The faces of the 666,666 Heart Demons shifted in Xinzi’s mind. Their emotions, ambitions, desires, all that ever represented them, burning in his soul.
Over half a million individual personas, wiped out in a single move and consumed till nothing stayed behind.
Well, not really. Their thoughts and emotions would remain, buried in Xinzi’s soul. They weren’t dead, just transitioning into particles of a new entity, or so Xinzi thought, at least.
The average Heart Demons, those that typically took shape in a straying cultivator’s heart, were born and bred from insecurities, vices, and corruption. These dark emotions now acted as fuel for Xinzi’s Bloodshifter Heart and Evil Qi.
In a flash, Xinzi’s Evil Qi reserves rocketed to stratospheric heights. And for the first time since he returned from Heaven, Xinzi’s Evil Qi rose to the point that it threatened to eclipse even the Divine Power boost gained from integrating the Heavenly Dao.
But as this went on, Xinzi sank into indulgence, embracing — no — devouring the variety of positive and negative, mostly negative emotions that once defined these Heart Demons. Purple tears trickled down his cheeks, and as his own emotions battered the Heavenly Dao to retrieve their freedom, Xinzi joined his hand in a prayer sign, chanting Lianist sutras from inside his coffin.
Tied to the Word of Indulgence and Xinzi’s corrupt actions, the Holy Force shot up as well, increasing on the tune of his Evil Qi boost.
The Heaven-Trampling Dao Bones had never shone brighter. The Hell-Suppressing Immortal Pulse beat so loud that the three million spirit scions became convinced that an ancient creature of mountainous size hid and growled from inside that silver coffin.
’Are we witnessing the reincarnation of an ancient primordial beast?’ They wondered, trembling at the belief that, as soon as the hidden creature completed its rebirth, they’d follow the Heart Demons to the grave.
A bracelet composed of 108 lilac prayer beads appeared above the coffin. Divine Power, Evil Qi, Holy Force, and a multitude of harmonized elements overflowed from each bead. The illusory form of Xinzi’s scattered Klesha and Vetala Hearts took shape behind the beads, morphing into their true demonic forms.
At the left, an irresistible lilac-eyed fairy boy with long elfin ears, dark curly hair, and a chiseled body replaced the illusory Klesha Heart.
At the right, a lanky and skeletal gray-skinned figure dressed in long white robes, with a curtain hat that kept his bony face covered, replaced the Vetala Heart. Both apparitions joined their hands in prayer signs, praying at the beads. They split into six sets of sixteen beads, with each set having the runic characters for Wrath, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Vanity, and Withdrawal inscribed on their surface.
One character per sixteen-bead set. One Creed of Corruption.
Yes, as he consumed and digested the gains from these 666,666 Heart Demons, Xinzi awoke six Demon Creeds, fusing them with the prayer beads he’d received from the Heavenly Dao.
The early stage of the Demon Creed realm was comparable to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. So theoretically, Xinzi added six peak Nascent Soul cultivation bases to his Dao Foundation. But it didn’t stop here. The Evil Qi accumulation was far too much for Xinzi to stop at a measly early stage. The Demon Creeds progressed at the same breakneck pace, each reaching the mid-stage of their respective Demon Creed.
Now, Xinzi had six extra cultivation bases, each comparable to the peak of the Void Tribulant realm. But the gains only kept adding up. Xinzi broke through to the sixth-order of Blood Energy, and not long afterward, directly rose to the seventh. His Eternal Dragon Monster Core grew more tyrannical, and his Holy Force touched a bottleneck.
”From my Word of Indulgence, I devised a Law. Now from the Law, I must promulgate a Sentence — thereby taking my place among the Ascendants of the Holy Road. Help me, and by virtue of this karma, you will all become…enlightened,” Xinzi said.
His words put the three million spirit scions in a trance, erasing all doubts and fears. They too joined their hands in prayer signs, chanting sutras that they previously knew nothing of as they entered holy communion with Xinzi. Dazzling golden rays lit up the spirit scions’ skins, rising towards the ceiling to become three million pillars of golden light.
Bright lotuses bloomed on top of these pillars, opening and closing as if to match the patterns of Xinzi’s breath.
In that instant, from the most honored part of the Pure Land, the Golden Lotus’ voice echoed.
”Remove the divination obstruction imposed by the Infernal Ancestors. A new Ascendant…has risen.”
…
Meanwhile, as Xinzi ascended to a new lifeform tier, others progressed as well. In the Longxi royal palace’s forbidden tower, Zhenwu Shenquan cultivated in seclusion. The Demon Sealing Pagoda hovered between his hands, spinning like a whirligig, and helping the Zhenwu patriarch’s cultivation base grow immensely.
By now, Zhenwu Shenquan had already healed the injuries he’d suffered in the Yellow Spring Undead Kingdom, but captivated by the benefits he could obtain from the Demon Sealing Pagoda, he stayed in seclusion.
Traces of Immortal Qi laced his Dao Foundation, and as his cultivation base soared, so did his latent Divine Power.
’Unbelievable. It took me 10,000 years to reach the early stage of Supreme Clarity. But now, after just three months of cultivating with this ancient artifact, I’m already a step away from the middle stage. At this pace, it won’t take me a century to ascend to the Immortal realm.’
Zhenwu Shenquan marveled at the Demon Sealing Pagoda’s potency. This was a peerless treasure, a one-in-a-million artifact that could likely lead even the Taiyang and Hengye clan elders to dispatch troops.
To which one of these clans did the mysterious divine helper come from, and why did he grant him such a peerless treasure? When Zhenwu Shenquan’s thoughts reached this point, waves of Immortal Qi erupted from his veins, and he broke through to the mid-stage of Supreme Clarity.
”Is he a friend of my so-called father? An enemy of my so-called enemies? I don’t believe it.” Consumed by suspicion, Zhenwu Shenquan paused his cultivation, staring at the golden pagoda with conflicting emotions.
Besides the vast Immortal Qi, Divine Power, and Higher Principles, he couldn’t feel anything abnormal from it.
”There has to be a catch. But what?”