Chapter 236 Festival of Youth (Part 1)
Chapter 236 Festival of Youth (Part 1)
"Stepmother, as you know, the Immortal Founders designed the Longevity Cows to have zero battle capabilities. Even as a rank-four Beast King, you cannot defeat the average mortal soldier. Till my mother seduced the previous Bull King and helped him steal the High Command Seal, you relied on your control over the farm's defensive formation and the Monstrous Bull clan to guarantee your independence.
Milk factory, punching bag or god-level farmer, without the High Command Seal, you can be any of these things, but never my opponent." Princess Tieshan said and raised her foot, pressing on the cow woman's skull.
"If I remember right, stepmother, it was you who convinced my father that, as the king of these lands, he had every right to take as many concubines as he wanted to. That if my mother wouldn't allow it, she wasn't worthy of being his queen. Thanks to your kind advice, my father stomped my mother to death. And yet, I prioritized unity, and didn't use my position of power to make you pay for that offense."
"I...never asked him to kill anyone!" The cow woman interrupted, but interestingly, her words only made Princess Tieshan's lips arch up.
"That, you see, is irrelevant. Since you will not fall in line, since you refuse to forget the past, to contribute to our clan's emancipation and growth, your existence is worthless. I'm sure that my father feels lonely in the afterlife, and would relish the chance to have his favorite whore by his side."
"Tieshan you d—" The cow woman's words died in her throat—quite literally as Tieshan's foot crushed through her skull, stomping her to death.
"Now that the distractions are out of the way, let's bring this demonization project to its conclusion. With 100,000 Cow Demonesses to exploit the Celestial Farm's resources, our rise...is irresistible," Tieshan said, and as if to back up her words, the sangria eye released clouds of dark-purple smoke that poured into each Longevity Cow, making them morph into Cow Demonesses.
Their horns grew larger, their figures toned to perfection, their hooves shifted into dainty feet, and their pale skin took a rosy hue. Moreover, the Cow Demonesses' hair shifted from white to black, and just like Tieshan, they now had red eyes as well.
'The result is even better than I expected.' Tieshan nodded in appreciation. Known as the Heart-Wrenching Devil Eye, the Diabolic Artifact that she relied on enabled its master to stir the negative emotions and desires in their targets, before exacerbating it all with a surge of Evil Qi and turning the target into a Heart Demon driven by dark ambitions and a thirst for self-fulfillment.
The eye's owner not only stayed in control of these new demons but also gained the ability to manipulate the dark desires that their demonic transformation relied on. However, the artifact's transformation abilities relied on Evil Qi, of which it had a limited supply. Without steady accumulation, it'd eventually become useless. Also, it couldn't trigger demonization without the target's consent.
Tieshan's demonization didn't come from this artifact, but she believed that without one such tool, she could never convert the Longevity Cows, born to be servile vegetarians, into the war titans that she wanted them to become.
Long battle-axes of a dark-purple hue appeared beside each Cow Demoness, brimming with Evil Qi.
"Success." Tieshan exhaled in relief. With the birth of these demonic armaments, the demonesses had officially become Instrument Demons of the War Affiliation—the best result that Tieshan could hope for.
With enough Evil Qi, caliber Heart Demons could typically all summon low-level Infernal Armaments. But if they were born as Instrument Heart Demons, said instrument became the armament and equipped them with vaster strength, cultivation speed and potential than ordinary Heart Demons. Xiao Hu, for example, was a Pipa Demon.
'I hope you can all become invincible instruments of demolition, and alongside me, lead the charge for our revolution.' From here on, the Celestial Farm's resources aside, Princess Tieshan's Cow Demonesses could gain rapid growth through the slaughter of their enemies. And as she closed her eyes, the demoness could already picture the scene of her legions hacking through the eight directions.
A pity that a mental message echoed in her mind, interrupting her dreams. Tieshan's body trembled, and her eyes widened in disbelief.
"HE DID WHAT?!"
...
Meanwhile, Xinzi and co. celebrated the village's new leadership through an ancient festival: the Festival of Youth. Also known as the Festival of Jiushen, this taboo festival was based on an ancient Devil of the Decadent Affiliation: Lord Jiushen.
A former Great God of the Water Pantheon, Jiushen refused to abide by the Laws of Heaven. Believing that the Celestial Paradise's norms and ethics shackled his artistic creativity, self-fulfillment and growth, he stepped into the Infernal Paradise, surrendered to the Decadent Affiliation, and relied on their Infernal Ancestor's support to go down the Pit of Myriad Damnation, absorbing 41 Damnations to be reborn as a High Devil.
To celebrate his commitment to Wanton Indulgence, on each full moon, Jiushen's followers held the Festival of Youth, and among other things, enacted a notorious play that mirrored their lord's Demon Creed to perfection: the Indulgence of Jiushen.
The Green-Leaf village's women assembled in a vast prairie, staring at a wooden stage where, dressed in genie pants and a golden mask, one herculean man held Dong Ling's thigh, sobbing at her feet while pointing one finger at Yan Le, who stood right beside the weeping man.
Naturally, Xinzi was the man, and on this occasion, our monk played Jiushen's role, singing what any man of culture in the Great Desolation World knew as The Proclamation of Corrupt Indulgence:
"Oh, spark of my immortal life, I too wish that I could stay faithful—devoted to you and your venerable bosom. But look, look at her legs, her thighs, her waist—that chest, neck and face! The bounce in her tits, the elasticity in her rump! How can you, in all good conscience, deny me these pleasures?!
I love you, but I love them too! How can I not, when I'm just a man—too weak, unwilling and unable to resist the sweet temptations of the flesh!
Spark of my immortal life, won't you accommodate me? If you must deny me these beauties, if you must force me to choose between wanton decadence and the comfort of your bosom, then decadence I choose, forever and ever after!"
Onstage, Dong Ling and Yan Le respectively played the role of Jiushen's wife and mistress—both marveling at Xinzi's impersonation of this long-dead devil.