An Eastern Demonic Cultivator Went West for Evil Arts
Synopsis
When an Eastern Demonic Cultivator Went West to Learn Evil Arts
The immortal sects organized their disciples to go to the West on an exchange program.
My own sect sent me along.
“But Sect Lord, we are demonic cultivators. Do I have to go too?”
Later a Soul Devourer from the West told me, full of himself: “I killed several hundred people and took their souls.”
I clapped at once. “Not bad, not bad. So what are your plans for this afternoon?”
The Soul Devourer: “…I killed several hundred people in total.”
Me: “Are you playing the Light of the Righteous Path here?”
Chapter One
Word came from the West: their magicians had cleared an entire state of Soul Devourers, and the whole realm was celebrating.
The immortal sects of the Righteous Path in the Central Prefecture were shaken to the core.
How on earth had they done it? Demonic cultivators were a blight in the Central Prefecture that refused to die, and they had long been a thorn in everyone’s side.
And so the sects began sending the prodigies of their halls to the West to learn.
The Hall Master of our Ten Thousand Souls Hall was startled, and slammed the table. “We cannot sit still and wait for death. Shen Jiaojiao, our Young Hall Master, you will go to the West as well. Find the Soul Devourers and write up an account of how they failed.”
I had been in the middle of refining my Ten Thousand Souls Banner when the Hall Master drove me out of the house.
I had no choice. I smuggled myself onto the immortal sect’s Spirit Boat, knocked out a disciple of one of the minor sects, took her shape, and followed them across into the West.
The magicians of the West were waiting at the school gate well in advance. When they saw the Spirit Boat they came forward to greet it.
After a round of friendly exchanges, they led us onto the campus.
The principal of the Magic Academy, Principal Beagle, introduced them to us. “These are all outstanding students of ours. William, for instance, is especially good at brewing potions.”
The immortal sects were led by the Elder of the Lingyun Sect, Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, who said at once: “William is so young. Truly, heroes come out of the young.”
Principal Beagle smiled modestly. “Shall we let William show you a little of what he can do?”
He could hardly wait to display his own strength. The cultivators of the East and the West had never interfered with one another, and they had never held one another in much regard either.
This visit from the immortal sects of the Central Prefecture had let the magicians of the West finally breathe out.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling and every one of us looked on with anticipation.
Then William brought out a silver crucible, fine cotton cloth, a pipette, and other such equipment.
Next he put the snake egg, the flow-leaf herb and the fairy ears into the silver crucible. With a bang, all that was left inside was a thin pink liquid with a gilded sheen.
“This is a love potion. Anyone who drinks it will fall in love with the one who gave it to them.”
Was this not simply the Love Pill, the most common thing in the East?
And was this not something only the demonic cult’s Joyous Union Sect possessed?
Were they really magicians and not Evil Cultivators?
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling pulled out a smile and clapped. “Truly impressive. No wonder you are the ace potion master of your academy.”
William tipped his head back proudly, and Principal Beagle looked as though the glory were his own.
Later we came to the gate of the Magic Academy where the school motto was displayed, and Principal Beagle explained it to us: “Our school is determined to produce the greatest magicians in the world.”
“To restore the magic of the ancients.”
The corner of Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s eye twitched. “What do you study magic to become magicians for?”
Principal Beagle spread his hands. “For faith.”
…
Everyone was speechless.
Then Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling asked Principal Beagle again: “Do you truly never want Longevity? Never want to unite the world?”
Principal Beagle’s face changed. “Are you insulting me?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling was taken aback and asked, puzzled: “How have I insulted you?”
Principal Beagle went livid. “Only Soul Devourers think about Longevity.”
“We avoid ordinary people when we go out. We would never reveal magic in front of Muggles. How could we possibly want to unite the world?”
“Only evil demons would think such things.”
“Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, what do you cultivate for?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s face twisted. In the end he did not dare say that it was for Longevity.
He was afraid Principal Beagle would take him for an evil demon and kill him on the spot.
“I cultivate for faith too.”
Principal Beagle then asked the disciples of the immortal sects of the East: “And you?”
Some said it was to make money. Some said it was to cure their families’ illnesses.
In the end their eyes all turned to me, who had not spoken. “And you?”
I laughed. “I want to become a god.”
The disciples of the immortal sects of the East secretly gave me a thumbs-up. Principal Beagle and several of the magicians of the West pulled strange faces, and in the end could only say: “We pray that God forgives you.”
After we had made a round of the school and watched their students in their ordinary classes, a disciple of the immortal sects complained to me: “These magicians are so stingy. They would not show us any of their real skill.”
“Perhaps they are afraid we would learn it from them.”
Chapter Two
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s face had gone even uglier, though he was holding his anger down with all his might.
Even if Principal Beagle and the others had no intention of handing over anything real, he could not simply walk out in a huff.
They had come ten thousand li to get here. To go back empty-handed would surely get him cursed to death by the immortal sects.
“May I go and see the Soul Devourer you have caught?”
Principal Beagle said quickly: “Of course.”
He led us down to the dungeon. The Soul Devourer was trapped at the very center by a formation. Hearing the sound, he looked up at us, a mocking smile in his eyes. “Do you want to sell your souls?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s expression was grave. Principal Beagle would not hand over anything real, but surely these evil magicians would not keep it quiet on their behalf either.
“How does one sell a soul?”
The Soul Devourer’s eyes turned bewitching. Even Principal Beagle seemed to lose himself for a moment.
But not one of us from the Central Prefecture changed expression in the slightest.
Did he really think that for us cultivators of the East, tempering the heart, slaying Inner Demons and entering the Soul-Cleansing Pool were child’s play?
Anyone entering the immortal sects had to pass a trial of temperament. Only those who passed could become disciples of the immortal sects.
“I can grant your wishes, so long as you promise to give me your souls after you die.”
My mouth fell open, and I could not help asking: “You mean after we die of natural causes?”
“Of course.”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s face turned strange. “And how much longer can you live?”
The Soul Devourer cackled. “I can live another 120 years.”
“And do you know how much longer I can live?” Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling asked him.
“How much longer can you live?”
“I am the oldest of everyone here. I am already 1,273 years old. If no illness or calamity strikes me, I can live for another 6,000 years or more.”
…
The Soul Devourer stood frozen where he was, shaking his head in disbelief. “You are lying to me, aren’t you? You must be lying.”
He was agitated, and the bewitchment shattered. Principal Beagle came back to himself, looked at the Soul Devourer raging like a madman, and asked hurriedly: “What is it? What is it? What happened?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling swept his sleeve and walked out.
“We are leaving. If they meant to deceive us, we will investigate on our own.”
Everyone from the immortal sects took it for the magicians of the West playing us for fools. But from how the Soul Devourer moved and carried himself, I could tell that everything they had said was true.
No wonder a Soul Devourer could be caught by a bunch of magicians like these.
Principal Beagle hurried out after them. Before I left, I looked back at the Soul Devourer, desolate and lost.
Let me teach you what a real Evil Cultivator looks like.
Chapter Three
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling led us out of the campus. Principal Beagle still wanted to chase after us, but Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling took the lead: we drew our swords as one and rose into the air by sword flight.
The elegance of our postures and the grace of our movements made these magicians, who could only ride brooms, cry out in admiration.
“So these are the magicians from the East?”
“They look so amazing.”
“They are so steady. They would not even hit a wall.”
“What does it matter how amazing they are? They cannot catch a Soul Devourer.”
“Exactly. If they were really that good they would not have come to our school to learn.”
The disciples of the immortal sects were so furious that their faces changed color. Some had already begun gathering spiritual qi in their hands, waiting only for Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling to give the word before they hurled themselves at the Magic Academy, that institution of the West which had been famous for so long.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, however, had the patience to hold steady, and would not let anyone act rashly.
We left the Magic Academy and returned to the Spirit Boat, where Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling had us pair off and go out to investigate what had happened between the Soul Devourers and the magicians of the West.
I was paired with a girl who looked like one of those soft, sweet, white and tender little milk cakes. As we walked the streets and alleys, the girl asked me: “Which sect are you from?”
I pinched her cheek. “I am Lu Zhao, the Eldest Senior Sister of Jiuhua Mountain.”
She had never heard of Jiuhua Mountain and had never heard of Lu Zhao. She had no idea I had made the whole thing up on the spot. How could this child be so easy to fool?
“Just now Principal Beagle said that this Soul Devourer killed dozens of people and hurt over a hundred families. Is someone like that really a demon of the deviant path?”
She frowned, looking thoroughly puzzled.
I said disdainfully: “He is talking nonsense.”
“Cultivators in the East and the West cultivate in different directions. He simply does not want to teach us his signature skill. Would you hand your Cultivation Technique over to me?”
The girl glanced at me timidly. “I would not.”
I clapped my hands. “That is exactly right. He would not either, which is why he is fobbing us off. He wants to provoke our Inner Demons. You are still too young, little girl. Cultivation means holding fast to the original heart.”
“So how many people have you killed?” I asked her.
She tugged at the hem of her robe. “I was born in a village that trafficked people. Every woman in that village had been bought. They would throw the baby girls they delivered into the river. So once I found out I could cultivate, I killed every man in that village, and I sent the women who had been thoroughly brainwashed down to join them too.”
“That is wonderful,” I said.
Chapter Four
With the girl at my side I could not carry out my plan, so I simply knocked her out and put her inside my Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Then I sent a Voice Transmission to our Hall Master, telling them to bring their people to the West.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling and the others might not have realized it, but I could see that this was a great opportunity for us.
There were hardly any living people left in the Central Prefecture, but the West had plenty. And the magicians of the West could not last a single exchange against our Hall Master.
Let us turn the West into a farm for us demonic cultivators.
The immortal sects counted us demonic cultivators as a plague, and we had long been on our guard against the immortal sects. Over the years the two sides had been like fire and water, with countless dead and wounded.
If we took this chance to split the territories and rule separately, the demonic cultivators and the immortal sects could each rest and recover. That would be the life.
They should have set out by now.
I slipped back into the Magic Academy and went straight down to the basement.
“If I let you out now, will you give me your soul after you die?” I asked that Soul Devourer, hiding my form in the dark.
The shattered Soul Devourer started out of his daze. “Who are you? Where are you?”
Slowly I emerged from the shadows. “Care to make a deal, big brother?”
The Soul Devourer’s eyes went wide. “It is you. Aren’t you a disciple of the immortal sects of the Central Prefecture?”
I pursed my lips. “Wrong. Guess again.”
“Please, I beg you, get me out of here. I do not want to be trapped in this place. I am willing to trade my soul to you.”
I nodded and took out my Ten Thousand Souls Banner. “Die!”
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner ground his body to nothing and drew his soul over to me.
The pain of that instant of death had not even left him time to scream.
“You killed me. You actually killed me.” The Soul Devourer’s eyes were splitting with rage, like a vengeful ghost.
Ten Thousand Souls Banner in hand, I gave him a lash across the face. “Why so agitated? Be careful of that shattered remnant soul of yours.”
The venom in his eyes instantly cleared.
Chapter Five
Carrying the Soul Devourer’s soul, I left the Magic Academy.
“Tell me everything about how you people usually cultivate.”
The Soul Devourer followed at my side and said, unwilling: “We choose a city full of deceit and betrayal, of friends turned enemies, of scrambling for fame and profit, of debauchery and obsession, of madness and freedom, where money and power reign above all.”
“Oh, you mean City A, the one from the novels?”
The Soul Devourer ground his teeth and went on: “Only in a city like that will more people be willing to sign contracts with us.”
As he spoke he pointed down a narrow alley, where several young men were beating another young man with fists and feet. “This young man’s heart is full of killing intent and rage right now. All I have to do is ask him one question in his ear, and he will…”
I raised my hand and clenched my fist at the group. The bullies below burst apart all at once, flesh and blood spraying everywhere. “And then?”
The Soul Devourer pinched the philtrum of his own face. “Then, once he is dead, I can collect his soul.”
I beckoned again, and the terrified souls of the bullies were drawn over to me. “Like this?”
“You have to wait for a man to die before you can get a single soul. I can harvest five souls directly, and win that brat’s gratitude into the bargain.”
I looked at him disdainfully. “Do you know? In the beginning I slaughtered five whole cities outright, and only barely earned myself a title with the word demon in it.”
“What exactly do you rely on to be called a Soul Devourer? Even the smallest child among the people who came to see you this afternoon has the blood of hundreds on his hands.”
The Soul Devourer’s spirit churned. “Are you not afraid of retribution?”
“Retribution? If a cultivator is blessed with Fortune and Destiny, he should go with the flow. If he has neither Fortune nor Destiny, then my fate is mine, not Heaven’s!”
I put the five souls into my Ten Thousand Souls Banner. The Soul Devourer huddled beside me, trembling. “Why is your Magic Tool giving off black smoke?”
I said: “Because there are black people inside?”
“Then why is it giving off pink smoke now?”
“Oh no.” I opened the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and pulled two souls out of it. “They are having a pure-love affair inside my banner.”
There are upwards of a hundred million souls in my Ten Thousand Souls Banner. I cannot say they are all wicked souls, but 99.9 percent of them are. These two really do have a thread of true feeling threaded through their pretense. It is enough to move a person.
“Then why is it giving off green smoke?”
“Oh, probably somebody got cuckolded. Do you want to go in and help take a look?”
The Soul Devourer backed away several steps. “I dare not.”
“What is there to be afraid of? Everyone in my Ten Thousand Souls Banner is an old acquaintance. My ex-boyfriend is in there too.”
Chapter Six
With that I walked over to the young man, who had already been scared silly. “Are you all right?”
He stared at me in terror. “Did you see that? You saw it just now, didn’t you? Those men burst open right in front of me.”
I quickly began the Heart-Calming Art, and only spoke once he had fully settled. “I saw it. I was the one who did it.”
He shrank back, pressing himself against the wall. “You are lying to me, aren’t you?”
I took a few steps toward him. “Why would I lie to you? Do you have the phone numbers of their families? Call them now and get them to come.”
“What are you trying to do? They will beat you to death.”
My gaze turned vicious. “Call them now, or I will make you burst open too.”
The Soul Devourer drifted at my side, worried for my safety and at the same time hoping that if I really died he might be able to escape.
Reading the thought in his heart, I gave a cold snort. “If I die, a hundred million souls inside my Ten Thousand Souls Banner, yourself included, will all go down with me.”
The young man had no idea who I was talking to, and simply took out his phone and made the call.
Before long, ten or so cars pulled up outside the alley, and men in black suits levelled the truth at me.
It seemed these little brats came from rather unusual family circumstances.
Truly worthy of City A, where money and power reign above all.
“You are the one who killed my child?” a man asked in a low voice.
I only glanced at him, and he clutched his throat, vomiting up great mouthfuls of blood, and fell to the ground with no breath left in him.
The rest were terrified, the truth in their hands spraying at me without pause.
I swept my hand up. A clear ringing sound rose, and the bullets all dropped to the ground.
Then I closed my hand, and the fifty or sixty men burst open again into red fireworks.
Only, I had left one person alive in each family. They would still be of use.
I took control of these men’s minds directly. They got into their cars as though their souls had left them and drove away.
Chapter Seven
“You actually let them go?” the Soul Devourer said, unable to believe it.
I gave him a look. “How could I?”
The next day, the men returned home and began holding funerals.
I stood to one side, killing each one as he arrived.
The Soul Devourer was dumbstruck. “What are you doing?”
“Pulling out the roots, of course.”
“You would not even spare the children?”
“Do you mean I should keep them, and wait for them to grow up and come kill me?” My voice was full of killing intent.
The Soul Devourer hastily covered his mouth and shook his head.
Five clans of City A were wiped out to the last man, which of course alarmed the Magic Academy. Even Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling and the others took notice.
But Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling did not act rashly. He said coldly: “Since the people of the Magic Academy will not pass on their experience, we will simply watch for ourselves.”
“You will all go along later and study how they deal with these demonic cultivators.”
A disciple of the immortal sects replied: “Immortal Venerable, did they not say they had already cleared an entire state of Soul Devourers? Why are there still Soul Devourers in this city?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling snorted. “Perhaps they were exaggerating, and fooled the entire cultivation world.”
Everyone left the Spirit Boat filled with resentment.
They had come out on assignment and had been tricked into it. The time would have been better spent cultivating properly at home.
The girl followed at my side in a daze. “Why can I not remember anything that happened these past few days?”
“Perhaps that Soul Devourer bewitched you that day.” I fobbed her off casually.
Then, without the least mercy, I knocked her out again.
Taking advantage of the fact that every student of the Magic Academy had turned out, and that Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling had taken the disciples of the immortal sects along to watch the show, City A had become one great pot of porridge. I picked up a bowl and drank.
Using the flesh and blood I had collected over the past few days, I began setting up a Formation in City A.
“What are you doing now?” The Soul Devourer had grown much humbler, and consulted me whenever he did not understand.
“This is a Formation, for refining Human Pills. Once the Formation is laid, I only have to start it and everyone in City A will be refined into a single Medicinal Pill. With that Medicinal Pill I can advance to the Middle Stage of Spirit Severing.”
The Soul Devourer said nothing, and simply trembled without cease.
Chapter Seven
I had thought it through beautifully, but I had not reckoned on Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling being a man who hated demonic cultivators as though they were his mortal enemies.
He had actually discovered the Formation I had laid in the city. And instead of standing by with his hands folded, he had sent the disciples of the immortal sects to hunt down the fiends of the Central Prefecture.
The girl who had been following me had also realized something was wrong, and reported me on the spot.
“Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, let us make a deal. So long as you let me go, we demonic cultivators will move to the West from now on and never harm the people of the Central Prefecture again.” I sat in my chair.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling said coldly: “The deviant path cannot be trusted.”
“If you keep fighting us it can only end with both sides broken. What are these people of the West to you? Would it not be better to trade them for peace between the immortal sects and the Central Prefecture?”
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling’s face shifted slightly. Several of the disciples of the immortal sects seemed moved. They had all watched the strife between the demonic cultivators and the immortal sects with their own eyes.
Though they were at daggers drawn with the Demonic Path, they did not want to die.
The war between immortals and demons had gone on for ten thousand ages. The faces and voices of the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who had died were still before their eyes.
Several others had eyes full of fury. “You killed my Senior Brother. I will avenge my Senior Brother.”
Some feared death, and of course some were willing to give their lives for what was right.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling held them back and looked at me deeply. “How am I to trust you?”
“Immortal Venerable, you must not!”
“Yes, Immortal Venerable, we cannot let the tiger return to the mountain.”
“I think this plan is excellent. Without the demonic cultivators, the people of the Central Prefecture will have a much easier time.”
“They are only mortals. If they die, they die.”
I gave a cold laugh. “This Fellow Daoist would make a better demonic cultivator than I do.”
The man who had spoken went pale, and realized he had misspoken. Though the immortal sects did not hold the lives of mortals in any regard, it was not something that could be said out loud.
Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling glared fiercely at the man.
I went on: “I have already sent a Voice Transmission to our Hall Master. They should be nearly here. Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, the demonic cultivators taking the West is already the trend of the times. You alone cannot stop it.”
“My advice is to accept my terms. Otherwise, once the Hall Master and the others arrive and cut you all down, it will be too late to agree.”
This time the demonic cultivators had come out almost to the last, and had moved their main camp straight to the West.
I made a rough estimate. Even Principal Beagle, the head of the school of magic, was only about the level of Foundation Establishment, and could be destroyed with a snap of the fingers.
These disciples of the immortal sects might be the prodigies of their various sects, but they could not possibly defeat more than a hundred thousand demonic cultivators.
Chapter Eight
“Very well. I accept your terms. We leave now.” Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling looked at me for a long moment.
Though a few disciples of the Sect were still full of resentment, things had already gone too far. Whatever they said now, no one would listen. They could only follow Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling aboard the Spirit Boat.
They watched the Spirit Boat rise straight up from where it stood and fly back the direction it had come from.
Principal Beagle came after them on his broom, shouting: “Immortal Venerable Jiu Ling, wait!”
The Spirit Boat only flew faster. Principal Beagle could see nothing but its tail.
“Principal, surely what happened in City A was not the work of these cultivators of the East?”
Principal Beagle’s face was ugly to behold. That was exactly what he had been thinking himself.
The Soul Devourers of the whole state had been wiped out. How was it that as soon as these cultivators from the East arrived, something went wrong again?
The Soul Devourer they had locked in the basement was dead too, and his soul was gone without a trace.
I hurriedly stepped forward. “You have misunderstood. They did not do this.”
Principal Beagle’s face was dark. “Why are you still here? What right have you to say they did not do it?”
I said with a smile: “Because, of course, I am the one who did it.”
The magicians’ faces changed color. They brandished their magic wands and chanted their spells.
I only lifted my hand lightly and gave a twist, and every one of their magic wands snapped in half.
Principal Beagle’s face shifted. “How can you be this strong?”
I said, a little embarrassed: “Actually I am not that strong. Back where I come from I was one of the poor students.”
Principal Beagle let out a cry of despair. “Run!”
Run? As if they could get away.
I lifted my hand and trapped them all where they stood, then drew them into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Then I simply activated the Formation. Screams and wails rose one after another across the city, and red flesh and blood converged in midair until they formed a Medicinal Pill no bigger than a thumb.
The Soul Devourer shuddered and did not dare lift his head to look at me.
Seeing me wholly absorbed in the Medicinal Pill, he tried to slip away. I glanced at him, and he came straight back and stood to attention.
“What do you want souls for?”
The Soul Devourer’s voice trembled. “We… we want souls… to fight against God.”
“And do you think this many souls is enough?” I asked him.
“Are you going to give all these souls to me?”
I gave a cold laugh. “I hear that here in your part of the world God is your Righteous Path. The West belongs to us demonic cultivators now. It is no longer fitting for him to stay here.”
I gave him all the souls.
He left with one foot treading on the other.
Three days later, every demonic cultivator had reached the West and joined up with me.
After that everyone busied themselves laying out Formations, working on Human Pills and Ten Thousand Souls Banners, a Magic Tool in every hand.
Black smoke came pouring off them in gusts.
I asked my Junior Brother: “On your way here, did you refine every last one of the Japanese?”
“Set your mind at ease, Senior Sister. How could we let them off? Even the ones who live on kimchi, we took the whole lot,” my Junior Brother said.
Chapter Nine
We were still harvesting souls that day when the Soul Devourer I had let go came running back.
“Bad news, bad news. Our boss Satan and God have joined hands. They have organized a League of Despair.”
I asked him curiously: “Then why did you not go with your boss? What are you doing back here?”
The Soul Devourer gave an ingratiating smile. “I have a feeling they cannot beat you.”
The whole of the West was sunk in darkness now. Feeling the threat, God and Satan dropped the old rivalry and joined forces to wipe us demonic cultivators out at one stroke.
The Hall Master said nothing, only a cold smile.
I took the Soul Devourer on a trip to Hell. The place was empty. Even the three-headed hound of Hell was gone, taken away by them.
But this dank and haunted place suited us demonic cultivators perfectly as a headquarters.
All of us demonic cultivators made camp there.
God and Satan could not sit back and watch us grow stronger. At first they tried to negotiate with us, and sent an angel to parley, an Archangel called Michael.
Michael looked to have some real ability, though he was only a little stronger than me.
He beat his wings and stood in the air, his face full of pity. “If you are willing to go back where you came from, we will offer up every soul.”
He thought all we wanted was souls. What he did not know was that the grind-obsessed people of the East want not only Longevity but the unification of the Three Realms as well, and what Easterner could resist the lure of uniting the Three Realms?
Even the Sects of the Righteous Path cannot resist it.
Besides, they are not beyond beating. We are demonic cultivators, for goodness’ sake, not the Light of the Righteous Path.
Michael opened his mouth to say more, but I had already charged in and started fighting him.
Human Pills I have eaten, but Angel Pills I have yet to taste. I wonder whether they are any good.
Chapter Ten
The man had some real ability, and he was a little stronger than me too. But I did not become Young Hall Master for nothing. Fighting above my level is basic operation for me.
In the end I had Michael under my foot, and I tore off his six pairs of wings with my bare hands.
Then I refined his flesh and blood into a pill.
Under the Hall Master’s resentful gaze, I popped the Medicinal Pill into my mouth.
I have to say, this Medicinal Pill did taste considerably better than an ordinary one.
I rose at once from the Middle Stage of Golden Core to the Late Stage of Spirit Severing.
Heavenly Lightning rolled overhead, as though it would not rest until it had struck me dead.
What we demonic cultivators fear most is Heavenly Punishment. A single stroke of it can cause Soul Scattering.
So every demonic cultivator watched me in taut silence, and then, in front of them all, I held Michael’s six pairs of wings above my head.
The Heavenly Lightning was all beaten back.
When the Heavenly Lightning had passed, I turned Michael’s six pairs of wings into a protective Magic Tool.
God had sent angels to provoke us, so we were hardly going to let them off lightly.
The Hall Master led his people straight to Heaven, one man against Satan and God.
I was not about to lag behind, and went for Lucifer.
Fighting me one on one was not enough for Lucifer. He set the three-headed hound of Hell on me as well.
So I had no choice but to bring out my Ten Thousand Souls Banner and let loose the souls inside it, more than a billion of them.
The souls swarmed around the three-headed hound of Hell and tore it to pieces.
Lucifer’s angels all fell apart at once. He threw up his hands in surrender.
But Lucifer’s record was far too clean. At most he had killed a few thousand people, which did not meet our demonic cultivators’ recruitment requirements in the slightest.
I cut him down with my sword on the spot and took his soul to serve as the master soul of my Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
On the other side, the Hall Master fought God and Satan back and forth, and was quietly slipping into a disadvantage.
Later, seeing their followers all cut down by us, the two exchanged a glance, suddenly abandoned the fight with the Hall Master, and tried to run.
But our demonic cultivators were waiting, one sword each, and left them covered in wounds.
In the end they only just got away.
From the look of where they were headed, it seemed to be the East.
They cannot really believe the cultivators of the East are good people, can they?
I doubt they will ever have the chance to come back.
Chapter Eleven
Later, the immortal sects of the East sent us the two men’s corpses, and signed a treaty of non-aggression with us to last ten thousand years.
The Heavenly Dao certified the treaty, and anyone who broke it would suffer Soul Scattering.
And the road of cultivation for us demonic cultivators grew smoother.
But what we choose are the foul, the rotting, the filthy souls. Only that sort of soul is a great tonic.
Souls too clean go down like a mouthful of dead rat.
I let the students and principals of the Magic Academy out.
Looking at the cities of the West, transformed beyond recognition, Principal Beagle wept bitterly: “Are you really demonic cultivators? Why do I have the feeling that you are the real God?”
Frightening. How could he say such a thing out loud?
The only reason I spared them is biodiversity. Their magic is long-winded, complicated, and of very little use, but for all that it counts as a local characteristic of the West.
I could hardly bring myself to let them vanish into the long river of history.
After we occupied the West, many of us achieved Eternal Life.
Eternal Life holds no attraction for me now. I think uniting the Three Realms sounds like more fun.
The Soul Devourer stayed at my side, feeding me souls on the one hand and begging me to grant him Eternal Life on the other.
“Are you not in possession of Eternal Life already? Your soul will exist forever.”
The Soul Devourer wailed: “Honored Master, what I want is Eternal Life after I come back to life.”
I said nothing, and went on refining the evil souls.