Recovery and Origins

"It's not over yet!"

The Abyss Demon's eyes snapped open, its crimson gaze locked dead onto Er Dongsheng. Copious amounts of fresh blood were gushing from its mouth. "Let's go to Heaven together!" Its body abruptly swelled, ballooning up like a blowing-up rubber balloon. This was...

"Not good, get down!"

Boom!

After a long while, the dust kicked up by the violent explosion slowly settled. Two figures, one large and one small, crawled out from the dust-covered ground.

"Spit, spit. Damn it, you won't even let me off easy after dying!" Er Dongsheng stood up, wincing and grimacing as he patted the dirt off his body. A burning pain radiated from his back—he didn't even need to think to know this was the result of the demon's final self-detonation.

"Hiss..."

"So painful! Fortunately, I've practiced external martial arts for a long time, otherwise this single strike would have cost me my life for sure!" Er Dongsheng twitched his mouth in pain.

He also blamed himself for his lack of experience, truly not expecting the demon's vitality to be so tenacious. In the very end, it actually used its evolutionary talent. That was right—self-detonation was this demon's evolutionary skill.

"No wonder. Throughout the entire fight, I never saw it use an evolutionary skill. So it was a self-detonation. What a trash skill, hurting others and oneself alike!"

Hiss...

"So painful! This place is no place to linger, I'd better leave quickly! If my unlucky self runs into another Abyss Demon, I'll have no choice but to go back home and chat with the King of Hell!"

"I wonder if the King of Hell still takes stowaways like me?" Chuckling self-deprecatingly, Er Dongsheng called out to the Little Succubus, who was sticking her little butt out and searching around for something.

"What are you looking for? Hurry up and go!"

"Oh, oh, okay-nan, coming right away!"

The two figures, one large and one small, gradually merged as they walked toward the distance. Their silhouettes grew longer and longer under the illumination of the faint light, and the murmurs of the two drifted over from afar.

"Little one, what are you holding in your hand~~"

"Nan~ A big guy's Tutu Beast~"

"What, you still had time to look for this! You little foodie~"

"Nan~ Lulu is about to starve to death, big guy~"

"Alright, alright. Let's go home and have a big feast to celebrate."

"...Nan... Nan... Going home! Big feast!"

"..."

"I said, wipe your drool!"

That's right, they were going home! A home for two.

One week later

"Hah."

Twisting his neck and loosening his joints, Er Dongsheng stood up and checked his body. Boundless vital energy flowed within him, and waves of life aura surged outward. A powerful momentum burst forth from his body, agitating the void.

"Not bad, the injuries have finally fully recovered. Through this battle, my external kung fu has also broken through to a minor level, and my cells, tendons, and bones have become even tougher. It seems it's time to break through to tier one! My current self has reached peak condition. Especially after this battle, my spirit has sublimated, and I sensed the great Abyssal Will. With that trace of a barrier gone, I will never feel danger during a breakthrough again!"

"It looks like I need to prepare." Pondering for a moment, Er Dongsheng stood up.

"Big brother~~ Uh, are you better-nan?" The Little Succubus watched Er Dongsheng stand up with a face full of pleasant surprise. This little one could be said to have fully accepted Er Dongsheng over this past week, transferring all her affection for her mother entirely onto him, clinging to him at every moment. Of course, relatively speaking, this little one liked the food Er Dongsheng made even more! Case in point, right now.

"Lulu, finish the food in your mouth before speaking!" He shook his head helplessly. This little one was probably starved silly, thinking about eating every single second, even though her little belly was already bulging and sticking out.

Reaching out to stroke the little one's head, he turned and sat on the stone slab in front of the campfire. The Little Succubus naturally leaped into Er Dongsheng's arms, her left hand still handing over the hind leg of an Abyss Tutu Beast.

"Nan~ Big brother, eat!"

"Alright, little one, eat it yourself!" Stroking the Little Succubus's head again, Er Dongsheng recalled what the little one had told him.

The Little Succubus didn't know where she came from either, only knowing that her community had many, many people. In the little one's original words, it was the sum of all the hands and feet of five or six of herself put together. Er Dongsheng calculated it out—it was probably around a hundred people. It was a very large community.

The little one said that she was born different from other succubi: her skin was whiter, and she had no little horns. She was completely a mutated version of the Abyss Succubus. This point made the leader of the community, which was the little one's mother, extremely overjoyed. In the Abyss, mutation represented strength.

However, it was a pity that even though the little one was mutated, several years passed and she still hadn't manifested any talents. She slowly began to fall out of favor in the community, and in the end, her food and lodging were worse than those of other little succubi.

Even so, the little one always firmly believed that her mother still loved her, and that she had just forgotten about her for now. As for why she suddenly appeared in the forest, she didn't know either; she only knew that when she woke up, she was already in the forest.

When Er Dongsheng heard this, he was speechless, and the little one kept quiet as well. She had probably guessed it too—she had been abandoned! The Abyss had no need for trash, especially when that trash came from the community leader's own flesh and blood.

"Then let me be your big brother!" Stroking the little one's head, Er Dongsheng had said back then.

"Big brother?"

"Mm, big brother. A big brother who is even closer than a mother!"

"Mm-mm, big brother, big brother, big guy big brother!" The little one happily hugged Er Dongsheng as large tears fell.

From that day on, Er Dongsheng had a younger sister, and he had something to care about in the Abyss. He was no longer alone.

Coming back to his senses, Er Dongsheng looked at the little one in his arms, who was continuing to diligently battle the Tutu Beast's hind leg, and a sudden, extraordinary sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart.

With a home and a little sister, I am not lonely in the Abyss.

Boom! The Inner Palace rumbled.

The timing for a breakthrough had arrived...