“From this day forward, you will have no fear, no hesitation, none of those troublesome weaknesses.”
“You will have only one thought—”
The woman leaned close to her ear, her voice like a viper’s tongue, slithering into the deepest recesses of her consciousness.
“Take him back.”
“Possess him.”
“Make it so he can never escape again.”
Chao’er closed her eyes.
In the darkness, she saw herself that night, standing outside that door, listening to the sounds from within, motionless.
She saw herself over the past seven years, every time Master’s Husband smiled at her, she wanted to ask, “Are you happy?” but never dared to speak.
She saw the night before departure, as she lay with her head on his knee, breathing in the faint scent of medicine on him, thinking—
‘I don’t want to grow up.’
‘I want to stay like this forever.’
‘But I also want you to look only at me.’
She opened her eyes.
The corner of her lips slowly curved upward.
That curve was identical to the shadow’s.
“Deal.”
The moment the word fell, countless Nightmare Demons within the Devil’s Den let out simultaneous, shrill screams.
They were torn apart, devoured, sucked into that slender body.
Chao’er’s eyes turned an eerie purple.
“Master’s Husband is mine.” An ominous black began to well up in Chao’er’s right eye, spreading from the pupil, gradually devouring the white.
“It has always been so.” The woman laughed with pleasure.
Chao’er raised her mangled, bloody hand, reaching toward the woman’s phantom.
The soul embraced her, merging with her body like water and milk becoming one.
Instantly, vast Demonic Qi surged wildly through her wounds!
It scoured her meridians, tore at her Dantian, and amidst excruciating pain, remade everything!
From the broken bones came the sensation of being forcibly realigned by an invisible force.
A maddening, itchy agony of twisted growth followed.
The Demonic Qi was no longer simply eroding; it transformed into icy yet scorching threads, penetrating deep into the marrow, assimilating her body.
“Ah—!!!”
A piercing shriek echoed through the Demon Abyss.
When everything settled, Chao’er slowly stood up from the pool of blood.
Her right eye had completely turned pure black, but a last hint of amber clarity remained in her left eye.
Demonic Qi swirled around her, and the wound on her abdomen was healing at a visible rate.
Her aura surged upward in waves!
That continuous torrent of energy, like a raging sea, coursed along every fine meridian within her body, sweeping through her entire being!
It baptized every cell, every vessel at a profound level.
Her cultivation realm, at this moment, broke free from all restraints, skyrocketing at a shockingly monstrous speed, soaring straight for the heavens!
Foundation Establishment, fourth level!
Foundation Establishment, fifth level!
Foundation Establishment, sixth level!
After countless cycles of refinement, the liquid Spiritual Power rapidly condensed and solidified!
Within her Dantian, a golden point of light quietly took form!
“Golden Core formed!”
Her cultivation seemed to shatter its shackles at this moment, soaring at a heaven-defying speed, unstoppable as it shot toward the Ninth Heaven!
Golden Core Stage, first level!
Golden Core Stage, second level!
Golden Core Stage, third level!
Breaking through level after level, advancing as if splitting bamboo!
Until Golden Core Great Perfection!
The Spiritual Power transmitted by that demoness still had millions of units to spare!
“Not enough.” Chao’er looked down at her hands, her voice cold. “Qin Shuying is at the Nascent Soul stage. Yun He is at the Deity Transformation stage. This bit of power can’t even break through their protective aura.”
In her sea of consciousness, the demoness’s voice held a hint of amusement:
‘Little girl, greed will be your downfall. Your body is merely mortal flesh. Reaching Golden Core Great Perfection while carrying my Demonic Qi is already its limit. If you force a breakthrough to Nascent Soul, the Demonic Qi will leak out completely, unable to conceal your identity as a demonic cultivator.’
“So what?” Chao’er sneered. The image of Shen Mo being pinned down flashed in her mind again, the jealousy in her heart burning away all reason. “As long as I can kill them and take Master’s Husband back, what does becoming a demon matter?”
“Hah, truly a lovesick fool… and an idiot.” The demoness scoffed.
‘If you expose your Demonic Qi now, not only will Qin Shuying and Yun He join forces to suppress you, the entire righteous alliance will see you as a mortal threat. Then, forget about snatching a man; you’ll be skinned alive, your tendons pulled out, and your soul refined into a lantern.’
Chao’er stiffened.
‘If you want greater power, you must learn patience.’ The demoness’s voice became soft and seductive.
‘First, use this Golden Core Great Perfection cultivation to go snap the necks of those righteous lackeys outside, one by one. As for your Master’s Husband…’
The demoness paused, her tone turning ambiguous.
‘When you can truly control this power and trample that lofty Yun He underfoot, he will naturally come crawling to you like a dog, wagging his tail and begging for your pity.’
Chao’er closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and suppressed the restless demonic essence within her.
When she opened them again, the bloody light in her eyes had receded, turning into a deep, unfathomable cold pool.
“You’re right.”
She then focused on digesting the demonic body.
Within her Dantian, the Demonic Qi spun and compressed wildly, devouring the last trace of pure Spiritual Qi.
Finally, a pill the size of a pigeon egg, its color a dark gold, slowly condensed and took shape.
In that instant, the world appeared brand new in her eyes!
Even with her eyes closed, she could perceive everything around her with her powerful spiritual sense, discerning the finest details.
Her bones, nourished by the Spiritual Power, shimmered with a metallic luster!
In just three to five hours, she had leapt from Foundation Establishment third level to Golden Core Perfection, crossing a major chasm on the path of cultivation, an extraordinary achievement!
Her originally youthful, girlish figure stretched and filled out, becoming curvaceous.
Where it should be slender, it was a delicate handful; where it should be full, it was astonishingly voluptuous.
The blood-stained Daoist robe she wore was torn apart by the erupting Demonic Qi, revealing large swathes of snow-white skin.
Yet, at the crucial areas, the dense Demonic Qi condensed into a form-fitting black gauze garment.
The gauze was thin as a cicada’s wing, tightly wrapping her proud curves, rising and falling with her breath, faintly revealing the fierce yet gorgeous demonic patterns beneath.
Her features had fully matured.
The former childishness was replaced by an allure that seeped into the marrow.
The corners of her eyes lifted, her pupils transformed into alluring amber vertical slits.
A trace of crimson demonic pattern appeared beneath the corner of her eye, like a drop of blood that could never be wiped away, or a sinister flower blooming on the other shore.
Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, moving without wind, every strand carrying an intoxicating, exotic fragrance.
Chao’er grinned.
That smile was both innocent and cruel, utterly different from the little girl who used to tug on Shen Mo’s sleeve and sweetly call him “Master’s Husband.”
“This is… power?”
Chao’er looked down at her hands, feeling the sea-like Spiritual Power surging within her.
‘So thirsty… I want to drink blood… I want to see brains splatter…’
Deep in her mind, the ancient demoness’s remnant soul coiled around Chao’er’s nerves like a venomous serpent.
A splitting headache, like a rusty saw violently tearing at her brain, assaulted her.
Chao’er clutched her head, her body convulsing uncontrollably. The amber vertical pupils were swallowed by a violent scarlet.
Just as she was about to completely lose control, ready to transform into a slaughtering Asura—
A flash of cool, pure white suddenly appeared in her mind.
It was Shen Mo.
Not the disheveled, flushed-face image from before.
But the usual him, standing under the peach blossom tree, a book scroll in hand, his eyes gently curved as he said to her, “Chao’er, you must not act recklessly.”
His hands were cool, his fingertips carrying a faint scent of ink.
When she got hurt practicing swordplay, he would frown and scold her, yet use those beautiful hands to apply medicine.
His voice was soft, like a feather brushing her heart: ‘We must be good children.’
In that instant, the scarlet Demonic Qi in Chao’er’s eyes receded like a tide, so fast it was almost imperceptible.
The bloodthirsty sneer at the corner of her mouth vanished, replaced by a slightly downturned, innocent pout.
The vertical pupils in her eyes returned to clear, round ones, even gathering a thin layer of mist.
The suffocating pressure around her instantly disappeared, replaced by a harmless, girlish naivety.
She even flusteredly tugged at the overly revealing Demonic Qi gauze, though it covered nothing. The gesture was full of a shameful attempt to conceal.
“Oh my… I got a little carried away playing.”
Chao’er clasped her hands behind her back, stood on tiptoe, and in this bloody Devil’s Den, revealed a sweet yet somewhat eerie smile, like a kitten that had done something naughty.
“Wait for me, Master’s Husband,” she whispered, her voice echoing layer upon layer in the Demon Abyss. “Your disciple has grown up now.”
“When the time comes, everyone who has touched you…”
She turned and walked out of the Demon Abyss step by step. Wherever she passed, miasma retreated and demonic creatures cowered.
“…will have to die.”
.L…..
Outside World
Secret Realm Entrance
A massive spatial vortex hung in the sky, slowly rotating, emitting an indigo-blue light.
Shen Mo sat on a patch of bare rock directly beneath the vortex, his white robes flapping loudly in the abyssal gales.
He looked up at the vortex, not blinking, as if by doing so he could pierce through space and see the little girl who always loved tugging his sleeve and sweetly calling “Master’s Husband.”
In the distance, within the dense forest.
Shen Mo’s blind spot.
Several dark figures knelt on one knee, not daring to breathe loudly.
Qin Shuying sat on a high-backed chair woven from vines, her posture lazy, but her fingertips tapped rhythmically on the armrest.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The rhythm was slow, yet it seemed to tread on everyone’s heartbeat.
“Who made the move?”
“We are still investigating,” one person replied. “According to the news that came out, the person who acted carried a token from Chaoyun Peak.”