Earthly Baleful Qi

A streak of azure light tore across the firmament and shot westward. He Yu rode upon a cloud of demonic energy, feeling the fierce wind rush against him. His heart brimmed with exhilaration. Flying at such speed was simply wonderful. Watching the mountains and forests, rivers and peaks, hidden springs, and streams race backward beneath him, He Yu felt as though the vast world lay open for him to roam at will.

The distance of thirty thousand li was long, but before the speed of He Yu's demonic cloud, it was nothing. He could cover it in no time.

He Yu pondered the purpose of this trip. The Golden Radiance Region? Ten li across, and surrounded by black smoke that caused harm when approached. None of it made sense to him. Though he was confident that his cultivation had made him invincible in the Primordial World, even He Yu could not afford to take that strange region and its black smoke lightly.

Whoosh!

The sound of rushing air abruptly stopped as the demonic cloud halted in midair. He Yu looked down at the enormous, crude village. He had reached the Hedgehog Demon King's territory. The other enormous, crude village in the distance belonged to the Violent Crocodile Demon King.

He lowered the cloud and entered the village. He Yu's enormous demonic body immediately sent the countless lesser demons there into a panic. Once they recognized him, they dropped to their knees in terror and paid their respects. Some of them hurried off to report to the demon officials. The Hedgehog Demon King was a feudal lord of a town, appointed by He Yu. He commanded not only a great many lesser demons but also a dozen or two demon officials, each responsible for various affairs.

"Your subordinate pays his respects to the Demon King! May the Demon King enjoy eternal life and blessings!" A fat, white giant boar came striding over upright on its hind legs. It knelt and bowed, pressing its forelegs together in a gesture of respect. A dozen or so demon officials of various kinds followed behind it, all bowing with utmost reverence.

"You need not be so formal. Rise and speak," He Yu said with imposing authority, an overwhelming aura of dominance radiating from his entire body. He was no longer as he had been in the past. After being a Demon King and ruler of the Primordial World for some time, he had gradually cultivated an air of absolute supremacy.

"Yes!" Zhu Ba bowed respectfully. When he rose, he remained half-bent, gazing at He Yu with reverence. This was not the first time he had seen He Yu, but he was still deeply shaken. Not long ago, He Yu's demonic body had been less than a tenth of its current size. What did that even mean?

"The Demon King's cultivation grows more terrifying by the day. He must have reached the point of penetrating heaven and earth! No wonder he's the strongest in the Primordial World!" Zhu Ba marveled inwardly.

From the scene before him, Zhu Ba was clearly the head of the demon officials. And since he was a boar demon, He Yu's thoughts stirred, and he guessed that Zhu Ba must be connected to the Hedgehog Demon King. He paid it no heed. Such matters were no more than affairs of ants.

"This King has a question for you. What is the Golden Radiance Region, and what is that black smoke that harmed the Hedgehog? Tell me everything you know!" He Yu asked directly. Since Zhu Ba was the highest-ranking subordinate beneath the Hedgehog, he was bound to know plenty. Once He Yu learned what he could, he would head there himself.

Hearing He Yu's question, Zhu Ba dared not delay. "Reporting to the Demon King: not long ago, my Demon Lord and the Violent Crocodile Demon Lord happened upon a nearby gorge filled with golden light. Curious, they brought a few of us lesser demons along to investigate. After entering the gorge, they saw a region of golden light ten li across. Then two streams of black vapor surged out from within. The smoke was pitch-black and as thick as a bucket. The moment it appeared, it turned into two streaks of black light and struck the two Demon Lords. They both fell unconscious, and we carried them back. They still haven't woken. Black vapor coils around their bodies, and their breaths are faint and weak."

"Oh? Lead the way. This King will see what sort of gas could be so formidable." He Yu was delighted. With the black vapor coiling around the Hedgehog Demon King, he could study it firsthand. As the saying went, knowing yourself and your enemy was the only way to ensure victory.

At He Yu's command, Zhu Ba immediately led the way. The other demon officials followed behind, fawning and flattering him.

Before long, Zhu Ba led He Yu to the central hall. It stood at the heart of this enormous village and was magnificent, covering dozens of li and standing nearly a hundred zhang tall. Compared with He Yu's King's Palace, it was utterly insignificant, but it still surpassed many buildings in Demon King City. The hall was crude, merely an imitation of the palace buildings in the royal city, so naturally it was far from elegant.

A giant statue stood in the vast plaza before the hall. Tall and imposing, it exuded dominance. It was a statue of He Yu. Numerous elite lesser demons stood guard around it, clad in armor and carrying weapons, disciplined and orderly. They had clearly undergone extensive training, and the faint traces of killing intent around them showed they had weathered bloody battles.

Seeing this, He Yu couldn't help feeling a pang of gloom. In his previous life, he had heard plenty about the benefits of faith power. Supposedly, as long as sincere believers worshiped and offered their devotion, the thoughts of countless beings could be gathered and put to use. It was said to be remarkably powerful. Now that he ruled the Primordial World and had countless demons under his command, he couldn't resist giving it a try. Unfortunately, the greater his hopes, the greater his disappointment.

"Alas! It seems the claims about faith from my previous life were either lies or simply don't apply yet." The Primordial World was still incomplete, and the Heavenly Dao had yet to emerge. Perhaps that was one reason he could not gather faith power.

He Yu's gloom came from the fact that his grand ambitions would soon be shattered. Once the Era of Giant Beasts arrived, he, the strongest in the Primordial World, might well fall to the very bottom. Unless he transformed into a Giant Beast himself—but that would be a path to certain death. He must never take it unless he had no other choice.

The hall was also guarded all around by countless lesser demons. They did not recognize He Yu, but with Zhu Ba leading the way, the group passed through without hindrance and reached the inner chamber.

As soon as he entered, He Yu spotted the Hedgehog Demon King lying on an enormous stone bed. It resembled the wild boars of his previous life, only more ferocious and vicious. Its body was about five zhang long, and its black bristles stood up like rows of sharp spikes. It looked mighty and terrifying, yet its face was twisted in pain, and streams of black vapor coiled around its body.

"This... this vapor?" The instant He Yu focused his attention on the black vapor surrounding the Hedgehog Demon King, he was greatly shocked. His cultivation was formidable, and the energy of his consciousness was terrifying. His five senses were so keen they had reached an almost frightening level, and even his sixth sense had begun to awaken. He could clearly sense how terrifying the black vapor was.

It was thick, solid, gloomy, immense—and carried an utterly terrifying baleful aura!

When he saw the black vapor, He Yu felt as though he were sensing the very source of the earth, as if this were the source of the land itself!

"Earthly Baleful Qi?" He Yu had devoured ancient texts in his previous life and studied Heavenly Stellar Qi and Earthly Baleful Qi in depth. Comparing what he saw to what he knew, he immediately recognized the vapor around the Hedgehog Demon King as Earthly Baleful Qi. Moreover, the Primordial World had only just come into being, so this Earthly Baleful Qi was over a hundred times purer and more concentrated than the Qi of later ages, bringing it extremely close to its source.

The power of Earthly Baleful Qi was terrifying. The Twelve Ancestral Witches had been born from Pangu's blood and the Source of Earthly Fiend. This source could also be called the source of Yin Turbid Qi, corresponding to the source of Heavenly Stellar Yang-Clear Qi. The two were evenly matched, neither superior nor inferior.

"Could the Golden Radiance Region be connected to an earth vein?" He Yu wondered. Earthly Baleful Qi lay deep within the earth. Given the vastness of the Primordial World, there should have been no way to draw it out. It could only emerge through the seventy-two naturally formed earth veins. But no one knew when those veins opened and closed, and the Earthly Baleful Qi they released would also be held in check by the veins.

"I've struck it rich, I've struck it rich! This time, I've really struck it rich! Earthly Baleful Qi!" He Yu was thrilled. Naturally, he would not absorb Earthly Baleful Qi to strengthen his body. It was not as gentle as Heavenly Stellar Qi; it was overwhelmingly domineering. Once it entered the body, it would assimilate one's consciousness, fusing the three souls and seven spirits with the flesh. After that, one could no longer wield Dao arts and divine abilities. He was no Wu Race cultivator! The Wu Race had inherited Pangu's blessings and shared a certain affinity with the Primordial World. Their bloodline carried Pangu's rules and divine abilities, while he was far from possessing such advantages.

Though he could not use Earthly Baleful Qi to strengthen his body, He Yu had another plan. His entire body was covered in 480 million black spikes, and Earthly Baleful Qi could be used to increase their power.

"Use Earthly Baleful Qi to strengthen my spikes, then absorb Heavenly Stellar Qi to reinforce my crab shell. With both Heavenly Stellar Qi and Earthly Baleful Qi within me, how formidable would I be!" At the thought, He Yu grew tremendously excited.

"Demon King!" Zhu Ba asked in a low voice. Seeing He Yu standing there dazed since laying eyes on the Hedgehog Demon King, Zhu Ba felt deeply uneasy. He was terribly afraid the Hedgehog Demon King might die. After all, all his glory and status came from the Hedgehog Demon King.

"Hmm? All of you, leave. This King will see if I can dispel this black vapor." He Yu's voice rang out coldly. He had always been cautious about cultivation and never let others observe it. This was the foundation of his survival.

"Yes, yes! This little demon will take his leave!" Hearing He Yu's cold command, Zhu Ba went pale and trembled with fear. He hurriedly bowed and left, with the other demon officials quickly following behind him.

Once they had all departed, He Yu gazed eagerly at the Earthly Baleful Qi surrounding the Hedgehog Demon King.

He circulated demonic energy to protect his entire body, leaving only his spikes exposed. He had no idea how powerful Earthly Baleful Qi was, so he had to be cautious. If it entered his body, his path to the Great Dao would be over!

He spread out his consciousness and drew a tiny wisp of Earthly Baleful Qi toward a spike on his giant pincer. The moment the Earthly Baleful Qi touched the spike, it immediately sank into it. After absorbing the Qi, the spike shimmered with a black sheen, and a faint baleful aura spread from it. The Earthly Baleful Qi quickly fused with the spike, increasing its power. Within a few breaths, the fusion was complete, and both its hardness and sharpness had greatly increased.

Seeing that it worked, He Yu was overjoyed. He immediately spread his consciousness wide and drew in more and more. At his urging, wisps of Earthly Baleful Qi flowed into spike after spike. There was quite a lot of it around the Hedgehog Demon King, but under He Yu's absorption, it all vanished before long.

After absorbing the Earthly Baleful Qi from the Hedgehog Demon King, He Yu had strengthened the hundreds of spikes on his two giant pincers several times over. It was quite a haul!

"The Hedgehog Demon King is finished. After the Earthly Baleful Qi entered his body, his demonic energy, consciousness, and soul all fused with his demonic body. Though his strength will reach the middle stage of the Golden Core realm, he'll have no room to improve from there." He Yu felt some pity for the Hedgehog Demon King. Then a thought struck him: once the demonic aura of the gods and devils descended, the Hedgehog Demon King's power would probably surge! He might even reach the pinnacle among Giant Beasts. But with his consciousness fused with his body, he would no longer be able to control his source power.

"If he's been transformed by the Earthly Baleful Qi, what would happen if he absorbed the demonic aura of the gods and devils too?" He Yu felt a little uneasy. What if the Hedgehog grew terrifyingly powerful?

"The Earthly Baleful Qi is taken care of, but I still don't know what the golden light is. Looks like I'll need this pig's help." He chuckled to himself. He had already made up his mind: neither the Hedgehog Demon King nor the Violent Crocodile Demon King could be allowed to live. Before the aura of the gods and devils descended, they had to vanish completely, reduced to nothingness in the Primordial World. He Yu could tolerate Giant Beasts becoming powerful, but he absolutely could not tolerate any Giant Beast reigning supreme over all the others.

"Huh? D-Demon King!" With the Earthly Baleful Qi absorbed, the Hedgehog Demon King slowly opened his eyes. It immediately saw He Yu beside it, that enormous, familiar demonic body. His demonic energy, deep as the sea and vast as the starry sky, filled it with shock. It hurriedly leaped down and bowed.

"What...?" The Hedgehog Demon King was stunned as it knelt. It had recovered?

"Your subordinate thanks the Demon King! Thank you for saving my life!" A thought crossed the Hedgehog Demon King's mind. Certain He Yu had helped him, he was overcome with gratitude and excitement.

"Enough. You're fine now. Hurry and take This King to that gorge!" Seeing the Hedgehog Demon King's expression, He Yu felt strange. Had he saved him? If he hadn't absorbed the Earthly Baleful Qi, the Hedgehog Demon King would have absorbed it all over time—and grown even stronger!

"Yes!" The Hedgehog Demon King immediately answered when he heard He Yu wanted to go to the gorge. What danger could there be? Seeing that He Yu's demonic body had grown more than tenfold, the Hedgehog swallowed nervously, his heart full of envy and reverence. He no longer worried about any danger. With the Demon King there, could anything still be dangerous?