Chapter 252: 251 ‘Refined Demon Chapter 252: 251 ‘Refined Demon At that moment, within Artlu Canyon, bursts of eerie magic power suddenly surged forth, much like invisible air currents, emerging from the air, the earth, and all natural surroundings, then converging deep within the canyon.
Meanwhile, various cries of demons also continuously echoed, endlessly roaming.
However, within these cries was imbued a sense of panic, sorrow, and agony, as though they were encountering something extremely terrifying.
Shane and Ai Yi were acutely aware of this phenomenon, which changed their expressions.
Because this phenomenon was exactly the same as when Shane and Luoqi had entered the mountain residence of the half-human half-centipede creature.
“Tsck…” Ai Yi was taken aback and said, “It seems the ceremony has begun.”
Ai Yi’s words captured Shane’s attention.
“Ceremony?” Shane asked, “What ceremony?”
No sooner had Shane asked this question and before Ai Yi could respond, Shane spoke unequivocally.
“I don’t care about the dignity or disgrace of the Demon Clan, the current situation is clearly abnormal. Even if you don’t clarify the details, you at least need to explain what is going on with this ceremony. Otherwise, if something happens later, and I accidentally mess things up, don’t blame my impulsiveness and recklessness, alright?”
Shane’s words effectively blocked what Ai Yi was about to say next.
Ai Yi fell silent for a moment and then sighed.
“I will only say this once.”
Shane perked up immediately, focusing intently.
In such a circumstance, Ai Yi slowly spoke.
“First off, I need to tell you something,” Ai Yi said coldly. “The half-human half-centipede creature you mentioned is neither from the Demon Clan nor a demon; it is a Demon.”
When this term emerged from Ai Yi’s mouth, even Shane felt his heartbeat skip a beat.
Because this term was not something that could be casually assigned to any other entity.
“Perhaps you don’t understand what a Demon means, so let me explain it to you simply.”
Ai Yi spoke in a calm tone.
“Because the original Demon Clan was born under the influence of the Demon King’s magic power, you can regard the Demon Clan as the Demon King’s subordinate species, serving the Demon King, just like branches and leaves that grow from a tree, loyal and dependent on the Demon King.”
“A Demon, on the other hand, is a being that was born beside the Demon King initially, inherently closest in nature to the Demon King. Comparing the Demon King to the vast sky tree, and the Demon Clan to branches and leaves, then a Demon is like a sapling, which theoretically can grow to the level of the Demon King.”
“Of course, that’s just in theory,” Shane explained solemnly. “The Demon King was born from nothingness alongside the truly omnipotent Goddess, the original concept and individual, an entity even above the world itself. Therefore, even a Demon cannot grow into a Demon King in this world. Think of it as the soil not being rich enough and lacking nutrients, which naturally limits the sprout’s growth.”
“Even if they cannot become the Demon King, Demons still rank above the Demon Clan, existing between the Demon King and the Demon Clan, with a tremendous gap between them and the common demons. Even the strongest of the Demon Clan at Level 100 would hardly last three minutes against a Demon.”
“It is precisely because of this that the power of the Demons is astonishing. Even among the Divine Race, only one of the Three Great Goddesses is stronger than the Demons, while the other two are weaker. This initial power discrepancy between the Divine Race and the Demon Clan has led to the Demon Clan overpowering the Divine Race ever since.”
Ai Yi turned to look at Shane.
“For this reason, a thousand years ago, when the Demon King was defeated by the hero of the Mitra Kingdom and the Supreme God severed any possibility of his resurrection, some of the Demon Clan, seeing no hope of resurrecting the Demon King, decided to try to cultivate a new Demon King.”
“As Demons come closest to the concept of a Demon King, even theoretically, they naturally became the targets of those demons.”
“The Six Great Demons, however, did not agree with this plan and began to dedicate themselves to peace among the other clans.”
“Without the assistance of the Demons, those other demons were unwilling to give up, which led to a new idea.”
“That was to create a Seventh Demon, and then to cultivate this Demon into the Demon King.”
This was a thousand-year-long plan.
It was a scheme derived to bring about the birth of the “Second Demon King” through the creation of the “Seventh Demon”.
“How exactly the Demon plan should be implemented, and by what means it should be realized, I will not go into detail,” Ai Yi said. “I will just tell you the result. After a full thousand years, their plan seems to be approaching its end game, and it appears that the Seventh Demon is about to be successfully born.”
As Ai Yi spoke, his face revealed not just any emotion, but one of extreme disgust and anger.
Clearly, the existence of this so-called “Seventh Demon” had touched some deep line for Ai Yi, as well as for the Demon Clan.
“The creature you previously annihilated was probably an infant of the Seventh Demon, a split from the real Seventh Demon, used to gather materials needed for its main body through tentacles.”
“When those Demon infants appeared, they had only one purpose, and that was to gather the materials needed for the main body.”
For this, a Magic Ceremony would be immediately initiated wherever a Demon infant appeared.
“The ceremony would imprison, attract, charm, and control all demons and creatures within a certain range, plunging them into a furious chaos where they would kill each other, mixing all the demons and creatures’ magic power and bodies together.”
“During this furious chaos, whether it’s demons or creatures, once they killed other demons or creatures, they would absorb their magic power and assimilate their flesh, transforming into a stronger, more furious monster.”
“Eventually, when there is only one of the participating demons or creatures left in the ceremony, the monster with the most mixed types of magic power and bodies will be devoured by the Demon infant.”
“At that time, the Demon infant will completely absorb the sacrificial offering born from the ceremony, becoming part of the Demon’s main body and gradually completing the Seventh Demon.”
“This is the completion of the Demon ceremony — ‘Refined Demon.'”
Upon hearing this, Shane had another term in his mind — ‘Gu Refining’.
It was a type of witchcraft that involved placing various poisonous creatures in a sealed container or environment, allowing them to devour each other, absorb each other’s poisons, and gradually grow stronger and more poisonous.
And when only one poisonous creature is left in the container or environment, having accumulated all the poisons, it becomes the strongest and most deadly, and this creature is known as “Gu”.
The essence of Ai Yi’s mentioned Demon Refining Ceremony was the same as Gu Refining.
The difference was that in this ceremony, all the demons and creatures were merely sacrificial offerings, and when they finally became one, they would be absorbed by the tentacles of the Demon’s infant, making the Demon infant a part of the true Demon and allowing the Demon to gradually emerge.
This was the creation plan for the Seventh Demon.