Way of the Devil

Panda Novel

“Mother?” Yue Mingjuan called out to her mother, distressed.

“Let me handle this,” said Liu’er softly as she stepped forward from Lu Sheng’s side. At the same time, she gave Lu Sheng a comforting gaze.

This detour had given her a more tangible and complete understanding of this powerful and domineering Four Seas Sect’s sect master. She no longer regarded him purely with fear and terror as she did before. After she understood Muyun’s life, she regarded this man before her with a calmer set of emotions.

“…” Lu Sheng knew that this was not something which he could settle. He fell silent and nodded his head lightly.

Some things could not be salvaged by pure strength and force. He seemed to have understood it now, but enlightenment seemed to have eluded him as well.

***

The matter with Yue Xingzhu had taken a whole afternoon.

Actually, the amount of time they spent talking to the mother and daughter was not long. Most of their time was spent on thinking of ways to change their lives so that they could live more comfortably.

Lu Sheng had the Merpeople Clan’s small organization here accept Yue Xingzhu’s daughter, Yue Mingjuan, as their disciple. At the same time, he left them jade pendants that could protect them three times. Then, he turned around and left.

With this, the karma related to Muyun’s dear ones was completely settled by Lu Sheng. The next step was the greatest: dealing with the Vital Energy Sect.

Lu Sheng had also heard some rumors regarding the disturbances at the four borders, the Ancient Devil manifesting itself in the world, and the deaths of the Buddhism Sect’s four holy monks.

The information came to him quickly in successive waves.

The Vital Energy Sect did not seem to have done anything. On the other hand, the other sects, whether they were from the Righteous, Wicked, or Devil Path, had fought to gain supremacy over the others. The situation was a mess.

When Lu Sheng achieved his breakthrough to the Middle-stage Nascent Soul tier, he spent more than 3000 units of Mental Energy. To be safe for this journey to the Vital Energy Sect, he planned to achieve breakthroughs until the Limit stage before he actually made his move.

Hence, when they were in Cloudy City near Swaying Gold Mountains, about 500 kilometers away from the Vital Energy Sect’s base, they stayed in a small town, and Lu Sheng started to attempt his breakthrough to the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier.

***

Inside a tavern’s suite.

Lu Sheng carried a glass of Champion Red as he observed the lively scene around the stage under him. He sipped the wine as he enjoyed the show. The matter with Yue Xingzhu still made it difficult for him to calm down. He had never felt this way before; this alien emotion left him feeling helpless.

This tavern was luxuriously decorated. Coincidentally, the tavern had just opened up a new branch. In order to boost their publicity and increase their fame, they hired someone to set up a stage there, and also hired several groups of performers to entertain their guests.

The faint moonlight shone on the suite’s floor through the window.

Lu Sheng watched the show, and observed the changes within his body with his inner sight.

Deep Blue’s derivations had already started. From the Middle-stage to the Late-stage, he had expended more than 5000 units of Mental Energy.

However, the derivation took much longer to complete this time. From the start of the derivation until now, it had already been two hours.

Lu Sheng was still waiting.

‘In terms of might alone, the Nascent Soul tier is actually equivalent to a Divine Lord already. By rough estimation, the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier should be equivalent to the Divine Lord’s Divine Intellect tier. I’m currently stuck on the Jade Star tier, and have made no progress. I’d like to see if I can make it to the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier first.’

Although this world contained some special Spirit Qi energy, Great Yin did not.

Hence, if someone of the Nascent Soul tier here were to be transported into Great Yin, he would not be able to replenish his energy due to the lack of Spirit Qi in the world. It was also unknown if the released Spirit Qi could maintain its integrity.

However, the improvements to Lu Sheng’s spirit and spiritual energy brought about by the Nascent Soul tier were substantial.

This was especially true for the Spirit Qi of the Nascent Soul tier. It could even easily utilize the Spirit Qi in the air to form all sorts of harsh environments.

Such conditions had important implications to Lu Sheng’s examination of the Yin Flame and Death Blaze’s properties.

When he became aware of this use, Lu Sheng gradually unlocked more of his main body’s abilities. Hence, while he was besieged with extreme boredom, his research of the Yin Flame’s properties was also progressing at an extremely terrifying pace.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Yin, Yang, and others. Various kinds of elemental energy filled the void in this world. Although Lu Sheng’s affinity was only toward seawater, it was not entirely impossible for him to utilize the other elements by force if he expended more supernatural power.

In the few short days they spent rushing along their way, Lu Sheng felt his cultivation base stagnate at the Jade Star tier of a Divine Lord. Now, there was finally a sign of him making some progress.

His spirit’s quality had met the requirements long ago. However, because his tier was not sufficiently high, he was unable to break through to the Divine Intellect tier.

“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The sound of a gong being hit in haste interrupted Lu Sheng’s thoughts.

He returned to the present, and saw that the show had already ended on the stage below. The people who were watching it were also taking their leave.

Lu Sheng finished the wine in his glass in one go. He looked within himself again, and was surprised to find that the derivation was completed.

“So this is the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier…” Lu Sheng felt the stiffness of his body which he had not felt for a long time now. He was also slightly filled with emotion.

He looked at the frame of Deep Blue’s interface before him.

“Nether Collection, Late-stage Nascent Soul. Special property, 9999 times Nascent Qi. Affinity, seawater. Mystic Water single Divine Vein.

‘Oh? I have the Mystic Water Divine Vein?’ Lu Sheng was astonished. At his stage and tier, there were not many things that could actually shake him. However, the Mystic Water Divine Vein was definitely one of the few things that could.

He had come across this Divine Vein in many of the sea clans’ secret tomes.

A Divine Vein meant that he possessed a special ability which he could unleash and retract at will without having to expend any of his supernatural power.

This special ability could only be born after a person’s supernatural power was powerful enough to a certain extent. Nobody knew how it came to be, but there was no reason to doubt the existence of Divine Veins, for they truly existed.

That was not what shocked Lu Sheng. What shocked him was that he clearly saw a deep blue diamond-shaped pattern which resembled a flower on the back of his left hand.

That was not all. His main body which was curled up deep in his heart had the same Divine Vein appearing on the back of his hand.

‘There’s a record in the secret tomes that once a person accumulates enough Divine Veins, it’ll form a Divine Job in the end… At that stage, one could govern the rhythms and patterns of a part of the world according to the Laws.’ Lu Sheng was looking forward to it.

Before this, he had been feeling distressed that he was spending too much of his resources on this physical body of his in this world, so his gains were insufficient to cover his expenses. However, when he obtained the Mystic Water Divine Vein, he was starting to think that he had indeed gained enough benefits on this trip.

‘My supernatural power has swollen up 10,000 times. I think it can be regarded as a monstrous force now. My affinity with the sea remains unchanged, and the only thing I’ve gained is the Mystic Water Divine Vein. This must be the greatest difference between the Late-stage Nascent Soul tier and the other tiers.’

Lu Sheng was pondering. The great cultivators recorded in the ancient books with tiers greater than Late-stage Nascent Soul would have various peculiar marks on their bodies.

Now, it seemed that they were not mere coincidences.

“Let’s try it out,” he muttered to himself. He familiarized himself with the new supernatural power that increased tremendously within his body. Then, he directed his thoughts to the kettle on the table.

“Hiss…”

A stream of tea flew out of the kettle’s spout, and hovered before Lu Sheng. It condensed into a ball of water.

Lu Sheng naturally knew how to use the Divine Vein already. He had just infused a sliver of his spirit’s energy into it.

“There’s not enough water.” The Divine Vein suddenly gave him feedback. It was like a water container whose effect could only be triggered when there was enough water.

Lu Sheng understood that the Divine Water needed more water at first glance. The volume of water it needed was a huge one as well.

He muttered to himself, and casually pointed at the air in front of him.

The Divine Vein on the back of his hand immediately glowed blue.

A huge volume of light blue seawater surged out from Lu Sheng’s back in an instant. The seawater formed four lines, and converged into the ball of water in midair wildly.

There was no container. He did not even use any other Arts or methods.

Lu Sheng merely activated his Divine Vein. Then, he looked on as the ball of water before him sucked in a huge volume of seawater at a quick pace. However, it did not increase in size even by an inch.

“This is…” This was his first time witnessing such a peculiar phenomenon as well. He could not begin to wrap his mind around this.

‘No wonder it took Deep Blue so long to derive it…’ Currently, Lu Sheng felt strange. He could clearly see each step and the fluctuations of each process the Divine Vein went through as it worked, but there were far too many steps, and they were also overly complicated. If they were viewed separately, he had no trouble understanding them. However, when they were pieced together, he was baffled.

It felt as exaggerating as trying to forcibly understand the process of building an aircraft carrier with elementary school knowledge…

He suddenly felt that Deep Blue’s derivations were much more advanced compared to many years before this…

“Hiss… Hiss…”

Seawater surged out ceaselessly from the Sea-overturning Orb into the ball of water before Lu Sheng.

The ball of water maintained its size of a fist, but its color slowly darkened as its original dark blue slowly edged to black.

Perhaps ten, twenty, a hundred, or a thousand tons of seawater surged into the ball of water. The ball of water’s color darkened as well. A peculiar attracting force was gradually unleashed from the ball’s surface.

Lu Sheng’s gaze was being attracted to this ball before him despite himself. He trained his eyes on the ripples that were slowly rocking within the ball of water. The ripples seemed to be combining, intertwining, and drawing something.

“This is…” Lu Sheng could not help but get closer. He wanted to get a clearer look from the blurry blue color.

Countless blue lines flitted and swirled wildly within the ball of water. It was as if countless drawers were sketching with their pens. They behaved like suspended particles in the seawater as well. They condensed and scattered, but continued to swim around as if they were alive.

“This is?!” Lu Sheng suddenly felt something was off.

The black lines gathered at an increasing pace with increasing haste. The picture they formed was also getting clearer by the second.

“Hiss…”

The ball of water started to vibrate slightly. It was giving off strange whistles as if it had broken the sonic barrier.

Lu Sheng suddenly felt his finger come into contact with some especially ice-cold object. He was about to lower his head to take a look when he suddenly saw a great change in the ball of water before him.

“Buzz…”

The water currents were wildly compressed and condensed. Countless black lines suddenly converged within the bluish-black darkness of the ball of water.

Amid the pitch-black round point, a beautiful deep blue eye slowly opened and stared at Lu Sheng through the ball of water.

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