Over the past decade, as Li Su took more concubines, most of the Foundation Building female cultivators in the Northern Territory had become associated with Li Su. The challenge was that most of these female cultivators were already within the seven major sects, and the standards for beauty were incredibly high.
Only a few Foundation Building female cultivators remained among the wandering cultivators. Li Su’s pace of taking concubines had slowed down, but he still replenished quickly with the increasing number of descendants with innate spiritual roots.
As Li Su continued to cultivate diligently, the descendants of his descendants, born with innate spiritual roots, were also steadily increasing. One day, the Holy Maiden of the Silent Moon finally emerged and informed Li Su that she had managed to control the Demonic Seal instead of simply removing it. Li Su was intrigued by her use of the term “control” and wondered how she had achieved this.
“I am one of the most suitable Holy Maidens for the Dark Arts in the history of the Dark Citadel. The Dark Citadel would likely launch a massive attack if I completely remove the Dark Seal. So, I chose to control it instead.”
Dark Moon replied, “What you call the ‘Dark’ is essentially the essence of it?”
Li Su inquired. From Dark Moon’s previous mentions of the “Dark,” he could roughly piece together what she meant. It seemed like the “Dark” was an entity roughly equivalent to the “Immortal” level but on the side of darkness or malevolence.
“The true Demons, like the one we cultivate in the Dark Arts, are authentic demonic cultivation techniques. Anyone who practices the Dark Arts and is willing to bear the Dark Seal can gain additional power from the Dark entity.”
“There are 18 Dark Seals in total. As each seal is deepened, the control by the Dark entity becomes stronger. Once all 18 seals are deepened, the individual becomes a slave to the Dark entity, completely subservient to it.”
Dark Moon revealed the secrets of the Dark Citadel.
Li Su then asked, “Where is this Dark entity?”
Dark Moon shook her head, “I don’t know. We initially contacted the Dark entity and obtained its power through the Dark Stele. I have no idea how many Dark Steles there are. So, even though Heavenly Tribulations often strike down people from the Dark Citadel, there is a constant influx of new members.”
She went on to provide further details. As Dark Moon continued her explanation, Li Su began to understand the true nature of the Dark Citadel.
Any particular demonic cultivator didn’t establish the Dark Citadel. Instead, anyone who came into contact with a Dark Stele practiced the Dark Arts and accepted the Dark Seal became part of the Dark Citadel.
The Dark Arts were incredibly mystical, allowing rapid cultivation and astonishing power. The crucial point was that as long as they were willing to bear the Dark Seal, they could immediately gain a surge of power through the Dark Stele, significantly boosting their strength.
If they refused to bear the Dark Seal, they could only progress to a certain level in their cultivation, and further techniques would be inaccessible.
Dark Moon had managed to escape a dire situation by harnessing this power. If someone encountered a bottleneck in their cultivation, they could deepen the Dark Seal to exchange it for power from the Dark entity, located somewhere unknown.
No wonder Dark Moon has two Gold Core pinnacle cultivators under her, Li Su thought. There were many Gold Core pinnacle cultivators in the Dark Citadel because reaching that level wasn’t particularly challenging. The real challenge lay facing the tribulations when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
The Thunder Tribulation was a huge obstacle for dark cultivators. Countless dark cultivators had perished here.
“My spiritual root is the Dark Spirit Root. Although it’s only a second-grade root when cultivating the Dark Heaven Technique, its speed is not inferior to a first-grade Heaven Spirit Root. So, up until now, I only have one Dark Seal.”
“Otherwise, breaking through wouldn’t be easy,” explained Dark Moon.
The more Dark Seals one had, the harder it was to break free. Once anyone had 18 Dark Seals, they would become a lifelong slave to the Dark entity. If they wanted them dead, they would die. Of course, if someone acquired 18 Dark Seals and grew strong, the Dark entity hidden somewhere might be reluctant to let them die.
This entity is at the level of ‘Immortal’, Li Su thought. This person is indeed a genius. He kept the flow of dark cultivators coming into the Dark Citadel through this method. Even if 99% of the dark cultivators perished in the Thunder Tribulation, there would always be some who could withstand each successive wave of tribulation.
Moreover, the stronger these dark cultivators become, the higher the likelihood of encountering bottlenecks in the future. To break through these bottlenecks, they would have to exchange for power from the Dark entity. As a result, their Dark Seals would become deeper and more ingrained.
When these dark cultivators grew, they would realize that they could no longer escape the control of the Dark entity. Even freeing oneself from a single Dark Seal was not easy, let alone two, three, or more. This was rooted in the soul and involved the Dark entity, making it unsolvable.
Dark Moon not only had a special constitution but also incredible talent. She managed to control the Dark Seals. Li Su felt that she might had imprisoned the Dark Seals in a mental black box or created a false personality to deceive the Dark Seals.
“Dark Moon, after controlling the Dark Seals, can you deceive power from the Dark entity?” Li Su asked.
Dark Moon’s bright eyes looked at Li Su. “Of course, I can.”
Then, her aura began to emanate slowly. Li Su sensed it – Dark Moon had already reached the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage!
The last time you saw her, she was only at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage. Dark Moon looked pleased and said, “I communicated with the Dark entity through the Dark Seals, deepened one of them, and managed to deceive a considerable amount of power. In reality, I’ve been digesting this power over the past decade or so.”
Impressive, Li Su thought. He wondered why Dark Moon had suddenly reached the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage the last time he saw her.
“Dark Moon, you’re amazing!” Li Su gave her a thumbs up.