Way of the Devil

“No… Don’t eat me! No!” Little Ruan turned around and wanted to run away.

“Pchht!”

A black beam of light flashed past.

Lu Sheng wiped his mouth.

“Thank you for reminding me that you’re edible as well. If I ate you, there might be more nutrients available for my Heart World.”

The Heart World represented his opponent’s soul. Eating it up meant weakening his opponent. Naturally, he would not hold back.

‘My own logic is largely at odds with the rules and common sense of this world. That’s why I broke through the confusion at the first moment. Now, it’s time to figure out how to break out of this Heart World and leave this place.’ Lu Sheng looked up at the skies. He strode toward the deeper parts of the island.

***

The four-winged lady stood blankly in the streets. The wings behind her flapped subconsciously. They were like organs that she was born with.

“Do you know how to write the character ‘bad’?” A gentle male voice came from behind her.

“What character?” The lady turned around. She saw a big and tall, dark-skinned man asking her the question softly as he stood behind her.

“Have you forgotten? We promised that when I learn how to write that word and stand in front of you, it’ll be the day of our marriage.” The man stared at her with deep, affectionate eyes.

“…” The four-winged lady was at a loss for words. It was just one character, was it that hard?

The smile on the man’s face blossomed.

“I’ll write it for you right now.”

He pushed the four-winged lady lightly so she would take a few steps back and give him some space.

“Behold, my love for you! Aah!”

There were terrifying sounds of muscles ripping. The clothes on the man were torn and the muscles on his body enlarged.

“Atatatata!”

He took a step forward and hurled face basin-sized punches into the air.

“Authentic Four Phenomena, Five Elements Exorcizing Punch!”

Hundreds of punches were launched in an instant. Then, they swiftly formed three characters which read “you’re so bad” before the four-winged lady!

“Aah! Marry me!”

“Boom!”

A punch landed beside the four-winged lady and blew a washbasin-sized pit in the ground.

“Bam!”

The man choked the four-winged lady’s neck. All his muscles erupted with strength.

“See this!? This is my love for you!”

“Crack…”

The sound of broken bones…

The four-winged lady struggled to break free, but her efforts were futile. The strength of her opponent was far greater than she had anticipated.

“Marry me! Marry me now!” the man shouted skyward. He had a death grip on the lady’s neck. His wild strength seemed capable of snapping her neck’s bones in two.

“Let… me… go…!” The four-winged lady struggled to speak as she gasped for air.

“Oh…” The man seemed to have realized that he had been too passionate. He hastily loosened his grip.

“Keh, keh, keh…”

The four-winged lady’s main body was not powerful. She had been used to fighting with her reincarnation heart usually. Now that she could not use it, she was feeling slightly overpowered going up against this man.

Although she had the faint feeling that something was off, she had to compromise for now. Getting out of this situation had greater priority.

“Don’t you think that there’s something wrong with the way you’re proposing?” She coughed helplessly and asked her question while feeling slightly dispirited.

“Something wrong? What’s wrong with it?” The man scratched his head. He pointed to a couple nearby who were chucking it out with their heads covered in blood.

“See? Everybody’s doing it!”

The four-winged lady looked in the direction in which he pointed. The woman was lifting the man with a single arm and punching his abdomen.

“What do you want to eat tomorrow!?”

“I want to eat Chinese cabbage!”

“Why do you want to eat Chinese cabbage!? Eat celery! Ce-le-ry!” The woman put her entire strength behind a kick on the man’s chest, and he immediately spat blood.

“Only by losing a lot of blood can I prove my love for you!” The man fell to the ground, heavily injured. He continued spitting out blood. Even when the ambulance arrived, he was still wearing a happy grin on his face.

The woman broke her own arms from pommeling the man. One of her legs was crippled. She was loaded onto the ambulance alongside her boyfriend.

Before they went in, the doctors and nurses took out celebratory candles from under the stretchers and congratulated them for their marriage.

“Wish the two of you long-lasting happiness for the rest of your lives!”

“Thank you… Thank you!” The couple were moved to tears.

The four-winged lady felt as if her views on true love were seriously impacted…

“That’s just a mild case. That there is what I call heated.” The man pointed in another direction. He looked envious.

“I love you! Wolf Fang Tempest Punch!”

A muscle woman surged with power and blew a hole through a meter-thick wall and charged toward a strong-looking man on the other side.

“I love you too! Ultimate Skill! Nine Lives Overlord Saber!”

“Uohhh!”

“Aahhh!”

Two immense Spiritual Powers of blue and black collided. Fresh blood, bones, and flesh scattered everywhere.

A crowd had gathered around the scene. Their shirts were ripped by their bulging muscles as they were moved to tears.

“That’s love!”

“If you love someone, you have to beat them until they can’t walk no more!”

“Go! Go! Hit! Hit!”

The onlookers raised their axes and knives to cheer them on.

The four-winged lady retracted her gaze blankly. She felt that her views on the world had been somehow impacted.

“Will you marry me!?” The man opposite her looked at her with deep eyes. At the same time, he drew an ox-ear dagger which had been greatly sharpened from behind.

“Aaah!” The four-winged lady turned around and ran. She did not know why she decided to run. However, she knew that if she did not run, she would not have the opportunity to do so anymore…

***

Lu Sheng strolled along on the island.

This was his first time entering the Heart World of a Void Underworld expert.

Compared to a Weapon Grandmaster, a Void Underworld expert’s Heart World had perfected most of its rules already. This was a comparatively complete cyclic world.

It would not be easy trying to look for the weakness of this world and break free.

After all, if he wanted to break through this world, he would need the most powerful strength, a strength that could rip through dimensions.

The power to rip through dimensions would surely be placed under the rule most familiar to this world’s master.

‘Usually, it’s three days. If I can’t break free from here within three days, I’ll certainly be melted and disintegrate here, eventually becoming a part of this world.’ Lu Sheng understood this.

‘According to the Void Underworld Section of the Qianshen Sutra, there are two ways to break through a Heart World. The first way is to climb the ladder of the rules and break through the upper limits of the rules, thereby triggering a disturbance of the world and plunging the rules in disorder. When the loophole presents itself, seize it and leave. The second way is to locate and defeat the Void Underworld expert’s spirit in this world. A Void Underworld Heavenly Devil’s main body is always hidden within his own Heart World. This is just like me controlling my own corpse. As long as I can locate this main body…

‘How do I find the main body?’

Lu Sheng looked up at the active volcano further deeper in the island. The tip of the volcano was still fuming.

‘As long as I can disrupt the rules of the Heart World, I’ll be able to draw the main body out.’

Lu Sheng strode forward into the lush forest.

‘How do I go about destroying this world’s rules…’ He extended a palm and aimed it at the skies.

Faint yellowish Soil Qi spread out from his palm, and it emanated outward in all directions.

Lu Sheng suddenly stopped. He stood before a huge ancient tree with a canopy that spanned 100 meters.

He raised his palm slowly and pressed it on the ancient tree’s trunk.

“All-nourishing effect… Civilization Transition!”

“Boom!”

A blast of yellow light emerged from Lu Sheng’s body and surged into the ancient tree.

“Roargh!” The ancient tree suddenly shook and growled.

Two huge eyes and a bloodied mouth opened on the center of the trunk.

“I… am awake!” the ancient tree roared at the skies.

“Go. Destroy everything within sight, regardless if they’re alive or dead. Shatter everything and suck them dry!” Lu Sheng ordered with a shout.

“Understood!” the ancient tree replied respectfully. Its branches grew in a frenzy as they spread outward in all directions.

At the same time, its roots tunneled through the soil and spread outward as well. The trees around it were tangled by the roots, and soon showed signs of withering.

Nutrients from those trees were being sucked into the ancient tree, which fueled more tree roots that devoured the trees from further away.

Lu Sheng stood on the thickest branch and looked on from a distance.

This was the formidable effect of Civilization Transition.

It was capable of turning a normal ancient tree with no consciousness into a peculiar tree demon with formidable strength.

The gray roots swiftly spread outward alongside the branches.

‘If I were to do this myself, I would’ve wasted too much Mental Energy because of the incompatibility with the rules. However, if I controlled a local organism to do the job for me… there wouldn’t be such an issue.’

Lu Sheng was not anxious at all. He had been prepared to fight against other Void Underworld beings when he decided to come here for revenge.

There were three great Void Underworld beings on the Mother of Pain’s side. He certainly would not have been able to hold a candle against them if they were to fight head-on.

However, if he played to his own advantages and took them on one at a time, Lu Sheng had nothing to fear.

‘I wonder if that person has broken through the confusion. If she hasn’t, she won’t be able to use her True Essene powers, and can only rely on her physical body… Perhaps the time needed for her to be devoured by my Heart World will also be reduced…’

Lu Sheng observed the withering trees on the island. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

In truth, the Qianshen Method was not advantageous to be used against another Void Underworld being. The reason why Lu Sheng had this much confidence was because of the unique ability born from the Qianshen Method, the Qianshen Undead Body.

As long as that special trait remained, he would not have to fear any form of killing.

This special ability derived by Deep Blue instantly merged the East Park Autumn Dew Fertilizing Method’s other special traits together, forming a perfect, formidable, and terrifying Capacity.

As long as nobody managed to undo this Capacity of his, he would be undefeatable.

‘Show me the heights I’ve reached without relying on Deep Blue!’ Lu Sheng looked on silently as the roots spread out. He turned around and flew toward the mouth of the volcano.

The volcano was currently pumping out more smoke.

As he got closer, Lu Sheng could sense that it was unlike ordinary volcanoes. The smoke emitted from the volcano’s mouth was not sulfuric smog, but countless contorted, semi-transparent shadows of gray souls.

Countless humanoid souls floated out of the volcano’s mouth. They wore pious and peaceful smiles. Their bodies disintegrated not far from the volcano’s mouth.

‘This is a rule which combines Spirit and smoke… Deep Blue!’

A chill crept onto Lu Sheng’s heart. He immediately stopped in his tracks and looked at the light blue interface which popped up.

‘Looks like this world is quite interesting… With my stock of more than 8,000,000 Mental Energy units, I don’t think that it’s impossible for me to derive the rules here!’

He reached out and took a sample of the peculiar molecule in the air. The formation of novel molecules from the combination of souls and smoke had piqued his interest.

‘If I can understand the simplest theory of circulation here… I’ll be able to derive a cultivation method compatible with this world!’