Candidates for Cult Leader

The old man of the demonic path stared at the metal Dantian, then looked at Hu Mang. When he saw the demonic light in Hu Mang's eyes, he was slightly taken aback.

"You're also a member of the Holy Cult?"

"If I had to put it in perspective, I'd probably call myself an unofficial member of the demonic path," Hu Mang chuckled.

"I have a question I'd like to ask you about something that happened 25 years ago."

The old man of the demonic path pondered for a moment, then suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and he blurted out, "You're one of those babies from back then?"

"I guess so," Hu Mang said casually.

"According to what I know, back then, in order to select infants with so-called demonic aptitude, those who successfully underwent modification were taken overseas, while those who failed, given your style, were probably destroyed on the spot. So the question is, what about someone like me who was neither taken overseas nor destroyed on the spot?"

The old man from the demonic path thought about it seriously and actually responded.

"That matter wasn't handled by my side back then; it was orchestrated by the Holy Son Cult. However, I do know a bit about the situation."

"The fundamental purpose of modifying the aptitude of those infants back then was not to mass-produce children with demonic aptitude, but to cultivate candidates for sect leaders with the aptitude of demonic holy sons. Otherwise, if it was just about modifying infants, we could have done it ourselves overseas, and there would have been no need to come all the way to Heavenly Gate."

"However, Heavenly Gate's reaction was too intense, rendering most of our preliminary work futile, and almost all of the Holy Son's faction was wiped out."

"If you are truly one of those babies from back then, neither taken away nor artificially destroyed, then there is only one possibility: you are a holy child who has not been unsealed."

The old man of the demonic path stared intently at Hu Mang, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

"The Holy Son who hasn't been unsealed," Hu Mang muttered to himself.

"All innate talents are chosen from among millions, but those related to demonic paths are even more domineering and dangerous, and may not be fully manifested in infancy."

"This might be due to insufficient bloodline strength, or perhaps the bloodline is too dangerous, resulting in incomplete bloodline, or even because it hasn't reached the activation threshold and has been sealed away by the body's instinct for self-protection."

"These bloodlines are collectively referred to as the Sealed Holy Son."

"If they weren't taken away, it means those people back then couldn't confirm their lineage. The reason they weren't destroyed was also because they couldn't confirm their lineage. In this case, according to my speculation, they would most likely be treated as abandoned babies. If they had enough potential, they would be marked so that they could be found again in 10 or 20 years."

Mark?

I don't think I have this.

So, am I one of the weaker ones among the "Sealed Holy Son"?

The old man from the demonic path stared intently.

"So, fellow Daoist, do you possess any markings or tokens?"

Hu Mang chuckled twice.

"Sorry, no."

"Fellow Daoist is too modest. At your age, to have mastered demonic Cultivation Method to such a high level, if you were one of the Holy Sons who survived from that era, you would undoubtedly be among the most outstanding, perhaps only one step away from unlocking your full potential."

"If you say so, then it is."

"Since that's the case, why don't you come overseas with me? With your qualifications, you are absolutely capable of taking on the role of Holy Son. You probably don't know how prestigious this 'Holy Son' is; it's an important position that's highly regarded even in the Immortal Dynasty. You might even be accepted as a disciple by the Immortal Dynasty."

The old man from the demonic path was still trying to persuade Hu Mang, but his tone became increasingly subtle, or rather, eerie.

The Hu Mang's gaze fell upon these exoskeleton monsters. After a moment of contemplation, it suddenly laughed:

"Given the way you people operate, being a holy son is just a pretense; being dissected and studied, or even having your body possessed, is the real goal, isn't it? Especially for you mechanical magic practitioners, wouldn't a brain transplant be incredibly convenient?"

The old man from the demonic path sighed, his gaze growing increasingly strange, tinged with a hint of covetousness.

"Since the Holy Son doesn't believe my words, then I'll have no choice but to use force. But before that, I'll test the Holy Son's aptitude to see if he's qualified to be taken away by me."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen exoskeleton monsters at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage pounced on the Hu Mang.

With a flick of his spear, Hu Mang unleashed the "Fire Phoenix Scorches the Plains" technique, the spear tip overlapping and blasting away most of the target.

Then he strode forward, arriving directly in front of a "deer demon," transformed his arm into a whip, and with a backhand lash, sent the demon's head flying.

But before Hu Mang could turn around, "Deer Demon's" blood-soaked neck suddenly spewed out billowing demonic smoke, shooting straight at his face.

As a descendant of one of the Five Great Households, Hu Mang was well aware of this thing. What ordinary demons refined was called demonic wind and demonic mist, but only what was refined with their own Essence Blood was called demonic smoke. This thing was like sulfuric acid; the higher the cultivation level, the stronger the "sulfuric acid." And the opponent's "Foundation Establishment Late Stage" cultivation level was indeed a bit troublesome.

In the critical moment, Hu Mang performed a bridge maneuver, bending his body almost 180 degrees. At the same time, his toes, like a scorpion's tail, struck directly at the opponent's Lower Dantian Dantian, unsurprisingly shattering it. This stabbing kick also sent the opponent flying.

However, a wisp of demonic smoke still landed on the Hu Mang's body, and at the same time, a black light flashed across the Hu Mang's skin.

It was the Mysterious Yin Black Robe that evolved from the mastery of the Profound Yin Body Refining Technique.

Seeing this, the old demonic cultivator's eyes gleamed even brighter. "Excellent! As expected of a Holy Son, to be able to achieve such a feat. In that case, I have a new body."

The Hu Mang glanced expressionlessly at the dented Mysterious Yin Black Robe, then looked at the "deer demon" who had stood up again.

Even though its head and Dantian were gone, it could still move.

Is it impossible to kill?

The next moment, Hu Mang thrust his spear into the ground, grabbed with one hand, and unleashed a ball of Profound Yin Devil Fire. This black flame seemed to traverse the void and landed directly on the deer demon.

The deer demon's body quickly turned into piles of white bones and then collapsed. The flames rapidly shattered and spread to the surrounding demons. Wherever they passed, whether corpses or living creatures, their life essence was quickly absorbed, and then their bodies continued to shatter.

After devouring the essence of dozens of demon corpses, the Profound Yin Devil Fire rapidly expanded in size, transforming from a fist-sized flame into a black fire cloud. The fire cloud slowly rotated above the Hu Mang's head, with dark purple halos surging at its edges, while tiny vortexes formed at its center, drawing in the remaining Yin Qi and death energy and further strengthening itself.

Upon seeing this, the old man's expression finally changed, his face becoming more serious, but he quickly smiled again.

"Your Devil Cultivation Method are indeed remarkable, but this is the modern world. Let me show you the evolution of our modern demonic path."

As the words were spoken, the "External Spirit Root" that had been completely drained stood up again, and the aura on its metallic surface was only two or three points weaker.

These "demonic exoskeletons" were actually being artificially arranged, instantly creating a surge of Demonic Qi and Yin Qi atmosphere. The skeletons were blown into the air by the Demonic Qi and began to deform, reassembling themselves in a way that resembled matching mechanical parts. Many parts were even purely formed from Demonic Qi. Soon, a monster that was half bone and half demon floated in mid-air, and the aura of this Devil Creature was already at the Golden Core Late Stage, and it was still rising.

Seeing this, Hu Mang remained expressionless and uttered a single word.

"Go!"

The next moment, the black fire cloud above landed directly on the "giant metal skeleton," and the Profound Yin Devil Fire chirped loudly.

"Strange, why can't I absorb the vital energy!"

"This big, dumb guy doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives, not even a little bit!"

"What kind of weird stuff is this? It's inedible."

"Oh no, oh no, I'm going to get killed."

The "monster" reached out and grabbed at the void, instantly shattering the demonic clouds into hundreds of balls of demonic fire that shot out in all directions. Seeing this, the old demonic cultivator slapped the back of his head and activated the implanted slot in the back of his head to the frequency of Unity of Man and Formation. The next moment, the monster's empty eyes lit up instantly, and a demonic thought ten times stronger than that of Golden Core Early Stage cultivator swept out. Then, countless threads of Divine Sense shot out again, extinguishing the demonic fire one by one.

The core of these demonic flames is human desires and distractions, and Divine Sense thoughts are best at annihilating such beings.

"You took advantage of Jia Number Four's incomplete recovery of his cultivation to kill him, didn't you? Your own cultivation should not have broken through to the Golden Core stage yet. If Number Four were to condense his core again, you wouldn't have had the slightest chance," the old demonic cultivator said, looking down at the Hu Mang.

"Now you know how powerful we modern demons are, right?"

The Hu Mang squinted at the enormous creature, then suddenly grinned.

"I'm sorry, I'm a person who admires traditional methods."

The next moment, a black bell engraved with ghost heads was summoned by Hu Mang.

The Ten Thousand Ghost Bell, one of the demonic Law Artifact in the Storage Bag the Mysterious Yin Old Daoist, is also one of the prototypes of those three Law Treasure. It is good at interfering with Divine Sense and disturbing people's souls.

As the Hu Mang struck the bell, all the ghost heads on the Ten Thousand Ghost Bell opened their mouths simultaneously, and an extremely mournful howl of ghosts and wolves rang out. Wherever the sound wave passed, the old demonic man suddenly groaned, and his Divine Sense, which were suspended in mid-air and resembled ghost hair, were severed.

The old man from the demonic path also wore an expression of disbelief.

"How do you possess such a powerful magical Law Treasure?"

Clearly, the Ten Thousand Ghost Bell, which is only a rudimentary Law Treasure in the Azure Mysterious Realm, would definitely be a high-quality Law Treasure on Earth Star.

Compared to the non-lethal spiritual Artifact Spirit, the divine light of Law Treasure is itself an extremely powerful Divine Ability.

Without saying a word, Hu Mang summoned his second demonic Blood-Melting Divine Needle Law Treasure. In an instant, countless blood-red needles shot out, riddling the entire "exoskeleton array" with holes.