Way of the Devil

Panda Novel

The two of them walked in a file through the underwater palace’s doors.

Wailing clam demon maidservants and servants sprawled everywhere across the floor. Some of them had broken skulls and were still bleeding as they lay there, unconscious.

Some clam demons were hastily carrying their brethren away. However, due to the sheer numbers, they could not accomplish it in a short time.

“Uh… This is caused by the tremors from our little battle just now. You understand that the foundation of an underwater palace is quite unstable… Hence, if there’s a slightly stronger disturbance out there, men and horses would be thrown off their feet in here,” explained Fu Jin helplessly.

Lu Sheng smiled, but said nothing.

He noticed that the clam demon maidservants were all young and beautiful. Even the slightly older ones had graceful bearings. They did not appear old. Their outer appearances were above average.

The male servants were handsome and fair with balanced bodies. Any one of them could be a pretty boy on Earth. Many of the young male servants would have been prettier than girls if they cross-dressed.

“By the way, I’ve never visited this palace before,” stated Lu Sheng calmly.

Fu Jin smiled apologetically, “Please forgive me, Abode Master. The situation in my clan is slightly special. If I invite everyone here, I’m worried that…”

Lu Sheng nodded in a show of understanding.

The Mist Clam Clansmen all had appearances above average. If they showed their faces outside casually, they might actually attract many troubles.

They walked through the clean white palace and proceeded to the inner regions. There were fewer people here, mainly some radiant and enchanting girls who wore gossamer clothing. The girls mostly couched on the floor. Everyone in the palace had shells of varying colors on their backs, which was the clam demons’ trademark. The clamshells on the backs of these girls were all pure white.

Some clam demons who looked like garrison generals walked up and spoke softly into Fu Jin’s ears. Fu Jin turned around and the swept his eyes across the great formation hidden all about the palace. Then, he remembered the formidable wall of water which seemed to cover the heavens and the earth. In the end, he heaved a long sigh internally and gave up on his final opportunity to act.

He had a ninety percent confidence, but he knew that he would not succeed even if he acted.

Taoist Mu Yun’s actual strength was too shocking. Also, this man had kept his strength hidden for so many years, so his ambition had to have been great. If Fu Jin failed to defeat him, he would surely provoke the latter and incur some unforeseeable consequences. That was not a price that the Mist Clam Clan could afford to pay.

Lu Sheng should not be underestimated. Although he was not skilled in formations, he had been researching a formation in the recent years. He was extremely familiar with the setup’s aura. With a single glance, he could tell that a powerful formation could be found inside the palace. Naturally, he judged the might of the formation based on its possible effects to a Taoist Master with a Core.

When Lu Sheng saw that Fu Jin showed no intention of making a move, he knew that he had completely given up and was now truly dependent on him. He felt slightly at ease.

“This palace looks great. If we can make the foundations firmer and make it the base for the clam demons’ future development, it’d be better,” Lu Sheng casually commented.

“You’re right, Abode Master. I’ve thought of that before, and I’ve even started planning. Alas… my poor mother was involved, and my clan had to emigrate from our ancestral grounds due to unavoidable reasons. We had to leave the main line of the clam demons and live here on the shallow seabed. Otherwise, my Mist Clam Clan wouldn’t have fallen so low,” lamented Fu Jin with a sigh. After he said this, he sneaked a peak at Lu Sheng’s expression.

Lu Sheng knew what he was hinting at. He wanted to tell him that the Mist Clam Clan was not a lone army. They had an extremely powerful clam demon clan backing them. They were only temporarily unavailable to return to their ancestral lands.

This way, Lu Sheng would show some restraint no matter what he did and refrain from exerting too great a pressure for fear that he would have to fight against the clam demon clan.

“Clam demon clan? Is it the great clan that’s said to live in the depths and is spread across all regions? That sea clan of clam demons?” Lu Sheng squinted his eyes, but he was not shocked; instead, he felt happy.

“That’s right, that’s right.” Fu Jin quickly nodded, expressing his confirmation. A hint of haughtiness flashed across his eyes. “Abode Master, since you know about that, you should also understand—”

“Since your clan is from the clam demon clan, why don’t you lend me the Formula that’s passed down in you clan?” Lu Sheng cut him short and directly exposed the true objective of his visit.

Initially, he’d thought that he could only obtain normal Core-forming cultivation method. He did not know that the Mist Clam Clan had such deep connections. This fitted in exactly with Lu Sheng’s wishes.

Fu Jin had initially intended to recount some great feats accomplished by the clam demon clan to shock this mysterious and formidable Abode Master. He had not expected him to be this unconventional that he would request the Formula passed down in his clan.

His expression instantly darkened. His eyes were smiling just now, but his anger was quickly showing in them.

“Abode Master, it’s better not to joke about matters like this. The Formula passed down in a clan isn’t something that can be leaked easily. If we don’t have that Formula, I’m afraid that my Mist Clam Clan will have an extremely tragic future ahead of us. I won’t even be surprised no matter how tragic a state we’ll fall into.”

The warmth Lu Sheng displayed on his expression slowly turned cold.

“I’m not asking, this is an order.”

The two of them stood right there. For a time, the tension was high between them.

The clangs of drawn weapons could be heard from all around them. The pure young girls who looked gentle and cute moments before had now drawn short swords that were previously unseen. Their eyes were filled with killing intent as they glowered at Lu Sheng.

“You can either give it to me, or you can die.” The silver metal ball’s shadow appeared behind Lu Sheng again. The entire water palace started to sway slowly. The seawater around them seemed to boil as it was pulled on by some terrifyingly immense pressure. The amount of light around Lu Sheng was even lessened.

“Rumble…”

The water palace swayed with greater momentum and speed.

Fu Jin tried desperately to stabilize the water palace. The garrison generals in the palace had even activated all of the various formations, but to no avail.

The entire water palace was like a small toy in the hands of a giant who easily overlooked all their effort. The swaying continued to increase in intensity, and showed no signs of stopping.

“I’ll give it to you!” Finally, Fu Jin sat on the floor, looking ghastly pale. He had completely exhausted his Core Qi. This time, he did not even have the energy to stand and maintain his outer appearance.

“Daddy!” With a squeamish cry, two exquisitely dainty and ravishingly beautiful young girls charged out of the dark corners of the palace and supported Fu Jin.

One of the girls looked pure. She wore a long and clean white dress. Her skin was so fair and supple that it seemed possible for water to be squeezed out of her.

The other one had a hot body. She wore a pink miniskirt and a tube top. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her long, fair legs were exposed. The onlookers had to resist the temptation to ravish them.

“Go back! Little Yin, Little Rong!” Fu Jin could not restrain himself from scolding them as his expression changed.

“It’s alright.” Lu Sheng had only swept his gaze across the two girls and returned to Fu Jin. “I’m not offended by the genuine filial piety of two young children.”

“Bah! You’re a bad person!” The hot girl called Little Rong spat at Lu Sheng. Her delicate face wore an ice-cold expression.

The spittle she spat shot out in a straight line onto the floor right in front of Lu Sheng’s feet.

Lu Sheng smiled at her instead. “If you’re this disrespectful the next time, I’ll destroy your cultivation base and marry you off to the Walrus Clan.”

Little Rong initially had a face as cold as frost, but when she heard this, her delicate face instantly paled. Her body shuddered and she lowered her head, not daring to make another move.

Little Yin beside her shuddered as well. She was so scared that her complexion was ghastly pale.

The Walrus Clan was known for their violent and enormous nature in certain matters. It was said that there was no issue if they married someone from the same clan. However, once a demon from another clan married into their clan, the bride would be in so much pain that she wished she were dead.

“Come with me.” Fu Jin finally completely gave up on resisting. He struggled to get back on his feet and had his daughters retreat for now. He brought Lu Sheng out of the main palace alone, and walked to a side hall in the deepest part of the water palace. From a secret compartment on the side hall’s wall, he retrieved a special cloth book written with golden silk.

“This is the Formula passed down in my Mist Clam Clan.” Fu Jin’s expression was ice-cold as he passed the cloth book to Lu Sheng,

Lu Sheng received the cloth book and inspected it closely. His expression remained unchanged, but he was deeply happy inside.

A row of words was clearly written on the cloth book: Golden Clam Dragon Transformation Formula.

In his search of Mu Yun’s memories of a few hundred years, he had heard of a saying. It was said that among the Formulas passed down among the sea clans, those that contained the words “Dragon Transformation” were certainly created by the real Dragon God. They were peak collections that could bring the cultivator to the Dragon Transformation Path.

He flipped the cloth book open with anticipation.

As he expected, this Formula contained extremely complete records from the basic Qi Refining tier to the foundation Building, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul tiers.

Lu Sheng could not help but ask Fu Jin, “With such a complete Formula being passed down in your Mist Clam Clan, why’s your clan…?”

Fu Jin smiled wryly. “Although this skill formula is powerful, it needs a great treasure, the Dragon Transformation Stone. Ten thousand years ago, Dragon Transformation Stones could be found everywhere, but now, most of the Dragon Transformation Stones have been excavated and depleted. The remaining few are all in the hands of the great clans of the deep. A small clan such as ourselves…” He did not continue his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Even though this cultivation method was powerful, it was not very useful with the most crucial resource missing.

However, when Lu Sheng heard this, he was still filled with joy. This was because it was a cultivation method for the clam demon clan to begin with. He was a human, and it was only natural that he could not cultivate it. However, the description and cultivation methods of the different tiers and the knowledge and experiences contained within the Formula were greatly helpful for him to deduce skill formulas with Deep Blue.

The skill formula was not too long, it was a few dozen thousand words all in all. Currently, Lu Sheng’s spirit was extremely powerful. He did not need much time to memorize it.

After that, he hastily returned to his abode.

With this skill formula, he could break through his limits in one go.

If there were no bottlenecks in his derivations, he planned to attempt to charge toward his limit after Core Formation to the complete stage, and then attempt to reach the Nascent Soul tier.

With such a superior Formula as reference, the Deep Blue would have a favorable system to compare with. This would greatly facilitate him merging his various past experiences and techniques in martial arts.

After Lu Sheng returned to his abode with haste, he went into secluded cultivation that very night. When he broke through the Core Formation tier, he would have to start thinking about replacing the Nether Water with something else as the skill formula’s core Spiritual Power’s property.

Inside the seclusion cave.

Lu Sheng sat with his back straight. His expression revealed that he was lost in contemplation.

‘Nether Water can provide extreme Yin Chill and toxicity to one’s Core Qi. During Core Formation, the more powerful the heaven and earthly treasure fused, the greater the might of the Core will be. The Triad Brilliant Nether Collection is actually aiming to fuse Nether Water into the cultivator’s Inner core. It’s a unique Formula devised to achieve just that with gradual steps.’

After Lu Sheng had taken a look at the Golden Clam Dragon Transformation Formula, his outlook had been broadened. He was no longer at a loss regarding the cultivation method after the Core Formation. He also had a complete and thorough understanding of the Core Formation tier now.

‘Well then, what’s more powerful and better than Nether Water?’ His current physical body was far inferior to his main body. Even if he derived a kind of terrifying energy that was as powerful as Death Blaze, his physical body would not be able to contain it.

‘It seems like there’s no other way… After all, I’ve done it once with my Artifact.’

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. With the control his spirit exerted on Pure Qi, the only thing he needed to enter the Core Formation tier was for Deep Blue to derive the next level of skill formula, and everything could be achieved without extra effort.

The cave quickly fell into silence.

Time passed slowly. Gradually, faint blue light started appearing around Lu Sheng’s body. Surprisingly, ocean glitter started forming around him.

Sounds of waves could be heard rising and falling slowly within the cave.

Another two hours passed.

Lu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes. He opened his mouth and spat out a mass of ice-cold air. It was the same as when Mu Yun ended his cultivation.

However, nobody would have thought that the Virtual Core inside his body had silently solidified in this period of time. It was glowing with a flawless, brilliant golden radiance.

This radiance passed through Lu Sheng’s body into the air and turned into a light blue radiance.

As a Heavenly Devil, no Devil Tribulations dared to harass him. Instead, dark red flames started spreading under Lu Sheng’s seat silently.

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