Way of the Devil

“This is the Book Buddha. According to legends, it is formed from the misunderstood prayers and hymns of Buddhism.” Gong Chi recognized the monster’s origin immediately.

“This type of creature possesses great speed and a thick shell, and is immune to most basic and low-level spells. It’s the deadly enemy of the disciples who only use talismans and spells,” Gong Chi explained.

Lu Sheng nodded, not really caring. He cared more about when he could get the list and information.

Gong Chi glanced at him as if reading his thoughts. “You’ll have to wait until this ranking competition ends. All the information is outside.”

“In the original world?” Lu Sheng asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s okay.” Lu Sheng hadn’t given up on his original idea. He would never put all his eggs in one basket.

He scanned the faces of those fighting the monster. When he didn’t see the one he wanted, he lowered his head again and pondered the understanding he’d gained over the stone slate.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Lu, should we go help?” Xie Yuqiong asked from behind in a low voice.

Lu Sheng looked up, only to see everyone, including Gong Chi, watching him.

“If you want to help them, then go,” he said strangely. “Just don’t rescue the Spirit Bind Sect members.”

Gong Chi nodded and gave the people behind her a glance.

The Youyin Sect disciples immediately ran toward the Book Buddha monster. Gong Chi, Xie Yuqiong, and the others stayed to the side and assisted them with spells.

Lu Sheng found a stone step to sit on. His mind was occupied with the knowledge and understanding he’d gained from the stone slate.

He had a feeling that he might be able to figure out the meaning of the slate through his search for this person.

‘Everything can be used as a sword. This concept applies to knives too. The markings on the slate seem messy, but if you order them in a certain way, they show something completely different.’ Lu Sheng closed his eyes, recreating the motions of the knife slashes on the slate.

The original ear-piercing sounds of the other people fighting slowly faded away.

‘Deep blue,’ Lu Sheng called out his cheating device in his mind.

With a flash, the Deep Blue box appeared in front of his eyes. Lu Sheng glanced down and found what he needed.

“Unknown knife slashes: Not learned. Special Effects: Unknown.”

‘If these knife strikes tell the story of life, then… the knife moves might hide the secrets to the order of all things.’

At that moment, Lu Sheng seemed to see an ordinary yet mysterious knife art from the different deepness of cuts on the slate.

‘If you go through these moves in order, you get the same exact knife marks no matter what material you cut on.’ Lu Sheng’s mind got increasingly peaceful.

He watched the boxes on the Cheating Device intently. As he expected, the box corresponding to the stone slate finally changed. It turned into something new from “Unknown Knife Strikes”.

“Unknown knife art: first level. Special Effect: speed, level one.”

‘The special effect is just an ordinary speed boost? Seems like I haven’t understood the essence yet.’ Lu Sheng’s expression remained indifferent.

‘Since Master gave me these knife strikes, then there must be some secret on them for me to break through to the Devil Lord. If the special effect is just a speed boost, I obviously haven’t gotten to the essence yet.’

With his heart churning, he focused his attention and pressed down on the change button in his cheating device. The screen wobbled, then became still again.

He kept pushing the button at the end of the unknown knife strikes.

“Are you sure you want to proceed with martial arts creation?” A new dialogue box suddenly popped out.

“Yes.” Lu Sheng made his choice without hesitation.

“Hiss…”

Instantly, the dialogue box blurred. The entire Deep Blue blurred.

Lu Sheng felt all his knowledge about knives and knife arts come alive. Large amounts of knife, speed, and spirit knowledge bumped and brushed against each other, creating an infinite amount of sparks for new ideas.

Just a few seconds later.

Lu Sheng closed his eyes, then opened them again. A cold, heavy air spread out around from him.

“This… So it was this…” He alternated between realization and confusion. He seemed to understand many things he hadn’t before.

The words inside the box finally cleared and displayed something different.

“Moving Stars Knife Art: level two. Special effects: speed level two, soul reinforcement level two.”

‘Moving Stars Knife Art. I didn’t know it was this ordinary set. The Thousand Sun Sect claims to have over tens of millions of knife and sword arts, with 365 of them able to help cultivate the spirit. Among them, the Moving Stars Knife Art only ranks tenth. I didn’t realize that the secret to breaking through… was hidden here.’ Lu Sheng could kind of tell what his master Qian Du was pointing him to.

‘Although I still can’t pinpoint exactly what the secret to breaking through to the Devil Lord is, I can already see through the secrets in the knife marks.’ Lu Sheng looked at the screen calmly.

‘I only used two units of Mental Energy. I still have over 500 left. Let me see what more secrets this knife art is hiding…’ He squinted, his eyes glinting.

He focused and pushed the button for change.

“Are you sure you want to continue evolving this martial art?” A new dialogue box jumped out.

Lu Sheng pressed “yes” without hesitating.

The Moving Stars Knife Art only had two levels. After his previous evolution, he successfully reenacted the knife art from the stone slate. This evolution would push the Moving Stars Knife Art to its peak and beyond.

In an instant, all the mysteries of knife moves flowed through Lu Sheng’s brain. After a few breaths, a completely new Moving Stars Knife Art appeared in the box in front of him.

He easily mastered the knife moves that were much more powerful than before as if he had been practicing them for years.

The box in front of him also changed.

“Moving Stars Knife Art: level three (max two levels). Special effects: speed level three, soul reinforcement level three.”

‘If this is all, then it’s just a normal martial arts knife move. Apart from refreshing the mind, there is nothing that seems to be able to help me break through to the Devil Lord. Even the parts for cultivating True Qi are very basic and simple. Continue.’

Lu Sheng continued evolving his martial arts. He only used two units of his mental energy.

After more than an hour…

“Squelch!”

Gong Chi pierced the Book Buddha monster’s eye socket precisely. The tip of her sword shot out from the back of the Book Buddha’s head, bringing black blood that was thick as mud with it.

“Squelch.”

She pulled out her sword swiftly, panting a little. A long battle would take a toll on even her.

“It’s about done.” She glanced around at the messy battlefield. Apart from the three disciples from the Thousand Sun Sect, almost of all of them carried battle wounds.

“It’s finally over.” Gong Chi shook off the blood on her sword and sheathed it. She picked up her spear and slung it over back, then walked toward Lu Sheng.

She lowered her head and apologized, “Lu Sheng, sorry for making you wait so long.”

But Lu Sheng, who was sitting in place, seemed not to hear her voice at all.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Lu?” Gong Chi was a little confused, raising her voice. The rest of the Youyin Sect disciples also gathered over slowly.

Xie Yuqiong was sitting behind Lu Sheng. Hearing the commotion, she also looked up.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Lu, it’s time to leave?” She also called out.

“…”

Lu Sheng opened his eyes abruptly. In that second, Gong Chi felt she saw something vast and deep, something dark and heavy, something as mysterious as the universe flash through his eyes.

“Is that so? It’s time to leave…” Lu Sheng let out a long sigh, feeling as if eons had passed.

“So this is the truth… this is… this is the real secret…” Lu Sheng lowered his head, mumbling something under his breath.

In the bottom right corner box of his cheating device, completely new information about the Moving Stars Knife Art was flashing.

“Moving Stars Knife Art: level 189 (max two levels). Special effect: speed level 189, soul strengthening level 189.”

There was no other information other than that.

But Lu Sheng could already faintly sense his extreme boundaries being touched upon as his mind, soul, and body started merging into one.

He slowly lifted his hand. Under the puzzled gazes of Gong Chi and the others, he gently motioned toward a rock in the distance.

“Poof.”

The boundaries were broken. The rock, the size of a fist, burst into powder.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Lu?” Gong Chi called out again, confused.

Lu Sheng stared at the rock quietly. After a few moments, he finally smiled. Only he knew that he didn’t use any force at all. He didn’t use True Qi, Inner Qi, Devil Aura, or Devil Qi.

He only thought about it. He imagined the rock doing that.

And then, the rock naturally changed into powder.

He didn’t use any force. Instead, his mind sent over a signal that told the rock it wasn’t a rock anymore, but powder.

“So this is it…” Lu Sheng lowered his hand. Although there was no wind, his clothes ruffled slightly. An icy breeze spread out with him as the center, and the tiny miniscule black particles in the air all few toward him, concentrating at the spot between his brows. They formed a dark red triangle pattern like a winged cobra.

“So this is it.” His irises also started changing, rotating slowly along with the triangular pattern on his forehead.

“So this is… it…” He raised his hand. A fog darker than the depths of a bottomless pit spun and twisted in his palm.

“Whoosh…”

The deep, black wind spread out from him.

***

Secret Area.

“Oh?” Su Ningfei looked at the stone slate beside her hand in confusion.

“I thought I already gave this to Lu Sheng. Why is it still here?”

“Lu Sheng? That disciple you took on not long ago?” There was another person in the cave. It was an elderly man whose beard grew all the way to the tips of his toes.

“Yup. He’s different from the previous ones…” Qian Du Su Ningfei shook her head slightly.

“You gave him the stone slate?” The old man was astonished. “I’ve never seen you this generous before.”

“Not possible. I just made a new one. How could I give away the Silent Death Stone Board?”

“What’s on it?”

“I don’t remember. Some ordinary knife move, I guess.”

“What do you want him to understand, then?” The old man was speechless.

“Who knows,” Su Ningfei replied indifferently.