptical of this sudden suicidal idea.

Why would I commit suicide?

She covered her head, which had been distorted beyond recognition, and murmured to herself.

His facial expressions shifted frequently, sometimes calm, sometimes confused.

"Because I don't want to become a demon."

"Why do I think becoming a Heavenly Demon is bad? Heavenly Demons have such powerful bodies and nearly infinite lifespans..."

"Because..."

The brain probes its own memories, trying to find answers to these questions. But unfortunately, these memories seem to have vanished; even trying to dig them out yields absolutely nothing.

"Ah, it seems I've sealed away my memories."

She suddenly realized that she seemed to have completely sealed away all her memories before arriving at the Heavenly Dragon Sect, leaving only the perception of herself constructed by Yotsuya Miko.

"I am a human being."

Because her memories were sealed, she focused her attention on that simple cognitive construct.

"I am a human woman named Yotsuya Miko."

"I am Zhang Qiudao's disciple. Zhang Qiudao is..."

Those structures were only mentioned in fragments, as if there wasn't enough time to annotate them further. However, with the understanding of these structures, Yotsuya Miko regained her composure and let go of her original confusion.

"Not a demon."

She murmured, reciting the will that had been written down in hundreds of lines, the repetitive, lifeless recognition that "it is not a demon."

Then, the calm on his face was replaced by confusion once again.

"Why am I not a Heavenly Demon? I already look like one. Is it because I don't want to become a Heavenly Demon that I want to commit suicide? That's too strange!"

Having abandoned her shield and borne the alienation with her own body, she began to lose the meaning of doing such things because she no longer had the anchor of her shield.

Yotsuya Miko didn't understand why she committed suicide, nor did she understand why she had left the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Was it because she was human that she couldn't indiscriminately kill the cultivators of this sect?

"But..."

She lowered her hand from her head, finally free from confusion, and completely cast that confusion aside.

"I am a celestial demon now, not just anyone."

Thus, the Spiritual Sense began to expand rapidly, Spirit Embodiment Stage was unleashed without reservation within the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Countless weaker disciples, upon merely making slight contact with this materialized Spiritual Sense, were overwhelmed by the unstoppable pressure and were even crushed into a lump of flesh—human flesh is difficult to compress into a meat patty because a person is not a uniform, boneless sphere.

As Spiritual Sense completely enveloped the entire Heavenly Dragon Sect, nearly 80% of the sect's cultivators lost their lives within a few breaths. Their cultivation levels were not high, and faced with such a dimensional attack from a cultivator of such a high level, they could only die in vain.

Those with slightly better strength, like Ye Yu who is in the late stage of Core Formation, were barely able to put up a fight. She spat out the blood and foam in her mouth, damaging the life-saving magic Magic Tool her master had once given her. It was this Magic Tool, combined with her decisive use of her cultivation, that saved her from being instantly killed.

However, she wasn't in much better shape. With each spit out of blood, her will to live seemed to deflate like a balloon with a hole, slowly draining away. She guessed who the source of this power was: the Heavenly Demon in the secret chamber.

Without a doubt, only Spirit Embodiment Stage could wield such power; even her master probably couldn't do something like that.

"I... I hate it so much."

She laughed bitterly. After learning the identity of the person in the secret chamber from the elder, she suddenly realized that her actions had become ridiculous. Why had she fled the Heavenly Devil Battlefield? Perhaps she could have lived longer on the battlefield now, rather than being killed by the Heavenly Demon.

He closed his eyes and plunged the sword at his waist into his heart with deadly ferocity. At least, he wanted her to choose a dignified way to die.

With his last breath, the eldest disciple of the Heavenly Dragon Sect Master vanished from the mortal realm.

"Dead?"

Such an action naturally did not escape the Yotsuya Miko. Her gaze fell upon the monk who had chosen to commit suicide, and she was baffled by his actions, wondering why he had died.

After all, she only wanted to expand her Spiritual Sense so that the suppressed Spiritual Sense could become active. As for those cultivators who died... let them be the unfortunate victims caught in the crossfire. As for that cultivator who committed suicide, he didn't have to die, yet he chose to take his own life.

"This is utterly baffling."

He muttered to himself, his Spiritual Sense gazing at the approaching cultivators in the distance, a smile spreading across his face.

"If anyone should die, it should be them, right?"

The cultivators who rushed over were three or four Spirit Manifestation Cultivators from the Demon Extermination Gate. They looked at the Heavenly Demon, whose figure had just emerged from under the black robe, with serious expressions, and felt that the situation was extremely troublesome.

This celestial demon recklessly unleashed its overwhelming aura, the powerful oppressive force spreading in all directions, continuing to surge outwards even after enveloping the Heavenly Dragon Sect. This powerful demonic might even made them feel threatened by death, causing these Spirit Manifestation Cultivator their Spiritual Sense.

Without a doubt, the Heavenly Demon before them was far more than just Spirit Embodiment Stage.

Damn it!

The leading cultivator cursed under his breath, intending to silently activate his backup plan and seek help from a Nascent Soul cultivator. However, the Heavenly Demon gave him no chance, teleporting in front of him the instant he was about to activate it.

And then—a casual swipe of its claw.

Silky smooth like in Fruit Ninja, a large watermelon was sliced in two, splashing out lots of juice.

Chapter 323 The Mysterious Demon King

Battles between cultivators are actually quite simple. The rules are nothing more than one side winning and the other losing, or one side dying and the other living.

No matter how elaborate the methods or how unusual the changes, it all comes down to one fundamental thing—whether or not they can harm the other party.

And so, a Spirit Manifestation Cultivator died, died in a very simple way.

His head was cleaved open, along with his soul; his flesh and blood rotted, and his body began to decay. At this point, his True Spirit finally dissipated, beyond the reach of even Enlightenment Cultivator.

Before the cultivators could even be horrified by the deaths of their companions, they swiftly activated their protective magical Magic Tool and unleashed various Magic Tool and attacks on the location of the dead cultivators.

"Gather!"

A cultivator shouted, and his companions immediately huddled together, unleashing their Spiritual Sense to probe the surroundings without reservation, in case of such an attack.

These Spirit Manifestation Cultivator, who have reached such a level, are certainly not foolish or stupid. Even if they were somewhat careless before seeing the Heavenly Demon because of the large number of people, they have now composed themselves and begun to take the Heavenly Demon in front of them seriously.

The lessons of the past made them hesitant to devote their attention to making contacts, lest they be killed by the Heavenly Demon at the slightest mistake. They focused all their attention on the Heavenly Demon, wanting to test its strength before taking any action.

These Spiritual Sense swept everywhere, but the Heavenly Demon couldn't even catch a glimpse of its shadow.

Where the cultivator had died, only a pool of blood and bits of flesh remained, his original form unrecognizable. However, the Magic Tool on his body were still relatively sturdy, with some fragments remaining.

Although it was a hasty action, fortunately, this person didn't hold a high position; he was only appointed captain of the team because of his abilities. Otherwise, such an action would have undoubtedly drawn much criticism and hostility upon his return.

However, they will only face criticism and targeting when they have the opportunity to return.

Only when his Spiritual Sense was a little further away, passing over the mass of his own cultivator's blood residue, did he finally detect the aura and figure of the Heavenly Demon.

The demon had retreated to a very far distance during the attack and was now staring at them for some unknown reason, its face expressionless.

"Disappointing fragility."

Yotsuya Miko glanced at the wary and panicked Spirit Manifestation Cultivator, then looked at her own claws again. Although it was a sneak attack, the ease with which it was launched was truly disappointing, making her realize the fragility of these human cultivators.

However, based on Zhang Qiudao's knowledge that had not been sealed away in his memory, this was quite normal.

The bodies of demons are inherently much stronger than those of humans, and humans rely more on the power of spells and Magic Tool to deal with them. Spells and Magic Tool are converters of spiritual energy for human cultivators, enabling the originally gentle spiritual energy to manifest extremely powerful forces.

Although spiritual energy can transform a cultivator's physique, and the stronger the cultivator, the more powerful their physique, such power ultimately has a fundamental basis—the human body. Even if one can become tens of thousands of times stronger, the original foundation is still a fragile body.

Zhang Qiudao that it was precisely because of the weakness of the human race's physique that he began to consider the relationship between physique and lifespan. There was a slight connection, but it wasn't a very strong one.

"Human cultivators' physiques are not particularly outstanding in the world, so blindly strengthening their physiques is not something they pursue. In the eyes of cultivators, physiques are merely a byproduct of their cultivation level; it's better to use spiritual energy to build up external defenses. This approach cannot be said to be wrong; it's simply playing to one's strengths and avoiding one's weaknesses."

It looked at the people in front of it, completely oblivious to the fact that villains die from talking too much.

"Magic Tool and techniques are far more cost-effective than physical constitution itself. This is a unique talent of human cultivators. In the ancient Xuanhui Realm, there were also cultivators who cultivated their bodies, but because this kind of body cultivation consumed far more energy than other cultivators, it was difficult to support their large numbers. Although such body-cultivating cultivators were extremely powerful, they were limited by their short lifespans, often one or two hundred years less than the current Enlightenment Cultivator, and thus gradually disappeared. This is the evolution of the natural selection process of heaven and earth."

"While some cultivators today, like those in the Demonic Path, seek the power of the Heavenly Demon to acquire a strong physique, the advantage is that it requires little effort and can be achieved quickly. However, the disadvantages are also obvious: they are easily corrupted and infected by the Heavenly Demon, ultimately becoming nothing more than an empty shell. There are compromises that seek the power of the Heavenly Demon while avoiding its influence, but such compromises are often ineffective and offer little resistance to corruption, instead resulting in chaos. Indeed, this path is simply too difficult to follow."

After rambling on, he looked at the people in front of him again, and couldn't help but smile.

"You lot are quite interesting!"

As it spoke, its form vanished into the air, disappearing from sight.

Those cultivators who were listening to the Heavenly Demon's words but dared not act rashly due to vigilance and fear had never heard of such Xin Mi and were unaware of the existence of body-refining cultivators. Therefore, they listened to "Yotsuya Miko's words with a mixture of interest and curiosity, while also paying some attention to it. Only after its form dissipated did they suddenly realize what it was about to do.

"Oh no! It must have run away!"

A cultivator shouted, waking the still somewhat dazed cultivators around him. The cultivators, who had been huddled together, suddenly remembered what they were supposed to do. Instinctively, they scattered, preparing to use their Spiritual Sense to search for the direction the demon had fled. After all, if it was going to escape, it wouldn't turn back halfway to kill one or two of them, would it?

Thinking this way, they even temporarily put aside their communications. While the communications could be postponed, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves if the Heavenly Demon truly disappeared. Moreover, hearing the Heavenly Demon's words lessened their panic considerably, realizing that the instantaneous killing of the Spirit Manifestation Cultivator wasn't due to the Heavenly Demon's superior strength, but rather because the cultivator hadn't reacted at all. If the cultivator had possessed even a single Magic Tool that activated, they wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament.

The physical constitution of these human cultivators is indeed incomparable to that of the Heavenly Demon, but why compare them? As long as they can withstand a blow from the Heavenly Demon and survive, they can find a way to fight back. Their magical Magic Tool must be somewhat effective. Using their weaknesses to attack the Heavenly Demon's strengths is a fool's idea.

With that in mind, they dispersed even more.

Then, in the next moment, accompanied by a shrill scream, an evil aura emerged in the Spiritual Sense of these Spirit Manifestation Cultivators.

Then came another round of gatherings, because the Heavenly Demon had not truly left.

Chapter 324 Recalling the Scene

By the time the Nascent Soul cultivators arrived at the Heavenly Dragon Sect, the originally dispatched Spirit Manifestation Cultivator were already on edge, instinctively attacking any strangers they saw, and had fallen into a state of hysteria.

Looking at the remaining cultivators, and the few incomplete corpses and fragments of artifacts on the ground that still exuded a Spirit Embodiment Stage energy, this Nascent Soul cultivator understood the cause and effect of the matter.

"To sow discord and unsettle people?"

He looked up and several beams of white light erased the spells that the Spirit Manifestation Cultivator were casting at him. Then, several beams of white light entered their bodies, causing them to completely lose consciousness, which forced out the dark gray energy within them.

This gray mist is precisely the specialty of the inner demon of the Heavenly Demon, a supernatural ability capable of wreaking havoc on people's hearts.

"What a brilliant method! It's probably far beyond what ordinary inner demons can achieve."

He murmured to himself, temporarily concealing the jade tablet that had floated up. This jade tablet was the reason he had come here; he had only become aware of it after its owner died, and had rushed here from the Jade Pure Sect's mountain gate. However, it seemed it was already too late; the inner demon had already left after killing the two of them, without lingering for long.

"However, this hasty action did not disturb the battlefield much, and it allows for arbitrary rewinding."

With that, he tossed the unconscious cultivators behind him and then unleashed his magic technique—a unique and wondrous art of the Jade Pure Sect— on a spot in front of him.

"Following the time, calculate, position three and seven, begin."

With a loud shout, he drew upon a great deal of azure and yellow energy from his body. Although the spiritual energy generated by the Jade Pure Sect's techniques was not as powerful as the Profound Nether Qi, it still possessed unique effects. And this effect, combined with the Jade Pure Sect's incantations, allowed him to use his own perception and the traces of the scene to glimpse events that had occurred in the past.

The more comprehensive the understanding, the clearer the traces on site, and the more accurate the observation. However, in the end, it is just deducing past events based on existing things, not speculating on the actual results out of thin air.

These green and yellow energies surged out from the Nascent Soul cultivators' bodies, transforming into countless tiny particles of light that covered the battlefield. As a result, several illusory figures suddenly appeared on the previously empty battlefield.

A phantom stood in the distance, while several other phantoms stood where the emotionally broken Spirit Manifestation Cultivator had originally been.

That illusory figure was the Heavenly Demon, while the other illusory figures were the Spirit Manifestation Cultivator.