Actually, everything was not as malicious as Lu Jin had imagined.
The Vice Tower Master was actually a genius who greatly admired him. It was said that he had even saved his life when they were young, and he held Lu Jin in high esteem, always polite and respectful.
But whether in terms of talent or Fate Pattern, appearance or temperament, the other was far superior to him, which made Lu Jin very frustrated, even feeling that the other was pretending and mocking him.
Every time he thought about how this person was going to replace him, rage endlessly surged from Lu Jin’s heart.
Especially when the main tower hoped he would prepare for retirement early, transferring some of his work and duties to the Vice Tower Master, and focus on breaking through in Martial Arts. The Vice Tower Master even happily dragged him to the tavern to drink, and fantasized about the future with him, who would soon leave, and said to him...
"Tower Master Lu, being able to inherit your enterprise has been a dream of mine since I was little... I also wish to become a person like you in the future!"
To become a person like me...
If it were in a world without immortality, even if one envied the other for being younger and having a future, the one who aged would eventually come to terms and accept a genuinely admiring and competent successor, right?
However, in this world of mighty power and immortality, of Immortal Gods and Heavenly Demons, Embracing the Void... it gave Lu Jin a chance to choose evil.
A choice to fall into the abyss.
Finally, when Lu Jin secretly lured the successor who admired him and poisoned him, offering the young heart to the honored god, he realized that he was actually smiling.
Bathed in the other’s blood, as he offered part of his soul to the honored god, the slightly rejuvenated Lu Jin burst into laughter.
"Damn, you also wish to become me?"
"You don’t even understand what kind of person I am, yet you wish to become me?!"
"Now, you have become me! You’ve become my nourishment and longevity!"
When desires within the heart become unbalanced, the human heart will endlessly fall into corruption.
And this corruption is the origin of the descent of the Heavenly Demon.
It is the Abyss Without Bottom.
The Heavenly Profound True Talisman burned fiercely. As An Jing completely absorbed the Xuanyuan Pure Light and transformed his own Inner Breath, the symbols of the Great Dao in the Heavenly Profound True Talisman also became more distinct.
Although insignificant, it was indeed recovering.
Exhaling a breath, An Jing’s surging Qi Force slowly dissipated, his eye’s bright flashes subsiding.
This successful kill of the Necrocontroller Demon significantly increased An Jing’s cultivation, bringing him to the middle-late period of Inner Breath like Tide. Besides, his physique also improved, laying a foundation for the Fourth Prohibition.
This could be said to have saved An Jing about a year of harsh cultivation, which was his year; for a Mandated Warrior of ordinary talent, it could take four to five or more years.
This time, An Jing strengthened the part of nurturing meridians in the Houtu Skills.
In the fight with Lu Jin and the Necrocontroller Demon, An Jing realized that although he had mastered many cultivation methods, his killing techniques were actually quite limited.
Simple Martial Skills were just the foundation for utilizing killing techniques; all of An Jing’s burst methods relied on the Piercing Armor True Strength of the Imperial Heaven Skills.
With An Jing’s proficiency, he could at any moment burst out with several times his normal strength, but this wasn’t his limit, it was the limit when he didn’t want to hurt himself.
The nurturing meridian methods of the Houtu Skills could raise this limit, similarly, the First Prohibition of the meridians in the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban could also be enhanced!
By then, as long as he was given enough time to gather strength, his burst of energy could easily produce ten times the force!
With this, being limited didn’t matter anymore.
And the Necrocontroller Demon had also left behind a good amount of ’Demon Material’, that is, its scale skin.
The black scale-like surfaces sparkled like gemstones, reflecting the surrounding firelight, while inside them lay a dark gold, giving An Jing a familiar sensation.
"Is this... the base material not just the fur of the Golden-haired Bear?"
An Jing was quite surprised, but upon further reflection, it wasn’t strange—Lu Jin had bought the fur of the Golden-haired Bear, perhaps as sacrificial material to summon and allow a Heavenly Demon to possess.
The Heavenly Demon couldn’t possibly condense into a physical form from thin air; a Demon Embryo also needed Spiritual Objects as materials, so it wasn’t strange that the Golden-haired Bear’s fur made up the Heavenly Demon’s Scale Armor.
If these scales were placed in the Tianyuan Realm, they would be considered ’Military Merit.’ With special processing techniques, they could be turned into legal artifacts and armor with extremely high resistance to Demonic Qi.
An Jing also had a ’Bulletproof Spiritual Garment’ given to him by Huo Qing, which he hadn’t used this time. Next time he returned to the Tianyuan Realm, An Jing planned to return it and possibly ask Huo Qing or Iron Hand to make use of their connections to refine these scales into an additional set of armor for himself.
By now, the Heavenly Demon Law Domain had completely collapsed, Chongyi Building had turned to ash, and upon returning to the human world, An Jing felt the heavy snow and heard the distant shouts of fighting and the smoke of battle soaring into the sky.
Da Chen’s operation was also very likely proceeding smoothly, since in theory, all the reinforcements supporting the Heavenly Demon Followers had been blocked and killed by An Jing.
"The matter also seems nearly concluded."
An Jing reflected that he had done everything he could and was supposed to do; having slaughtered Lu Jin and the Necrocontroller Demon, it really would be unreasonable if Da Chen couldn’t handle the remaining weak and feeble foes.
Having resolved the issue of the Heavenly Demon, An Jing also thought back to the earlier disturbances of the Earth Vein: "It must have been You Ruhui who stabilized it for me... I thought she was just supporting, but her control over the Earth Veins of Da Chen is formidable."
"This is no ordinary matter; she must be a direct descendant of some royal lineage."
He always seemed to get involved in everything... but he was used to it by now.
Shaking his head slightly, An Jing set out to find You Ruhui and express his thanks.
Although he wouldn’t have died without her help, the matters related to the Great Void Passage and Subdue Evil would have been exposed to the Heavenly Demon—Who knows if those Great Heavenly Demons could access the memories of his clone?
If that happened, things would become much more complicated, and it was no small favor.
An Jing felt that without the disturbance of the Heavenly Demon, You Ruhui should be able to continue hiding around the Earth Pulse Node, somewhat ensuring her safety, and Granny Huai should also be safe.
At a small house on the street near the teahouse, next to an improvised altar made of mixed jade, flowing silver, and granite.
You Ruhui curled up in Granny Huai’s arms, with the Dragon Jade on her chest faintly twinkling, emitting an uncertain luster like colored glaze.
At that moment, how could Granny Huai not realize that the girl she had picked up from the streets might be related to the Emperor’s Blood of the Da Chen dynasty?
Whether unknowingly or guided by her own Fate Pattern, she had come to her side and rescued her from a dire situation.
Not only that, but she also got involved in major troubles, especially considering her true identity.
But by now, she had nothing left to fear.
"I’ve lived long enough, just a pity I have no children," mused the old woman as she stroked the girl’s soft hair, her eyes brimming with tender love: "I brought it upon myself, yet always hoped that you young people would have a better future than mine."
"Even though I don’t know what kind of big trouble you’re in, you either got into it yourself, or it’s a minor conflict, or maybe there’s some earth-shattering conspiracy after you... I don’t care anymore, and with not much life left in me, I refuse to worry about consequences and am ready to see it through with you."
At each Earth Pulse Node, there stood a Martial Artist clad in black light armor, holding a Gold-Inlaid Compass, searching around.
Among them was one who took a step and checked, slowly approaching the house where You Ruhui and Granny Huai were located.