The Hundred Swords Sect ruins groaned amid the night-time fires, the entire Immortal Mountain shrouded in a thick blood-red mist.
Xiao Wuchen sat upright on the sect leader's throne with his eyes tightly closed. Within his sea of consciousness, the 'pseudo-golden core' pulsed wildly, each pulse accompanied by agonising pain, as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at his bones and spreading throughout his meridians.
The Qi he had cultivated within his body had reached the critical point of transformation — the ultimate leap from mortal to spiritual power. However, due to the extremely yin and yielding nature of his cultivation method — the Path of Life and Death — and his incomplete body, this transformation was spiralling out of control.
*Ding! Warning: Conversion rate lagging!
Detected: the host is attempting to contain Yin spiritual energy in a mortal body. The Yin–Yang imbalance rate has reached 89%. As the Devouring Heaven and Devouring Essence Technique cultivated by the host is a forbidden divine and demonic art, it must be anchored by extremely evil thoughts in order to suppress the rampaging yin spiritual energy.
Option A: Merit-based Core Formation. The host must dispel all sins of killing and help those in need. There is a nine out of ten chance of survival, but the host will revert to mortal cultivation.
Option B: Evil Deeds-based Core Formation. Within three hours, the host must perform a large number of "evil deeds" to harvest a significant amount of negative emotional value, which they will use to suppress spiritual pressure with demonic thoughts. There is a 100% success rate, thus embarking the host on the path of demonic cultivation.
Xiao Wuchen suddenly opened his eyes, a trickle of dark purple blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The raging spiritual energy within his body was tearing apart his reason. The extremely yin aura was about to turn him into an ice sculpture.
'Relieve the suffering of all?' Xiao Wuchen chuckled coldly; his voice was hoarse, as if he were grinding sand. 'In my entire life, I've seen beggars and hypocritical saints, but never "Heavenly Justice".'
Images flashed through his mind: the aristocratic families he had slaughtered; the wronged souls of the Xiao family who had died in his arms; and finally, the greedy face of the Chief Evil-Slaying Steward.
If he didn't choose to do evil, he would explode in the next moment and turn to ash in these ruins. But to reach the 'threshold', he had to commit a heinous act that would make heaven and earth tremble and condemn him.
Just then, Xiao Guizi ran trembling into the hall and fell to his knees with a thud. 'Master, the thousands of tenant farmers and slaves who were originally affiliated with the Hundred Swords Sect are kneeling at the mountain gate. They think you are their saviour, the Lord of Justice, and they are carrying the 'Umbrella of Ten Thousand People' to invite you into the city to uphold justice.'
Xiao Wuchen's fingers trembled violently at the words 'Umbrella of Ten Thousand People' and 'Lord of Justice' — how ironic they were to the leader of the ruthless eunuch faction.
III. The Dilemma of Survival: Kill One to Live a Thousand Years?
The countdown on the system panel was ticking, the gap in the evil deeds value gaping wide like an abyss.
'System, if I don't harm these people, is there any other way?' Xiao Wuchen roared inwardly.
[Ding! Notification: Evil deeds are not limited to killing; betraying trust, destroying hope and blaspheming faith can all generate extremely high evil deed values.' Xiao Wuchen gazed at the red light outside the hall. He could have been a revered hero of revenge, but when faced with the prospect of immortality and his unfulfilled ambition for vengeance, the idea of being a hero seemed like a cheap sacrifice.
"Little Gui Zi!" Xiao Wuchen stood up, his crimson python robe fluttering in the cold wind. His eyes were empty and deep, all traces of warmth gone.
"Pass on the order. Tell those people that I am not here to save them."
He slowly walked out of the hall and stood on the high white jade steps, looking down at the hopeful mortals below.
'I demand that each of them cut off a finger as a sacrifice. Otherwise, the Black-Clad Guards will slaughter the three cities below."
A deafening roar of cries and curses erupted from the foot of the mountain. Those who had once seen Xiao Wuchen as their saviour were now consumed by despair and hatred.
[Ding! Large-scale access detected to 'despair', 'betrayal' and 'cursed mental power'!
Evil Deeds Value: +10,000! +20,000! Threshold reached!
'Successfully balanced yin and yang spiritual energy; the divine demon golden core has entered its final condensation stage!'
Xiao Wuchen closed his eyes, letting the vicious curses pierce his soul like needles. At that moment, he heard the sound of the last shackles of his humanity breaking.
'From now on, I, Xiao Wuchen, have no way out.'
His body slowly levitated in mid-air. The surrounding spiritual energy, no longer violent, became as thick as ink and flowed obediently into his acupoints. Within his dantian, the pseudo-golden core spun wildly before finally transforming into a dark golden inner core that radiated an eerie purple light.
[Ding! Large-scale access detected to 'despair', 'betrayal' and 'cursed mental power'! The Golden Core was formed and his mortal ties were severed.
Xiao Wuchen landed back on the ground, his white hair instantly reaching his waist. Looking down the mountain, he saw that the wailing continued, but his heart was now calm.
From this day forward, he knew that he would no longer be a powerful minister in this mortal realm, but a demonic overlord in this vast wilderness.
It had snowed all night in the capital, blanketing the ancient city in a sheet of ice.
Although Xiao Wuchen was immensely powerful when he left the capital, he was ultimately playing a game among mortals. On his return journey, as he took each step, the surrounding snow swirled outwards, revealing the frozen, bluish-green paving stones. His once vibrant crimson python robe had turned a dark red, almost black, as if it had just been pulled from a pool of blood in hell. It exuded a nauseating bloodstained stench and an overwhelming spiritual pressure.
The usually trembling Imperial Guards now stood solemnly before the Meridian Gate, their bodies faintly glowing with spiritual light.
On top of the city wall stood the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, who had been missing for months. He had his hands behind his back and an unusually ruddy complexion. Beside him stood a middle-aged Taoist priest wearing a golden, embroidered robe. His eyes were slightly closed and a long sword, as clear as autumn water, floated at his feet. The oppressive aura emanating from him caused ripples in the air.
'Xiao Wuchen, you eunuch! For bullying the young emperor, disrupting the order of the realm, usurping immortal opportunities and colluding with the demonic path, today Yun Miaozi, the National Protector and Immortal Master of the Longevity Sect, is here. He will not only reclaim your power, but also skin you alive and rip out your soul as a warning to others!' The emperor's voice, amplified by spiritual energy, resounded throughout the city, carrying with it a sense of vengeful satisfaction.
Yun Miaozi slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Xiao Wuchen as if he were looking at a speck of dust. 'Pseudo-Golden Core? You dare to use such an evil method to enter the Dao, and yet you still dare to show your face to me. Kneel down! I will leave you with a whole corpse.'
Xiao Wuchen stopped a hundred paces from the Meridian Gate.
Hearing the Emperor's rebuke and seeing the officials who had once knelt at his feet now gloating on the city walls, he suddenly let out a low laugh. Initially very soft, it grew louder and louder, causing the entire red wall of the Meridian Gate to tremble slightly.
'Emperor,' he said, 'do you think you can wrest the empire back from me by hiring a watchdog?'
Xiao Wuchen raised his head, his waist-length hair flying in the wind. His right eye had turned completely black, while his left eye gleamed with a dark golden light.
'In my eyes, your empire is worth no more than a breath of turbid energy in my dantian.'
'Arrogant!'
Yun Miaozi roared, pointing his finger. The Autumn Water Longsword transformed into a golden rainbow, stretching a hundred feet across the sky. It carried the immense pressure of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator's sword, and seemed about to cleave Vermilion Bird Street in two.
Xiao Wuchen gazed at the dazzling golden light, his right hand slowly resting on the hilt of the 'Life and Death Sword'.
At that moment, the Divine Demon Golden Core within his body ceased its rotation. Countless malice and resentment, along with Yan Kuangtu's remaining spiritual power, accumulated within and poured into the sword.
'Divine Demon Second Form — Severing God and Demon!'
There were no extraordinary phenomena or deafening roars.
Only an extremely dark light, capable of swallowing light itself, flashed past Xiao Wuchen's fingertip.
This was a pinnacle strike, fusing the 'Sword Intent of Life and Death' with the 'Spiritual Power of Gods and Demons'. Wherever the black light passed, the seemingly indestructible golden rainbow shattered instantly into countless fragments of spiritual light, as if porcelain had struck black iron.
IV. The Dust Settles: The Immortal Master Falls, Gods and Demons Shocked.
Yun Miaozi's expression froze.
He watched helplessly as the black light pierced his Autumn Water Longsword and protective magic shield before lightly grazing his neck.
'This... this is impossible... this is... the law...'
Yun Miaozi murmured to himself. Then, under the watchful gaze of the entire court, his head silently fell off. The moment the blood gushed forth, it froze into icicles due to the deathly aura accompanying the black light.
This dignified Golden Core Immortal Master had been unable to withstand a single sword strike from this mortal eunuch!
Xiao Wuchen sheathed his sword, a black, deathly aura swirling around him. He ascended the white jade steps one by one. With each step he took, the imperial guards on the city wall dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.