Way of the Devil

Early morning, the sun rose slowly over the horizon. The originally gray sky immediately turned lighter, with half of it illuminated with a faint red.

Standing in the crowd, Lu Sheng followed the instructions and imagined a picture of the sun rising, vaguely overlapping with real-life image.

This was a very difficult process as the imagined picture had to completely overlap with the speed the real sun was rising at.

During this process, one had to adjust their breathing and continue their imagination to absorb small amounts of this purported Violet Qi.

However, now that Lu Sheng knew what was going on, he wouldn’t be so dumb as to just follow suit.

Following the instructions, he separated a thread of Spiritual Essence like everyone else and sent it into the tiny lake above their heads.

Then, he formed a golden thread, indicating that he successfully imagined the sun rising, and used it to rob everyone of their Spiritual Essence.

Compared to him, everyone else only followed the steps of the art and imagined a picture of the sun without really knowing what they were actually doing. Even Cheng Kongzi couldn’t fight over Lu Sheng, and only got a tiny bit of Spiritual Essence. Lu Sheng took all the rest.

The golden thread flew back into the top of Lu Sheng’s head and disappeared.

“Hiss…”

He let out a long breath, feeling pure and cool True Qi moving inside his body and starting to circulate in his blood vessels.

Not veins, but blood vessels.

‘Single Morning Sun Qi… Did I successfully cultivate it?’ Lu Sheng opened his eyes, feeling the slight difference in his body.

When that thread of True Qi circulated, he could feel a cool, soothing sensation in his mind.

“This True Qi can refresh one’s mind?” Lu Sheng was surprised.

After morning lessons, everyone went to get lunch. Zhong Yuan chattered the entire way, and Zhang Kairong kept getting close, trying to engage in a conversation with her. Chen Fengnan seemed dejected as if things weren’t going well.

Lu Sheng sat to the side, eating silently. After absorbing most of the Spiritual Essence, his flesh felt strangely full, and he couldn’t eat more than a few bowls.

Zhong Yuan stood up, and asked casually, “Brother Lu, what dishes do you want? I’m going to get more food, so I can get some for you.”

Lu Sheng set down his bowl and looked at her.

“It’s okay, I’m full.”

“Okay, then what about you two? What do you want? I’ll get it.” Zhong Yuan’s family was pretty well-off, and she was also friendly and polite. So, of course, no one would fight with her over these few cents.

The other two could tell that she liked Lu Sheng.

To be honest, Lu Sheng was only slightly better-looking than average. What made him stand apart was his cold indifference, strong physique, and ability. So, it was normal for Zhong Yuan to like him.

What confused the other two was that although Zhong Yuan went to wake up Lu Sheng every single morning and told him about anything that would happen as soon as possible, it had already been over a month, and Lu Sheng still didn’t even show the slightest interest.

As they were leaving the cafeteria after lunch, the few of them ran into Wang Yunlong, who was just leaving his quarters.

This dark, foreboding guy was talking to a higher-up of the sect in a small voice. Standing outside his room, his expression kept changing, almost as if he was hesitating.

“Connected veins… I heard these weirdos can sense Qi within one day!” Zhang Kairong said, a little bit jealous.

“We can’t just directly compare us to them that way. Every person is different.” Zhong Yuan shook her head. “Let’s go, we should go back now.”

Everyone walked toward their rooms. Only Lu Sheng stood in front of his cabin, looking at the faint golden barrier in the sky, deep in thought.

He already understood the basics of the art. Now, he should try out more advanced ones to see if they had anything special about them.

He needed to think about how he wanted to blend into the Great Yin—in what way and position.

This place was much more ruthless than the Great Song. One slip, and they wouldn’t even have bones left of them. The reason the sects here took in many ordinary people was obviously because they wanted to collect more Spiritual Essence. Like this, as one’s level increased… Lu Sheng couldn’t even imagine how much Spiritual Essence the people at the top got.

‘Since the True Qi here is formed from other people’s Spiritual Essences and has a connection to the mind, can I use this just like Yin Qi and substitute this for Mental Energy, using it to increase my abilities?’

Lu Sheng opened the Skills Modifier. He still had a little bit of Mental Energy left, but he didn’t have much True Qi, either. Finding the barely-there feeling from when he used Aquarius Qi instead of Mental Energy, before the Modifier could do anything, he inserted all his True Qi into the Modifier in his chest.

As long as he was fast enough, Lu Sheng could easily move his True Qi into that mysterious space in his chest with his current control over his abilities.

He modified an ordinary martial arts that he had memorized beforehand. It only took a few breaths before the frame blurred and became clear again.

Lu Sheng read the display.

‘Success… I knew it.’ It was just as he had expected. True Qi was a form of Yin Qi, and could completely replace Mental Energy to increase the level of his abilities.

The True Qi he had just absorbed was completely used up, with not a single bit left. However, Lu Sheng wasn’t worried. He was just surprised.

‘If this True Qi is really healing one person by using everyone else’s essence, then population should be the key. The Great Yin is so much stronger than the Great Song, so why doesn’t the Great Yin invade the Great Song?’

Since Single Morning Sun Qi had to be cultivated in the morning, Lu Sheng didn’t have anything on in the afternoon. He went to the library and read every book he was allowed to.

He quickly found the answers.

Different from the Devil Disaster in the Great Song… the Great Yin also had Devil Disasters, and way larger and heavier.

The Four Pillars of the Devil World, Devil Emperors, terms like these kept appearing in the manuscripts. They told everyone who wanted to know the truth—the Great Yin was constantly warring.

The Great Song only faced a Devil Lord, but the Great Yin had to face Devil Emperors.

Shocked, Lu Sheng continued reading. The battles with Devil Emperor Wayla were documented in detail.

There were three warring areas with the Devil Lords. These three spots constantly drained the Great Yin’s resources, but they also limited Devil Emperor Wayla’s power, making him unable to corrupt the human world.

Under the leadership of Weapon Commanders, the Great Yin had fought with the Devil World and devil armies for over a thousand years.

‘So the Great Song is just a side job for the Devil World… a way for them to invade the human world on the side.’ Lu Sheng finally understood.

He read through other books, but couldn’t find other useful information. By the time that Lu Sheng left the library, it was already nighttime.

Deep in thought, Lu Sheng walked back slowly.

During the night, the buddhist temple was filled with broken black lanterns. Glimpses of yellow light could be seen from the spaces in between buildings.

The wind was blowing, and the sound of people practicing martial arts in the woods could be heard. There appeared to be a faint barbeque-like smell coming from a distance away.

Lu Sheng sniffed at the air, wistful for the barbeque he had on earth. He increased his pace, and just like the other disciples, kept his expression tired. One couldn’t tell he was acting at all.

He ran into Wang Yunlong. This broody young man also saw Lu Sheng, but neither acknowledged the other.

Wang Yunlong didn’t like Lu Sheng. This person seemed to never see him. His gaze would glance over him, but it was the same as if he saw a stone.

But, he didn’t bother him, so he couldn’t do anything, either. They were neighbors, too.

The two passed by each other without talking.

Three days passed.

Lu Sheng sensed Qi, and became an Inner Disciple. The student who came to test them wasn’t surprised. Disciples in this area had the talent and potential to do so.

Most of his friends also passed the Qi test within three days. When they were moving, Cheng Fengnan, who didn’t sense Qi, watched the others dejectedly. Zhong Yuan wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know what to say. Zhang Kairong crept up on her from behind her shoulder to mess with her, but she smacked him away. The two started horsing around again.

Lu Sheng watched them silently.

After a few days’ of observation, he noticed that the faint golden barrier above them seemed to have another use. It wasn’t just for absorption of Spiritual Essence, but had a complex side to it as well.

Now that he successfully became an Inner disciple, he could probably see more information.

The three of them moved to a quarter even deeper in the buddhist temple. There were many of the same buildings, each housing three people.

They still had morning lessons, but the spot changed, and less people attended—only twenty or so. There were multiple locations for their morning lessons. One of them was in a room in the main hall that seemed to be made for concocting pills. A fire burned brightly in there, and a man called Fei Kongzi became their new teacher.

The twenty people this time were all talented, so they gave off more Spiritual Essence, but the fight was also harder.

Golden threads kept forming, flying, and slamming into each other. Some broke and shattered, and some absorbed others and grew larger.

Zhong Yuan and Zhang Kairong tried their very best. There were a lot of disciples here more talented than them, so if they weren’t careful, they wouldn’t get anything out of this lesson, and instead lose some Spiritual Essence.

Lu Sheng didn’t devour crazily, either, but pretended to be one of the strongest golden threads, staying strong the entire time. He only occasionally absorbed some other ones.

They also learned the second part of this art, called the Four Squares Origin Exercise.

Different from Single Morning Sun Qi, this one could be cultivated at any time, no matter day or night. They also gained permission to enter the Fighting Arena, where they were taught how to battle one another. There were books and video walls for all the skills too.

Lu Sheng only went there once. To him, those skills weren’t special at all.

After morning lessons, Inner disciples had one opportunity to pick which direction they wanted to cultivate in. Lu Sheng had already found out all he wanted and achieved his goal, so he decided it was time to leave.

He packed up all his stuff, preparing this leave this area after a while. But, to his surprise, two strangers came and contacted Lu Sheng through servants in the sect, who was in his room cultivating.

“Something happened to Wu Quansheng?”

Lu Sheng wasn’t surprised that they could find him. Him becoming an inner disciple was plastered on all the gates of the Spring Sun Sect. That was probably how they found him.

He frowned at the two people. The two strong, young men each had their right leg and foot broken and were limping heavily.

“Young Master… Young Master was kidnapped by the Lin Family!!” one of them cried out in a low voice.

“Sir Lu, the last thing Young Master said was to come find you, but… on the way here, we kept getting stopped… our madame is also sick in bed…” The other one’s eyes were also red.

“Wu Quansheng… did he tell them my name?” Lu Sheng didn’t even bat an eyelash.

Although he only knew Wu Quansheng for a short amount of time, he kind of liked this young, impulsive young man. As long as it didn’t hinder him, he could help him out.

One of the men paused before speaking fiercely, “He did… the other person said, they’re waiting…”

Lu Sheng nodded.

He was just fretting over not having a reason to gain his own land, but just when he needed it, an opportunity came to him. It would also be a perfect chance to remind the higher-ups of the Spring Sun Sect of his “talent”.

He planned to use his “never-seen-before talent” and kill everyone with only True martial arts. This way, he could attract the elders of the Spring Sun Sect and hopefully be chosen as First Disciple and sent into higher sects. Then, he would be able to access more of their secrets.

He had heard the most popular choice for First Disciple was the grandson of First Spring Sun Elder. Too bad, who told him to stand in his way? Sorry, that was life for you.

He didn’t have time to waste in these lower levels.

As for this First Elder, Lu Sheng wasn’t worried that he would block his path. If he did, he would just have to kill him.