Shit, this is going to be problematic, Tarta'Ghoul, king of the demons in this region is no pushover, he seems to be on the cusp of reaching the Soul Formation stage. But he is definitely stopping his progress and chose to remain on the nascent soul stage.
Not to mention, the three guards around him are all at the Nascent Soul, a fight here will definitely end with me dead, especially since the Laws of this world forbid me from using X at his full power. Only X's Soul formation power is enough to threaten the existence of these people. Still, so far they haven't attacked me so I'm sure there is a way out of this blunder with his daughter and all.
"Thank you for your praise," I said as I raised a mug that has been filled for me immediately. Fully ignoring the mass of demons bowing to the king.
"Brat! You should bow to the king!" one of the demons near me said.
"Brat?" I said as I frowned at the man then stood up from where I was sitting. "You seem to have forgotten what had just happened a few seconds ago?" I said as I made a finger-snapping gesture.
"Please calm down fellow cultivator Shen Bao!" the king said his voice didn't have any threatening tone to it. But it was serious, as the tone of a ruler who expected to be obeyed.
"I'm not a fan of listening to others," I said, "Nor bowing to those who do not rule over me."
"I would really appreciate if you could forgive this person, he is a patriot to the demon clan and had seen disgraces in you not bowing, though I'll never force another cultivator to bow to me if I didn't lord over them, I'm not your king so I do not expect your bow, this child has not understood that so please don't take it personally, he is just a good patriot."
I waved the sniveling demon away and turned to face the king, "You're wise." I said grinning.
"Thank you, it comes with age and responsibility. How may I call you?" asked Tarta'Ghoul.
I already know he knows my name but this gesture of his was a show of goodwill.
"I'm Shen Bao," I said.
"Good name, Silver Dragon, you seem like a dragon among men. I was told of your battle against heaven's tribulation. Not even my tribulation was as comparable to yours, you're a beacon to the younger generation." The king complimented. Empty words but courtesy costs nothing.
I clasped my hands to Tarta'Ghoul and said, "Many thanks for your high praise. To what do I owe the pleasure of this royal visit?" I said.
"We've received word that you have failed to partake in the Lord's Tourney. Seeing that you have just reached the Core Formation, it would be a waste to not have you among the participants."
I frowned, thought this tourney sounds all good, it's all about killing the others for some stupid ranking, I'm more interested in the good stuff that can be found in this small world than fighting pointless fights.
"I'm not interested in killing people just for the sake of killing."
Tarta'Ghoul glanced at the body of the big bully demon that was on the floor and raised one brow at me.
"Euh, he had it coming, he shouldn't have tried to steal a gift I gifted to another person," I replied, rather embarrassed but I didn't show it.
"Still, it's not all about the killing, it seems that the rules haven't been fully explained to you," Tarta'Ghoul said.
"I was not eligible so I suppose no one cared to fully explain the rules to me."
"Right then allow me to do so in their stead, In these Demon lands, the fights against other disciples are only a preparation to allow a hundred disciples to enter the Lord's Forbidden Valley. There are only one hundred tokens that can allow people entry into the Valley, and they have all been randomly thrown all over the demon lands. Many tokens have been found and their owners are hiding them, and the fights are mainly to take another person's token. If you receive a token you'll be allowed entry to the valley, which will open tomorrow."
"Oh," I thought and then received a message directly into my head, the voice belonged to Wu Di, "Me, Xiao Lang, and Yuzehan all have tokens, I already discussed with them that if we were to find another one we'll hand it to you."
"Right then, so now that I know the rules what benefits will I obtain from this valley?" I asked.
"Many, actually, you're the one who's probably going to benefit the most from the valley," Tarta'Ghoul said.
A bewildered look was clearly painted on my face as Tarta'Ghoul explained. "The Lord's Forbidden Valley isn't forbidden just to emphasize its name, it actually hosts one of the most dangerous areas of these demon lands, not even the other Demon Kings can enter it freely.
"Oh, so you're not the only king in these plains?"
"How can I be, the demon lands expand to hundreds of millions of miles."
'Again with the overexaggerated milage, hundreds of millions of miles is not something that can be grasped with simple measures, hell even the distance from the earth to mars is 54 million miles, and that's the minimum distance it could increase to more than 400 miles if they are on the farthest parts of their orbits. Hell, even the fastest shuttle from earth's technology would take nine months of constant travel just to get to Mars. And they are describing the milage of this small world with such huge numbers.'
The absurdity of this distance distracted me for a bit before the next words the king said brought me back to reality.
"Every one of the four demon kings will send their own disciples, cultivators, and demons to the valley, there is where the real competition will start."
"Then isn't it pointless to have this mass slaughter happening within your territory? Shouldn't you just personally hand over the token to the most eligible?" I asked.
Tarta'Ghoul shook his head, "It would not be fair, luck is also an aspect of one's power, luck to find the token even if one is weak, luck to escape the hunt, and luck to actually steal the treasures from the valley, I won't interfere with the destiny of the cultivators if they are lucky enough to find the tokens who am I to take it from them and hand it to one who is unworthy of fate's eyes no matter how strong they are."
"Seems rather arbitrary, but still your kingdom your rules," I replied. "But what does that have to do with me?" I asked.
"Right, there is something I'd like for you to bring me." The king said.
I didn't like where this was going, "It's a Black Nether Rose."
The hell is that? I wondered but my body shuddered immediately.
The poison god's book seemed restless the moment it heard the words.
And I received a message in my head.
*****
Black Nether Rose.
A sublime alchemical ingredient that can help a cultivator remove evil energy from their body and increase their cultivation speed.
As a poison Cultivator, The Black Nether Rose is highly lethal to you, but if you refine it using the energy of a Yin Origin Flower that you already consumed it can switch its attributes to increase the Evil Energy within you, making your Poison Qi far more lethal and allow you to use it to better ends. I have managed to find one of these Black Nether Roses in my travels and it helped me greatly.
As a poison cultivator, you're bound to the Demonic path, it's ruthless, sordid, and evil, you're unbound by morals, right and wrong mean nothing to you, but at the same time, you cannot go against your own heart's wish.
You are evil, but a demonic path villain. Unlike a Devil path's villain who needs to consume the lives of people, ravage their bodies, and instill terror in the world, a Demonic Cultivator is spared from such deeds and does not need to do them.
For example, a Devil Cultivator can cultivate a skill called, Death Sentence, it allows him to kill a man with a single thought if they were even one realm below them, and cause grievous internal injury if they were the same realm. But to cultivate this technique a Devil Path Cultivator would need to kill at least one person every day, and sacrifice a hundred unborn children every five years. If he misses one day, he will be killed by his own skill.
These are the limitation of the Devil Path, they give amazing abilities but the costs are too weighty on one's conscious.
The Black Nether Rose would find more use for a Devil cultivator but even as a Demon path Cultivator you'll find great opportunities to it.
However, beware of the dangers of the Black Nether Rose. It will cause you madness and make you lose your sanity if you were to go against your own heart even once. You will fully fall from the Demonic Path and into the depraved Devil Path. Though if it is your wish, I shall never go against you. You're my disciple and your happiness and future mean more to me than what the world thinks of you, even if I truly wish not to see you fall to the Devil Cultivation path.
****
I thought a lot about what the book had mentioned and immediately came to an answer, "Why do you wish to obtain such an evil thing?" I asked.
"It's not for me," replied Tarta'Ghoul, "In fact, if you find it I would rather you destroy it. Vitra'Ghoul, my rival in another demonic country is actually preparing a great insurgence of people to go to the valley, he wishes to obtain it and elevate his cultivation, once he has the Black Nether Rose he will come at me and my people and raze us to the ground, he has been cultivating a devil technique that will make him unparalleled in his same realm, and if he were to obtain the Black Nether Rose, then no one will be spared from his power, he will annex the whole demon lands and will focus his attention at the world above."
"I see, but why me? Why not everyone else, though I hardly care about this world nor if this Virta'Ghoul guy assaulting the world of cultivators, it's really not my place to interfere, I have no benefits from this and I'll only end up facing another person if I were to vie for things he wants."
"It has to be you, especially after your display. Because the Black Nether Rose is inside a rift filled with poisonous creatures and herbs inside the Lord's Valley. Even with innumerable treasures, we couldn't obtain the rose, but it seems that Vitra'Ghoul is going to send an entire army to get the rose uncaring about the consequences, and if he throws his whole force there, and obtains it, it will be a win for him."
I thought carefully about this, if what this man is saying is true, then I'll be going to a very beneficial place for me and my cultivation, but there is one thing that's bothering me.
I focused my will and divine sense and managed to link my mind to Tarta'Ghoul, "You've been speaking freely in the presence of so many people aren't you afraid that there could be a spy among them and will warn Vitra'Ghoul about this? I think you're actually trying to use me as a scapegoat or a distraction, you must have another reason?" I said.
I instantly received a divine sense reply, "Brother Shen Bao is wise, but actually this is to your own benefit."
"How come, all I understood is that there is nothing beneficial to me, I'll be used and won't gain a thing." Besides the poison but I won't clarify that to him.
"I have heard words that you had many pills, too many for any regular cultivator, pills you consumed when facing the heavenly tribulation, and pills you used when gifting children, I say you're an alchemist." The man said.
"And what does that have to do with anything?" I asked, I have yet to verify this man's words for true or false.
"Because I have a map to a treasure far too enticing for you not to go there," Tarta'Ghoul said. and I waited for a reply.
"When one of my henchmen was in the Poison Rift, he was chased by a Fifth-Tier beast, a Venom Spitting Skylark," Tarta'Ghoul said. "And in his escape, he managed to find a small cave where he hid and actually almost died inside that cave. He found a Heart Flame."
'Oh, now this is really interesting!'
"Say, what color was that flame?" I asked.
"The best one for you… a green one." Tartha'Ghoul said, his eyes confident and his posture inviting.
My mouth twitched as a wide grin crept up my face, "Isn't that fascinating!"