Half-Demon Core Seed

Chapter 2: Half-Demon Core Seed

To cultivate into a demon!

He Yu held this goal in his heart, yet he was uncertain if it were possible. While it was said that demons were beasts, flowers, and plants that attained sentience through cultivation, the information he had consumed in his past life suggested they primarily absorbed the essence of the sun, moon, and stars. Here, beneath the firmament, one could not even see the sun, moon, or stars—where, then, was there any such essence to be found?

Setting these thoughts aside, He Yu focused on devouring the Vermilion Fruit before him. Before long, all three fruits had entered his belly; it was hard to imagine how his tiny frame could contain so much pulp.

Full! Satisfied! After finishing his meal, these were the only two sensations He Yu felt. Although he could not perform internal observation, he clearly sensed his body filled with a powerful, pale cyan gas. This gas granted him a sense of vitality, naturalness, and harmony, as if it were the breath of heaven and earth, nourishing all things.

Could this be the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? He Yu wondered. Spiritual fruits were formed precisely by absorbing the spiritual energy of the world, possessing unimaginably divine effects. Just like the Ginseng Fruit Tree of Zhenyuanzi, the Ancestor of Earthly Immortals mentioned in the Journey to the West from his past life, which was said to have been formed from a chaotic ginseng seed at the dawn of creation, absorbing countless primordial spiritual energies to become one of the ten great spiritual roots of the Primordial World.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree blossomed every three thousand years, bore fruit every three thousand years, and took another three thousand years to ripen. In ten thousand years, it yielded only thirty fruits. Those with affinity would live for three hundred and sixty years just by smelling one; eating one would grant forty-seven thousand years of life. The fruits would fall upon touching gold, wither upon touching wood, dissolve upon touching water, scorch upon touching fire, and vanish into the earth upon touching soil. One had to use gold implements to harvest them.

Though the Vermilion Fruit was also a spiritual fruit, it paled in comparison to the Ginseng Fruit and could not be mentioned in the same breath. Still, it too was born from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, merely lacking the innate foundation of the Ginseng Fruit Tree.

He Yu was almost certain that what he possessed was indeed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. This was a treasure! Cultivators used the absorption of this energy as the foundation for their practice, yet he had bypassed so much arduous labor. One had to realize that for a cultivator to absorb the amount of spiritual energy contained within these three Vermilion Fruits, it would take years, even in a land rich with such energy.

Once the spiritual energy entered his body, it began to strengthen and evolve him from the inside out. Alas, his constitution was too weak; after digesting only a fraction of the energy, his body could no longer sustain the evolution. The remaining ninety-nine percent of the energy flooded his system, but fortunately, the Vermilion Fruit's energy was mild, so despite its potency, it did not harm him.

He raised his two large pincers before his eyes and was shocked—they were more than three times larger than before, and he felt a surge of explosive strength.

After a brief inspection, He Yu confirmed that not only had his pincers tripled in size, but his entire body had grown as well. His strength, speed, defense, agility, and stamina had all skyrocketed.

If one percent of the energy had allowed him to undergo such a complete transformation, what would happen if he digested it all?

Just as he was feeling exhilarated, a massive change occurred within him. He Yu felt an invisible energy surging from every part of his body toward his core. The turbulent spiritual energy filling him seemed to sense something; it all rushed toward his center, merging with that invisible force as the pale cyan energy began to compress.

As the energy compressed, the feeling of fullness in He Yu's body rapidly diminished. A tiny cyan speck appeared at his center. As more energy poured in, the speck grew brighter and larger, its color deepening. Originally cyan, it turned deep cyan as all the energy flowed in, and its size doubled.

The moment the deep cyan speck took shape, the invisible energy surging from his body fused into it. The speck vibrated, its light flickering, before finally settling down, its color returning from deep cyan to a standard cyan.

Though the color had faded, He Yu could feel that its essence had been strengthened. This had surpassed the realm of mere spiritual energy; no amount of compression or aggregation of ordinary energy could compare to it.

Could this be a demon core? He Yu thought, his face paling. In truth, this could be considered a seed of a demon core, though it was incomplete. A true demon core was formed from the essence of the sun and moon, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and one's own innate demon energy. He Yu's seed lacked the essence of the sun and moon; at best, it was a half-demon core.

Once the half-demon core seed was formed, a sense of effortless control emerged in his heart. With a thought, He Yu swung his large pincers forward. He felt the cyan speck within him stir, and a stream of cyan energy surged out, splitting into two threads that extended from his pincers like thin, meter-long whips.

Swish! Crack!

The two whips lashed out fiercely. Amidst flying bark and wood chips, two deep gouges appeared on a tree trunk several meters high.

Looking at the damage he had caused, He Yu was stunned into silence. At the same time, he was awestruck by the speck within him. If merely splitting off two strands of energy was this sharp, how powerful would he be if he attacked with his full essence?

With that single strike, the two strands of "demon energy" had been significantly depleted, consuming nearly a quarter of his reserves.

He Yu was incredibly excited. He didn't know exactly what the energy speck was, but it didn't matter—it was enough to know it was powerful. He also understood that spiritual energy could strengthen and grow this speck.

Imagining himself growing the speck to a massive size with spiritual energy, then unleashing countless whips of "demon energy" with a single thought, He Yu felt a surge of motivation.

Looking at the bustling forest, He Yu continued deeper, hoping to find more spiritual fruits. Even if they were inferior to the Vermilion Fruit, as long as they contained spiritual energy, it would suffice.

With his larger body and increased strength, He Yu moved through the forest more than a hundred times faster than before.

In his past life, He Yu had watched plenty of nature documentaries and knew well the danger and cruelty of the forest. It was pure survival of the fittest, naked and brutal. Without wisdom and strength, one could not survive. Yet, he had some confidence; not only did he possess human consciousness, but the "demon core" within him was enough to deal with many animals.

As he traveled, having just rounded a few large trees, He Yu froze in his tracks. Staring at the several Vermilion Fruits and a massive, century-old lingzhi mushroom before him, he was speechless. These spiritual treasures, which were once impossible to find in a hundred lifetimes, were as common here as roadside cabbage.

"What kind of insane world is this!" He Yu looked up at the sky, speechless. There were no sun, moon, or stars, yet rare spiritual treasures grew everywhere.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, one that filled him with terror!

The dawn of the Primordial World!

Could this be the beginning of the Primordial World? A world not long after Pangu split the heavens and earth?

But thinking about it, it didn't seem right. According to the myths of his past life, Pangu had perished in the process of creation. The ancient gods, the Three Pure Ones, the Ancestral Witches, and the myriad tribes of the Primordial World were all transformed from Pangu's body, and the sun, moon, and stars were formed from his eyes and hair. Here, there were clearly no sun, moon, or stars!

Perhaps the legends aren't true. There are different versions of creation in the East and West from my past life, each claiming its own truth; perhaps none of them are real, He Yu mused. The thought that he might have transmigrated to the dawn of the Primordial World filled him with both excitement and fear. If this were truly the Primordial World, even if he started at the bottom, achieving transformation and immortality would not be difficult—this was the dream of countless cultivators in his past life!

But the fear was also immense. He Yu had read many novels about the Primordial World and knew well the level of danger. According to those stories, Golden Immortals walked the earth like commoners, and Heavenly Immortals were as lowly as dogs. With his small frame, one careless move and he would be obliterated.

It seems I need to figure out this place as soon as possible. If this really is the Primordial World? I must plan accordingly. He Yu pondered, momentarily ignoring the many spiritual treasures before him.