Way of the Devil

“I thought that progressing slowly from the beginning would leave me with a more stable foundation, but I understand now.” Lu Sheng walked slowly toward the goldilocks.

“Weaklings would willingly accept a compromise, cower in fear, and avoid all risks. That’s why they can only move forward in a roundabout manner. An expert, on the other hand, walks straight and pays no heed to obstacles. That’s the most effective way of doing things.”

The goldilocks could not hear Lu Sheng at all. She was gravely wounded. With a simple hit, more than 80% of her internal organs had shattered. Even with her highest-ranked eternal self-healing art, she could not heal her wounds in such a short span of time.

She was going to die…

“What’s your name?” Lu Sheng suddenly asked.

“Jolin… Jolin Auros…” the goldilocks answered despite herself.

“Bam.”

Lu Sheng pulled on her hair and lifted her off the ground.

“Have you given up yet?” Lu Sheng smiled. “Since you no longer have any need for this body, why not give it to me?”

He suddenly lowered his head. He opened his huge dragon mouth. His slender red lizard-like tongue suddenly shot out and invaded Jolin’s mouth.

“Keh! Keh! Keh!”

Jolin gagged and coughed. However, Lu Sheng maintained a tight squeeze on her cheeks, and she could not even shut her own mouth. She felt something traveling along her throat and slid into her stomach.

“It’s done.” Lu Sheng released her and she fell to the ground.

Jolin had a coughing and vomiting fit the moment she dropped to the ground. She attempted to eject the item inside her belly.

However, her efforts were futile. The thing was seemingly nailed onto her stomach. It was now getting hotter and hotter. In no time, it melted into a warm sensation which permeated throughout her body.

Soon enough, she felt that her damaged organs were being patched up at an amazing pace.

Lu Sheng sensed the changes in Jolin’s body with satisfaction.

He had just inserted a part of his main body’s flesh into Jolin’s body. Then, he controlled his own flesh to repair Jolin’s damaged organs.

2

Currently, Jolin’s body was completely under his control. His main body’s cells were swiftly spreading throughout Jolin’s body through her circulatory and lymphatic system.

If he willed it, his main body could be completely regrown on her body in the next instant.

However, it was best for his spirit to be in control of one body at one time. Hence, he did not plan on making his flesh inside her grow.

There were truly many types of cloning arts, but due to the difficulties in splitting one’s spirit, many cultivators who actually managed to clone themselves either ended up mental illnesses, or the split personalities would fight amongst themselves, and the cultivator ended up with schizophrenia.

Lu Sheng did not want that to happen to himself.

“What have you done to me!?” Jolin screamed as she jumped to her feet. She brought her blade toward Lu Sheng’s chest.

“Bang!”

Her huge sword was stopped an inch away from Lu Sheng’s chest. The intense blade pressure spread out from the blade, parted to Lu Sheng’s sides, and blew the cave wall apart.

Jolin was the one who’d brought her blade to a halt. She could not even control her own body now. She could only stand there blankly while her body stiffened. A huge sense of rile and rejection washed over her, and she could not bring herself to cut Lu Sheng.

“You…”

“I’ve healed you, and now, you’re mine…” Lu Sheng snickered, revealing his sharp dragon teeth.

However, in Jolin’s eyes, this smile was like that of the devil itself!

Lu Sheng turned around and looked at the two elven Sorcerers who had invoked at least five layers of magic barrier before themselves.

“I have been running low on manpower lately… You guys have come just in time…”

Subduing Jolin was only an interlude. Lu Sheng would not restrain himself to just using his main body’s power or this host’s strength.

A period of more than 10 years was enough for him to understand many of this world’s rules. Although his main body could not appear here completely, he could unleash half of his power.

For these so-called Golden Sorcerers, half of Lu Sheng’s main body’s power was already at a terrifying and unbelievable rank.

Lu Sheng walked slowly over and flicked a finger.

Two bullet-like clusters of flesh instantly plunged into the necks of the elven Sorcerers. They instantly assimilated with their bodies.

“Alright. I’m short of a few hands to do my business for me here.” Lu Sheng was very satisfied with these trained hands that had offered themselves up.

If it had not been to control them, he would not have easily used his main body’s flesh and blood.

Even just now, he merely unleashed the Instant Destruction Fist Technique with this physical body.

However, his combat tier was too high. Even with only a young dragon’s body and several hundred different arts he’d mastered, he was already capable of unleashing a terrifying might.

Many of his arts would not have an effect on Jolin if they were launched at her separately. However, what if he concentrated all those arts in a small point for concentrated impact?

That was what Lu Sheng had done. The terrifying might unleashed with his kick was the result of instantly erupting with many arts.

After subduing the three of them, Lu Sheng had more underlings he could order about now.

The two Sorcerers were tasked to produce art scrolls as his source of income. He had Jolin take charge over the running of the entire dragon cave. Lu Sheng managed to free up his own time.

The conversion of the Lizard Tribe went smoothly. With only three times more spirit-prompting threads, he had created more than 300 loyal lizardmen.

The lizardmen formed a tribe[1. Judging by this, Lizard Tribe refers to lizardmen as a race (species).] and started learning the fist technique which Lu Sheng taught.

As Lu Sheng cultivated, he reorganized the fist and combat techniques he knew into a set of unique skills tailored to the needs of the lizardmen.

Then, he modified and strengthened the scales in the lizardmen’s skin. He expended another 1,000 spirit-prompting threads in the process. Six months later, Lu Sheng gained a lizard warrior army with magic-resistant skin.

Rank-1 arts were practically useless against his lizardmen army. With the combat technique they were skilled in, even the most formidable Warriors and Knights would be at a disadvantage after a short while since they were not used to their fighting style.

With this army, Lu Sheng began kidnapping more high-ranked Sorcerers from the area. Sorcerers of rank-3 and above were browbeaten by him into joining the troops which protected the lizardmen.

They were also enlisted as Lu Sheng’s art scroll production team.

In order to unify and increase the sense of unity, Lu Sheng gathered his forces together, and they formed a group called Devil Shadow.

As time passed, the Devil Shadow’s influence grew larger like a rolling snowball. Many high-ranked experts were secretly contacted by them. They either actively or passively joined the Devil Shadow. Producing art scrolls was no longer the Devil Shadow’s main business.

They started expanding their business into the ore mining and various gray businesses. Within their territory, any caravans going in or out were required to pay tolls.

In the beginning, Arcane Knight Jolin had not agreed to this. However, she carried out her tasks unwillingly since she was under Lu Sheng’s control.

However, due to an accident, she was given a spirit-prompting thread by Lu Sheng after a rescue mission.

Her life force immediately doubled. From that moment on, her combat powers improved rapidly. In merely two years, she helped the Devil Shadow expand its influence by three times.

In order to gain another gift from Lu Sheng, Jolin unleashed her talents in doing business. She established a large marketplace named Sand Shadow. She ensured that the caravans and merchants here would enjoy a fair and orderly trading environment.

As such, in five years’ time, the Devil Shadow had grown from an ordinary small-time organization into a colossal entity that spanned half a province.

The core members were referred to as the Undying. This was not because they were ghosts, but because the five experts that formed the Devil Shadow’s core were all monsters that definitely could not be killed.

Behind the scenes, the only thing Lu Sheng had to do was reward those who returned with success with spirit-prompting threads. The power of the spirit-prompting threads was pure life energy. Coupled with the flesh and blood he planted into the five experts, an undying body comparable to the Black Membrane was created.

The difference was that the Black Membrane could be shattered, but these undying bodies could not.

…Unless there were Void Underworld experts as powerful as he was. They could utterly destroy his main body’s flesh and blood.

Lu Sheng focused on cultivating painstakingly through several breakthroughs in such a secluded environment. Finally, when he was 30 years old, he managed to reach rank-10, and began progressing toward becoming a rank-11 Sorcerer.

Construction work for his Sorcerer Tower had also begun.

***

North of Mulin Province. Level City.

On the right side of the bustling street, there was a café. Lu Sheng, covered in a black cloak, sat at a table as he slowly enjoyed the freshly ground black coffee.

The rich and sugarless black coffee sent a bitter taste flowing along his tongue into his throat, where an aromatic feedback was sent back up.

Since the last year, Lu Sheng had fallen in love with this café’s black coffee.

He liked its almost gooey consistency and the comfortable, refreshing bitter taste. This reminded him of the difficult times he’d spent in his painstaking cultivation when he had just Arrived in this world.

He’d had to conceal himself with any possible means as he looked for items which would provide him with Mental Energy everywhere. Compared to that time, his current life was bliss.

“Everyone has difficult times when they started from scratch…” Lu Sheng sighed with emotion.

“You’re sighing again, sir.” A young waitress made fun of him.

“Yes… You’ll be overcome with emotions when you’re old.” Lu Sheng nodded. Ever since he’d made it past becoming rank-10 Sorcerer, he mastered the rank-5 eternal morphing art. He consolidated his dragon body into the form of a human for a prolonged period of time.

This was an art any members from the other Tribes could choose after rank-10.

Naturally, this was also the case for the seven-colored dragons. However, compared to a humanoid form, they preferred a dragon’s body. It was also their strongest form.

Hence, it was rare for seven-colored dragons to morph into a human.

However, Lu Sheng was different. He was originally a human. This was only him returning to his original state.

Lu Sheng gave the waitress a gentle smile. The girl was not pretty; she was even slightly fat. However, she had a sweet smile. Anyone who saw her smile would have their spirits lifted.

This was also the reason why business was flourishing in this café.

Lu Sheng would drink a cup here every morning, just to see the perpetually happy smile on this girl’s face. This would lift his spirits greatly as well.

After finishing a cup of bitter coffee, Lu Sheng ordered some dessert as usual.

However, the usually peaceful café seemed to be experiencing some trouble today.

A couple six tables away from Lu Sheng suddenly stood up and began arguing.

The two of them fought loudly. The white-haired man looked irritated. Though the girl with short blonde hair was beautiful, she seemed to have a larger temper compared to the man.

The two of them fought at an ever-increasing volume. Suddenly, there was a flurry of sounds as the cups were pushed off the table and shattered on the floor.

The two of them paid for the damages and stormed out of the café. They vanished from sight in no time.

The slightly fat waitress and two other waiters kept counseling them from the side, but to no avail. In the end, when a girl with long, blonde hair in a white gown appeared, the couple finally stopped arguing and were sent on their way.

Lu Sheng had been drinking coffee here for a year. This was his first time seeing the owner of this café.