《Infinite Clone System Made Me Too OP!》 Chapter 1: Clone Resurgence What do you think would happen if a clone were to suddenly gain independence? Would the clone quickly revert to its factory-set directives? Or would it break free from the main body and forge its very own path in the vast, unknown world beyond? Well, one particr clone had a different idea in mind. Instead of escaping from the sight of its main body in fear, it harbored thoughts of revenge¡­ _____ In a remote corner of the Wind Nation, within the Tianwu Continent, the sparse soul clone of a divinely transcendent being soared through the skies, searching for a host it could assimte with. It was unknown how much time had passed before the clone wisp found a suitable host. However, it was long enough for the Wind Nation to be conquered by the Fire Nation before being thrown into another war with the Water Nation. It looked like nothing was capable of impeding the advances of the Fire Nation; even the formidable Water Nation, with all its powerful Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators, was on itsst legs¡­ In a particr household within a small city called Riversea, inside the bounds of Moonwater Prefecture of the Fire Nation, a boy with an ashen expressiony on a simple bed, spasming and convulsing as something alien took hold of him. "Will the Young Master be alright, My Lady¡­?" The voice of a young woman, around 20 years old, echoed in the ostentatious room of the Devilduke family grounds. Despite being dressed in a frilly maid''s uniform, with her round facial features and long brown hair, she could be considered quite the beauty; however, the anxious look on her face said otherwise. And that was especially the case when one noticed the crystalline tears welling up in her big, round blue eyes, creating a stark contrast. On the other hand, the one she was respectfully speaking to was someone who went by the name of Lady Mu, the wife of Devilduke Xiao, and also the mother of Lucifer. "Lucifer¡­ Though this boy of mine is quite meek and cowardly, he was born with a naturally strong physique. There''s no way he will sumb to this ridiculous ailment." Lady Mu was not even a little bit soft with her words as she emotionlessly watched her youngest son squirm in his sleep, sweat covering his body from head to toe. Her gaze was cold and detached, however, such apathy was a norm for the people in the Devilduke family. After all, it was a family filled to the brim with... Assassins! Lady Mu was an Assassin. Duke Xiao was an Assassin. Even the 18-year-old Lucifer was an aspiring Assassin! However, in Lucifer''s case, due to his timid personality, he had never killed a single person¡­ Despite being raised by some of the most merciless and well-known assassins inside the Fire Nation, he had not killed even a single individual. One could imagine the level of disappointment his parents held for him. In fact, it was only because of his strong physique that he hadn''t already been discarded and killed off long ago to save the family some face¡­ But regardless of Lucifer''s precarious social standing, an unknown phenomenon urred on his birthday¡ªa phenomenon that left him convulsing on the floor, froth leaking from his mouth. He had nned to spend his birthday in solitude like he had in every birthday that came before, but it looked like fate had other ns in store for him¡­ _____ "After all this time, I assume you''ve figured out what''s happening to Lucifer." Icy and detached, Lady Mu''s voice addressed an elderly man in baggy robes. The old man began to visibly sweat, the hands he was using to mash herbs trembling. "M-My Lady, although I do not understand what is happening to the Young Master¡ª" SHING! Spurt! Before he could even have the chance to finish what he was saying, a fan slipped out of Miss Mu''s dark red sleeves, making quick work of the Head Herbalist! "..." She coldly watched as the old man''s wide-eyed head plopped to the ground before shifting her soul-piercing gaze toward the remaining herbalists and medicine experts. "For your sake, I hope you have something better to report." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" The group of herbalists and doctors broke out in cold sweats, desperately scrambling to appease thedy. But Lady Mu was not the type of person who would tolerate any nonsense. And upon hearing all their nonsense, she quickly disposed of them as well. With the heads of everyone besides Lucifer, his maid, and his mother scattered across the hard wooden floor, something suddenly changed within the sickly young man. "Hmm?" Miss Mu noticed the sudden cessation of her son''s spasms, and her curiosity piqued. She couldn''t help but wonder how this was possible. ''Could one of the medicines administered by these buffoons have solved the problem¡­?'' ''No¡­ That bunch is far too ipetent to aplish such a thing¡­'' She pondered, watching the color return to her son''s rtively handsome face. It didn''t take long before both of Lucifer''s once-shut eyelids opened with lightning-quick speed and the young man shot up like a halberd. He looked around, confusion evident in his gaze, as he tried to recall what had happened before this moment. ''Main Body¡­ A Clone... Revenge¡­'' Everything that happened in his long ''life'' shed before him like a rapidly scrolling screeny. However, amid the flood of memories, one face¡ªuncannily simr to his own¡ªstood up, overwhelming all other memories. It was only after the memories came to an abrupt halt that his gaze hardened and his thoughts stirred. ''I will be strong¡­'' ''Stronger than I ever was¡­ and when that happens, I will find you¡­'' ''And I will kill you¡­'' Lucifer clenched his fists until the whites of his knuckles showed. After which, he analyzed his surroundings and immediately noticed the well-endowed woman in a flowy purple dress standing before him, her expression devoid of emotion. The sight of the gorgeously molded face of the woman forced him to recall the memories of the one who once inhabited this body. After sifting through the far shorter series of memories of his host, the hatred-filled gleam in his blood-red eyes shifted to a calctive one. He knew just how to kickstart this new life of his. ''You did everything in your power to prevent me from doing what I knew was essential¡­ even though I did it for the good of us all¡­'' ''You kept me from getting rid of all inhibitions to gain more power, so in this renewed life that''s all my own, I will show you true evil¡­'' ''And when I find my way back to my oh-so-gracious main body, I will show you just how foolish of an idea it was for you to discard me¡­'' ''I will show you the birth of the very thing you have hated the most¡­'' ''I will be a douche bag...!'' ...¡­ Chapter 2: Awakening ...¡­ "Finally you wake up, Son." Miss Mu''s detached voice echoed through the Norse-style room of the Devilduke mansion as she took graceful strides away from her son. "Make sure not to cause trouble like this again. For if you do¡­" She didn''t need to finish her ruthless words; Lucifer understood perfectly what she was trying to convey, the deadly glint in her crimson-colored eyes said it all. Her figure quickly faded from the view as she passed through the simply adorned door frame, thereafter, heading off in a seemingly random direction. "..." Lucifer received not even the slightest hint of affection from his mother. But with what he knew about his family, that was the typical attitude of not only his mother but also his father, siblings, and other rtives. Even so, there were a few people among those in his household who viewed him with fondness. And one of them just so happened to be the maid, who, not even a few seconds ago, was left in a state of trepidation over her master''s fate. Speaking of the devil... "Master Luci!" she cried out in glee as she jumped on his sweaty, loose-clothed body. "You have no idea how worried I was¡­! I thought you were going to die¡­! Sniffle! Sniffle!" She spoke between sniffles as she melted into his embrace, letting the waterworksmence freely. Lucifer watched this happen with a sharp gleam in his eyes, already contemting how he should go about maximizing his benefits. And that was when it struck him¡­ ''Ah¡­ I can do that¡­'' An evil smirk formed in his psyche as he gazed at the tearful woman with feigned kindness in his gaze, tenderly cradling her with his masculine hands. "Don''t worry, my dear Lu Lu. I have made it back from the brink of death, and this time, I''m here to stay," he said with a gentle smile. "L-Luci¡­ Please don''t scare me like that ever again!" The maid''s sorrowful cries filled the entire room as she did a great job of soaking his loose robes with her tears. ''This girl may be a bit of a nuisance, but she would be crucial if I wish to acquire more resources from my dog-eat-dog family¡­'' A cold gleam shed in his eyes. He was well aware of the passionate feelings that Lu Lu held for him¡ªfeelings that only truly bloomed once she realized that the boy she loved had finallye of age. That sweet, innocent boy with a cute face¡ªthe boy who would never even harm a fly¡­ A boy who died the moment a clone caught sight of his physical form¡­ The old Lucifer was no more, reced with a new Lucifer¡ªa Lucifer who would go to any lengths in order to obtain what he wanted! And what he wanted right now was something that the naive, lovestruck maid could assist him in ''borrowing''. _____ "My dear Lu Lu, tell me," Lucifer asked softly after a few minutes offorting and holding the crying maid. "If your beloved young master was poisoned, would you go to any lengths in order to find the cure?" "???" Lu Lu looked up from her master''s firm chest as the worry from earlier rushed back in full force. "Y-You''re poisoned¡­!? This can''t be¡­" Her eyes started to flicker erratically, and her mind became clouded, prompting Lucifer to cup her plump cheeks and steal her gaze. "Focus on what I said, my dear," he whispered, his eyes glinting withpassion. "You must be honest with me. Tell me just how far you would go in order to acquire a cure for my poisoning." Lu Lu was startled by his sudden boldness; he was usually so reserved. But when she stared into those blood-red whirlpools that seemed to be attempting to suck her in, her mind went nk, and she mumbled, "I would do anything for you, Luci¡­" After noticing how close their faces were, she tried leaning forward for a steamy kiss. However, her perverted hopes were swiftly dashed away when Lucifer ced a hand in front of her mouth. "???" Question marks went off in her head when she realized that something was amiss, his lips didn''t feel like how she thought they would. That was when she opened her misty eyes, only to see that same warm smile on Luci''s face. His raspy voice followed not long after, as he seductively whispered, "You must be patient, my dear Lu Lu. This poison might be capable of being transmitted through physical touch, so even a peck on the lips could inflict you with the same affliction." Lu Lu didn''t quite understand what her master was saying, but upon recalling his sudden copse and subsequent spasm attacks from earlier, she started to piece everything together inside her single-celled frontal lobe and felt that it made sense. After gathering all the thinking power she could manage to muster, she blurted out, "This affliction was the thing that caused your copse and frothing in the mouth! We must hurry and tell the Miss of this treason against the Devildukes!" ''Why is she all of a sudden getting so deferential¡­?'' Lucifer had an unusual thought pass through his mind before he refocused on the matter at hand. He pulled Lu Lu''s face dangerously close, watching the surprise and embarrassment form on her face. "If you truly care for me," he said, "then you must steal the vault key from the headmaid and borrow a few special medicines from the family vault. And you must do so without informing a single member of my family. Can you do that for me¡­?" His words slithered into the reddened ears of the naive girl as she cutely bobbed her head before listening to him as he exined which materials he wanted her to ''borrow''. After which, she frolicked away from the scene with a giddy look on her face. ''Blind faith and blind love¡­ two of the easiest ways to harness the power of others to one''s advantage¡­'' With this sinister thought and one of his pieces already in motion, Lucifer decided to act proactively. He left his room in the dead of night, heading toward the family training grounds. He aimed to assess how much battle power he had¡­ ..... Chapter 3: A Test Of Strength, Unexpected Breakthroughs In the extensive, deserted courtyard of the Devilduke household, a young man with long ck hair and sword-like eyebrows stood poised like an unsheathed spear, his gaze fixated on a wooden dummy. The dummy itself was the size of arge human, capable of withstanding the strength of someone in the Qi Condensation Realm, making it an ideal low-level strength tester. For the younger generation of the Devilduke family, it served as the best means to figure out who was the strongest among them. However, for Lucifer, it was more than just a testing tool¡ª it was a means for him to understand if his current strength could contribute to his ns. With that thought in mind, he got right down to it and put his body in a fighting stance, drawing upon his knowledge of the Late-Common Rank ''Lethal Flying Upper Kick.'' He thenunched an incredibly precise and lethal power move¡ªa move that utilized 100% of his bodily strength. WHIZ! The air whistled as Lucifer''s kick broke through it, striking the wooden dummy in a split second! WHOOOM! As the dummy was hurtled back by the kick''s sheer force, the momentum from the kick lingered and manifested itself in the form of razor-sharp air fluctuations. Only after the dummy rebounded to its original position did Lucifer rx and wait for the following thing to happen. And something surely did happen. Mysterious means were used in order to have a few slivers of cloudy Qi seep from the dummy. These threads of Qi gathered together before organizing themselves mid-air, transforming into an assortment of numbers ''765''. At the full formation of the number, a contemtive look crossed Lucifer''s slightly above-average facial features. ''It seems like acquiring this body has resulted in a significant increase in strength; its initial cultivation base of the Early Pulse Condensation Stage has now firmly nted itself in the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage.'' ''This means that I have sessfully advanced through three minor stages within the Body Refinement Realm.'' _____ 1st Major Realm: Body Refinement Realm Divided into 14 minor realms: |1. Strength Training => 2. Flesh Training => 3. Viscera Training Small Sess => 4. Viscera Training Large Sess => 5. Altering Muscle => 6. Bone Forging => 7. Early Pulse Condensation => 8. Middle Pulse Condensation => 9. Late Pulse Condensation => 10. Peak Pulse Condensation => 11. 20% Tempering Marrow => 12. 40% Tempering Marrow => 13. 60% Tempering Marrow => 14. 100% Tempering Marrow| _____ Even though he was not born with a Spiritual Root, Lucifer''s original body owner was lucky enough to be born with a Cultivation Talent of a moderate degree. It was thanks to this Cultivation Talent that he managed to achieve the Early Pulse Condensation Realm within just 6 years of cultivation. Although this wasn''t considered exceptional among the younger generations of the Devilduke household, it was still good enough to fend himself off against low-level bandits, vagrants, and the like. ''This should be sufficient to begin the next step of the n. But if that little maid of mine could acquire those materials, I could speed things up¡­'' Lucifer turned his piercing gaze toward arge eastern-style mansion in the distance, where a number of high-ranking guards could be seen patrolling the perimeter, keeping an ever-watchful eye for anything that was remotely suspicious. ''Those shiny-armored nuisances will surely get in the way, but under no circumstances will they be able to suppress my path to Infinite Evolution¡­'' As these dangerous thoughts swirled in his calctive mind, an unknown phenomenon began to stir within his psyche. After a series of flickering, static sounds echoed out, something started to change for Lucifer¡­ BLING! [Ding! The Infinite Clone System has found its host!] With the arrival of these few words, the life of a rogue clone was turned upside down in an instant! Along with it came an untold number of benefits sitting in the wake, ready to be imed by the one who wouldter be known as the Unparalleled Loot Goblin! Chapter 4: The Path Forward ..... BLING! [Ding! The Infinite Clone System has found its host!] "!!!" Lucifer''s expression turned weary as his eyes widened and he frantically shot his head in every direction, attempting to search for the source of the robotic voice. However, even after scanning every inch of the barren courtyard, he couldn''t find even a single soul. This realization only heightened his anxiety, putting him even more on edge. He clenched fists and tensed his muscles, preparing to flee at a moment''s notice! He wouldn''t allow himself to get caught this early. If it meant abandoning his pride and making a tactical retreat, then so be it, he won''t hesitate. [Ding!] [The host does not need to worry, for the Infinite Clone System has traversed allyers of the Boundless Verse to find the destined one.] Infinite Clone System¡­? Destined One?? Boundless Verse??? [You, Lucifer, are the one destined to take the Path to Infinity¡ªa Path that knows no limits¡ªone that is only meant to be tread by those who are willing to pay the price.] Lucifer had no idea what was going on, but his quick thinking allowed him to piece together a few things from what this mysterious, non-tangible entity had said so far. ''A System¡­ Like the one that my main body had¡­'' ''Like what I used to have¡­'' ''But this one is not the same.'' ''It''s not the one that I used to be in possession of. It''s something different¡­'' ''Something new.'' For some reason he couldn''t fathom, a sinister smile crept across his face¡ªa smile that would likely scare the crap out of any onlooker. ''This is my chance¡­ a chance that could allow me to surpass him¡­ the one who created us all¡­'' A sense of anticipation welled up within Lucifer''s slender frame as he waited for the robotic voice to speak again. [Ding! The Infinite Clone System wishes to know if you are willing to pay the price. Are you prepared to pay whatever it takes to walk the Path of Infinity?] Without hesitation, Lucifer answered, "Yes, I will do whatever it takes." [Ding! Very well¡­ The Infinite Clone System will begin the assimtion process on the count of 5. The host should find a ce to stay for the next 5 hours.] "For the next 5 hours¡­?" Lucifer wasn''t given much time to dwell over those words as the robotic female voice began the countdown. With just over 4 seconds left to find a ce to settle down, Lucifer made the quickest and the most logical decision! BING! He yanked open a garbage can lid and tapped it against the ground. After which, he leapt into it and closed the lid above his head. The smell was vile, and he was pretty sure a few people had relieved themselves there, but it was the most optimal decision to make given such a limited timeframe. ''It''s currently 1 a.m.'' ''The garbage won''t be collected until 7 a.m., and considering that the family disciples and guardse out to train at around 5 a.m., hiding in the trash bin is safer than leaving my body exposed out in the open for over an hour.'' ''This is the best course of action, even though the smell is shi-'' Lucifer didn''t even get the chance to finish his thought as he was abruptly pulled into unconsciousness, left under theplete whim of the Infinite Clone System. [Ding! The Infinite Clone System is being assimted with the host!] [Ding! You have chosen to defy the will of your main body and Creator, setting your destiny to go off track, making its tread on a new path within the infinite expanse of the Boundless Verse!* [Ding! The Infinite Clone System wishes you luck as you embark on your journey to Infinity¡­] _____ Five hourster. "Ugh¡­" Lucifer groaned as he woke up with a ring headache and looked around, only to find himself in a pile of unknown green and brown substances. The nasty squelching sounds were absolutely horrendous, and the smell even more so. However, before the young man''s attention could be drawn to his ''environment'', it was swiftly attracted by a translucent blue and golden screen that appeared before him. "A system¡­" he muttered, feeling an inexplicable sense of satisfaction bubbling up within him. This was his chance! This was an opportunity that would allow him to surpass the bastard who took everything away from him...!! Even though he was ecstatic over the fact that he obtained a system, Lucifer made sure to keep a cool mind, determined to examine the screens before him carefully. BLING! _____ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/95] [Cultivation: Peak Pulse Condensation Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: Absolute Peak Pulse Condensation Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [Body Refinement Realm Clones: 1] [Clone Essence needed to summon the next highest realm Clone: 0.1] [Clone Essence Bank: 0] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]} ¡ú [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) ¡ª------------ Lucifer scanned the contents of what he assumed to be a system interface, quickly grasping a rough understanding of how the system functioned. ''This system is quite simr to the one I had before it was taken away, but there are some differences¡­'' ''The first and most substantial and notable difference lies in the clone section¡­'' ''Although my main body had a method that allowed him to create clones like myself, it wasn''t something that was directly connected to the system.'' Lucifer''s thoughts stirred as he eventually decided to question the system about this section, hoping to gain more insight as to what it was. And as if it had read his mind, the system responded¡­ [Ding! The host is probably curious about the Clone Tab. While it may seem foreign or alien to you now, there will soone a time when it outshines all present and future system features!* [As for the specifics of the Clone Tab, it is quite straightforward. You will start with one clone. For every task your clone achieves or creature it kills, you will earn ''Clone Essence''. This Clone Essence will allow you to be able to increase the number of clones and also upgrade their cultivation levels.] [You will also be able to assign techniques and skills to your clones after you have be more familiar with the system.] [Additionally, there will be an option where you can use more Clone Essence in order to set ''Progress Milestones,'' allowing your Clones to spawn at said Milestones, and they would possess everything that you have at that point in time.] [And in case the host is worried about independent thinking, you don''t need to be concerned; the Clones are like mindless ves, meaning they arepletely obedient to the host''s will. You can also think of them as puppets, where you will need to designatemands in order to get them to move or talk.] After receiving this array of notifications from the system, Lucifer took a moment to process the information. It was only after a moment or two that a wicked smirk spread across his previously stoic face. ''This is it¡­'' ''This is it!!!'' ''This is the path forward! My path forward!'' ''No matter who tries to stand in my way, I will crush them all and climb my way to the very pinnacle of existence!'' ''No¡­'' ''The Path of Infinity is one without a peak¡­'' ''So I will just keep going until eternity looks me in the eye and begs me to stop!'' ''And even then, I would¡ª'' Lucifer''s emotions spiraled a bit out of control. However, he was quickly taken away from his reverie by the boisterous voices of the disciples who hade to train. SHING! SHING! The sound of swords shing against one another echoed all around as the Trial and Outer Disciples of the Devilduke household relentlessly fought one another. It were these noises that caused Lucifer''s expression to morph back to his neutral one, reminding him that he had some unfinished business to conduct. ''This is no time for celebration¡­ After all, I have a feeling that my littlemb haspleted her mission with flying colors¡­'' As the training session paused after the disciples received a short break, it didn''t take long for the trashman toe out. Seizing the opportunity, Lucifer knew that it was time to slip away from the scene. And that was precisely what he did, pushing the side of the metal trash bin and sliding out of it just before it could hit the ground. CLANG! "???" "???" The ttering trash bin drew the attention of several Pulse Condensation Stage Cultivators. However, when they went to check out the disturbance, all they found was some spilt garbage and the remains of Uncle Mooner''s bloody, explosive diarrhea from the previous day¡­ ..... Chapter 5: Lu Lu will be a Pawn *** Lucifer swiftly made his way through the numerous courtyards of the Devilduke household, slipping past several disciples and family members like a fleeting shadow¡ªthere one moment, gone the next. With his cultivation now at the Peak Pulse Condensation Stage, very few outer disciples could even see his speed. However, unluckily for him, he was no longer in the cover of a dimly lit midnight setting, and there was also someone a bit too strong headed for her own good looking right at him¡­ "Master, is that you!?" The familiar feminine voice echoed through the open mansion corridors as a voluptuous young woman, Lu Lu, frolicked in his direction. "..." Lucifer felt the girl''s soft melons press up against his back and a smile formed on his face. But contrary to what an onlooker would think upon seeing their ''kind'' Young Master''s smile, he was happy, not due to affection, but somethingpletely out of anyone''s spection. ''She found them¡­ and she managed to get them all to top it off¡­'' Lucifer was beginning to appreciate this pawn more than he had expected. Despite what the other servants said about the ditsy Lu Lu, she was quite useful when it truly mattered. "You are the best maid that one could ask for, Lu Lu," he whispered into her reddened ears, discreetly slipping away the storage ring she had on her left index finger. ''I can smell the herbal scents through the cheaply made space materials of this ring. And if I can smell them, then others will quickly notice this as well.'' It was for this reason that Lucifer tenderly hugged the jittery maid, sneaking not only the first storage ring but two others, all of which had precious herbs in them. His hands roamed over her plump figure and eventually turned her misty gaze up to his, utterly disregarding the stares from nearby servants. "Truly shameless!" "Don''t these young people know when to keep things behind doors!?" "I wish I were that youthful... so vigorous¡­" The uninterrupted chatter of the servants brought a deep blush to Lu Lu''s pretty face, and she tried to hide her embarrassed expression underneath her long, silky hair. But much to her misfortune, Lucifer had other thoughts in mind... He leaned his face right next to hers before blowing hot, steamy breath against her cute red ears. "Mhmm¡­~" She couldn''t help but release a soft moan before quickly moving her hands to cover up her bright red lips. Before she could even have any respite, Lucifer spoke, his voice low and seductive, "My dear Lu Lu, to cure me of my poison, I need you to do something more for me. Can you do that~?" His sweet words slithered into her ears like the words of the devil as his veiny hand trailed down her upper back, reaching the part where her back curved. Once he was there, he pressed lightly with his index and middle fingers. "Ahhn~!" Another small moan escaped Lu Lu''s small lips as she pulled herself back from Lucifer, only to feel those devious hands move once again, ultimately bringing her even closer than before. "Tell me, my dear Lu Lu. Would you do anything for me, your young master?" Even in her foggy state of mind, Lu Lu was able to clearly hear her master''s question. It was this very question that she answered without hesitation, "I would do anything for you, Young Master~!" Her voice tinged with a moan came out, but that was good enough for Lucifer, as he had pulled the fish so far into his boat that it was impossible for her to escape. With this level of confidence, he squished her body against his before whispering, "Won''t you go and ''borrow'' an Alchemy Furnace from the Alchemy Room~? It''s the only way to cure my poisoning¡­" He followed his flirtatious words with a pitiful voice, using onebo attack after the other! His effort seemed to bore fruit, as Lu Lu overlooked all the risks of ''borrowing'' from such a notable ce of the household. Intently focusing on her master''s luscious lips, with asionally taking nces at his loose, sweat-soaked robes, she tantly stared at it, captivated by it all. Even the funky scent emanating from his body was unable to stop the beautiful maid from falling head over heels for the big bad wolf. "I promise the young master that I will do whatever I need to in order to cure you of your poison~!" she softly shouted before leaning in for another tantalizing kiss. However, just like before, she was blue-balled to the extreme and left frustrated as Lucifer took her by the waist, spun her around and then walked past her frazzled figure with long, deliberate strides. Lu Lu watched the receding back of a man who seemed to havepletely transformed overnight. Yet, inside her mind, not a single red g even entertained the idea of going off. The only thought on her mind was a blossoming love¡ªa forbidden love between a master and his servant. "Master~" she murmured, biting the tip of her finger as hearts danced around her. A suspicious liquid seeped through her frilly dress, prompting her to consider the requirement of a wardrobe change. But before tending to that as well as fulfilling her master''s request, she made sure to take one more furtive nce in his direction, savouring the sweat glistening on his slightly muscr neck... ¡­ Hours passed, feeling like the passing of seasons as Lu Lu returned from her mission, narrowly avoiding being detected by the head maid. Although she was yet to be caught, people were starting to notice that something was up, leading to an increase in vignce among the servants. However, none of this mattered for Lucifer, who sat leisurely under a moderately-sized gazebo, sipping on some herbal tea. Quickly noticing the presence of his maid, he settled his cup down and focused on her figure. "You brought back the Cauldron?" he asked with an open eyelid. "Yes, you don''t have to worry about the poison! I will do anything for the Young Master, even if it means that I have to give my life to fulfill your wishes!" Lu Lu jumped toward Lucifer with the enthusiasm of a passionate fan, clinging to his right thigh like a Ko. ''She has reached the necessary level of zeal to be part of the next stage of my n¡­ But it''s not the right time yet¡­'' With these thoughts in mind, Lucifer removed the ring ne from Lu Lu''s tender neck, inspecting the contents of the storage ring. After that, he lifted her up and ced her onto hisp, saying, "You did a good job, my dear Lu Lu. You truly did something befitting of my favorite maid. However, that''s all I need from you right now¡­" His voice grew emotional toward the end as he made it sound like he didn''t wish to part with her. And thanks to his acting skills, it worked like a charm! "Young Master¡­" Tears welled up in Lu Lu''s crystalline eyes as she tightly clung to her master''s robes. "Do not worry, my dear Lu Lu. I will call upon you again, and when I do, everything will work out just fine." With these reassuring words, Lucifer gently caressed her head before rising from his seat and walking away like a tragic protagonist. Based on thest few words he said, Lu Lu was convinced that they would eventually be together, leaving her in a bubbly mood! But little did she know that Lucifer had something entirely different in mind when he said those things to her¡­ ___________ Chapter 6: Concocting Pills ..... Lucifer was not one to waste time. With both the necessary materials and the equipment needed in hand and a clear purpose, he quickly locked himself in his room. After which, he settled down in a cross-legged position, before quickly taking out the alchemy cauldron from his spatial ring. BANG! The cauldron''s four-pronged bronze legs struck the mahogany floor with a resounding bang! The cauldron roughly measured two meters in diameter and upied a significantlyrge portion of the room. But despite its size, the designs on its sides weren''t particrly remarkable¡ªit was a very ordinary pill furnace. But one might ask, why would a pill furnace be of interest to someone who was deemed a disappointment by the Devilduke family? Well, the answer was simple, naturally because Lucifer intended to¡­ concoct pills! "On the path of cultivation, there are many disciplines one can pursue, and alchemy happens to be one of them," Lucifer mused aloud, his tone thoughtful as he carefully inspected that all of the ingredients for the pill were of good enough quality. ''Although they are nothing extraordinary, they should suffice for now¡­'' With this thought in mind, he began organizing all the precious herbs together, arranging them in the order they would be used. ''Even though the previous owner of this body might have been ignorant about the knowledge of alchemy and often deemed ipetent, that didn''t mean this path is closed for me,'' Lucifer thought. He was well aware that this sudden interest in alchemy might raise a few suspicions among the other conniving snakes in his family, and there were sure to be a few who would take advantage of this discovery. But, as with all things, a well-executed cover-up was enough to hide even the most heinous of secrets. Lucifer''s mind stirred with thought, already devising what he had to do in order to make everything concerning his ''sudden'' alchemy talent seem natural. However, if he wished to achieve that, he would first need to increase his strength. To discreetly increase one''s strength, other than the expensive cultivation resources, the most optimal choice was to be the provider of cultivation resources yourself. ''As long as I can advance my cultivation to the Tempering Marrow Stages, I should have reached a sufficient level of strength to start experimenting with my clone feature.'' Lucifer had learned from the system that each clone he purchased with Clone Essence would spawn with his current strength. Thus, to make the most of his Clone Essence, Lucifer came to the conclusion that it would be best to wait until he had reached the Tempering Marrow Stages before creating any clones. After all, the cost of the clones in the Body Refinement Realm was all the same, regardless of strength, which only further worked to reinforce his resolve to conserve his yet-to-be-gathered Clone Essence. Nevertheless, that was all a concern forter when he had actually acquired Clone Essence. Right now, the only thing he needed to focus on was his alchemy. _____ WAAA! Faint Qi fluctuations filled Lucifer''s private quarters, nearly reaching the point where nearby servants might notice that something unusual was up. However, before that could happen, he forcefully drew in all the Qi before directing it into the confines of the Early Common Rank Alchemy Cauldron, causing a reaction to bubble up within it. "Time to add the materials," he murmured, his tone casual. Following that, a number of unusually shaped ginseng roots as well as an assortment ofrge and small flowers were plopped into the cauldron. Red Tiger Ginseng¡­ Flying Goroloroo Flower¡­ Moonstones¡­ Aqua Regia¡­ The names of a few alchemy materials echoed in Lucifer''s head as he identified a total of 16 different herbs, all of which were key ingredients in the pill form he intended to replicate. Szzzz¡­ The Alchemy Furnace hissed as its contents boiled at a temperature surpassing that of a raging fire. ''I may not have a rare pill me, but the basic Common Tier me that all novice alchemists use will suffice for the time being¡­'' With a wave of his hand, Lucifer conjured a light silver me. The me danced around his right hand before shooting itself toward the pill cauldron, further intensifying the heat beyond what the first wave of pill mes could aplish. ''The Silverson Pill me is the most basic one there is, and it needs constant fanning in order to remain aze, but it will serve my purpose.'' Lucifer was crafting a pill called the Affirmation Marrow Pill¡ªa pill of the Early Common Rank, typically used by aspiring alchemists. However, the one he was making was not the exact standard form of what all other alchemists aimed to make; he added his own unique twist to its simplicity. Harnessing the natural properties of the alchemy materials in order to affect the oue, he formted results which, in theory, should have been impossible¡­ Yet for him, it was as effortless as breathing. He controlled the Silverson Pill me like a god of fire,manding it to extract the essence of the materials rather than simply melting them together. It was this unconventional approach of his that caused the Pill Cauldron to make sounds analogous to a steaming kettle. Still, not being enough to deter him from the art of Alchemy, he took the extracted essences and meticulouslybined them together in an order so precise that it bordered on perfection. It remained a mystery as to how he knew the exact cement of each glob of essence or which materials to use first, but the end oue was nothing short of spectacr! *Waf~* A medical scent, verging on divinity wafted out from the opened lid of the Alchemy Furnace. After which, a total of seven light silver pills shot out in rapid session. With the agility of a nimble monkey, Lucifer caught every single pill with his hands. He could feel the intense searing heat permeating off of them, slightly burning his rough palm, but that was not even enough to elicit a flinch from him. Instead, he opened his reddened hands and emotionlessly observed the fruits of his first alchemy session. "A light gray in color, as well as a single fully formed pill line running through its epicenter. It seems like my first pill batch was a failure¡ªtwo failed ones and five of the lowest quality." If any seasoned alchemist had heard the words of this young man, then they''d surely have violently coughed up blood, because what he had just announced was unbelievable! For one to even sessfully concoct a single Low-Common Rank Pill on their first try would be considered a divine miracle! Yet Lucifer had managed to not only aplish that feat, but he was also capable of concocting five fully formed pills! This feat alone was worthy of granting him the title of Unparalleled Heavenly Genius! However, it seemed like the result wasn''t quite up to Lucifer''s standards¡­. ''Time to try again¡­ This time, I will have no failures.'' With this ludicrous thought as the driving force, Lucifer immediately got right down to it and resumed his alchemy session, giving no respite for his exhausted mind. The Path of Alchemy was a grueling one, so to not even be in the Qi Condensation Realm while still attempting to concoct pills¡­ Well, one would have to be utterly insane to even think of doing that. Luckily, there was a man who fit that exact description¡ªa man who was profusely sweating from all pores while his gaze was locked on the bronze furnace before him. ...¡­ Chapter 7: 80% Tempering Marrow Realm ...¡­ As the hours on the clock ticked, time quietly slipped within Young Master Lucifer''s chambers. A total of fifteen hours had passed since he began his alchemy session. And for the very first time in these fifteen hours, Lucifer stood up from his spot, leaving a pool of sweat on the floor before walking toward the private bathroom in his chambers. He quickly undressed himself before pouring a basin of cold water over his head. After which, he submerged himself inside an ice-water tub. The ice itself was created using a form of ice magic and the bathwater was also something conjured up by a magical instrument¡ª tools that made life more easier andfortable for the cultivators. However, Lucifer wasn''t looking forfort; he only wanted to cleanse the impurities from his body. And as the grime washed down his back, the task was swiftly aplished. While the dirt and filth drained away in significant quality, Lucifer took a nce at all the pills he stored inside his personal storage ring. Most of the pills were of the lowest quality, while there were very few low-quality ones and even fewer trash-quality pills. All of the aforementioned pills were the same. After all, there was no need for any other type of pill given Lucifer''s current stage. However, that didn''t concern him. Every journey in life needs to be taken one step at a time, and rushing was never a wise idea. "With these two hundred lowest-quality and fifteen low-quality Affirmation Marrow Pills, I should be able to break through not only to the 20% Tempering Marrow Stage but also to the 40% Tempering Marrow Stage." With these words, and without any hesitation, Lucifer wasted no time and threw three of the lowest-quality pills into his mouth! WAAA! A mild burst of Qi erupted from his stomach, escaping his body and permeating the white interior of the bathroom. Then, with even greater vigor, the Qi copsed back into his muscr frame! The Qi swirled within every fiber of his being as it refined his marrow, pulled to the Pulse Condensation Realm without wasting a single drop. When the sparse energy within his outer body reached a sufficient point, it drilled its way into the core of his being, surrounding his marrow like a wall of titanium, actively refining its essence. After a few minutes of refinement, Lucifer opened his eyes to witness a new realm of existence, sensing that the boundary between the two minor realms was on the verge of copse. And that was when it happened¡­ CRACK¡ª With the cracking and eventual shatter of an intangible barrier, a breakthrough was made, and a new level of power washed through Lucifer''s body! His physical prowess increased at least tenfold! The previous version of him was nowhere in sight gone forever, leaving behind a man who could now be considered an aspiring elite of the Devilduke household! After all, achieving the 20% Tempering Marrow Realm by the age of 18 was considered quite an achievement within the Devilduke family. If only they knew how fast he had advanced from the Early Pulse Condensation Stage to this level¡­ They''d surely cough up blobs of blood before croaking right there, and then if they ever did hear of such ludicrous information! However, Lucifer was far from having finished with his quest for power advancements. After all, he still had hundreds of more pills to gobble up¡­ With new ambitions driving him, he continued his relentless pursuit of ever-increasing strength, devouring lowmon-rank pills like a man who would die of hunger. ¡­ Six hourster. It had been over 20 hours since Lucifer went into seclusion, and though no one except Lu Lu had noticed his absence, it was only a matter of time before people came knocking on his door. Fortunately for him, with his marrow now refined to 50%, he estimated that he wouldn''t need more than another 10 hours to reach a full 100% Marrow Refinement! ''If I can aplish this, then I can begin testing out this Clone Feature. And if it''s as effective as I believe it''ll be, I will have no problem in proceeding with the next phase of my n.'' Lucifer was determined to seize every avable opportunity, letting nothing slip through his grasp. This long-established principle had guided him for some time now, but he made sure to asionally remind himself of it so as not to stray from his path. Nevertheless, that was just something he kept at the forefront of his mind as he continued consuming the lowest-qualitymon-rank pills. ¡­ After another seven hours of continuously refining the lowmon-rank Affirmation Marrow Pills, Lucifer eventually reached a point where he was on the brink of breaking past the 80% tempering milestone. He needed just a few more minutes to sessfully make a breakthrough. But, at the pace he was advancing, that brief span of time passed in the blink of an eye. When the breakthrough finally looked him in the face, he churned all the energy inside of his marrow, pushing it to its limits with everything he had. ''Just break already!'' With thesemanding words, the barrier inside him shattered, releasing a flood of power that surged through his being! With the wall between the 79% and 80% marks obliterated in one fell swoop, Lucifer no longer had anything obstructing his way of refining thest 20% of his marrow. "I am almost there. Just one final stretch and I will reach the absolute peak of the Body Refinement Realm." Normally, even for a genius it would take dozens of years to breakthrough into the 100% Marrow Refining Stage, with some never even able to reach it no matter how much they cultivated. However, there stood a freak who managed to reach the Peak of the Body Refinement Realm within just two days of his Transmigration¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 8: First Clone ...¡­ Lucifer''s rapid cultivation was significantly influenced by his absurd consumption of pills as well as the use of a forbidden technique to temporarily prevent pill poisoning. But while these methods had yed a role, they could be considered as him simply making the most of his circumstances. Ultimately, no matter how one looked at it, Lucifer was a monstrous genius. For him, this could either be a blessing or a curse¡­ However, for the current Lucifer, only the positive aspect of this was more apparent. He could leverage this newfound strength to improve his standing within the Devilduke family. Though he would need to limit how much he should reveal, he could also simultaneously use his strength in the dark, which was the approach he would mainly be relying on. ''As soon as I reach the 100% Tempering milestone, I should be able to make use of a clone. And what exactly will I use this clone for, one might think.'' ''Well, obviously, it will be farming¡­'' During his time as a Clone ve, Lucifer had encountered a number of Transmigrated and Reincarnated beings, gaining a vast knowledge bank on things like games and culture. There was one ce in particr that stood out, it was a called Earth. This tiny blue marble was a small universe rich with cultural advancements, producing a few terms that Lucifer often liked to use. One of such terms was¡­ ''Farming. That will be the main objective of my first clone.'' With this n in mind, he refocused on his cultivation, eagerly wanting to reach the 100% Marrow Refining Stage as quickly as possible. _____ As dawn turned to noon and noon flipped over to dusk, another three hours passed in the Young Master''s private chambers. It was midnight once again, and just like the nights that came before, the sky was covered by a vast expanse of darkness. Amidst the deep, dark nket of void, asional stars twinkled, creating a twilight ambience. On such an oddly tranquil night, a young man with long ck hair sat cross-legged on his bed. Lucifer was on the verge of breaking through the barrier between the 99% and 100% of the Tempering Marrow. Although this barrier wasn''trge or tangible, it was still enough to give him quite a headache. However, after a good 40 minutes of struggle with the breakthrough, it eventually couldn''tst anymore and shattered! The figurative dam shattered just like the previous one, as thest and final obstacle no longer stood in Lucifer''s path. Thus, he had directly reached the Peak of the Body Refinement Realm! Waaaa¡­ As the active energy within the room started to subside, a man who appeared slightly more handsome than before suddenly emerged from his reverie. "..." The first thing Lucifer did was assess his strength. After getting some satisfaction from the boulder-breaking strength he now possessed, he called forth the Infinite Clone System. Lucifer realized it was time to make use of his clone function. With that in mind, he put his thoughts into action and summoned his first and only clone into the world. BLING! With the sh of bright iridescent light, a young man with long ck hair, chiseled features, and sword-like eyebrows materialized out of thin air. Every detail, down to thest hair follicle, was an exact replica of Lucifer, even the clothes it wore were the same¡­ "So, you are the first clone from my Infinite Clone System?" Lucifer circled around the stalwart figure of the nk-faced clone. Even after making a few rounds, he truly couldn''t find a single discrepancy between it and himself. It was only after a few moments of analyzing its existence that he waved his hand in front of the clone and said, "I need you to wake up from your slumber and develop a will of your own." "..." The clone remained silent and motionless, without any response or action, a perfect mirror copy of himself with no sign of life. Even after a few more minutes passed, nothing besidesplete lifelessness could be seen from its countenance. It was at this moment that a small smile crept on Lucifer''s handsome face as he said, "It''s good that you don''t have a mind of your own, for I don''t need a subordinate or friend. I just need a tool, and as my tool, I have a task for you to aplish." He patted the puppet on its back, pulled over two chairs, sat on one and pulled the clone in the other, before saying, "Now, pay attention. First, you will first do this, then¡­" Lucifer then went on to exin everything that the clone would need to aplish. Subsequently, feeling a surge of anticipation well up within him. He knew that what he had in mind was surely something that would provoke the wrath of the family elders. However, Lucifer was not the one to care for such trifles; he intended to drain the family of everything it had¡­ _____ After a few minutes of issuing extremely specific instructions, the clone rose up from his seat and walked away without saying a single word. But before leaving the room, it made sure to grab a dark ck cloak from the side of a dresser. By the time the clone disappeared from the doorway, the cloak was already draped over its shoulders and it disappeared into the dead of night like an elusive shadow. ''This is truly the best way to achieve my goals¡­'' Lucifer nearly let a burst of maniacalughter escape his mouth as he gazed out of the lone window of his room, eagerly awaiting the results of hismands. _____ Meanwhile, on the 100% Marrow Tempering Clone''s side. "Have you heard about the 6th Young Master going into seclusion after nearly 2 years of skimming out on cultivation?" "Yeah, and from what I''ve heard, Lord Xiao and Miss Mu are in much better moods because of this. But who knows if the Young Master is truly even cultivating or not?" Two hired mercenaries of the Devilduke household were cking on their posts, gossiping about the sudden peculiar behavior of their 6th Young Master. After all, within a strict family like the Devidukes, change was a rare thing to witness. So, to suddenly see someone who had been deemed the softest of them all, make a sudden shift in his priorities was enough to elicit rumors among the servants. However, as these two cone-headed guards gossiped, the very person they were talking about just so happened to be right behind them, lurking in the shadows with a cold gleam in his eyes. ...¡­ Chapter 9: Rapid Escalation ...¡­ Kill. That was the only single thought that crossed the clone''s mind before it leaped out from the shadows and plunged a Low-Common Rank dagger straight into the first guard''s chest, piercing the fellow''s heart! "!!!" The second guard''s eyes widened in horror as he watched hisrade gurgle on his own blood. Quickly realizing that they were under an enemy attack, he moved at lightning speeds and drew his silver sword out of its sheath! However, when his gaze fell on the face of the shadowy assant, his expression morphed into one of immense confusion, causing a brief moment of hesitation. His de narrowly missed the 6th Young Master''s head as it cut off a few strands of his hair before hitting the concrete with a loud ng. CLUNGGGGG He was about to raise his sword and question the Young Master for his actions, but before he could, a short dagger had its razor-sharp edge shed into his neck, severing off his vocal cords and nearly taking his head off. Thud! The guard''s corpse fell to the ground with a heavy thud, a look of astonishment frozen across his ashen face. "..." The Peak Body Refinement Realm Clone nced at the two lifeless mercenaries lying dead on the ground and moved mechanically like a robot. In a swift motion, it lifted up the corpses like sacks of potatoes before tossing them into a nearby canopy of shrubs. Following these actions, the clone used a simple water-cleansing spell to wash away the blood-stained floor. One would be able to cast rudimentary spells after reaching the Early Pulse Condensation Stage, so something like this was a trivial task for the 100% Tempering Marrow Clone. Another one of such spells was the ''Dry'' incantation, which was what the clone used after removing any lingering traces of blood. Only after all the shreds of evidence that could have pointed at the skirmish had been erased did the clone move on to its next series of targets, leaving no time for breaks or inefficiency. _____ Meanwhile, back in the 6th Young Master''s secluded room, a man who looked identical to the person who hadmitted a homicide, leisurely sat down and watched the system notifications swarming his vision. BLING! [Ding! Your Peak Body Refinement Realm Clone has killed 2 Mercenaries of the same realm, granting the host a substantial amount of Clone Essence.] [Ding! Since this is the first time the Host has used a clone to kill other living beings, an additional amount of Clone Essence will be rewarded!] [Ding! You have obtained 0.5 Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have enough Clone Essence to create 5 more Peak Body Refinement Realm Clones, each possessing the ability of the original version that set your status.* [Ding! Would you like to spend your Clone Essence to create 5 more Peak Body Refinement Realm Clones?] "...Yes¡­" Lucifer barely spent time hesitating to answer that question. After all, it was the only thing he could buy at the moment. BLING! [Ding! You have bought 5 Peak Body Refinement Realm Clones using 0.5 Clone Essence.] [Ding! Your Clones will be ready to spawn in 5¡­4¡­3¡­2...1¡­] Lucifer could feel something change within his core being as he immediately scanned his system interface, checking out the changes. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/125] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: Absolute Peak Body Refinement Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [Body Refinement Realm Clones: 6] [Clone Essence required to summon the highest realm Clone: 0.1] [Clone Essence Bank: 0] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) __________ Lucifer scanned his system interface and noticed that his Battle Power had reached the absolute peak of the Body Refinement Realm. Moreover, the number of clones he could conjure had increased to six. With this in mind, he dawdled no further and summoned the other five clones, assigning them the same objectives as the first. "Get it done. And you don''t have to hold back." Lucifer sped his hands behind his back as he issued thosemands. "..." "..." The clones lightly nodded their heads before vanishing from the secluded room. Once all of them had dispersed from his view, the solemn-faced young man gazed at the full moon, already imagining how fruitful the night would be. ''Let''s see just how many people they can kill in the next hour¡­ and more importantly, how much I can benefit from the oue.'' Sinister thoughts stirred in his mind as time ceaselessly passed for those inside the Fire Nation. _____ About an hourter. During that one hour, Lucifer''s Clones had managed to kill over four dozen hired guards of the Devilduke Family, along with sixty Body Refinement Realm Guards from the neighboring families. Satisfied with these results, Lucifer sat down and received his most recent gains. Noticing that his Clone Essence indicator had already surpassed the 20 milestone, he realized how he could now buy over 200 Clones at the Peak Body Refinement Realm! However, figuring out that he didn''t need that many at the moment, he only bought another 40 before conserving the rest of the Clone Essence for future needs. After all, it was unknown when he could start buying skills and other equipment for his clones, and he wanted to be prepared. Even with this restraint of burning all his Clone Essence, 46 actively hunting clones were more than enough to silently sow chaos across the City of Riversea. Within the span of 2 hours, more than 300 people had fallen at the hands of Lucifer''s Clones. And by the 4-hour mark, that number had further risen to 1,500. When the time hit the 5-hour milestone, people had begun to grow suspicious of theck of guards and mercenaries, but Lucifer made sure that anyone who got a little too nosy was silenced. Finally, the sun set in the west and by this point, over 5000 people within the Body Refinement Realm had already perished under thebined efforts of over 1,000 clones. The number would have likely been way more than that if not for the fact that Qi Condensation Realm Cultivators had started to snoop around. However, by the time they noticed the dead bodies scattered throughout Riversea City, the culprit was long gone¡­ Lucifer found it quite convenient that he could de-summon the Clones at will in the flip of a dime. They would instantly de-assimte into a form of energy before covertly flowing back toward their source. "Ahh... How nice..." As the ring Qi-powered rms echoed in the background, Lucifer sat with a rxed posture, admiring his new and improved system interface. ...¡­ Chapter 10: Spiritual Pools, Currencies ...¡­ BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/213] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: Absolute Peak Body Refinement Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [Body Refinement Realm Clones: 1150] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest realm Clone: 0.1] [Clone Essence Bank: 420] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) __________ Although Lucifer initially received a ''boost'' for his first clone kills, in reality, no significant noticeable boost was given, as any Clone Essence value below 0.1 would automatically be rounded up to 0.1. He didn''t fully understand why this had happened, but it resulted in Body Refinement Realm Cultivators, who were likely worth less than 0.01 Clone Essence, suddenly increasing in value. And it was because of this little exploit of the system that Lucifer was able to take full advantage of his early-game grinding tactics. "With over 1100 Clones, plenty of Clone Essence to spare and on top of all the loot I have snatched from the victims, I can begin concocting even more pills." While his Clones were hard at work, Lucifer made sure to actively concoct pills, and with another massive haul acquired from a few dozen Peak Body Refinement Realm Cultivators, his resources had increased more than a hundredfold! Moreover, he didn''t just acquire rare herbs and some coins, but also a number of techniques that could be used to boost his Battle Power. Although most of the techniques were of the lowmon rank, there were a select few of the midmon rank ones that had likely cost their previous owners their entire life savings. In the Fire Nation, there were two widely epted forms of currency. The first one was Fire Coins. For example, 10 Fire Coins could sustain amon family for an entire month, allowing them to live modestly. Of course, there were smaller denominations, such as scraps or nuts, but they were more a form of small change and not amonly circted mary currency. On the other hand, there was a second generally epted form of currency¡ªa currency that was not just limited to the Fire Nation. And that currency was the¡­ The Spiritual Stone! That''s right, it was the spiritual stones that truly made the world go round, as they were the primary currency circted among cultivators. Considering that cultivators ruled the, it was only natural for them to use their own higher form of currency. To be clear, only Qi Condensation Realm Cultivators and above were considered true cultivators. Body Refinement Realm noobs could only dream of seeing a spiritual stone in person, as even the lowest-ranked spiritual stones were beyond their reach. However, the 6th Young Master of the Devilduke family was lucky enough to acquire a total of 3 lowest-ranked spiritual stones from a few unfortunate souls who had lost their lives and possessions to him. Jingle! Jingle! Lucifer jingled a bag filled with dimly glowing blue stones, all of which were spiritual stones. They would also be his key to essing a Spiritual Pool! Spiritual Pools were a natural phenomenon, formed by the condensation of Qi between heaven and earth. Their purpose was none other than to enhance the cultivation efficiency of anyone who bathed in them! It was this very real truth that led Lucifer to already knowing what he was going to spend his spiritual stones on. ''With three lowest-ranked spiritual stones of this size and quality, I should be able to rent out a Spiritual Pool of the nk Element for about 21 hours.'' The nk Element was a term used for those who were born without one of the Ten Major Elemental Attributes. These specific Elemental Attributes were: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Air, Ice, Shadow, Light, Darkness, and Nature Elements. If one were lucky enough to be born with a Spiritual Root of one of these 10 Elements, then they could begin specializing in a niche andter master it topletion. However, for rare cases like Lucifer, who didn''t have a Spiritual Root, they were given the default ''nk Element''¡ªan element that waspatible with all attributes yet proficient in none. In simple terms, it was considered useless for the vast majority of cultivators. But for Lucifer and his Infinite Clone System, it was the perfect Element to have, as it held unlimited potential for one as long as they were talented or wealthy enough. After all, those with case-specific Elemental Spiritual Roots would never be able to cultivate the Elements that weren''t rted to their Spiritual Root. But those with the nk Element could potentially cultivate all of the Elements, albeit at the cost of focused proficiency. In a sense, they were jacks of all trades, with the only difference being that they were looked down upon by just about everyone in the World of Cultivation. However, the 6th Young Master of the Devilduke Family intended to make full use of this unexpected opportunity he had been provided with¡­ _____ "Time to sneak past the chaos outside and make it to the Fire Spiritual Pool." Lucifer''s raspy voice echoed in his room as he rose up off his cultivation mat, quickly disappearing from his spot. In no time, he was weaving in and out of groups of pedestrians, who were frantically screaming as they discovered more and more corpses in various bushes around town. ''From all the times it worked in Assassins Creed, I assumed it would be just as effective to hide dead bodies in bushes, but I guess not¡­'' Lucifer mused an interestingment inside his head and decided to try a different approach the next time he went on the grind. But in the meantime, he had a nk/Fire Spiritual Pool to reach. Luckily for him, after a few minutes of navigating through the cracked, cobblestoned roads, he ultimately found himself at the entrance of a red-lined cave. There, an old man sat to the left side of the cave''s entrance, decrepit but keen. Opening one of his aged eyes upon noticing the arrival of a neer, he seemed to be analyzing Lucifer, but upon finding nothing noteworthy, he hoarsely shouted, "One Lowest-Ranked Spiritual Stone for every 7 hours of cultivation in the nk/Fire Spiritual Pool!" Lucifer didn''t mind the old man''s straightforward way of speaking. He simply took a bag of three spiritual stones and tossed them in the old man''s direction. ..... Chapter 11: Sword Marks, 1st Stage of Qi Condensation Realm Strength ..... Piang! The old man caught the bag of stones, opened it and gave a couple of nces at the simply dressed young man standing before him. He found it a bit odd for someone like him to possess such wealth, but it wasn''t his job to question those who paid, so with a dry voice, he said, "You may stay within the Spiritual Pool for 21 hours. Make good use of your limited time." Following those words, the old man tipped his farmer''s hat back toward the front of his head before quickly entering a deep slumber. "..." Lucifer overlooked the old man''s peculiar behavior and walked past him before making his way through the dimly lit, fire-engraved tunnels of the cave. The walls were etched with a number of Elemental intent marks, likely left by those who feltpelled to record the evidence of their progress. ''4th Stage Qi Condensation Fire mark¡­ 6th Stage Qi Condensation Fire mark¡­ A few in the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms¡­'' Lucifer noticed countless Elemental Marks, however, a few stood out quite a lot to him. The first one was the mark that was carved deep into the walls for hundreds of meters, clearly left by a Core Formation Realm expert. While the other, slim and thin like a nail, for some reason, was far more iprehensible despite its size¡­ ''This one must''ve been left behind by an expert of the Golden Core Formation Realm, or maybe even higher¡­'' Lucifer found himself bing more intrigued by the skillfully carved fire mark. He couldn''t recall if he had ever seen anything quite as mesmerizing since his transmigration. He ultimately decided to return and study the mark to gain some insights after sessfully reaching the Qi Condensation Realm. With this short-term goal in mind, he continued through the tunnels, eventually making it to a wide, open space. The roof of this ce was adorned with greenish-red vines, while the walls were covered in some form of Fire Essence debris. At the center of this space was a fiery red pool, curving around a boulder that reached the ceiling, leaving enough room for hundreds to cultivate. However, due to the price of cultivating in such a ce for extended periods, not many cared about how much space was left open, for it would always be vacant. But for Lucifer, this worked in his favor, allowing him to cultivate his secret techniques with ease of mind. After understanding this, he hesitated no more and undressed himself before jumping in the red, steamy pool, just as he hade into the world. As soon as his body made contact with the searingly hot Fire Essence, it screamed, urging him to leave right away. But would he truly be someone pursuing infinity if he couldn''t handle such a small degree of pain? With hardened resolve, Lucifer tantly ignored the incineration of his atoms and instead focused on the absorption of the Qi into his body. ''This will be how I develop a foundation that is worthy of breaking through into the Qi Condensation Realm.'' ''I must not waste this opportunity.'' His mind raced as he allowed the Fire Essence to course through his veins freely. Lucifer watched as it seared his skin ck, transforming the scuffed surface into something that was far more durable. After his right arm hadpletely undergone the transformation, he was able to see what 20 minutes of agony had given him in return. Whazooom! He clenched and unclenched his fist, observing the fire wind swirl around his arm, almost as if it were roaring to devour anything that came in its path! "This is money well spent," Lucifer murmured, feeling a sense of satisfaction bubbling inside. He could feel that his right arm''s strength had multiplied at least a few folds in thest 20 minutes, and it was this very fact that prompted him to continue refining the rest of his body. After 50 more minutes of intense refinement, both his left arm and right leg hadpletely undergone a transformation under the heat of the condensed Fire Essence. When his stay in the Fire Spiritual Pool had reached a total of 4 hours, his entire body underwent a metamorphosis, causing his pale white skin to take on a magma-like hue. Yet, it wasn''t the improvement to hisplexion or appearance that marked the greatest advancement in the quality of existence, instead, it was his newfound physical prowess! Lucifer took a cursory nce at his system interface and saw that his Battle Power had finally surpassed a critical threshold, propelling his strength into the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation! This was a monumental aplishment, as it signified that his strength had ascended to the ranks of a true cultivator! Moreover, it enabled him to summon clones at the Qi Condensation Realm! The ability to summon Clone was based on Lucifer''s strength, not on his realm. This was to say that he could be far ahead in terms of Battle Power as opposed to cultivation and still be capable of summoning a Clone of his approximate strength bracket. The thought of this topic raised his curiosity, leading him to check out the cost of a Qi Condensation Realm Clone, and let''s just say that when he looked into the expansive number, poverty looked right back at him¡­ "100 Clone Essence to summon a Qi Condensation Realm Clone¡­ 1000 times more than what it costs for a Peak Body Refinement Realm Clone¡­" Lucifer found these prices a little exaggerated, but upon considering how much stronger he had be as opposed to pre-fire refinement, he realized that it made a lot of sense. However, looking at the stark difference in cost between a Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realm Clone made him wonder about how the cost of future realms would look¡­ ''The prices will be absurd¡­ and there is no way I can amass the potential trillions of Clone Essence needed just by killing Body Refinement Realm Existences¡­'' Lucifer realized that he would need to start killing higher realm entities sooner rather thanter, though he never would''ve expected that time woulde so soon. ...¡­ Chapter 12: Elemental Bodies ...¡­ "I guess I will summon three Qi Condensation Rank Clones once I leave the Fire Spiritual Pool, but for now, I still have another 17 hours left to focus on advancing my Fire Body. If all goes well, I should be on track for a Stage 3 Fire Body." Lucifer mused to himself before releasing a sigh and resuming his cultivation. Before one could make a breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Realm, they would need to advance their cultivation in a relevant Element to a certain point. For the Fire Element, that point would mean reaching Stage 3 of their Fire Body. Taking Lucifer as an example. Upon fully refining his body with the Fire Element, he was able to sessfully breakthrough into a 1st Stage Fire Body. And as long as he continued refining his body, he''d be able to advance his Fire Body into the 2nd Stage and eventually into the 3rd Stage. After achieving the 3rd Stage Fire Body, he could either continue cultivating in the Fire Element or make an attempt in achieving a breakthrough into the 1st Stage of Fire Qi Condensation. As for what Lucifer would choose to do... Well, was it even a question? He would aim for infinity! And to do that, he needed the strongest of foundations possible! "The 9th Stage Fire Body will be mine¡­ And if I can somehow forcefully awaken a Fire Physique, then the 12th Stage Fire Body will be within my reach." Lucifer circted the Fire Element within his body and quickly realized that he would need far more Spiritual Stones if he wanted to aplish such an ambitious goal. "As soon as I finish these 21 hours, I will conjure up a few Qi Condensation Rank Clones and send them out for the eternal grind." With these thought at the forefront of his mind, he resumed his cultivation session, feeling the 2nd Stage Fire Body almost within his grasp. _____ Time passed by like the fall of Sakura blossoms, and Lucifer sessfully managed to cultivate his Fire Body all the way to the 3rd Stage! It was an achievement that would normally be considered impossible within such a short time frame, but little did anyone know that he actively employed a fire-rted technique from his pre-transmigration memories. Although he didn''t have many low-level techniques in his knowledge bank, he managed to scrounge around and find a few basic elemental ones. Of course, what Lucifer considered ''basic'' was something absolutely world-shattering to others; any number of Golden Core Formation Realm Experts would fight tooth and nail for one of his techniques! However, to him, they were simply the bottom of the barrel, and like many things, were simply stepping stones to tread on the Path of Infinity. Nevertheless, time had finally run out, and he was forced to leave the Fire Spiritual Pool... Even though Lucifer had actively used cultivation concealing techniques, for some reason, he had the uneasy feeling that the old man''s discerning gaze had seen through something. But even if the old man had noticed something that he shouldn''t, he made no further moves on the matter, simply returning to his sleep. "..." Lucifer nced back at the snoring old man, watching the snot bubbles rise and fall, and sensed that something was amiss. However, he knew that he was nowhere near strong enough to confirm his suspicions¡­ In the end, he pushed the thoughts of the old man to the back of his mind and resumed his trot, quickly leaving the scene behind. Back in the ce where the young man once stood, the old man had somehow phased off his chair and stood upright like a halberd, staring at the spot the young man had just left. "It seems like an Anomaly has been born from the testicrs of that stubborn son of mine¡­" The old man''s appearance visibly regressed in age, his demeanor became aloof and valiant. "But regardless of which of my sons created this one, his birth will surely disrupt the fragile bnce between the factions of the Tianwu Continent and result in chaos." The now middle-aged man seemed to be pondering over a great many things as he stroked his invisible beard, wondering what he should do with this potential monster¡­ _____ Meanwhile, in a quaint corner of the Devilduke household''s main mansion, a young man vanished behind an alleyway. Finally, he figured out who that old man was! ''It turns out that the old fogeys of this small family had plenty of free time on their hands¡ªeven going so far as to pretend to be weak old men¡­'' ''Though I know nothing of your intentions, oh, grandfather of mine¡­ If you get in my way, I will kill you all the same.'' An immense darkness nearly consumed Lucifer''s irises as his aura threatened to spiral out of control. He detested being at the whim of someone else''s reins, and for some reason, he just knew that the old man was strong enough to see through his facade. ''The Golden Core Realm¡­? No¡­ Even higher¡­'' Lucifer was confident in the effectiveness of his secret techniques, but no amount of confidence could bridge the gap between more than four Major Realms. If his grandfather was truly at or above the Nascent Soul Realm, then Lucifer knew that he could do nothing but follow the old man''s lead¡­ This realization fueled his desire for even greater strength! He would never allow anyone to be in control of his actions ever again! No matter what he had to do or what price he had to pay, he would never allow himself to be content! ''If you think you have the upper hand on me, then you are sorely mistaken¡­'' An evil grin crept across his face as he returned to the grind, eager to see what that old fart''s face would look like when he surpassed him! The first thing Lucifer did upon realizing that he had been semi-found out was summon three Clones, all of whom possessed strength in the 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation. Upon their manifestation, he directed them to go into the Great Mormonga Forest, which was where they would begin the hunting of all the Spiritual Beasts that couldn''t be hunted before. After all, every single Spiritual Beast was at least at the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation. With such immense strength, they could confidently roam the Great Mormonga Forest with a carefree attitude. However, not a single one of them could''ve possibly expected there to be a mentally insane man heading their way, ready to flip their worlds upside down. And by that, it was implied quite literally¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 13: Boo, On The Hunt ...¡­ Splurt! As the ck boar beast copsed in death, its blood gushed out of where its massive head once used to be connected to its body. However, it wasn''t like the creature''s grievances mattered to the one who reaped its life. "..." Lucifer''s Clone nkly stared at the boar''s corpse before drawing out a butcher''s knife. Then, with a swift motion, he plunged the knife into the beast''s body, piercing through its tough hide and carving out a small, shiny red crystal. This crystal was known as a Beast Core, and its color was red, indicating the beast''s Element. On the other hand, the size of the core would corrte to its strength before death. This was the first core Lucifer had collected so far, but it sure as hell wouldn''t be thest. That fact was proven by the blood spurting from the other two Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beasts nearby. One was a ck-feathered sparrow, while the other was a green-burrow fox¡ªboth of which were of the Nature Element¡ªan Element that wasn''t as well known as the Fire and Water Elements. In fact, such an Element was quite rare and could even be considered an Auxiliary Element, making the cores of the Nature Beasts highly sought after by herbalists and healers. In terms of market value, the price of a 2nd Stage Qi Condensation Realm Nature Element Core like the one Lucifer had acquired from the Sparrow was worth around 15 Fire Coins. Inparison, the Core of the 3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm Boar Beast would fetch roughly 5 Fire Coins. This disparity wasn''t because the Fire Core was worth any less than the Nature Core in terms of energy value; it was simply that the Nature Core was rarer and more desired. Of course, there existed exceptions to this general market flow¡ªsome fire-efficient nations would go to great ends of the earth to acquire high-level Fire Cores, all so as to supplement what theycked. All of this meant that Lucifer now had a way to secure a constant flow of ie; one he could acquire without massacring a good chunk of the weakling poption. With this in mind, he directed his three Qi Condensation Realm Clones to continue the hunt. In addition to those three, he refunded his 1,150 Body Refinement Realm clones and used the Clone Essence to purchase another Qi Condensation Realm Clone. While having numbers could be beneficial in certain scenarios, in reality, there was just no way that a multitude of Body Refinement Realm Clones could hope topete against something already in tune with Qi. The Qi Condensation Realm marked a significant and qualitative step as a cultivator, and it was also one of the only realms to have arger realm chasm than the realms that followed after, making it unlike any other. For example, the gap between someone in the Peak Body Refinement and Early Qi Condensation Realms was far greater than the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Realm. This was just the reality of the situation. After all, the Qi Condensation Realm was the step where one truly became a cultivator. This fact made it more insane since Lucifer had managed to cross the gap between the Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realms without having to face much trouble¡­ Of course, granted that he had his 3rd Stage Fire Body working in his favor; it had yed a great role. But even without it, his Battle Power would still be in the Qi Condensation Realm. Why was this, one might ask? Well, it was because of the sheer number of Techniques he practiced¡­ Thanks to his insanely high, innateprehension speed, no number of Low-Common Rank manuals could possibly pose a challenge for him. And with this ease of mastery, over 80 Low-Common Rank Techniques had already been assimted into his strength! Many of those Techniques, like |Iron Skin| or |Extreme Toughness|, were arts that directly enhanced the basic attributes of his body. Additionally, there were some, like |Qi Compression| or |Sakura Fall|, which boosted any of his energy-rted attributes. Lucifer possessed dozens of such techniques, as well as a plethora of active and passive techniques, which all went to say that he waspletely stacked! And his arsenal would only continuously grow! Of course, that was only possible assuming he found more Loot Bags to ''borrow'' from. Speaking of Loot Bags, there happened to be a couple of them standing right in the middle of an open field¡­ _____ "Have you heard about the recent mass killings by the Elusive Shadow, Brother Wang??" A man of average stature addressed a more robust man dressed in dark yellow robes. Both of them were currently busy in the act of releasing their fluids into a bush... "Ahh! Yes, I have heard all about that oh~ so scary killer~! And I have also heard people say that you shouldn''t go out alone. That is unless you want him to pop up out of nowhere and-" The robust man paused mid-stream as his head cocked to the right, and a red liquid gushed from beneath his robe! "Brother Wang!!?" The average-looking man''s once strong stream came to a sudden stop, and he started to shake his brother, only to be¡­. "Boo!" Wang Pao suddenly reanimated and spooked the living hell out of his brother! "Ahhh! You fucking fucker!! What the hell was that for!? You almost had me thinking that you had actually been killed by the Elusive Shadow!" The average-looking man let out a shrill, girl-like shriek before pping therge man across hisrge head. After which he unzipped his pants and continued to unload the dragon''s breath. "I can''t believe you actually fell for such a simple trick like that one-... Ahhh¡­!!! Who the hell are you!? No¡­! S-Stop it¡­!!!" Spurt! The sound of blood gushing out of a wound echoed once more. "You really think you can get me with the same trick twice!?" The average-looking man sneered and ignored the gurgling sounds of his older brother. However, after a few seconds of enduring that grating noise, he swivelled his head around and shouted, "Can you stop all this nonsense!? We still have Spiritual Beasts to hunt¡ª" "!!!" A face that didn''t belong to his brother hovered over the mauled corpse of arge man, and a shadowy figure slowly turned its gaze in his direction. "Who are you!? And what happened to my brother-!?" The man attempted to get out of his stupor while unsheathing his sword, but he was swiftly interrupted by: "Boo." The shadowy figure spoke a three-letter word in a cynical tone, and that was thest thing the man heard before his head was lobbed off his shoulders. Astonishment and disbelief were etched across his face during his final moments of life. From beginning to end, he had never fully grasped the reality of what had happened¡­ ...¡­. Chapter 14: Clone Death, Venomweaver ...¡­. "That makes 17." Lucifer nced in a seemingly arbitrary direction, quickly noticing that his clones were also hard at work. The only reason he bothered to kill a few humans and Spiritual Beasts himself was simply to loosen up his muscles and also understand just which direction he needed to take in his techniqueprehension. If not for that, he would have just left all the hunting to his clones. Fortunately, this recent battle gave him a clear idea of his path forward. With this newfound rity, he vanished from his spot. As he headed back to his room, the system notifications flooded his vision. BLING! [Ding! You have killed two hunters in the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation!] [Ding! You have obtained 1200 Clone Essence!] [Ding! You now have over 4000 Clone Essence in your Clone Essence Bank. Would you like to spend some of it in order to summon more clones?] "Yes, use 2000 Clone Essence to summon another 20 Clones in the Qi Condensation Rank." Following hismand, a sh of light urred! FWIP! FWIP! Twenty figures with strength in the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation materialized from thin air. These clones were stronger than the three he had sent on the hunt, and would make excellent additions to the ''Farming Force''. For now, Lucifer only had this one squad of clones, however, he nned to create more in the future¡ªmaybe for Logistics, Marketing, Alchemy, and other tasks. But for the moment, the Farming Force was all he needed to acquire greater strength. SHING! Lucifer directed one of the Clones to unleash a sword strike, allowing him to witness the transferred abilities firsthand. Upon witnessing the clone''s attack, a small smile formed within his psyche. The execution of this technique was exactly as he would have done it. Even the subtle hand movements were an exact copycat, meaning all of these Clones possessed the same level of strength as he did! Furthermore, the best part of it all was that these 4th Stage Qi Condensation Rank Clones cost the same as those in the 3rd Stage. Lucifer wasn''t sure how long this price bracket wouldst this way, but while it did, he intended to make sure that he took full advantage of it! With that in mind, he ordered the clones to spread out in the Great Mormonga Forest, instructing them to kill anything that crossed their paths and then carve out the beast cores. With thesemands put into motion, the Clones immediately embarked on the killing spree. However, after several hours of killing, Lucifer sensed an unusual phenomenon urring with one of his clones. Lucifer maintained a constant tether with his clones, allowing him to track their approximate location on a mental map and also had the ability to see what they were seeing using a system ability called ''Clone Sight''. But about 7 seconds ago, one of those tethered connections suddenly went dark, cutting off both the map locator and Clone Sight¡­ ''What could it be¡­? Some sh*thead trying to get in my way?'' Curious to understand just what had happened to the clone, Lucifer darted in the direction of the clone''sst known location. Yet, considering the high chance that the Clone might have simply died in the hands of an overwhelming foe, he decided to proceed with caution. For now, he just wanted to assess the situation¡­ _____ After a few minutes of speeding through the towering trees at a speed faster than a modern supercar, Lucifer eventually perched himself atop arge overhanging branch. Once there, he scrutinized the area where the Clone''s signal had gone dark. ''The body is gone, and there are no signs of a scuffle. Could the enemy be so powerful that the Clone didn''t even get the time to react?'' Entertaining the possibility that this notion had even the smallest modicum of truth to it, Lucifer activated his stealth abilities to their maximum capacity, refusing to let his guard down or becent. After seeing nothing of immediate concern, he slowed the speed of his heartbeat and waited on the branch, his breath on the verge of turningpletely imperceptible... With this heightened state of stealth, several minutes passed by¡­ but nothing happened. Just as he was about to give it up and dere this area as a forbidden zone for the Clones, something rustled in the nearby trees. Rustle! Rustle! Or rather, multiple things rustled¡­ From his vantage point, Lucifer''s apathetic gaze lifted, and he immediately understood what happened to his clone. Drip Drip Thick strings of saliva dripped down from the branch above the silent young man as something truly unnerving gazed down with a savage glint in its countless eyes. ''It seems like a Venomweaver has made this part of the forest its home¡­'' Lucifer hadn''t thought of looking that high up beforeing here, but after realizing what had killed his clone, his hawk-like eyes scanned the surroundings. The first thing he saw was the spider silk. It was whitish ck and somehow able to blend in with the forest canopy, all of which formed an intricately woven nket over the woods. At the very center of this covertly hidden web nest sat a humongous, 20-meter-long spider. Its eight extraordinarily long legs and countless eyes presented an utterly terrifying sight. And then there was its face¡ªone that looked as if it hade straight out of a horror story, with its wide, gaping mouth, bus-sized fangs, and countless primitively glowing eyes adding like the cherry on top. This was a Venomweaver, a beast known to weave its webs around entire viges and gobble up their poptions overnight. Typically, this Spiritual Beast had a cultivation base within the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation, but there were a few rare cases of it reaching the 7th or even 8th Stage of Qi Condensation! As for this one¡­ ''It''s at the 6th Stage of Qi Condensation, and somewhere in the middle of that stage to boot.'' Lucifer was nowhere near having the level of strength to take over such a monstrosity head-on, but that didn''t mean he had no options to ovee this foe. With that, he conjured more than 25 Clones, each with strength in the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation. He had them stealthily sneak around therge trees, eventually positioning them at 25 strategic locations. With all of the pieces set on the chessboard, Lucifer threw a stone at the spot where his clone went missing, setting the scene in motion¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 15: Killing The Venomveaver, 6500 Clone Essence ...¡­ Piang! As soon as the stone hit against another rock and caused a reverberating ng, the Venomweaver shot down from the tree canopy. Causing the wind to whistle as it crashed to the ground, it snapped at the stone! However, when it realized that there was no juicy blood bag within its gaping mouth, its many eyes darted in ten different directions, trying to find the one who had thrown the rock. It soon ended up spotting a man with long ck hair and a piercing gaze¡ªa man who stared at it as if their roles were reversed. "SKREEETCH!!!" The Venomweaver let out an ear-deafening screech, driving its long legs into the ground before violentlyunching itself at the tiny human, nning to devour him in a single, big gulp! "Gotcha." The moment the Venomweaver swallowed the human, an eerie voice oozing confidence echoed from within its throat. "!!!!!!" For some reason, it was having a bad feeling about its meal speaking in such a way. That was when it suddenly recalled that itsst meal looked oddly simr to this one... Amidst its jumbled thoughts, the creature failed to notice 24 other tiny figures jumping from behind a few trees andtching onto its body! "!!!!!!" The Venomweaver tried to shake off the ants, but before it could even move an inch, one of the Clones said, "Did you know that there''s one rather unusual function of Beast Cores? Well, I doubt anyone within this small, remote area knows about it¡­" BLING! Following his words, a bright sh of multi-colored light erupted from the clones'' bodies¡ªsome red, some blue, some green¡ªand all of them were preparing to self-destruct! "If one puts a Beast Core near their heart, they will receive a tremendously, albeit temporary, boost in power. It might even allow one to cross a minor realm or two. Combine that with the self-destructive option of Beast Cores, and you''ve got yourself a homemade pipe bomb¡­" A wide smirk spread across the faces of all the clones as the lights shing from their chests grew even brighter. When they finally reached their peak, something truly fantastical happened! BOOOM! An explosion reverberated, sting a huge hole in the Venomweaver''s rightmost leg, causing it to wobble to the side. "ESKEEETCH!!!" The Venomweaver entered a frenzied state, its beady eyes turning blood-red. But before it could boost its strength through the berserker aspect, another explosion followed¡­ BOOOM! And then another¡­ BOOOM! BOOOM! Two more¡­ BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! First, it was one, but it soon became ten and the chain of explosions continued! The Venomweaver had all eight of its legs andrge chunks of its abdomen meat blown off, sending its massive body violently crashing into a nearby tree. WHAABAM! Now reduced to nothing more than a beaten-up meatball, the creaturey there, its feelers slightly twitching as life slowly drained from its eyes. However, before it fully left into the afterlife, it glimpsed the somehow unscathed human standing atop its bloodied head. Still and motionless, the human almost made it seem as if its existence meant nothing... The Venomweaver died with a great deal of reluctance, yet its life would most definitely be put to good use¡­ _____ SHING! Lucifer carefully chipped away at the Venomweaver''s corpse. With swift, precise cuts through its extremely tough carapace, he quickly managed to extract a giant green crystal. ''A Poison Elemental Beast Core¡­ This will be perfect for when I decide to cultivate the Poison Element.'' Satisfied, he put the Beast Core in his storage ring before examining the rest of the corpse, considering which of its parts could be used in the future. Once he salvaged a few materials of its body that could potentially be turned into armor or weapons, he left the rest for the wolves. One might wonder why Lucifer would abandon such a valuable corpse, but the truth was that he couldn''t yet reveal his full strength. For the time being, he had to limit himself and show only a fraction of his power. Of course, he could still maximise his gains this way¡ªit would just take a bit more time... As he walked away from the Venomweaver''s cratered corpse, he made sure to check histest system notifications. BLING! [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Venomweaver in the 6th Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!] [Ding! All of your Clones may have died, but fret not, for this kill has earned you 6500 Clone Essence!] Lucifer could hardly believe the number. When he took a look at the amount of Clone Essence he had in his Essence Bank, he was nearly left ck-jawed. "A 6th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Spiritual Beast actually gives this much Clone Essence¡­? Even though more than 25 Clones died in the process, I got back more than double what I''ve lost." He took a moment to admire his 8000+ Clone Essence before deciding to buy 50 Clones with Strength in the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation. Though his heart cried with blood as he saw his Clone Essence drop to 3000, that didn''t demoralize him in the slightest. In fact, it was with a renewed, hardened mindset that he spawned the 50 Clones and sent them out into the wild. Their mission was the same as thest batch of clones, but with so many on the job, they would easily be able to aplish their tasks. Meanwhile, Lucifer used another 1500 Clone Essence to spawn 15 more Clones, all of which would be dedicated to working on Alchemy. Although they had all the relevant knowledge stored in their information bank, they still needed the materials. It was for this reason that he alone had set out for the City of Riversea, intending to acquire more than a dozen Alchemy Furnaces and several months'' worth of Precious Herbs. While he was on that, the 15 newly bought clones remained within what he called the ''Clone Storage,'' awaiting the procurement of necessary supplies to begin their work. ...¡­. Chapter 16: Buying Spree, Arranging A Date ...¡­. In the bustling City of Riversea, a tall, hooded figure blended in with the crowds of people, making his way to a small herb shop called ''Herbs and Stuff.'' This was where Lucifer nned to buy the materials he needed. As for the Furnaces, well, let''s just say that he had a ''helpful'' little maid to take care of that¡­ TAP TAP TAP Lucifer took long strides toward the modestly adorned wooden doors of the store. However, before he could enter it, a nuisance decided to get in his way. "Ahhh~ Is that the shrimp dick 6th Young Master I see over there!?" Resounding over the bustling streets, a voice more annoying than the grating of a chalkboard sounded out. Not long after, a 5''11" man approached him with a pompous swagger. He wore oversized purple robes with gold trim as well as an emblem at his chest, depicting some form of four-armed animal. ''Young Master Dipshit¡­'' A chilling coldness practically burst out of Lucifer''s eyes as he looked at the showy figure with utter disdain. "Hey, buddy! No need to look at me like that!" The disgusting man walked over to him, quickly sping onto his shoulders with force nearing the peak of the Body Refinement Realm. He was clearly trying to break Lucifer''s shoulder des under the watchful eyes of all the nosy bystanders. But contrary to his expectations, Lucifer simply brushed off the sweaty hand and unleashed a deeply rooted killing intent! "!!!" Yan Xue, the cocky young master, stumbled back in fear, tripping over his baggy robes and falling hard on his plump rump. Lucifer gave him no time to regain his bearings and start spouting all that ''courting death.'' Squatting down, he stared into the annoying bug''s soul. Yan Xue pissed himself out of fright and shouted in panic, "Y-You bastard! Stupid vermin¡ª" "I suggest you shut that trap before I disconnect it from the rest of your fat mug." Lucifer sped his right hand over the pig''s mouth, letting a ''friendly'' smile creep across his face. Even more liquid leaked from Young Master Yan Xue''s clothes, but Lucifer couldn''t care any less. Leaning in close, he whispered, "If you don''t have anything more to say, then be on your way. But if I see your face again, I will take that scrumptious-looking head off your shoulders." Lucifer licked his lips like a devil straight from hell. Then stood up and walked into the herb store, leaving the sniffling man on the ground. "..." "..." "..." Meanwhile, the bystanders observed the fear etched on Yan Xue''s face. Although they didn''t know what had transpired between the two of them to put the Infamous Young Master of the Devilduke household in such a state, they knew that it definitely had to be something big! "Do you think the 6th Young Master has something over the head of the 4th Young Master? Maybe another love affair? Or even a case of r*pe¡­?" "Hush! Don''t you know what you should and shouldn''t talk about while you''re in the territory of the Devildukes!?" A father smacked his unruly son on the head, but despite his action, he was just as curious about what had been exchanged between the two young masters. While he pondered over the matter, and his son rubbed his reddened forehead, Yan Xue finally found the strength to get up from the cobblestoned street. Wobbling back toward the main Devilduke household, he tried his best to salvage what little dignity he was left with. He did his utmost to maintain appearances, acting as if nothing had happened. But on the inside, his mind was inplete chaos. ''I swear I will kill that fucking trash! I don''t care if I have to beg my mother to kill him for me!!!'' For a 22-year-old man in the 100% Tempering Marrow Realm, his first response to his predicament was to run crying to his mother¡­ As the son of the immensely powerful Mistress of the Veil, he was one hell of a disappointment. Even so, it didn''t seem like he cared one bit about continuing the next generation of kill-or-be-killed assassins. _____ Meanwhile, inside the ''Herbs and Stuff'' shop, Lucifer examined the herbs on disy. He already had a good idea of what he wanted to buy, so after he finished verifying the quality, he asked the associate to bring out materials worth over 4000 Fire Coins. Normally, he wouldn''t have been able to afford such a sizable sum, but with what little money they had in the family treasury, he ''borrowed'' enough to purchase the materials. After which, he made his way outside of the shop. His Storage Rings were now filled with Precious Herbs, which ording to him should be enough tost his clones for a total of 2 months while also giving him plenty of time to get even stronger than he currently was. However, before Lucifer could distribute the herbs to the relevant parties, he first needed the Alchemy Furnaces. And to get the furnaces, he had to meet up with the beautiful Lu Lu¡ªa maid who was quite useful when it came to procuring things he wanted. So, like the romantic man he was, Lucifer sent a little birdy to set up a date with the maid. With the message and the mood set, he arranged a candlelit dinner on his balcony, providing the perfect view of the tranquil stream outside his side of the mansion. Everything was set in ce, and the only thing missing to make the event trulye together was themb herself... ...¡­ Chapter 17: Not Impressed By The Divine Dragon!? ...¡­ CREAKKKKK A wooden door creaked open softly as a woman of striking beauty walked through, dressed in her grandmother''s red and white floral gown. Lucifer stared at her dazzling appearance with the gaze of a young man in love¡ªhe had to y the role well if he wanted everything to go without a hitch. With the goal of the role in mind, he rose from his seat and cordially extended his hand, saying, "You may sit here, my love." "Luci¡­" Hearts swirled around in Lu Lu''s eyes as she epted the gesture with open arms, taking a seat right beside Lucifer. After helping her settle in, Lucifer took his ce on the other side of the small wooden table. Then, he began, "My dear Lu Lu, you are looking quite beautiful today~ And is that a new ne I see~?" Pointing out the octagon-shaped ruby hanging from a silver pendant on her delicate neck, he wondered how much it would fetch if he sold it. On the other hand, Lu Lu let out a soft giggle at his kind words and touched the ruby ne before saying, "It''s my grandmother''s¡ª something that she gave to me a long time ago when she was in the¡ª" "Ah, how interesting, My Love~ But have you noticed the tantalizing duck dishes I have prepared for our date tonight~?" Lucifer really didn''t have any interest in listening to some useless backstory, so he cut her story short, attempting to distract her with the gourmet meal he prepared beforehand. "Luci, is this what I think it is!?" Lu Lu''s sparkled in happiness as she lifted the lids off the silver tters and saw whaty underneath. When she did, her eyes brightened up as she cried out in excitement, "It really is the Jade Goose! They''re said to be found only in thekes west of the manor! How did you manage to acquire them, Luci!?" "This is nothing much for my dear Lu Lu. You know that I would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy, don''t you?" ''Damn, her voice is so annoying.'' Lucifer''s thoughts were a sharp contrast to his flowery words, as he continued showering her withpliment afterpliment, ultimately, reaching a point where he was ready to ask the crucial question. "Tell me, Lu Lu. If I told you that I was close to dying and that there was absolutely no way that my family could know of my affliction, would you do something rather perilous for this Young Master of yours?" Holding both of her soft, porcin hands in his grasp, Lucifer awaited her reply. And just as he had predicted it to be, she snuggled up close to his chest before whispering seductively, "I would do anything for you, Luci~ Anything~" She then tugged down the fabric covering her cleavage, clearly trying to seduce the ''adorable young master.'' ''I really don''t trust this vixen¡­ I don''t know what it is, but there''s something off about her existence. It''s almost as if she doesn''t feel like a real person¡­'' Lucifer never gave it much thought before, assuming she was simply a naturally whimsical woman who somehow found a way to love the weak, cowardly trash of the main family¡ª ''Ahh, so that''s what this is¡­'' Things started to click together inside Lucifer''s head as he started to get a rough understanding of the situation concerning his ''innocent'' maid. ''I wondered how she managed to sneak into the family''s treasury without raising any rms. And then there was the theft in the alchemy room of the mansion¡­'' It did not take a genius to deduce the truth from the hints given and this realization only further reinforced what Lucifer was going to do either way. ''If you wish to y this game, then I will y my part to perfection.'' Lucifer''s thoughts turned sinister as he gently gripped the ditsy maid''s hands, tilting her face toward his. "You need to go back into the Alchemy Room and ''borrow'' a couple dozen Alchemy Furnaces," he said in a gentle tone, quickly having one of his hands caress her soft, plump cheeks. "Young Master Luci~" Lu Lu''s eyes zed over, seemingly always getting lost in his profound gaze. However, after a moment of allowing herself to indulge in the moment, she puffed her lips and whimpered, "I don''t know if my useless self can pull this one off, Luci¡­ I-I don''t want to disappoint you, b-but¡­" she sniffled, burying her face in his robes. "My dear Lu Lu, you are the furthest thing from useless. Just believe in yourself as I believe in you¡­ Get this done, and we can get married¡­ But only if you do this small favor for me." ''This conniving bitch is actually this good at the game¡­?'' Lucifer couldn''t help but admit that she could likely be capable of fooling just about anyone else. But unfortunately for her, she wasn''t dealing with just anyone¡­ "B-But, Luci¡­ I don''t know if I can-'''' She attempted to counter his request with puppy dog eyes. However, they had no effect on him, as he cut her off her, saying: "I believe in you, My Love. Now go and get it done. If you do it all right, then we can consummate the marriage right away~" Lucifer''s eyes hunted suggestively as he looked at his groin before staring at the fake blush on her face. ''This bitch is actually not impressed by the Divine Dragon? What a waste of a good erect magic cast.'' He clicked his tongue before hearing her respond with a big gulp, "L-Luci, since you put it like that, I will get it done¡­ for the future of ''us.''" "For the future of us." Lucifer toasted the snake-like woman inside his mind as he let the night continue to unfold. After a couple of hours, the two parted ways. Both harboured hidden intentions¡­ and neither had any idea as to what the other was actually thinking¡­ ...¡­. Chapter 18: A True Autocracy ...¡­. When the morning came once again, Lucifer woke from his brief slumber and the first thing he did was check what he had gained from his tireless clones. ''Why would clones need sleep? They are just farming ves after all. This isn''t rocket science.'' Nevertheless, with the opening of a blue translucent screen, a series of pleasant surprises greeted the 6th Young Master. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/265] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] - [3rd Stage Fire Body] [Battle Power: 5th Stage Qi Condensation Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [Qi Condensation Realm Clones: 72] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 100] [Clone Essence Bank: 95,500] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) __________ Upon reviewing his system interface, Lucifer was immediately hit with a mind-boggling realization. "I''m rich¡­" That was all he said before immediately dumping half of his wealth into buying more clones. In an instant, more than 500 clones materialized before him, all having strength at the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation! The room was nearly bursting with all the bodies present in such a tight space, but that didn''t stop Lucifer from buying 200 more¡ªhe needed some to concoct pills, after all. Speaking of the ve work done by his Alchemy ves, over thest 24 hours, they had managed to concoct a total of 1,200 Pills of the Low Common Rank! Furthermore, more than half of those pills were of low quality instead of the lowest quality! There were even a few that made it out of the low-quality bracket, sessfully bing mid-quality pills! Now, although this was promising progress and all, Lucifer was far from satisfied with such an oue. He had the 200 newly summoned clones on standby, ready for the exact moment when Lu Lu obtained the Alchemy Furnaces, and nned to use these clones in rotation. Even though they were clones, they still had a limit as to how much energy they could expend before being depleted and for this reason alone, Lucifer was forced to give them¡­ breaks¡­ He truly loathed that word, but it had to be said. But what he despised even more was the fact that a lot of his clones were left doing absolutely nothing, while the others were hard at work! He was building a true Autocracy and couldn''t have some work while the rest cked! Where was the equality in that!? So, like the benevolent man he was, he sent a message to Lu Lu, instructing her to acquire another hundred or so Low-Common Rank Furnaces. With her mysterious status, such a feat should be as easy as putting on a little helpless maiden act. Lucifer would, of course, y along, knowing that he would be the true beneficiary while she remained under the assumption that she had gained something. When, in reality, there was only ever going to be one true winner¡­ _____ Knock! Knock! A sudden knock echoed from the other side of the 6th Young Master''s wooden door as a young, jittery maid fidgeted with her storage ring like a criminal. Using his embryonic divine sense to get a glimpse of this scene, Lucifer couldn''t help but marvel at the superb acting. Despite his thoughts, he got off the bed, walked to the door, opened it, traded a bunch of h h with the vixen, and then promptly kicked her out before shutting the door in her face. Once the whole charade was over, he returned to his seat, eager to see just how many Alchemy Furnaces the bitch had managed to ''borrow''. ''1¡­2¡­5¡­9¡­56¡­132¡­'' By the end of his counting, Lucifer couldn''t help but be slightly shocked by the astounding number¡ª185 furnaces! Such an amount was way more than what he had asked for, and it was definitely more than what one could find in the Alchemy section of the mansion. "This maid is definitely something else¡­" Though he hadn''t yet cracked the code concerning her identity, he already had a few solid leads inside his mind. But it wasn''t like knowing the truth of the matter would change anything for his current weak self, so he pushed the subject to the back of his mind and instead focused on assigning tasks to the clones. Following just as he had nned, Lucifer randomly pointed at 185 Clones among the 700, instructing each to take a Pill Cauldron. As for the remaining ones, they were tasked with exterminating all beasts in the Great Mormonga Forest. FWIP! FWIP! The 700 or so clones vanished from their spots, already knowing what they had to do. While they went about their fair and just ving, Lucifer looked inside the storage ring containing his most recently refined pills. After making sure that none of those lookalikes had stolen what was his, he sat down in a meditative position. His cultivation (pill-gobbling) session began not long after. Putting all of his efforts into advancing hisckluster cultivation to further heights, he pushed everything in the direction that led to greater benefits. And in case it wasn''t mentioned before, he refined more than just the Affirmation Marrow Pills, he also concocted pills of specific Elements. Although these weren''t as effective as visiting a Spiritual Pool for the real stuff, it was still sufficient to say that it could hold him over until he amassed more wealth. With this in mind, he devoured the Lightning Chaser pills, Fire Merger pills, Water Flower pills, Wind Flow pills, and many others, refusing to give his throat a break as he swallowed one giant thing after another¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 19: More Than 500 Years Life Experience! ...¡­ By the time Lucifer exhausted his pill (crack) stock, he had managed to acquire Elemental Bodies for the Lightning, Fire, Water, Air, Darkness, Nature, Light, Earth, and Poison Elements. These Elemental Bodies, and subsequently, the materials that went into creating the pills, were all derived from Spiritual Beasts of the corresponding Elements. For example, the Venomweaver, which Lucifer killed the previous day, was what provided the Poison Body. Furthermore, considering it was the only high-level Beast among the bunch, this was the only Elemental Body to reach Stage 2. One might wonder what the level of the Beast had anything to do with the pills or the rank of his Elemental Body. But the truth was that the Beast Cores of the Beasts were the primary ingredients for the pill concoction. Now, as one might expect, this was a highly unconventional way of concocting pills, as the traditional method relied on precious herbs. However, Lucifer was far from normal, and his pills, just like him, were extremely unordinary¡­ It were these oddity-like pills that allowed him to obtain Elemental Bodies that would typically be impossible to acquire! After all, Elemental Bodies didn''t just grow on trees! Furthermore, the pill forms to help elerate the acquisition and leveling of Elemental Bodies were even harder toe by. However, with the vast bank of knowledge amassed across his extremely long life (of more than 500 years), Lucifer possessed an abundance of pill forms! Although most of his techniques and arts were absurdly advanced, making them impossible to adapt into his current weak flesh bag form, pill forms were an entirely different ballpark. After all, when Lucifer was created by his main body, just like the clones dedicated to Alchemy, he was also an Alchemy ve. With this ''upation,'' he only needed to know one thing, and that was the basics of alchemy to the highest known limits of alchemy. Although he also had a couple of battle techniques here and there, those were, for the most part, given to him as a form of self-defense. One might think that Lucifer''s main body cared even the smallest bit about him because of this benevolence. But unfortunately for one''s minuscule amount of brain cells, such a notion would be dead wrong. The truth was that his Main Body, like a true businessman, simply didn''t want his goods to be harmed. So in the end, he gave them his lowest, garbage-ranked techniques and equipment. Of course, one man''s trash was another man''s treasure. This was especially true in the case when one considered the vast chasm in power thaty between the infinitely transcending nes of Existence. For instance, the trash ''Noob Weapon''¡ªas Lucifer''s main body called it¡ªwould be capable of severing both the Fire Nation as well as the Tianwu Continent in half. Furthermore, it would be able to do so with ease¡­ But it wasn''t like any of that mattered anymore. After all, Lucifer had lost everything except his memories upon transmigrating... Setting aside all the depressing thoughts of loss, Lucifer was now in the middle of advancing his Elemental Bodies to Stage 2¡ªa feat that was only made possible thanks to thetest batch of pills. While the breakthrough of his Fire Body was underway, Lucifer dispatched a single clone to the ''Herbs and Stuff'' shop with the sole objective of selling pills and buying more pill materials. The ''Stuff'' section of the shop was where they handled the pill-selling transactions, as they not only dealt with pills but were also interested in buying Spiritual Beast Materials. This arrangement was perfect for Lucifer. His clone entered as a broke bloke, gained 500,000 Fire Coins, bought up ludicrous amounts of stock, and then left as a broke bloke¡­ Okay, maybe nothing had changed... But at least he now had some materials to shove down the throats of his Alchemy ves. If he just pushed them down hard enough, goodies were bound to sprout out in no time t! Or at least, that was what Lucifer had heard from a very reliable source¡­ Upon testing out the ims of this so-called ''reliable source,'' Lucifer was able to confirm that shoving stuff down people''s throats until they choked was, indeed, ''da way.'' The Qi Condensation Rank Clones continued to produce pill after pill. And with the steady supply of Beast Cores collected by the clones assigned to ''Farming,'' the efficiency of the ve farm reached an all-time high! The farming Clones handled the farming, amassing both Clone Essence and Beast Cores. They delivered these cores to their fellow ve buddies in a different department, who then used the Beast Cores in order to churn out pill after pill. And then came the final step of the multi-stage process, which was obviously to deliver all the benefits to Lucifer! He devoured the pills, robbed the clones of every unit of Clone Essence, swept the word ''freedom'' from under their feet, and still got away with it all! The ves worked for him, not the other way around. And boy, was it one hell of a gratifying feeling! No longer was he the one ving away with nothing in return! No longer was he the punching bag for the wives of his main body! No longer was he the clone-! "Young Master, I have something important to tell you; may Ie in?" From the other side of a door, a meek voice found its way to Lucifer''s ears,pletely ruining his awesome main character monologue! Tsk! He clicked his tongue and walked over to the door, quickly opening it to reveal a somewhat short maid, about 5''1 in height. She was Wei Kun, another maid of the Devilduke household. Though her appearance could be considered quite cute, in Lucifer''s eyes, she was just a bag of meat and bones from which he could extract benefits. Inwardly, he recalled everything he knew about this shy maid, trying to find a way to take advantage of her. On the outside, however, he wore a warm smile, making swift, concise movements as he gently pushed the girl into his room. He then closed the door before guiding her to a soft, velvety chair, inviting her to sit her developed rump down ...¡­ Chapter 20: A Stage 1 Shadow Elemental Body ...¡­ Before Wei Kun could even grasp what was happening, she found herself standing face-to-face with the 6th Young Master, forced to endure the intensity of his burning gaze. However, her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when he began to speak, "I do like the red dress on you, but I think the yellow one suits your round, adorable face far better," he said with a warm smile stered across his face. Without even giving the girl the time to sport a deep crimson blush, he moved his veiny hand toward her face, moving it to her lips. Just as she expected something naughty would happen, he simply brushed a leaf from her lips. "You seem to have gotten a little something on you while working so hard. The least I could do is get it off for you." Lucifer said, shing the most brilliant smile he could muster. He pulled back his hand to gauge her reactions, and things turned out even better than he expected. Poof! Smoke could be vividly seening out from the top of her head as she shrank back. Her eyes flickered erratically, she tried to speak, but no words came out. ''Damn, she''s just as good, if not better, than the first Vixen.'' Lucifer marveled at how the Devilduke family could possess so many top-tier actors. But then again, it wouldn''t be any fun otherwise. "So, what have youe to me for, lovely little Wei Kun?" he asked. "U-Uhmm¡­ Well, Young Master¡­ Y-You see¡­" she stammered, struggling to convey her message. In the end, she took a deep breath before saying, "Young Master Lucifer, I was instructed by Lady Mu to request your presence in the dining room. Your father and siblings are already there, and they are waiting for you¡­" She muffled thest part, trying her best not to upset the young master. Contrary to her fears, Lucifer overlooked that part of her request and his smile only grew brighter. Following this odd disy of happiness, he eximed, "Oh, my dear mother is calling me to dine with the rest of my loving family? What a joyous asion indeed!" He rose from his seat and walked through his room, making his way through the mansion''s halls like a filial child summoned for dinner. Still trying toprehend what just happened, Wei Kun was left all alone inside the young master''s room. However, after taking a moment to take in the most recent series of events, she calmed her erratic breath and adopted an icy-cold expression. Her eyes darted in the direction of the window sill as her voluptuous body dispersed into particles that shot out the window, reforming into someone entirely different. "I have a strong gut feeling that he has already caught on. Should we still continue with the mission as nned?" Her cid voice echoed, though it was unclear to whom she was talking to. But after getting what she felt was an answer, she walked away from the scene, her aura indescribable and her appearance even more so. She ultimately passed through a corridor, and when she came out the other side, she was back to being Wei Kun, the extremely faithful maid of the Devildukes. _____ Meanwhile, on Lucifer''s side. Tap Tap The young man''s footsteps echoed through the hallowed halls as he tried his best to y the part of an obedient son, impatiently making his way to his ''loving'' family. ''Damn¡­ It looks like these venomous snakes are already trying to take advantage of me!'' Even though he had shown little to no capabilities over the past few days, the mere fact that he was actively cultivating was enough to draw the attention of the serpents in human clothing. After all, if he could cultivate and reach a high enough level, he could be a legitimate heir candidate. This could mean many things for him, but the one he would likely receive the most of would be¡­ ''Omens of death¡­'' Lucifer turned around a corner and did somethingpletely unexpected. FWAZIP! A Clone spawned, having an identical appearance and wearing the same clothes; the only difference being that they were merely illusory and held no corporeal attributes, such as increased defense. Regardless of that fact, this clone would serve as his stand-in. There was absolutely no way he would risk his true self in that pit of snakes! With this in mind, Lucifer slipped into a sewer hole with his true body, hiding beside a pile of green sewage. Meanwhile, on the other hand, his consciousness was transferred to the Clone. Then, withplete calm, he stepped out of the shadowy nook, heading toward the dining room with a cheerful expression. When he reached the two jewel-encrusted doors before him, he amplified his bubbly aura to 9000 and pushed the doors open. He was immediately greeted with the sight of about ten or so intimidating figures, all of whom stared daggers at him as he walked in. "I see you finally found some time to make it," Miss Mu remarked, her toneced with hidden sarcasm. "Tch! This unfilial younger brother of mine doesn''t even know how to follow simple orders! What a useless thing he is!" Yan Xue sneered, making his contempt known to all. "Ah, beautiful mother and loyal fourth brother. I apologize for my tardiness. You see, I got caught up in a few things concerning my advancement to Stage 1 of the Shadow Elemental Body and lost track of time. Silly me~" Lucifer had already slithered his way over to the group of snake-eyed individuals gathered around therger circr table. With his hands respectfully outstretched, the first thing he did after getting out this snarkyment was cup his hands toward his father. He then did this the same cordial action for his mother, and then finally for his Eldest Sister and Brother as well. This small gesture of his was enough to bring slight smiles to their stoic faces, as this new version of him seemed agreeable. However, a far more pressing matter than that lingered¡ªthe fact that Lucifer imed that he had attained a Stage 1 Shadow Elemental Body. Which could only mean that he¡­ ...¡­. Chapter 21: A Failure ...¡­. "You broke through to the 100% Tempering Marrow Stage!?" Yan Xue eximed, his body trembling from this revtion. He had still yet to digest Lucifer''s most basic cultivation level, let alone the fact that his younger brother had already achieved something that he hadn''t¡ªthe formation of an Elemental Body! This revtion left all the Devilduke family members baffled, their reactions mirroring the same as Yan Xue''s eye-opening reaction. Even Lady Mu was no exception, nearly dropping her fork at this unbelievable announcement. However, there was one person who remained utterly unfazed, his facial features not changing by the slightest bit throughout this entire ordeal. The Leader of the Devilduke Household¡ªthe Bane of all Air Nation Experts¡ªthe Devil Duke, Lord Xiao! He was not only who had altered the course of the war with the Air Nation but also the one figure heading the ongoing war with the Water Nation. This made his status as more than just a war hero¡ªit made him a goddamn legend! With a square-shaped face, Lord Xiao fixed his gaze on his sixth oldest son, a mysterious glint shing past his blood-red eyes. Suddenly, he got up from his seat and walked toward the happy-go-lucky young man, whose demeanor belied the situation. Lord Xiao''s steps echoed like thunder, his aura radiating dominance, but that didn''t seem to affect Lucifer in the slightest, his gaze was calm and his mind sharp and calctive. WAAAA! In an instant, the towering man''s deadly red aura exploded a millionfold, his earth-crushing pressure forcing Lucifer to his knees. Yet, despite the blood gushing out of his shattered kneecaps, the friendly smile on Lucifer''s never wavered. "..." Devilduke Xiao observed his son''s expression, satisfied with this result. Following his satisfaction, he reeled his aura back and called for a healer. Wzzz¡­! A soft green energy enveloped Lucifer''s legs, actively restoring them back to their tip-top shape and mending any damage. While this happened, the man who caused this damage looked past the female healer, his stern gaze never leaving his son. "Extend your hand," hemanded, his gruff voice clearly not one that permitted refusal or an argument. Lucifer pretended to hesitate for a second before eventually sticking out his hand with a slightly ufortable countenance. Lord Xiao seemed to be analyzing every minute movement made by his son, and this one, just like the one before, was wlessly executed by Lucifer. The Devilduke grunted a little as his substantiallyrger hand grasped Lucifer''s, sending an unknown energy coursing through every inch of the young man''s body. After it had coursed throughout the body, the energy returned to its source, Lord Xiao, who gave a light nod. This was all that was exchanged between the father and son duo before Lord Xiao returned to his seat at the head of the table. Lucifer followed not long after, taking his ce between his father''s 5th youngest daughter and 8th youngest son, both of whom were looking up to him with sparkling gazes. They were two of the youngest offspring of Lord Xiao from his first wife, Lady Mu, and Second Wife, Lady Ying. Both Lady Mu and Lady Ying were highly respected figures within the Devilduke Household. While they may seem to be on good terms to outsiders, everyone knew of their underlying rivalry, with rumors even suggesting that they once tried to kill each other, only to be swiftly stopped by the Master. Both Lady Xiao and Lady Mu were present for the early morning breakfast today, along with Lady Wei (the Third Wife), and Lady Yu (the Fourth Wife), who were all attending the early breakfast gathering. The only ones who weren''t able to make it were the Fifth Wife, the Second Wife, and the three dozen or so concubines. The Fifth Wife was ill, the Second Wife was out of town, and the concubines simplycked the status to be present, which was why they weren''t here right now. ''This father of mine truly knows how to get around¡­'' Lucifer marveled at the sheer number of women this stone-faced man had at his beck and call. But in the end, this was the way of the strong. It was only natural for a powerful figure like Lord Xiao to have many women by his bedside. However, deep down, Lucifer disdained his father''s careless actions. Why would a powerful man settle down? Why would he gather a bunch of useless women around him who only knew how to bicker among themselves?? Worse, there was always the chance of being betrayed in the future¡­ ''Such stupid decisions¡­ made by one deemed the strongest¡­'' ''This father of mine¡­ He is a failure.'' Lucifer concealed his disappointment to an impossible degree as he exchanged a few words with his brothers and sisters. Most of them were just talking to him because of the attention he received from their unaffectionate father. Though, there were some who were curious and wanted to know about his recent surge in strength. After all, to suddenly leap from the Early Pulse Condensation Realm to the 100% Tempering Marrow Realm was a grand achievement! Including exceptional talent, such a feat would also require quite a fortuitous opportunity. It was this notion that caused a few sinister glints to flicker in the gazes of people like Yan Xue and his Third Brother, Yan Chao. In fact, they had already begun whispering among themselves, plotting a malicious n against their dear younger brother... Even Lady Wei and Lady Yu harbored deleterious intentions in mind as they pondered what their dear stepson must have gained to achieve such a dramatic breakthrough¡­ Lucifer could read the room very well, and his sharp intuition allowed him to gauge the true feelings of everyone present. Most were neutral and preferred not to get involved, while some cared little about their blood rtions. These people were worse than snakes in human clothing and would likely stab you in the back while smiling all the way. The 6th Young Master had a few surprises in store for those who wished to get in his way, but for now, he yed his part to a T. If there was a reward for the best asskisser, then it would surely go to him! ...¡­. Chapter 22: Stage 2 and Stage 3 Elemental Bodys ...¡­ Lucifer asskissed his family members to the absolute limit, all while plotting a million different ways through which he could permanently ''get rid'' of his fellow kindred. As the morning breakfast eventually came to an end, everyone left the dining room, heading out to aplish their various tasks for the day. Some set out to carry out assassinations, some schemed in the dark, and then one in particr was afk farming. It had only been a few hours since Lucifer sent out all of his Clones, yet the amount of Clone Essence he had amassed was astronomical! In less than the time one took to push out a fat sh*t, his Clone Essence had skyrocketed right past the million mark,nding at over 5 million! With such an enormous amount of Clone Essence, Lucifer immediately dumped half of it right back into purchasing more clones. Now, there were more than 30,000 Clones hunting in the Great Mormonga Woods, each possessing strength at the Peak of the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation! One might wonder how Lucifer had managed to increase his strength to the peak of the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation. The truth was, during the drawn-out breakfast with those vipers, he was discreetly gobbling pills. He had consumed so many pills that he was on the verge of bing a crackhead. But for him, it was all worth it¡ªhe had not only advanced his Stage 2 Elemental Bodies to Stage 3 but also elevated his Shadow Body to Stage 2. Lucifer intentionally held back the advancement of that Elemental Body because he anticipated that someone would forcefully scan his body sooner orter. And indeed, his spection turned out to be true. It was only thanks to the Shadow Element acting like a coverup that he had managed to evade his father''s detection. But now that the threat was already done and over with, he could freely upgrade his Shadow Elemental Body all he wanted. Fortunately, Lucifer knew the recipes for a number of Shadow Element Pills, such as the Low-Common Rank Obscuration and Darkness Melding Pills. These types of pills approached the peak of the Low-Common Rank and often required absurdly rare ingredients to concoct. As for Lucifer, he only needed to hunt a few Shadow Panthers and ck Rollers in order to gather the necessary materials. Of course, the Cores of these 5th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Beasts were merely supplementary to the Shadow Element herbs. They couldn''t in any way rece the foundational herbs, which he had to either find in the wild or purchase from a shop. With so many Clones out and about, Lucifer had the option to have them actively explore and gather materials. However, without being at the Qi Condensation Realm himself, he had no means to urately locate what he needed. Which was to say that, in the meantime, he had them simply keep an eye out. ''Sometimes theye back with something useful, and sometimes nothing at all.'' For the aforementioned randomness, Lucifer relied more on what he could obtain from the shops than on what his Clones might asionally find in the wild. With this general routine agenda set in motion, two days passed in the blink of an eye. Over thest 48 hours, Lucifer advanced his Elemental Bodies by leaps and bounds. In terms of the Infinite Clone System, his current cultivation stood as follows: __________ [Cultivation: 100% Tempering Marrow Stage] {[Elemental Bodies:]} |Stage 4 Lightning| |Stage 4 Fire| |Stage 3 Light| |Stage 3 Darkness| |Stage 3 Shadow| |Stage 3 Water| |Stage 3 Earth| |Stage 3 Nature| |Stage 3 Air| |Stage 3 Ice| |Stage 3 Poison| __________ This was a significant improvementpared to what they were before, especially when regarding the Lightning and Fire Elemental Bodies, both of which had reached Stage 4! They had already surpassed the stage required to break into the Qi Condensation Realm. However, it was clear that Lucifer still wasn''t anywhere near the level he wished their progress to be at. This point was underscored clearly when he stocked up on more pill materials before gobbling up thetest batch. He informed his maids and family that he would be immersing himself in cultivation for an indefinite period of time, allowing his cultivation to continue without any interruption. After another day, Lucifer managed to sessfully advance the rest of his Elemental Bodies to Stage 4 as well. Along with that, he was able to kill a Spiritual Beast of the Mist Element, a mutation of the Ice and Water Elements. In total, he now possessed 12 Elemental Bodies¡ªone at Stage 3, and the rest at Stage 4. "With such a lineup, I can create another decent series of Clones," Lucifer muttered, his words echoing in his simply furnished bedroom as he opened his system interface to take a look at his Battle Power. After seeing that it confidently sat in the 7th Stage of Qi Condensation, he dumped more than 12 million Clone Essence into buying new Clones. One might think that with such a vast amount of Clone Essence, he could purchase an utterly absurd number of Clones. However, just as he had expected, the cost of Clones at the 7th Stage had increased. ording to the system, the 7th Stage and beyond were considered the ''Second Half of the Qi Condensation Realms,'' which was why the price naturally went up. As for exactly how high they had be¡­ well, let''s just say that Lucifer was no longer a wealthy man¡­ He de-assimted all of his past clones, bought 1,000 new ones at the price of 10,000 Clone Essence each, and then sent them to continue the tasks the previous clones had been doing. There was a time when Lucifer believed that having more lower-level clones was better than having only a few high-level clones, but he soon realized that he was sorely mistaken. As for why this was the case, well, it was because the Clones themselves were based on every aspect of his existence. That, of course, included hisprehension¡­ .... Chapter 23: Elusive Ascension ...¡­ Although Lucifer wasn''t made entirely clear of his growing rity in hisprehension with each step he took on his cultivation path, it was undeniably happening. When one included the fact thatprehension efficiency influenced the rate at which one could refine pills, lower-level clones were no longer necessary. With all of this in mind for moving forward, Lucifer watched as the 1,000 7th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Clones left his home. Once they were gone, he pulled out a handful of pills and got right back to gobbling them down. All of the pills were of the Mist Element, and his goal was to achieve Stage 4 in that same Element before eventually making his way to the Spiritual Pools. ''Though using pills for increasing cultivation is good and all, if I were tobine them with the medicinal effects of a few Spiritual Pools, I could potentially multiply my cultivation speed ten folds¡­!'' he thought. Lucifer was pumped up about his future cultivation, to say the least. However, the moment his Mist Elemental Body made a breakthrough into Stage 4, he received an unwee guest... Knock! Knock! A loud knock sounded at the door, followed by an annoyingly sharine voice not long after: "Young Master, I havee to inform you that Miss Mu and Lord Xiao are requesting your participation in the Monthly Family Competition. They insist that you must attend it and do your utmost to win, as there will be a number of special guests this time." After being delivered this irritating message, Lucifer could hear Wei Kun''s soft boots tap against the ground as she walked away from his room. The moment she got far out of sight, a contemtive look formed on Lucifer''s handsome face. He didn''t like this one bit. "This is definitely a set-up and not even a good one at that," he muttered under his breath, wondering how he should handle this ''request''. ''I could leave the family and find my own way in the world outside, but that would definitely be unwise. After all, this new family of mine has spies all across the Fire Nation and even the neighboring Nations. Escaping their spider-like gaze will be impossible¡­'' ''And if they do end up catching me after an escape attempt, they will surely bring me back and turn me into a mindless puppet, doing with me as they please¡­'' Lucifer really didn''t want to go to this Family Competition, but it didn''t look like he had much of a choice in the matter... ''If I go, I will likely be sold off to those ''Special Guests,'' probably as some kind of groom. But if I leave the family, I will lose my free will after getting caught.'' "Well¡­ Shit¡­ It looks like I will need to mess around with the ying board if I want toe out with all the benefits." With these cryptic words, Lucifer nced at a few clones he had just summoned. "You all will buy from dozens of different herb shops, even those outside of town. We must not alert the family or any high-ranking government officials of our mass purchases. Use the Heavenly Transfiguration Technique if necessary. Just get it done." "Affirmative," the 30 or so clones responded in unison before vanishing from his sight. "With that out of the way¡­" Lucifer pulled out even greater numbers of Mid-Mortal Rank Pills, putting them into his mouth before walking out of his room. He made his way through the confines of his home while circting a technique called |Elusive Ascension|, which allowed him to actively cultivate even while exercising or walking around. In a sense, it was a Technique aimed toward the act of AFK cultivation, making it the perfect technique for constant use. This Technique had also been bestowed upon Lucifer by his main body before he was created, but from what he had heard over countless epochs, this technique was given to the Main Body by some mysterious extraterrestrial feline. But regardless of that little tidbit of lore, Lucifer made his way out of the mansion''s main courtyard, taking in all the stares aimed at him. ''It seems like my Brothers and Sisters are quite interested in me¡ªor rather, in my fragile position in the family. Hence, they have had the servants from their factions keep an eye on me.'' Lucifer could see right through the backgrounds of everyone in the Main Courtyard, urately identifying who they were and which faction they were a part of. ''You hid them well, my dear kin, but in the end, all of this is for nought.'' "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Under the astonished gazes of the servants, Lucifer suddenly made a run for it, quickly dashing past all of them as he made his way past the main gate. "Hurry, let''s get after him! We must not lose sight of him!" The various houseworkers and servants dropped what they were doing and rushed after the receding figure of the 6th Young Master. Despite being in a hurry, they tried their best to make it seem natural. "Sure¡­ That''s very natural of you guys¡­ I bet every dumb dipshit in the world would be proud of this moment," a muted whisper could be heard from within an borately decorated shrubbery outside the front gate as Lucifer watched all the imps chase after a clone. After a few seconds of making sure that everyone was gone, he scoffed aloud before heading up a curved mountain path to the left side of the mansion. This was where the various Spiritual Pools were located and also the ce where his true grind would begin. ...¡­.. Chapter 24: Daylight Robbery! ...¡­.. A few seconds shed by in the blink of an eye as a tall young man with semi-exquisite facial features found himself standing in front of an interpass. Ahead of him were more than a dozen cave entrances, each glowing with a different color. This ce waspletely different from the previous nk/Fire Spiritual Pool that Lucifer had gone to, which was situated in a separate area at the back of the Mansion. On the other hand, the pool he was visiting today had a lower Qi Density than the nk/Fire one, but the sheer variety of caves more thanpensated for that. With this in his mind, Lucifer walked up to the first of the many caves, its entrance lined in dark yellow, clearly indicating the Lightning Element. On the outside of the cave, asional sparks of electricity flickered, and thunderbolts were etched into the exterior walls. But in front of this Cave, there was¡­ "No one¡­?" Lucifer looked around and found no one. It was almost like the ce was vacant. He wondered why this was the case until he made it to the entrance of the Lightning Elemental Cave and immediately figured out the reason for both his questions. FWAZIP! A dark yellow fment of electricity barred his entry, not allowing him to enter into the cave. "???" He felt around on the elemental fment and instantly realized that there was no way in hell he could forcefully break it open¡­ "A Sky Rank Barrier? It would take a Core Formation Realm Warrior to break it¡­ Why would such a powerful entity be interested in a small Spiritual Pool?" But soon everything came together inside Lucifer''s head. There were no guards simply because none were necessary, and the reason for the absence of the people here was¡­ |In order to use the Spiritual Pool, you must pay up. Going Rate: 2 Lowest Ranked Spiritual Stones per hour.| A series of bubbly words materialized on the lightning fment and the reason for the empty space now became evident to him. "2 Spiritual Stones per hour¡­ They might as well rob me blind¡­" If Lucifer hadn''t separated his beast materials and had his clones sell them without raising any suspicions, then he would be rurally screwed right about now! Luckily, killing tens of thousands of Spiritual Beasts had left him with arge surplus of wealth. "48 Lowest Ranked Spiritual Stones. I want 24 hours in the Lightning Spiritual Pool." As he uttered these soul-wrenching words, Lucifer''s heart ached as he tossed a bag of Spiritual Stones into the Lightning Fment. FWAZIP! The bag vanished into thin air while the contents of the bag were taken to an unknown space. Piang! A momentter, the empty bag was spat back at the sorrowful young man and a new series of words formed on the lightning fment. |Your Spiritual Stones have been epted. You are permitted to stay in the Lightning Spiritual Pool for exactly 24 hours. If you stay inside for longer than this period of time¡­| WAAAA! An immense yellow aura exploded out of the Lightning Fment as its tranquil yellow energy wall turned deep red and spikes fluctuated from its surface. |You will be removed by force.| Following this announcement, the Lightning Fment returned to its peaceful and seemingly benign appearance. "..." Lucifer kept that hidden threat in mind, as even a doormat now had dared to control his actions. Though his calm aura nearly erupted in full force, considering that it was just a door, Lucifer rxed his nerves and walked through the fment. ''I''m sure it must be boring to stay cooped up in here all day. When I be strong enough to curb-stomp you, I''ll make sure to show you a wild ride around town.'' Sinister thoughts swirled in his mind as he found himself a spot to settle in the deep yellow pool. Simr to the first Fire Pool, this one also had arge boulder to separate the two sides of the pool. And though Lucifer wasn''t sure of the purpose of these separators, he knew that he would surely find out soon enough. For now, his only focus was to advance his Lightning Elemental Body to Stage 5 or even Stage 6. With his goals put to the test, he sat in a cross-legged position and began circting the sparking Qi that filled the air around him. ...¡­ Chapter 25: Nearing The 9th Stage Qi Condensation Realm In Battle Power ...¡­ After roughly 8 hours of continuous cultivation and pill gobbling, Lucifer finally made a breakthrough in his cultivation! His Lightning Elemental Body sessfully advanced from Stage 4 to Stage 5! With such an de on his belt, he reveled in the moment for half an instant before quickly getting right back to the evesting pursuit of cultivation. "Even though I could likely erase a small hill off the face of the earth with a single lightning bolt, I am still far from where I want to be," Lucifer mused. He dawdled no longer as the dark yellow aura permeating the air around his body only continued to intensify with each passing second. It eventually reached a point where it consumed a good chunk of his half of the cave, approaching the brink of something greater! It wasn''t long before the yellow Qi expanded outward before instantaneously being sucked away, marking yet another breakthrough in that moment! After the immensely powerful, dark yellow energy around Lucifer''s body dispersed, the young man in question nced down at his bare, muscr body. The first thing he noticed were slight traces of electricity dancing around on the surface of his skin, adding to his already fine aesthetic. "With this, I have broken through to the 6th Stage of my Lightning Elemental Body," he dered, clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling the immense power coursing through his multi-colored veins. Following the rough gauging of his strength with a few lightning-quick reflexes, Lucifer quickly understood the true meaning behind the phrase ''Lightning Is The Only Way.'' In this moment, he felt like a God of Lightning¡ªa man who was capable of unleashing a barrage of lightning at a moment''s notice! Even though he now indeed possessed such capabilities, Lucifer made sure not to get too conceited and remained cautious. After verifying the extent of his strength, he donned a fresh white shirt and left the cave. Simr to a certain Super Saiyan, his raven-ck hair stood on end, and he had to forcefully smooth it down so as to not attract any unwanted attention to himself. His hair had also started to take on a dark yellow shade, but his Elemental Body wasn''t yet advanced enough to cause a substantial change in hair color. So in the end, he let it be and decided to revisit his memories for a solution after some time. Despite all these arbitrary distractions, Lucifer passed through the irritating lightning fment and made his way to the adjacent red-lined cave. "I thought Lightning Was The Only Way, but it seems like I have no choice but to find other ways¡­" he muttered. Theseplex words¡ªoriginating from a piece of literature beyond words¡ªwere followed up by himing face-to-face with a red fment. And its attitude¡­ |To pass, you must give up 7 Lowest Ranked Spiritual Stones! And that will be based on the hour!| Tick! A visible vein pulsed on Lucifer''s forehead¡ªthere was no doubt about it, he was being scammed¡­ "Heh¡­" A creepy chuckle escaped his smiling lips as he coughed up more than 250 Spiritual Stones before tossing them at the fire fment. |The Spiritual Stones have been processed and epted by the Head Lord! You may enter the Fire Spiritual Pool, but if you stay over the 24-hour time limit, you will be removed by forc¡­| "I know: I will be ''removed by force.'' You don''t need to repeat it anymore," Lucifer got out these annoyed words, walking past the Fire Fment,pletely disregarding protocol and not caring even a single bit about the useless words spoken by the Fment. "..." The Fment stopped all movements of energy waves, standing inplete stillness, seemingly seething at the 6th Young Master''s brazen attitude. ''Don''t worry, boy. I will make sure to drain you of all of Daddy''s money!'' A crackly voice faintly echoed from the Fire Fment, clearly indicating that someone was on the other side, controlling everything to his liking. _____ "I will deal with that ''Head Lord'' in the future. But for now, I will allow him to hold onto my Spiritual Stones¡­" Lucifer''s apathetic voice came out in a soft whisper as he approached an open-fire pool. Simr to thest Fire Spiritual Pool he had visited, this one had aparable Qi Density and the samerge boulder separator. Lucifer conserved his breath and irritation, speaking nothing any further as he took off his clothes and sat down in the center of the Fire Spiritual Pool. Time passed in a very routine manner as the Family Competition drew near. A total of 11 days had passed since Lucifer entered the Fire Spiritual Pool. During this time, aside from the asional visit from a maid, he had been doing nothing but cultivating. With such an industrious mindset, his Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Shadow, Nature, Earth, Air, Ice, Poison, and Mist Elemental Bodies had all reached Stage 6. Add that to his new Lightning Elemental Body, and he had a grand total of 12 Stage 6 Elemental Bodies! Naturally, Lucifer''s strength had improved by leaps and bounds with all these cultivation improvements nearing the 9th Stage of Qi Condensation in Battle Power! "With this level of strength, I should be able to easily win the Family Competition. But since I don''t necessarily need to win, I will put in minimal effort, all while making it seem like a hard-earned victory. At least, that is probably what I''ll do... assuming that no unforeseen circumstances arise..." With these thoughts in mind, Lucifer walked out of the Mist Spiritual Pool, passing by the Mist Fment at the exit. ...¡­ Chapter 26: Two Annoyances ...¡­ Seeing the ugly mug of that bastard barrier put a frown on Lucifer''s face as he swore he would get back all 5,000 of his Spiritual Stones! Furthermore, he wouldn''t stop with just that, as he would take absolutely everything that the Head Lord owned! Little did the short, cackling old man in a discreet location realize that he had just invited the Devil right to his doorstep. And he did so for a meager five thousand Lowest Ranked Spiritual Stones¡­ Regardless of what Lucifer had in store for the greedy Head Lord, he continued to make his way back to the Mansion. On his return trip, he just so happened to be greeted by a couple conniving bastards. Both of whom were rted to him by blood¡­ "6th Junior Brother! You must be having so much trouble carrying around that heavy Spiritual Ring! Here, why don''t you let me hold onto it for you!?" A thin young man with a cheeky demeanor snuck around the far more muscr frame of his 6th Brother as he attempted to snatch a shiny Spiritual Ring. Of course, his attempts were thwarted just as easy as a slight hand movement by Lucifer. After which, a deadly stare honed in on his weasel-like figure. "Don''t touch my things. If you try something like that again, I will cut off all your fingers and stitch them to my dear 3rd Senior Sister." Lucifer dodged another sneaky hand as he caught hold of this one, quickly tightening his grip. "O! That hurts, you bastard!!" A pretty girl around 25 years old cried out with a teary-eyed expression. Her wrist was definitely fractured! "Do.not.touch.me. If you do it again, I will have your pretty little body found at the bottom of that hill over there." Lucifer pointed toward a boundlessly deep chasm, an evil glint glowing from his friendly face. "!!!" "!!!" The 3rd Senior Sister stopped her whining, while the 5th Youngest Brother fell on his buttocks and pissed himself out of fright. "Now be good little doggies and go on your merry little ways." With the utterance of these chilling words by the Devil Incarnate, the two cowards ran away without a second''s hesitation. They even started to scream cliche viin lines after making it a certain distance away. "This won''t be thest you see of us!" "We will be back!! And this time, I will tell my father about what you did to my arm!!" Two screams that sounded equally girly resounded across the skies as Lucifer ignored their stupidity and went on his way. "For an Assassin Family, there sure is ack of true Assassin mindsets," he said with a disdainful tone, his mind tracing back to all the family members he''s met so far. Of all of the Devilduke members, only Father, Mother, 1st Brother, 1st Sister, and¡­ 8th Sister truly have it in em. Only they have the potential to be top-notch assassins. Especially that 6-year-old 8th Youngest Sister¡­ There is something off about her. Lucifer couldn''t quite pinpoint what he thought was off about Li Yan, but his instinct was telling him that her identity extended far deeper than what her outer appearance disyed. In spite of the oddities concerning that twin-tailed girl, I will leave her matter for when I get around to it. In the meantime, I will go to this Family Competition and see just how I can benefit from a seemingly unfortunate scenario. FWIP! His figure vanished from sight after passing by arge, shrouded tree as he traded spots with a Clone. He left his Main Body in a quickly dug-out hole in the ground and had this 9th Stage Qi Condensation Rank Clone go toward the Competition Venue. With the active use of the Earth Burrow Technique, my Main Body should be able to keep itself hidden from all experts, no matter what cultivation they are. After all, with no movement, this technique is unrivaled as long as one can hold their breath for long enough. With my current Cultivation and control over the Elements, I have around 9 hours to get done with thispetition and return my mind back to my main body. Keeping this in mind, he approached the wide and high colosseum where the Family Completion would be held. ...¡­ Chapter 27: General Long and Shi Shun ...¡­ In the VIP Stands of the Family Competition Venue. "So, who do you propose will win this little battle among the juniors of the Devilduke Family?" An Elder from the Ashura Family voiced his question while stroking his long white beard. His ancient gaze scanned over all the young men and women below. He already knew who he thought would win thepetition, but he wanted to know what everyone else thought about the matter. "Is it not obvious that my Great Grandson''s friend will win? I mean, just look at Yan Xue; his posture is immacte, and his stature is truly befitting that of a top-tier champion!" The one who spoke this time was a wizened old man from the illustrious Dragon Tamer Sect¡ªa Rank 3 Sect that decided to ept the invitation sent out by Lord Xiao. In fact, they appreciated the invitation so much that they sent out Grand Elder Mo to watch over the younglings. However, regardless of who hade for the Family Competition, the actual fights were more of a secondary matter. The true reason so many powerful figures in and above the Core Formation Realm arrived at the Devilduke Family was for the connections! They wished to expand their of influence, building up solid rtionships that they could lean upon in the future. But for those rtionships and potential friendships to solidify without a hitch, they had to conduct idle chitter chatter. Powerhouses of the Core Formation and Golden Core Formation Realmsughed in the stands, while the contestants below looked at each other with menacing res. No matter who it was, they wanted to win thepetition, and in a family like the Devildukes, any methods to acquire victory were deemed eptable. This resulted in even the weaker contestants¡ª who were in the Pulse Condensation stage¡ªto sport a confident glow in their gazes. - "You truly think you can beat me this time around, Yan Xue¡­? You, who are merely of the Body Refinement Realm??" A red-haired young man sneered, his disposition resembling that of a haughty g pole. "Shut the fuck up, Huan Tu! You really think you are all that just because you reached the Qi Condensation Realm a little sooner than I did!? Well, fuck you and your small dick! Yeah, I heard what all thedies around town said!" Yan Xue spat back with a tone just as sardonic. He crossed his arms over one another, caring not about the unusual res everyone was giving him. "Y-You¡­" Huan Tu practically fumed at the top as his face morphed into a deep shade of purple and green. He was someone from a Branch Family of the Devildukes, and he worked his butt off in order to reach the Qi Condensation Realm at the age of 25! He didn''t go through all that he did just to be insulted by some loser who wasted all his time with women and booze!! Just as he was about to blow his lid and strike out at thecent Yan Xue, a loud, boisterous voice announced the arrival of someone: "The 6th Young Master of the Devilduke Main Family has entered the stadium!" "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" As if all working on the same wavelength, every single person in the extravagantly decorated arena shot their gazes toward therge gated entrance. Without exception, their eyes honed in on the 6th Young Master¡ªa man who wore a disposition so aloof that even the immortals above paled inparison! "So that is the boy of yours who has been immersed in cultivation for the past 2 weeks? I do wonder how far he has progressed after this sudden change in attitude." A middle-aged man wearing war-like attire mused to Lord Xiao, lightly tapping his muscr thighs with curiosity evident in his gaze. "Yes, General Long. This son of mine isn''t as much of a failure as the rest of them," Lord Xiao responded with a voice devoid of emotion. He was looking at the nonchnt demeanor of his 6th son and couldn''t help but see a semnce of himself in this new version of Lucifer. "Lucifer¡­" Unlike Lord Xiao, a mother knew her child best, and there was definitely something suspicious about her son. However, no matter how Miss Mu thought about it, she couldn''t figure out what had caused such a change in that boy¡­ "So, my dear daughter, Shi Shun. What do you think of this Lucifer? Is he to your liking?" General Long turned his pleased expression down toward an icy-cold girl by his side. She wore a light blue veil over the lower half of her face, but even without it, one could tell that she possessed extraordinary beauty. If it weren''t for the expressionless face that Shi Shun was always making, then she would surely be the talk of the town with her voluptuous figure and exquisitely sculpted facial features. "..." Shi Shun moved her face for the first time since this silly little children''s game began. Her icy blue eyes found the young man her father was referring to. "That man¡­" She softly murmured underneath her breath, seemingly discovering something that Lucifer thought he had kept hidden. After a moment or two of staring at his broad back go up the wooden podium, she turned her icy face back toward her father. "He is ordinary." "I see¡­" General Long thought they might''ve found something special¡ªsomething that could help them in the making of a pill. But it seemed that was not the case¡­ If even Shi Shun''s special set of eyes cannot see anything unique in the boy, then he is likely not worth making into pill material. Marriage is still an option, but I doubt Shi Shun willply with such a request¡­ But then again, I can just make it a demand. After all, we need this alliance with the Devilduke Family in order to secure our position in the Fire Nation. With a full-out war on the horizon, we need every advantage we can get. General Long''s thoughts veered in the direction of self-centeredness, as he was willing to do absolutely anything in order to aplish his goals. "..." Shi Shun realized this as well, but she was far too preupied with staring at therge ''uniqueness'' of Lucifer to care. That light¡­ Why are there so many Elements present within his body¡­? What does this mean¡­? For the life of her, she couldn''tprehend what she was looking at. There are so many different colored lights, and all of them are shining at an unbelievable level. But for there to be so many Elements present within a human vessel, well¡­ It shouldn''t even be possible. And yet this Lucifer is the very proof that shows someone can have more than 6 Elements reside within one''s body... Lucifer¡­ Just what are you? For half an instant, the sheet of ice covering Shi Shun''s wless jade face nearly broke and shattered. However, it returned toplete stoicism just as fast as it vanished. After which, her gaze always seemed to involuntarily hone in on the broad-shouldered young man who stood atop the stadium... ...¡­ Chapter 28: Cleaning Out The Mouth Of A Young Master ...¡­ Ahh¡­ It seems like we have quite a number of interesting guests today¡­ Lucifer briefly flipped his cold gaze across all the spectators as he obtained a good understanding of the various factions present. We have one from the Ashura Family, another from the Dragon Tamer Sect, and then a few more from the Rank 3 Linglong Sect. There are a couple more from 10 other Rank 2 Sects as well. All in all, the only true powerhouse among the guests is¡­ him. Lucifer''s blood-red eyes honed in on the robust and imposing frame of General Long. He is someone quite strong¡­ Even for a Rank 3 Family, he is at the very top of the top. Add that to all the power he wields as the Head General of the Fire Nation, and a true obstacle is created. If I were to make an escape, he would likely be one of the first ones to intercept me¡­ An imperceptible gleam shed past Lucifer''s eyes for half an instant before he lightly shook his head, instead putting his focus on the girl with a staring problem. Shi Shun¡­ I think that was her name. From my memories, she is known as a once in a thousand-year-old genius within the Long Family. With such immense talent and a family like hers, it only makes sense that she was able to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm by now. She also seems to be in possession of quite the special Spiritual Root¡ªsomewhere around the Earth Rank, maybe Heaven Rank¡­ She definitely has a future ahead of her. Now the question arises: why is she staring at me like that? Since the moment I arrived at the stadium, her eyes have not once left my back¡­ Already in love with my dashing figure¡­? Sigh¡­ The woes of being a man as extraordinary as I¡­ Lucifer walked up to the stage where all his petitors'' were standing, all of whom stared at him like he ate their grandmas or something. Shi Shun¡­ After I put all of these losers in their ce, I will see what you want. But no matter how pretty you are, if you get in my way¡­ Well, I will see what I can do with that Spiritual Root of yours. He shed a momentarily evil grin at the icy beauty before interacting with the losers on stage. "???" Although the others did not notice, Shi Shun, as the recipient of such a look, of course felt it. Truly Lucifer¡­ What are you? As Shi Shun''s thoughts swirled around inside her head, Lucifer talked to his ''family''. - "So you all are here as well? Howe I didn''t notice the presence of a single one of you until I made it up here? There must be some sort of illusion magic¡­ surely." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" The faces of Yan Xue, Yan Chao, Huan Tu, and the rest turned redder by multiple shades as even Yan Xue and Huan Tu forgot all about their quarreling. "Who do you think you are, Lucifer!? Just because you reached the 100% Tempering Marrow Realm using some miraculous methods, you think you''re tough shit!?" Yan Xue stepped up from the crowd of youngsters as he got right into a fighting stance,pletely forgetting about how badly he lost thest time. The smile on Lucifer''s handsome face grew as he extended a hand and taunted his 4th Brother. Furthermore, he did so using none other than the¡­ double flip-off! "Y-You¡­ Fucking Bastard!!!" Yan Xue no longer cared about the rules of thepetition as he leaped forth, aiming to use his Eagle w technique in order to rip out Lucifer''s throat. "Hey, you there! No fighting is allowed before the cements are selected!" The announcer was about to interfere and stop this farce. But before he could, Lucifer moved first. "It seems like you still haven''t learned your lesson from the previous two times, kid. Since I am feeling magnanimous today, I will engrain the true meaning of discipline into your shithead scrambled brain." FWIP! Lucifer vanished from his spot, as aftershadows could be seen where he once stood. "!!!" Yan Xue tried to follow his rapid movements with his eyes; however, he was nowhere near fast enough! "Y-You-" "Is that all you know how to say? ''Y-You¡­'' Stop stuttering like a toddler and learn how to use your words." Lucifer appeared out of thin air and sped onto Yan Xue''s face, pushing his head to the paved ground. *Bam!* "Since you seem to be incapable of using that mouth with purpose, I have taken it upon myself to clean it out for you. This should help with better artiction for next time you open it." BOOM! Lucifer pushed even harder against the ground as his aura exploded outward, forcing the stone surface to cave under the pressure! "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Everybody in the crowd was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on when, out of nowhere, a body was dragged all over the stage. After making a fewps with the unconscious ragdoll, Lucifer threw his body toward themoner stands, heading right for the spectators! At least, that was what would''ve happened if not for the multi-colored shield that separated the contestants from the spectators. BOOOM! The passed-out Yan Xue hit the barrier, causing sparks to fly! After a couple seconds of the shield taking on the full momentum of his ''flying session'', he ultimately ended up sliding down the barrier with froth leaking from his mouth¡­ *Thud!* It was only after Yan Xue''s unconscious figure firmly nted itself on the floor of the arena that Lady Wei, his mother, jumped off her seat in the VIP stands. "You bastard child! How dare you do that to my son!? Are you looking for an early death!!?" WAAAA! Her dark blue Core Formation Realm Aura nearly overwhelmed everything in the vicinity. That was until Lord Xiao said, "Sit down." "B-But my Lord Husband¡­ Our baby boy¡­ T-That bastard-" "I said sit down and stop causing a ruckus. I will not say it again¡­" "!!!" Lord Xiao''s face turned icier than the tundra as he looked at his Third Wife like nothing more than an annoyance. "Y-Yes, My Lord Husband¡­" Lady Wei slumped into her chair with a betrayed expression, as the most she could do was call for a doctor. "Now, with that out of the way, you may start thepetition," Lord Xiaomanded, his piercing gaze honed in on the Announcer. "!!!" "Right away, My Lord!" The announcer fervently nodded his head before clearing his throat. After which, he shouted, "The matchups will appear on that screen! Look up there and find the square arena you will be fighting in. After you understand who you will be fighting, both you and your opponent will wait on the square and fight in the numerical order above. 1 will fight 1 and will also be on Square 1. Since there are a total of 12 squares, 2 will fight 2 on Arena 2, 3 to 3 on Arena 3, and so on. With more than 2000 participants, the arenas will move in rotation until the 2000 of you are reduced to a mere 100. Which means that Contestant 1 will fight a different number 1 on Arena 1 for the 13th matchup. Every contestant will get a total of three chances toe victorious in three different fights. If you do not win within 3 fights, you will be eliminated, and your final rank will be set in stone. That is all! The matchups will appear in 3¡­2¡­1¡­!" ...¡­ Chapter 29: Being Played So Damn Badly... ...¡­ BLING! A bright blue magically powered screen turned on behind the announcers floating podium as more than 2150 names emerged on the screen. All names were set behind a number, and every number was followed by the match that they would be fighting in. For Lucifer''s first opponent, it was none other than¡­ "Yan Xue¡­" Shi Shun mumbled from the VIP stage as she nearly let out a light giggle. "Yo, announcer dude! I need a new opponent! Mine won''t be leaving the infirmary for a while, and I got stuff I need to do!" Lucifer stopped the Announcer from drinking some water after his long speech, nearly making him cough on H2O. "The audacity¡­" The Elder from the Dragon Tamer Sect muttered, mildly amazed by the sheer size of this youngster''s balls. "This 6th Young Master¡­ Was he always like this?" A High-Ranking Noble Lady from a Rank 3 Family held her hand to her white powdered face, trying to recall her meetings with Lucifer. "..." The Noble Lady''s words put Lady Mu in a profound state, as something was definitely up with her son. Such drastic changes didn''t juste overnight¡­ Lucifer gauged the reactions of everyone around him, and after making sure everything was going ording to n, he coughed up blood and knelt over onto the ground. His face turned ashen just as the Announcer was about to give him a new opponent¡­ "Oh No!!! It looks like I injured myself in that earlier battle! It put immense amounts of stress on my body!" Lucifer cried out with a pained expression, blood drizzling down the side of his lips. "Oh, the injustices! I was jumped by a hooligan! What am I to do about this!? How am I to participate in this shitt-... eye-openingpetition!?" "..." "..." "..." The 6th Young Master put on the biggest y of the century as he pulled out all the stops, even taking out arge neon sign that said, ''Please, need the Pills. If you are a kind soul, throw them down to me!'' "What the hell is this nonsense¡­?" General Long inquired with a baffled tone, his hardened gaze fixated on the stern Lord beside him. "..." Lord Xiao stared at his 6th son make a fool of himself as he realized that he had not changed in the slightest. With his earlier doubts cleared up, he stuck up his hand, about to tell him to stop this tomfoolery. However, before he did such a thing, subsequently ruining Lucifer''s ''well-thought'' out n, a soft heavenly giggle sounded from beside General Long. "???" "???" "???" Everyone looked toward her with perplexed expressions, wondering what had caused the Ice Princess tough. "Shi Shun, my dear daughter. Are you doing alright?" General Long asked with a fake level of concern. "Pfft¡­ Yeah, I just had something in my throat. Thatrge thing from earlier; probably side effects of witnessing it¡­" Shi Shun lightly coughed before putting her icy facade back on full disy. ''The big thing she witnessed earlier¡­? What does that mean?'' General Long thought with confusion. He pondered the matter for a moment before discarding his train of thought. Instead, he thought about the clear reactions that his daughter was having to this man. If she enjoys him by even the smallest amount, then the marriage proposal should go all the smoother. Who cares about thispetition or the shamelessness of that boy? As long as I have thestugh, I don''t care about anything else¡­ Sinister thoughts stirred inside the mind of the stern general as he whispered to Lord Xiao, telling him of his ideas about a potential marriage. - "..." Lucifer watched his father have a positive conversation with General Long, as this was all the proof he needed in order to know that this step went off without a hitch. Since I will be brought into a marriage either way, I will manipte it in the direction that I want it to go. He would not allow himself to be the pawn, and if he had to y the coy in the meantime, then it would happen without question. Nothing would be left out of his control! Not the Devilduke Family! Not his mysterious Grandpa! Not even his marriage! He would not allow himself to fall victim to circumstance! Never again! You all can think whatever you want, but just know that I will take everything by the time I''m done with this ce. All the way down to your underwear¡­ Lucifer rolled around on the ground while rubbing his knees with a grimace, making sure to stick his sign as high as he could. From what I know of the previous Lucifer, he was a huge fool. Furthermore, he loved money. Even more than that, he loved to spend his money. That was why he was so broke even though he had the backing of the Devilduke Family¡­ His thoughts stirred as he looked up, only to see everyoneughing at him, not with him. For now, you mayugh and giggle. But your pockets will be my pockets before you know it. Lucifer evilly grinned inside his mind while secretly observing the expressions of all the onlookers. His little ploy persisted for a few more seconds before Lord Xiao ultimately spoke up: "You may stop now, Lucifer. You are exempted from thepetition due to your ''injuries'' and uwful attack by Yan Xue. But you will join us in the Feasting Hall after the Competition is finished. Is that understood?" "Why yes, my Dear Father! I will do that right away! Now if everyone will excuse me!" Lucifer responded in a differential manner before outright strolling out of the arena gate in tip-top health. However, before his face passed through thest bit of viable space, he locked eyes with the beautiful ice princess above. ''Keep staring at me like that, Shiny Shoes, and I''ll get up close and personal¡ªshowing you everything within an inch of the real thing.'' "???" Shi Shun was visibly surprised by the voice transmission, as she never would''ve expected his control over the elements to have already reach such a high level. Just as she was about to respond back, Lucifer fully faded from view, his destination being wherever the wind took him. You didn''t even say my name properly¡­ For some reason, a small pout formed on Shi Shun''s gorgeous face as she promised to get her revenge at ater point in time. Shi Shun didn''t know how she knew that they''d meet again. She just had a strong inclination toward such a meet-uping to pass¡­ "Hmm¡­?" General Long looked at the face his daughter was making as his inward smile only grew. This girl isn''t a useless object of desire after all. She will put her use into the cause, no matter if she has to sell her body to that idiotic Lucifer or not¡­ Without anyone even realizing it, the past disy of power by the 6th Young Master waspletely overlooked by all the people in the Arena. It was instead reced by the same view that everyone originally had of him. However, contrary to before, he was no longer invisible. His power gave him a presence. That presence was overshadowed by the usual goofy greediness. And now everything was put under the umbre of benefits, where everyone had their own ns in mind for the Young Master. Little did they know that, without exception, every single one of them was being yed¡­ They were being yed so damn badly¡­ ...¡­. Chapter 30: You Will Pay All My Bills! ...¡­. A few days flew by in the blink of an eye as Lucifer spent this entire time cultivating at the ''Spiritual Pool Congregation''. This was what the official name of the dozen+ Spiritual Pools was. Over this period of time, he managed to not only get his Lightning and Fire Elemental Body''s to Stage 7, but he also felt that the Water Elemental Body was close to leveling up as well. In addition to this, Lucifer also started to feel a potential Physique rearing its head within his body. It was unknown what exactly this Physique would turn out to be, but it would surely increase his chances of achieving a Stage 12 Elemental Body. Though Lucifer would need more than 1 Special Physique if he wanted to reach Stage 12 in all Elements, a single Physique was a good ce to start. On a side note, the amount of Clone Essence and wealth that he obtained over this recent period of time was quite substantial. It even reached the point that if each 10th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Beast gave him 250,000 Clone Essence, he was making that per Clone Kill. And furthermore, let''s say that each Clone made that with every 3 minutes that passed, ounting for theck of High-Level Spiritual Beasts. If one were to take that number, multiply it by 20 to get up to an hour, further multiply by 24 for a day, and then, of course, multiply by the number of Clones¡­ Well, let''s just say that Lucifer was now making 100 Billion+ Clone Essence with each passing day. And that number was only growing with time and Clone Essence spent on Clones. To sum it up, Lucifer was once again rolling in the big bucks, edging ever closer to a Trillion Clone Essence! Or at least, that was the case till Clone Summoning Day came around¡­ It turned out that reaching the 10th Stage Qi Condensation Realm was also another milestone for cost management, bringing the original 10,000 straight up to 10,000,000! 10 Million Clone Essence for a single 10th Stage Qi Condensation Rank Clone¡­ Is the system trying to drain me dry? If you wanted to do it so badly, you should''ve just asked me to pull my pants down, and I would''ve let you go to town¡­ Tsk! Lucifer clicked his tongue with a hidden trace of contempt in his gaze. After a moment or two of allowing his moni to stay with him for one second longer, he dumped more than half of it right into the purchase of Clones. More than 200 Billion Clone Essence vanished without a trace as 20,000 10th Stage Qi Condensation Rank Clones were added to the ''Clone Storage''. "Well¡­ With the piercing of my heart done with and out of the way, I think it''s about time I increase the rate at which I farm both Alchemy and the Beasties." Lucifer had already prepared for this moment beforehand, so the conniving Lu Lu was asked to bring in more than 10,000 Low to Mid-Common Rank Furnaces the other day. She asked no questions, made a few naughty moves on the ''Naive Young Master'', and then went on her merry way, acting as if everything was only natural. That Lu Lu¡­ To acquire so many Alchemy Furnaces¡­ Just what sort of batshit crazy seductress is she? Lucifer was reminded of that curvaceously devious woman before dispersing his train of thought and getting back to the matter at hand. FWIP! 50 exact copies of a rather handsome, sharp-eyed young man materialized from thin air. In their hands wererge bronze cauldrons, all of which Lucifer spawned them in with. "You all, go make my pills. Make sure theye out in the most addictive way possible¡­ If I don''te out smacking some sense into a few Young Masters upon ingestion, then you will ve 10 times as hard. Is that understood?" "Yes, it shall be done." All of the Clones responded in a robotic monotone. "Very good; be on your way then." Lucifer shooed away his clones before summoning the next batch of clones. After more than 10 minutes and over a hundred iterations of this, all of the Drug ves stationed their positions in holes in the ground. They all actively used presence concealing techniques as they concocted pills like little mole rats in their burrows. This increased efficiency a millionfold and allowed for a pleasant master experience! As for the Clone''s feedback¡­ Well, that didn''t matter! Anyhow, I still have to get out my Farming Clones. They should be capable of some good ving out in the forests, dancing among the monkeys. FWIP! Another series of Clone Spawning happened, this time spanning over half an hour. Considering how many ves had to be put to work, the substantial amount of time made a lot of sense... Nevertheless, after this was done and over with, Lucifer watched as thest group of clones dashed into the woods with nothing but their fists to fight with. "I guess I should get them some proper gear¡­" Lucifer truly rued this day evering to pass, but there was no helping it now. Either he coughed up the funds or his clones stayed as naked monkeys for the rest of the Infinite Grind! "My reputation among the readers will surely go down if I don''t at least clothe my Clones. I guess this has to be done¡­ For the impable rep sheet that I possess¡­ Truly sublime amount of rep¡­" Sigh after sigh escaped his mouth as he reluctantly took out a bag from his Storage Ring. Inside that bag, there were hundreds of millions of Fire Coins, all acquired from the Beast Materials ''he'' collected all by himself. "Damn, I''m good! Even in this aggressive environment, I managed to effortlessly obtain all these resources. And I did so with these two hands¡­" Lucifer extended his hands and marveled at the awesomeness that was produced by them. "...Oh the woes of being superior to the masses¡­ My humbleness truly knows no bounds." He clenched his hand midair as he reveled in his immense amount of shamelessness. After which, he went back to the grind, arduously instructing a few of the ''Marketing Clones'' to buy up every Common Rank Weapon they could find. He also told a few of them to sell up any of the Monster Cores and Materials that he didn''t need for Alchemy. "With all of the hard work out of the way, it''s time to get down to the easy stuff." Lucifer walked out of the Water Cave, as he had just achieved a 7th Stage Water Elemental Body. Following this minor achievement in his eyes, he walked toward the Earth Spiritual Pool. As he did this, a certain being was watching from the other side of the Elemental Fments, inexplicable greed shing past this being''s gaze. "All of your Spiritual Stones will be mine! I don''t care why you''re spending so much time inside so many different Spiritual Pools; wasted effort does not pay the bills. You however¡­ You will pay all my bills!! Jajajaja!" Maniacalughter followed not long after as the elusive entity nearly fell off his rolling chair. ...¡­. Chapter 31: Marrying Shi Shun!? Ehh... ...¡­. Inside the Earth Spiritual Cave, a cold, perceptive gleam shed in Lucifer''s blood-red eyes as he passed through a fment. ''I bet you find these absurd prices you charge quite amusing, huh?'' ''500 lowest-ranked spiritual stones for just a single hour¡­'' ''That is on a whole new level of greed. But fret not, for you can hold onto my money for now.'' With this bitter thought, Lucifer ventured deeper into the Earth Spiritual Cave, inhaling a deep breath of the earthly breeze. "Spells like a fresh mountain top¡­ But it also holds a deep intent¡­ One that embodies the concept of fortitude," he mused, appreciating the atmosphere as he found himself a suitable spot to sit and rest. With time passing ceaselessly, Lucifer''s cultivation made great strides, ultimately reaching a point where every single one of his Elemental Bodies had reached Stage 8. Thus, a total of 3 weeks passed by. And it was also on this day that he finally received the invitation to that little ''meetup'' his father had mentioned about. The gathering was originally supposed to follow shortly after the Family Competition''s conclusion, but out of nowhere, Lord Xiao was suddenly recalled to the Barracks. Three weekster, on a Saturday, he finally returned to the Mansion. The reason for his early return was the Fire Nation''s Royal Army''s misunderstanding of being attacked by the Water Nation, which turned out to just be a false rm. Of course, the first thing that the Devilduke did upon his return was summon Lucifer. His intentions for this were quite clear¡­ "You will marry Shi Shun, daughter of General Long! And that is final!" Lord Xiao roared, his voice thunderous, clearly irritated by something. That ''something'' was the distraught young man sitting opposite him. "F-Father¡­ You y a hard bargain¡­ But since this is yourmand, as your filial son, of course, I will obey¡­" Lucifer mumbled despondently, his fists clenched, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. "It''s good that you understand. The details of your marriage will be disclosed within the next few days. Prepare yourself, for this marriage shall happen a lot sooner than you expect." With those words, Lord Xiao sent his sixth son out of hisvishly decorated office. Lucifer was close tonding on his butt, but before such a humiliating scenario could ur, he executed a quick quadruple backflip and tucked in his legs. *Tap* Hended gracefully like a professional, not even scratching up the hardwood floor. This elegant maneuver was followed by a leisurely stroll through the expansive mansion as he made his way toward his room. Once inside, he found himself a chair and decided to pass the night while scrolling through his system interface. ''To avoid raising suspicion, I should probably meander around tomorrow and wallow over this ''out of the blue'' marriage. Then, I will find a sudden burst of determination and return to cultivating, all so as to change my fate!'' "Yeah, something like that should work," Lucifer muttered, observing the area in front of him. A bright blue and golden light shed. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/369] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: 12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Clones: 6,500] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 10 Billion] [Clone Essence Bank: 25 Trillion] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank (???)] - [Drugged to the extreme on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) ¡ª--- {[Elemental Body''s]} (Temporary Section of the System Interface) |Stage 9: Lightning| |Stage 9: Fire| |Stage 8: Light| |Stage 8: Darkness| |Stage 8: Shadow| |Stage 9: Water| |Stage 8: Earth| |Stage 8: Nature| |Stage 9: Air| |Stage 8: Ice| |Stage 8: Poison| |Stage 8: Mist| |Stage 9: Psychic| [Stage 8: Mud| |Stage 8: Steam| |Stage 8: Lava] __________ After reviewing his system interface, Lucifer spent the rest of the day secluded in his room. Time seemed to fly by, and in a sh, as the dusk settled, he made his way out of the mansion. For the next 13 hours, he wandered through the town. This long and tedious journey finally came to an end on the 13th hour of Tuesday as Lucifer strolled toward the Spiritual Pool Congregation, his head held high! Anyone passing by could immediately recognize his resolute and determined demeanor. This young man was someone who had a fiery intensity rekindled in his eyes. "..." Even Lord Xiao''s secret spies took notice of this urrence and reported it back to their master. They leapt out of pagoda windows, vanished from cafes and even abandoned their ''jobs''. All to make sure the Lord was informed of the Young Master''s transformation. "It seems like everything is going just as I had expected it would¡­" Lucifer murmured to himself, a barely perceptible smirk of malevolence on his face. He watched as the plethora of shadows darted through the crowd, silently leaving the vicinity, not letting anyone notice that they even existed. Only after all of them were gone did Lucifer''s expression return to its usual neutrality. With renewed determination, he surged toward the Spiritual Pool Congregation at an even greater pace. _____ Upon making it to the towering hill where all the Spiritual Pools resided, Lucifer decided that it was time to try out a new one today. ''It has been a while since Ist acquired a new Elemental Body. If I want to collect all of them before my breakthrough, I will need to step things up.'' With this highly ridiculous thought, he moved toward a cave entrance, its dark tan hue marking it as the Sand Spiritual Cave. This was also the ce where Lucifer nned to make use of his Sand-attribute Pills. *Tap! Tap!* He quickly made his way into the cave and settled down into the sandy water. As he felt the rough sand brush against his refined physique, something slipped out of his Storage Ring. BING! And then more followed suit. BING! BING! BING! Over 20,000 small, tannish-colored pills spilled on the ground, concealed from any prying eyes. "Late-Common Rank Sand Elemental Pills. These will do quite nicely for my destined Stage 9 Sand Elemental Body." That''s right! Lucifer had more than 20,000 Late-Common Rank Pills, each with 100% pill efficiency, all of which were ready to be devoured en masse! "Time to feast¡­" *Plop.* Lucifer swallowed a handful of pills and began circting the energy within them. He transferred the Sand Elemental Qi into his Dantian, repeatedly nourishing it and observing as the transformations took ce. ...¡­. Chapter 32: The Rise Of A True Aberration! ...¡­. 1st Hour: Stage 1 Sand Elemental Body 3rd Hour: Stage 2 Sand Elemental Body 5th Hour: Stage 3 Sand Elemental Body 8th Hour: Stage 4 Sand Elemental Body 13th Hour: Stage 5 Sand Elemental Body 19th Hour: Stage 6 Sand Elemental Body 24th Hour: Stage 7 Sand Elemental Body 29th Hour: Stage 8 Sand Elemental Body 39th Hour: Stage 9 Sand Elemental Body By the end of the Elemental Body Advancements, one could feel a clear spike in time expended per breakthrough as Stage 9 and all the stages above were in an entirely different realm of difficulty... WAAA¡­ The Sand Elemental Energy from Lucifer''s most recent breakthrough finally settled. After which, he conjured up sand from thin air, letting it dance on his palms. "Although I have reached the talent barrier that all without Elemental Physiques encounter, I can still perfect all of my Elemental Bodies to the peak of the 9th Stage. Moreover, I can also pursue other potential Elemental Bodies, like the Wood and Vine Elements. There''s also the Sound, Dream, Illusion, Crystal, and, of course, the Space and Time Elements." Lucifer knew that he would definitely find some trouble with the Space and Time Elements, as there was no known Spiritual Pool for them in the Fire Nation¡ªat least ording to the previous Lucifer''s knowledge. "There might be a potential Space or Time Spiritual Pool present somewhere in the Fire Nation. But to find such a ce, I would need to rise to a higher rank among the Nobles. To achieve that¡­" Lucifer rubbed his chin, contemting a n that would align quite nicely with his Path to Infinity. ''However, before I move forward with a potential world-building arc, I will need more strength. And to gain that without further progressing my cultivation base¡­'' ''It''s time to grind some Techniques¡­'' After this thought entered his mind, without wasting any time, Lucifer started throwing manual after manual on the ground. BING! BING! BING! Tens of thousands of manuals piled up, all of them obtained either from the bellies of beasts or the Spiritual Rings of many cultivators. Of which, a lot of them came those who were foolish enough to wander into the Great Mormonga Forest¡ªonly to be met with the razor-sharp edge of a clone''s sword¡­ Tens of thousands of cultivators had vanished in the Great Mormonga Forest, and not a single high-level cultivator cared. After all, only those in the Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realms felt the need to risk their lives fighting Spiritual Beasts, hoping to acquire a few lowest-ranked spiritual stones... Those in the Foundation Establishment Realm and above had long since moved to the higher-level regions. One such region just happened to be the active battlefield between the Fire Nation and the Water Nation, where even Core Formation Realm Experts often met their demise! God''s Chasm. That was what everyone called it, all because the battlefield resided in a ce that looked as if a great Sword God had cleaved the area asunder with a mighty de! "The God''s Chasm¡­ I need to figure out a way to get there¡­" Lucifer had been cultivating in the Spiritual Pool Congregation for the past month. During this time, not even a single person came to bother him. It even reached a level where, if not for the annoyingly greedy fments, it would only be him and the evesting grind. Unfortunately¡­ |To cultivate here, you must pay 2,000 lowest-ranked spiritual stones per hour! Pay up, you stupid bra- I mean, pay up if you wish to pass this noble barrier!| *Tick!* A vein bulged on Lucifer''s face as the prices demanded by this fment were starting to get way out of hand! Nevertheless, with a ''friendly'' expression, he handed over more than 50,000 lowest-ranked spiritual stones. An enormous sum that would typically be enough to ignite the greed of a Mid-Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator¡ªgone, just like that. ''Just wait till I find you, Ezekiel¡­'' Murderous thoughts swirled in Lucifer''s mind as he walked into the Crystal Spiritual Cave. He had discovered that cultivating in highly relevant elemental environments dramatically increased the efficiency of techniqueprehension, we were talking by leaps and bounds. For instance, Lucifer wanted to integrate the |Crystal Fist|, |Crystal Suit|, and |Crystalom Dome| Techniques into his daily routine. If he were to practice these Mid-Common Rank Techniques outside of a Crystal Spiritual Pool, he could elevate each one to the Greater Master within an hour¡ªassuming he consumedprehension-enhancing pills whileprehending the Techniques. However, with the same pills and the appropriate Spiritual Pools, he could achieve Complete Mastery of three Mid-Common Rank Techniques in just ten minutes! The difference was quite obvious, and it was precisely for these reasons that he made sure to only practice Techniques while he was in a Spiritual Cave that aligned with his Element. By following this routine diligently for an entire month, Lucifer had managed to bring more than 10,000 low- to mid-rank techniques to Complete Mastery. Moreover, all of them were on the verge of coalescing together and creating something truly extraordinary! _____ WAAAAA! An immense surge of Qi swirled around within the Metal Element Cave as Lucifer attempted to do something that only the most gifted of Heavenly Geniuses could aspire to aplish. He wanted tobine all his techniques into one¡ªcreating something that was beyondprehension! But to achieve this, one first needed to amass a sufficient number of techniques (which Lucifer had already done.). After that, they would need to have a clear vision in mind¡ªan idea of what they envisioned their ultimate technique to be. For Lucifer, this step was rtively easy, as his memories of an indescribable existence offered more than a little help in this regard. With all of this in mind, the hardest part ofbining techniques came into y. Namely, it was the formation of something that defied the will of the Heavens! OOOM! The raging Qi within the Metal Spiritual Cave reached its peak as a young man was bombarded byrge amounts of powerful Qi winds. Despite his bloodied and battered body, he didn''t seem to even entertain the notion of throwing in the towel! Lucifer refused to settle for mediocrity! He refused to settle for being a ve to those around him! No more! NO MORE!!! CRACK¡ª Something deep within the very fabric of the heavens shattered without any warning! This urred because Lucifer had created something that went beyond what even the strongest of Heavenly Geniuses could... The Rise of a True Aberration! ...¡­ Chapter 33: Ultimate Super Awesome Technique-... What The Hell Is This!? ...¡­ "My Technique¡­" Lucifer muttered with an otherworldly tone, as a fment of iridescent energy enveloped every inch of his entire being. The energy intensified, reaching a point where it could no longer be seen by the naked eye. Then, within the depths of the Metal Spiritual Cave, a mysterious phenomenon urred. WHIRL! What appeared to be a sword of unimaginable proportions materialized out of thin air, hovering over Lucifer''s head like the divine de of the gods. "So this is what my technique shall be¡­ the first tangible proof of my existence beyond that of being a former ve." He drew the ethereal sword close to his body before searching for the name of the technique that would define him for the rest of his life. "Sword¡­ sh¡­ Sword sh?" Confusion clouded Lucifer''s facial expression, thinking that this was definitely not right. There was no way that his ultimate, final technique could be called ''Sword sh''! Right¡­? He gripped the sword tighter, causing its essence to fuse with the very core of his being. Before he could even attempt to rename this super-powerful technique, ''Sword sh'' had already been inscribed into every fiber of his existence... "This surely can''t be the case¡­ I mean, there''s no way that the culmination of myprehension of tens of thousands of techniques culminated in the name ''Sword sh''." Lucifer nearly stumbled when he saw the symbol etched into his Dantian Space¡ªarge golden Chinese character that tranted to ''Sword sh''. "It truly is the name¡­ the Ultimate Technique¡­ one that is beyond human understanding¡­ Sword sh¡­" A wry chuckle was on the verge of escaping Lucifer''s lips as he pondered how his awesomeness had been reduced to this simple name. However, after a moment or two of glumness, he got over theckluster name and epted it, before deciding to test just what his ''Sword sh'' could do. If his Combat Strength had previously been in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm, then surely it was far greater now with ''Sword sh''. Fortunately for him, his spections proved to be right on the mark. This was verified when he unleashed a sh of the ethereal sword, and a monstrous 1000-meter crevice was carved in the deepest depths of the Metal Cave! The sheer force of the powerful attack almost alerted the Head Lord, but luckily for Lucifer''s wallet, such a scenario didn''te to pass¡­ After the first strike, Lucifer continued experimenting with his Sword sh even further. But contrary to the all-out attack that he had initially let out, this time he released much smaller and more controlled shes. Lucifer soon realized he could do even more with Sword sh, as he didn''t necessarily need the illusory sword or a real sword with him if he wanted to utilize the technique. He could use his hands, his feet, or even his ears to unleash a miniature arc of Qi¡ªan arc that would contain an array of elements within. Ice, Fire, Mud, Lava, Crystal, Lightning, and more¡ªall could be selectively incorporated into the Sword shes. Lucifer could even choose to just use the Ice Element Attribute-based Techniques, and it wouldn''t be a problem. Furthermore, he could do this for not only the elements but also the attributes of certain techniques, like strength, agility, or stealth-boosting techniques. He could use one of them¡­ or he could use all of them. But regardless of the extensive capabilities the Sword sh possessed, the boost to Lucifer''s Battle Power was the most significant factor. And to be honest, the boost was absolutely massive¡­ A bright blur of blue and golden light shed. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/395] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: Middle Foundation Establishment Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm Clones: 30,000+] ¡ú [Upgrade to Middle Foundation Establishment Rank Clones? ¨C 10 Quadrillion Clone Essence] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone (Only if you upgrade): 10 Quadrillion] [Clone Essence Bank: 85 Quadrillion] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters]} [Cultivation Talent: Early-Mortal Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) ¡ª--- {[Elemental Body''s]} (Temporary Section of the System Interface) |Stage 9: Lightning| |Stage 9: Fire| |Stage 9: Light| |Stage 9: Darkness| |Stage 9: Shadow| |Stage 9: Water| |Stage 9: Earth| |Stage 9: Nature| |Stage 9: Air| |Stage 9: Ice| |Stage 9: Poison| |Stage 9: Mist| |Stage 9: Psychic| [Stage 9: Mud| |Stage 9: Steam| |Stage 9: Lava] |Stage 9: Crystal| |Stage 9: Wood| |Stage 9: Vine| |Stage 9: Sound| |Stage 9: Illusion| |Stage 9: Dream| |Stage 9: Gravity| |Stage 9: crity| ¡ª--- {[Prime Technique]} [Sword sh] [High-Common Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] __________ Lucifer stared at the changes in his system interface, awe-struck at all the glorious things he could now do with all the newfound power contained within his fingertips- "Wait¡­ 10 Quadrillion!? What the Fuck!?" His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw the astronomical price tag for his Clone upgrade. "1-10 Quadrillion¡­" For the first time in Lucifer''s life, he began to stutter. This price was 1,000 times more than what it had been before! "To have me pay so much¡­ What the hell is wrong with this wanky ass system¡­ Do you know, I needed a whole month of mass murder to amass this wealth? And now, the Infinite Clone System wants to suck me dry. Doesn''t it have any sympathy¡­? Where''s the justice in this cruel world¡­?" Lucifer clutched his chest while he reluctantly pressed down on the Upgrade button, followed by the Clone Purchase button. FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! Four Middle-Foundation Establishment Realm Clones materialized out of thin air, their presences overwhelming, and their demeanorsmanding. Yet, that didn''t ease the pain in Lucifer''s heart. "You bunch¡­ Go and kill¡­ Just keep on killing until my heart has been soothed." Slumping into a nearby chair, Lucifer stared at his roof with a listless gaze, counting the number of cracks it had. After a few minutes, he ultimately mustered the resolve to lift his bum off the chair. "With all of my clones hard at work¡­ I guess I should do something as well¡­" Thezy half of Lucifer really wanted to justze around and do nothing but sit back for the rest of forever¡­ But the Infinite Grind half of him would never allow such a travesty, so with a fire in his eyes, he¡­! *Plop!* Took a nap! ...¡­ Chapter 34: Streaking Pervert... ...¡­ "I have been cultivating a lot as ofte¡­ If I go on any longer without taking a break to recharge, it could lead to some serious adverse effects on my cultivation," Lucifer murmured while rubbing his sleepy eyes like a tired cat before running his fingers through his long, raven-ck hair. "Training''s done for now¡­ Time for nap training. The grind never¡­ ends¡­" As Lucifer drifted into thend of dreams, a shadowy figure silently made her way through the dim confines of the Devilduke Mansion. Eventually, the figure spotted a small tree outside a certain open window seal and deftly proceeded to jump up the tree and leaped into the 6th Young Master''s room, all doing so without being noticed. While Lucifer peacefully slept on his bed, the shadowy figure stood over him, an indiscernible glint in her eyes. After a moment or two of staring at the sleeping young master, the shadowy figure ended up taking off her ck mask, followed by removing the rest of her clothes, revealing her bountiful curves, and everything that was glorious¡­ ''Uhmm¡­ What the fuck¡­? Who the hell is this bitch¡­?'' Lucifer, who slept with one eye open, was able to catch a small glimpse of the shadowy figure''s face. Although it was extremely dark in the room, thanks to his mastery of the elements, he immediately knew who it was¡­ ''That damn Shiny Shoes bitch!'' ''What the hell is she doing in my room!? And why is she suddenly undressing??'' ''Is she trying to consummate before the marriage, because what the fuck?'' Even with all of his meticulous nning, Lucifer would''ve never expected the young Shi Shun to sneak into his room in the dead of night and start undressing! ''I just thought Shiny Shoes Bitch would try to assassinate me or something. That''s why I always kept my Divine Sense partially active.'' ''But who woulda guessed that she was such an exhibitionist!? I bet this girl gets a kick from undressing in front of other people¡­'' ''Tsk! tsk!'' Lucifer clicked his tongue. *Boing!* "!!!" Suddenly, he felt somethingnd on his back. It had no malicious intent, so this attack caught himpletely off guard! ''Is she trying to strangle me??'' Lucifer was about to make his move, but that was when he felt two more soft things pressing up against his back. ''The fuck?? Is this girl hugging me while in the nude!? And she does it so casually¡­'' "Lucifer¡­ Mhmm¡­ Lucifer''s back¡­" Shi Shun murmured, drool dripping from her bright red lips. ''My back¡­? Wait¡­ Don''t tell me¡­'' ''....'' "Drugging you with that tea I gave your maid was all worth it. Now, your back¡­ is all mine¡­" Hearts swirled around in Shi Shun''s eyes as she gripped his back muscles, rubbing her lusty body against his. ''Okay¡­ okay¡­ okay¡­ yeah¡­ okay¡­'' ''What the absolute fuck!?!?'' Lucifer was freaking the hell out on the inside. He had thought that this was supposed to be his viin arc! He was supposed to be the goddamn viin! ''So what the fuck is all this!? Some shitty, twisted harem setup!?'' ''No matter what kind of crazy shit this is, I need to find my way out¡­ Like right now.'' Just then, Lucifer felt something tingly creep down his spine, and it wasn''t just because the deranged woman was slobbering all over his backside. This woman was definitely not good news, and he realized that. Which was why he¡­ yed dead. ''I''m sure this crazy bitch will eventually go away, right¡­?'' ''I mean, she wouldn''t really defile me in my sleep, would she??'' ''Would she¡­?'' Sweat beads started to form on Lucifer''s forehead, as a sense of unease crept over him. He couldn''t shake off the feeling that something bad was about toe. ''Should I just kill her¡­?'' A fleeting hint of killing intent shed in his eyes, only to disappear as quickly as it hade. ''But if I do that, my ns to get out of this nation ahead of schedule will be ruined¡­'' ''But if I can''t kill her¡­ Should I just take it?'' ''The legendary pegging? My Main Body used to be into that stuff¡­'' ''Wait! No way in fuck am I taking it like a Bitch!!'' ''A bitch¡­'' ''Shiny Shoe isn''t the bitch in this situation¡­'' ''Am I the bitch¡­?'' ''Forget what the fuck I just said! Not me! I''m not the bitch!'' ''She''s the bitch!'' Lucifer went through many stages of denial as Shi Shun took everything a step further and began to untangle the dangly thing. "I wonder what lies underneath¡­? That back must be tantalizing without all that fabric in the way¡­ Hehehe~" Creepy giggles escaped Shi Shun''s lips as she pulled down Lucifer''s pants. With extraordinary skill, she went straight to the robes after stripping him to the nude with practised ease. Shi Shun rolled him over, taking a good look at her groom-to-be. "Ho~? So it seems you have more than just that one big thing, eh~?" She licked her lips, getting a good handful of the dragon, trying to make it rise. However, after a moment of her hands wrapping and massaging the ''thing'' and not seeing any effect, she got bored and moved on to the main dish. "Back muscles¡­ Guhehe~" She traced her slender, feminine hands across his back, the creepy-giggling session never ceasing. ''Okay¡­ okay¡­ yeah¡­'' ''Did she just overlook my dragon!? This little¡­ bitch¡­'' ''First, she has the gall to drug me with some weak-ass drug I didn''t even notice. Then she strips me naked and molests me¡­'' ''Now she has the nerve to ignore the Divine golden dragon!?'' ''This bitch¡­'' If not for his n, Lucifer would''ve already turned this pervert into pill material. But since he needed her alive, he decided to let this pervert do as she pleased. _____ After a few minutes of getting all touchy-feely with Lucifer''s back, Shi Shun''s expression filled with trepidation. Clearly worried about the drug wearing off, she decided to leave for the night¡ªbut not before stealing a few more deep kisses (on the back, of course). Once she was gone, Lucifer sat up on his bed like a zombie. "That woman¡­ She seemed so cold at the Family Competition¡­ But who would''ve guessed she was such a zing pervert¡­?" he incoherently mumbled to himself while feeling around for all the hickeys on his body. "Since this Shiny Shoe Bitch is such a pervert¡­ I have taken it upon myself to include your perversion in the ns¡­" A variety of evil thoughts swirled inside Lucifer''s head as he put on his clothes and slipped out of the window. He did so in the same manner as the streaking pervert. ''Since you won''t even allow me to get some shut-eye, I will just continue the grind elsewhere.'' ''Oh, and¡­ Fuck you, Shiny Shoes Bitch!'' Curse after curse shot off in Lucifer''s mind as he made his way toward the Spiritual Cave Congregation, intent on advancing his cultivation a little further. He also sensed a few Elemental Physiques show signs of emerging, and was eager to see just what they might yield¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 35: Elemental Physique Galore! ...¡­ Over a month and a half had passed since Lucifer''s ''fateful encounter'' with Shi Shun, the daughter of the Fire Nation''s Head General. By the end of the first week, Lucifer had finally managed to acquire his first Elemental Physique¡ªthe Fire Lord Physique. Although it was only of the Late-Common Rank, it was good enough to significantly enhance hisprehension of the Fire Element by an increase of a few dozenfold. This rapid improvement sessfully allowed him to advance to a Stage 10 Fire Elemental Body within a matter of days! After reaching this stage in his cultivation, Lucifer quickly gained the second Physique, followed by the third Physique¡­ then the fourth Physique and the fifth Physique. By the end of the third week, Lucifer had acquired more than 30 Physiques! Several of those Physiques belonged to the same element, such as obtaining both the Water Serpent and Aqua Blitzer Physique, which belonged to the Water Element. However, there were a few Elements like the Shadow and Light Elements, which had yet to activate a single Elemental Physique, leaving the Elemental Bodies of the same Element still lingering at the 9th Stage because of it. Nevertheless, ording to Lucifer''s calctions, he had estimated that it would likely take no longer than a day or two before all his Elements had relevant Physiques. _____ WAAA! Light Qi swirled within the Light Spiritual Cave as a young man with an extraordinary appearance attempted the impossible. He wanted to activate a Light Physique right after activating a counteracting Darkness Physique! This would typically be deemed impossible; however, Lucifer wasn''t one to adhere to conventional limits. "What a weakass Light Qi! Can''t you hit me any harder?? I mean, what are these chicken shit attacks!?" Lucifer taunted the Light Qi in the air, trying to provoke a reaction out of it. After a moment or two, his challenge seemed to have worked as the Light Qi assaulted his body with even greater fervor. OOOM! The Light Qi shed his body repeatedly, not allowing him to even have the smallest break. This continued for a total of 30 minutes, after which, something truly miraculous began to happen within Lucifer''s body. His skin took on a lighter shade of resplendence as something truly brilliant erupted from within his Dantian Space! WAAA! "Finally¡­ It seems like taunting wasn''t a waste after all." The maniacal, sneering expression on Lucifer''s handsome face faded intoplete indifference as he awaited the full activation of the Physique. And then it happened¡­ WABANG! An ear-splitting sound resonated from the depth of his being as a small figurative dam burst open, bringing forth something mystical into existence. [Ding! You have obtained the Peak-Common Rank Elemental Physique, |Light Bearer|] [Ding! Your Battle Power is nearing the Late Foundation Establishment Realm!] "Good," Lucifer muttered emotionlessly as he summoned his system interface and took a good look at the changes. After assessing just how much it had changed, he dumped 2 Quintillion Clone Essence to create more Clones. Following this action, over 200 Middle Foundation Establishment Rank Clones materialized from the void. "You all can¡­ Hmm¡­ Just start by exterminating all the outeryers of the Great Mormonga Forest. After you have that done, get rid of any witnesses like usual, then move into the Inner Layer. Focus on teaming up against the weak Late Foundation Establishment Realm Spiritual Beasts." Lucifer issued hismands and the Clones nodded their heads before blink-stepping away from the scene. "Every Middle Foundation Establishment Realm Spiritual Beast provides around 10 Quadrillion Clone Essence. If the Late Stage Beasts offer several dozen times that, I should be able toe out of this with maximum benefits¡­" Lucifer nodded his head over and over again while making his way out of the Light Spiritual Cave, not forgetting to conceal his divine light-bearer aura. As he walked past the increasingly stingy Fment Barrier, he could have sworn that he heard a deep, ancient cackle from an unknown source. Tsk! ''Just wait until I''m strong enough to find you, you greedy bastard!'' ''When that dayes around, I will show you who is the truly greedy one¡­'' Lucifer let his thoughts take a darker turn as he remembered that he had one more stop before heading back to the Devilduke Mansion. "Husban- I mean, Lucifer¡­" A pretty yet icy voice echoed through the open fields surrounding the Spiritual Pool Congregation as a certain pervert appeared in his view. She wore a frilly blue sundress with a yellow flower hanging above herrge right bosom, her expression almost that of an ice princess. However, the terribly concealed perversion sparkling in her eyes, while she gazed at Lucifer''s sweaty back, betrayed her true intentions¡­ ''Shiny Shoes really does try her best to hide that pervertedness; she nearly fooled me back at the arena. But now that I know what kind of insane pervert she is, I can see that she is utterly dogshit at hiding anything¡­'' Lucifer could practically see the drool trickling down the corner of her lips as she eyed his body up and down like an insatiable hyena. ''Tsk tsk, what a lunatic this Shiny Shoey is¡­'' No matter how many times he tried to remember her name, Lucifer just couldn''t bring himself to bother pronouncing it correctly. "So¡­ What are you doing here, you zing perve- I mean, beautiful young miss?" "What was that¡­?" Shi Shun asked, her brows raised high. "I was just saying that you look absolutely stunning in that flowing sundress~ Oh, no amount of beauty could ever hope topare to you~" Lucifer smoothly saved himself with a Michael Jackson slide, slithering over to the frazzled pervert and tenderly rubbing her smooth shoulders. "If only you could tell me what the hell- why you have graced this humble peasant with your divine presence?" he inquired, his warm breath trickling the insides of her ears. "W-Well¡­ Mmff~" Shi Shun let out a soft moan before she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "Y-You need to go to the marriage ceremony¡­ Don''t you remember¡­?" Her voice grew slightly glum toward the end. For some reason, she didn''t like the thought of him forgetting all about their special day. "Our special day¡­ Guhehehe~" She mumbled incoherently with a dark, purple aura permeating the air around her. ''What the hell is up with chick¡­? She makes this seem like a sher flick where I''m about to be her next victim¡­'' A shiver ran down Lucifer''s spine as he really realized that he needed to figure out a way to get at least 10,000 miles away from this lunatic. Luckily for him, his power was on the verge of something greater, almost enough to permit him entry into God''s Chasm. But for that to happen, he first had to ditch his current identity and assume one that better suited his circumstances. And he knew just how to make that happen¡­ "Oh, my lovely little wife~ I will never forget about this oh-so-grand day of bonding of our two souls together~ Truly, we must get to the wedding ceremony right away~" Lucifer spoke all the right honeyed words and touched every eptably sensitive spot on Shi Shun''s body, guiding her toward the exit. After eliciting all the reactions he wanted from her, she was prepped and ready for the next step of his intricate n. But first, they needed to reach the Marriage Ceremony, so that''s exactly what happened. Or, at least, that was what should''ve happened ording to the n¡­ But if Lucifer and the bride arrived in an area full of powerful guests, his original n would go into shambles, and he might be forced to marry the psycho for real. So in the end, Lucifer decided tomence the grand finale right in the middle of the bustling streets of Riversea City! ...¡­ Chapter 36: What Shouldve Happened And What Actually Happened... ...¡­ "Hmm¡­? Lucifer, do you see that shining thing in the sky?" Shi Shun spoke with a dry voice, her tone weary as she was being dragged along by the 6th Young Master. Although the sun was shining brightly on this midday evening, something even brighter made its presence known to her. Shi Shun noticed this urrence right away and pointed it out to the happy-go-lucky 6th Young Master. "Look, Lucifer! There is really something up there! Is it a bird? Is it a ne? No, I think it''s a¡­!!" Shin Shun suddenly stopped in her tracks, her voice rising in exmation. "Huh?" Lucifer ''realized'' it all a little toote as he shot his gaze up to the sky, only to witness a giant rock hurtling toward the ground! "Oh no! It seems like this Young Master is destined to die! Oh, the woes¡­! Sorrow, sorrow¡­ Exmation mark, exmation mark!" Lucifer immediately copsed to the ground and startedmenting all the injustices of existence. CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM! Under the astonished gaze of both Shi Shun and the onlookers, Lucifer was ttened by the space rock! He died right then and there, not even leaving behind a corpse for a proper burial! "Oh, the sadness! Big sad, big sad¡­ My husband! How could he sumb to such a wonderfully natural phenomenon!? This can''t be! I shall be his widow and never look another man in the eye! Single for life!" Shi Shun wept for hours, which eventually stretched over into hours. For the rest of her long, happy life, she never once forgot the dashingly handsome man she had perverted off to! ''That was how the story was supposed to go¡­ So how the fuck did I end up here!?'' Lucifer looked up from a hidden nook underground, only to see monstrous void creatures crawl around on a ck, murky surface. Their countless legs and eyes spiraled in circles as they eerily limped against the ground, searching for any sign of human life. ''One might wonder how I got here¡­ And that is something I''d like to fucking know too!'' ''So let us go back to right after I acquired the |Light Bearer| Physique¡­'' _____ Time rewinds and a scenario unfolds anew. This time, it wasn''t Shi Shun who was waiting for Lucifer to leave the Light Spiritual Pool. Instead, it was the¡­ Maid! Which maid? Well, of course, it was Lu Lu! "..." After muttering a few curses at the Light Fment, Lucifer stepped out of the Light Spiritual Cave. However, contrary to the serene mountaintop view he had expected to see, he was displeased to find out that the fox-like bitch had been waiting for him. "Lu Lu¡­" Lucifer muttered with a love-struck gaze, trying his best to repress the urge to knock the fuck out of this bitch. "Oh, Luci, my Love!" Lu Lu leaped toward his solitary figure, letting herrge, pillowy mountaintops ricochet in the breeze. *Pat!* She collided with Lucifer in full force, allowing her soft body to press up against his. And somehow, her boobs always seemed to find themselves at just the perfect angle when it came to seductiveness. With this wless execution, she looked into his irises, tears welling up in her eyes. "!!!" Lucifer instantly knew where this weird behavior of hers wasing from. The Marriage Ceremony date was just around the corner and from what he could tell, Lu Lu''s final goal was to seduce him before the big day. With time running out, she must be running low on options and got desperate, especially after all her previous attempts at seduction ended with failure. He briefly recalled all the times she flung her fat bags at him, even going so far as to ''discreetly'' undress herself while he passed by certain doors. They weren''t even her rooms, and yet she had the audacity to leave the door wide open, letting anybody catch a glimpse of the goods¡­! Lucifer nearly let out an exasperated sigh at the absolute ridiculousness of this chick. But luckily, he saved it with: "Oh, my dear Lu Lu! You know this marriage is nothing but a diplomatic matter! In my heart, you will always be the #1!" He shouted to the top of the world, sping her hands over one another like a young man dering his love for the woman he wanted to be with forever! "Luci¡­" Lu Lu''s eyes glossed over, feeling like this was the moment. The moment to seal the deal with a kiss! And maybe something naughty afterwards¡­ Just as she was about to move in with the full extent of her power and take the 6th Young Master by surprise, a sudden phenomenon urred in the sky above. "Hmm?" She looked up, slightly irritated that this nonsense had ruined the mood. However, what she saw next was something that left her ck-jawed, and it wasn''t because of the 6th Young Master''s big something. "Is that a¡­?" "Not a bird, nor a ne¡­ and definitely not a Superman. It''s a monster horde rift¡­ and from the looks of it, nothing is natural about its formation." A sharp glint flickered in Lucifer''s usually apathetic gaze as he traced the purple fluctuations in the sky. Bzzzzttt¡­!! A massive, mile-wide monster rift opened up in the center of the city, looming over Riversea like the gaping maw of a giant beast. "Hey, My Love¡­" "Yes, Luci¡­?" "I think we should run." "Yes¡­ We should¡­" With a shared light nod of understanding, the two bolted away from the Spiritual Pool Congregation. Their destination for now being the north of the Great Mormonga Forest. If they could make it that far without falling prey to some Spiritual Beast, then they could make it to a safehold that the Devilduke Family had maintained for their personnel. Of course, a Monster Beast Rift was thest thing Lucifer could be afraid of. In fact, he had already sent his Clone Force toward the source of the rift, where they were lying in wait in in view, each with their own unique disguises. These clones were disguised as a foreign travellers'' group, ready to ''assist'' themon folk under the guise of helping those in need. The truth was, Lucifer didn''t give a fuck about themon folk, but loot was loot, and benefits were benefits. He wasn''t one to turn down either. Despite that, his main body was currently fleeing like a little bitch with his tail between his legs. However, there was something else he had in mind for himself¡­ something that involved the annoyingly devious maid¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 37: The Maid Was A What!? ...¡­ After darting through the forest at lightning-fast speeds for several minutes, the two speed fakers finally made it to the area just outside the safehouse. In the distance, they could see building-sized monsters swarm out of the rift in droves, each carrying human cultivators on their backs, their cultivation levels varying widely. Regardless of the absolute pandemonium unfolding in the center of Riversea City, Lucifer and his ''loyal'' maid found themselves atop a hill overlooking the chaos. "Oh, Luci¡­ If only we could share a passionate kiss in the heat of the moment¡­ Isn''t this utterly thrilling?? Running away from a horde of dangerous beasts, reveling in the rush of adrenaline! Why don''t we just lose ourselves in the moment and-" "Hey, Lu Lu! Do you see that over there!?" Lucifer interrupted, pointing his right hand to the light orange horizon, directing her gaze just behind them. "Umu?" Lu Lu Umued as she turned around to look¡­ "!?!?" Push! Thest thing Lu Lu saw was Lucifer''s smiling expression before plummeting to the ground from a height of thousands of meters in the sky! "What the fuck!?" she cried out in a not-so-cute voice, struggling to move her arms and cast a spell to slow her descent. But that was when she realized that her arms and legs had been tied together with a Low-Mortal Rank Cultivation Sealing Rope¡ªa tool that would normally cost a fortune for a Core Formation Realm Cultivator, and yet it had somehow been tied around her body! "Lucifer!! You fucking bastard!! I knew I should''ve killed you with that poison when I had the chance!!!" Lu Lu screamed at the top of her lungs, her face contorting into an expression far from a beautiful maiden. That was when somethingpletely mind-boggling happened¡­ GAZORP! The once cute and petite female maid transformed into a¡­ Man! And not even a handsome, refined man like Lucifer, but a butt-ugly, corpulent pile ofrd! "Holy shit! That bitch was not a bitch after all! I can''t believe I let her get so close to me¡­ I think I''m going to barf¡­" The smile on Lucifer''s face had long since disappeared and been reced with a disgusted look, treating this entire situation as a puke-inducing one. Speaking of puke¡­ "I think I''m about to start puking rainbows from all this shit¡­" Lucifer muttered, clutching his mouth as he listened to the final screams of the secret Late Foundation Establishment Realm Evil Cultivator. "I swear I''ll kill you!!! You fucking bastard!!!" "This¡ª uwaaakkk¡­ T-This guy really can''t think of anything else to say¡­? What a terrible viin-" Lucifer tried his best to get out some dope-ass protagonist lines, but everything just came out as muffled words as he cupped his mouth. BAM! It wasn''t until he heard the sound of something hard hitting the ground that Lucifer finally swallowed the puke and walked over to the edge. "..." He looked down and saw arge, bloody, mushy puddle of mess. He really didn''t want to go down and sift through the fatso crossdresser''s memories, but now it looked like he had no choice. So with a steeled stomach, Lucifer descended the hill at a quick pace and approached the pile of flesh. It wasn''t the site itself that elicited such a disgusted and dettered reaction from him. It was the fact that this pile of flesh had once been a man¡ªa man who had rubbed himself all up on¡­ him..- Blergh! Lucifer threw up yesterday''s lunch, consumed by a deep-seated hatred for everything around him. But for power¡­ "Just a man¡­ albeit a man that had his invisible schlong disgustingly close to mine, I can''t back down here¡­ I must search through his memories¡­ just a search¡­ it''s just a search¡­" He repeated those words while he moved closer to the pile of flesh, reaching out to touch a protruding rib. BLING! A bright light shed as Lucifer activated a simplified version of a memory-reading technique he had learned from his past life. This technique, though intended for those in the Body Refinement Realm, could be used as long as one''s cultivation was sufficient enough, allowing Lucifer to utilize it. After scanning through the memories of the grotesque pig, Lucifer eventually found what he was looking for. After he had acquired the needed information, he immediately threw down a Fire Elemental Spell without any hesitation, incinerating absolutely everyst aspect of the being to the ground! "Burn in hell, hell-spawn!" Lucifer dered, transforming into the most fearsome Pyromancer the Great Mormonga Forest had ever known. Only after everything within a ten-mile radius was turned to ash did Lucifer cease his frenzied dance with the mes. "..." After the mes subsided, he observed the scorchedndscape and realized that the Devilduke safehouse may or may not have been obliterated in his little "ident." BLING! [Ding! You have killed a secret operative of the Shadow ve Organization. This operative was in the Late Foundation Establishment Realm, so an appropriate amount of Clone Essence will be rewarded.] [Ding! You have obtained 800 Quadrillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed tens of thousands of Cultivators ranging from the Middle Body Refinement Realm Stages to the Early Foundation Establishment Realm.] [Ding! Since you are a Clone, what you kill will also allot Clone Essence-] "Bitch, who the fuck are you calling a clone!? You''re the fucking clone! I bet I can walk down the street and find 100 bitches that look exactly like your rectangle-headed, brightly shining, robotic ass!" Lucifer was, to say the least, more than a little infuriated by the neutral remark from the Infinite Clone System. But his anger and worries quickly faded away as the rest of the system notifications appeared. BLING! [Ding! You have killed hundreds of thousands of Spiritual Beasts, ranging from the Early Qi Condensation Realm to the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm!] [Ding! You have obtained 220 Quadrillion Evolution Essence from all of these various kills!] "Need not say anymore, my dear system. You know that all I said before was just me ying hard to get¡­" Lucifer''s tone switched in the blink of an eye, his gaze filled with immense greed as he reached out to grab the floating screens, it was practically possible to see dor signs dancing within his eyes. He was the one to forgive and forget! He was just magnanimous like that! ..... Chapter 38: Qi Condensation Realm Trash ..... *...* If the Infinite Clone System were sentient, it would most undoubtedly struggle to keep up with all of its host''s wild mood swings. Of course, it wasn''t like Lucifer could really do much about his cold, distant, yet loony, and most definitely insane personality. Imagine having a conscience while being forced to follow the orders of some goody two shoes, bullshit ''holier than thou'' main body for countless eons! See how you''d feel! This might seem like a hypocritical way of thinkinging from a ve-clone owner himself, but the difference between him and his original main body was that Lucifer''s clones didn''t have minds of their own. They were, in a way, more like mechanical objects, programmed to do set tasks, and they did so without a peep. In other words, Lucifer''s clones were like the code in an AFK game. They simply ran around and did whatever hemanded without the need for a mind or even sleep. On the other hand, his main body was a sadistic bastard who enjoyed making clones that had their own sense of self, all made under the guise of ''Even Clones deserve their own minds¡­ They deserve to feel¡­'' Fuck That Shit!!! In this entire perplexing quagmire, Lucifer found himself being pushed over the edge. He couldn''t care less about what others thought about his methods! He didn''t care about the opinions of the weak! Hell, Lucifer could barely find a fuck to even care about his readers! He would do shit whatever fucking way he felt like doing so, and if anyone had a problem with it¡­ Well, he''d just have to find them and turn them into loot. _____ After a few moments of getting pissed off over numerous pointless matters, Lucifer finally made a move and vanished from his spot. He nned to head back toward the fighting in Riversea City. After all, there was no longer a safe house to speak of¡­ He would likely need to brainstorm a good coverup, such as a sudden monster attack taking out the safe house and everything for a dozen miles. But while his mind worked away at that, his body aimed to find the perfect monsters to loot. ''Well¡­ I forgot that my clones are already doing that. No need to waste the only body that can cultivate on something that any number of clones can do¡­'' With this in mind, Lucifer redirected himself away from Riversea City, and instead nned to focus his effort on¡­ cultivation! "There truly is no better time to cultivate than during an active apocalypse started by the Fire Nation''s Arch Nemesis¡­ What wonders¡­!" Lucifer leisurely made his way toward the Spiritual Pool Congregation, hoping to pay a visit to a certain Head Lord during his cultivation session. He also wanted to gather some more information about the Shadow ve Organization, which was what Lu Lu was a part of when she was still alive¡­ and female. But that topic would have to wait for another time. For now, a greedy bastard''s debt needed to be repaid in full. "Heh¡­" An evil smirk formed on Lucifer''s handsome, blood-smeared face as he darted up the hill leading to the Spiritual Pool Congregation. Upon reaching the location of the Spiritual Caves, he immediately noticed that something was amiss¡­ "It seems like we have a visitor, brothers." A crackly voice echoed from behind arge boulder as five blue-robed figures emerged and came into view. Their attire marked their affiliation with the Water Nation. Their bodies were slim and slippery, resembling what one might imagine a human version of water to look like. "Ahhh, it seems like a young pretty boy has decided to join us in the conquest of this Spiritual Cave treasure trove. And by the looks of it, he is quite the rich one, Jajaja!"mented a man with a long beard, his hands reaching for the scimitars at his waist. "I think we should teach this boy a lesson before we kill him! What do you all think?" "I think it''s an excellent idea!" "Bet!" All five sinister-looking figures nodded at the words spoken by their eldest brother. After which, they unleashed their absurdly powerful, irresistible auras to the world! Auras that were well into the¡­ "Peak Condensation Stage trash¡­" A cold smile formed on Lucifer''s face as he took a step forward and vanished from their sight. "!!!" "!!!" "On gua-" the eldest brother spoke in a cautious tone, clearly trying to warn his brethren. However, before he even got the chance to protect those whom he called family, a hand warped at him out of nowhere. SPURT! The hand ripped the body of the Eldest Brother into two pieces, all without the owner of the hand even fully materializing! "!!!" "Brother!!! No-!!!" "Be quiet, trash." A face emerged from the speed stream as Lucifer plunged his arm into the chest of this Peak Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator. "Argh!!!" The man had his heart ripped out of his body! With the red heart still beating in his hand, Lucifer crushed it and absorbed the essence of the man''s existence using a secret demonic technique called ''Demon Assimtion''. After everything that once belonged to this moron was sessfully transferred over to Lucifer, he turned his demonic gaze toward the remaining three Water Nation cultivators. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Although they were outraged by the deaths of their eldest and third brother, the three brothers knew that there was absolutely no way that they could possibly have a chance against this devil. With this in mind, they scattered without a moment''s hesitation! SHING! SHING! THUD! THUD! THUD! Momentster, the crisp sound of swords being unsheathed reverberated, followed by loud thumping sounds as three heavy bodies fell and hit the ground. Their souls melded with the earth, bing one with it, while their wide-eyed heads rolled on the ground in front of their headless bodies. TAP TAP Lucifer approached the headless corpses with slow steps before reaching their rotting bodies and absorbing their essence, looting them of everything they once possessed. This was followed by Lucifer spreading their ashes into the wind, leaving their remains to destiny. "Now that the messy stuff is out of the way¡ª" BLING! ..... Chapter 39: Two Sh*theads and a Throw ..... BLING! [Ding! You have killed 5 ants in the Peak Qi Cultivation Realm!] [Ding! You have obtained a miniscule shitstain amount of Clone Essence! Barely worth mentioning-] "Shithead, I''m the only one allowed to curse!" Lucifer interrupted the system with a slightly irritated outburst. [Ding! The host is a diptard! It''s rmended that the dear host avoid speaking too many words, lest his brain gets fried from the overlord!] "Who the hell are you calling stupid!? I look at your 2D, Bitcoin, gadget-looking ass, and all I see is two brain cells trying their damnedest to squeeze out thosest few thoughts!" Lucifer grabbed the pop-up screen with both his hands and shook it, seemingly trying to rattle thosest brain cells together. [Ding! Jokes on you, my ''Dear'' Host! The Infinite Clone System¡ªyour path to power¡ªdoesn''t possess a brain and thus it''s immune to processing the stupidity that you''re spewing!] "You fucke-" Lucifer was about to throw down with his ''lovable'' system right then and there, but he was rudely interrupted by a Sir Young Master Dipshit. "Wait¡­ That''s two Young Master Dipsihits¡­" he noted with a perceptive gaze, watching as two pompous figures approached from the other side of the mountain. The two wore the most ridiculous kind of clothing: gaudy capes and dipshit jewelry; hell, even their expressions were smug and fucktard-like. But above all else, the most embarrassing thing about their appearances was the ruby-embedded crowns atop their egg-like heads. "Are these ret*rds here for a clown parade?" Lucifer mused as he analyzed the demeanors of the approaching figures, unable to stop himself fromparing them to mentally impaired cartoon characters. "You dumb bastard peasant! You never thought this day woulde, did you!?" 4th Young Master Yan Xue sneered, his face twisted with ridicule. "Yeah, you stupid little turd! Did you ever think that one day you would find yourself cornered up against a wall!? With no elders of the family here to protect you to boot!! How does it feel-!?" BANG! Yan Xue wasn''t even able to finish what he was saying before he was confronted with a fiery fist¡ªa fist that smashed right across his jaw! His jawbones instantly shattered into a billion different pieces; his face slung all over the ce grotesquely, before finally his iling figure mmed into a boulder! BOOOOM! A loud explosion echoed through the billowing air as the infamous Yan Xuey crumpled against a stone boulder. His jaw was no longer attached to his face, and a bloodstain had somehow appeared where his groin should have been. "With the dissection of your tiny worm, you can now stop unting it in front of my face like you have somethingrger than 4 inches. And for all that talk, you ended up only having a 2-and-a-half-inch garden snake¡­ What a waste of a man." BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Lucifer took earth-shaking steps toward Yan Xue''s unconscious body, and ignored Yan Chao''s existence, treating him as if he were nothing more than thin air. "!!!" This infuriated the young master, but upon seeing the demonic look in his 6th brother''s eyes, he shrank back into his own skin. Instead, he adopted a more cautious, spectator-like approach. ''Y-Yes, this is surely the smartest thing to do in this situation! I w-will teach this bastard a very good lesson on respect as soon as he''s done with whatever he''s doing!'' ''This is the gentlemanly thing to do¡­'' Sweat poured down Yan Chao''s forehead as he trembled in fear, watching the devil-in-human-form approach his 4th brother. _____ "So, my dear brother Yan Xue¡­" Lucifer pulled his 4th brother up by his long, girlish hair, effortlessly lifting up therge can ofrd. After bringing the bruised, disfigured face to his far more appealing facial features, Lucifer forcefully opened up Yan Xue''s eyelids. "Hello?? Is anyone in that hollow head of yours!?" Lucifer shook him around like a toy, effectively scrambling his brain. "Hhuhh!? Whoze da hlell-!?" Despite his broken jaw, Yan Xue tried to spit out his ssic young master line. But before he could do so, his head was mmed into a boulder, causing cracks to spread throughout the entire thing like a spiderweb. "I was just kidding~ I don''t actually care what you have to say. But if you could do a favor for me¡­ please be my loot!" Lucifer gripped the smashed face of the rich pig before locking his demonic eyes with the piggy''s frightened gaze. "Why don''t we see how far the piggy loot bag can fly?" "!?!?" "Hrmhu!! Pl-!!" "Sorry, I don''t speak pig Latin." Lucifer lifted all 300 pounds of the pig, rearing his arm back and preparing tounch the first pig to the moon! However, that was when he noticed a skinny piggy from the corner of his eye. "Ahh¡­ It seems like we are going for a two-for-one." Lucifer shed an evil smile in Yan Chao''s direction. "!!!" The third Young Master realized that this was the time to skedaddle. But before he could move even an inch, a firm, muscr hand was already gripping his face. "Let go of me, you dirt poor bastard! Do you know who I am!?" Yan Chao tried to spout some stupid ass cliche lines, but Lucifer wasn''t the one to give a shit. He simply showed his sharp, pearly whites with a grin and swung Yan Chao behind him. After the preparation waspleted, Lucifer searched for a suitable target to try and hit. That was when he noticed a flying, Quetzalcoatl-like beast in the distance. It appeared to be fighting with a high-ranking disciple of the Devilduke family, but once again, Lucifer had no fucks to give. With a ''hardened'' resolve, he tensed his arm muscles, causing veins within to bulge. He used every ounce of his physical strength in order tounch the buffoons toward the stratosphere! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! "Youuu fuckkking bastarddd¡ª!!!!" they let out a final scream in unison before taking on the full force of multiple sonic booms! "And¡­" Lucifer watched their receding figures approach the Quetzalcoatl. Only after the giant, 100-meter beast went down did he dere, "Hole in one. Another victory for the awesomeness that is me." As he said those words, a few system notifications appeared before him, originating not from what his clones had killed but from his own kills. ...¡­ Chapter 40: A Stupid Pig ...¡­ BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Spiritual Beast of the Water Nation. This beast was of the Late Foundation Establishment Realm. Alongside this kill, you also managed to kill a Late Foundation Establishment Realm WaterBender Rider from the Water Nation!] [Ding! You have obtained 1.2 Quintillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! Would you like to use up half of your 100 Quintillion Clone Essence in order to purchase clones with strength in the Late Foundation Establishment Rank?] "Yes." BLING! [Ding! You have sessfully purchased over 500 Clones with strength in the Late Foundation Establishment Rank!] Following the system notification, 500 something odd clones materialized from thin air. FWIP! FWIP! As thest of them spawned, Lucifer began issuing numerousmands. Most of them were dispatched to the ongoing battle with the Water Nation, while the rest of them were assigned to the pursuit of drug concoction¡ªa profession otherwise known as Alchemy. Lucifer couldn''t live without his pills, so naturally, he had to put the highest-quality ves to work on their production. However, of the clones that were sent out, Lucifer left four inside his Clone Storage. These clones were tasked with a particrly sensitive objective. Their objective was to capture a man who had overstepped his bounds and let greed get the better of him. Of course, we''re talking about the¡­ One might''ve assumed that the identity of this man would be disclosed so easily. But one would be sorely mistaken. The only thing being disclosed was theck of one''s brain cells. That was, unless you exercised them at the maximum capacity and intuitively deduced who was being referred to¡­ Despite the question of one''s intelligence being thrown in the air, Lucifer soon found himself sitting on a blue, illusory chair, waiting for the mysterious man to show himself. It took less than two minutes for the four clones to emerge from underground. Dragging with them arge, snarky man in possession of a grand sum of fat rolls. "You little cunts! Do you have any idea who the fuck I am!? The Head Lord! That is who I am! Now bow before this daddy and confess your sins!" The Head Lord blustered through his blubbery mouth, trying his best to sound domineering, even with the fact that there was arge yellow stain spread across the center of his trousers. "Ahhh¡­ I apologize for this sudden invitation, my dear friend! I know I said I would give you until the time I broke through into the Qi Condensation Realm. But if I''m being honest, I don''t give a fuck." Lucifer rose from his chair and pulled it around until reaching a position where it was directly facing the trembling Head Lord. "6th Young Master¡­ I-Its you¡­" the Head Lord stuttered, trying his best not to show the fear that resided within him. "Say, how about we y a little game?" Lucifer asked with a yful tone, pulling out a few darts. The sharp, pointy edges of the darts in his hand shone under the zing sun, acting as quite the fear-inducers for the fatrd. But it wasn''t like any of this was of any concern to Lucifer, so he continued with what he was doing: tapping the tips of the darts and ying around with their shafts, until the Head Lord, on his own volition, copsed to the ground. "P-Please, 6th Young Master! I am a loyal servant of the Devilduke Household! I will return everything that I stol- overcharged you for! I just need time until after this battle is over to gather all the funds out!" The Head Lord pleaded, his face in the dirt and his butt in the air. "I must say¡­ You are quite the excellent groveler." "T-Thank you, my Lord-" "But it''s too bad that it won''t save you." "!!!" PHEWWW Just as the Head Lord was about to get up and flee away in terror, a razor-sharp dart sliced through the air before piercing through his fat rolls in a quarter of a second. "Arrghh!!! I-It hurts!!!" he cried out in agony, struggling not to shit himself right on the spot. "Golly¡­ It hurts, does it? Well, I guess I should get a ''band-aid'' for your booboo. Don''t you worry, I have got just the thing!" Lucifer''s expression became more weing as he shed his pearly whites and picked up another dart. "Here, have a band-aid. It might hurt at first, but don''t worry¡ªit only gets worse with time!" PHEWWWW Another dart punctured the blubbery skin of the Head Lord, this time in the area around his kneecap. By now, he was slumped against a boulder, with one dart lodged in his leg and the other dangerously close around his heart. But, of course, Lucifer made sure to keep him alive. After all, there were a lot more ''band-aids'' he had to apply to the piggy. Can''t leave those wounds unattended, now could he? With a passionate'' gleam in his gaze, Lucifer watched the pig squirm on the dirt, wailing like a good little piggy. "Tell me, was it amusing for you? To take millions of lowest-ranked spiritual stones from me? Do tell me... Did it amuse you?" Lucifer pulled his chair, sitting right in front of the ugly, crying face of the Head Lord. He ced his boot on his face and stomped down with brutal force! BOOOM! CRACK¡ª The ground beneath the Head Lord''s head cracked, burying his face even deeper into the earth. There were no longer any teeth left in that gaping mouth of his, but Lucifer still felt that he hadn''t be handsome enough. So, with great ''restraint'', he smashed his head even further into the soil! "Good, now we can''t hear your wailing. This pleases me¡­ But you know what does not please me¡­?" Lucifer kicked the fatass in his fat ass, sending his fat rolls jiggling. "What annoys me is that you''re still clinging onto the tiny shred of hope¡ªhope that makes you think you will be able to walk out of this with your life intact." BANG! Lucifer kicked the Head Lord in the ass once again, resulting in another ripple of jiggle in the area around his head. His head still remained buried in the ground, but that didn''t prevent a muffled scream of pain from escaping, echoing in the ears of the worms below. "Ahh, it seems like you still need a ''band-aid'' for that little scratch right there! Fret not my friend, I have just the right tools to get this job done." Following those words, Lucifer pulled out more than a dozen darts, each sharper andrger than thest. "I promised you that we''d y a game, so why don''t we y a brief round of ''pin the tail on the donkey''!? I promise that you''ll absolutely love this one!" Lucifer drew his hand back behind him, getting ready to throw the best pitch he''d ever thrown! "Get ready, my dear friend, for this night will be a long one¡­very long¡­" "!!!" Despite the desperate, muffled pleas of the wailing pig, it didn''t seem like any of it were even getting registered in Lucifer''s ears as he hurled the first of many darts for the night. ...¡­ Chapter 41: Killing The Fat Lord After more than two hours of ying "Pin the Donkey," there was not a single spot left on the piggy''s butt left that hadn''t been skewered by darts. The result? This left his body as one big mess. As for his life¡­ Well, it was safe to say that the Head Lord was dead¡ª "Mhmm!!!" A muffled scream emerged from the dirt as the spiked pig sprang to life! "The vitality of someone in the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm truly is a thing to behold¡­" Lucifer remarked as he threw thest of the few darts, listening to onest scream of agony before approaching the Head Lord. When he reached the squirming, ostrich-looking figure, he pulled him out of the ground. Or, at least, that was what was supposed to happen¡­ *Rip!* "Hmm¡­? What was that-" Lucifer looked down from his view of therd can''s rump, only to see that the Head Lord''s head was ripped clean off his body. Apparently, this had happened because he pulled a little too hard, given that the man''s head was firmly wedged in the ground. "Well, that was an oopsies¡­" Lucifer lightly chuckled, brushing off the idental decapitation of the Head Lord as he threw the couch-like corpse aside. Following this utterly disrespectful and uncaring act, the Loot Goblin began rummaging through the fatso''s possessions. From this rightfully warranted search and loot session, Lucifer was able to acquire a number of goodies. First and foremost, he retrieved everything that the greedy pig had stolen from him. And then there were all the other valuable things that the Head Lord had amassed over the years¡­ "I must say¡­ This Head Lord was quite the Hoarder. Not as good as me, but meh¡­ he was up there." His egotistical words were followed up by the absorption of the Head Lord''s essence. Thereafter, a series of system notifications chimed in pletely unrted to the Fat Lord''s assimtion). BLING! [Ding! You have killed the Fat Lord, Yang Mo!] [Ding! You have obtained 20 Quadrillion Clone Essence! As expected of the meager sum that a Jar of Lard could hope to allot!] "Damn¡­ You didn''t have to be that harsh with this dude¡­" Lucifer muttered, already making his way toward the nearest Spiritual Cave with quick steps. He wanted to get in some valuable cultivation time, and now he didn''t have to deal with the stupid ass tolls of the Elemental Fments! Wasting no time, he found himself a seat in the Fire Spiritual Pool, nning to advance his Fire Elemental Body to Stage 12 first. But before such a thing could ur, it was quite obvious that Lucifer needed to dope himself up on pills, which was why he opened his Storage Ring and unloaded tens of thousands of them! "Ahhh¡­ The sweet, addictive glory of pills¡­ What a wonderful day to be alive." Lucifer settled into the pool(with a mouthful of pills), furthering his progress on the path of Infinity. "What was that¡­?" he suddenly opened his eyes and wondered. "You say that I''m relying too much on pills!? I should be going about cultivation the normal way!? Well, guess what?... Fuck you!" Having delivered these words of divine wisdom, Lucifer returned to a state of peaceful meditation, still not giving a fuck about the opinions of any onlookers¡ªotherwise known as a bunch of perverts who got their knockers off from watching him cultivate¡­ _____ Meanwhile, in the heart of Riversea City, from the perspective of one of Lucifer''s clones battling Water Nation Cultivators. "Ha! Rising Water Dragon Spear!" a Water Nation cultivator shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. This cultivator, a man at the Peak Core Formation Realm, was one of the key figures leading the attack against the Devilduke Family. "You truly think you can just barge in here and do as you will, Su Tao!? Do you have any idea what the Fire Nation will do after this!?" Another voice retorted, unleashing a technique of his own¡ªthe Devil Crusher Strike. This man was Chao Gang, one of the Elders of the Devilduke Family. He was also the one who was generally responsible for taking care of all miscreants who may or may not have dared to get into the family''s territory. Although neither Su Tao nor Chao Gang were the strongest from their respective sides since they were just in the Peak Core Formation Realm, they were still leading figures in the realms of their expertise. "Truly a joke, Chao Gang! To speak those words after sleeping with my wife behind my back! Do you have no shame left, you scoundrel!?" "Me!? The scoundrel!? Who was the one who lusted after my eldest daughter and thought that she was to his liking!? Because, bitch, it sure as hell wasn''t me!!" Chao Gang snarled back. He then swirled his body in a circr motion, using everything he had in order to channel his Qi into the Devil Crusher Strike! RUMBLE! Even the ground thousands of meters below his location in the sky started to violently shake! The animals below them panicked and started to run away in whichever direction they could flee in, trying their utmost to find a safe haven. But unfortunately for them, a number of Lucifer''s clones were on the hunt, and wouldn''t allow a single beast to escape their of loot. One clone in particr just so happened to be observing the sh between Su Tao and elder Chao Gang. "..." Though a plethora of thoughts swirled inside his mind while he watched them fight, no matter which thought it was, all of them led to the same conclusion¡­ "I think it''s about time to take advantage of this opportunity¡­but to do that, I will first need to have these two morons weaken each other''s health bars down by a bit¡­" the clone mused. Lucifer had already multi-split his consciousness between the main body, which was cultivating, and several clones like this one. This allowed him to better coordinate their actions more effectively. Most of the clones were simply doing their usual task¡ªmass genocide¡ªbut this one, along with a few others, had their eyes set on reaping thergest of loot bags. And they wouldn''t settle until everything was theirs! ..... Chapter 42: Two Rivals, Two Friends, Two Loot Bags ..... ''Wouldn''t it be such a waste to let all these pigs kill each other? Just thinking about all the loot that would be lost in the wind is enough to bring a tear to my eyes¡­!'' A small, fake tear welled up in the corner of Lucifer''s right eye as he genuinelymented the thought of watching all the loot slipping away, taken away by mere randos¡­ It was because of this abomination to justice that he took it upon himself to sweep up any loot bags that needed a little extra helping hand to push them over the edge. As for why he did this for both sides, you ask? Well, Lucifer didn''t want to make it seem like he held a prejudice for the quality of loot from either the Fire Nation or Water Nation. So, naturally, he had to once again exhibit his impable sense of equality and justice! He was like a superhero! ''Ahh¡­ yes, a superhero. I quite like the sound of that¡­'' Lucifer''s lips curled into a cold smile as he noticed that both Chao Gang and Su Tao had reached a point where they were on theirst legs. "You Bastard!!!!" Chao Gang roared, his hands poised to activate the Second Style of his Devil Crusher Strike. On the other hand, Su Tao prepared one of his strongest techniques¡ªthe Phantasm Essence Shooter! In this technique, he would gather up all the Qi in his body and channel it to his fingers. Thereafter, he would imitate the unloading of piss into a urinal. Making use of this vidid imagination, he would condense his Qi and unleash it in a powerful st, holding absolutely nothing back! This was, in actuality, one of the Core Techniques of the Baron-Rank Tao Family, and thus not be underestimated! Granted, the old man who made it was a little bit of a pervert and could perhaps be even considered lecherous¡­ But that''s beside the point! "Take this, Chao Gang! Phantasm Essence Shooter!" Su Tao shouted at the top of his lungs, already hurtling through the air with his fingers outstretched. "You Dare!?" Chao Gang saw the ridiculously powerful yellowish energy emanating from Su Tao''s fingers and knew that he had to use his second style! ''Ahhh¡­ Second Stance¡­ This will surely be interesting, right?'' Lucifer watched as the two attacks shed in the sky, triggering massive red and blue explosions that reverberated in all directions. "It seems that the time is nigh¡­ The night is ripe, and the moon is red¡­" He spouted off some bullshit and cringy phrases before springing up off the ground like a broken coil. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! His body repeatedly broke the sound barrier as he rocketed through the sky, barreling straight toward the blue-robed figure! "!!!" Noticing the presence of a new contender in the nick of time, Su Tao first dodged Chao Gang''s attack, sacrificing some of his life force in the process. After narrowly thwarting his old rival''s perilous fist strike, he shifted his focus on the neer by easily making use of his immense speed to dodge out of the threat''s way. Su Tao was taken aback by the apparent weakness of this man. And in his bewilderment, he failed to notice that more figures were emerging from all the direction in the sky! "!!!" The moment he realized the truth, it was already toote. Dozens of razor-sharp swords had already lodged themselves into his lone figure. Spurt! He coughed up blood, utterly stunned by what had just urred! "Your mistake was using up what you thought to be just a small amount of Life Essence¡­" "!!!" A raspy whisper came from behind Su Tao''s ears. He turned to look behind him and saw an unfamiliar face. The man who had stabbed him in the back was a middle-aged cultivator with a long goatee, possessing the bearing of a shiesty middle-aged cultivator. "W-Who the hell are you all!?" Su Tao inquired, blood filling his mouth as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "You''re really worried about that? Not about the grave mistake you made in the midst of battle?? A mistake that ultimately led to your demise." "W-Why would I need to know about something like that when I''m about to die¡­?" Su Tao nced at his wide-eyed rival in the distance, regret flickering in his gaze. "If you don''t wish to tell me your name, could you grant this old man onest favor? Allow me to apologize to an old friend of mine¡ª?" SHING! Spurt! "W-Why¡­" His head was lobbed off his shoulders, and his disbelieving face flew through the air until itnded in Chao Hang''s hands. "Su Tao¡­ But why¡­? Why were you going to apologize to me after so many years of quarreling?? Why did you wait until now, my friend¡­?" For a few moments, Chao Gang let his emotions spiral. After finding a bit of his bearings, he bit his cracked lips and turned his head up to the one who killed Su Tao. He was determined to demand an exnation from this group. After all, if anyone was to kill Su Tao, then it should have been him¡ª! *Spurt!* In the midst of his rage-filled thoughts, Chao Gang didn''t notice that the man who killed his friend also had his sword find its way to his throat¡ª the very sword that didn''t know any discrimination between friend and foe. It was this very sword that sliced off the heads of two rivals¡ªof two friends. "Wha-!?" Those were thest few confused words Chao Gang spoke before his entire life shed before his eyes. They say that when one was about to die, they would see their life y out inside their mind like the flipping of a book''s pages. And it wasn''t until now that Chao Gang was able to find that to be true¡­ ''I see¡­ So this is the cruelty of the world¡­ This is what happens to those who growcent with their strength¡­'' Just as those were hisst words, these were thest thoughts to pass through Chao Gang''s mind. As his bloody head sailed through the skies, leaving a trail of blood in its wake, Lucifer watched with an emotionless gaze as the system notifications echoed around him. ..... Chapter 43: MCs Should Be Able To Fly! ..... While the system notifications chimed, all of Lucifer''s clones began plummeting toward the ground. "How can I not fly yet¡­? Is everyone sure that I''m the MC? Because a true MC should be able to fly¡­" Lucifer''s voice streamed through the skies, and he had to think fast if he wanted to find a way out of this predicament without ending up like meat stter on the ground. "Wait¡­ I forgot that I had clones¡­" Thinking quickly, Lucifer directed his clones to glide toward him, forming a pile beneath him. "This is the true purpose of having clones. After all, how else could I do this without their assistance?" Lucifer used his embryonic divine sense to observe the growing mountain of bodies that had formed beneath him. It was only after a total of 500 clones had stacked on top of each other that he had them use active force resistance techniques. After everything was said and done, dark red fments encapsted all the clones, who clung tightly to one another. All of this was done in order to cushion the fall of the main body¡ª "Wait¡­ This isn''t my main body¡­" Lucifer felt like an absolute idiot, realizing that he wasted all that effort and body pyramid building. And for what? "Well, shit. Now I don''t even wanna have these clones survive the fall, but¡­" He jumped from the mountain of falling clones, transferring his consciousness to one of the many other clones stored in his Clone Storage. After which, he absorbed all the falling clones, leaving no stragglers behind. "Work smarter, not harder," Lucifer muttered, his th milf figure disappearing from view. He didn''t even notice how well-sculpted the curves were on this clone. But by the time he did, he switched clones faster than the flip of a dime! While Lucifer grappled with a minor midlife crisis, a number of system notifications flooded his head, informing him of all the delicious loot that he had just acquired. BLING! [Ding! You have killed two cultivators in the Peak Core Formation Realm (severely weakened)] [Ding! You have obtained 500 Septillion Clone Essence!] "What the actual Fuck!?" Lucifer interrupted the pop-ups, his eyes glued at the screen. "5-500 Septillion Clone Essence¡­ Is this your way of apologizing to me for your earlier attitude, system¡­?" [Ding! No! The host can go and fuck himself!] "A~ this apology, I''ll ept it! We can let bygones be bygones with a gift like this!" Ignoring the system''s next snarky remarks, Lucifer pondered how he should spend such an immense amount of Clone Essence. WAAA! That was when he felt a sudden burst of strength erupt from the very core of his main body! "Wait!? The fuck!! You can''t do this to me, other me!!" Lucifer frantically tried to click the ''Purchase Clone'' button, but it was toote, the damage had already been done and the strength boost had already caused the price to skyrocket! "No!! Where are my cheap Chineseborers, you bastard cunt system!!?!" *Thud!* Lucifer fell to his knees with a loud thud, watching tearfully as the price per clone soared up like a roon with a rocket up its ass! "You Motherfuckers!!" When he saw what the price gauge had stopped on, it felt like blood might as well have been pouring out of his eyes¡­! [Ding! Would you like to purchase a clone with strength in the Middle Core Formation Rank for 100 Sextillion Clone Essence?] "''Ding'' and go eat a bag of dicks! I want my cheapbor back! Give me mybor! Wait¡­ Middle Core Formation Rank¡­?" Lucifer kept cutting off the ''All-sharing'' feature of the clone mind transmission. After all, the migraines caused by managing too many split consciousnesses were no joke. But that was all besides the main issue! It had only been a few minutes since the connection was cut off, and yet his main body already reached a Battle Power in the Middle Core Formation Realm!? What the hell had happened to make such a miraculous leap ur??? _____ Approximately 5 minutes earlier, during the killing of two cultivators in the Peak Core Formation Realm. WAAAA! The Crystal Elemental Qi violently swirled inside the Crystal Elemental Spiritual Pool as Lucifer attempted to advance his Crystal Elemental Body into Stage 12. The breakthrough went off without a hitch; however, the moment it concluded, something inexplicable urred at the core of his existence. OOOM! The Stage 12 Crystal Elemental Body and Stage 12 Fire Elemental Body shed with one another, seemingly vying for dominance! "What the hell is going on¡ª... Ahh, so this is the oue. Well, I can work with this¡­ I can work with it very well¡­" A creepy smirk spread across Lucifer''s face as he allowed the two conflicting Elemental Bodies to sh. After a few minutes of intense struggle between the two peak-level Elemental Bodies, wanting to determine the winner, the inner conflict finally came to an end. However, contrary to the belief that there would emerge a single victor, it was the impossible that urred¡­ "A source¡­ The power of Yin-Yang is truly something that allows a koi to leap through the dragon gate and be a true dragon." Lucifer gazed inside his Dantian Space, observing the result of the sh between his Crystal and Fire Elemental Body. At the center of his existence, right next to his brilliantly glowing Dantian,y another sphere of light. This one, unlike his Dantian, was far more mysterious. It was half purple and half red¡ªalsomonly known as a source! A source was the fusion of two contradicting aspects of existence. Whether that be the rtionship that oil had with water or even the rtion between fire and water. But in this particr situation, it wasn''t either of those. It was instead the result of what would happen when one attempted to reach the absolute peak of two different Elemental Bodies. ''The zing Crystal Source¡­'' That was the name given to thispletely unique source. A name that even his soul instinctively deemed to be the correct choice to name the first of many toe. ''With this source, my cultivation speed should have increased by leaps and bounds.'' ''In fact, if these sources are simr to what they were in my time, my cultivation talent should''ve significantly improved¡­'' Lucifer immediately opened his system interface and took a closer look at the Cultivation Talent Part. BLING! ...¡­ Chapter 44: Bout To Bust- Explode!? ...¡­ BLING! [Cultivation Talent: Low-Earth Rank] "Ahhh, a direct leap past the Common, Mortal, and Sky Ranks¡ªall from one measly source to boot¡­" Lucifer was pleased with this result. Not only did this mean that his cultivation talent was leagues above anyone else in this small backwater area, but it also meant that he had plenty of opportunities to ascend through the entire Earth Rank, maybe even reaching the Heaven Rank if he could acquire more than¡­ "How many would I need, anyway? 20? 50? 5,000?" Lucifer had no idea as to how many differentbinations he could create with all his Elements, but he knew that the number would be astronomical-! "Squeak!" "???" Lucifer''s thoughts were interrupted by a meek, squeaking sounding from his left. Upon turning around and seeing what the source of the squeaking was, his brows raised slightly. This discovery changed everything¡­ "A Spirit¡­ and one from a tribe that specializes in all elements¡­ What sort of bullshit protagonist plot armor is this???" He found himself staring at a small, iridescent, pixie-like creature with delicate wings and an adorable, tiny face. It was about the size of his thumb and floated in the air without even using its wings. Spirits were usually genderless, but it seemed like this one was a female¡­ Lucifer broke the fourth wall, giving his readers ''the look'', already knowing damn well where their mind went when they heard the word ''female''. "Bunch of degenerates¡­ Tsk!" He clicked his tongue before refocusing on the matter at hand. His hands left his back as he gestured for the Spirit toe closer. The Spirit responded with a slight head tilt, swaying gently from side to side, resulting in a slight bounce of its voluptuous breasts- "Perverts¡­" Lucifer made one morement while looking at a random cave wall. Then, he slowly walked toward the Spirit and cupped both his hands together. "Squeak?" The Spirit seemed to weigh its choices for a moment. It was only after it was convinced that the human meant no harm that it floated toward the crimson-eyed human. "Squeaky!" Itnded in Lucifer''s hands, quickly catching a whiff of something that smelled delicious. *Piang!* Without a moment''s hesitation, it leapt from his hands and darted into his trousers! "Ahh¡­here we go, another pervert?" Lucifer peered into the inside of his pants, watching as the Spirit yed around with something. "Oh no~! What''s happening to me~!?" He could feel something stirring, and without wasting a single second, he unloaded everything he had! "Mmfff!" The newly formed zing Crystal Source shot out from Lucifer''s groin and rocketed out of his pants before it hovered mid-air, with the female spirit holding it proudly above her bubbly expression. "It seems like you enjoyed doing that, huh?" Lucifer dropped the act of euphoria, taking pleasure in the tiny Spirit''s aggrieved expressions. "Squeak! Skueak!" The Spirit seemed to be slightly irritated that its skilled techniques had no effect on Lucifer. Yet, that didn''t stop it from eyeing the zing Crystal with a hint of avarice in her gaze. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and chomp away!" Lucifer uttered a series of words that made no sense to the clueless readers. However, the spirit knew exactly what he meant and eagerly began devouring therge source! "Nom! Nom!" The Spirit devoured something over five inches in diameter at a visible rate, absorbing its essence with each bite. And with each bite she took, the grin on Lucifer''s face only seemed to grow wider. ''Yes, yes, yes¡­ Eat to your heart''s content¡­ stuff your belly with all of my essence. I would like to see just how much you can take in before you explode!'' Lucifer cackled wickedly to himself as he watched the naive and inexperienced spirit devour his zing Crystal Source. _____ After a good 2 minutes of the small female spirit swallowing the zing Crystal Source down her throat, a vibrant glow began to emanate from her belly. "Squeak!?" she eximed,pletely clueless as to what was happening to her. "Seems like you finally realized it, huh?" Lucifer remarked from the side, watching as the glow within her stomach intensified. As the light grew, it eventually reached a point where Lucifer was ready to make his move and so, he lunged toward the spirit! "Squeak!!" ''Kyaa! Get away from me, you pervert!'' The Spirit spoke in ssic Japanese tongue as she tried to run away. But with her stomach stuffed, she had absolutely no chance of escaping the insatiable 6th Young Master. "Come! Explode for me! Let it all out on me! I can take it!" Lucifer deliberately kept a distance of a few inches from the spirit as he chased her around the Crystal Elemental Cave, seemingly trying to provoke a certain reaction out of her; his intentions unknown. "Squeak!!!" ''Aahhn~ Something''sing~ It''sing!'' "Goddamn finally!!" Lucifer extended his hands just below the fleeing spirit''s buttocks, eagerly waiting for the goodies to flood out of her! Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long. The fairy erupted in a st of iridescent light and shot out dozens of glowing spheres, all nearly identical to the zing Crystal Source. It was a mystery as to how she had managed to fit so many spheres inside her body, but none of that mattered in the least bit to Lucifer. He swiftly gathered all the spheres and transferred them into his Dantian. *Piang! Piang! Piang!* He didn''t miss even a single one; as soon as a sphere was shot, it was already inside his Dantian Space. ____ After a few minutes of catching all the Sources being shat out of the Spirit, Lucifer stopped his chase and watched as the Spirit spiraled to the ground. She appeared lifeless, but Lucifer was too preupied to notice. His Divine Sense scanned his Dantian Space, and the first thing he saw was 400 or so Sources, all of whichpletely covered his Dantian! They left not even the slightest room for his Dantian to shine¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 45: Unexpected Talent!? ...¡­ "That Spirit gave far more Sources than I had expected it to. It''s truly a shame that the scare tactic has a limit to its effectiveness." Lucifer briefly nced over at the dimmed Spirit before turning his attention back to the Sources he had acquired from the ''Spirit Dump''. Spirit Dump was the term that Spirit Hunters used to describe the process of feeding an iridescent Spirit something like a Source. If fed in a specific manner simr to what Lucifer had done, then the Spirit would unintentionally multiply the energy of whatever it consumed, eventually, it would ''Dump'' out whatever was causing its body to stay in a state of energy overload. However, unlike what the Spirit Hunters typically did when they found an iridescent Spirit, Lucifer took a radically different approach. Instead of the same energy being deposited from the Spirit, he infused it with his understanding of other Elements. Using these insights, he fed the Spirits a blend of various elements, all of which altered the oues of the Source Replication. This series of actions led to the artificial production of Sources, not limited to just the ming Crystal Source. To say the least, Lucifer had hit the jackpot¡­ "They say the chances of encountering an iridescent Spirit in a low-level world like this one are astronomically low¡ªso low that one might not even be able to find one in a thousand years." With this in mind, Lucifer carefully allocated all of the new Sources to ces where they would fit in just right and enhance his cultivation most effectively¡ªnamely, right with him! "The sma Gravitational Source goes right here¡­ The Snow Static Field Source goes here¡­ Aqua Thunder Source here¡­" Lucifer used his Divine Sense in order to precisely position the 80+ new Sources where they would best elerate his cultivation. Afterpleting the allocation, Lucifer opened up his system interface to take a look at the changes that had urred in the upper half of the tabs. BLING! [Cultivation Talent: Late Earth Rank] "Ahh, not quite at the Heaven Rank yet, but it''s surely getting up there. I think I can make do with this until I reach the Soul Transformation Realm. Of course, I''m not going to settle with this just because I can¡­" A cold smile crept across Lucifer''s face as he looked at the unconscious Spirit, thinking about how unfortunate it was that she was all out of juice. "Well, I can always keep her here forter. Once she recovers, I can just have her unload again." With these merciless thoughts on his mind, Lucifer walked out of the Crystal Spiritual Cave, heading straight for the Lightning Spiritual Cave. He was eager to see just how fast he could now cultivate with a Late-Earth Rank Talent and a stockpile of Late-Common Rank Lightning Pills. _____ After nearly half a minute of cultivating in the Lightning Spiritual Pool, Lucifer had a monumental realization. "Uhmm¡­ I think I''ve just broken through both the 11th Stage and 12th Stage Lightning Elemental Body¡­ What the F*ck!?" Although Lucifer had anticipated that his cultivation speed would increase by leaps and bounds with the acquisition of so many Sources, he never would''ve imagined the improvement to be so drastic! ''If it only took me 22 seconds to max out my Lightning Elemental Body, doesn''t it mean that I¡­'' FWIP! He immediately left the Lightning Spiritual Pool, dashed into the Water Spiritual Cave, and gathered the Water Qi in massive amounts. *Whooom~!* Within just a few seconds, the Water Spiritual Pool was drained of all of its Qi as it worked at full capacity to replenish what had been lost. After about 18 seconds, another miracle unfolded¡­ WAAA! "12th Stage Water Elemental Body¡­ Holy shit¡­" Lucifer struggled toprehend what the hell was actually going on with his cultivation! In just a matter of 50 seconds, he had managed to improve his Battle Power by threefold, and that was all thanks to a mere increase of two Elemental Bodies to Stage 12! "If I can get the rest of my Elemental Bodies to Stage 12, I can begin breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm¡ªand that too with an impable foundation." Lucifer muttered to himself before he shot into the Metal Spiritual Cave, not wanting to waste even a single breath more. After another 15 seconds of cultivation: OOOM! Lucifer advanced his Metal Elemental Body to Stage 12, setting a new record for himself! This revtion led to him immediately moving over to the Earth Spiritual Cave. In just another 12 seconds there, he reached the maximum level of the Earth Element as well! "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" Lucifer chanted those words like they were a divine scripture, his bare, chiseled body phasing from one Spiritual Pool to the next. As his Cultivation speed only continued to get faster and faster, by the time he reached the final Illusion Element, well¡­ he just couldn''t believe it¡­ "4 seconds¡­ 4 fucking seconds to jump from the 10th Stage of the Illusion Elemental Body to the 12th Stage!!" Lucifer practically shouted out in glee as he observed the inside of his body and saw that all of his Elemental Bodies were at Stage 12. This not only meant that he could prepare to make a breakthrough to the Qi Condensation Realm, but it also meant¡ª "Wait¡­ fuck me sideways¡­!" Lucifer pulled his hair in frustration, realizing that he hadpletely forgotten about the Space and Time Elements. He would need both if he wished to breakthrough with the most perfect foundation, but there was just no way in hell¡ª "Squeak!" "Squeak!" Multiple squeaks echoed from behind Lucifer, and he immediately swiveled his head in that direction, only to see his saving grace! That Iridescent Spirit was back, and this time she had brought her friends!? ''What a perfect fucking setup! I don''t care what kind of nonsensical plot armor this is; you sure as hell bet that I am going to take advantage of it!'' "Squeak!" ''You''re the one who did this to my daughter!?'' A starry-looking spirit floated up from the crowd of spirits, interrupting Lucifer''s thoughts. "Squeak! Squeak!" ''He''s the one, father! He did this and that to me, and th-then he¡­!" The Iridescent Spirit girl started tearing up, defensively cupping her breasts, seemingly trying to shield herself from the big bad wolf. "..." ''Bitch! You were the one who wanted to gobble up my stuff in the first ce! Were you under the assumption that everything in life was free!? If so, then go fuck yourself!'' ...¡­ Chapter 46: Bring Family Closer Together ...¡­ Lucifer was really beginning to feel an overwhelming urge to grab the Spirit and grill her on the stake for daring to spout such outrageous ims. He was aw-abiding citizen of the Fire Nation! To be criticized in such a way by a skank! Well, that was simply uneptable! FWIP! Before the Space Spirit even had the chance to begin his big mafia boss speech, Lucifer dashed forward and shoved a nk Attribute Source into the Spirit''s mouth. After that, he swiftly took out an empty Storage Ring and ced it right behind the nk Attribute Source. "!!!" "I''m looking to make a neat little cauldron, so swallow that sh*t and pop out some goodies for me!" Lucifer gripped the Spirit by his wings, ''assisting'' him in the consumption of both the massive Source and the Storage Ring. The reason for using the nk Attribute Source was quite obvious; however, the Storage Ring served quite a different purpose. Lucifercked the Space Elemental Body and anyprehension of the Space Element itself, so the only real option that he could rely on was manipting the space rocks that were used in forging Storage Rings! If he executed this with precision andbined it with the nk Source as a Source molder, Lucifer could create himself a Space Source. And he could do so without the need for any understanding of the Space Element! This quite literally altered all the ns he had for finding spiritual herbs of the Space Element, which he figured he would use in order to acquire a Stage 12 Space Elemental Body. However, with the appearance of the Space Spirit, which could be used as a catalyst, Lucifer now had everything he needed to acquire a Space Elemental Body! Now all he had to do was force the Space Spirit to fart out a Space Source of the nk/Space Combination. With that, he would be able to reverse engineer the base Space Element from the Space Source. As one might''ve guessed, this was an extremely unconventional way of going about things. But for Lucifer, it worked, and that was all he needed as motivation to do unspeakable things to a father right in front of his daughter¡­ "!!!" The Iridescent Spirit watched in horror as the devil force-fed her father, all while preventing him from circting his Qi. He did that by using some technique that she couldn''t evene close to understanding. "Squeak!" ''Father! Elder Time! Please, save my father!'' The Spirit girl cried out in desperation, ultimately calling upon the man whom she had been warned to never call upon unless it was an absolute emergency. FWAZIP! WAAA! "???" As Lucifer slowly guided the nk Source down the Space Spirit''s mouth, a light green aura emerged in the confines of the Spiritual Cave. "Squeak!!" ''Who dares disturb my peaceful slumber and harm my descendants!?'' RUMBLE! The abstruse concept of time itself erupted with full force, enveloping the cave in its entirety, leaving no room for anyone to breathe-! *Smack!* With a crisp pping sound, Lucifer appeared in front of the Time Spirit and whacked him across the face, sending the fellow crashing into a nearby wall. However, before a spirit-sized imprint could form on the wall, Lucifer blink-stepped once more and materialized in front of the Spirit''s trajectory. *sp!* He grabbed hold of the Time Spirit and pulled out another nk Attribute Source. Without hesitation, he force-fed the Time Spirit both the Source and a ssical watch, which just so happened to contain a faint trace of the concept of Time. "!!!" The Iridescent Spirit girl watched in horror as both her father and great-grandfather swallowed the objects that shouldn''t even be possible to slide down their throats. "Even though I had to strip two of my Sources of their Elements in order to obtain these nk Sources, it will all be worth it in the end." Lucifer continued his devil''s work as he ''helped'' the father and grandfather reunite with a singr objective. That objective: to swallow hisrge offerings and sh*t out what he needed, all in the pursuit of the Path to Infinity! _____ After a few seconds of assisting (torturing) the two spirits, Lucifer sped up the consumption process with a few more pushes. Eventually, everything went down, allowing the next step tomence. "Come on! Just digest and shit! Digest and shit! It''s not some Quantum Physics!" *Bang! Bang!* Lucifer kicked the choking spirits around the cave, trying his utmost to speed up the digestion process with some of his improvised, good ol ''Beat & Shit'' tactics. It was something he just made up, but from what he could tell, it was an excellent way to get things done. "Squeak!! Squeak!!" ''Stop hurting them!'' The Iridescent Spirit girl fluttered up to the towering human and started to furiously attack Lucifer with her tiny fists! "Hmm¡­?" Lucifer nced away from the people who he was trying to ''help'' with clearing their indigestion, only to see a tiny powerpuff girl hitting him. "It''s not very nice to hit people if you aren''t trying to ''help them''." A wicked glint shed in his blood-red eyes as he reached for the Spirit girl. Lifting her up by her dress, he said, "I bet you''re feeling oh so left out with your family having all the fun. But don''t worry; I embody the concept of equality! I shall have you shit out some loot as well!" "!!!" The Spirit woman attempted to flee the scene, but the big bad wolf''s grasp on her body had already reached a point where escape was no longer an option¡­ "Don''t squirm around so much," Lucifer spoke with a gentle smile on his face, holding arge Source over her mouth like the looming of the reaper''s scythe. "Squeak!!" ''Please! I''m sorry about trying to take your stuff! I can''t go again! I really can''t take it in me! It''s too big!'' "Hush now." Lucifer ced a finger over her small mouth before whispering, "It''ll only hurt at first. Just let it slide in~ slide in~" He then took his finger away from her luscious lips and reced it with the Source. "Just trust the process." "!!!" The Spirit Girl''s tear-filled eyes widened beyond belief as she felt the Source go down her throat, reaching depths she never thought to be possible! ...¡­ Chapter 47: Stage 12 Elemental Bodies Everywhere! ...¡­ After nearly a minute of watching the Space and Time Iridescent Spirits squirm and froth from their mouths, Lucifer finally obtained the result he was after. BLING! BLING! He now held two brilliantly dazzling objects in his hands; one was star-filled like the night sky, and the other was a light, flowing green. These were none other than the Space Source and the Time Source, each with the secondary Element of the nk Attribute. Which in other words meant that Lucifer now had everything he needed tomand the Space and Time Elements! "Time to grind!" Lucifer eximed, throwing the drained spirits off to the side as he started toprehend theplexities of Time and Space. It only took just a little over a fifth of a minute for him to grasp a rudimentary understanding of the Space Element, and triple that time for the Time Element. Normally, it would take dozens, if not hundreds of years for someone toprehend even the most basic of the Time and Space Elements. But Lucifer had aplished it in mere moments! However, nothing ever seemed to be enough for him. Even after cing the Time and Space Source into his Dantian Space, he yearned! He yearned topletelyprehend both concepts! With this mindset, he pushed forward, working on advancing both Elements to the stage of activating two separate Elemental Bodies. This process only took an astonishing 15 seconds, surely breaking some sort of record for the surrounding nations! Following the activation of his Space and Time Elemental Bodies, Lucifer advanced them from Stage 1 to Stage 2, then to Stage 3¡­ Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11, and then finally¡­ "Stage 12¡­ One and a half minutes¡­" Lucifer inspected the inside of his body and noticed the numerous stars and traces of time hiding beneath his skin. These phenomena forced a devilish smirk to creep across his face as the first thing he did was open up his System Interface. A bright blue and golden light shed. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/720] [Cultivation: 100% Marrow Tempering Stage (Body Refinement Realm)] [Battle Power: Absolute Peak Foundation Establishment Realm] {[Clones:]} [Middle Foundation Establishment Realm Clones: 1,000+] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 10 Quadrillion] [Clone Essence Bank: 500 Quintillion] {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???)] {[Elemental Bodies]} (Temporary Section of the System Interface) |Stage 12: Lightning| |Stage 12: Fire| |Stage 12: Light| |Stage 12: Darkness| |Stage 12: Shadow| |Stage 12: Water| |Stage 12: Earth| |Stage 12: Nature| |Stage 12: Air| |Stage 12: Ice| |Stage 12: Poison| |Stage 12: Mist| |Stage 12: Psychic| [Stage 12: Mud| |Stage 12: Steam| |Stage 12: Lava] |Stage 12: Crystal| |Stage 12: Wood| |Stage 12: Vine| |Stage 12: Sound| |Stage 12: Illusion| |Stage 12: Dream| |Stage 12: Gravity| |Stage 12: crity| |Stage 12: Metal| |Stage 12: Space| |Stage 12: Time| {[Prime Technique]} [Sword sh] [Peak-Common Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] __________ After reviewing his system interface, Lucifer realized that his Sword sh had unexpectedly upgraded from the Late-Common Rank to the Peak-Common Rank. However, in the end, he reasoned that this might be a side effect of acquiring so many Sources and Elemental Bodies. With that in mind, he focused all his attention on perusing his Elemental Bodies. Upon understanding that he had everything he needed in order to establish the most solid foundation, Lucifer wasted not a second more. He immediately began the process of advancing to the Qi Condensation Realm! "No time like the present, b*tches!!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, a crazed look on his face. WAAA! Qi, infused with all elemental traces, surged toward Lucifer''s solemn figure as he attempted to do something that had never been done in the Fire Nation! "Let''s see just how much pain I will have to endure to make a sessful breakthrough! I would like to see just what you weak-asses can do to stop my ascent to the peak!" OOOM! Lucifer allowed the various Elemental Qi to do whatever it wished inside his body. If he wanted to achieve a wless foundation, this had to be done! _____ After several minutes of excruciating mental and physical torment, Lucifer, the 6th Young Master of the Devildukes, finally made a breakthrough into the Qi Condensation Realm! *Whakazooom!* The Qi within the Spiritual Cave spiraled out of control, draining even a majority of Qi from the surrounding Spiritual Pools, all of which contributed to the creation of a massive 5,000-meter-high, multi-colored Qi Cyclone in the sky above. This Qi Cyclone quite literally drilled into Lucifer''s body, causing him to bleed profusely. However, no amount of pain could possibly hope to diminish his thirst for more power! Lucifer would walk the Path of Infinity, even if he were to be killed! "Truly, ''tis but a scratch," Lucifer muttered, blood streaming from all seven of his orifices. Despite the intense damage being dealt to him, he pushed the pain to the back of his mind and focused on guiding the flow of the atmospheric Qi into his Dantian, which would be where the Qi Cyclone would take shape. A Qi Cyclone was a term used to describe a congregation of Qi, where the Qi took on the form of a cyclone within one''s Dantian. Following the formation of your first Qi Cyclone, you will have sessfully broken through into the Qi Condensation Realm. From then on, you could start filling the Qi Cyclone with enough Qi, allowing another Qi Cyclone to form. After the second Qi Cyclone was created, they would immediately advance into the 2nd Stage of Qi Condensation, and this pattern would stay true until one eventually reached the 12th Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Anything after that point was for a future that was quite a bit away for Lucifer, so let us resume the end of the breakthrough into the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation. ...¡­ Chapter 48: 1st Qi Condensation Realm, Massive Divine Sense ...¡­ OOOM! Lucifer sat in a lotus position, allowing his body to be shredded and destroyed. All of this was a painful process, but all was worth it in the end as he was on the verge of a breakthrough! After a moment or two of enduring the fluctuating intensity of the multi-colored Qi, everything finally came to a close¡­ Waa¡­ The Qi within the air plummeted from 11 to 1 in the blink of an eye, subsequently resulting in the dispersion of Qi around Lucifer''s body. "The breakthrough went off without a hitch, and my strength has improved by a marginal amount. But, eh¡­ It feels like something is off¡­" Lucifer scanned the Spiritual Cave, his piercing gaze conveniently sweeped over the unconscious spirits as he attempted to find something. He felt like something was there¡­ something that he needed¡­ "Well, maybe it''s just this body''s libido¡­ I mean, the boy was a virgin before now, so it makes sense that he''s actively trying to find something. Probably trying to find a maiden." Lucifer lightly shook his head, more than a little disappointed in the original owner of this body. "Maidenless at the age of 18. Tsk tsk. What a terrible excuse for a rich young master." He clicked his tongue a few times before getting up off the ground, watching the grimy ck substances slither down his body. Drip Drip Drip These impurities were the remnants of what was expelled from the body for the first few Mortal Realms. To Lucifer, however, they were just another resource he could use to concoct pills! Nothing should be wasted! All benefits would be his! Lucifer knew how to clean his te until it turned sparkly clean, and the impurities from his body were no exception to that principle. After all, they could be used in the creation of a variety of unique poisons¡­ "Well, I can have a few clones handle the poison-makingter. But for now, I think I will¡­ Hmm, what should I do?" He surveyed his surroundings with his genuine Divine Sense, quickly realizing that he could see up to a mile away, which was to say that his Divine Sense was more than 1,000 timesrger than an average Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator! Normally, one would be categorized as an ordinary Qi Condensation Realm Cultivator if one possessed a Divine Sense with a radius of 2 meters. Geniuses, on the other hand, would normally have a Divine Sense with a radius of 10-20 meters. And then there was Lucifer¡­ A 1+ mile radius¡­ That was just absurd! Furthermore, it wouldn''t stop with just that; his Divine Sense would surely grow stronger with each advancement he made on his path of cultivation! Nevertheless, all of this was not relevant to the n since Lucifer was still trying to figure out what he should be doing next¡­ _____ "Hmm¡­ Maybe I should go out and fight to earn the respect of my parents and family or something. I guess that could work toward the main goal¡­" *Piang! Piang!* Lucifer tossed a rock against a cave wall as hey on the ground in aid-back manner, contemting a number of options. "I could do that, but it honestly sounds like a lot of needless work on my part¡­" His thoughts drifted to many things, eventually stopping at his clones, and he decided to recall them first. Of course, to get them back without raising any suspicion¡­ Well, he couldn''t think of anything on the spot, so he just went with the simplest method. SPURT! Simultaneously, over a thousand Late Foundation Establishment Rank Clones rushed up toward powerful Spiritual Beasts, diving straight into their gaping mouths. And just before they met their demise, Lucifer de-assimted them, retrieving their essence. It was only after all of the Clone Essence returned to him that he took a nce at the price of his Clone Purchase. And dear lordy me jesus, it nearly gave him a heart attack right there! Thud! Lucifer copsed to the floor from his lying position, reeling from the shock that came along with the revtion of the exorbitant price per clone. "No wonder a few of my Clones had such a strong reaction to my sudden breakthrough¡­ It turns out all parts of my mind were thinking the same thing¡­ Because what the fuck is this!?" Lucifer saw at least 15 zeros before he could see the first number, not even having the guts to count them all! "W-Well, I''m sure I can still afford to buy a few even if they now cost 100 Sextillion a pop¡­ surely¡­" After checking his total Clone Essence Bank, he realized that he had more than enough to buy a few thousand clones. This realization brought some relief to him and his brows rxed as he pumped around half his Clone Essence into purchasing clones. Then, he decided to fully open his system interface to see just what else had changed. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/3250] [Cultivation: 1st Stage Qi Condensation Realm] [Battle Power: Middle Core Formation Realm] ¡ª--- {[Clones:]} [Middle Core Formation Realm Clones: 15,000+] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 100 Sextillion] [Clone Essence Bank: 1.5 Nonillion] ¡ª--- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) ¡ª--- {[Mystic Confluence:]} [1st Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100 Nonillion] (Culmination of all previous Elemental Bodies - enhances bodily strength) ¡ª--- {[Prime Technique:]} [Sword sh] [Peak-Common Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] __________ "Ai¡­ Well, this isn''t so bad. At least my lifespan and Battle Power are slowly but surely improving," Lucifer mused with a nod before closing the system interface. He looked around the Spiritual Cave, entertaining the notion that some more cultivation couldn''t possibly harm him, but then a thought struck him. "No! You must fight!" Lucifer snapped himself away from the thought of sitting in a cave and cultivating for eternity. He had things to aplish with his main body! "This is the perfect time to be taking advantage of my family, and I must not squander it." With determination, Lucifer walked out of the cave, heading for the nearest explosions, eager to find someone worth exploiting. ...¡­ Chapter 49: Holding Back, Then Striking Back! ...¡­ By the time Lucifer arrived at the scene, one could say that he was pleasantly surprised to find out that his father was engaged in a battle with a wizened old man who wore blue robes. This was Shin Bo, one of the top three leaders in the operation. At that moment, Shin Bo and Lucifer''s father were locked inbat on the ground, repeatedly sending each other flying through the air using various powerful, high-level techniques. Their shes left gaping holes in the sides of mountains, yet they would always reemerge from the other side with an even greater determination to continue the fight. From what Lucifer could discern, both were at the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm, thus equally matching their Battle Power. "Maybe I should interfere¡­?" Lucifer mused, raising an eyebrow as he watched the two godlike figures sh on the ground, his eyes gleaming with the possibility of profit. "Nah, that probably wouldn''t end well¡­" In the end, he shook his head in resignation. Although he was confident in his current strength, he knew that there was just no way in hell that he could hope to benefit anything from a battle at this level. This fact was further reinforced with the arrival of countless onlookers, all of whom were in or above the Late Core Formation Realm! This sight forced a small frown to appear on Lucifer''s face, displeased that he had missed such a great opportunity. However, in the end, he knew the importance of patience, and now was simply not the time to fight. With this in mind, Lucifer walked away from the tree canopy he had been standing on and walked away. His destination was a different battlefield, where he sensed several dozen Core Formation Realm Experts engaged inbat. Among them, he recognized a rather familiar aura. One that might require the use of his main body¡­ _____ After gliding through the air undetected for a few seconds, Lucifer ultimately reached his destination. Which to his surprise, just so happened to be where his mother and a few of his cousins were fighting. Who were they fighting? Well, of course, it was more experts from the Water Nation, all riding on top of massive Spiritual Beasts that breathed fire and threw spells at all their enemies. "Now this¡­ This, I can gain some benefits from," a cold smile crept up Lucifer''s face as he snuck around to the rear of the ongoing battles. He found himself right behind the butt of a giant boar monster and its rider. This was clearly some form of rear guard for the Water Nation, but for Lucifer, it was an opportunity! With both the bear and its rider in the Late Core Formation Realm, Lucifer knew that he had to y his cards right. Luckily, he did this quite easily. He tiptoed toward the towering, two-hundred-meter beast, carefully positioning himself. When he was just a few inches away from the enormous boar, he unsheathed his sword! "!!!" "!!!" Both the boar and its rider sensed the killing intent erupting behind but by the time they could even think of reacting, Lucifer shed deeply into the soft tissue of the boar''s back left ankle. SPURT! Blood gushed from the wound as the beast''s leg was nearly severed at the base! "ROAARGGHH!!" The Boar roared in agony. THUD! It toppled over, crashing to the ground and falling onto its butt, instantly flinging off the Water Nation Rider! FWIP! The rider had no trouble teleporting out of midair, reappearing on the boar''s rear, searching for whoever dared to provoke his Spiritual Beast. "To have the balls to attack my Spiritual Beast! You are surely courting death!!" The Water Nation Rider scanned the surroundings, desperately trying to spot any trace of the unseen assant. But to no avail¡­ "Where the hell are you, bastard!!?" "I''m right here." "!!!" A raspy voice hissed out from behind the Water Nation Rider as he swiveled his head behind, only to realize that it was the worst possible mistake he could''ve made. SPURT! A de hurdles from behind, aiming straight for his stomach! "!?!?" Sensing another deadly intent emerge from where he just turned, the rider whipped his head once again. But just as he was about to take care of the second attacker, yet another sword aura of equal ferocity appeared from a different direction. And then another¡­ and another¡­ and another, and another, and another¡­from every direction! "!?!?" The Water Nation Rider had spun his head around so many times that he had started to get dizzy, forcing his mind to falter just as his body struggled to keep up. Add that to the fact that there were already more than 100 Middle Core Formation Realm Killing Intents locked onto him, and well¡­ This buddy was absolutely fucked. He was fucked beyond belief. SPURT! SPURT! SPURT! SPURT! SPURT! SPURT! The Water Nation Expert was prated so many times that even a slutty whore would lose out in pration count. Suffice it to say, the Water Nation bozo was dead, with no hope for resurrection. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Late Core Formation Realm Water Nation Rider!] [Ding! You have obtained 10.2 Septillion Clone Essence!] As these system notifications echoed in his mind, Lucifer approached the rider''s corpse and absorbed his essence. WAAA! This immediately resulted in a massive surge in his cultivation base! "Devil Arts truly are the greatest thing to evere to existence." Lucifer sported a wide, toothy grin, feeling his cultivation rise to the Peak of the 2nd Stage of Qi Condensation! With this boost in cultivation, he looked inside his Dantian Space and noticed that his first Qi Cyclone had already been fully charged and his second Qi Cyclone was on the verge of overflowing! "This is a nice little boon¡­" Lucifer also sensed that his Battle Power was verging on the Late Core Formation Realm. It wasn''t wrong to say that everything was falling right into ce. Following the appraisal of his most recent benefits, Lucifer turned his attention to the injured Boar Beast. He decided to quickly put an end to its suffering with a few¡­ hundred cuts... ...¡­ Chapter 50: Bippity, Boppity, Your Cultivation Is Now My Cultivation! ...¡­ SLASH! SLASH! "Damn! This beast is impossible to kill! Why the hell is its hide so damn tough!?" Lucifer and his clones had been relentlessly hacking at the beast for thest half minute, but it just refused to die! This only led to the Boar experiencing prolonged agony. By the time the creature finally sumbed, its hide and body were in such a poor condition that it would be useless to try and sell it on the market. This led to a bit of frustration for Lucifer. But in the end, he concluded that the corpse would serve best as a cultivation booster. So that''s exactly what he did¡­ FWAZOOOM! Lucifer unleashed a massive beam of crimson light, immediately striking it to the side of the boar and draining everything from its insides. Soon, the massive, mutted beast withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye. By the time the sucking session finally came to an end, the boar crumbled to dust while Lucifer watched as his cultivation surged once more! {[Peak of the 2nd Stage of Qi Condensation]} {[Initial 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation]} {[Early 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation]} {[Middle 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation]} His cultivation solidified in the middle portion of the 3rd Stage of Qi Condensation! OOOM! Lucifer could sense that his aura had intensified. With this newfound strength, he could easily deal with someone in the Late Core Formation Realm without much trouble. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Spiritual Beast in the Late Core Formation Realm!] [Ding! You have obtained 6.5 Septillion Clone Essence!] As the system notifications echoed in his mind, Lucifer''s thoughts drifted to a peculiar topic. "Hmm¡­ I wonder if the price of my clones has gone up any¡ª" And he instantly regretted it. He honestly shouldn''t have said what he did, for when he saw the 10 Septillion Clone Essence Price Tag, he screamed¡ªbloody robbery! "To spike the price up by a hundredfold from a single Minor Realm advancement¡­! What the hell is wrong with this world''s economy!?" Lucifer just couldn''t believe this nonsense! $10 for a carton of eggs was bad enough, and now he had this bullsh*t intion to worry about!? He swore on Skibidi that if he ever found the son of a bitch who made these ludicrous prices, he''d skin them alive! But for now, he had no other choice but to suck up¡­ BING! BING! Lucifer spammed the purchase button while simultaneously de-assimting all the clones he had out on the field. Once the transactions were done and over with, he acquired a total of around 200 Late Core Formation Realm Clones. Of course, there were still a few thousand Middle Core Formation Realm Clones ving away at Alchemy and selling goods, but the main power force now rested with these 200-odd Clones, all of whom he promptly summoned. BLING! Roughly 210 Late Core Formation Realm Clones were conjured from who the fuck knew where. After which, they were ordered by Lucifer to go and well¡­ kill sh*t. That was the gist of it, and it refused to be expanded upon. So with the only goal of murder on their minds, the Late Core Formation Realm Clones scoured thends, hunting for any potential prey. It took no more than a couple of seconds for the system notifications to flood in. And they did so in droves. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 22 Water Nation Cultivators in the Early Core Formation Realm. The reward is 110 Sextillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 4 Water Nation cultivators in the Middle Core Formation Realm. The reward is 2 Septillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 25+ Spiritual Beasts of the Early and Middle Core Formation Realm. The reward is 1.5 Septillion Clone Essence!] Lucifer reclined in an illusory chair he conjured from Narnia and watched as all the system notifications bombarded him. For him, nothing was more satisfying than watching explosions go off in the distance, all while growing stronger with each one that went off. After letting the pop-ups stack for a few minutes, he let them resume all at once, absorbing the massive influx of Clone Essence. BLING! [Ding! In total, you have gained 8.5 Nonillion Clone Essence over thest 3 minutes and 48 seconds!] As this final notification echoed, Lucifer stood up from his chair and made his way toward a certain location¡ªa deep chasm on the eastern side of the Great Mormonga Forest. It was also a ce where a mountain of bodies awaited him¡­ "Doo do di doo, bippity boppity, your cultivation is now my cultivation." Lucifer chanted while he gazed at the thousands of humans and Spiritual Beast Corpses alike. These were all the spoils his ''Battle Clean Up Clones'' had managed to gather. To be specific, these were all killed over thest four minutes. But it wasn''t like their appearances or names mattered for Lucifer. With a demonic disposition, he unleashed the same demonic beam of condensed light he had used earlier. The beam of condensed energy drained away absolutely everything that once made up the existences in the pile of bodies, leaving nothing behind. By the end of this prolonged sucking marathon, Lucifer''s cultivation started to spiral out of control! {[Late 3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm]} {[Peak 3rd Stage Qi Condensation Realm]} {[Initial 4th Stage Qi Condensation Realm]} {[Middle 4th Stage Qi Condensation Realm]} {[Peak 4th Stage Qi Condensation Realm]} Finally, after everything was said and done, his cultivation settled firmly at the absolute peak of the 4th Stage Qi Condensation Realm! Although his Battle Power had yet to reach the Peak Core Formation Realm, it likely wasn''t very far from there. But for that point toe around, well... Lucifer would need more loot bags for his clones to kill¡­ "They can gather more loot bags for my Loot Pile," he mused, "While I further consolidate my cultivation." Despite the power of the Demonic Technique ''Demon Assimtion'' being very good in rapidly increasing cultivation, it still required the user to solidify their foundations. For most, this would be aplicated and arduous process. However, for Lucifer, it was as simple as circting the ''Elusive Ascension'' Technique. If one recalled, this technique was something that allowed the user to actively cultivate, even without the proper lotus form bullsh*t. It was a perfect method for Lucifer to use while he slept¡­ Some might think that he was justzy¡­ And they would be correct! But did Lucifer give half a fuck as to what someone else thought about him!? The answer was no! Not in the slightest! ...¡­ Chapter 51: Even While Slumbering, I Grind ...¡­ "The grind is infinite, and even in my divine slumber, I grind¡­ This is truly the epitome of relentless grinding¡­" Lucifer muttered to himself while dozing off with a hat over his head and his body leaning against a sturdy stone wall. Though it was dark and dreary in the depths of the chasm, it still remained the absolute best spot to grind without any disturbance. It was this reassurance that led to the subtle passing of time going unnoticed. As the skirmishes between the Water Nation and the Devilduke Family raged on, Lucifer continued to cultivate in his sleep. He strived for perfection, and to do that, he was willing to do whatever was necessary. _____ Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Lucifer had long since consolidated his cultivation and was now aiming to make a breakthrough to the 5th Stage of Qi Condensation. It didn''t take very long for his goal to be aplished. By the 18-minute mark, he had achieved the breakthrough without a hitch. The result of this de was the condensation of the 5th Qi Cyclone as well as a boost in Battle Power! "The 5th Stage of Qi Condensation¡­ Hmm¡­ Not good enough¡­ It just isn''t f*cking good enough!" Lucifer jumped off the ground, leaping off a wall like a broken coil! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A series of sonic booms trailed behind him as he shot in the direction of an ongoing battle between one of his cousins and a Late Core Formation Realm Expert. "!?!?" "!?!?" Both the Late Core Formation Realm Experts turned toward the source of those explosions. Neither of them expected a third contender, but if he came to fight, then they would fight! SHING! SHING! All it took were two crisp sword shes for both the Devilduke Master and the Water Nation Expert to be sliced up into countless pieces! [Ding! You have killed two cultivators in the Late Core Formation Realm. The reward is 32 Septillion Clone Essence!] FWIP! Lucifer absorbed the essence from their bodies before moving on to the next group of cannon fodder. By doing this, his clones learned from his actions and mimicked them. In a way, he was essentially teaching an AI system more information. With this knowledge, the clones were able to speed up the killings. After a good five minutes, more than 20,000 corpses had piled up in the Loot Chasm. Upon noticing the mountain of bodies that had stacked up in the Loot Chasm, Lucifer returned at once. Of course, the first thing he did after returning was gazorp up all of the loot bags using ''Demon Assimtion''. That was when the cultivation advancements once again started to roll in! {[Middle 5th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Late 5th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Absolute Peak 5th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Early 6th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Middle 6th Stage Qi Condensation]} Even with so many corpses in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Realm, Lucifer''s cultivation had reached a point where he needed far stronger enemies to make any substantial improvements. It wasn''t wrong to say that he needed to find higher-level grinding spots if he wished to continue the eternal grind. The only ce he knew of that could provide him with the necessary cannon fodder was beyond the limits of the Fire Nation¡ªthe God''s Chasm! Lucifer had always nned to go there, but now, it seemed like that day wasing sooner than what he had expected. After all, a man needed to grind. To prevent one from grinding to his heart''s content? Well, that should be a capital offense! Despite all this, Lucifer still had a war that he wished to settle. And to do that, he had to leave his chasm and summon a shitton of Peak Core Formation Realm Clones! "Wait¡­ The Price¡­ How much are they?" Lucifer opened up his system interface, wanting to take a quick sneak peek at the surely affordable pricing. BLING! __________ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/6500] [Cultivation: 6th Stage Qi Condensation Realm] [Battle Power: Peak Core Formation Realm] ¡ª---- {[Clones:]} [Late Core Formation Realm Clones: 800+] ¨C [Can begin to summon Peak Core Formation Realm Clones] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 1 Nonillion] [Clone Essence Bank: 75 Nonillion] ¡ª---- {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) ¡ª---- {[Mystic Confluence]} [1st Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100 Nonillion] (Culmination of all previous Elemental Bodies - enhances bodily strength) ¡ª---- {[Prime Technique]} [Sword sh] [Peak-Common Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] __________ "Affordable my ass!! What the hell is this hogwash, Harry Potter bullshit!?" Lucifer was this close to sticking his fist through the blue illusory screen in front of him, but he held himself off on ount of all the benefits the system had given him so far. "Well, at least the plus side is that I can still keep the majority of my current clones. After all, the amount of Clone Essence they will give on de-assimtion won''t help me much¡­" He tried to think optimistically and bit down on his lips while purchasing more than 40 Peak Core Formation Rank Clones. FWIP! As soon as the clones materialized from thin air, Lucifer sent them to chase down any Peak Core Formation Realm and below Experts. Whether they were from the Water Nation or the Devilduke Family, it didn''t matter to him. With this intent clear at the forefront of his mind, Lucifer watched as every one of his clones blurred from their spots, each fully aware of what they had to do¡­ As for the main body, well, Lucifer preferred to take a moreid-back approach to the eternal grind. Instead of joining the battlefield, he chose to battle it out in thend of dreams- BAM! "???" A loud sound jolted Lucifer away from his well-deserved nap. Annoyed, he left the Loot Chasm, determined to figure out who had the audacity to disrupt his sleepy time. Tap Tap The moment he reached the world above, hended gracefully on the ground with elegant movements and the first thing he saw was a¡­ ..... Chapter 52: Wizards In A World Of Cultivation...? ..... "A Woman¡­!?" Lucifer''s gaze fell upon what appeared to be a half-clothed woman. She was a Jade Milf Beauty, and was slumped against a nearby tree. It was very likely that she had been just lucky enough to have escaped an intense battle. "Wait a damn minute! Is this some ''save the Jade Beauty'' shit plot event?" Before Lucifer could even finish his thoughts, a number of powerful auras suddenly emerged from the other side of a rocky mountain range to the east. "Oh shit! Who wants to guess where this is heading!?" Lucifer heaved a deep sigh as he approached the woman, resigned to ying the role that fate seemed to want him to y. He carefully pulled her off the tree and began to treat her wounds with healing magic. After some recovery, It didn''t take long before she stirred to the point that she barely managed to flutter her pretty little eyes. Upon opening them all the way, her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "...Are you the 6th Young Master¡­? What are you doing out here?? Y-You must run¡­! They areing¡­!" The injured woman clung to Lucifer''s robes and warned him with a grievous tone. Shepletely ignored the blood trickling down her lips, also conveniently ignoring the blood she was getting on his clothes¡­ ''This little slob¡­ What the hell is wrong with all the women in this Household!?'' Lucifer forced the most convincing smile he could muster, all while tenderly holding onto the smooth shoulders of the Jade Milf Beauty. "Listen, Aunt Bigbutt, you don''t need to worry about anything anymore. After all, I am here to save you," Lucifer whispered sweet notes into her ears, even as he struggled to remember her name. Of course, he failed terribly, but he managed to cover it up with a valiant exit. In his mind, he must''ve looked dope as fuck. However, the woman, whose name was Fu Wen, was far too distracted by the sudden presence of her nephew to care about anything else. Despite her confusion, she knew there was no way that he stood a chance against the people who had brought her to such a state. It was for this reason that she tried to warn him, crying out, "D-Don''t go-!" THUD! Before she could finish her warning, the exhaustion of thest hour overwhelmed her at once, forcing her unconscious without any hope of resisting. _____ Meanwhile, on Lucifer''s side. Following his gant disy of the epitome of chivalry, he walked away from the unconscious Jade Milf Beauty. His destination was none other than the dozen or so Peak Core Formation Realm Existences, who were charging over the top of a mountain range. "Time to gang bang some loot bags," he muttered, a cold smile creeping across his handsome face as he vanished from his spot, speeding up to meet them head-on. Upon making it to the top of the mountain, he found himself surrounded by white, fluffy clouds and a group of Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivators from the Water Nation. They were all well into their stages and would likely allot Lucifer a good amount of loo- Clone Essence¡­ "Who are you, boy!?" an old man snarled, his expression livid, brows knitted in anger. This old man was known as the ''Lead Executioner'' of the Water Nation''s 7th Advance Battalion. His name was Ping Yin. He had long white hair and an even longer beard as well as a number of warts and lumps on his weirdly shaped face and body. Add that to the terrible posture he possessed, and a bonafide creep was born. "...So¡­ Do you know anything about a Lord, some rings, and a wizard? Just curious¡­" Lucifer''s question reached Ping Yin''s ears, eliciting a confused gaze from the old man. "???" Although he had no idea what any of those words meant, from the young man''s tone, Ping Yin unmistakably understood that he was being mocked. A deep frown formed on his face as his aura began to expand with immense force. WAAA! "Do you really wish to get in our way, boy!?" Ping Yin inquired, his voice oozing imperiousness, his posture suddenly straightening up like a freshly sharpened pencil. "Oh? Forget what I said. Surprisingly, you are quite lively for your age, but what doesn''t appear to be in proper function is that little buddy down there. I feel bad for whoever was unlucky to marry your toad-looking ass!" Lucifer ridiculed the Dumbledore-looka-like moron with one of his hands covering his mouth and the other pointing at the miniature ''shroom'' in Ping Yin''s pants. He''s clearly on the prowl, the same as these other geezers. And their target was likely none other than Fu Wen. ''Not that I care either way. But I did put on that whole cringy-ass y just a second ago, and there''s no way in hell I will let her get touched before I get my dues!'' With this thought in mind, Lucifer''s face darkened, and his smile widened. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" All of the Peak Core Formation Realm Experts sensed that something was up with the young man''s expression. They were soon proven to be correct when the young man in question vanished from their view in a blur. Lucifer''s first target was the seething old Ping Yin. After all, he was the strongest of the bunch and would most definitely be the toughest to bring down. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Innumerable sonic booms reverberated behind Lucifer''s elusive figure as he zipped through the speed stream. "Courting Death!!!" Ping Yin roared with an enraged voice, his aura instantly surging a thousandfold! RUMBLE! The mountain peaks quaked and crumbled as the wizard-like old man vanished from his position, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake! "It seems like you''ve got some fight in you, huh, old dude?" Lucifer''s face slipped out of the speed stream as he unsheathed a pitch-ck Eastern-style sword. SWISH! SWISH! His strikes were swift and precise, each one incorporating the full extent of the power of the Peak-Common Rank Sword sh. "You think these little party tricks will have even the slightest effect on someone like me!?" Ping Yin unleashed his own powerful attacks, drawing a long, intimidating Low-Mortal Rank halberd out of his Storage Ring. He wielded the dangerous weapon like a true professional, swinging it around with the skill of a kung fu master! After his shy little disy, he stopped the spinning halberd and pointed it in Lucifer''s direction. Raising one of his legs to the height of his chest, he spun around and kicked forth, bringing the full power of the halberd down! PHEWWWWWW The halberd moved so fast that a distinct whistling sound followed as it mmed downward! "Let''s see how you like my |Rising Water Dragon Plunge|!!" Ping Yin''s annoyingly loud voice boomed out after the downward sh of his halberd, and his smirk only grew ever morecent. He truly had all the confidence in the world, certain that there was absolutely no way that the young man in front of him could hope to thwart the power of his Rising Water¡ª SPURT! "Your naming sense sucks d*ck! Just look at my Sword sh! It''s in apletely different leaguepared to your pathetic excuse for a technique!" Somehow, Lucifer had appeared behind the overconfident Ping Yin, and in his hands appeared the same ck de, now dripping with the crimson blood of the once arrogant Dumbledore. ..... Chapter 53: How A Human Becomes A Monster ...¡­ "W-What-!? Cough!" Ping Yin coughed up a mouthful of dark red blood. He looked down at his stomach and saw a thin sword sticking out of it. This sight immediately caused his temperament to swirl out of control! This was followed by him grabbing the de and shattering it within his grasp, leaving the shards of the ck sword to scatter in the wind. "How Dare You!!!!" He bellowed at a decibel level bordering on insanity! His figure spiked and fluctuated as something inhuman was being conjured into creation¡ªsomething far from that of a sane organism. "Ho? It seems like he has transformed into some form of monster? So it''s like this¡­ not bad," Lucifer remarked, his eyes watching the 2-meter man spasm out and expand over 10 times his original size. RUMBLE! "Will Kill You!!!!" The devilish monstrosity roared, his voice traveling across an untold number of miles! "!?!?" "!?!?" "!?!?" Even the other Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivators that came with him were left ck jawed at the sight before them. How were they supposed to anticipate their elder brother transforming into a monster!? They were supposed to enjoy the curvaceous Fu Wen together! But now look at this sh*t!!! As their thoughts stirred and their bodies inched ever closer to an escape route, a few shadowy figures lurked in the crevices of space. They watched the Water Nation Experts with cold, piercing gazes, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make a move. CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM! With the eruption of a massive energy cannon attack by Ping Yin, the shadowy figures had all the distraction they needed. FWIP! FWIP! They vanished from their spots and took out Mid-Mortal Rank swords. After which, they shed out at the shocked figures of the Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivators! SHING! SHING! A few of them managed to react just in the nick of time as they nged against the iing swords with their own weapons. However, the more unluckier ones of the group were unable to even see the edge of the des as their heads were lobbed clean off. "Who the hell are you!?" "Do you know who we are!?" "I don''t think you realize just what sort of trouble you got yourself into with that attack of yours!" Out of the 15 Peak Core Formation Realm Experts, only 6 of them were able toe out with their lives intact. And of those 6, all of them were as haughty as they could be. "Hey, Dipshits! Do any of you idiots have any idea how to switch things up!? I mean, what the f*ck is this ''Who are we!?'', ''I am¡­'' bullshit!? Does not a single person in this god-forsaken world know how to speak anything other than thenguage of ''Young Master Peng''???" Lucifer was getting really sick and tired of all these copy/paste loot bags! Why were they unable to say anything that he hadn''t already heard a million times before!? "I don''t think you understand what we''re saying, boy! You are so rurally fucked when the rest of the Main Attack Force finishes cleaning up the Devildukes!" *Tick!* "...Okay, that''s the final straw. I have decided to take your binary, single-celled catch phrases and stick them ten inches up your a*sholes!" OOOM! Lucifer''s aura blew the top off the roof as this split consciousness went all out, instructing the other clones to do the same! After all was said and done, more than 15 Peak Core Formation Realm Clones emitted crimson red auras that extended to the heavens! Furthermore, there were 30 just like them over in the side of the battle with Ping Yin as well. Which was to say that 45 Peak Core Formation Realm Powerhouses were currently duking it out with the Water Nation, all of whom were clones of the same person¡­ Speaking of the main body, he had already slipped away from the battlefield for a brief moment. After all, he had some system notifications to look over and some clones to purchase. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 10 Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivators of the Water Nation. The reward is 35 Nonillion Clone Essence!] "35 Nonillion is not bad¡­ Just enough for me to split it in half and buy roughly 20 more clones." Putting this thought into action, Lucifer spent up 20 Nonillion Clone Essence and spawned in 20 Peak Core Formation Realm Clones. FWIP! FWIP! He had all of these clones set out to aplish the same tasks as the rest of the clones. Which, at this moment, was simply to keep the Ping Yin monster away from him- BOOOOM! An ear-splitting explosion reverberated outward as a meteor hit the ground with immense amounts of force! Except it was not a meteor and was instead one of Lucifer''s clones¡­ "Well, shit¡­" Lucifer looked at the gruesome sight of what should be a clone of his. However, the amount of blood and guts sprawled out on the ground outside the body left for quite the unnerving sight. He couldn''t help but think that this clone could''ve been him. And though he wasn''t one to fear away from pain, that didn''t mean he wanted his innards turned into outards¡­ After looking away from the scene, Lucifer was surprised to find the massive horned Ping Yin plummeting from the sky! "Shit¡­" Lucifer understood in that moment that he was in for one hell of a joy ride¡­ However, he was not looking to end up with the same fate as that clone, so he dodged out of the way. He wound upnding a little over two miles away, and when he saw the end result of that demon monster hitting the earth, well, let''s just say that he was not hoping to turn into a human pancake this fine afternoon. Did that mean Lucifer would allow this huge loot bag to get away from him?? Well, of course not! "Time to grind," he uttered, his body already phasing into the speed stream. The rest of the Peak Core Formation Realm Water Nation Cultivators had already been dealt with, so all 65+ of Lucifer''s clones turned their attention to the raging behemoth. ..... Chapter 54: Killing Ping Yin, Abundant Rewards ..... After a few minutes of back and forth between Lucifer, his clones, and Ping Yin, the winner was finally on the verge of being decided. Even though 12 of the clones died in this endeavor, Lucifer felt that he was close to tipping the explosive battle into his favor. "WORM!!!!!" Ping Yin roared, hisrge hands beating his spike covered chest as he looked like a demonic King Kong. Except he was the version of King Kong that was most definitely on steroids! "This big fucker just doesn''t know when to give up." SHING! SHING! Lucifer and all his clones sent out numerous fifty-meter wide sword arcs, aiming his and all the other clones'' attacks on the exact same spot. Ping Yin''s outer skin was extremely tough with the new transformation. Thus, focused strikes like these ones were necessary if Lucifer wished to get into the gooey insides of this stupid monstrosity. SPURT! It was only after the ten thousandth Sword Arc plunged into the deep wound on Ping Yin''s body that he finally fell down. Thud! The monstrosity died right then and there. With its Core shattered and its heart crushed, the existence known as Ping Yin was no more. "Do¡­ Do I wanna loot this freak? I mean, those parts on his back should definitely be worth something¡­" Lucifer contemted the matter of skinning some human/monster hybrid, ultimately deciding that it would be best if he¡­ looted the sh*t out of it!! "No matter where the lootes from, loot is still loot in the end!" Lucifer sang a quaint tune while shing away at the outer hide of the beast. Even though it was extremely tough to carve the hide and horns off its body, everything was worth it in the end. After all, these materials could definitely be used in the creation of a Late-Mortal Rank Treasure Weapon! Spurt! As Lucifer finished up the gutting of the monkey, a number of system notifications rang off inside his head. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Human/Monster Abomination that was one step away from achieving the Early Golden Core Formation Realm. The reward is 80 Nonillion Clone Essence!] "80 Nonillion¡­ Though it could be better, I guess that''s not too bad." Lucifer muttered to himself, quickly finding his way to the top of the nearest mountain. The mountain itself was in shambles, with holes and chunks of earth gouged out of every inch of thend. However, the setting sun to the west and the faint smell of embers made for the perfect ambiance. "That woman¡­ This is the part where I go and treat her back to health, isn''t it¡­?" Lucifer looked away from the setting sun, instead putting his focus on a woman leaning against a tree at the mountain''s base. She had somehowe out of the chaotic destruction without a scratch on her, which put a slight frown on Lucifer''s face. "If she got hurt some more, I likely would have benefited from another ''arduous'' healing session." He was sorely disappointed in the sequence of events, but that didn''t stop him from passing by the corpses of not only the gori but also of the other elders. He absorbed every ounce of essence they possessed in their bodies. After which, he walked toward the unconscious woman and watched his cultivation skyrocket! {[Middle of 6th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Peak of 6th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Initial of 7th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Early of 7th Stage Qi Condensation]} WAAA! By the end of the breakthrough spam, Lucifer''s cultivation firmly nted itself inside the 7th Stage of Qi Condensation. 6 of his Qi Cyclones were fully filled, while the 7th one was around a third of the way filled with Qi. As for his Battle Power, well, it was infinitely close to breaching over into the Early Golden Core Formation Realm! Lucifer would likely only need one more Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivator in order to make that barrier between realms vanish into thin air. "One more Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivator¡­" He nced over at the soundly sleeping woman. A woman that just so happened to be in the absolute peak of the Peak Core Formation Realm¡­ "Maybe¡­ Hmm¡­" Lucifer brooded over the choices he could make in this situation. He could kill her and obtain immediate benefits¡­ Or he could let her live and y the part of the Rising Heavenly Genius of the Devilduke Family. The first choice sounded quite enticing to Lucifer in the heat of the moment. However, he knew deep down that the correct option to make was theter one. Plus, all that acting he did earlier would''ve been for naught if he didn''t go through with a solid follow-up. With this in mind, Lucifer let a soft sigh escape his lips. After which, he took long strides over to the sleeping beauty. He proceeded to¡­ Whack! Whack! Violently p her across the face! "Whatzz da hell!?!??" Fu Wen awoke in a stupor, quickly feeling the stinging pain on both sides of her face. "Aunt, there was an extremely powerful monster that just passed by! But luckily for you, I took care of it lickity split!" Lucifer grabbed the puzzled and pained Milf by her slender arms, dragging her to a more discreet location of the tree''s shadowy canopy. "Trust me, Aunt Big- Aunt big¡­ beautiful aunt! I made sure to take care of the monsters that were after you! There truly is no need to worry about anything anymore!" He always forgot her name, and even if she told him her name, he would likely forget it all the same. "???" Fu Wen observed the ragged clothing on her nephew and smelt the fresh scent of iron-filled blood. Even though she was not there to personally witness it, she could infer what had urred. "Were you really able to defeat Ping Yin and the other Peak Core Formation Realm Water Nation Elders¡­?" She could hardly believe it herself, but there was no other reasonable exnation for what was happening. She would already be dead by now if Ping Yin was not somehow thwarted¡­ However, the question still remained¡­ ''How was he able to do it¡­? It shouldn''t be possible for someone as young as him¡­'' ...¡­ Chapter 55: Ruthless Aunt Bigbutt ...¡­ As Fu Wen''s thoughts stirred, Lucifer pondered over the next words toe out of his mouth. He had a few options here, with all of them leading him to some sort of trouble one way or another. However, in the end, he knew what path he should take... A truly spectacr path! "Of course I didn''t kill Ping Yinsers whoever! I merely took care of the weaker Spiritual Beasts that were looking to take advantage of your state of weakness!" Lucifer patted his stomach andughed, seemingly finding such an outrageous notion to be hrious. "..." Fu Wen analyzed the expression that her nephew was making and didn''t find him to be lying about anything he said so far. But the prime question still lingered¡­ "Then who was it that defeated Ping Yin and the other Water Nation Experts?" She inquired with a serious tone. This was a matter of grave importance, and there was no room for any lies. That was especially the case for family members. They were supposed to stick together and work with each other. However¡­ "Oh, of course that was the handiwork of my almighty master! He swooped in from the skies like an elusive immortal before killing those Water Nation plebs like weeds to the chopping!" Lucifer didn''t give a shit about being truthful with this dumbass family of his! It was with this uncaring nature that he exaggerated the events of this imaginary master of his. He depicted him to be a great man, one who knew not how to surrender and one who sat above the mortals like a supreme god! Fu Wen had a hard time believing half the things her nephew told her, but there was simply no other feasible exnation for her still being alive and well. So, in the end, she gave in to the ludicrous ims being depicted with gaudy hand gestures. Even so, she wished to meet this mysterious man who saved her life. Upon which, Lucifer responded, "My Master?? No, that cannot happen! He is a very busy man, and even I, his favorite disciple, am not allowed to be in his presence very often!" Lucifer dejectedly shook his head left to right, pondering the woes of being taught by a man too great for words. Once again, Fu Wen found everything hard to grasp. But if this master of his wished not to be bothered, then she would let the matter go. Instead of dwelling on something that she knew Lucifer would never openly disclose, she decided to ask a different question. "Out of everyone in the Fire Nation and even the surrounding areas, why did this powerful man¡ªabove the Golden Core Formation Realm¡ªdecide that he wanted you as his disciple?" This was the point that Fu Wen found most suspicious. After all, even though Lucifer had just recently started to show promise, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to garner the attention of someone in the Nascent Soul Realm. Even so, Lucifer''s response on this matter was one that cleared up all her doubts and queries. He said, "Well, I wanted to announce this at the next family banquet. But since you are the nicest and prettiest aunt I know, I will tell you right now." Fu Wen was pleased with the false ttery of the young man. However, when she felt her body get pulled in his direction, a hint of anger welled up within her. "You shouldn''t pull ady around like tha-" Lucifer interrupted her, saying: "Listen, the truth is that I awakened a Sword Physique, and it was because of this Physique that my master took me as his disciple." "A What!?" Fu Wen eximed, her voice loud and annoying. ''This Bigbutt whoever¡­ She''s so damn screetchy¡­'' Lucifer held himself back from telling the woman to shut up. Instead of speaking his mind, he said, "I awakened it less than a few months ago, and since then, I have been striving toward greatness! All to live up to the name and reputation of my master!" "T-To have a Sword Physique, even the lowest grade one¡­ That would indeed be capable of attracting the attention of a Nascent Soul Realm Expert¡­ But to think that a genius like that was born in the Devilduke Family¡­" Fu Wen started to incoherently mumble to herself, wondering what their next course of action should be. By that, it meant that she was contemting telling anyone else of this revtion. If it ever reached the ears of those with malicious intentions, well, the Devilduke family would likely disappear without a trace the following day. However, for such a scenario to ur, the Sword Physique would have to be at a high enough level. It was for this reason that Fu Wen asked, "What is the Rank of this Sword Physique¡­?" Everything hinged on this question, and if it was answered in an unsatisfactory way, then she might just need to make a drastic decision. For the sake of the family¡­ Only for a moment, a trace of killing intent shed past her dazzling eyes. Lucifer noticed this phenomenon, but he decided to ignore it. After all, he nned to take advantage of her in a way worth far more than her miniscule amount of killing intent was worth. ''If this bitch is ruthless enough to dispose of me, then I feel even less bad about what I''m going to do to this stupid ass ''family'' of mine.'' Lucifer inwardly smiled a cold smile¡ªone that held who knew what sort of shitstorm for not only the Devilduke Family but the rest of the Fire Nation. In spite of these well-deserved thoughts, he tightly sped onto Fu Wen''s dainty hands. As he locked eyes with her, he mumbled, "My Physique is only of the Early-Mortal Rank¡­" "The Early-Mortal Rank¡­" With the reiteration of these words, the killing intent hidden in Fu Wen''s gaze vanished without a trace. It was instead reced by a joyous expression. In her mind, even though an Early-Mortal Rank Sword Physique was nothing to cry home about, it was still good enough to allow her nephew to shoot up like a rising star! If he yed his cards right, he might even be able to one day reach the Nascent Soul Realm! In Fu Wen''s eyes, such a mystical realm might as well have been an untouchable myth¡­ If she''s able to get on good terms with such an existence, then she might be able to one day break through the bottleneck that prevented her from achieving the Early Golden Core Realm! With these intentions at the forefront of her mind, she looked toward her nephew with shining eyes. ...¡­ Chapter 56: Shadow Slave Organization ...¡­ ''Oh? It seems like such a discovery was enough to tip the table in my direction¡­'' ''This is very good.'' Lucifer pondered a great many things in that split instant, thinking about all the possible ways he could benefit from this sequence of events. In the end, he snapped himself out of his reverie. After which, he looked toward the Jade Milf Beauty and said, "If you could, can you keep this a secret between the two of us? At least until the annual inter-sectpetition begins?" "Keep it a secret¡­" A great number ofplex emotions swirled within Fu Wen''s head in that instant. She originally wanted to go to Lord Xiao and tell him personally, but since her nephew asked this favor of her, she had no choice but to reluctantly ept. Even though Lucifer didn''t care whether or not she actually stayed true to her word, after getting the confirmation, he yed his role in just the right manner. ''She shouldn''t be too suspicious of anything I''ve said after demonstrating everything in the way that I did. Now, I just need to get her over onto the ''side'' that she thinks I''m on.'' Lucifer nned to use her own mind against her, and he would do so in a way where he came out with 10000% of the benefits. The first thing he did to aplish this goal was inch closer to Fu Wen and start treating the wounds that he left there on purpose. "???" Even though the busty milf was confused about this action, Lucifer cleared up her confusion, saying, "It''s only natural that I heal up my lovely aunt. After all, we are on the same side now, are we not?" He shed a friendly smile before getting back to the ''taxing'' healing process, sweat beads pouring down his face. "..." Fu Wen thought it would be a bit harder to coax the boy into her good grace, but it seemed like he was more naive than she thought he was. ''If he''s like this, then I can surely find a way to use him toward achieving a breakthrough into the Early Golden Core Formation Realm.'' Even though Fu Wen was thinking about her own benefit, Lucifer was thinking along the same lines. With the only difference being that his aspirations would actuallye to fruition. While hers¡­ ''Well, naturally, she will burn, crash, and fall to the ground in a big fireball of zing glory.'' Lucifer concealed a hidden contempt within his blood-red gaze as he finished healing the stupid Milf. After which, he and Fu Wen moved their legs in the direction of where Lord Xiao and Lady Mu were fighting. Lucifer already asked Fu Wen to tell his parents that he was simply picked up by her in the aftermath of an intense fight she most definitely had. Using this method, he could sneak into the direct battle line and more effectivelymand his clones around the battlefield. If all went the way he envisioned it to, then he would be the one to benefit the most from this little scuffle between the Devildukes and the Water Nation! Of course, Lucifer still had to adjust to the situation if need be¡­ **** In a dark, misty tree area more than 10,000 miles away, a few cloaked figures materialized from the mist that permeated the ground floor. This was a meeting of the Shadow ve Organization! And what were they meeting about, one might ask? "The member we had attached to the 6th Young Master of the Devil Dukes has had her life signals go silent. She is hereby proposed dead." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Upon hearing the apathetic voice of the Head Assassin, all the other assassins had their eyes open wide in astonishment. "Code number #8954 was supposed to be one of the operatives least likely to get caught! How could such a thing ur?? Do we know of the reason???" Shadow ve #56 voiced his concerns with mild fluctuations in his misty gray aura. He was in the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm, so it was no surprise that even the surrounding topography was warped under the slightest release of his power. Even so, he was not the strongest one there, so he made sure to keep himself under control after the first outburst. "I know that she was an operative under yourmand, #56, but this is not the ce for you to act unruly. Do keep that in mind when moving forward." The Head Assassin of this Shadow ve Branch lectured #56 with an icy cold tone¡ªone capable of shooting out sharp ice daggers at all that heard it. With his strength being beyond the limits of the Late Golden Core Formation Realm, such maniptions of the Ice Element came as no surprise to anyone gathered here. However, that didn''t make the experience any more pleasant¡­ Thud! "I understand, Head Assassin¡­" Shadow ve #56 muttered to himself, clenching his fists as he sat back down in his seat. His expression morphed into one of rage, but thanks to his hoodie, he was able to conceal his immense anger. ''To kill one of my people¡­ When I find you, I will rip you into a million different pieces and spread your entrails across thends!!'' As Shadow ve #56 had his thoughts whirl toward a direction of no return, the Head Assassin took in the looks on everyone''s faces. After a second of silent brooding, he said, "Although we do not know how or why #8954 died, what we do know is that she left a voice message for us in the moments before her untimely death. The message went like such." The Head Assassin pulled out a transmission crystal and let it y out on the table made of mist. ''You¨C Ma¨C er¨C Luc¡ª tricked¡ª..." "That was where the voice transmission abruptly cut off. From what you all can tell, the wind was blowing extremely hard at the time she recorded this message. With this, one can infer that her death likely had to do with falling off a high ce, which would exin the distant voice. But regardless of how or why she died, what is truly important is the message itself. After all, a few hints as to the events leading up to her death could be gleaned from the words. Tell me, how many of you are briefed on the Devilduke Operation?" ..... Chapter 57: A Kissa*s Aunt, A New Plan ..... The moment the Head Assassin asked his question, more than half of the few dozen assassins raised their hands. This shocked the Head Assassin not a single bit. "For those of you who don''t know why we ce so much importance on the Devildukes, you just need to know that the Devildukes are one of the keys to gaining full control over the Fire Nation. As for why this matter with #8954 was brought to the board today, well, from the voice transmission, one can almost hear her try to say ''Luc'' and ''Tricked''. And then there was the ''You'' and ''Mas'' section. From this, we can surmise that the 6th Young Master, Lucifer, was what she spoke about in herst moments. As for why #8954 would mention the likes of what was previously assumed to be trash with a slightly above average physique, well, that is what you all are here to figure out." The Head Assassin took slow, calcted steps around the foggy table, coldly ncing at all the various Shadow ves under his rule. "#78, #65, and #56 will head off to the Fire Nation and investigate this matter right away. You may use your individual squads and any other means at your disposal to aplish the task. Only after you have figured out the precise details mentioned in the voice transmission are you allowed to return. If you fail this mission, you will be disposed of. That is all." FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! With the utterance of these orders, the Head Assassin watched as the 3 Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Assassins vanished from their spots. After they set out toplete their objectives, the Head Assassin moved onto the next topic for the day. "For the matter concerning the Shadow ves we nted in the Water Nation''s Royal Throne Room¡­" *** Meanwhile, in the midst of an ongoing battle between the Water Nation and the Devilduke Family, a young man with sword-like eyebrows moved through the Great Mormonga Forest. At his side, there was both a thin, pitch-ck sword and a beautiful milf. BOOM! BOOM! Explosions sounded off in the distance as Lucifer and Fu Wen both looked toward the source. The first thing they saw was a huge beam of ck energy sting a Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Expert into the side of a massive mountain. The man was being pushed up against the mountain by the energy beam. While being slowly but surely seared alive, his clothes were the first to burn and ke away. After which, his skin started to turn ck and peel off in great amounts. Thereafter, his brain matter and internal organs were the final things to be evaporated by the devastating energy beam. "That is the Head Lord''s |Darkstar Surge|. It is known to possess might capable of erasing entire mountain ranges and small cities. Furthermore, there are rumors of times where your father used this attack to push back the Peak Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators of the Air Nation." Fu Wen went on to go into great detail about the feats of Lord Xiao, speaking with a slightly haughty tone and her nose pointed to the sky. "Oh, is that really the case, Aunt!? That''s so cool!" ''Damn, this bitch is so far up my father''s ass. At this point, she might as well put on a strap-on and straddle him to her heart''s content!'' Lucifer was getting really tired of listening to the kiss-ass voice of this aunt of his. At this point in time, he really regretted not slicing off her head when he had the chance. Despite Lucifer''s grievances, Fu Wen wore a content smile on her face when she heard her nephew fervently agree with her points. It really made her reminisce about the time when she had a crush on Lord Xiao. She reminisced on a point in time before that whore sister of hers decided that she wanted what should''ve rightfully been hers! She was the first to fall in love with the Lord, so why was her sister the one to ultimately end up marrying him!? It didn''t make any sense! An irritated look emerged on Fu Wen''s face, contorting her beauty into a more twisted form. ''Umu?'' Lucifer observed the reactions of his stupid, big tit aunt and realized something quite interesting. ''Quite interesting indeed.'' ''So it seems this stupid rtive of mine has a thing for my sleeze-bag father¡­'' ''Well, isn''t this just perfect??'' Lucifer''s ns changed just like that, and he adjusted them ordingly. As the two of them continued to make their way up the side of the mountain, they spoke about a great many things. Most of which centered around the dense motherfucker that was Lucifer''s father. It was only after they descended into a deep bowl-shaped valley that the Sixth Young Master was able to obtain some respite from the dumb Milf''s ceaseless bbering. Upon passing by a patch of high stretching overgrowth to the left side of the valley, Lucifer and Fu Wen were weed with a bloody sight. "Pl-Please, no-!" Spurt! Lord Xiao stood over the corpse of a Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Water Nation Expert that he just decapitated. His expression was cold and devoid of emotion, while his de was swift and unforgiving. This was Lord Xiao. "Father, that was a truly magnificent kill! You showed that Water Nation bastard what was up!" A young man in gaudy clothes ran up to his farrger father, relentlessly ttering him. This man was Yang Mo, and he was the Second Eldest Son of Lord Xiao. He was also the one who instructed Yan Xue and Yan Chao to bully and chastise the 6th Young Master. With his cultivation being in the Late Core Formation Realm at the age of 87, he saw it beneath him to directly interfere in the matters of the younger generation. ''Even though he''s like that, it''s still apparently okay for him to cause trouble for the ''younger generation'' through idiotic methods like the maniption of his brothers.'' Lucifer truly disdained people like Yang Mo. One could even go so far as to say that he abhorred people like him. In spite of his feelings on the matter, he still walked up to the group with his aunt. ...¡­ Chapter 58: The Two Dipsh*ts Are Still Alive!? ...¡­ After making it a visible distance away, Lord Xiao, Lady Mu, Yan Mo, and various elders of the Devilduke Family shot their heads in Lucifer''s direction. They immediately wondered why the 6th Young Master was found with the illustrious Fu Wen. However, one person in particr was practically fuming at the top when he saw the gorgeous aunt standing beside a man other than himself! This person was none other than Yan Mo! Someone who dared to have fantasies about his beautiful aunt! In other words, he was a zing pervert! And of course, he was the first one to speak up about the arrival of Lucifer and Fu Wen. "Ehh!? So the battle has be so easy that even trash like you is able to stay alive for so long!?" Yan Mo strode up to the indifferent young man, exhibiting insane amounts of dispshitery! "Elder brother Yan Mo." Lucifer stood his ground as he looked his second-oldest brother in the eye. On the outside, this came off as quite the brave and stupid thing to do. But for him, it was simply another part he had to y in his long standing acting career. It didn''t take long for his efforts to bear fruit as Lord Xiao looked away from the Middle Golden Core Realm Corpses strewn throughout the war-torn battlefield. His piercing gaze immediately honed in on his sixth youngest son¡ªsomeone who had started to show promise over thest few months. With this in mind, Lord Xiao took heavy steps toward his sixth son. After making it a few feet away from him, he asked, "Why are you here? Are you not aware of the powerful forces currently attacking us?" Even though Lucifer was not for certain, he could most definitely feel that his father held a small amount of disdain in his voice. ''It seems like this bastard father of mine is looking down on my intelligence¡­'' ''Very well, then don''t me me for leading you and this family down the path of oblivion.'' Lucifer coldly smiled inside his mind before answering, "I was cultivating until just recently. But outside a Spiritual Cave, I saw the dead bodies of both Yan Xue and Yan Chao. I would''ve likely died myself, but I was lucky enough to meet Aunt over here! She was magnanimous enough to save me from the clutches of those evil bastards! I just feel sorrow for my brothe-" "We''re not dead, you fucking worm! And you''re the one who did this to us!" Both Yan Xue and Yan Chao shouted in unison. They walked out from behind their mother''s. While doing so, they held onto their sides, attempting to alleviate some of the lingering pain from the earlier throws. "Hmm¡­ What da fu- I mean, I''m so d to see that you''re doing fine, dearest elder brothers of mine!" Lucifer had in no way predicted this to happen, but what he was best at was going with the flow. In quick session, he slipped around his eyebrow-raised father, made it to the two brothers, and lightly tapped them on the shoulders. He did so unnoticed and as efficiently as possible. Within half an instant, he scanned through their memories and realized what had happened for them to still be breathing. ''It looks like these two Dipshits were given some absurdly high-quality equipment by their tramp mothers! Fucking great!'' Lucifer always seemed to overlook the extravagance of dumb Dipshits, and that would likely be his undoing one of these days. But for now, he tapped into their psyches with the soul string he left attached to them from their earlier battle. Following this action, Lucifer subtly mind controlled the both of them, having them do and say whatever he wanted them to from this point onwards. However, even with this subtle control of their lives, he made sure to keep it on the line of undetectable and detectable. Thest thing Lucifer wanted was some powerful Golden Core Formation Expert like his father to begin fucking around with his ns. After all was said and done, Lucifer utilized excellent and eloquent movements in order to circle around back to his father and silent mother. Thereafter, he put on the warmest smile he could muster and said, "What are you talking about, my dearest brothers!? To say such a thing about little ol me! With my meager strength, what could I hope to do against your overwhelming might!?" Lucifer appeared honestly hurt over the ''ridiculous'' drivel spoken by his elder brothers! How could they say such a thing!? Had he not been the best son and brother that any single person could ever hope and wish for!? One would find themselves in a pickle if they were asked to find proof of him hurting even a fly! And yet these two brothers of his were speaking about the attempted murder of two fleshy human beings! Truly preposterous! These were the feelings that Lucifer conveyed in his expression as he extended his hands and made exaggerated hand motions. One might think that this little charade would be incapable of fooling even a mentally handicapped chimpanzee. But fortunately for the eternal grind, all of his family members were dumber than the stupidest of monkeys! ''Say ooh ooh ah ah, bitches! Come on, fall for it!'' Lucifer chanted within his mind, waiting for the morons to take the bait. "Oh, maybe you are right, younger brother¡­ We truly were a little muddle headed after the Water Nation cultivators attacked us. But regardless of that fact, you must still learn to be more careful around these caring elder brothers of yours!" Yan Chao was the first one to speak up. His voice was slightly apologetic in the beginning and then domineering and young-master-like toward the end. Overall, the subtle brainwashing conducted by Lucifer was enough to have the two idiots at just the right level of character modtion. Which was to say that not a single person found their behavior all that suspicious. That was especially the case when everyone recalled the various scandles that Yan Chao and Yan Xue always found themselves in. On multiple asions, they would be seen drinking and sleeping around with whoever they pleased. In other words, their words were worth about as much as horse dung smeared in dog shit! It was also because of this fact that the mothers of both the men said nothing much when they told them of what Lucifer had done. After all, who would believe that a young man in the Body Refinement Realm would be capable of defeating two middle-aged men in the Qi Condensation Realm!? Was somebody trying to say that Lucifer managed to achieve a breakthrough into the Qi Condensation Realm so soon? Impossible! ...¡­ Chapter 59: 8th Stage Qi Condensation Realm ...¡­ After everything wasid out bare before the entire group, Lady Xiao, Lady Yu, the various sisters, and the other family members immediately grasped what had happened with their brothers. ''These idiots likely got drunk and left their bodyguards. After which, they probably picked a fight with the first Water Nation Expert they saw. Thereafter, they got their asses handed to them, and then those same asses didn''t wish to embarrass themselves any further by lying about something that could be investigated.'' ''This is the train of thought that I assume everyone is following at this very moment. And if my spections are correct, then that dense father of mine will answer with:'' "That is enough fooling around. There are still a great many Water Nation cultivators still left within ournds, and our job is to eradicate everyst one of them." Lord Xiao waved hisrge hands, immediately putting a stop to the small farce between ''insignificant'' characters. Following the utterance of his indisputable words, everyone tagged along behind him as he traversed thends and took care of any Golden Core Formation Realm Experts he found. During this trip, Lucifer made sure to secretly assimte all of the scattered corpses with his ''Demon Assimtion'' technique. Through the stupid OP applications of this ludicrous art, his cultivation skyrocketed beyond anything that he thought he''d obtain from this short hike through the hills! As Lucifer felt his cultivation grow unbeknownst to the eyes of anyone else but himself, he and his aunt answered all the various questions aimed at the both of them. Most were just curious how they crossed paths; however, there were some like Yang Mo, who were simply being envious shitheads. Lucifer passed off these r*tards with vague answers like ''If the moon permits it'' or ''When the stars align, that was when we met''. Yang Mo and the rest of the stupid monkeys were infuriated by these words, but Lucifer honestly couldn''t give a shit! Plus, Lord Xiao was always in close proximity, so none of them were permitted to act up too much. That was unless they wished to incur the wrath of the one destroying chunks of mountains left and right! He threw Golden Core Formation Realm Masters around like ragdolls! Even so, Lucifer was far too preupied with perusing his system notifications to care about the frustrations of his idiotic family members or even about the head of the family himself. In his eyes, they were nothing but monkeys, with some being slightly stronger than the rest. All of them would be loot in the end, so why bother with them anymore than what was necessary? ''Stupid monkeys¡­ I wish I were strong enough to turn them all into loot¡­'' Lucifer clicked his tongue while feeling another surge in his strength after absorbing the essence of a Late Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivator. {[Middle of 7th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Late of 7th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Peak of 7th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Initial of 8th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Early of 8th Stage Qi Condensation]} Overall, the end results were quiteckluster. But considering how much essence escaped their bodies before Lucifer could get his hands on them, what he got was rather fair and reasonable. However, in spite of the massive improvements to his strength, nothing ever seemed to be good enough for the benefit-craving Loot Goblin. Even during the ongoing killings of the Devildukes, he still had the nerve to send out all of his tens of thousands of clones! He instructed them to continue killing and not stop killing until he reached a Battle Power in the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm. Which, by his calctions, should be within the next few hours¡­ Lucifer wanted to go and consolidate his cultivation before making any further breakthroughs, but he couldn''t exactly do that without looking sus as fuck. So, in the end, he had to dy the inevitable. Even so, that didn''t discourage him in the slightest. After all, he still had far more benefits to obtain! Benefits! Benefits! Benefits! It was all about the fucking benefits! The grind was eternal, and the benefits were ceaseless. This was not a choice, but rather a lifestyle or principle that all those under the heavens should live and die by! At least, that was what Lucifer believed. ¡­ It had been more than 10 hours since Lucifer met up with the group that his family had banded together. Throughout this period of time, he managed to not only get his cultivation to the peak of the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation, but he also achieved fullprehension of his Sword sh! Of course, this was only limited to the ''Absolute Peak-Common Rank'', but it was definitely a step forward. And it was quite a big one when one included the fact that the Mortal Rank would be next. Which, in Lucifer''s eyes, would be a farrger step toward progressing his Battle Power into the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm. If it wasn''t already mentioned before, his Battle Power sessfully matched that of an Early Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivator around the 2 hour mark. Now, he was simply trudging his way forward, aiming to achieve a higher realm of power within the day! At least, that was what was originally supposed to happen¡­ CRACKA¡ªLACKA! With the crackling of arge mass of Lightning Qi, Lucifer and the rest were surprised to find an old man looming in the airspace above. He looked nothing short of a Lightning God in human form! His stature was tall, broad, and imposing, while his muscles were firm and defined. Add that to the half-showing, Olympic-like robes he wore, and a jacked as fuck old lightning bro was made! As for who this mysterious man was? Well¡­ "Lightning Lunatic, Jin Go," Lord Xiao muttered to himself, looking up to the sky with a cautious gleam in his stern gaze. "???" "???" "???" The rest of the group had no clue who this man was, but him to get such a reaction out of their Lord. Well, it didn''t take a friggin genius to realize that they were likely about to be fucked sideways! That notion was soon proven to be the case when, all of a sudden, Jin Go started gathering increasingly massive amounts of Lightning Energy! ...¡­ Chapter 60: Starting The Purge! ...¡­ CRAACCKKAA¡ª Lord Xiao knew exactly where this was going, and he didn''t like it one bit. If this attack were to go off, even he was not confident in the likelihood of him being able to protect the cannon fodder. Through this realization, he turned toward his wives and the various elders of the household, all of whom were in or around the Peak Core Formation to Late Golden Core Formation Realm. "This man is a hired hand of the Water Nation and is someone not originating from the Elemental Nations. His techniques are bizarre, and more importantly, they are powerful. If his attack goes off, you will die regardless of whether I''m here or not." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Upon hearing the dire words of their Lord, everyone immediately went on guard as they looked for an escape route. If their Lord said they would die, then there was no way in hell they were willing to fuck around and find out! Even Lord Xiao''s loyal''ish wives were nowhere to be seen the moment he said they would probably die. Nobody wanted to die! "Bunch of pussies," Lucifer mumbled under his breath, following behind a group that was away from his aunt. Which group was this? "You little bastard, you better not slow us down when we make it out of the Gulf!" Well, of course it was the Dipshit group, made up of a few Golden Core Elders, Lady Wei, Lady Yu, Yang Xue, Yang Chao, and thest little cunt! "Yang Mo, it seems that you are not doing well after those monster beasts attacked you earlier! But don''t worry, I will make sure to treat you extra well for this special asion!" "What was that, you dumb fucker-!?" Before Yang Mo could even finish what he was saying, the razor-sharp edge of a de came flying in his direction! "!!!" He tried to dodge, but it was already far toote for any magic-vanishing-trick bullshit! Spurt! Under the astonished eyes of everyone in the squad, Yang Mo was beheaded! His head was no more! That was what beheaded meant for any of those dumbfucks watching the current episode! "What the hell are you doing, Lucifer!? Do you have-" One of the Golden Core Formation Realm Elders aimed to restrain the out-of-control young master right then and there. But before he could do such a thing, Lucifer spun on his left heel, reaching the left side of the elder in half an instant. As the elder was in the process of activating a w capture attack called |Eagle Snatch|, Lucifer already had his hands dug straight into the heart of the old man! "Y-You¡­-" Spurtttt! Lucifer created a bloody sight of guts and gore as he pulled his crimson-colored arm out of the Elder''s stomach. Thud! As the elder''s corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud, Lucifer looked at the blood drizzling down his arm before turning his gaze toward all the frightful expressions in the fan stands today. "You all look like you''ve seen a ghost," he said, his lips curving up into a creepy grin. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" "Y-You Devilspawn! Have you been possessed by the devil!?" Lady Wei was the first to speak up in exmation as she pointed her trembling finger in his direction. Her voice snapped everyone out of their stupors as they looked toward the 6th Young Master like he was the Prime Evil! They had already overlooked his stupid level of strength. After all, if one were possessed by a devil, it was only natural to have strength far beyond the ordinary. FWIP! FWIP! Two more of the Early Golden Core Formation Realm Elders made their moves, all in an effort to attempt a subjugation of the devil-! Spurt! Both of the elders were in the process of sending out |Spiraling Tornado Kicks|, when, out of nowhere, tens of des plunged into their sides! "H-How could this be-!?" "Shut up." That was all Lucifer said before lobbing off the heads of both of the Elders, effectively causing their attacks to fail and their bodies to copse midair. Thud! Thud! Following their deaths, a number of system notifications rang out inside Lucifer''s head. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a cultivator in the Core Formation Realm and 3 cultivators in the Golden Core Formation Realm. The reward is 5 Decillion Clone Essence!] The announcement of this system notification was followed by Lucifer summoning another Clone in the Early Golden Core Formation Realm. These clones cost 10 Decillion a pop, so he didn''t have very many of them. But of the ones he did have, they were utterly essential when cleaning up the slightly stronger worms! "Say, do any of you know what happens when you allow a snake to develop in close proximity to a nest of birds?" Lucifer flipped his sinuous gaze across all those present, his eyes telling a story of their own. "!!!" "!!!" Lady Wei and Lady Yu had no idea what this lunatic was talking about, but they were 100% certain that they would die if they stayed around any longer than they had! "You six, go and distract this devil while we retreat and call for backup!" Lady Wei shouted at a few Golden Core Formation Realm Elders. As soon as she got off thesemands, she along with Lady Yu, Yang Xue, and Yang Chao ran in the opposite direction, fleeing the scene without a moment''s hesitation! However, in the midst of their escape, Lady Wei was foolish enough to look back at the Elders. "T-They... They''re all dead!" She cried out, stumbling over a tree root before falling into the grass. Thud! Wham! She bonked her head on arge rock and knocked herself out cold, all without Lucifer doing a single damn thing. "..." ''Is this woman really mentally handicapped¡­?'' Lucifer''s thoughts stirred as he pulled his ck sword out of the corpse of a Golden Core Realm Elder. After which, he and the clones shot their demonic expressions in the same direction at the exact same time. ..... Chapter 61: Disposing Of Family, Gathering Loot! ..... "!!!" "!!!" Yang Xue and Yang Chao had long since snapped out of their brandwashing as their faces turned pale and their steps became disorganized. In the end, they wound up with the same fates as their aunt, tripping over their own two feet and tumbling to the ground. However, in contrast to the bonking of their heads like what Lady Wei had done, these two made it out rtively unscathed. But that didn''t mean they weren''t still trembling in fear, practically pissing themselves to death! "I know you all must have had a hard time in this life. All that killing and sneaking behind each other''s backs that you did, trust me, Ipletely understand the hurdles that stood in your way!" Lucifer''s demonic voice inched ever closer to Lady Wei and the rest, his words etching themselves into their hearts like the spikes of the devil. "Pl-Please! My dear nephew Luci, can''t you see that we are your loving family!? You must resist the will of the devil!" While shuddering in ce, Lady Yu attempted to speak some reason into the ears of the devil, trying to find her ''out''-! Spurt! "H-Huh¡­-" Lady Yu wasn''t even able to wave her hands and stop the crazy man as she found herself staring up at her headless body. Before she fully died, she caught a glimpse of the devilish grin stered across the face of the Loot Goblin... BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivator. The reward is 2 Nonillion Clone Essence!] "Now that she''s out of the way, I think it''s about time I send the rest of you off to join her in the afterlife. What does ye have to say?" Lucifer asked. "B-Brother, won''t you consider letting us liv-" SHING! Spurt! "I was just kidding, lol." Lucifer suddenly appeared behind the blood fountain spurting out of Yan Xue''s neck, his hands elegantly swiping the blood off his de. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a cultivator in the Peak Qi Condensation Realm. The reward is only 200 Million Clone Essence. As expected of trash¡­] This pop-up was followed by Lucifer directing two of his Early Golden Core Clones to kill Yang Chao and the unconscious Lady Wei. "Ahhh!!!" While assimting the existences of a number of corpses around the battlefield, the soul-wrenching screams of Yang Chao and Lady Wei resonated with the battlefield. As this was happening, a certain system notification appeared in front of Lucifer. BLING! [Ding! You and your clones have killed enough for you to be granted your second Loot Halo¡ªWhite Loot Halo - 500% Loot boost!] "Ho?" As Lucifer snatched up the storage rings of the weak monkeys, he heard this system notification and felt another illusory halo form above his head. This one, simr to the first one, was only able to be seen by himself. "Well, this Halo will surely double my loot gains, which in turn allows me to greatly benefit. So, I guess¡­ thank you, system." He softly murmured this while carving away at the corpses, extracting their Golden Cores. BLING! [Ding! You are very wee, host! But still, go and fuck yourself!] Tick! "You know what, system fuckhead! Whenever I find a way to traverse into the diga-verse, I will find your cheap skate ass and drown you in a toilet!" Lucifer flipped off the smug system interface, watching as slight fluctuations rippled across its blue and gold surface. Thereafter, all the pop-ups vanished, and the 6th Young Master was left to look at all the dried-up husks around him. CRACKLE! He immediately decided to light them aze and watch their ashes fade to nothingness. "With everything finished up here, I wonder how the other clones are doing with their parts of the n." Lucifer looked off into the distance, checking in on the progress that everyone had made so far. With his dad preupied with the Lightning Lunatic, everyone else was left wide and open. In other words, they were ready to be converted into loot bags! BLING! [Ding! You have killed 6 cultivators in the Early Golden Core Formation Realm. After boosts, the reward is 40 Decillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 83 cultivators in the Core Formation Realm. After boosts, the reward is 2.2 Decillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 9,050 cultivators in the Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation Realm. After boosts, the reward is 1.5 Octillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 12 cultivators in the Early Golden Core Formation Realm. After boosts, the reward is 95 Decillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 2 cultivators in the Early Golden Core Formation Realm. After boosts, the reward is¡­] Lucifer spent the next couple minutes lounging on a beach chair, watching as the system notifications swarmed him from all sides. "Just about everyone in the Devilduke Family is either dead or on the verge of death. The only noticeable ones still alive at this point in time are the 24 Grand Elders, the 3 Supreme Elders, my mother, and my father. My mother is being guarded by 5 Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators, so I can''t get to her just yet. On the other hand, my father is caught up with the Lightning Dickweed, and the various Grand Elders and Supreme Elders are fighting those of simr strength. Which is all to say that if I wish to have the ''n'' go off without a hitch, I will need to first achieve a Battle Power somewhere in the Peak Golden Core Formation Realm." After weighing his options, Lucifer decided it was once again time to begin his cultivation sessions. His cultivation, even after the assimtion of all the corpses, stalled at the peak of the 9th Stage Qi Condensation Realm. Running low on avable corpses to assimte, the only option Lucifer had was to cultivate the old-fashioned way! - Upon making it to a high-level Spiritual Cave of one of the higher-ranking elders of the Devilduke Family, Lucifer got to cultivating right away. "With my Battle Power somewhere in the middle of the Middle Golden Core Formation Realm, I have a long way to go if I wish to reach the Peak Golden Core Realm before the end of this battle." Lucifer''s acute words were followed by him circting the high-density Qi from within the Cave Abode. WAAA! The Qi whirled in great amounts, all of it spiraling around a single man. Over the span of a few minutes, his cultivation started to progress at rapid rates. Before long, it broke all previous notions of speed, reaching for something seemingly beyond his grasp! ..... Chapter 62: 12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm ..... {[Early of 10th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Middle of 10th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Late of 10th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Peak of 10th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Initial of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Early of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} By this point in time, more than 50 minutes had passed inside the Cave Abode. This may not seem like much time in order to reach the 11th Stage of Qi Condensation, but whenpared to the seconds Lucifer needed before, it definitely jumped up a few leagues. It was because of this tremendous slowdown in cultivation speed that he decided it was time to begin condensing a few more Sources. However, since he didn''t have the Spirits anymore, the Sources would need to be condensed with pure, unadulterated elemental fuckery! It was unknown how Lucifer was able to aplish it, but as soon as he worked toward the creation of Sources, more than 10 were produced with every second that passed! By the time that the 2-hour milestone arrived, there were already more than 800 Sources scattered across the cave''s floors. All of them were of different elementalbinations and calcted mix-ups. Lucifer purposely mixed together more docile elements with other docile elements, while keeping the aggressive elements grouped up with aggressive elements. This was done so as to better facilitate a peaceful environment inside of his Dantian. If it was not done in this manner, then let''s just say that Lucifer likely would''ve exploded into a countless number of meat chunks. Elemental Convolution was no joke¡­ But regardless of what may or may not have urred if Lucifer did this or that, the amount of Sources he acquired led to increased Cultivation Talent! In a way, through the use of a shit-ton of pills and a secret technique manual, Lucifer became the embodiment of a perpetual motion machine! With each increase in talent, he could produce more Sources per minute. And with each additional Source obtained, even more cultivation talent was allotted. In other words, Lucifer was on a sure-fire path to bing a straight-up 24/7 Shein Factory! - Piang! Piang! Lucifer looked at the most recent batch of Sources, approximating a total of 500 Sources, all of them which were produced within the span of 10 minutes. "With this, I should be able to breakthrough into a Heaven Rank Talent, probably¡­" He wasn''t entirely sure what the exact requirement was for passing over into the Heaven Rank Cultivation Talent, but he was like 50% positive that he was close. After all, his cultivation talent indicator on the system interface hadn''t moved a single inch in thest hour¡­ Despite the uncertainties of the future, Lucifer wasted no more time on brooding over a whole lot of nothing. Instead, he gazorped up all of the multi-colored Sources scattered on the ground. Thereafter, his Cultivation Talent started to soar! It was aiming to reach for the Heavens! Break all limiters-!! "Well, shit, still not at the Heaven Rank¡­" The heavens came crashing down, and all expectations were left in utter disappointment¡­ Nevertheless, Lucifer was not one to get lost in a morass of self-deprecation. Rather, the first thing he did after realizing that the gap between the Earth and Heaven Rank was sorge was get right back to the task of breaking it! He refused to allow some flimsy bottleneck to obstruct his path to greater benefits! All loot and all benefits would be his-! "Wait, I think I forgot about those busybodies fighting outside. Their battle in the skies is getting pretty close¡­" Lucifer stopped the cirction of Qi and sent out his Divine Sense. He saw a valiant man in dark red, spiked armor fighting a man surrounded by lightning. These two were none other than Lord Xiao and the Lightning Lunatic! Both of them had been fighting nonstop for thest 3 hours, leaving no room for any sort of breaks. ''Even though their stamina is massive, there will eventuallye a time when they no longer have anything left to give. And only then will I be able toe out with all the benefits in this predicament.'' A cold smile formed on Lucifer''s handsome face as he waited¡ªbiding his time until the moment it was time to strike! Of course, for that to happen, he still had to reach the Peak Golden Core Realm in Battle Power. It was because of this reason that he stopped the formation of Sources for now, instead putting his focus into the cirction of Qi. His Cultivation Talent and Speed were already more than a few dozen times what they once were, so he had no doubts about the speed at which he could cultivate. This point was further proven when Lucifer started to advance through the 11th Stage of Qi Condensation. {[Middle of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Late of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Peak of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Absolute Peak of 11th Stage Qi Condensation]} {[Initial of 12th Stage Qi Condensation]} With the formation of his 12th Qi Cyclone, Lucifer looked inside his Dantian Space and saw 11 fully filled Qi Cyclones and one with around a tenth of the fullnesspared to the rest. These results allowed a sense of satisfaction to well up within his heart, putting the yearning for greater power even more deeply rooted in his purpose for existence. "Reaching the Peak of the 12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm is my next goal. Thereafter, I will begin to solidify my foundation until I reach a sufficient point to achieve the Early Foundation Establishment Realm." OOOM! Lucifer clenched his fists and felt the immense power coursing through them, figuring it was time to look at his system interface. BLING! ¡ª------------ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/10,300] [Cultivation: 12th Stage Qi Condensation Realm] [Battle Power: Middle Golden Core Formation Realm (Absolute Peak)] {[Clones:]} [Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Clones: 130+] [Early Golden Core Formation Realm and below Clones: 10,000+] ¨C [Can still buy lower rank clones] ¨C [Various Clones] ¨C [Copse] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 10 Decillion] [Clone Essence Bank: 800 Decillion] {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) {[Mystic Confluence:]} [1st Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100 Nonillion] (culmination of all previous Elemental Body''s - affects bodily strength) {[Prime Technique:]} [Sword sh] [Late-Mortal Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] ¡ª------------ Chapter 63: The Assignment Of The Slave Force ..... The first thing Lucifer noticed was the fact that he may have identally bought 100+ Middle Golden Core Formation Realm Clones¡­ In spite of that, the next thing he looked at was the 1st Order Mystic Physique, which, if one might recall, was the culmination of all his Elemental Physiques. "If I want to progress my Battle Power into the Late Golden Core Formation Realm, I will definitely need to use a bit of Clone Essence in order to evolve Mystic Confluence." Puting his intentions into action, Lucifer spent up 100 Nonillion Clone Essence. After which, he opened up that part of his system interface. BLING! {[Mystic Confluence:]} [2nd Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100 Decillion] Following this pop-up, Lucifer took a nce at his Battle Power. BLING! [Battle Power: Late Golden Core Formation Realm (Initial)] Overall, Lucifer wasn''t too disappointed with this result, as it meant that his control and utilization of the elements had quite the direct impact on his Battle Power. Crackle¡ª He had the Lightning Element dance on his fingertips; it jumped around his palm like a dragon over the vast red seas. After a second, he put out the Lightning Dragon and controlled the rate at which it fizzled out. After which, he said, "With this level of control over the elements, I should be able to start creating my own techniques to incorporate into |Sword sh|. What I create will be at a far higher level than all this other street garbage I''m getting from the loot bags." Even though Lucifer obtained more than 100,000 different Techniques¡ªranging from the Low-Common Rank to the Late-Mortal Rank¡ªnone of them did much for his |Sword sh|. It may have gotten to the Late-Mortal Rank, but that wasn''t much when considering just how many techniques he incorporated¡­ However, even with theseckluster results in technique development, Lucifer still wished to see just how far he could evolve a technique as simple as |Sword sh|. But for that to happen at the maximum capacity, well, he would need to spend even more of his Clone Essence¡­ "100 Decillion Clone Essence¡­ It is painful, but I will do it for the greater good¡­" Usually Lucifer would say ''fuck you!!'' to the greater good of anything in this bullsh*t world, but just this once, he decided to ''take one for the team''. As he wondered just how one man could be so magnanimous, the system interface started shing bright blue and golden lights. BLING! [Ding! The system has decided to inform the host of how much of a narcissistic prick he is! That is all!] "!!!" Lucifer was taken out of his self-indulgent reverie by the condescending words of that stupid ass system of his. "''HahaHA!'' You canugh your ass off right now, but you just wait! Wait until Ie-a-knocking and turn you into the biggest loot bag there ever was!" After getting out these snarkyments, Lucifer turned his face away from the system and clicked the upgrade button on his Mystic Confluence Physique. After getting anotherrge boost to his Elemental Control and Battle Power, he put all his focus onto the advancements of his cultivation. ¡­ After nearly 3 hours of arduous cultivation, Lucifer eventually reached a point where he could begin to breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm. But for that to happen, he first had to create the absolute best ''Foundation Establishment Building'' pill that he could make. And for that toe to pass¡­ "Listen, clones #50 through #180, you will begin to concoct Foundation Establishment Building Pills, and you will do so until you''re able to produce the absolute best! I''m talking no impurities, full pill lines, maximum number of pill clouds! Hell, I even want you to have that thing untouched by the world itself! And the best part¡ªI want you to make 10,000 of them!" Lucifer nned to overdose on pills while circting the ''Star Devourer'' Technique, which was what he had been using to consume so many pills with so few aftereffects. However, for him to reach the epitome of OD, he had his personal ves make use of High-Mortal Rank Furnaces. Thereafter, they would stuff the pills into his mouth until his belly exploded! With this n set in motion, Lucifer watched as various Middle Golden Core Rank Clones created an utterly stupendous number of pills! It even reached a stage where the entire cave abode was filled to the brim with a plethora of mixed medicinal scents. Tens of thousands of pills were created every minute. And of those pills, only a very small number of them met the conditions that Lucifer set out in the beginning. This displeased him greatly, but he still had some time until the fight between his father and the Lightning Lunatic ended, so there was still a decent amount of leeway. Regardless of that information, while a good chunk of the clones worked on concocting pills, Lucifer himself made great strides in the creation of high-quality techniques. During this time, it even made it to a point where dozens of high-quality Mortal-Rank Techniques were being made by the minute! "Dum didi Doo~ I think I created a total of 2,000 Techniques, which means that it''s time for conversion." With his Mystic Confluence in the 3rd Order, the creation and practical application of techniques was made as easy as flipping his hand. After all, over his many years of life, the number ofplex concepts he invented had been numerous and eventful. Even so, Lucifer didn''t like to dwell on his shitty past, so he simply continued to sing a tune from his previous life. He did so while attempting to advance his Sword sh Technique into the Peak-Mortal Rank. Such an improvement would most definitely take him into a new level of Battle Power, and that was what he needed if he wished to reach thest step of n 1. While Lucifer''s main body and Alchemy ves worked on their set objectives, a number of Battle ves grinded exp in the world outside. Over thest few hours, and with their increased numbers, they managed to acquire more than 15 Undecillion Clone Essence! Now, what did this mean for Lucifer, one might ask? Well, the truth was that such a measly sum did just about Jack diddly squat in terms of helping him acquire more high-level clones¡­ After all, every single Late-Golden Core Formation Realm Clone cost 10 Undecillion Clone Essence a pop! This price tag was absolutely fucking ridiculous in Lucifer''s opinion, but for the Infinite Clone System, it likely derided and sneered at him behind his back. It watched as he writhed in the agony of it all! ''In other words, the Infinite Clone System is a fucking cunt!'' That was essentially the summary of Lucifer''s thoughts when the system was mentioned. Otherwise, the ideas that he formted inside his head were rtively docile. You know, the casual decapitation and genocides of entire ecosystems. Pretty typical stuff for him. It wasn''t like he was a pathological, crazy person (he definitely was)¡ªit was just that he liked hearing the beeps go off inside his head¡­ Speaking of the antithesis¡­ BLING! [Ding! You have killed two Grand Elders of the Devilduke Family, both of whom were in the Late Golden Core Formation Realm. The reward is 80 Undecillion Clone Essence!] ..... Chapter 64: Foundation Establishment Realm, Body Cultivation ..... "Oh- well, shit! It seems like fighting stronger enemies is definitely the way to go!" Lucifer practically jumped in glee, perusing the most recent system notification like God''s great gift to him. Even though he had no part to y in the killing of the two Grand Elders, he would definitely instruct his ves to do a bunch more tag team quests from this point onward! "Those two Grand Elders were first split up, and then two clones ganged up on one before moving over to the second one. Through this process, the Grand Elders were easily eliminated." Through the use of ''Clone Memory Transfer'', Lucifer recounted the exact details of what these clones experienced before giving him such great goodies. And from what he could tell, this was definitely the way to go about it. After all, with two vs. one, the first clone could fight the opponent fair and square, acting all honorable and sh*t. After which, the second clone coulde in and deal the finishing blow when little bro was on hisst legs. There was also a chance that the opponent had some form of lifesaving treasures or techniques, which was also where duo clones woulde in handy. "With this sum of 50 Undecillion Clone Essence, I can purchase another 5 Clones in the Late-Golden Core Formation Realm. Which is also to say that I can soon make two teams of two and one clone of three. Using such a setup, the disposal of a good majority of those Grand Elders should be as easy as pie. There''s also the equally powerful ''Water Lords'' on the side of the Water Nation''s forces, all of whom are in the Late through Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm." Lucifer made sure to do his research on the people attacking Riversea City and the Devilduke Family. From what he gathered so far, the Water Nation sent out a little more than 25 Water Lords, matching the Devilduke''s top forces pretty evenly. Moreover, they also had two far more powerful people on their side. The first one was the Lightning Lunatic, while the second was Orarabo. The former was still in a heated exchange with Lord Xiao, altering the topography of the City to their whims. Whereas Orarabo was fighting a Supreme Elder of the Devilduke Family as well as the City Lord of Riversea. As for thest two Supreme Elders, they were battling the higher-ranking Water Lords from the opposing side. Both of these two sides were far weaker than the First Supreme Elder and Orarabo, so naturally they were left to fight each other. While attempting toe out on top, they also made sure to ughter all the lower level scrubs of both sides. This irked Lucifer greatly. After all, everything that was everything should be his loot to reap! However, in spite of the urge to run out and kill everyone involved to make up for his losses, he knew that it was not yet the time. Though it definitely wasn''t too far off¡­ Lucifer nearly let a cunning grin form on his face when he thought about how close he was to the Peak Golden Core Formation Realm. So far, his Battle Power was around here: [Battle Power: Late Golden Core Formation Realm (High)] This was to say that he was inching ever closer to the chasm that separated the Late and Peak Golden Core Realm! He had already advanced his |Sword sh| into the Peak-Mortal Rank, while his |Mystic Confluence| was of the 3rd Order. Which was to say that there was truly only one thing that could tip him over the edge¡­ "A breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm." Lucifer murmured to himself, an expectant smirk creeping up his lips. Such a breakthrough would definitely be able to send him rocketing into the Peak Golden Core Realm, and then some! This was da way! This was what he had to do in order to conquer thesends in their entirety! ¡­ After 10 minutes of consolidation, the time for a breakthrough finally arrived, and Lucifer was ready to show it who the fucking boss was! WAaa¡­ Before he even got to figure out what had happened, his cultivation broke through into the Foundation Establishment Realm¡­ His foundation was perfect, and it could begin to progress to higher levels of perfection! However, Lucifer was still trying to understand what the fuck was going on!! "I only took 950 of those Foundation Establishment Building Pills! How the hell was I able to instantly breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm!?" Lucifer looked down at his muscr hands like he was looking at a freak. "Maybe I''m just too awesome¡­? Yes, that has to be it!" He decided on this narcissistic notion being the case,pletely overlooking the sheer number of pills he devoured. Let alone 900, even 10 Perfect Foundation Building Pills would be enough for someone to breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm with a perfect foundation under the right circumstances! Consuming 900 of them not only allowed Lucifer to instantly breakthrough to the Early Foundation Establishment Realm, but it also enabled him to obtain a firm grasp on his current cultivation base! "Welp, now that I''m in the Early Foundation Establishment Realm, I should be able to¡­" OOOM! Lucifer released a crimson-colored energy, letting it envelop his body in a thin, crisp fment of Qi. "Yep, I can indeed start to refine my body." One might''ve thought that this was some form of shield or protection mechanism, but in reality, it was something that encapsted him in ayer of energy. Then, with painful doses, it would inflict immense amounts of damage on Lucifer''s body. It covered him from the top of his head, all the way down to his toes. Thus, defying all logic, it actively refined his entire body! Furthermore, the best part of it all was that it could be activated for as long as there was the smallest amount of energy present in the body! "Using an extremely basic version of the Godfiend''s Refining Technique, this is made possible. But if I wish to progress past the Gold Rank, I will definitely need to create my own unique Body Refinement Physique." Lucifer brooded over the matter of this new source of strength, thinking of a future far ahead of him. Before getting ahead of himself and aiming for beyond the Gold Rank, he first had to achieve the Copper Rank¡­ ..... Chapter 65: The Only Host, An Apology ..... "Hey, system. You are all knowing, are you not?" BLING! [Ding! Although I do not know everything in the Boundless Verse, I am vastly superior to the likes of what your monkey mind is capable ofprehending!] RUMBLE! Lucifer''s Half-Step Nascent Soul-level aura exploded outward in great immensity! In but an instant, the surrounding ten mountain ranges started to shake and crumble underneath his might! Before his violent aura could alert his grandfather, father, and the rest of the powerhouses, he reeled it in and took a deep breath. Slowly raising his head, he calmly said, "You are so right in your excellent deductions! If only I had half theputing speed that you have!" Lucifer buttered the system up with a few flowery words before switching tactics as his face turned distraught. "But with such high intelligence, I do wonder if it''s possible for you to keep an active tracker on my Body Refinement progression¡­? If not, then forget about it. After all, this is quite the tough task-" [Ding! This can be done.] ''Gotcha, bitch!'' Lucifer inwardly smirked. [Ding! The host is currently at 2.5% of the refinement mark for ''Pre-Copper Rank''. Reach 100% in order to officially start treading the path of Body Refinement.] Lucifer was satisfied with the insanely fast progress, figuring that it would likely take no more than 5 minutes for him to reach the Copper Rank. "Seems like my Cultivation Talent is unique, as it not only affects my Qi Cultivation, but also my Body Cultivation. With both of these included, I do wonder if it is the same for Mind and Spirit Cultivation¡­? Maybe even Arcane and Divine Cultivation as well?" Lucifer was definitely jumping the gun, but when he achieved the necessary cultivation level, he wanted to verify if his spections were urate. However, for now, focusing on the Qi and Body Cultivation Paths was good enough for him. "Speaking of my Qi Path¡­ Hmm, system, could you bring up my current Qi cultivation mark?" [Ding! If you say please.] "...Please¡­ Bitch¡­" Lucifer whispered thest part under his breath, clenching his fists until the whites started to show. [Ding! I don''t think you mean it! Maybe try saying it again!] Tick! "Maybe suck my dick, you dumb slut! How many other hosts have you had over the years!? I''m sure the number is astronomical! So why don''t you put your loose hole to use and tell me what mark my Qi Cultivation is at!?" Lucifer nearly let his overwhelming aura out once more but quickly found the restraint necessary to not strangle a motherfucker. [Ding! The Qi Cultivation Path percentile is at 53.4% of the Early Foundation Establishment Realm. And for your information, you are the first host that the system has ever had¡­] After getting out this pop-up, the system interface slowly faded away. Leaving him as the only one in the area, Lucifer couldn''t help but think that he was being framed as the bad guy in this situation¡­ "Tsk¡­ That damn system¡­ Why is it so annoying??" He walked away from the scene with a few huffs and puffs. As he kicked a few pebbles out of the way, and if one were listening close enough, then they would hear the faint mumbles of what was most definitely an apology. In that instant, a system interface nearly materialized. However, before it could further fluctuate, it vanished. - Step Step As Lucifer walked away from where he just ughtered a good chunk of his family, he took a nce at the system notifications bombarding him. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 15+ Golden Core Realm Cultivators of the Devilduke Family. The reward is 120 Undecillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 8,500+ Devilduke Family Members at and below the Core Formation Realm. The reward is 25 Undecillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 23,000+ Cultivators of the Water Nation. The reward is 150 Undecillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 20+ Water Lords of the Golden Core Realm. The reward is 200 Undecillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed off all your aunts, cousins, brothers, and any other extended family. The only ones that still remain are your father, mother, and grandfather. Your mother and her bodyguards are on theirst legs fighting against two of your clones.] [Ding! There is one additional member of your family still alive¡­ Your 8th Youngest Sister. The system has not been instructed to kill her, so the clones have not killed her. As for her location, she is hiding out in the pit of a valley, attempting to escape her useless family once and for all.] "Ahh, so that is why she was not with Father and the rest. Seems like she is quite the special existence." Lucifer suddenly had a sh of inspiration pass through his gaze. He clicked a few things together inside his mind. "If I go about it in this manner and go meet the Fire Emperor like this¡­ Umu! This will work!" Lucifer was originally going to kill everyone in his family and then leave for the Royal Capital and be the rightful heir of the Devildukes. But with the presence of his 8th Youngest Sister, he had another path to take. "Should this n seed... well, it should take no longer than a month for the ''Fire Nation'' to be ''My Nation''. Naturally, after this is aplished, all the loot- people of this nation will be mine to do with as I please." All Lucifer ever thought about were the benefits, and this was now the perfect opportunity to acquire those benefits! He just had to reach out and grasp it! "It looks like it''s decided; my first stop shall be my lovely 8th sister, then my dear mummy, and finally my big, strong father. Umu!" With everything lined up for him in just the right way, Lucifer vanished from his position and leaped across thend. With each step he took, his body was thrown hundreds of meters off the ground. In a way, he was no different from the hulk! The only difference being that he was far more refined and handsome than the hulk was! (Or so he thought.) ..... Chapter 66: 8th Youngest Sister, The Shadow Slaves ..... In spite of Lucifer''s zing narcissism, there seemed to be something looking to ruin his perfectly scheduled out n. That something being¡­ "Boy, stop in your tracks this instant!" "Stop running so fast!" "We can''t keep up!* "???" Three panting assassins heaved great amounts of air as they chased behind the crimson-haired man. But no matter how fast they moved, there was simply no way in hell they were going to be able to catch up to the freakishly fast young master- SHING! SHING! "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" The high-ranking Shadow ves were still trying to catch their breath when, all of a sudden, dozens of sword beams shed from a crimson ck sword. FWWWHHHHH The crisp sound of a whistle resounded in the surroundings as the three Golden Core Shadow ves were unable to see even the edge of the de! Time came to a standstill for a moment. Then, without warning, it resumed and took the lives of the three assassins along with it. OOOM! The residual winds from the sword beams settled down, leaving a nonchnt man standing over crimson-stained grass. "Hmm¡­ I do wonder why some rtively big loot bags decided to jump at me like that¡­ Were they offering themselves on a golden tter for free?" Lucifer was quite confused over the sudden appearance of a few gnats, but that didn''t stop him from looting them of everything they had in their possession. "Bippity Boppity, your money is now my money~" He sang a cute little tune while tearing away at a few bloody appendages. It was only after ''borrowing'' all of their Storage Rings that Lucifer moved away from the scene, continuing to make his way toward his 8th Sister. However, in hisck of fucks to give, he failed to notice the trembling existence of the real Shadow Assassin #56. ''Holy shit! Holy shit! What the hell sort of monster did she get killed by?? I promised her that we would be together even in death, but I just said that for the romance!'' ''There is no way in hell I am actually going to run off to my death!'' Shadow ve #56 hid behind a thick brown tree, slumping up against the side of it. While contemting the stupid shit that he got himself into, he promised himself never to let another woman hold a sway over his actions. "I need to get the hell out of here and tell the Head Assassin of the true strength of this freak of nature!" Following these frightful words, Shadow ve #56 vanished from his spot and dashed through the sparse autumn leaves of the Great Mormonga Forest. - "Hmm¡­ that bug should be gone by now, and if he can make it back to his HQ in one piece, then I should be able to acquire some bigger loot bags¡­" Lucifer realized who he had killed a few seconds ago, and he also knew of the existence of the vermin hiding behind a stick. But it wasn''t like he gave much Clone Essence or loot to begin with, so letting him report back was the optimal choice to make. "Even though the Fire Nation and any simrly ranked organizations are weak as f*ck, I still have a chance for more gains while within the bounds of the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm." Lucifer noticed that the gap between the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms was absolutely massive, so it would likely take him a few weeks to ovee the chasm. This was to say that as long as he was in the Nascent Soul Battle Power range, the Elemental Nations still had lucrative loot to give! One might wonder how Lord Xiao¡ªsomeone in the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm¡ªwas so respected with such a low cultivation. However, the truth was that his value came from his unparalleled assassination techniques, not directbat power. Hence, the strongest forces of the Elemental Nations went well into the Nascent Soul Realm! "Before I go searching for that loot with my clones, I need to talk to a little girl." Lucifer cringed at the words he just said. Even though he was evil to the core, he was not some creep. "Best just discard that thought and see how I can coerce this little girl to do my bidding-... That sounds even worse than what I said before¡­" He facepalmed himself before moving into a gorge. Thereafter, he saw a young, icy-faced girl with long silky ck hair and shiny, blue eyes. This was Li Yan, and she would be turning 7 years old this year. Step Step Step Lucifer made his presence known as he slowly walked up to the cautious girl, quickly seeing her dull gaze morph into one of alertness. Then, without fare warning, she unsheathed her light blue cyan dagger and lunged at the unknown man! "Ho?" Lucifer mused to himself, effortlessly thwarting the advance of the jagged dagger. His foot slid to the right, and his body followed. After which, he lightly tapped on the shoulder of the scary girl. "!!!" Li Yan shot her deadly gaze behind her, attempting to alter the trajectory of her original sh. This time, she aimed to take out his jugr, effectively looking to turn him into a messed-up lobotomy subject! However, once again, her attack was blocked, and it was done so with untold levels of ease. "..." Li Yan stopped after this strike, swiftly understanding that she stood no chance against this handsome raven-haired man. Thud! On a moment''s notice, she jumped away from the scattered leaves, running away as fast as she could! She eventually reached a cliff with a steep overhang, and without a second thought, she jumped off the cliff! "Are you brave or a fool?" Before she could even make it a foot away from the edge, arge, firm hand sped onto her dress. Realizing that she was dangling in midair, Li Yan tried to slip out of her dress and resume her suicide mission. But once again, everything was shown to be under the control of a singr man. With immense ease, Lucifer grabbed both of Li Yan''s arms and blink-stepped away from his spot. Then, after arriving at arge boulder a few hundred meters away, he tied the girl up with some Qi strings. Thereafter, the both of them sat on the boulder, facing one another with contrasting expressions. "Do you still not realize who I am?" Lucifer broke the silence with a question, eliciting the full attention of the unnervingly calm little girl. "No¡­ Do not know you¡­" Lucifer heard Li Yan''s response and couldn''t help but find it a little odd. He didn''t sense any conceit in her tone, so she was definitely telling her truth. However, they had seen each other less than a couple months ago, so she should still remember who he was. ''Right?'' Lucifer found this matter a tad bit perplexing, so he decided to take out a mirror from his storage ring. It was only after getting a good look at his appearance that he understood what was happening¡­ ..... Chapter 67: Li Yan, Selective Completionist ..... "I''m too fucking handsome! Err, I meant to say friggin¡­ too friggin handsome." Lucifer made sure to catch his sailors mouth. After all, he was in the presence of a child! If her parents weren''t about to die to his hands, then they would surely give him quite the earful. And that was just bad points for the impable reputation that he was trying to build up for himself. In spite of the stupid shit swirling around inside Lucifer''s head, it was his dazzling appearance that truly became the star of this discussion. For some reason or another, he had be unbelievably handsome! Like really fucking handsome! Like so handsome that even the straightest of men would switch sides the moment they caught a glimpse of his awesomeness- ''Err, I meant to say ''handsomeness''!!'' ''Well, my awesomeness is also on another level, but yeah, all of the above really.'' Lucifer lightly nodded his head before refocusing his gaze on the young, bewildered girl. "Well, long story short, I am Lucifer. As for why I have err-" "Kidnapped me?" "Hey! Don''t say it like that! I didn''t kidnap you; I simply¡­ Hmm¡­ borrowed your time! Yeah, that''s it! This is simply the time that I borrowed from you." Lucifer was mildly surprised by how well Li Yan was taking everything in, but more than that, he was irked by her phrasing. Cough! Cough! He cleared up the air before getting back to the matter at hand. "So, as I was saying, the reason why I have borrowed your time today is because I need you to y the part of the sole heir of the Devildukes. After I kill off everyone else in the family, I will need you to take the reins of future household operations. Of course, all of this will be temporary, as I will also be destroying the Fire Nation. But until then, can you like¡­e to the Royal Capital with me?" Lucifer unloaded a shitton of sensitive information, and he did so with a casual look on his face. From Li Yan''s perspective, it was almost like her older brother saw everything as set in stone. Which, in the end, led to her bobbing her head a little. "I will do it," she said. "Now you might think I''m insane, but I can guarantee you that I have at least 40% of my sanity intact-... Wait, did you say that you''ll do it?" Lucifer suddenly stopped talking, looking at the emotionless little girl like she was an idiot. ''This deal is absolute shit! Even if she''s a kid, who in their right mind would so much as consider going through with such bullshit!?'' Lucifer was already baffled by the rxed responses made by Li Yan. But, now, even after running for her life less than 30 seconds ago, she was already all on board for the nonsensical shit that he was cooking up! His baffledness increased even further when Li Yan said, "Yes, I will do it." "..." "Tell me, little sister of mine. Are you fucking mental?? I know you are more intelligent than the rest of the Dipshits in this family, so you should be able to clearly see the disadvantages of this arrangement!" Lucifer shook his head left to right, wondering if his previous spections about this girl were incorrect. ''If she''s really so naive and stupid¡­ I will just have to dispose of her and go back to the drawing board¡­'' ''Unless the person is on my side, there can be no living witnesses after the extermination of this family ispleted.'' A dark whisp passed through his crimson irises for half a moment, holding unknown intentions for the fate of this girl. However, throwing himpletely off his game, Li Yan locked her gaze with his and said, "This family, they are worthless¡­ None of them are fit to be alive in the world that I''ll live in. They are trash, and if you can speed up their deaths, then that works as well¡­" A deep darkness erupted from the little girl''s childish expression as she looked at Lucifer like a potential enemy. Either that or someone whom she needed to kill off for good... "Umu?" Lucifer had no clue how this girl could all of a sudden speak so fluently, but what he did know was that her eyes spoke wonders of her usefulness. That was all it took for him to untie her Qi ropes and say, "From now on, you will tag along behind me. But don''t think of us as family; simply view our rtionship as a tonic businessship." Following these words, bereft ofpassion, he walked away from the girl. "..." Li Yan stared at his broad back. As a calctive gleam shed past her gaze, she moved from her spot and used |Shadow Step|. Then, like a fleeting shadow, she appeared right beside the tall, ck-haired man. Lucifer curiously nced down at the short girl, realizing that her cultivation and techniques were at an extremely high level for her age. "Say, how would you feel about paying a little visit to your dear mummy?" He brought her out of her focus with an odd question. Still, she decided to respond and say, "Don''t feel anything for her¡­ Can die¡­ Will not care¡­" ''Oh¡­! So now she can''t speak coherently anymore!?'' Lucifer already had enough trouble with that shitty ass system of his, but now he had this stupidly unusual girl to deal with!? ''I might as well blow my brains out and save myself the slow corrosion of my brain cells¡­'' As Lucifer contemted what it would take to off himself, he and the dead-pan-faced girl left the verdant green gorge. Then, with a destination in mind, they headed toward a location where small explosions asionally went off. While this happened in real time, the system notifications from thest few hours finally piled up enough to make the system notifications worth looking at. BLING! [Ding! You have killed off all 30+ Water Lords of the Water Nation. On top of that, more than 30,000 of their cultivators died. The reward for being apletionist is 10 Duodecillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed off all but 2 of the Grand Elders of the Devilduke Family. In addition to that, more than 30,000 of the Devilduke members have fallen to your hands. The reward for being a selectivepletionist is 4.5 Duodecillion Clone Essence!] ..... Chapter 68: One Big Family, Li Yans Evil Side ..... "Selectivepletionist, my ass! I have to leave a few of them alive for now! Why don''t you wipe my ass and clean your eyeballs out with the paper?? Maybe then you will be able to see that this deserves the full marks of apletionist!" BLING! [Ding! The system has contacted the host about his extended idiot warranty, and the system is pleased to announce that the host is still a certified idiot! But fret not; maybe if you increase your cultivation some more, your intelligence will increase as well!] "Hey, system?" [Ding! Yes, my dear host?] "Fuck you." [Ding! The system loves you too! This feedback is very much appreciated!] As Lucifer shot up his middle finger to flip off the system over and over again, Li Yan looked up at him talking to himself. She was a little curious about what he was doing, but more than that, she didn''t care. Li Yan was a very uncaring person, and that personality quirk would likely never change. But regardless of the weirdness of all parties involved in this little debacle, the small group had already made their way to a mountain. Below this mountain, there was an injured woman and two even more severely injured old men fighting off a monocle-wearing man with a goatee. Standing behind this man was arge, muscr bodybuilder man. Of course, both of them were clones that underwent a couple rounds of Heavenly Transfiguration. But in spite of that fact, they immediately looked in the same direction upon feeling a familiar presence. When they saw their main body, they calcted ordingly and threw a smoke bomb down. Then, under the astonished eyes of Lady Mu and her guards, their opponents vanished. However, they weren''t allowed to be shocked for long because an all-too-familiar man materialized from thin air. "!!!" Lady Mu''s eyes widened in surprise as she felt the immense aura leaking from her son. With her far above average intelligence, she reached the only natural conclusion for this inexplicable phenomenon. "The devil¡­ You have been possessed by a demon¡­ Or maybe even a wandering soul¡­" Lady Mu recounted all the slight peculiarities of her son over thest few months and seemingly understood everything. "Y-You¡­ Who are you¡­?" She mumbled. She lost herposure for the first time in a long while as she tripped a little on her heels. Looking at the state of his mother, an evil grin emerged on Lucifer''s overly handsome face. Then, with a yful tone, he said, "You don''t even recognize your own son~? Isn''t that just so cruel~?" As his smile reached an all-time high, he briefly shot his predatory gaze toward the two shocked Grand Elders. "!!!" "!!!" The both of them had an extremely bad feeling about that look in his eyes. And as if on instinct, they tried to appease whatever was growing inside the 18-year-old boy. "Martial Nephew, Lucifer! You know us, so why are you giving us those looks-!?" "We are all one big family, so why don''t we take a step back-?" SHING! SHING! Without even giving them a chance to finish their pleas, two absurdly thin, crimson-colored strings of Sword Qi shot out from Lucifer''s left side. Then, with utter ruthlessness, those strings of Qi wrapped around the bodies of the Grand Elders. "!!!" "!!!" The elders tried to escape the sword strings. However, the moment they moved, the strings tightened to a level beyond belief. Then, like a watermelon surrounded by rubber bands, their bodies exploded! BLING! [Ding! You have killed two Grand Elders of the Devilduke Household. The reward is 20 Undecillion Clone Essence!] Following the ringing of this system notification, Lucifer focused his attention back on his dear mummy. "!?!?" Lady Mu didn''t need to be a genius to understand that she was absolutely f*cked! Without hesitation, she fumbled away from the scene, trying to call out to one of the Supreme Elders. "Are any of you still alive!? My son has been possessed by a devil!! Since the beginning, he has been-" "Mummy, what might you be doing with that super expensive one-time usemunication talisman~?" Lucifer appeared above the fleeing Lady Mu. While floating upside down like a vampire, he quickly snatched up the medallion she had in her hands. After which, an amused glint emerged in his gaze as he smashed the talisman within his palms. Crumble¡ª "!!!" Lady Mu lost all the color in her face. Piang! Watching her useless son do a somersault from his floating position, she immediately understood that he didn''t even consider her a threat... "I put you in this world, Lucifer! Even if you were possessed by a devil, do you doubt whether I''m able to take you out of it!?" Lady Mu gave up on any hope of escaping. Instead, she took a route that could take advantage of Lucifer''s previous inferiorityplex. ''Even at this point in time, she is a calctive and slippery woman.'' If this woman were actually his mother, then Lucifer might actually believe they were rted. But, unfortunately for her, they were the furthest thing from being family. In spite of that information, he beckoned to a nearby tree. After which, a young 6-year-old girl walked out from behind the tree. Approaching the two of them, her face never exhibited anything other than apathy. Lady Mu''s eyes widened in astonishment when she saw who it was. Then, without thinking, she said, "Damn Li Yan! Didn''t I tell you to not leave your cage!? Have I not hit you enough for you to learn yet-!? Hupp!" She hastily covered her mouth and looked toward the devilish man. Upon observing the evil expression he was making, she knew that there truly was no way out of this disaster¡­ Regardless of Lady Mu''s despair, Li Yan walked up to Lucifer and lightly grabbed onto the hem of his robes. After which, she stared at her mother. "M-My dear, you must know that everything I said just now was a joke. I would never hit you, and you know that very well." Changing her tune in an instant, Lady Mu attempted to appease the emotionless girl. She even put on a fake smile and spoke in a friendly tone! However, from the very first moment Lady Mu opened her mouth, it didn''t seem like Li Yan cared a single bit about anything she said... ..... Chapter 69: A Mother/Daughter Reunion ..... "Aww~ Now, isn''t this such a lovely scene? I mean, just look at this loving mother and her daughter make-up!" Lucifer chided in, his grin reaching both ears as he patted the short girl on her soft ck head. Lady Mu immediately thought this was her chance to turn this disastrous situation on its head; thus, she stammered, "Y-Yes, my dear son Lucifer, you are right! Come here, my lovely Li Yan. Mommy will give you some hugs and kisses-" "Say, how about you go and beat her, Li Yan? Maybe do it just like she beat you?" "!!!" Lady Mu''s outstretched hug drooped down to both of her sides. Wide-eyed and ck-jawed, she stared at her son like he was really the Incarnation of the Devil. But regardless of how she felt on the matter, Lucifer was only looking at the pan-faced little girl. "So¡­?" He asked once more. "..." Li Yan flipped her eyes between her distraught mother and big brother Lucifer. Then, without further contemtion, she picked up a stick and walked up to her mother. However, before she even made it a few feet away, Lucifer said, "Wait, using something like that is so inefficient. Plus, she still has her cultivation base, so let me¡­" FWIP! "!?!?" Lucifer blurred from his spot, and when he reappeared, he was looming over his mother with a 5-foot-long de in his hands. "N-No, please-" Spurt! Without giving her the chance to uselessly b that gaping hole of hers, Lucifer plunged the sword into the pit of her stomach, effectively shattering her Dantian Space, Dantian, and Core in one go. "Ahhh!!!! It hurts!!!" Even though Lady Mu had grown used to pain in order to be an assassin, this level of pain was way beyond anything she could tolerate! As her soul-wrenching screams resounded in the surrounding mountainndscape, Lucifer tossed a metal bat toward Li Yan. "???" "Don''t worry, the bat may look ordinary, but it is of the Peak Mortal Rank. In fact, it may be one of the best weapons I have. However, now it is yours." Lucifer gave the young goth girl a thumbs up, permitting her to do as she wished with the writhing Lady Mu. Even though he would still get the kill in the end, allowing his pawn to get her due justice was okie dokity for him. Plus, she seemed like the type to stab him in her sleep if things didn''t y out the way she wanted them to¡­ ''Honestly, this girl is quite the oddity¡­ even more so than I am¡­'' Lucifer didn''t know what it was that made him feel this way, but his gut told him that this pawn''s usefulness might extend beyond even the Nascent Soul Realm. There was no basis for this belief; he simply felt something extremely special within his Eighth Youngest Sister¡­ "Anyway, go ahead and get to swinging!" Lucifer snapped himself out of his thoughts and encouraged his sister while making swinging motions. "...Dum dum¡­" That was all the indifferent young girl said before getting even closer to her squirming mother. As the girl mercilessly swung at her ''mother'', Lucifer''s expression froze in ce. He was unable to believe that Li Yan actually said that about him¡­ "To call me a dum dum¡­ This has to be the greatest afront to my great and noble name!" Lucifer demandedpensation for this insult! But upon realizing that the girl was a broke bloke just like him, he decided to rob her only after he made her rich. "It''s called an investment, Umu." Lucifer lightly nodded his head, taking asional nces at the ruthless girl. "Even though Li Yan is only at the 8th Stage of the Body Refinement Realm, with the help of that technique of hers and the bat, her cultivationless mother is left at the whim of her swings." Lucifer analyzed the strikes of the girl, appreciating the arch she made with her arms. "Even the form and grit she incorporates into each strike is quite skilled." "H-Hellplp! Srorrry!!" "Hmm¡­ Is that the sound of a gnat''s buzzing¡­?" Lucifer cupped his hands over his eyebrows, attempting to find the bug that dared to intrude his airspace. However, after realizing that it was just Lady Mu, he put down his hands and shouted, "Hey, Li Yanny, try swinging with a bit more umph! You know, put your hips into it and really get your form on point!" Lucifer demonstrated the peak of swinging, curving his hips, and rotating everything in just the right direction. In response to this silly demonstration, Li Yan mumbled, "Not name¡­ And no. Dum dum sucks at swings¡­" Lucifer''s eyelids started to twitch. "T-This girl is¡­" That girl knew she was useful to him, which was why she had the nerve to speak to him in such a manner! But it wasn''t like Lucifer could change that fact, so he simply clenched his fists before sitting on arge boulder. Fists to his chin and in a rxed posture, he watched as every swing knocked even more of Lady Mu''s teeth out. "Damn, for such a chill-looking girl, she is even more cruel than I am!" Of course, this was untrue, but Lucifer felt like this would make him feel better about himself (which it didn''t). Nevertheless, after a few more minutes of whacking away at the hollow head of Lady Mu, her life-force finally felt like it was on the verge of fading away. Step Step Lucifer approached the gruesome scene and said, "You really went above and beyond, Li Yanny! With an appearance like this, she might even be able to audition in a zombie movie as a really scary zombie!" He patted the blood-covered girl''s head, making sure to snatch up the bat in the process. ''She''s too terrifying to leave with a dangerous weapon like this¡­.'' If one looked close enough, then they would see a slight pout form on Li Na''s pale face. "Umu? The fuck you want?" Lucifer looked down at the grumbling girl, making sure to put the bat further away from this maniac. "You said bat mine¡­ Name not Li Yanny¡­ It''s Li Yan." With the same expression devoid of emotion, she extended her hands, seemingly expecting something to fall in them. "Well, guess what? I lied! You don''t need any weapons!" Lucifer adamantly refused to hand this insane girl any of his expensive things-! Drip Drip "???" ''Tears?'' He looked toward the source of the droplet sounds and saw Li Na clenching the hem of her ck frilly dress. With tears raining down her face and puffy cheeks, she made use of all her natural cuteness! But unfortunately for her, Lucifer still didn''t give a fuck! "Ha! I don''t care!" He spoke these words while ''identally'' inching the bat into her arms. After taking the bat, Li Yan stopped the waterworks and returned toplete neutrality. After which, she swung it around a couple times, feeling that it fit her style quite well. It was only after this point that Lucifer realized that he might''ve just been yed¡­ "I can''t believe I let this sneaky little b*tch¡­" Veins popped up on all parts of his head. Even though he tried his best to rein in his annoyance, he needed something to take out his frustration on. And what better to do that with then with the help of a small Loot Bag!? ...¡­ Chapter 70: Nearing The Middle Foundation Establishment Realm, Interrupting Fathers Battle ...¡­ Tap Tap Like the beating of the drum of death, Lucifer walked up to the deformed meat potato. Then, with decisiveness, he shot out a small Qi beam and finished her off. After which, he absorbed the cultivation bases of both her and the five Grand Elder corpses. Two were from earlier, and the other three urred over thest few hours. But no matter when the loot bags died, they were still loot in the end¡­ First and foremost, Lucifer perused the iing system notifications. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Core Formation Realm Cultivator of the Devilduke Family. After applicable boosts are applied, the reward is 10 Decillion Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed five Early Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivators of the Devilduke Family. After applicable boosts are applied, the reward is 340 Undecillion Clone Essence!] Following these system notifications, Lucifer felt his cultivation base start to increase once more. [Ding! Your current cultivation percentile rate is at 85.9% of the way into the Early Foundation Establishment Realm!] "Hmm¡­" Lucifer was happy over seeing the Clone Essence per kill increase by so much, and he was also overjoyed with the cultivation improvements, but he felt like something was missing. "Ahh¡­ I totally forgot to take these out and scare the bejeebers out of my mother¡­" He took out the heads of two Supreme Elders,menting over a failed objective. However, after a moment of sulking, Lucifer focused back on the next task of this long string of people he needed to recruit and kill. "To go and meet father. Oh, and that Lighting Lunatic fello!" Lucifer''s eyes brightened up, then, without the permission of Li Yan, he picked her up and blurred from his spot. Leaping through the Great Mormonga Forest at insanely fast speeds, the both of them eventually reached a location riddled with craters. Of which, they were filled with faint traces of both the lightning and fire elements. "So, this is what happens when two beings at the absolute peak of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm fight with their lives on the line¡­ Not bad." Lucifer mused at the surrounding destruction, feeling that his father did quite a good job at destroying everything he could. Let alone the burning forests and earth, even the mountains and hills were in shambles. Alone, the damage didn''t seem like much, but with so many counteracting aspects, the ce looked like nothing short of the aftermath of a bomb barrage. CRACKLE¡ª KABOOOOM! Explosions and lighting crackles could be heard in close proximity, and Lucifer wasn''t one to dawdle. So, while carrying around the expressionless Li Yan, he sprang into the air like a broken coil! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Sonic booms followed right behind his trail. "???" "???" Making his presence known to the powerhouses, he shot in their direction from over 5000 meters in the sky! KABOOOM! When he touched base in the area where the two were fighting, both of them slightly retreated and waited for the smoke to dissipate. When it did finally disperse, Lord Xiao''s eyes widened considerably. With a bruised and beaten body, he moved his cracked lips and said, "Lucifer¡­ What are you doing here? And that power¡­" The Devilduke considered himself quite the intelligent one. So, upon witnessing such a disy of strength, he almost immediately realized what had happened. "A devil¡­ You have been possessed by a devil¡­? So, the Family Competition¡­ The sudden change in your will to cultivate¡­" For the first time in a very long time, Lord Xiao was at a loss for words. However, the foreigner had no notion of who or how Lucifer had changed. Thus, the Lightning Lunatic shouted, "Hey, shithead! Do you not see that we are fighting over here!? Why don''t you go back and suck on your mums teets! Leave the real fights to the real men!" In the beginning, he was mildly surprised by the disy of strength this boy showed off. But, considering that it could just be a fluke or y set up by Lord Xiao, the Lightning Lunatic decided it was best to threaten the neer. "Umu?" Lucifer waved the residual smoke away from his face and looked toward the two imposing people. One was adorned in long, flowing fiery robes, possessing the countenance of an off-brand fire god. Whereas the other one was analogous to the Walmart version of Thor. Except instead of a cool ass hammer, he wielded some wimpy little 3-foot long spear. "Hey, bro. Just because your weapon is short, don''t believe that all of us will think that you have a mighty third leg in your pants." Lucifer sneered at the third-rate viin, quickly finding himself staring at the dumbfounded look on his father''s face. "!?!?" "You Dare!?" The Lightning Lunatic roared. Then, as if his weapon were alive, it aligned with the surging emotions of its master. Creating a field of lightning around his body, it didn''t stop until it ended up expanding to the size of a football stadium. Then, with overwhelming might, the Lightning Lunatic lunged forth with his spear! Surpassing speeds nearly a dozen times that of sound, he passed in between donuts of electrical air, aiming to prate the young man''s entire existence in one blow! "!!!" Lord Xiao immediately went on the defensive when faced with this extreme amount of power, swiftly getting himself into the |Reaper Assassin| stance. He was prepared to put 100% of his strength into thwarting the advance of the Lightning Lunatic''s attack!!! And then there was Lucifer¡­ "Yo, brother. You know that showing off your puny skills is just making you look extremely sad, don''t you¡­?" He lightly blew on a booger he picked with his pinky. Then, with untold levels of ease, he stuck out his pointer finger and thumb. Completely out of the expectations of all those present, Lucifer grabbed hold of the spear''s tip, effectively stopping the Lighting Lunatic from moving a single inch further! "!?" "!?" "How could this be!?" The Lightning Lunatic tried to break free of the grip that the young man had on his spear. However, no matter how much he strained himself, nothing budged the spear! "Say, Lightning Douche, have you ever been schadooched? I mean, your name would indicate that you have, but I just wanted to make sure." Lucifer wryly chuckled while lifting up his pinky finger. ..... Chapter 71: Winter is Coming ..... "!?!?" The Lightning Lunatic had no clue what was about to happen, but he wasn''t nning to stay around long enough to find out! Without hesitation, he attempted to let go of his spear and flee in the opposite direction. But much to his despair, his arm was stuck in ce¡­ "What have you done to me, you bastard!?" "Shhh, just let it happen, my friend." Lucifer''s evil smirk widened. Opening his mouth, he said, "Skad¡ª" "Nooo!!!" "Dooche!" CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM! In an instant, the Lightning Lunatic''s stalwart figure exploded into a billion different meat chunks. Then, with the force of the attack too much for his body to contain, it blew past his body in the form of violently fluctuating air waves! BAM! BAM! The residual effects of the skadooche caused avnches to fall from the surrounding mountain ranges. With natural causes on their side, the mountains fully crumbled and broke apart. [Ding! You have killed a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator of the |Lightning Bloomer| Sect. The reward is 10?2 Clone Essence!] "Woah! That was pretty cool, huh?" Lucifer seemed to visibly glow upon witnessing how effective his neat little trick was. "T-This¡­" On the other hand, Lord Xiao watched this go down with his mouth agape. With an expression emting all the troubles on his mind, he copsed to the ground and lost all the previous dominance that he once had. Nothing seemed to matter anymore¡­ Such strength was beyond anything he could hope to match¡­ "You know, father. What the floaty screen dictates as my Battle Power is actually quite a ways off the mark. Do you know why this is?" While strolling over to his father with a yful expression, Lucifer asked a question that left the Devilduke even more confused than he was before. "What I''m trying to say is that even though the screen says I have a Battle Power in the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm. That is only assuming that the opponent I''m battling is of the ''Average'' of his power ss. You see, what I''m trying to say is that you and that Lightning Douche are not even average, lol." Lucifer seemed to find their approximation quite funny. After all, even if the Devilduke and the Lightning Lunatic weren''t injured and exhausted, they would still stand no chance against him. "So, father, what have you been cking on as ofte? Not taking enough of the blue pill? Or maybe you have neglected your techniques?" Being mocked like this by his son angered Lord Xiao greatly. But in the end, he was helpless to do anything about it¡­. A sigh escaped his mouth, and he asked, "What is it that you want from me, devil? My money¡­? My status? My power?" "Ho?" Lucifer found this question quite interesting; thus, he slowly approached his father, hanging his sword over his shoulder like some sort of hooligan. Beside him, there was a short goth girl. She followed every step he took, seemingly acting like some sort of copycat. "Say, da hell are you doing, Li Yan?" Lucifer stopped his advance in order to ask this question. "You got the name right¡­ But still rude¡­" That was all the words traded between the two of them before Li Yan ignored the dum dum. However, she still made sure to walk right along beside him¡­ Sigh¡­ Lucifer heaved a sigh before looking toward his father. Answering the question Lord Xiao asked just a second ago, he said, "What I want from you is none of the things you mentioned. Instead, what I want from you is the loot you can provide." "The loot I can provide¡­?" Lord Xiao seemed to be more and more perplexed with everything that the devil told him. "I don''t understand-" Thud! Thud! His puzzled voice was interrupted by the sound of multiple objects hitting the ground. Upon focusing on the cause of this disturbance, Lord Xiao''s eyes widened in horror and disbelief. After all, what he saw were the heads of his wives and his children! There were even the heads of all the Supreme Elders and Grand Elders, only adding up to a total of hundreds of decapitated heads! Under the disbelieving eyes of Lord Xiao, Lucifer leaned up against the small mountain of bodies. "So, how do you like my gift for you?" He asked. His smile was beyond devilish, and with the apathetic goth girl standing to his side, Lucifer truly started to look like the devil incarnate! "You¡­ Just who are you!? What was the purpose of doing all of this!? What did the Devildukes ever do to you!?" The Devilduke started to shout in a delirious tone, pointing at the devil with an usatory stance. "Hey! There is no need to get so hostile with me, father! After all, we are on the same side!" "Same side!? How are we on the same side, you devil!?" Lord Xiao bellowed, his hand going for the massive great sword on his back. SHING! "How are we on the same side, you ask? Well, of course it is because you will be my loot, so that means we''re on the same side! Same team, samsies!" Lucifer already had his sword back in its sheath by the time that the damage registered for the Devilduke. "Y-You¡­-" Without even being able to get out hisst words, the Devilduke''s body exploded into arge number of meat chunks! Thereafter, Lucifer received a number of system notifications. One was from Lord Xiao, while the rest were from thest of the experts from both the Water Nation and Devilduke Family. All in all, everyone from both of the major factions had been disposed of, had their bodies thrown into the ''Loot Chasm'', and then stashed away for the Winter Season. And if Lucifer''s spections were correct, then Winter was rapidly approaching¡­ However, for now, he still had some system notifications to digest. BLING! [Ding! You have killed your father, you scumbag host! The reward for this grand aplishment is 2.45 x 10?3 Clone Essence!] [Ding! Except for three people, you have killed off every other living being in your family. The reward for being apletionist is 4.85 x 10?? Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed off all experts that have invaded the Devilduke Family. The reward for being apletionist is 3.25 x 10?? Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have ughtered millions of people that lived in Riversea City. The reward is 1.25 x 10?? Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed the City Lord of Riversea City. The reward is 1.05 x 10?3 Clone Essence!] ..... Chapter 72: Absolute Peak of Early Foundation Establishment, Li Yans Coercion Technique ..... Following the most recent pop-ups, Lucifer directed one of his clones to pick up Lord Xiao''s corpse and stash it in the Loot Chasm. After this objective was aplished, he decided to open up his system interface and see just how much he needed to use up in order to buy a Clone at his level. The result of this checkup was¡­ "Holy hot damn! This system is always trying to scam the hell out of me!" Lucifer stared at a price tag that had 43 zeros behind it, causing his blood pressure to rise to unbelievable levels! "Let''s calm down now. If I have approximately 1.50 x 10?? Clone Essence and I need to use up this much for one clone, then I should be able to¡­" "???" Li Yan watched her big brother mumble to himself like a crazy person, wondering just how many screws he was missing from his head¡­ ¡­ At the end of Lucifer''s calctions, he found that he could buy roughly 85 Clones of the Absolute Peak Half-Step Nascent Soul Rank. Although this was nothing to cry home about, it would still be good enough to begin the next phase of his ns- Tug Tug Lucifer''s viinous monologue was interrupted by a light tugging on his robes. Upon which, he looked down and saw a young goth girl rubbing her belly. "Da hell you want now?" He asked. "Hungry¡­ Mother gave food¡­ rarely¡­" Li Yan''s ahoge fell to her t hair as her eyes watered and her hold on the deadly bat¡­ tightened. ''The f*ck? Is this girly trying to subtly threaten me or beg for food!?'' Even to this very moment in time, Lucifer still couldn''t tell whether Li Yan was an obedient girl or a gangster in the making. But in the end, he couldn''t have his assets starving and failing to fulfill their duties, so he took out some bread from his storage ring. "Here, eat," he said. "No¡­ Bread¡­ nasty¡­" Li Yan mumbled, pushing the bread away from her face. Tick! "You ungrateful little brat! First, you ask for food, and now you''re picky about what food you get!? If you don''t want the bread, then starve!" Lucifer shoved the food back into his storage ring before jumping off of the hill of heads. Taking the heads back into his storage ring as well, he walked away from the short goth girl. However, when Lucifer once again heard the faint sound of sniffling, he retraced his steps and gave Li Yan an entire Storage Ring filled with all sorts of desserts and snacks. "This is for the further progression of my strength, so don''t get the wrong idea!" Lucifer once again walked away. However, this time, he did so in a huff and puff. "...Yummy¡­" Upon looking inside the storage ring, Li Yan started to drool. But when she realized that she was being left behind, her pitter-pattering could be heard echoing across the deste forest. Her tears dried up like they were never there to begin with, and she grabbed the edges of Lucifer''s robes. Letting her big brother guide her to their next destination, she nibbled on a wide variety of tantalizing chocte desserts. ''It happened again, didn''t it¡­? This damn she-devil¡­'' Once again, Lucifer had been outwitted by a 6 year-old girl. Losing all the food he had in his possession, he walked toward the Loot Chasm with a soured mood. Counting on the loot to cheer him up, he entered the Loot Chasm and started to spam Demon Assimtion. His cultivation began to spike up. {[Late of Early Foundation Establishment]} {[Peak of Early Foundation Establishment]} {[Absolute Peak of Early Foundation Establishment]} It ultimately stalled at around the Limit of the Early Foundation Establishment Realm, unable to make thest leap that separated it from the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm. "Welp, although all the corpses were unable to advance my cultivation into the next minor realm, it''s still good enough tost me until I leave the Elemental Nations." Lucifer walked away from thest corpse in the Loot Chasm. Afterward, he exited the chasm and blew up the entrance on his way out. He couldn''t have any evidence connecting him to the deaths of everyone in Riversea City, so this was the optimal route to take. Nevertheless, after everything was done and out of the way, Lucifer strolled up to a broad tree. Hands behind his head, he whistled a little before saying, "You ready to go meet Grandpa and Aunt Fu Wen before we set off for the Fire Nation''s Royal Capital?" A goth girl awoke from her nap and looked up at the unusual man grinning at her. "Creep," she said. "..." Lucifer''s expression froze in ce. Then, with an irritated grip, he picked the short girl up by her head. "Say, what was that you just said?" He asked with a smile, shadows shrouding his eyes. "Nope¡­ Dum dum, shtupid. Gibs me more food." Li Yan adamantly refused to apologize for what she identally blurted out. On the contrary, she was shameless enough to ask for more food. Tick! "After taking my entire stock using your sinister coercion technique, you still have the balls to request more¡­?" Lucifer''s veins scrunched up as he bit his lips and clenched the sword by his side. In response to his aggravation, Li Yan tilted her head to the left and right in a cute manner. After which, she mumbled, "Li Yan don''t have balls¡­ Hungry¡­ Feed me¡­" She puckered her lips and watered her eyes, using every ounce of her natural cuteness to get what she wanted. ''Ha! Jokes on you! Does someone as lowly as you really think that I''d give up what little I have left because of something so childish!?'' Azmodeus thought in a high and mighty manner while handing over the absolutest of the food he had left. ''Ha! Who''s the oneughing now!?- Wait¡­ What da fuck!?'' Somehow, he lost possession of his storage ring! Furthermore, it seemed to havended in the goth girl''s grubby little hands! "What sort of game are you ying, little girl!? you trying to pick a fight or something!?" Lucifer cocked his head back and menacingly stared down at the cunning midget. ..... Chapter 73: Another Whoopsie, Commiting Seppuku!? ..... Nom Nom While stuffing her face full of strawberry pies, Li Yan turned her face up from the snacks. "Wants shom yumms?" She asked with a stuffed mouth. "..." It was in that moment that Lucifer decided it was more worthwhile to just go through with the next step of the ns. So, after picking up the munching Li Yan, he blink-stepped and reappeared at a remote corner of the Devilduke Household Territory. It was in between a rock and a hard ce that Lucifer found the man he had been searching for. The man in question was an old man. From appearances alone, he was definitely someone on hisst legs. With his gray hair sparce on his round, shiny head, and the blood leaking from multiple parts of his body, he looked simr to a beaten-up zombie. ''It''s quite clear that he just experienced an extremely tough battle. But what I''m curious about is just who could reduce an Early Nascent Realm Expert to such a state-'' In the process of thinking that thought, Lucifer noticed arge one-horned beast from the corner of his eye. With numerous shiny blue scales, four legs, and a horse-like body, it deserved its title as a Qilin hybrid Spiritual Beast in the Nascent Soul Realm! "Umu? To have such powerful existences fight each other under the noses of countless experts, just what sort of concealment spells did this old man use?" With Li Yan on his shoulders, Lucifer started to take off all precious parts of the 800-meter-long Qilin Hybrid. After everything of value had been scavenged, he looked toward his grandfather''s corpse with dor bills floating around inside his eyes. Just as he was about to reach his hand into the old man''s robe pocket, a gasp of air suddenly escaped the old dude''s mouth. Then, like a zombie, he came back to life and grabbed Lucifer''s arm! "!?!?" "My grandson, you havee here¡­ I am about to die. But, before I pass on, please take this¡­ You are our future-" While in the midst of his dissonant mumbling, a sudden sword sh appeared in the cave''s interior! SHING! Promptly and efficiently, Lucifer shed off not only the old dude''s arm but also his head, Nascent Soul, and Core. In the span of a nanosecond, his grandpa died wide-eyed and in disbelief! "Dude, you shouldn''t go around jump-scareing people like that. You could get somebody seriously hurt." Lucifer patted off his crimson-colored robes with a slight look of disgust strewn across his face. After which, he walked up to the old dude''s corpse and picked up whatever he was trying to give him. What he saw from the pile of blood and bones was a small, shiny, golden talisman in the shape of three long swords crossed over one another. "Hmm¡­ From this old man''s memories, this appears to be some form of Entrance Token for an Academy called the Golden Ascendancy. Nice, will definitely pop up when I have some free time." The Golden Ascendancy Academy was an illustrious Academy for Heavenly Geniuses of the Tianwu Continent, and it was chalk full of every kind of talent there was. However, the minimum requirement to enter the Academy was to be in the Soul Transformation Realm and main in at least two different Cultivation Paths. Furthermore, you had to have more than 100 Sources and possess a Cultivation Talent in or above the Earth Rank! Of course, Lucifer would have no issue aplishing any of these things. But in the end, it just simply wasn''t the time. "I will give it a few weeks, drain the Elemental Nations of everything they have, and then head on over to this Golden Ascendancy Academy. As for why I n to go¡­ Well, for loot, of course!" "..." Li Yan once again heard her big brother creepily giggling to himself. While wondering if he had problems with his frontal lobe, she continued to munch atop his head without a care in the world. ¡­ After a little bit of self-monologue, Lucifer let go of his grandfather''s head. Then, withplete ruthlessness, he absorbed the corpse''s cultivation base. He also did the same with the corpse of the Qilin. While his cultivation broke the gap between the Early and Middle Foundation Establishment Realm, a particrly lucrative system notification rang out inside his head. BLING! [Ding! You have killed an Early Nascent Soul Realm Expert of the Devilduke Family. The reward is 4.50 x 10?? Clone Essence!] "Hot damn, such a steep incline in Clone Essence!? I just knew that higher-level mobs were where the real benefits could be obtained!" "???" Upon hearing her big brother shout so loudly out of the blue, question marks went off in Li Yan''s head. But what attracted her attention more were the chocte-covered pretzels she found at the bottom of the storage ring. "Mhmm¡­ Yumms¡­" She mumbled with a slight look of satisfaction on her stoic face. "Holy hell! My cultivation broke through into the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm!? This is the shit!" Lucifer was once again made the center of attention as he felt his cultivation skyrocket. {[Initial of Middle Foundation Establishment]} {[Early of Middle Foundation Establishment]} {[Middle of Middle Foundation Establishment]} By the end of the rapid cultivation advancements, Lucifer further understood just how much more he could gain from higher-level enemies. "Demon Assimtion, this will be one of the Techniques that will assist me on the Path to Infinity! This is very nice¡ªvery nice indeed." Lucifer repeatedly bobbed his head, marking this moment down in the historical notes. With his cultivation in the Middle of the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm, he just needed to consolidate his cultivation, and he was guchi! Of course, he could also increase his Source count and his Body Cultivation- "Wait¡­" Lucifer''splexion suddenly turned ashen as he recalled something ridiculously stupid. "I forgot to cultivate my Body past the Initial Copper Rank¡­ This entire time, I could''ve been passively refining my body¡­" At this moment in time, he felt like aplete idiot! Who just forgets to do something that can quite literally be done passively!? Thud! Lucifer fell to the ground with a loud thud. Distraught over the most recent revtion, he muttered, "...This folly of mine is worthy of Seppuku." ..... Chapter 74: The Light Nation, The Great Pope ..... Lucifer proceeded to pull a katana out of his storage ring. However, before he could plunge it into his stomach and go out with a righteous heart filled with loot, a small handnded on his head. It started to rub his hair¡ªback and forth, back and forth. Without stopping its rythematic movements, the pats kept oning. For some reason, Lucifer found this gesture of Li Yan''s quite sweet. So, with newfound will to live, he turned his head behind him and- Wipe Wipe "..." "What are you doing, Li Yan¡­?" Lucifer inquired with a twitching expression, his eyes shaking erratically as if he were on the verge ofpletely snapping. "Yums¡­ No napkins, so soft hair good for dirty." Li Yan showed her chocte-covered hands to her big brother before going back to wiping them off on her personal head napkin. Lucifer''s face darkened to insane degrees as he tried his best to restrain the growing urge to pick the girl up by her head and sling her into a wall. However, after taking a moment to meditate inside his mind, he calmed his nerves and focused on the matter at hand. Namely, it was of his Body Refinement Realm and how he nned to further progress it. "If I just use the Godfiend Technique, then I should be able to passively advance my Body Refinement Realm up to the peak of the Gold Rank. Still, considering that I am just of the Initial Copper Rank, there''s definitely a long way to go." Lucifer immediately started to circte the Godfiend Technique. Hence, the Qi in the air flowed toward him in great amounts. After which, it created a thinyer of energy around his body. This energy stuck to him like glue and faded into a certainyer of his skin. Which, in return, led to it not only actively refining his body but also staying hidden from all prying eyes. "Say, system, what is the percentile rate of my Body Refinement Realm?" [Ding! Your current cultivation rate for the Body Path is ''24.5% of the way into the Initial Copper Rank''] [Ding! 24.7%... 25.2%... 25.8%... 26.4%...] As Lucifer''s thoughts flipped by in a measurement of nanoseconds, his Body Refinement Realm improved by leaps and bounds! "It will likely take no more than-" He couldn''t even finish his guess before being interrupted by a system notification, saying: [Ding! Your Body Refinement Realm has progressed from the ''Initial Copper Rank'' to the ''Early Copper Rank''.] [Ding! Your Battle Power has slightly improved!] Following all of these system notifications, Lucifer felt theyer of energy over his skin start to thicken in density. Subsequently, his Battle Power increased appropriately. Taking a quick peek at his Battle Power, Lucifer realized that it was very close to breaking past the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm! "After all this damn time of fighting against that barrier, it''s finally about to crack! I have been in the Half-Step Nascent Soul Battle Power rank for ten seconds too long!" He felt that all he needed was onest push to tip him over the edge! "But to get thatst little bit¡­ Hmm¡­ There is no one left alive besides that dumb whore aunt of mine. So in the end, I still have to head out for the Fire Nation Royal Capital." Lucifer was a little annoyed about this information, but that didn''t stop him from leaving the cavern with the small munchkin still atop his head. His destination: Aunt Fu Wen, and then the Royal Capital of the Fire Nation. **** As the two lunatic siblings went through many peculiar phases, a few figures in priest attire walked through golden-ted halls of the Light Nation''s Holy Cathedral. "Brother Huang, why has the Great Pope called for our convening today?" "You have not heard?" "Heard what?" "The Lightning Lunatic¡ªhe''s dead." "!?!?" "How could he just die!? He was at the top of the Half-Step Nascent Realm! There''s no way he could just drop over dead!" The first priest was someone ranked fairly high within the Light Nation, and he was also someone who went by the name of Li Gao. On the other hand, the second priest was ranked quite a bit higher than Li Gao. Still, he was at just the right rank to be privy to more information than Li Gao. "Ai, Li Gao. You really don''t keep up with the times. Always so busy with theprehensions of the Divine Samaritan Scripture¡­ It''s admirable, but it might one day lead to your death¡­" Zhao Huang heaved a heavy sigh before turning around a corner. "The Lightning Lunatic as well as the rest of Riversea City have all died following the attack of the Water Nation..." "???" "What do you mean by that!? Riversea City, then the Devilduke Family¡­ They lost to the Water Nation¡­? If that''s the case, why would the Lightning Lunatic be dead¡­?" Li Gao truly couldn''tprehend what his senior brother was saying, but that didn''t stop him from hounding him about all the things he didn''t understand. In the end, Zhao Huang had to inform his Junior Brother of every single thing that his silly little brain wasn''t already aware of. Which, as a result, led to Li Gao staring ck-jawed at his Senior Brother. "To wipe out every single person in Riversea City¡­ The Water Nation¡­ The Devilduke Family¡­ and all the forces we sent in to assist the Water Nation¡­ T-This is¡­" Li Gao was at aplete loss of words, utterly unable toprehend the nonsense that he was listening to¡­ "Whatever the case may be, you will need to get your bearings together before we meet the Great Pope. Even though you are a genius in the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm, you are still new around here." Zhao Huang pushed his body around another corner, making it to a wide open space. Expensive chandeliers and fancy, dazzling jewels drooped down from the roof of this room. Still, the most eye-catching thing in the extravagant location had to be the ten golden-armored men, all of whom stood in front of the Great Pope. The Great Pope. Someone who stood at the very apex of the Light Nation! He was the epitome of perfection in the eyes of all the devout zealots of the Light Nation! He was their God! But something changed within him on one fateful day¡­ What that something was¡­ Well, no one knew for sure¡­ ..... Chapter 75: Gathering Of The Light Nation Leaders ..... "These people¡­ They are all in the Nascent Soul Realm, and if they wanted to, any one of them could wipe out the Devilduke Family with a simple swipe of the palm. However, what you must understand is that these Ten Golden Cardinals are merely the protectors of the greatest man in the Nation." Zhao Huang respectfully walked to the highest ranking members of the Light Nation. While doing so, he also decided to inform the newbie of a few more things. "I see¡­ So the Golden Cardinals will be the ones to figure out how everyone in Riversea City was massacred¡­?" Li Gao voiced his question with a deferential tone, and Zhao Huang answered, "Yes, they will settle this matter in no time at all. So, don''t worry about it and focus on how you present yourself here." Zhao Huang was the one to rmend and hire this genius from the Earth Nation. In other words, everything Li Gao did reflected his tutorship skills. Considering that they were about to approach the absolute top of the top, there was no longer any room for mishaps or mistakes- "Hai, is that you, Zhao Huang? I thought you were on the Southern Border, instructing those monks in the Repository''s Chapel??" A friendly, boisterous voice reverberated throughout the hollow halls. After which, a man of great stature walked up to Li Gao and his Senior Brother. "How have you been over thest few centuries? Ever since breaking through to the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm 400 years ago, you have been tantly ignoring me! What''s that all about!?" This man was known as Li Chen, The Walking Giant. His nickname was there for a good reason. After all, just his enormous 7-foot-5 height was enough to instill fear in any enemy that so much as looked at him the wrong way. Add that to his braided red beard as well as his long Norsen-style hair, and a bona fide Giant of Myths came into being! However, it was neither his appearance nor his intimidating disposition that led to Zhao Huang ghosting him all those years ago¡­ It was instead the fact that Li Chen¡­ Whack! Whack! "You are a funny person, Zhao Huang. But don''t worry! From this point onward, we will stay in contact and go out for beer everyday! Haha!!" Li Chen cocked his head back and started to rauciouslyugh, subsequently causing a shiver to crawl down Zhao Huang''s spine! "O-Of course, I will see if I have some things to move around on my agenda." ''God! I just knew this bastard would be here! Damn it all!'' Zhao Huang wouldn''t lie and say that he didn''t already regreting to the Holy Cathedral. If not for the Divine decree sent down from the Great Pope himself, he never would''ve risked encountering this sick alcoholic bastard! Just imagining a repeat of what happened thest time they drank together was enough to put Zhao Huang in a lucida¡­ Shudder¡ª Zhao Huang really wanted to go home right about now¡­ "Hmm¡­?" Li Gao observed the expression his Senior Brother was making. He was quite confused about his reactions to this giant man who was in the- "The Limit of the Half-Step Nascent Realm!?" He identally blurted out. Of course, when he realized what he had done, he sped his mouth and returned toplete silence. One might think that his reaction was a little exaggerated. However, the difference between him at the beginning of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm and the Limit of the same realm was like the difference between Heaven and Earth! Even if one broke through the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm at 600 years of age, they would likely need double that time to reach the Limit of the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm! Li Gao himself was quite a genius, as he had achieved the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm at age 500. Butpared to someone like Li Chen, he might as well have been considered hot, steaming sh*t! Despite all this information, after thest outburst, everyone in the room honed in on his jittery figure. Most tried to recall who he was, while others built up a slight sense of dislike for him. However, the one with the most ''unique'' reaction had to be Li Chen¡­ With a loud and annoying voice, he pped Zhao Huang on the back and said, "This boy... He your son or something? Or you just babysitting?" "Ai¡­ He is Li Gao, and he is also the Holy Bearer I recruited to head the Holy Bearer''s Third Squadron after the death of the Lightning Lunatic." Zhao Huang tiredly exined his part of the story, eliciting a long eyebrow raise from Li Chen. "So¡­ This kid is in the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm??" The giant asked. "...Yes, now if you will excuse us, we need to go and greet the-" "Hold your horses, my good friend!" Li Chen grabbed Zhao Huang''s white cor. Then, with pure physical prowess, he dragged him back to the conversation. "You must let me fight him! Come on! I haven''t fought anybody in so long¡ª! It''s been like 45 minutes!! Just give me the okay!" The Walking Giant rankled Zhao Huang about essentially giving Li Gao the death sentence. Completely forgetting that they were in the presence of countless experts, the Ten Golden Cardinals, and the Great Pope, Li Chen ceaselessly chided Zhao Huang. At least, that was the case until one of the more temperamental of the Golden Cardinals spoke up. In a booming voice, Cardinal Ming shouted, "Stop this nonsense at once, and gather up with the rest of the high-officials!" Li Chen froze in ce upon hearing the voice of his direct superior. After which, he slowly turned his head around and obediently walked up to a chair that was located just below a wide, opulent podium. "I will control myself, Cardinal Ming¡­ Just don''t send me back home from the Main Battlefield¡­ I can''t take any more monotony¡­" The towering giant seemed to lose all his spirit in front of the stone-faced Cardinal. After all, if his boss so felt like it, he could send him to his boring mansion in the Surguros Hills of his hometown. And there was just no way in hell Li Chen could go on living if he were forced to sit at home any longer!! He had to fight strong people! There was no other option for him! .... Chapter 76: Staggering Progress So Far .... "Behave, Li Chen. That is all." Cardinal Ming was a man of little words. But with his dazzling armor and the tendrils of light energy emanating off of it, there were very few who could match up to his grandiosity. At least, that would be the case if not for the presence of the other nine Cardinals, all of whom wore simrly ostentatious attire. With their long golden hair and whitish gold armor, the ten of them looked like nothing less than the ArchAngels of the High Heavens! Nevertheless, now was not the time to marvel at the Ten Golden Cardinals. Instead, it was time to discuss the topic that everyone convened here for. A Cardinal second tost on the left side stepped forth from his spot. Then, with a clear and concise tone, he interrupted the silence, saying: "As most of you are aware of already, the Lightning Lunatic has died in his assignment. Furthermore, the entirety of Riversea City''s poption vanished overnight. They are presumably dead, and the Lightning Lunatic is confirmed dead." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Everyone here already heard of the rumors, but it was still a different kind of feeling to hear theme directly from the mouth of a Golden Cardinal. Confirming their wildest spections, they waited with baited breath, hoping that the Cardinal could borate on this mind-blowing revtion. Luckily, they didn''t have to wait long. "The citizens of Riversea City, the people of the City Lord''s Manor, even the members of the Devilduke Family and Water Nation¡ªall have vanished without a trace. If not for the fact that we saw the Lightning Lunatic''s Life Crystal slowly shatter instead of instantly doing so, we would''ve assumed that everyone died due to some mysterious phenomenon. However, with this not being the case, we can assume that the Lightning Lunatic did not get caught up in some Astral Fluctuation or Space Disturbance. Instead, it is almost 100% certain that he fell to the de of an unknown expert. As for the rest of Riversea City, well, it is spected that their citizens died at the hands of this same expert. But what we don''t know is how an entire city, the Devildukes, and the Water Nation''s Sixth Royal Battalion vanished without a trace. How they did sopletely unnoticed by all surrounding areas is also an unexinable mystery. That is where you alle in¡­" Cardinal Mao stretched out his finger and pointed at everybody in the room. Then, with an inexplicable voice, he said, "You all will drop everything you''re doing and journey to the Fire Nation under the guise of foreign merchants. During this ''business trip'', you will find out who or what caused the deaths of everyone involved in the ''Riversea Incident''. After which, you will either kill or bring back the culprit. Now, we are aware that most of you are not in the Nascent Soul Realm, so we have taken out 10 Nascent Soul Rank Golem Suits from the Royal Treasury. With this state-of-the-art equipment, you will aplish your objective, no matter the cost." "B-But sir! What about our territories!?" "Yes, there''s no way we can just drop everything and journey toward enemy territory-!" "That is enough from you all." Cardinal Mao shut up everyone''s traps with a piercing re. In a tone devoid of emotion, he said, "Cardinal Ming will be leading this expedition, so your safety will be all but guaranteed. As for your territories and previous responsibilities, the Church has already found your temporary recements. Come back from this mission in one piece, and you will receive rewards beyond your wildest imagination." After observing everyone slowly but surely calm down, Cardinal Mao finished off his speech by saying, "You will do this for the good of the Nation of Light and the Church. This is all that needs to be said; now go and get your asses to work." Following Cardinal Mao''s speech, he, the Great Pope, and eight other Cardinals blurred from their spots. Surprisingly enough, during that entire exchange, the Great Pope had not spoken a single word¡­ However, with the daunting presence of Cardinal Ming looming over them all, none of the high-officials were allowed to brood over the Pope''s peculiarities. "Go and gather your things; we leave at dawn. Be on time." With these words, Cardinal Ming vanished as well, leaving everyone in the room to ponder the intricacies of this mission. Why gather so many high-officials because of the death of a mere Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Expert? They were loyal and looked after their own, but this was definitely excessive¡­ "Maybe there is more to this than meets the eye¡­ A threat to all of the Elemental Nations, maybe¡­-?" Whack! Li Gao was pped across the head for speaking such nonsense. After which, Zhao Huang berated him for casually talking about drivel like that! Li Chen soon joined in on the conversation, and then time passed for them all, with dawn rapidly approaching¡­ **** As the Light Nation and various other Elemental Nations moved toward Riversea City, the one who caused these big waves was strolling through the streets of Slothian City. "Clones¡­ I should definitely summon some more before I pass the Limit Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm¡­" Lucifer and his little goth sister had already killed Fu Wen, meaning that they were the only surviving members of the Devildukes. While entering Slothian City, which was a few cities away from Riversea City, Lucifer suddenly decided that he wanted to increase his Clone Force. But before that could happen, he had to take a look at his system interface and see how far into poverty he was¡­ BLING! ¡ª------------ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/24,800] [Qi Cultivation: Middle Foundation Establishment Realm (Late)] [Body Cultivation: Peak Copper Rank (78.5%)] [Battle Power: Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm (Limit)] {[Clones:]} [Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Clones: 42+] ¨C [Upgrade - 0/1.5 CE2] [Peak Golden Core Formation Realm and below Clones: 350,000+] ¨C [Can still buy lower rank clones] ¨C [Various Clones] ¨C [Copse] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 0.5 CE2] [Clone Essence Bank: 4 CE2] {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) {[Mystic Confluence:]} [3rd Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100 CE2] (culmination of all previous Elemental Body''s - affects bodily strength) {[Prime Technique:]} [Sword sh] [Peak-Mortal Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] ¡ª------------ Chapter 77: Not Good Peoples, But My Peoples ..... "Ho? Now what the hell is this? Why is the Clone Essence in a different formatting as opposed to before?" [Ding! For the convenience of the host, the system has decided to multiply and convert all existing and future Clone Essence. Therefore, from this point onward, your Clone Essence will be termed ''CE'' and will have an exponent to indicate its existence value-] "Hol up a second, you acoustic fuck! What the hell does that even mean?? Existence Value???" Lucifer felt like the system was purposefully making everything extremelyplicated. And just as he expected: [Ding! To dumb it down for the mentally impaired host, big numbers are better! Big equals better! B.I.G¡ªE.Q.U.A.L.S¡ªB.E.T.T.E.R.] The system slowly reiterated thest part on purpose, clearly making fun of its host. "...You are truly looking for a beating, aren''t you¡­?" Lucifer tightly grabbed hold of the blue illusory screen. Then, with overwhelming force, he crushed with all his strength. However, contrary to what would''ve happened if the screen were a human head, not a single thing changed for the pop-up. Even in spite of that, Lucifer could feel it oozing smugness from miles away. But, in the end, there was nothing he could do to that damn system of his¡­ Tsk. Lucifer clicked his tongue before throwing the illusory screen off to the side. After which, he started to walk away from the bench he was sitting at. Or, at least, that was what was supposed to happen¡­ [Ding! The host treats the system so roughly and then leaves right after he''s finished? What sort of bastard is the host?[ Tick! Lucifer swore that he would one day get that damn system of his to permanently shut up. But, for now, he had to hone his patience. [Ding! That''s right, host! Just run away from all your problems! Quite typical of a bastard!] ''Why does this system make it so hard¡­?'' Lucifer was on the verge of snapping when, out of nowhere, a small head popped out of a clothing booth. "Changed clothes¡­ Yum yum now¡­?" At the suggestion of her big brother, Li Yan changed her raggedy, blood-stained clothes and got into something cleaner. Which, ording to Lucifer, made it easier to travel without so many prying eyes on them. Though that was what he said, Li Yan had a feeling that her big brother was a little nicer than he appeared to be. "Ahh, so it seems like you''re finally out? Damn well took you long enough! Felt like I was going to fall asleep out here!" Of course, Lucifer''s words were very rough, and he immediately came across as a douchebag. Still, when Li Yan felt him lift her up on his shoulders, she knew that he was different than the rest of her deceased family. ''Big brother not good peoples¡­ But he is my peoples¡­'' Li Yan tightly hugged Lucifer''s head, seemingly not willing to let go. Even though they had only truly gotten to know each other for such a short period of time, her big brother was the first person to ever treat her like another living creature. Lucifer may be evil to his core, but Li Yan didn''t care. She just wanted to stay around him for a little bit longer¡ªjust a little bit longer¡­ ¡­ After a few minutes of traveling through Slothian City, Lucifer''s cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. With his Qi Cultivation achieving the Absolute Peak of the Middle Foundation Establishment Realm, his Battle Power finally broke through to the Early Nascent Soul Realm! Add that to his Body Cultivation reaching the Absolute Peak of the Copper Rank and his Battle Power even started to progress further into the Early Nascent Soul Realm! ''Ahhh¡­ My Battle Power is improving quite nicely, but if I want to speed up the process, I will need to acquire some more high-level clones.'' ''Even though I spent up half of my clone essence a few seconds ago, I was barely able to buy 10 Limit Half-Step Nascent Soul Rank Clones.'' ''Though that is good enough for a few lucrative hunting sessions, it isn''t anywhere enough to aplish what I wish to aplish.'' ''That is especially the case when considering just how many powerhouses reside within a Central City like Slothian City.'' Lucifer''s perceptive gaze scanned his surroundings, and in just the closest 100 miles, he could feel the existences of at least 10 Nascent Soul Realm Experts. With his current strength, there was just no way he could hope to loot Slothian City in the same manner as Riversea City. Though that wasn''t to say that there were absolutely no other options. For starters, Lucifer had five of his highest-level clones sign up for an organization called the ''Hunting Association''. It was a business that specialized in the acquisition of beast materials, obtained through the act of hunting extremely powerful Spiritual Beasts. Making a Party called the ''Loot Reapers'', Lucifer would slowly but surely add to the number of members in the party. Of course, all of the members would just be different versions of himself. Still, it was this way of exponential replication that would lead to a quick and efficient takeover of Slothian City before ultimately moving onto the Royal Capital. As for the other five highest-level clones, well, they were sent off to be Alchemy Masters! Lucifer decided to do something different this time around. Instead of having his clones dig out holes in the ground and concoct Alchemy like little mole rats, he would have them show varied levels of skills at the ''Alchemy Guild''. Through this well-thought-out action of his, he hoped to have his clones climb the ranks of the Alchemy Guild and achieve high-ranking positions, thus making it possible for Lucifer to conquer two major aspects of Slothian City. One was Hunting, which was one of the main sources of ie for the city. Whereas the other one was Alchemy, which was just as lucrative and also just as vital for city operations. Now all that Lucifer needed to n out was the usurpation of the Magistrate''s office and the Information industry. Of which, included organizations rted to assassination, traders, merchants, etc. Branching off of information, there was also the Merchant Wagon, which was what bought and sold Pills, Beast Materials, and anything else that helped the city function. Without even needing to be the strongest in Slothian City, Lucifer already had a clear path toplete Domination set out right in front of him. And all he had to do was reach out and take advantage of anything he could-! "Hungry¡­ Maybe eat¡­ Hmm¡­ Dere is good." ..... Chapter 78: Golden Cardinal Ming, The Massacre Begins ..... "Hungry¡­ Maybe eat¡­ Hmm¡­ Dere is good." Lucifer''s sinister thoughts were interrupted by the girl atop his head. "...You''re still fucking hungry-!?" "Shhh¡­ No naughty words¡­" Li Yan put a small finger up to her big brother''s mouth, trying to help himy off using the mouth of a sailor. "..." Lucifer nkly stared at the emotionless goth girl looking at him from above his head. While wondering how he wound up in this situation, he sent out 250 thousand clones, all of whom were tasked with Alchemy, selling materials, building the repertoire of the ''Loot Reapers'', and the efficient killing of all Spiritual Beasts in the nearby forests. With all of this out of the way, Lucifer watched as the system notifications bombarded him from all directions. BLING! [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Spiritual Werewolf in the Late Foundation Establishment Realm. The reward is <0.1 CE2] [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Fire mingo in the Peak Core Formation Realm. The reward is <0.1 CE2] [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Rhino Ant in the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation. The reward is <0.1 CE2] [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Raptor Fly in the 12th Stage of Qi Condensation. The reward is <0.1 CE2] [Ding! Your Clones have killed a Hippon Lord in the Absolute Peak Golden Core Formation Realm. The reward is 0.2 CE2] Under his breath, Lucifer muttered, "Even though the Clone Essence acquisition is not much, over time, it will surely umte and allow me to buy the Early Nascent Soul Realm Clones. Of which, even the weakest one costs 100 CE2." He was still a little vexed over the price being so ridiculously high, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t still buy one. After all, with Clones in the Nascent Soul Realm, a lot more things could be better aplished- Whistle¡ª "???" Lucifer jumped out of the way of whatever whistled toward him. Luckily, he dodged just in time. In a matter of nanoseconds, he saw a ten-foot long spear blitz past his face and destroy tens of buildings in one go! "Yo, little Li Yansey, you okie dokie?" Lucifer looked above him and made an ¡ªOk¡ª sign with his right hand. In response to this question, Li Yan gripped his outstretched hand and said, "Okie dokies¡­ No hurt¡­" Lucifer slightly nodded his head. "Very well, then let us see just who has the guts to attack people in broad daylight." Normally, it would be him who would raise his hand if someone were looking for potential suspects of such a scenario. However, this time around, it was instead a group of over a hundred men and women dressed in white and gold. Wearing priest outfits and possessing a light aura around them, they were clearly from the ''Holier-than-Thou'' side of the world scale. "So¡­ Do you know who these dumbshits are-?" Lucifer voiced his question to the midget above his head. However, he was swiftly interrupted by her putting a finger over his mouth, saying: "No cussing¡­ Not good¡­ Those people¡­ stink." That was all Li Yan said before retracting her hand andying her chin on her big brother''s head. "Bruh¡­ This girl¡­ Why am I not allowed to do anything anymore¡­?" Lucifermented this fact before refocusing back on the Arch Angel-looking dude and the rest of the cannon fodder. "Though she is definitely right about something. Their holy aura¡­ It smells like straight shi-... poo poo¡­" Lucifer''s brows twitched at what he was forced to say, but with the powerful presences in front of him, that was hardly a matter for concern. Hence, he discarded his train of thought and unsheathed his Early-Sky Rank Longsword. This weapon cost him a fortune, numbering in an amount worth tens of millions of lowest-ranked spiritual stones. However, for Lucifer, he believed it to be the best choice he could make. Fortunately for him, it did turn out to be the right decision¡­ "So, dipshiters! Who the hell are you? Someone from the Light Bearer Branch? Or maybe from a Parent Organization?" "..." "..." All of the standing priests looked toward Golden Cardinal Ming. While wondering how he missed that spear throw, worry started to bubble up inside their hearts. However, when their Golden Cardinal started to speak up, their faith in his power came back in full. "You are¡­ strong. But no matter how strong you are, your destiny is to fall underneath my spear." Whistle¡ª Golden Cardinal Ming outstretched his hand, and in less than an instant, the earlier spear shot back to its master! "!!!" Lucifer just narrowly dodged the spear this time around. As a few strands of his hair fluttered down to the ground, he took another good look at the daunting angel-like existence standing before him. With his aura immensely powerful, energy tendrils sting off the top of his backdrop, a stone face, and the imposing armor he wore, Cardinal Ming was the picture-perfect image of an ArchAngel. But in spite of that information, Lucifer''s face remained neutral, and his aura maintained its steadyposition. "I see that you are quite the strong one. But does it honestly matter?" He asked. "...What do you mean by that? Have you already given up on any hope of youing out of this in one piece?" Lucifer lightly shook his head. "I think you misinterpreted the meaning behind my words¡ª" his voice faded out of existence as his body followed not long after. "!?" "!?" "!?" Li Gao, Zhao Huang, Li Chen, and the rest of the high-officials immediately went on guard. Preparing all the spells they could, their eyes darted around the eerily empty streets, attempting to locate their target. With their status as foreign merchants, they bought out the surrounding blocks, paying off anyone who could get in the way of their mission. Thus, they had all the room they needed to kill- SHING! "!!!" "I did say that it mattered not how strong your leader was, did I not¡­?" Lucifer''s devilish expression materialized from the speed stream. With an evil smirk on his face, he used his hands in order to rip out the throat of a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Expert! Considering that hisprehensions in |Sword sh| had achieved the Peak-Mortal Rank, he now had no issues utilizing the technique in ways other than with just a sword. He could use his teeth, his toes, his hands, and even his d*ck! All of it could be turned into a Sword sh! [Ding! You have killed a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Light Nation Executive. The reward is 0.8 CE2!] ..... Chapter 79: A True Monster ..... Following the ringing of the most recent system notification, Lucifer sped his hand onto the dead man''s head. Then, with absolute ruthlessness, he absorbed everything that was this man. Although it wasn''t enough to progress his cultivation into the Late Foundation Establishment Realm, it was good enough to instill fear in most of the experts gathered around him. Thud! Lucifer threw the dried-up husk to the ground. After which, his predatory gaze flipped between all the loot bags who decided to offer themselves up on a golden tter. "Say, have any of you ever fought a truly savage beast? I mean, one that knows not how to act in a civil manner¡­" As he spoke, his body got into a sprinting position; his legs bent and his upper body bowed low to the ground. Then, with a primitive glint in his gaze and a midget on his back, he pushed forth with all the strength in his legs! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Sonic booms erupted from behind his blurred figure as he leaped at the closest Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Expert! "S-Stop, you monster-!" The expert tried to conjure up a Holy Qi Shield so as to protect himself. However, without resistance, the beast smashed through the shield and emerged through its center. Then, with a wide grin on his handsome face, he plunged his right hand into the pit of the man''s stomach. Pulling his hand upward, Lucifer simultaneously activated |Sword sh|. SPURT! The Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Expert had his body torn to shreds! Following the subsequent destruction of his Core and embryonic Nascent Soul, the man died right then and there! [Ding! You have killed a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator of the Light Nation. The reward is 0.9 CE2] "!!!" "!!!" Under the astonished eyes of Cardinal Ming and the others, Lucifer hesitated not even the slightest bit as he rebounded off of the split open body. Then, with even faster movements than before, he leaped toward the next poor sap! In the span of a couple milliseconds, and without Cardinal Ming being able to interfere, a beast shed between the forces of the Light Nation. shing up everything using the epitome of savagery, Lucifer made use of both his appendages and his Low-Sky Rank Sword! "You really think you can just do as you please without any retaliation!?" Just as Cardinal Ming was going to discard the possibility of harming his subordinates and strike out at the brazen man, a body was thrown in his direction! "Ahhh! Cardinal Ming, help meee¡ª!!" The body screamed out while being flung at a speed dozens of times faster than that of sound! "You bumbling bafoon! What the hell are you doing!?" Cardinal Ming bellowed, his huge spear already aiming to sh open the hindrance! "Nooo!!!" SPURT! The flying man was cleaved in two, and from the fountain of blood that spurted out of his still-alive body, Lucifer slipped under the crimson rain. While dispersing thest of the half-dead man''s life, he stretched out his other hand and stabbed the Cardinal with the sharp edge of a de! "!!!" Though it only grazed him and was quickly thwarted, it was still enough to make everyone realize that their Lord could be injured! "Are we screwed¡­?" Li Gao asked, hisplexion ashen and his body trembling. "I don''t know¡­" Zhao Huang despondently mumbled, watching as more and more of his fellow organization members got brutally ughtered. "A ughter¡­ This is not a battle, but a ughter¡­" Even the Walking Giant was terrified at what he was witnessing. With the face of a devil and the bodily movements of a speed demon, Lucifer looked like an evil blur of red and ck lights. With a de in hand and sharp ws, no one was capable of resisting his lethal attacks¡­ ¡­ After a few more seconds of intense exchanges between Lucifer, Cardinal Ming, and a few hundred high-executives, only Li Gao, Li Chen, Zhao Huang, Cardinal Ming, and 36 others remained. "In the span of 40 seconds¡­ 90% of the high-officials¡­ They''re all dead¡­" Zhao Huang muttered, his eyes emitting nothing but fear. "How could this have happened? We were supposed to be an overwhelming force¡­" Even Li Gao and Li Chen were in a state of disarray. Completely lost in their own minds, they could do nothing but watch as a monster shredded through their forces like a man stomping on an ant hill¡­ "Y-You!! How dare you do this!? How dare you!!! Courting Death!!!" Golden Cardinal Ming was not one to easily lose control over his emotions, but what was happening right now was enough for every ounce of his sense of reason to go up in a puff of smoke! "Hai¡­ It seems like you''re finally ready to take this fight seriously." Lucifer pulled his hands out of the corpse of a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Expert. Then, with a savage glow in his blood-red gaze, he honed in on the livid Cardinal. "Time for a little bit of fun." POW! Like the shot of a gun, Lucifer vanished from his spot and zed toward the Cardinal at a speed dozens of times the speed of sound! "You fucking bastard!!!" Cardinal Ming heaved his massive spear over his head. Gathering the energy in the surrounding thousand miles, a seething aura erupted from his body and he shed down with his full might! He no longer cared about the casualties that would ensue if he went all out!! He didn''t care!!! This monster had to die!!! "Die!!!" CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM! The Cardinal''s attack was the signature move of the Ming Duke Household in the Light Nation. With immense control over the ligaments and bones of one''s body, the spear would be thrown down at a speed beyond that of recognition! |zing Spear Whirlwind| RUMBLE! Slothian City trembled underneath the might of his spear! This not only effectively alerted the other Nascent Soul Realm Experts in the city, but it also allowed for a sublime intimidation tactic! However, for Lucifer, when faced up against an attack that extended to the heavens. Well, he saw it as nothing more than the anger-driven fit of a toddler¡­ ..... Chapter 80: A Fool, A Golden Rocket! ..... "What a fool." Lucifer looked up at the towering tower of spear energy looming above him. While doing so, the Sky Rank Sword to his side started to intensely vibrate. Then, with a breath of cold air, he said, "You are strong... But unfortunately, you are too stuck up your own ass. Getting so mad over something like not being in control of the situation. It''s sad, really." OOOM! Lucifer''s buildup of energy was nothing special; it was simple and consistent¡ªsort of like a calm spring breeze blowing over a field of roses. But as with all roses, they were often riddled with deadly thorns¡­ "There is no need to make a big show or even to pretend like your power is greater than it is. All one needs to do is get the attack out, and do so with the highest likelihood of oveing your opponent." WAAA! Lucifer''s sword aura violently fluctuated, reaching for a level beyond that of visibly powerful and covertly powerful. "That is enough words for now. So, let us take this to the moon, for I wish to show you the stars." His voice resonated with the essence of the world, causing slight ripples to spread throughout the sky. "Do you truly think this little parlor trick is enough topete against my attack-!?" Before Cardinal Ming could finish his snarkyment, his opponent blurred from view and appeared in front of him in an instant! "!!!" Being forced to pause his attack midway, Cardinal Ming attempted to speed up the descent of his de at a different angle. But contrary to his expectations, Lucifer was no longer in front of him. ''Behind me!? But ho-!?'' His thoughts were interrupted by a pitch ck sword shooting straight into his ass! "Ahhh!!! Motherfucker!!!" He roared out in pain. Half an instant¡ªthat was all Cardinal Ming needed in order to turn around and slice the sly bastard into a million different pieces. However, for Lucifer, he only needed a quarter of an instant to plunge his sword even further up the big golden bastard''s asshole! SHING! "Say, how about we quite literally take this to the moon!? Here, I even prepared a personal rocket just for you!!" Lucifer''s maniacal voice reverberated in the surroundings. Then, with a screaming Cardinal on the pointy edge of his sword, Lucifer sprang up like a broken coil. Putting his full force into the hilt of the de, he transmitted all of his Qi into injecting the rocket fuel! [Ding! The host has sessfully broken through to the ''Bronze'' rank from the ''Copper'' rank!] [Ding! Your Battle Power has improved to the ''Early Nascent Soul Realm (Early)''] "Ahh, what perfect timing!" Lucifer thanked Lady Luck for this one. Then, with even greater power, he infused every ounce of his energy into his man-made rocket! "Let''s take you to the fucking moon, you angel-looking bitch!!!" "!!!" Fear emerged from the depths of Cardinal Ming''s irises as he was going to beg for mercy. But, for Lucifer, there was no such thing as sparing a lucrative loot bag. Whether they be male, female, or a fucking donkey, he gave no shits what they had to say! If they had loot to give, then they would be loot! "Tell the King of Hell that I said hello! Oh, and also inform him that we have a loot date; it''s rapidly approaching!" "Nooo!! Please!!!" Golden Cardinal Ming attempted to plead for his life while traveling upward at tens of thousands of meters per second. However, once again, Lucifer was unable to find a fuck for which he could give. So, with a goth midget on his head and a sword up a loot bag''s ass, he sent the first Golden Tincan to the moon! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Countless sonic booms repeatedly broke the sound barrier as Cardinal Ming wasunched far faster than they were previously ascending! As for Lucifer and Li Yan, well, the force from the attack sent them plummeting back toward the earth below. In spite of their impending dooms, Lucifer treated it like nothing more than a pillow fall. With his hands behind his head and his feet crossed over one another, he started to speak to the goth girl, saying: "Hey." "Mhmm¡­" "Whatcha doing back there¡­?" "Eatching¡­" "Oh¡­" Lucifer wasn''t even surprised anymore. After all, why would he expect that gluttonous girl to do anything but eat sh*t and get all that sh*t over his body!? It would be far too presumptuous to ask her to stop! He would never even dream of doing something like that! Oh, no, no! no!! "Ooh~~~" Lucifer sang himself a tune, trying his best to resist the urge to bart-simpson strangle the goth midget. As this was happening, he heard a number of system notifications ring out inside his head. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 270 Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators of the Light Nation. The reward is 210 CE2!] [Ding! You have killed an Early Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator of the Light Nation. The reward is 230 CE2!] "Ahh, so it seems like hundreds of weaklings can''t even match up to a single slightly stronger loot bag. However, I do wonder how cultivation acquisition rates stack up." Following this thought, Lucifer fell to the surface of the earth with a loud bang. After which, he patiently waited for the Cardinal''s meat chunks to fall from the sky. Luckily, he didn''t need to wait long. Plop! Plop! He and Li Yan watched the bloody guts hit the ground, producing unusual sounds upon making contact with the surface. Thereafter, Lucifer utilized Demon Assimtion and sucked up the essence of the Cardinal. Then, with a simr degree of efficiency, he did the same thing with the other corpses. While this was happening, Li Gao, Li Chen, Zhao Huang, and 5 other Limit Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Experts were trembling in fear. Watching the monster turn all theirpatriots into dried-up husks was enough to have the five Limit Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators run away in fear! "Ho? We can''t have any loot bags escaping." Like the voice of the reaper, it was followed by the swift deaths of all the runners... ..... Chapter 81: Late Foundation Establishment Realm ..... [Ding! You have killed 5 Limit Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators from the Light Nation. The reward is 25 CE2!] "Seems those guys are worth more than the other loot bags, nice." Lucifer nodded his head before retracting his fingers and getting back to absorbing cultivation. Among the 3 who were still left alive, without exception, all of them were shuddering in ce. With tear-stricken faces, they regretted ever leaving the confines of the Church. They were not cut out for this! They were from the Nation of Light! It was supposed to be exorcizing and baptizing! Not this f*cking shit-storm! "W-What do we do¡­? Do we run¡­?" Asked Li Gao, his voice shaky and filled with trepidation. "No! We mustn''t do that! If we do that, then we''re dead! Did you not see the bloody armor of the Golden Cardinal!? He''s dead, fucking bloody dead!!" Zhao Huang discarded his image as an all-knowing senior. Instead, he devolved into a chaotic mindset, willingly letting fear corrode his lucid train of thought. "Then what do we do¡­?" The Walking Giant was never one to veer away from a tough fight. However, what he just saw go down was no fight; it was merely the entertainment of a predator at the top of the food chain. The monster neither needed to devour them for sustenance nor did he do it in order to protect someone. He did it for fun¡­ To see his prey squirm¡­ "I don''t want to die! I don''t want to die!!" "!!!" "!!!" Out of nowhere, Li Gao''s mind snapped, and he started to scream like a lunatic! Getting up off the ground and running away from the bloody massacre, he wanted to escape and get back home to his wife and family-! SHING! "Guhh!! W-Why¡­.?" Li Gao looked down at his stomach and saw a gaping hole, one covered by the broken, protruding ribs that used to be a part of him. "Nooo!! You fool! Why did you do that!? We could''ve made it out of this if we just-!" In the midst of running up to save his junior, Zhao Huang suddenly realized that he ''ran''. Then, with the whistling of the wind, yet another hole was blown through the body of a man. "Zhao Huang!! How could you be just as stupid!? I''m so supposed to be the big stupid one!!" While groveling in the dirt, tears streamed down Li Chen''s squared face. While on hisst legs, Zhao Huang looked toward the Walking Giant. Then, with a despondent voice, he muttered, "Just live on, you big idiot..." Thud! With a thud, Zhao Huang''s body fell right next to his Junior. "!!!" Watching the light fade from his friend''s eyes, Li Chen''s anger quickly overwhelmed his sadness!! He would kill the monster that did this-! SHING! The moment that the Walking Giant erupted in rage, another crisp sword sh echoed through the environment. Then, with a precision cut, Li Chen''s head slid off his neck. With reddened eyes and tears still running down them, his severed face served to show just how much hate he felt during hisst moments of life¡­ "Phew! Now that all of that is done and over with, I can continue to absorb some cultivation base!" Luciferughingly spoke to himself, quickly getting back to the matter at hand. "Munch Munch¡­" Li Yan chomped on some chocte sweets, observing every facial expression that her big brother made. "Evil¡­ But he''s my evil¡­" She apathetically mumbled, her grip on his head getting even tighter. As the loot goblin obtained all the loot he possibly could, his cultivation actively increased in the background. {[Initial of Late Foundation Establishment]} {[Early of Late Foundation Establishment]} {[Middle of Late Foundation Establishment]} Although Lucifer broke through to the Late Foundation Establishment Realm, the boost still wasn''t asrge as he thought it would be. Still, it was enough to allow his Battle Power to progress into the ''Early Nascent Soul Realm (Late)''. With such advancements as the precedent, it would likely take no more than a couple hours for his Battle Power to pass into the Middle Nascent Soul Realm! However, for that to happen, Lucifer would need to find some more strong people to fight. Thankfully, the earlier fight attracted quite a number of powerful existences in Slothian City¡­ "Let''s see¡­ There are about 35 of them,ing from both this city and the surrounding cities. Hmm, it seems like I will just need to even the ying field a bit¡­ Heh." The first thing Lucifer did was spend 100 CE2 to upgrade his Mystic Confluence Physique to the 4th Order. Upon getting his Battle Power to the Peak of the Early Nascent Soul Realm, he used up 350 CE2 in order to purchase 35 clones at a price tag of 10 CE2 each. The end result of this little spending spree was the spawning in of 35 clones, all of whom possessed power at the very peak of the Early Nascent Soul Realm! After everything was said and done, a wide smirk formed on Lucifer''s devilishly handsome face as he honed in on the approaching experts. Then, with surging strength, he shouted, "Let''s kill them all! Loot, that is what we want!!!" "Loot!!!" All the clones bellowed in unison! Following the deration of their objective, everyone moved toward their targets, aiming to reap the loot! "Loot¡­ Kill them¡­ Yum¡­" Li Yan didn''t really know what her big brother was talking about, but so as to not feel left out, she stuck her small hands in the air and murmured the same words. Of course, she did so while still munching away at the snacks she never was allowed to eat before bing so close with her best big brother¡­ ¡­ "Nooo!! I don''t know anything, and I won''te after you anymore! Just pleas-!" SHING! [Ding! You have killed an Early Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator of Slothian City. The reward is 320 CE2] As the final Early Nascent Soul Realm Expert hit the ground with a thud, Lucifer decided to take a look at how much Clone Essence he now had. BLING! ..... Chapter 82: Entering The Fire Nations Royal Capital ..... BLING! [Clone Essence Bank: 10,500 CE2] "Hmm¡­" While sitting on a pile of dismembered bodies, Lucifer contemted what he should do with such a sum of Clone Essence. Considering that each Early Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost 10 CE2, he could potentially buy 1000 clones in the Nascent Soul Realm. But then again, Lucifer didn''t like to use up every ounce of his Clone Essence. So, in the end, he used up exactly half of his Clone Essence. After which, he watched as 500 clones spawned in from thin air. FWIP! FWIP! With thest of theming into being, Lucifer assigned them separate tasks. Most of them were to just focus on Alchemy. However, a good chunk of them also worked on cleaning up the higher-level cultivators of the surrounding cities. Lucifer and his clones have always been in disguise, so there was no need to worry about his identity being found out. But regardless of what his highest-level clones would be doing, he and Li Yan had a different set of objectives. So, with quick steps, Lucifer absorbed the cultivation base of all the Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators. Snatching up all their storage rings, he then ran off into the distance. Taking off his ''murder disguise'', Lucifer made his way toward the Fire Nation''s Royal Capital. While on the road again, the midget on his shoulders sparked up a conversation. "Big brother¡­" "..." Lucifer ignored her the first time she spoke. However¡­ "Big brother¡­" Li Yan mumbled, her hands lightly patting the top of her brother''s head. "..." Lucifer once again ignored her, hoping she would soon forget ever having talked to him. But¡­ "Big brother¡­ Will you leave me¡­?" Li Yan''s sp on both sides of his head became a little tighter. And even though one could not see any emotions on that icy face of hers, Lucifer knew better than to believe facades. In the end, he heaved a sigh before asking, "Why would I do that?" Li Yan''s ears perked up at this response as her grip loosened. Then, with a light bob of the head, she snuggled even closer to his head. She murmured, "Don''t ever leave me¡­ Not allowed¡­ Will be useful¡­ Promise¡­" "I see¡­" That was all the conversation exchanged between the two of them before Lucifer sped up his leaps across the vast, verdant mountaintops of the Fire Nation. - After a few minutes of travel, Lucifer''s Body Cultivation advanced from the ''Initial Bronze Rank'' to the ''Middle Bronze Rank''. Along with these consecutive breakthroughs, he also felt his cultivation touch upon the Absolute Peak of the Late Foundation Establishment Realm. Although he was still quite a bit aways from breaking through into the Peak Foundation Establishment Realm, it could definitely be achieved in the next 24 hours or so. In reality, it would likely take way less than that with Elusive Ascension in full cirction, but it was better to overestimate than underestimate. "Say¡­ I do wonder if I can make some more Sources and once again increase the speed of my cultivation¡­" As Lucifer murmured to himself in a deep state of pondering, the small goth girl atop his head seemed to never want to leave her spot. Even though she knew that she would one day be abandoned after her uses ran dry, something inside her said that she stood a chance¡­ Li Yan believed that she stood a chance of maintaining her usefulness. She didn''t know how, but she would do it, no matter the cost. With one thinking on a serious note and the other speaking about everything like it was all a game, time continued to pass. Eventually, the pair of oddballs made it to the Fire Nation''s Royal Capital! Withrge fire-red walls and dragon emblems adorning the sides, what stood before them was a massive 1000-meter-tall wall! "Ahhh¡­ So this is the Wall of Fire? From the memories I received, this big ol thing has been standing without a scratch for tens of thousands of years. Apparently, this thing was made from the scales of an actual dragon. Or so the rumors say." Lucifer analyzed the grandiose wall in front of them, wondering just how he could get away with erm¡­ ''borrowing'' a few pieces of the wall. "Pretty¡­" Li Yan muttered, her crystalline eyes shining like bright blue stars in the night sky. "Hmm¡­" Lucifer left his thoughts and looked down at the girl beside him. "You''re not one to be amazed so easily. Did something about this wall stand out to you?" He asked, his curiosity piqued. "Mhmm¡­ Pretty because destructive¡­ Fire is good¡­ For Loot." Li Yan scanned the wall from bottom to top, her eyes seemingly emting her desire for loot. "Ai¡­? It does appear that my teachings have started to rub off on you. This is very good, Umu." Lucifer was quite pleased with how fast his sister was learning the way of the Loot Goblin. Pleased he was, but interrupted, he was as well. "Halt! Do you know just where you plebeians have approached!?" A boisterous voice reverberated from the confines of the giant wall. Then, with a sh of golden red light, a man in a full suit of armor phased into view. "This is the Western entrance to the illustrious Fire Nation''s Royal Capital! Ha! I bet you are now shivering in your boots after learning of this revtion! If you know what''s good for you, then you will take your poor-people germs and be on your way-" FWIP! Lucifer blurred in front of the man and sped onto his slightly handsome face. Then, with a surge of misty gray energy, he infused it into the guard''s brain. In half an instant, he essentially gained control over all actions of the guard. Normally, this would not be possible, but with the right technique and arge enough power difference, anything was possible. Therefore, taking control over the mind of a weak Middle Golden Core Formation Realm cultivator was no biggie. ..... Chapter 83: Give Me 5 Good Men And Ill Impregnate The B*tch! ..... "Umu, I will have you let us past these gates. Furthermore, you will personally escort us to the Emperor''s Castle. Is that understood?" After getting out these demands, the guard mindlessly muttered, "Yes, sir." Thereafter, Lucifer and Li Yan easily made it past a gap in the Wall of Fire. Then, under the nosy eyes of various passersby, they found themselves traveling through a vast, prosperous city. The main theme of the city was red, while the buildings were middle eastern. Though, when one took a closer look, they would see numerous magic tools incorporated into the infrastructure of the buildings. So, with them numbering in the tens of thousands, there were likely millions of magic tools in passive activation! When one included the price of even the most basic Magic Tool, this city could be seen as the epitome of luxury! ''Themp posts, the candles, the lights, the windows, hell, even the appliances and trees¡­ goddamn everything is a Magic Tool!'' ''This ce is f*cking filthy rich!'' Lucifer looked at all the wealthy, noble-like characters passing them by, pondering just how he should go about robbi- borrowing everything they owned. ''With pockets so big and deep, they surely wouldn''t mind if I assisted them in the transfer of some of their funds¡­ right?'' Even though Lucifer was thinking as such, his body was already in the process of snatching up anything shiny. Using a ck slime-like substance, formed from the Darkness and Water Elements, this was done with ease and without anyone knowing the better. Whether they were Qi Condensation Realm Cultivators or Golden Core Realm Cultivators, Lucifer stole from them all the same! 10 lowest-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 30 lowest-ranked spiritual stones¡­. 700 lowest-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 20,000 lowest-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 500,000 lowest-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 3 low ranked spiritual stones¡­ 20 low-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 120 low-ranked spiritual stones¡­ 300 low ranked spiritual stones¡­ ''With each low-ranked spiritual stone equaling 1000 lowest-ranked spiritual stones, and with the total haul amounting to 600 thousand lowest ranked spiritual stones and 500 low-ranked spiritual stones, well¡­'' ''I''m fucking filthy rich!'' ''Just from borrowing from these randos, I obtained just as much wealth as I gained from all the previous loot bags I borrowed from!'' ''This is thend of the rich! This is thend of benefits!'' Lucifer already knew exactly how he would drain this ce dry. Even if it meant the copse of the Nation''s Economy, he didn''t give a fuck! ''It was fortold in the ancient scriptures of bullshitery; this is most definitely the way forward.'' With these thoughts at the forefront of his mind, he walked behind an extravagant-looking guard. Making his way through the bustling city, any and all ces of notice were marked down inside his mind. Lucifer would surely be back to benefit from everything worth anything. But for now, he had an Emperor to meet. - Step step step Less than a few seconds ago, Lucifer revealed his identity. Or rather, he revealed his identity as a servant of the small goth girl. As for the real Lucifer Devilduke, well, he died in a zing ball of fire! It was with such a convenient backstory that he and his little sister received permission to enter a huge, ostentatious castle. Located at the center of the Royal Capital, it was big and red, making it the perfect monument for the home of the Fire Emperor. In other words, this was the most highly guarded and dangerous ce in all of the Fire Nation! The Castle of Scorchspire. A castle that spiraled and coiled like the venomous tail of a dragon. Extending to the heavens, with fire and spikes protruding from its sides, this ce was seen as nothing less than impregnable! But of course, as the saying goes: ''Give me 5 good men, and I''ll impregnate the bitch!'' Lucifer nned to do just that, but instead of 5 men, he only needed himself and a small goth midget. With his steps through the hollow grounds of the castle marking his advance toward something greater, many servants spotted him. It was with sneers and snidy expressions that they mocked the man who looked more like a servant than they did. Even though Lucifer was extremely handsome, with his robes torn up and grimy blood staining his skin, he fit the model of a lowly servant. To be more specific, he looked like a servant who just went through a tough battle defending hisdy¡­ ''Heh, these fools are idiots. And if the servants are any indication of their masters'' intelligence, then this n will go off even easier than I anticipated.'' Lucifer inwardly smiled an evil smile. Walking past a number of well-defined shrubbery, expensive fountains, and other dumbsh*r rich people stuff with no practical applications, he ultimately found himself at the bottom of a flight of white marble stairs. Quickly ascending these stairs with Li Yan holding his hand by the side, he noticed two rather intimidating guards standing on both sides of a golden set of doors. With their shiny golden armor and their subtly overwhelming presences, Lucifer could immediately tell that they were in the Middle Nascent Soul Realm. If he were to fight them head-on, the battle woulde out pretty even-sided. However, these were merely the doormen¡­ The truly powerful persona originated from within the Royal Throne Room of the Fire Emperor. "Late and Peak Nascent Soul Realm Experts¡­ Hot damn, I never would''ve expected suchrge loot bags to be gathered in a ce like this.'' ''With my father''s cultivation being so weak, I wonder just how he was able to contribute so much in the war with the Wind Nation¡­'' ''Maybe he was injured and regressed in cultivation or something?'' ''No¡­ That doesn''t make any sense¡­ So, then¡­ What is it? Am I overlooking something?'' Even though Lucifer had absorbed the memories of his father, something was definitely not right. He didn''t know for certain what that something was, but this entire situation just wasn''t sitting well for him. However, he would have to put that matter on hold for now. After all, it was time to meet the Emperor¡­ ..... Chapter 84: Meeting The Emperor ..... "Let him in," echoed a gruff, noble voice from the inside of the throne room. "Yes, sir!" Not long after the guards shouted in unison, therge golden doors opened with a bang. Then, with piercing res all focused on him, Lucifer strolled into the throne room in a respectful manner. In a disguise and with a deferential disposition, he walked just a few steps behind the apathetic goth girl. Making sure to transmit her directions on what she should do, he patiently waited for the events to unfold. And when they did, he would make sure toe out on top! - "Ahh, so you are the Devilduke''s daughter? Li Yan, was it?" Hearing the voice of the Fire Emperor, Li Yan turned her cute face up to the robust man in ostentatious clothing. Sitting upon his jewel bedazzled throne, he ignored the scrutinizing res of all his advisors and ministers, instead putting all his focus on the short goth girl. In response to this attention, Li Yan stepped a few feet forward. After making it a decent distance away from her ''servant'', she said, "Yes." The answer was simple and sweet. Although some of the ministers did not like this ''disrespectful answer'', they knew when not to open their mouths. Hence, the Emperor was left as the only appraiser. And to say the least, he was quite pleased with the easygoing and straightforward attitude of the only surviving heir of the Devildukes. Contrary to how sinuous the rest of her family was, she was a nice change of pace. Thus, he waved his hand, beckoning to one of the pretty, gorgeously dressed women sitting beside him. "Yes, father," sounded a response from a girl with long auburn hair and diamond dolphin earrings. With graceful steps, her body got up off her chair. Upon making it to her father, she pulled out a rough piece of golden-outlined paper. After handing this piece of paper to the Emperor, she proceeded to sit back down. Then, with a sophisticated demeanor, she waited for the drama to unfold. Fortunately, it didn''t take long for such a thing to ur as the Emperor said, "This document right here; it is what will allow you to take control over everything that the Devilduke Family possessed. And though your age is quite young, I can tell that you are more intelligent than you seem. Therefore, your birthright will naturally be yours and only yours to do with as you please." "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Watching their Emperor sign off on the document put all of the ministers in a state of disarray! They couldn''t allow a gold mine like the territory of the Devilduke Family to be given to a young girl no older than 6! Even though the territory was now in shambles after the mysterious disappearance of everyone in Riversea City, that didn''t mean there was no value in thend itself. After all, it sat over a Mortal-Rank Spiritual Vein for God''s sake! No longer able to put up with this farce, Minister Zhang stepped forth and shouted, "This just can''t happen, your Majesty! That girl is but a child-!" "Silence." With a single word, the uproar that was about to ensue was quelled as easily as that. Thereafter, the Emperor turned his piercing, fiery re across the few dozen Nascent Soul Realm ministers in his court. "What I say goes. My word is final; you better not forget that," he said with an imperious tone, his intense regal aura nearly leaking from his stalwart figure. "..." "..." "..." Minister Zhang and the ones who were about to speak up immediately slumped into their chairs. With defeated expressions, they felt immense regret at all the wasted business opportunities that just passed them by. However, of those in the room, the princess who presented the document earlier did not seem to care about the ministers. Rather, her serene green eyes honed in on the slight movements that a seemingly ordinary servant was making. She didn''t know what it was about him that set her off, but when one of the ministers was going to y a trick and secretly kill Li Yan, she felt that the servant had his hand ready to strike. ''To notice something was up¡­ Hmm¡­ how interesting.'' This girl was called Princess Lianhua, and since young, she had always been exceptional. Whether that be in the ssical Arts, Martial Arts, or anything else she tried, everything was practiced to a state of excellence. By the age of 19, she had already reached the Early Core Formation Realm. Which, by the standards of the Fire Nation, put her beyond the status of a Heavenly Genius. By all means, she was perfect¡ªperfect body, perfect face, perfect cultivation talent. After turning 25 and breaking through to the Golden Core Formation Realm, Princess Lianhua even obtained the recognition of an expert from the cial Empress Sect. As a result of this recognition, she found herself a master in the Soul Transformation Realm, someone beyond even the Emperor himself. With such a master, a number of techniques were picked up along the way. With one of said techniques and a cultivation base in the Early Nascent Soul Realm, Princess Lianhua was able to pick up on something that even her father and siblings were unaware of. ''That man¡­ He is not normal.'' ''He''s dangerous.'' Though it was just spection, she now had a newfound sense of caution for the one that stood behind the sole heir of the Devildukes. "..." Feeling an icy re boring into his back, Lucifer knew he had been found out to a degree. But if he were being honest, such a discovery didn''t mean shit in the grand scheme of things. Although there would definitely be more eyes on him and his sister, if anybody got a little too nosy, there would simply be another loot bag for the reaping. Speaking of his sister¡­ "Done¡­?" "Yes, we are done, Little Li Yan. At least, that is the case when concerning the conclusion of your inheritance rights. However, there is something else that I would like to ask you and your family to aplish for me." The Emperor may have been speaking to Li Yan in a friendly and trustworthy manner, but Lucifer knew better than to believe the appearances of a nobleman¡­ ..... Chapter 85: We Kill? ..... ''A setup.'' ''This old dickhead agrees with the opinions of his Ministers. After all, it truly would be a waste to give so much Territory to a family that''s seemingly on theirst legs. Therefore, it only makes sense that the Emperor would contemte ways of ''disposing'' of the nuisances taking up space in his Nation.'' ''Of course, if he could openly dispose of us, he probably would''ve done that already. But since that oue would not do any favors for his reputation, he had hence decided to go about it in a roundabout manner. In other words, he''s about to send Li Yan to her death.'' And just as Lucifer expected, the Fire Emperor continued from where he left off, saying, "Since you are now the Head of an Assassin Household, it is only natural that you try your hand at a true assassination. So, with careful consideration, I have found you the perfect target for which to make your debut." With a smiling expression, he said these words. But on the inside, his malicious intentions could be seen as clear as day. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" The rest of the ministers and advisors quickly caught on to what their Majesty was doing. And to say the least, they never once doubted his decision-making skills! "..." Li Yan looked around at all the fake smiles stered on the faces of those who knew very well what kind of world they lived in. From the moment Li Yan gained consciousness, she too knew the truth of the world¡­ It was not one for the weak. It was not one that forgives those who couldn''t defend themselves. Being merciful? What was that? So what if she were at an age where she should be ying with toys in a safe environment?? From the very beginning, Li Yan understood that everyone was against her. Everyone besides one¡­ Upon feeling the warm energy being transmitted into her frail figure by her big brother, Li Yan knew she wasn''t alone. She may be disposable, but now she had someone. And for her, that was good enough. So, with a resolute gleam in her dead gaze, she listened to the Fire Emperor carefully exin the details of a mission that was pletely doable''. Li Yan was aware that the mission was bullshit. So did Lucifer, the Emperor, the Ministers, the Princess and Princes, the Queens and Concubines. Hell, even the youngest of the royalty knew that everythinging out the mouth of their Emperor was bullshit! But regardless of the stupid shit being spewed from the mouth of their ruler, there was not a single damn thing they could do about it. After all, when faced with greater power, all who were weaker must bend and break. This was the way of the world. And it would always be that way¡­ However, what was a cultivator? One who defies the fate of the Heavens! And who was Lucifer? Someone who gave absolutely no fucks! ''Umu! These dumbshits all think they have us in an inescapable. And they would likely be correct in that assumption.'' ''At least, that would be the case if not for this little sister of mine.'' ''Although weak, just her young age and frail social status among nobility have allowed her to bypass direct execution.'' ''On the other hand, if I were to reveal that I were still alive, there would undoubtedly be an ax to my neck within the next 20 seconds.'' ''But with Li Yan as the figurehead, everyone treats her as a little kid¡ªa joke per se.'' ''Not a single one of these bozos treats her as a threat to their positions or control over what was not even theirs to begin with.'' ''Inyman''s terms, this entire room is filled with people with too much pride to contain.'' ''For pride¡­ Too much of it only spells doom.'' ''And in this case, pride equals loot!'' As Lucifer''s thoughts stirred, Princess Lianhua focused on him; the Emperor coerced Li Yan, and the Ministers worked with him in getting the ''naive'' Devilduke heir to do whatever stupid shit they conjured up. By the end of this silly little fiasco, Li Yan and her servant were seen leaving the golden doors of the Throne Room. In their hands, there was a copy of the document that signed off on Li Yan being crowned the official heir of the Devildukes. Whereas, within the other hand, there was a shiny purple ''Assasination Contract'' for the Devildukes. Which, in the confines of the paper, stated that they were to sneak into the Water Nation and kill someone known as the Water Weaver. Li Yan received little to no information about this target. However, from what tidbits the Ministers were willing to reveal, the target was someone in the Middle Nascent Soul Realm and was known for the terrible ways that she treated Fire Nation prisoners. That was quite literally all that the King and his parade of douchebags were willing to disclose. As for the rest of the missing pieces, well, that didn''t really matter, now did it? After all, in the eyes of the King and his subordinates, Li Yan and her inconsequential servant were already destined for death¡­ - Step Step Step Lucifer, in disguise, and Li Yan, in normal human mode, walked out of the Fire Nation''s Castle. Both wearing neutral expressions, they exited the castle as if everything werepletely normal. Upon making it a sufficient distance away from the castle, they suddenly stopped in their tracks and stared at each other. "We kill¡­?" Li Yan asked. "Yes, we kill." Upon confirming her spections, Lucifer lifted her up and put her on his shoulders. Then, with a light blowing of the wind, his feet lifted off the ground and vanished into the setting sun. Tonight, they would be killing someone. "They''re on the move; quickly give chase." From behind the two fleeting figures, there were more than a dozen men in ck skin tight clothes, all of whom trailed the siblings with deadly intent in their gazes. ..... Chapter 86: A Ploy ..... Lucifer and Li Yan were made abundantly clear of the presence of the assassins. But for them, such existences simply meant more loot for Big Bro. Thus, it was with a mind clear of distractions that they traveled through the Fire Nation. Quickly, they reached the border that separated the Fire Nation from the Water Nation. Although this area ofnd was considered the ''Neutral Zone'' between the two Nations, Lucifer knew better than to believe such a lie. So, with a sword in hand, he pretended to be on guard as he passed through a war-torn battlefield. No one was left alive after the most recent scuffle on this part of the border between nations, but the scars of war would almost always be a reminder of what had once transpired. Scattered corpses, broken appendages, severed heads, shattered weapons, cracked armor, and fallen soldiers. There were many traces of fights that likelysted for years on end¡­ For a couple dozen shadowy figures tasked with the killing of the two surviving members of the Devilduke Family, they nned to add to the kill count of the battlefield¡­ Of course, Lucifer was also thinking the same thing. ''With us not being outside the bounds of the Fire Nation, the Emperor no longer has to worry about our deaths affecting his reputation. So from the very beginning¡­'' ''From the very beginning, he didn''t even n to allow us the chance toplete the mission. All routes lead to death, and death lies around every corner.'' With a calctive mind, Lucifer stopped atop a bloody hill with weapons plunged into the ground from all angels. Pat! He set down the small goth girl and gave her a Low-Sky Rank Protection Talisman. "This will prevent the worms from harming you," he said. "Mhmm¡­" Li Yan bobbed her head before grabbing hold of the Talisman like a precious heirloom. After the safety of his little sister was out of the way, a cold smile crept up Lucifer''s devilish face. Waiting for the loot bags toe to him, he unsheathed his long, ck sword and stabbed it into the ground. After which, he clutched the hilt of the de and awaited the arrival of loot bags who were just itching to be looted. Before long, roughly 20 ninja-like men materialized into view. With lethal intent oozing from their apathetic expressions, they stared at the target for their mission. Not expecting him to have stopped in the middle of nowhere, a hint of confusion shed past their eyes. However, making use of their many years of experience as killers, they reced their confusion with the intent to kill. Which, as a result, led to the first shadowy figure making a move. POW! Like a speeding bullet, an Early Nascent Soul Realm Assassin shot toward the seemingly weak servant. Observing his cultivation to be in the Peak Golden Core Formation Realm, he expected to make quick work of him before moving onto the real target of the mission. However, contrary to his expectations¡­ SHING! "!!!" A ck sword made contact with his de, causing sparks to fly! After a quick use of increased power, the Assassin was pushed back by the servant. Falling to the ground below the hill, the assassin''s expression was rife with shock and bewilderment. "A ruse¡­ This servant is stronger than he''s willing to show." The one who spoke was not the one who attacked first. Rather, he was the leader of the group of assassins. Knowing that the target could be hiding something within her sleeves, he made sure to stand back and gauge the situation. However, now that the target''s servant revealed his strength, there was no longer anything preventing the lead assassin from going all out. So, without further hesitation, his body blurred from view! Along with him, the rest of the assassins also made their moves! 19 in the Early Nascent Soul Realm and 3 in the Middle Nascent Soul Realm. Such a force zed through the skies, spinning around and flipping toward the target in a bright array of colors! Half were tasked with the takedown of the surprisingly powerful servant, while the other half aimed to sever the head of the Devilduke heir. There were many things that they could''ve predicted to happen in response to a frontal assault like this one. But never in their wildest dreams could they have anticipated¡­ FWIP! Lucifer and Li Yan vanished from view, effectively dodging all the iing strikes. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" "Go into Beta Formation-!" In the process of announcing thesemands, the lead assassin had a fistnd on his left side. Feeling the full force of this deadly attack, he could tell that more than a single one of his ribs cracked and shattered. Then, with an even greater pushing force, his body was sent barreling toward a low-sitting mountain in the distance! BOOOOOM!!! A loud explosion shook the ground for dozens of miles, leaving the remaining assassins in a state of utter shock. But unfortunately for their nerves, Lucifer was far from satisfied¡­ With a light kick off the ground, his figure once again faded into the speed stream. Then, with the art of surprise, he grabbed onto the head of an assassin with both his arms. After which, he did a little twist and¡­ Crack! A distinct cracking sound echoed out in the surroundings. Looking to the source of such a grating sound, the assassins saw a head twist around a neck and pop off its socket like a beyde. Terrified, they backed away from the corpse. "Boo." "!!!" "!!!" A devilish face appeared behind multiple of them at the exact same time. Freaking the hell out, they instinctively drew their swords and daggers before shing out with everything they had! OOOM! Thebined force of their strongest moves was enough to cause the air and earth to tremble beneath their might. But for Lucifer, their showy attacks were nothing more than child''s y. This was especially shown to be the case with how easily he kicked up the first assassin''s de, only to follow that up by spin-kicking the second assassin. Then, with a slight flick of his fingers, the third through sixth assassins were sent crashing into one another. Picking up a few pebbles off the ground during a somersault, Lucifer flicked them at the seventh through eleventh assassins. Pop! Pop! Pop! With their heads exploding like bloody watermelons, Lucifer used the blood as cover smoke. Jumping from one bloody corpse to the next, his figure sped up like a blur of crimson. After which, he took out a ck de and lunged at the throats of the remaining 10 or so assassins. ..... Chapter 87: A Sisters Intuition ..... SHING! SHING! The first to go were the Middle Nascent Soul Realm assassins, then it was time for the Early Nascent Soul Realm ones to meet King Yama. At the end of this bloody massacre, all of the assassins were piled up in the form of a small hill of bodies. Looking over the bodies, Lucifer saw a few stragglers who managed to survive the first onught, so of course, he killed them off. Thereafter, his hands traveled through the corpses, looting anything that he felt like taking. ounting for the gains, he obtained a total of 5,000 low-rank spiritual stones as well as a few million lowest-ranked spiritual stones. Which, from a broad perspective, wasn''t that bad of a haul. "These idiots really thought they were the shit, huh? Up to the very end, these dumb fuckers didn''t even receive the time to understand how screwed they were. Well, loot is still loot¡­ Umu!" Finishing up the looting of all the corpses, Lucifer absorbed their cultivation bases. Watching as his cultivation steadily increased, he wondered just how much more killing he would need to do in order to reach the Half-Step Core Formation Realm. {[Peak of Late Foundation Establishment]} {[Absolute Peak of Late Foundation Establishment]} Although the cultivation improvements were pretty nice, Lucifer was still far from satisfied. So, without dawdling any further, he decided to make himself a home right in the middle of the battlefield! As for how this would be aplished, well, the simplest method would obviously be to utilize his control over the elements. So, without further ado, he conjured up the Earth Element and used it in order to make arge dome of dirt. After which, Lucifer subtly activated the nature element and surrounded the dirt dome with a shield of vines and ''nature stuff''. Following the creation of a cute dome of flowers, dirt, and worm sh*t, he figured the ce definitely needed to be spoofed up a bit. So, with the Metal Element, he lifted the dome up off the ground and created a foundation for it. Realizing that this was not good enough, he further utilized the metal element in order to make something akin to a two-leg cradle. Upon cing the earth nature ball onto a type of rocking sp, Lucifer used the Water and Earth Elements to create an artificial fountain. Sitting behind the cradle and 30-meter-wide sphere, it really made the cee together. "Hmm¡­ Something is still missing¡­" Lucifer looked the ce up and down, feeling that something was needed so as to make this cultivation Abode of his truly sublime. "Ahh, that''s what it needs." His eyes brightened up with a spark of innovation as he used the Lightning, Blood, and Mist Elements to create clouds. The Lightning and Mist Elements created the clouds themselves, whereas the Blood Element was used in the perfect decorating of the clouds with blood streaks and dragon depictions. "Now, this is what I call a cave abode! Umu!" Wasting no more of the''s precious oxygen, Lucifer moved into a birdhouse-like opening of the Nature Ball. After furnishing the ce a little, he set down his little sister and let her do whatever she wished in this secondary home of his. However, contrary to expectations, Li Yan only seemed to be interested in whatever her big brother was doing¡­ While practicing the creation of Formations, Lucifer slightly turned his head to the left. Then, with a hint of curiosity, he asked, "Whaddya doing, little squirt?" Hugging onto her brother''s left arm, Li Yan locked eyes with him and said, "Would like to learn¡­" Lucifer''s brows raised a little at this response. He never would''ve expected a 6-year-old to be so eager to learn. But upon remembering what kind of life she lived from his mother''s memories, it made a lot more sense. After thinking the matter over for a second, Lucifer figured it wouldn''t harm him to teach her the art of being a Formation Master. So, with a light wave of the hand, he called forth a blue illusory screen. Teaching the regr way was far too troublesome, so using something efficient like a video with very detailed fabricated instructions was clearly the better route to take. Upon vividly showing his sister everything that she should do, Lucifer quickly realized something utterly mind-boggling¡­ "Hey, Li Yan¡­ What the hell is this??" He was looking at a 6-year-old girl write a formation scroll like she had been doing it for thousands of years! ''What the hell is this bullshit!? In less than half an hour, she has managed to perfectly replicate a Peak Mortal Rank Qi Increasing Formation Scroll!!'' ''What sort of magic wizard, Harry Potter fuckpodge am I witnessing right now???'' In half an hour, Lucifer personally watched aplete noob at Formation''s go from the Initial Common Rank all the way to the Peak Mortal Rank! His shock was well warranted! After all, even an Absolute Peak Heaven Rank Talent would not be able to aplish what his sister had just done! "Are you the chosen one¡­?" "The chosen one¡­?" Both brother and sister looked at each other with equally confused expressions. The silence was only broken when Lucifer conjured up a video on Alchemy. Wanting to test just how far her talent extended, he figured this was the best choice he could make. However, after a few minutes of going through Runes, Formations, Alchemy, Spirit Cooking, Beast Taming, Arrays, and a plethora of other professions, Lucifer realized¡­ "Hmm¡­ So your talent in everything else is sh*t, but for Formations, you are what? The f*cking godsent child from above!?" Lucifer sat in a cross-legged position, scrutinizing the existence of his only family member. Li Yan was extremely confused about what was going on. However, seeing that her big brother wasn''t particrly angry about what he found out, she asked, "Useful¡­?" "Hmm¡­ Yeah, you are extremely useful. Yep, yep, lots of things can now be sped up ahead of time. And considering that your talent is not spread out like mine, you are likely in possession of some special Physique or a different form of bullsh*t cultivation parameter." Lucifer repeatedly nodded his head, fully understanding the extent to which Li Yan could show her usefulness like she so badly wanted. "..." Even though Li Yan''s expression was apathetic and seemingly oblivious to what her brother was saying, in reality, she couldn''t be any more excited! This was her chance to be useful! Although she had not a damn clue on what exactly she should be doing, as long as her big brother was happy, then she too was happy! One might ask how Li Yan knew that her brother was happy? And the simple answer was a sister''s intuition. As for the long answer¡­ well, there was no long answer, so go and f*ck oneself. ...¡­ Chapter 88: Greedy Li Yan ...¡­ Inside the Nature Dome, time passed like a warm spring breeze. A total of 5 hours flew by in the blink of an eye. "So, little benefit creator, how is that Mid-Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Arraying along?" Lucifer peeked over the small shoulder of a short goth girl. Seeing that she was hard at work, he patiently waited for the end result toe into being. Fortunately, it didn''t take long before Li Yan put down the brush and inscription tool she had in her small hands. Looking up at the greedy look on her brother''s face, happiness overwhelmed the feelings in her heart. For the first time in her life, she was useful to somebody¡­ This made her beyond overjoyed, but it also forced her to remember everything that she had experienced to make it this point. They say that a child truly starts to remember things after turning around 6 years old. But for Li Yan, she could recall everything from the very first moment she came out of the womb. For most, this could be seen as a fortunate miracle. But for her, it was nothing more than a constant reminder of things that she wouldn''t have had to remember if she were normal¡­ Even though her life was not a good or even decent one, Li Yan didn''t hate life. After all, for one to hate life, they would need to have some form of attachment to it. And she just didn''t possess such a thing¡­ At least, that was the case until a ck-haired devil appeared in her life and took her away from that monotonous, tedious, and tortuous life of hers. Li Yan didn''t know what exactly had changed for her. But the moment her big brother killed the Devilduke and his wife, something began to change. For some reason, she no longer felt like life or death were just two sides of the same coin. The urge to live on slowly but surely bubbled up inside her! Although Li Yan didn''t know how long this feeling would be around for, she still wanted to see that greed on her brother''s face. If not for just a second longer¡­ - "Ayo! This is really good stuff, Little Squirt. With a Formation Array like this one, my cultivation speed should increase by at least 10 times. As opposed to my previous Early Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array, this one is leagues ahead!" While ruffling Li Yan''s soft ck hair, Lucifer marveled at the activation of the Mid-Sky Rank Qi Gathering Formation Array. Even though the colorful Qi within the ''Cave Abode'' made for a sublimely beautiful sight, the one who indirectly caused such a phenomenon seemed to only be focused on one thing. ''Big Brother¡­ Smile¡­ My smile¡­'' Li Yan seemed to im another part of Lucifer as her own, not paying any attention to the qualitative increase of Qi Density inside the Cave Abode. After a few seconds of the Qi within the Cave reaching its absolute peak, Lucifer patted his sister''s head a couple more times before getting right down to the act of cultivation. While this was happening, Li Yan watched as multiple versions of her big brother materialized from thin air. Seeing them leave the Cave Abode and guard the area outside, she became even more curious about how mysterious her big brother actually was. ''Big Brother¡­ Mysteries¡­ Only my mysteries¡­'' Following this possessive train of thought, Li Yan returned to practicing the art of Formation making. Of course, she did so while sitting right next to her big brother¡­ "Hmm?" Lucifer opened an eyelid at the little squirt. But upon seeing that she was trying her hardest to improve her Formation mastery, he let her be. ''With Li Yan helping me improve my cultivation speed, I can put more focus on the work of my clones.'' ''When the Fire Emperor receives word of the failed assassination attempt, he will surely send even stronger Dipshits. And if I wish to continue the Eternal Grind, I will need to be way stronger than I am.'' ''Completely discarding that crap mission, we can just stay in the Water Nation''s territory and slowly amass strength and resources.'' ''Of course, the Water Nation will soon realize that something is up, and they will also try to send experts in order to kill me.'' "In other words¡­'' ''I have two passive providers of loot!'' As Lucifer''s greedy thoughts swirled around inside his head, a few system notifications rang out free of charge. [Ding! Your Body Cultivation has just advanced from ''99.9% of the Late Bronze Rank'' to ''0.01% of the Peak Bronze Rank''] [Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!] [Ding! While passively making use of Elusive Ascension, your Qi Cultivation has advanced into the ''Peak Foundation Establishment Realm''] [Ding! Your Battle Power has drastically improved!] [Ding! Your Battle Power has made a jump into the ''Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Early)] "Umu?" Lucifer curiously nced at the most recent system notifications. Hepletely forgot that his Battle Power broke through into the Middle Nascent Soul Realm¡­ He was getting quite used to having a few thousand Early Nascent Soul Realm Clones. But with the most recent advancements in strength, it was now time to do an upgrade- "10,000 CE2 per clone!? What the fuck, system!! Are you trying to rob me blind and then fuck me sideways at the same time!?" Making sure to only scream out inside his head, Lucifer let the system have it! [Ding! The Host does not like the prices? Then how about you make a system and create the prices for yourself, I.D.I.O.T.] "Hey, what the hell is that snarky tone I hear?? Aren''t you supposed to bepletely neutral??" [Ding! The system does not have a single clue what the host is talking about! A rmendation would be to go and rub thest of your brain cells together. Maybe a fire will be created and your intelligence will spark up in brilliance!] Tick! If not so as to disturb his little benefit-making midget, Lucifer surely would''ve already destroyed everything in a radius of tens of miles. "...Just tell me how much Clone Essence I now have¡­" [Ding! Very well!] [Clone Essence Bank: 125,000 CE2] "Enough for 6 clones if I only spend half¡­ Maybe I will switch things up this time and buy a little more than half." Putting this thought into action, Lucifer clicked the clone purchase button seven times. FWIP! FWIP! 7 clones with strength in the Middle Nascent Soul Realm formed from nothing. Watching more than half his clone essence go up in a puff of smoke, Lucifer gritted his teeth before tasking the clones with the scouting of the Water Nation''s territory. Utilizing the Element of Mist and crity, he would actively move his birdhouse-like cave abode deeper and deeper into the Water Nation. Though this method wasn''t a permanent one, it would work well enough for forcing the Fire Nation deeper into enemynd. Through which, Lucifer could elicit the rapid esction of the war that was already at peak levels of tension. With this goal in mind, he could swoop in and kill everyone on both sides, just like he did with the Devilduke Family and the small force of Water Nation cultivators. ''That father and family of mine¡­ I still feel that something is off¡­ Why were they all so weak¡­?'' ''What is actually going on here?'' With perplexed thoughts, Lucifer passively gathered cultivation and waited for the next sequence of events tomence. ..... Chapter 89: What Hides Beneath The Curtains **** Meanwhile, in a dimly lit area underneath the Fire Nation Royal Castle. "...They''re still alive¡­" muttered a man with long ck hair, his voice emting the immense amount of frustration bubbling up within him. "Tch, that useless Emperor! Can''t do a single goddamn thing right!" Shouting in a crazed rave, a beautiful woman materialized right beside the man. During which, her aura nearly caused the foundations of the castle to shake. "Calm down, my dear. You know how these things go¡ªalways unforeseen circumstances and unknown variables. Even if Lucifer and Li Yan are still alive after the assassination attempt, we can alwaysmand the Emperor to send out even stronger killers. Either way, our breakthroughs will happen. We just need to trust the process." Attenuating to his wife, the handsome, valiant-like man made sure to transmit orders to those useless things up above. Upon receiving the response he wanted, the man pulled back the woman''s hair and said, "There is no need to fret, my love. The Emperor has learned of this folly and has thus sent out the strongest forces in the Fire Nation: the Fire Brigaders." Listening to her husband''s words, the woman calmed down a bit. After which, her aura settled down, and she pulled the man to arge, lofty bed. "If that bunch is being sent out to aplish this, then the death of our children is all but guaranteed. So, why don''t we have a little fun to celebrate the asion~? That thing you wanted to try; we can do it right here and now~" whispering into her husband''s ears, Lady Mu seductively stripped herself down. "Ho~?" Seeing his wife throw herself at him, Lord Xiao spared no further hesitation. Jumping into bed with Lady Mu, the both of them ''celebrated'' the grand asion. **** In the middle of fuck knows where, Lucifer and Li Yan were doing their own things in the Nature Dome. Slowly, their new home inched ever further into the Water Nation''s home territory. Although this would typically be a terrible thing for any sane person, Lucifer was too busy obsessing over loot to care about his sanity. WAAA! With the unleashment of another wave of Qi from Lucifer''s chiseled figure, his cultivation made a breakthrough into the Half-Step Core Formation Realm! A Core was beginning to form inside his Dantian Space, which meant that it wouldn''t be long before a full breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm arrived. However, with his strength now nearing the peak of the Middle Nascent Soul Realm, he figured it was about damn time to start killing some more powerful do-gooders! Luckily for him, there just so happened to be some do-goodersing right to his doorsteps¡­ Step. Step. Step. Walking through a battlefield rife with corpses and bloody scenes, eight figures in blue armor looked toward where they originally felt a disturbance. "Hmm¡­ It does appear that an unknown existence hase into the Water Nation. And from the looks of it, this one has decided to fully make himself at home." Being the first to stop in his tracks, the Captain of the Fourth Scouting Water Squadron took out a pair of magic binocrs and honed in on what looked like a walking birdhouse. "Is it confirmed to be an enemy? Or maybe a spy?" Inquired a different blue-armored man, his body approaching the spot right next to his captain. "Another secret enemy attack? Why are there so many of these damn events as ofte!?" Shouting with a more temperamental demeanor, the third inmand walked up to his superiors. With clenched teeth and a pissed-off look on his face, he was clearly not the least bit happy about being assigned to yet another shitty mission. "No need to make such a fuss, Fen Xun. As far as we know, this is just another case of a wandering merchant or a stray warrior." Lecturing his third inmand, the Captain put even more focus on the walking birdhouse in the distance. "Hmm¡­ I think it''s time that we make our move,"mented the second inmand, his eyes following those of his superior. "Yes, it is." Following the utterance of these three words, the captain vanished from atop a mountain of bodies. Not long after, the rest of his squadron tagged right behind him. FWIP! Upon making it to a location not even a few hundred meters away from the birdhouse, they snuck around the backside of the constantly moving structure. Seeing that there was a small entrance in the area above the left leg, they leapt up into it. Discreetly entering the odd structure, they were immediately greeted with an unexpected face. "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" The Captain and the rest of his Squadron instantly went on guard. Then, without question, they all sped toward the small ck-haired figure. Grabbing her and covering her mouth, they assumed they were in the clear. Lost in their owncency, they failed to notice the bright purple light emanating from the goth girl. Much to their horror, the light sted outward in intensity, pushing them back! "What the hell!?" "What is that!?" The Water Nation Scout Squadron was face-to-face with a massive, swirling purple serpent! Not knowing what had happened for such a monstrosity to be conjured, they figured the best course of action would be to kill the emotionless girl and hope the serpent went away. So, without caring about the fact that she was a little kid, they all moved toward her with the intent to kill! SHING! SHING! Dozens of weapons arcs spread across the interior of the birdhouse''s Southern Entrance, all aiming to swiftly take care of the unknown little kid! "Sorry, but you have to die!" The Captain bellowed underneath his breath, his longsword already going in for the kill. However,pletely out of everyone''s expectations, the little girl simply stared at the human worms. Then, with another activation of a Late Sky Rank Formation, she summoned a different purple serpent. Waving her hand downward, the two serpents shot out from behind her figure. Devouring even the air itself, their gaping mouths approached the Water Nation Squadron at a speed hundreds of times that of sound! "How the hell is this possible!? What is this kid!? Is she some sort of ancient monster that has taken on the form of a small child to torment us!?" Backflipping away from the two massive serpents, the Captain''s attack was interrupted, and his momentum was put on hold. "This girl must be the one who created this ce! She is the one we have to kill!" shouted the Second In Command. His aura climbed up in intensity, whereas his hand was on the verge of taking his katana and shing out with everything he had! "Damn it! This was supposed to be an incognito scouting mission with minimal risk! How the hell did it turn out like this!? The aura reader''s said there were no other living creatures inside this structure! At most, there were just going to be a few security golems!" Like his superiors, the Third In Command also readied his weapon. With a spear in the thrusting position, he was going to lunge at the second serpent and take off its head! The same level of fighting spirit was present in the rest of the Scouting Party. However, for Li Yan, none of their gusto truly mattered a single bit. After all, they invaded the home of Big Bro¡­ So naturally, they would¡­ die. "Useless, so useless." Uttering these detached words, Li Yan fully powered up the two Late-Sky Rank Formations. With overwhelming force, their power increased a hundredfold! OOOM! The birdhouse violently shook underneath the might of a single six-year-old girl! "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Caution and weariness overtook the previous confidence present in the expressions of the Water Scout Squadron. Then, without the chance to resist, the two enormous serpents advanced their approach by a dozen times the previous speed! "What the fu-" Before the headstrong Third-In-Command could get out his exmation, a serpent''s mouth swallowed him whole. Quickly and efficiently, he was dissolved in the stomach of the serpent. With his cultivation essence being set to the side for big bro, Li Yan also made sure to leave the Spiritual Ring untouched. "Big brother likes shiny things¡­ Always keep the shiny things, Umu." After spending so much time with her brother, Li Yan seemed to have taken on a number of his peculiar traits. But in spite of her increased unusualness, the screams of the various Water Nation Scouts forcibly took her out of her reverie. "Why so annoying¡­?" She asked. A small pout formed on her adorable facial features as she waved her a little more, trying to tell the serpents to kill dem faster than dis. "Stop the screaming¡­ Annoying¡­" "Ahhh!!! Help me!" "Please!! It hurts!! If anyone can hear us, we are in the trap of an ancient witch!! Please help!!!" Hearing what the Second In Command had to say about her appearance, Li Yan grumbled even more. "Not Witch¡­ You stupid," she said. Then, with even greater irritation, she waved her small hands around a few more times, causing the serpents to do donuts in the massive birdhouse. Chomping up and devouring anybody in sight, there eventually came a point where no more annoyances were left... ...¡­ Chapter 90: Death Would Be A Luxury ...¡­ After the damage was done and the loot was gathered, Li Yan cutely bobbed her head. "Stupids gone¡­ Loot gathered¡­ Time for big brother." Her pitter-pattering could be heard echoing throughout the confines of the birdhouse as she skipped away from the scene of destruction and blood that she left at the southern entrance. Leaving the restoration of the walls and such to the natural |Divine Harmony Formation| that she set up, Li Yan made her way to where her big bro was cultivating. She couldn''t wait to tell him of the killings that happened and the loot that was gathered! ¡­ The hours continued to pass for the sibling pair, and during this time, many squadrons of Water Nation Scouts came after them to annoy and give loot. By the end of a series of mass murders, Lucifer''s cultivation base had reached the peak stages of the Half-Step Core Formation Realm. Whereas his Body Cultivation jumped from the Late Bronze Rank all the way to the Initial Silver Rank! With all of these things affecting his Battle Power, it had long since advanced to the absolute peak of the Middle Nascent Soul Realm! All in all, the strength part of his system interface looked something like: ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} Middle Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 10,000 CE2 Body Cultivation - Initial Silver Rank (23.2%) Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Core Formation Realm (Initial) Battle Power - Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Absolute Peak) ¡ª------- With each clone still costing around 10,000 CE2 and all those loot bags offering themselves up for free, Lucifer definitely had some spending room to go ahead and buy some more clones. Although he really only had half a million stored up, it was good enough to improve the farming force by quite a substantial amount. "Well, first things first; I''m for sure going to need to de-assimte my current Middle Nascent Soul Rank Clones." Doing just as he said, all his strongest clones transformed into illusory energy before being transported into the system. In no time at all, around 200,000 CE2 was returned to the Clone Essence Bank. Making sure everything was in check, with no evidence of the system having scammed him, he spent up half of 700,000 CE2. FWIP! FWIP! 35 clones with strength at the peak of the Middle Nascent Soul Realm spawned in out of nowhere. Then, without even giving them the time to digest their miraculous births, Lucifer sent them right out to do the ving! "You and you, go there! And you, make sure to do this! And you¡­!" After getting out all of themands, he gave them a good p and sent them on their way to the grind. Looking at all his little ducklings leave the nest, a small tear couldn''t help but bubble up within his left eye. And with a teary expression, he was going to get down to the Eternal Grind himself- "Big Bro¡­ Time for eat¡­?" ''Ahhh-'' Lucifer was taken out of his thoughts by the meek voice of the short ck-haired goth girl. ncing at her from over his shoulder, he noticed that she had a cute heart-shaped bento box in her hands. Viewing this sight, hisplexion suddenly turned ashen, and his forehead became green. "Uhn uh! No way in hell am I consuming anything in that death trap! You already got to test out your Formations earlier! What else do you want from me!? I even had my clone guards go off duty just so you could get some fun in!" While shouting profanities left and right, Lucifer backed away from his little sister like she had the goddamn gue! ''Nope! No shits! You have to be smoking ten blunts out your damn asshole if you think I''m letting anything in there anywhere near my mouth-hole!'' This time, he was not willing to give in to his sister''s request! Nope, nope, nope-! "Big Brother¡­ Doesn''t want to eat with me¡­" Li Yan''s face darkened as she pulled out a butcher''s knife and started to grind it against arge stone. "Very well¡­ Will eat alone," she said, letting the grating sound of the sharpener deafen out her cuteness. Staring at the scene of his psychopathic sister preparing the cutting knife for dinner, Lucifer knew there was at least a 99% chance that his throat would be missing a good chunk of it when next he went to sleep¡­ ''Why is she so insane¡­? Just who in God''s green earth does she take after??'' Giving in like a little p*ssy, Lucifer gritted his teeth and walked over to his sister. Upon setting themselves at a pink goth princess table, they opened up the bento box. And just as he expected¡­ "Devil''s spawn¡­" He muttered, his eyes emting the genuine terror he felt. "What was that, Big Bro¡­?" "Nothing¡­ Just trying to say how fucking delicious this uhm¡­ delicious thing looks!" Lucifer had no clue what the hell he was looking at, so properly terming it was the least of his concerns¡­ "Mhmmkay¡­ Eats it now." Li Yan believed every word that her big brother said, so without further ado, she stuck a spoon in the ck demon soup and then stuck it in her brother''s mouth. "Is it yumms¡­?" She asked. Upon feeling the slimy ck gunk go down his throat, Lucifer didn''t know whether he should throw up, shit himself, or kill himself. But what he did know was that the saying ''The Righteous Suffer and the Wicked Prosper'' wasplete and utter bullshit! ''What ''Wicked Prosper''!? I am sure as hell suffering right now, fucking bitch ass fate!'' ''This torture¡­ It''s on another level¡­'' ''The texture, the taste, the grittiness¡­ Everything about this dish makes me want to jump off a very high ledge!'' ''Wait¡­ Maybe this is the ultimate form of tempering one''s mind¡­?'' ''Hold up a damn minute!'' Out of nowhere, Lucifer suddenly received a mind boggling revtion. And to confirm said revtion, he focused on the tempering of his mind. In less than a few milliseconds of consuming the worst creation to ever be produced by mankind, his suspicions were confirmed! ''My Mental Cultivation¡­ It has just been activated, and furthermore, it directly broke through into the middle stages of the Early Copper Rank!'' Opening up his system interface, Lucifer was once again reminded of this ungodly method for which one could temper one''s mind. BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} Middle Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 10,000 CE2 Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Core Formation Realm (Initial) Body Cultivation - Initial Silver Rank (32.4%) Mind Cultivation - Early Copper Rank (52.8%) Battle Power - Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Absolute Peak) ¡ª------- Looking at his various aspects of existence, Lucifer couldn''t help but think about how overpowered he was going to be¡­ "Normally, one is not able to activate their mind cultivation until breaking through to the Soul Transformation Realm. Utilizing the effects of a nascent soul is the mainstream way of activating both a Soul and Mind Cultivation aspect of existence. However, it does appear that extreme mental torture also does wonders for activating and cultivating the Mind." Feeling a mysterious trace of energy permeating the outeryer of his brain, Lucifer knew just what he had to do in order to advance in his Mind Cultivation¡­ Seeing as he couldn''t make use of any Mind Cultivation Techniques until the Bronze Rank, there truly was only one method to speedily breakthrough multiple minor stages¡­ "Little Sister¡­" Ashen-faced and in a state of dismay, his voice resounded in the birdhouse. "Yumms¡­?" Li Yan looked at her brother. Wondering what his opinion of her food was, she asked, "You like the yumms¡­?" With eyes filled with expectancy, she awaited a positive response. Luckily for her, Lucifer had no choice but to say, "Yes¡­ the yumms¡­ So, so good¡­ never had anything better in my entire life¡­" Just getting out these words was enough to make him cringe. But for the sake of greater strength and some cool-ass telekic powers, this had to be done¡­ Upon hearing the ''sweet'' words spoken by her Big Bro, Li Yan''s pretty blue eyes brightened up. Then, with a slight hint of excitement, she said, "Wants more¡­??" Swallowing his gut and shooting it out his asshole, Lucifer mustered up the courage to say, "O-Of course¡­ I have never wanted anything more in my entire life¡­" ''For power¡­ for power¡­ for power¡­'' Chanting that phrase like it was his saving grace, he forced himself to smile and stick out a te. If before he took a spoonful of the shitstew, then now he was practically begging for the whole damn cake! ''Big Brother¡­ He likes my food this much¡­? Useful¡­ Am more useful¡­'' Although Li Yan was correct in assuming that she became more useful, it definitely wasn''t because of the same reason. But regardless of what exactly made her more useful, she seemed to beam from that emotionless shell of hers. During which, she made sure to give Big Bro all the slimy tentacles and unknown ''pretty'' substances from her homemade shitbox. "Mhmm¡­ S-So good¡­" Eating up whatever was thrown his way, Lucifer truly started to believe that no known poison could hope topete with the sheer lethality of what was going into his mouth. ''Death would be a luxury¡­ But for more power, there is no time to worry about luxury.'' While forcing himself to gobble up everything that the venomous witch made for him, he watched as his Mind Cultivation skyrocketed! ...¡­ Chapter 91: Dying... ...¡­ After 5 spoonfuls: [Mind Cultivation - Middle Copper Rank (12.2%)] After 10 spoonfuls: [Mind Cultivation - Middle Copper Rank (65.5%)] After 25 spoonfuls: [Mind Cultivation - Late Copper Rank (83.9%)] After 50 spoonfuls: [Mind Cultivation - Peak Copper Rank (42.8%)] After the entire box: [Mind Cultivation - Half-Step Bronze Rank (95.1%)] "Not enough¡­ Still not enough¡­" Appearing like a corpse, Lucifer clutched onto the table he was sitting over. Refusing to allow himself to pass over into the afterlife, he actively inflicted pain on himself. However, with his Mind Cultivation still not in the Bronze Rank, he turned his haggard face up toward his little sister. Then, with a voice on the verge of fading away, he muttered, "M-More¡­ S-So delicious¡­ Ca-Can''t get enough of it¡­" Completely overlooking the zombie-like state of her brother, a smile almost formed on Li Yan''s small, round face. After which, she rummaged around in her storage ring. Finally finding what she wanted, it was immediately taken out and thrown on the mahogany table. "For you¡­ dessert¡­" Fully showing off the demon cake that she conjured up from fuck knows where, she quickly scooted it over to the mouth of the half-dead man. "..." Staring at the asional acidic bubbles and bones plopping up from inside the ''cake'', Lucifer forced himself to swallow thest of his saliva. Then, with his life on the line, he wrapped his tongue around the ''cake'' and consumed it in a single bite! Kak! Spitting out great amounts of blood, Lucifer pretended to y it off cool. However, no facade was good enough to conceal the current state of his internal organs¡­ ''W-Who the fuck needs organs anyway¡­? Only a loser would care about something so superficial¡­'' He tried his best to upkeep a tough-guy front. But no matter what he said or thought, there was no denying the fact that his insides were quite literally¡­ melting¡­ Even with his Body Cultivation in the Initial Silver Rank, there was no way that would be good enough to prevent or thwart the melting of one''s internal organs. As a result of this urrence, well¡­ Lucifer died. Or rather, he was scientifically considered dead for a good three seconds. However, like a zombie suddenlying back to life, he jumped out of his skin and inhaled a breath of air like it was the most valuable thing in the universe. "I''m alive¡­ And my Mind Cultivation broke through into the Bronze Rank. Moreover, it jumped straight into the Early Bronze Rank¡­" Still reeling in from his touch with the grim reaper, Lucifer sat back in his chair and digested the most recent sequence of events. ''It seems like, after breaking through to the Bronze Rank, my mind subconsciously used telekinesis in order to put the majority of my organs back in ce.'' ''Though such a method is like using duct tape to prevent the sinking of a ship with countless holes, it is still sufficient enough tost me until my breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm.'' Once one breaks through into the Core Formation Realm, their whole body will go through a major metamorphosis. During this metamorphosis, one''s body will be rid of all scars, most imperfections,tent injuries, etc. And this was exactly what Lucifer nned to make use of so as to heal his internal catastrophe. ''Tch. If only my cultivation were at a high enough level to begin aiming for the ''Divine Life Restoration Physique'''' ''With such a physique, I coulde back to life even if there were only a single atom of my existence still left in the world of the living.'' ''But unfortunately for my destitute self, I would need to be in the Mahayana Realm in order to acquire that Physique¡­'' Sigh¡­ Heaving a great big sigh, Lucifer turned his narrowed eyes to the goth midget. He really wanted to ask why she wanted to kill him so badly. But in the end, he restrained himself and said, "We have some more unwee visitors outside. Your Formations are more than good enough to take care of Peak Golden Core Formation Realm Cultivation. So, would you like to go and obtain some more loot for this Big Brother of yours?" Although interested in such a proposal, Li Yan decided to go off-topic and ask, "Yumms¡­ You like¡­?" "...Yeah, it was very good¡­ So delicious¡­" "Really¡­?" "Yes¡­" "K¡­ Will go get loot." Seemingly in a happy mood, Li Yan walked away from her big brother. Quickly making her way toward the exit, she jumped out and used a Formation. Summoning up a cloud of misty white energy, she glided across the skies in a jolly type of apathetic mood. As the miniature murder-hobo collected some loot for the ''fam'', Big Bro Lucifer thought about a great many things while searching his knowledge bank for the relevant Mind Techniques. ''With that demoness girl leaving all the loot bags in a half-dead state, I can still finish off the kills and obtain every ounce of loot.'' ''Add that to the work being passively conducted by my clones, and I have quite the thing going on for me.'' In the midst of thinking about all the loot he would obtain, the other part of his mind finally found the segment of memory that he was looking for. So, with post-haste, he replicated the specifics of the memory down on a piece of high-level paper book material. After a few minutes of scribbling, a Technique book ultimately came into being. And the name of this technique was the ''Mind Fuck'' manual. To bepletely candid, Lucifer may or may not have forgotten the original name of the technique. So, he maybe, maybe might''ve just called it whatever the hell he wanted to call it¡­ ''How does one even remember the details depicted in the Technique, but not the name of the Technique itself¡­?'' ''It makes me wonder just what type of person I was before transmigrating, or whatever it was that happened to me¡­'' Just remembering bits and pieces of his past life was enough to piss Lucifer off. So in the end, he steered away from that topic, instead putting his focus on the ''Mind Fuck'' Technique. "Let''s see¡­ To properly Mind Fuck, I just need to circte the thin fment of mind energy permeating the area around my mind." Doing everything that he was speaking about, Lucifer swiftly put a certain degree of attention on the fment of energy above his brain. After which, he circted it in the same manner that was depicted in the Mind Fuck manual. Thereafter, Lucifer worked on the exterior emtion of the mind energy. In other words, he was trying to make what was on the inside integrate its existence in the world outside. After a few seconds of ying around with this process, he eventually reached a point where he could make the mind energy transform into an illusory tendril. Of course, this was not enough to cultivate or make use of the Mind Energy. But it was still a pretty decent start. Leaning off of this start, Lucifer extended the length and width of the tendril. From 1 cm to 1 inch, then to a foot. That single tendril of wavy, Iridescent Mind Energy was transformed into something viable for mass replication. So, without further ado, he worked on making more of the wavy tendrils of Mind Energy. During the time that Li Yan used up to ''deal'' with the Water Nation Loot Bags, Lucifer''s control, quantity, and quality in Mind Cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds. From the Early Bronze Rank to the Middle Bronze Rank, he was making tremendous progress in a span of time amounting to less than 10 minutes! Furthermore, it wasn''t only his Mind Cultivation that had improved during this period of time, as there was also his Qi Cultivation and Body Cultivation, both of which could be cultivated passively! In less time than it took to figure out the meaning of one''s life, many advancements were made in Lucifer''s aspects of existence. Taking a nce at the exact changes, a simplified system interface opened up. BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Core Formation Realm (Middle)] [Body Cultivation - Early Silver Rank (21.5%)] [Mind Cultivation - Middle Bronze Rank (35.9%)] [Battle Power - Middle Nascent Soul Realm (Pinnacle)] [Middle Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 10,000 CE2] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 700,000 CE2] [Current Clone Essence - 650,000 CE2] ¡ª------- Lucifer likely only needed one more breakthrough in one of his aspects to fully push him over into the Late Nascent Soul Realm in Battle Power. And if he were correct in his assumptions, the aspect to do that would most definitely be his Body Cultivation. Either that or his |Sword sh|, but he was more inclined to believe that his Body Cultivation would be the first to make a breakthrough. ''Sword sh is at the peak of the Early-Sky Rank, and for it to make another breakthrough, it will definitely need a bit more time. Whereas my Body Cultivation is speeding through the Realms like a drugged-up bastard.'' Even though Lucifer had to experience excruciating amounts of pain in order to progress this fast, it was more than worth it if it meant he could be stronger than ever before. ''That shithead main body of mine may be a good-for-nothing goody two shoes, but he was always a persistent one when it came to going through pain for more power.'' ''If I wish to one day give him a few good ps across his dick-shaped face, then there is no room for going easy on myself.'' Following through with this train of thought, Lucifer ceaselessly circted his Mind, Body, and Qi Cultivation. Like a passive afk machine, he progressed in everything all at once! ...¡­. Chapter 92: A Gathering Of Elemental Nation Representatives ...¡­. 15 minutester. "Umu¡­" Upon entering the ''cave abode'', the bloodied Li Yan felt that something had changed within the aura of her big brother. ''Stronger¡­ again?'' For some reason, she felt a sudden surge of urgency. Not willing to be left behind by Big Bro, she sat down right next to him and did her utmost in achieving the very peak of a Sky Rank Formation Master. "Hmm¡­" Turning his right eye down toward the short midget, Lucifer was pleased to see his exterior afk-farming machine working so hard in bringing home the benefits. ''With her Formation Mastery reaching the Peak-Sky Rank, she has already allowed my Qi Cultivation speed to increase by hundreds of times what it once was.'' ''With her and Elusive Ascension in full activation, my Qi Cultivation will soon make a breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm!'' Anticipatory of what was toe, Lucifer ceaselessly circted all aspects of his existence. He refused to cultivate one path and not the other paths! If there were multiple paths and most people had to choose one or two, then he would flip up both middle fingers and take home everything! Qi, Body, Mind, Spirit, Soul, Arcane, and whatever else! Lucifer would get them all on the Path to Infinity! **** As Lucifer and Li Yan put their all into acquiring more benefits, a certain meeting was being held in the Water Nation. It was one that involved both the Water and Fire Nations. Hell, even the other Elemental Nation representatives had made their grand and lofty entrances! As for what they were there to discuss¡­? Well, it was none other than the ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon''. "As you all are well aware of, the reason we have convened here today is to discuss the ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon'', or something otherwise known as the 13th Forbidden Zone in the Elemental Nations." Speaking with a formal and cordial tone, the Peak Nascent Soul Realm Organizer looked toward the various nation representatives. Some were the absolute rulers of an Elemental Nation, while a good chunk of them were simply here on order of their father, mother, or family member. All in all, there were twelve of them, all in the Peak Nascent Soul Realm and all in possession of Royal Blood. "Ha¡­ You really think we''re stupid, don''t you, Organizer Ming Chao!?" Angrily ring at the calm and rxed organizer, the Eldest Prince of the Lightning Nation decided to speak up. As for why he was so aggressive¡­ "This is clearly a ploy conjured up by the Fire Nation and Water Nation to get us caught up in their silly little war! And you expect us to just go along with it and send ourselves straight to hell''s gates!? Are you a fucking idiot!?" WAAA! The Eldest Prince of the Lightning Nation could no longer control his temper, and with a mighty electric aura, he pressured the entire venue! "Well, this is definitely not good¡­" Slightly shaking his head, Organizer Ming Chao raised his hand. Then, with a light flick of the wrist, he quelled the aura of the Lightning Nation''s Eldest Prince. "!!!" Baffled and bewildered, the Eldest Prince looked down at his hands, quickly realizing that he was unable to circte his Lightning Qi! "How dare you do this to me!? Do you have any idea what level of crime you justmitted-" Before the Eldest Prince could speak any further, Organizer Ming Chao interrupted him, saying: "There is no need to be so fierce, little nephew Hai Xun. We have still yet to learn the true nature of the ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon'', and whether it is a ploy created by the Water and Fire Nations is still a question that has yet to be ruled out." Slowly walking over to the furious Lightning Nation Prince, Organizer Ming Chao patted him on the shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Do control yourself, Little Nephew. Even though you have broken through to the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, do not think that you are on the same level as your father and myself." Lifting his hand off the Eldest Prince''s shoulder, Organizer Ming Chao returned to the center of the spacious venue room. The venue itself was located in an area called the ''Elemental Convention'', and it was the only ce in the Elemental Nations where representatives of the various countries could go to talk with one another. Of course, they often ''talked'' to one another elsewhere. But more often than not, such ''talks'' led to unnecessary bloodshed¡­ As for why the Elemental Convention did not have a simr trend, well, that could mostly be attributed to the existence of the ''Organizer''. Being at the absolute peak of the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, the ''Organizer'' was typically one of the strongest¡ªif not the strongest expert¡ªin the Elemental Nations. Naturally, that excluded the ''Ancients'' of every Elemental Nation. They preferred not to get involved in worldly affairs; thus, their existences were not ounted for in the ranking of individuals. Usually, the most powerful forces in the Elemental Nations would be the ''Emperor'' of each of the 12 Elemental Nations. And then there was the ''Organizer'', who could also be counted as one of the ''13 Strongest Beings in the Elemental Nations''. Today, in particr, a total of 7 of those ''Strongest'' were gathered at the venue. These 7 were the ''Earth Emperor'', ''Ice Emperor'', ''Shadow Emperor'', ''Light Emperor'', ''Metal Emperor'', and the ''Nature Emperor''. The only ones left out were the Crystal Emperor, the Air Emperor, the Darkness Emperor, the Water Emperor, and the Fire Emperor. Their absences could mostly be attributed to the fact that they were practically at each other''s throats¡­ The Water Emperor abhorred the Fire Emperor and vice versa, whereas the Crystal Emperor deemed everyone ''not shiny enough'' and hated everyone equally. And then there was the Air Emperor¡­ ''With the Air Emperor''s death, the atmosphere of these meetings has drastically changed. But there really is no helping it.'' Observing the expressions of the various Emperors and Direct Heirs, Organizer Ming Chao grew increasingly aware of a possible all-out war. ''If it really doese down to that, then I will likely need to obtain the help of the previous Organizer.'' ''From what I hear, he has joined a prestigious sect as an Outer Disciple. With just that status alone, he should be able to deal with these self-centered idiots¡­'' With a smiling expression, the Organizer was already contemting ways to prevent the quibbling of the full-grown toddlers- "So, are you gonna tell us exactly what this ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon'' means for the future of the Elemental Nations??" Voicing what was on everyone''s mind, the Metal Emperor fixated his hardened gaze on the debonair Organizer. Snapping out of his thoughts, Organizer Ming Chao turned his friendly expression toward therge stature of the Metal Emperor. Then, with a respectful tone, he said, "You are right, Lord Metal. The reason I have gathered you all here today is because this phenomenon is an ''unknown'' or an ''omen''. As for what this unknown omen entails for the Elemental Nations, well, even I am leftpletely in the dark¡­ But what I can tell you is that the phenomenon may have something to do with the disappearance of the Devildukes and a great number of cities. From the reports that I have received from a couple little birdies, it does appear that more than a few cities have been erased in your countries, no?" "..." "..." "..." The Organizer didn''t even need a proper confirmation. After all, the annoyed looks on everyone''s faces were more than enough of an answer. So, with a light p of his hands, Ming Chao beckoned forth arge, blue illusory screen. Powered by magic and clear as day for all to see, the Elemental Nation Representatives received a vivid live recording of the ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon''. "This is the ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon'' for those of you who have not witnessed it in person. Appearing less than a few days ago and killing all Middle Nascent Soul Realm and below Cultivators, we can all agree that this is a threat to not only us but our countries as a whole. Now, you may be wondering what exactly has been killing so many powerful cultivators. And the truth is that we aren''tpletely sure¡­ From these videos, we can discern that it was either a short girl-like figure or dozens of hooded figures that killed everyone who approached the phenomenon." Flipping through a number of brief videos, those gathered in the venue were able to see that the short girl was capable of using high-level formations. Whereas the hooded figures simply stuck to longswords and shed out with¡­ "Scythe Qi? Why would someone use a sword and utilize Scythe Qi? Furthermore, why do all of them appear to be using the same attacks?? Is this phenomenon some type of new-gen cult or evil sect¡­?" With a perceptive gleam, the Shadow Emperor watched as dozens of hooded figures with unknown strength darted out of the massive birdhouse and killed everything in a single strike. Although most of their opponents were of the Golden Core Formation Realm, a good number of them were in the Early and Middle Nascent Soul Realm¡­ ...¡­ Chapter 93: Plans For The Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon ...¡­ "As astute as always, Shadow Emperor!" Figuring that the Shadow Emperor would be the first to notice this peculiarity, Organizer Ming Chao had already prepared a PowerPoint beforehand. Bringing up the PowerPoint, he took out a wand and pointed at all the main points of the phenomenon. Afterward, he and all the Elemental Nation representatives discussed anything that needed to be brought up. From this conversation, the central points of focus were primarily targeted toward the ''High-level Formation Master Girl'' and the practically ''Mirror Copies of one another''. If not for the fact that the hooded figures had varying frames and body types, everyone would have started to believe that they were clones. But considering that Nascent Soul Clones could not have their fundamental appearances altered, this theory was ruled out. Instead, it was reced with the original ''Mass cult indoctrination'' hypothesis. However, more than all of thatbined, what truly left the Elemental Nation representatives in awe was the sheer skill of the Formation Master girl¡­ In pure rank alone, she surpassed anything that the Elemental Nations could offer. And furthermore, her skill and control were practically unmatched in the Formation profession! Even Grandmaster Formation Masters would find themselves hard-pressed to keep up with this unknown ck-haired girl¡­ "Do we have any information avable for her identity?" Asking this question, the Ice Emperor was clearly most concerned about this mysterious variable. If it was a Wandering Witch from the Witch Academy''s of the Western Isles, then they could have a major issue on their hands¡­ Skill and talent like that didn''t just pop up from nowhere (it did); therefore, there had to be a reasonable exnation for the girl''s origins. However, much to the dismay of all those present, the Organizer heaved a heavy sigh before saying, "That girl and the hooded figures are aplete mystery¡­ The only thing we can use to connect them to anything in the world would be the fact that assassins were sent out right around the time that the phenomenon was first sighted. The assassins in question were dispatched on order of someone very high up in the Fire Nation. And from numerous sources, we inferred that the assassination was a failure and the ''unknown targets'' got away." "..." "..." "..." As if in sync, everyone looked toward the Eldest Princess of the Fire Nation, who also just so happened to be standing in ce of her father, the Emperor. "Tsk! Why are you all looking at me? If it''s about the reason we sent out an assassination party headed by a famous Middle Nascent Soul Realm Assassin, then I have no idea. Maybe go and ask my father if you so badly want to know!?" ''Fiery-tempered and in a constant bad mood, the Fire Nation''s Eldest Princess is obviously the daughter of her father¡­'' Understanding that he would get nothing useful out of her, the Organizer decided to bring up the real reason why he had called everyone together. "The ''Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon''... We will require the help of everyone gathered here if we wish to understand its reason for existing and also its potential connections with the craters that reced what were once perfectly fine cities¡­" Flipping his gaze across all those in the venue, Ming Chao was clearly waiting for them to give their answer. And just as he expected¡­ "Alright, I will send a few squadsposed of my Late Nascent Soul Realm Generals and then a number of Middle and Early Nascent Soul Realm Captains." "I will do the same." "That is fine with me." "Will gather forces ordingly¡­" "I will ask my father about getting some of his special units on standby, but the Darkness Nation will certainly assist in this matter." "Us as well¡­" After receiving positive responses from all the Elemental Nations, Organizer Ming Chao pped his hands and said, "With everyone''s cooperation, things have been made a lot easier. Therefore, we can begin amassing personnel within the next 24 hours! We must not allow this Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon to persist any further, so the sooner the better!" With these words, the meeting came to a close, and all the gathered experts left the Elemental Convention. **** Meanwhile, in the simple yetvishly decorated interior of a certain moving cave abode, Lucifer was currently in the process of watching his little sister create a new Qi Gathering Formation Array. ''This time, it''s being upgraded to a Regtory Falcon Formation of the absolute peak of the Sky Rank. Which is to say that if all goes swimmingly, my cultivation speed will increase by leaps and bounds once again!'' So far, Lucifer''s system interface looked something like: ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Early Core Formation Realm (Late)] [Body Cultivation - Late Silver Rank (61.2%)] [Mind Cultivation - Peak Bronze Rank (89.0%)] [Battle Power - Late Nascent Soul Realm (Early)] [Late Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 1,000,000 CE2] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 25,500,000 CE2] [Current Clone Essence - 25,500,000 CE2] ¡ª------- But being the big fat bastard that Lucifer was, it was quite obvious that such results were far from enough to satisfy him! So what if he already condensed a gray Core inside his Dantian Space!? So what if his Mind Cultivation and Body Cultivation were going off the charts!? Nothing would ever be enough to satisfy the fatass! "Umu! Definitely gonna need to increase my cultivation speed. For sure, for sure." While watching over the finishing touches that Li Yan was putting on the new and improved Qi Gathering Formation Array, Lucifer figured it was time to use up his Clone Essence. "Over thest few hours, a bunch of annoyances havee to pick fights. Plus, my lower-level clones are doing a lot of solid grinding in the other Elemental Nations. All in all, with millions of clones and countless mentally impaired loot bags, the Clone Essence has been rolling in!" Looking at all the zeros behind his Clone Essence amount got Lucifer excited. But in the end, all good things must be split in half¡­ "That was the saying, right? Well, who gives a fuck, Umu!" Without wasting a second more on useless chitter chatter, he spammed the clone purchase button! FWIP! FWIP! With a couple buzzing sounds, 13 clones with strength in the Late Nascent Soul Realm materialized from thin air! Looking at all the glorious ves before him, Lucifer repeatedly bobbed his head before sticking out his hand. Then, with a bright sh of blue and golden light, he armed the clones with some high-level equipment in the Middle-Sky Rank. Although it was nothing special, it was the best that a small ce like the Elemental Nations had to offer¡­ "Welp, if only I could find another talented, specialized freak like Li Yan. Then, maybe I could have a useful person make all my equipment for me¡­ But unfortunately, I doubt such a talent in cksmithing actually exists¡­" Lucifer himself was a jack of all trades; thus, he was not particrly good in any one thing. But withbined talent in the picture, he was unparalleled! After all, no other person had a ''Cultivation Talent'' stat that evenly distributed talent across all aspects of existence. "Speaking of cultivation talent¡­ I have been trying to create enough Sources to break through into the Heaven Rank. But even with 95,000 Sources, I have still yet to make that final leap¡­ Maybe I should find some more Spirits and have them forcefully shit out all the Sources I need¡­?" At the utterance of these words, all Spirits in the world suddenly felt a shiver crawl down their spines. However, with a slight head shake, Lucifer rejected that idea and said, "Even though that could potentially work out quite well, I highly doubt there are enough high-quality spirits to make such a method viable." In the end, he figured it was best to just continue creating more Sources and cing them inside his Dantian. Eventually, he would breakthrough into the Heaven Rank, right? Right¡­? Unbeknownst to Lucifer, while lost in his own thoughts, his little sister had already finished setting down the formation. And he also seemed to be too absorbed within himself to notice the substantial increase in Qi density inside the Walking Birdhouse. "Hmm¡­" Eventually, he did realize thepletion of the Formation. And from what his face emted, he was clearly pleased with the end result. Pat. Pat. "Nice job, little squirt! So far, you have be the most useful to me, so if you want to, you can take a break-" While softly giving the short goth midget some headpats, he failed to notice the aura of sadness emanating from her aura. "Umu?" Finally realizing that there was a change in his little sister, he asked, "What''s the matter? Got the shits or something?" Quickly shaking her head, Li Yan used both her hands to close Big Brother''s mouth. Then, with mildly teary eyes, she said, "Not the shits¡­ Something else¡­" "Ho? What is it then? If you''re looking for breastmilk, I''m sorry to tell ya this, but I cannot be a provider-" ...¡­. Chapter 94: Fools In A Birdhouse ...¡­. "No, not that either¡­!" Shaking her head even more violently than before, Li Yan made sure to not even allow Big Brother the chance to breathe from his mouthhole! After making sure his airways were shut tight, she mumbled, "Not useful anymore¡­?" "Umu? But I just said you were useful- mhmff!" Once again shutting his mouth closed, Li Yan said, "Useful¡­ But you say I should take a break¡­ Why need a break if useful¡­" ''Ahh, so that''s what she''s worried about¡­ well¡­'' Taking her hands off his mouth and throwing her on top of his shoulders, Lucifer patted her head, saying, "You really are an odd one, aren''t you? You''re acting like a break would mean the end of the goddamn world! To be frank, you just need to chill out a little and rx. Maybe then, your progress in Formations will improve by a millionfold." Like a pot calling the kettle ck, he rmended a break while knowing damn well that he would never take one himself. But regardless of his view on R&R, his favorite family member would surely work herself to death with her age and cultivation included in the equation. ''It''s not like she''s made of steel¡­ Eventually, her mind will break down, and then her body will follow shortly after¡­'' ''Can''t have her falling over dead on me. After all, how would I be able to exponentially improve my cultivation speed without her?'' Refusing to admit that maybe he just wanted to keep her around for somepany, the Tsundere went right back to ingesting pills, nning to breakthrough to the Middle Core Formation Realm. "..." While watching her big brother gobble up colorful, multi-lined pills like a true druggy, Li Yan couldn''t help but feel a fuzzy warmth pervade the inside of her body. ''Mhmm¡­ Big brother¡­ best big brother¡­'' Tightly holding onto his head, she wondered just how long such a life couldst. Just her and big bro pill gobbler¡­ ''Maybe get a pet, too¡­ A white floofy wolfy¡­'' As a rather peculiar thought passed through Li Yan''s mind, a veryrge group of multi-colored Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators blurred into view. Standing atop a massive mountain peak of bones, weapons, and blood, 700 or so Nascent Soul Realm Experts stared down at the constantly moving birdhouse-like structure. Behind these 700 Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators, there were also tens of thousands of cultivators in and below the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm. In such a lineup, there were clearly a few among them who could be considered the ''Leaders'' of the group. And they also just so happened to be high-ranking generals of the 12 Elemental Nations. Some nations sent out 2 Late Nascent Soul Realm Generals, while others only sent out 1. But no matter how much each nation contributed, it was all but guaranteed that whatever force they were up against would undoubtedly die. "Ha! So this is the Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon!? Doesn''t look like anything special to me!" shouted the Fire Nation General. With arge, fiery-red aura, he was definitely one of the most ''enthusiastic'' among those assembled for the ''Birdhouse Mission''. "You really must learn to calm yourself, Tai Ming. It is unknown just what we''ll find once we enter the Phenomenon." Lifting up his sses a little, the Water Nation General tried his best to remind his rival of the dangers of the unknown. But s¡­ p! p! After pping his rival on the back, Tai Ming shouted, "Stop worrying like a pansy, Kun Zhong! This ce is nothing for someone like me! Just stand behind this mighty figure of mine and watch meplete this mission all by myself!" Without giving any of the other Generals the time to berate the moron, he was already leaping away from the mountain, going in head-strong! "I now see why you are starting to get gray hair, Kun Zhong¡­ That man is something else¡­" Patting his friend on the shoulder, the Crystal Nation General couldn''t help but sympathize with the poor fellow. "Yeah, well¡­ Now that he is out and about, we need to get moving ourselves." Heaving an exasperated sigh, Kun Zhong blurred right behind the fiery red giant in the distance. The rest of the Generals and their parties followed not long after. And with varying levels of covertness, they entered through the southern entrance of the Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon. Step. Step. Landing on the marbled ground of the Phenomenon''s interior, everyone immediately noticed the eerie, almost frightening atmosphere. There were no sounds, the lights were dim, and the overall ambience was unnerving for most from the Elemental Nations. "Does someone live here?" While asking one of his superiors a question, a Metal Nation Golden Core Realm Cultivator bent down and ran his finger through what was most definitely blood. "Hmm¡­ This ce does appear to have not been cleaned. Either that, or a group of people just recently died¡­" Observing the same bloody scene as his subordinate, the Nature Nation General suddenly got a very bad feeling about this ce. Even though he and the rest of the assembled members of this mission had read the report, it was still vastly different to experience this stuff in person- "Heng Wu!! Is that really Heng Wu!? Th-This can''t be¡­!" On his knees and clenching a deformed bloody corpse in a corner of the southern entrance, an Early Nascent Soul Realm Vice-Captain embraced what was most definitely his best friend. "Not even two weeks ago, we were out on the town, trying to find you a wife¡­ and n-now¡­" Crying tears of blood, the vice captain was overwhelmed with sadness and rage. He would kill whatever son of a bitch hadmitted this atrocity! That much, he swore!! OOOM-! Before his aura could erupt with the full strength of the Early Nascent Soul Realm, a thin line of string-like metal shot out from one of the walls nearest to him. "!!!" "!!!" A few of the Late Nascent Soul Realm Generals noticed this urrence. But before they could do anything about it, the metal string had already wrapped itself around the body of the Vice Captain. Then, just like the cut-up body of his friend, he was diced up in the same manner! SPURT! With an explosion of blood and guts, the Vice Captain was put in a state right on the edge of life and death, with no hope of recovery! "Get into formation! This ce¡­ It''s alive!!" Shouting out orders left and right, Kun Zhong dashed away from the walls. Luckily he did so, because the moment he moved from his spot, ten of those metal strings shed out at where he just was! Even though he narrowly escaped death, there were a few others who weren''t so fortunate¡­ SHING! SHING! Some attempted to strike at the metal strings, while others simply died without ever knowing what had happened. However, of those who had counterattacked, their ultimate moves were proven useless¡­ "Take my |Dragon''s Breath|!!" "|Phoenix me|!" "See if you can withstand the |Thunder p|!?" "Herees the worst of your nightmares, metal demon!!! |Shadow Slice|!!" WHIZ! WHIZ! SHING! SHING! Attacks were being thrown left and right, lighting the dimly lit room aze! Getting a clear view of the space they found themselves in, the Generals and everyone else quickly realized how wrong the information was¡­ Spiked up on walls, prated through their guts,shed to the roof, and piled in the form of mountains; there were half-dead people everywhere¡­ Not dead enough to die but still alive enough to feel the pain¡­ and their numbers¡­ "There have to be hundreds of thousands of cultivators here¡­ And their vital statuses are¡­" Nearly puking at this sight, the face of one of the Middle Nascent Soul Realm Captain''s turnedpletely ashen. Dodging out of the way of a few more of the metal strings, Kun Zhong appraised his surroundings and understood that this ce was far more dangerous than they originally assumed¡­ "And the owner¡­ just what sort of vile creature was the one who made this ce¡­?" While thinking over this inexplicable question, Kun Zhong realized something else as well. Therefore, he shouted, "The metal strings! They are some type of Formation, and from the casualties incurred so far, it shouldn''t be able to deal serious harm to anyone in and above the Middle Nascent Soul Realm!!" "!?!?" "!?!?" "!?!?" Looking at who managed to avert the attacks and who was ultimately struck by the metal strings, the other Generals knew that Kun Zhong was right. It was with post-haste that they bellowed, "Everyone below the Middle Nascent Soul Realm needs to huddle around us and the Captains!!" Never would they have expected their subordinates to be a burden in this expedition, but now there was nothing they could do about it¡­ ''If we can''t protect them when it reallyes down to it, then that is just the will of fate. But until that point arrives, we vowed to watch after our own, and that is what we shall do.'' Although divided by borders and ideals, the leaders of the Elemental Nations were united by thought when it came to the well-being of their own. And truly¡­ Lucifer truly found that quite admirable¡­ But then again¨C ...¡­. Chapter 95: Mind F*ck For Everyone! ...¡­. But then again¨C "Look at all that loot huddled up in one big circle, har! Theye and invade my home, then they present themselves in such a manner?? I don''t know whether to thank them or eat them alive!! Guess we just have to meet in the middle!" Lightly waving his hands, he had Li Yan stop the active cirction of the ''Metal Death Domain'' formation. Thereafter, his body vanished from the topmost area of the birdhouse. Then, with a grand, demonic entrance, he lit up the southern side of his home even more than before! "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" Looking up at the very hard-to-miss crimson-red aura, all of the Elemental Nation Cultivators instantly noticed the devilish man floating in the epicenter of such an immense presence. "Is he the owner of this ce!? With an aura like that, he must be!!" "But what about the girl in the reports!? This monster was not mentioned anywhere!! Do we not have any further information pertaining to his existence-!?" WAAA! Erupting with a fiery red aura, Tai Ming''s spiky hair stood on end. Then, with a posture like that of a body-building wild animal, his predatory gaze honed in on the aloof figure above. FWIP! With a blur of feisty red, Tai Ming''s vastlyrger figure appeared right above Lucifer. Trumping over him like a giant among men, he lifted his massive hand up and summoned forth a giant, zing orange Great Ax. Then, with veins spreading throughout hisrge right arm, he shed down with everything he had! OOOM! Even the very air itself cracked and shattered from the pressure being ced on it by the Great Ax! However, despite the immense weight pressing down on the apathetically calm raven-haired devil, not even a single hair follicle paid the slightest amount of heed to the giant, city-severing Great Ax. "Hmm?" Finally noticing the existence of a slightly stronger bug right up in his face, Lucifer said, "A rabid dog should know when to not get ahead of itself." Then, with a slight flick of his finger, he deflected the front-facing edge of the Great Axe. After which, he called for 6 Late Nascent Soul Realm Clones and had them plunge their des into the body of the huge man. Kuk! Spitting out arge portion of ckened blood, Tai Ming suddenly looked behind him and saw six hooded figures with six poisoned des, all of which were currently lodged in different parts of his body! "Ya know, the poison coursing through your veins right now is something that takes effect in a tenth of a second. And yet, it is taking quite a while for it to work on you. All in all, you are more impressive than I originally thought you to be. But to be honest, your resilience does not change the oue." "No, wait-!" SHING! Making use of the sharpness of a Peak-Sky Rank ck longsword, Lucifer lobbed the head right off the shoulders of the behemoth of a man. Then, with the activation of |Demon Assimtion|, he sucked up the cultivation base of the big fool. As he was doing this, the demonic technique was also activated for the rest of the strewn-out corpses that he forgot to clean up over thest few hours¡­ With tens of thousands of ck tendrils sucking various corpses dry of everything they had, the Elemental Generals and their subordinates watched on in horror. They stared wide-eyed as the devil-incarnate killed one of their strongest before devouring the existence of him and all the others like an afternoon snack! "W-What do we do¡­? Ar-Are we going to die??" Falling on his butt, a Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm cultivator emitted nothing but terror from those two brown eyes of his. Then there were the others, who were faring no better than the first one that had a mental breakdown¡­ Freaking out and shuddering in ce, the various Elemental Nation experts were too busy pissing themselves in fear to even consider escape as an option. And before they knew it, they had already lost the window for escape¡­ OOOM! With arge eruption of a crimson aura, Lucifer finished up the assimtion of all the loot bags. Then, with a piercing glint in his gaze, he honed in on the sheep that came to the ughter. "You guys really are a bunch of idiots! I''ll go ahead and tell you that any one of you fancily dressed morons could''ve taken me on if you weren''t so ovee with shock! Hell, even that fire idiot ''was'' individually stronger than I was. And if he just attacked without going in so rashly, there might''ve been a scenario where I died! But unfortunately for you fumbling idiots, there is no longer hope for a scenario like that¡­" WAAA! Unleashing an aura at the peak of the Late Nascent Soul Realm, the various captains understood¡­ They understood that there was not a snowball''s chance in hell that they would be able to beat the devil before them! So, without hesitation, they lifted up their subordinates with telekinesis and fled! Going back out the way they came, all of them ran for the hills! "Umu!? Using telekinesis in the presence of one such as I?? Is this a challenge!?" With a yful and amused countenance, Lucifer vanished from his spot and slipped into the speed stream. FWIP! When he reappeared, he was standing directly in front of the fleeing experts. With a wide grin on his face, he lunged toward the leading general like a blur of demonic light. Then, without giving his prey the opportunity to defend himself, Lucifer pronounced, "Get |Mind Fucked|, bitch!" POP! In arge explosion of brain chunks, the general''s head turned into a confetti cannon! [Ding! You have killed a Metal General in the Late Nascent Soul Realm. The reward is 2.5 million CE2] "Ho? This |Mind Fuck| is so cool!" Like a little kid with a new toy to try out, Lucifer shot his devilish expression toward all the other fresh and juicy loot bags. Then, with an even faster speed than before, he slipped in and out of the speed stream in half an instant! Face-to-face with a Crystal Nation General, Lucifer once again activated his |Mind Fuck| technique. This time, he took the time to watch the process of a proper Mind Fuck. Firstly, a light gray energy shot out of Lucifer''s head. Then that energy wrapped around the head of the target, seeping into its pores. After which, the energy slipped into the slimy brain yuck, and then¡­ "Kaboowey!" POP! [Ding! You have killed a Crystal Nation General in the Late Nascent Soul Realm. The reward is 2.6 million CE2] Another head exploded, and another system notification arrived! "!!!" "!!!" "!!!" After watching another head blow up like a balloon and explode, the rest of the Elemental Nation Cultivators started to burn up their life essence in an attempt to sessfully run away! ZOOM! ZOOM! zing through the skies, they flew at speeds they didn''t even know were possible! They were getting the fuck out of Limgrave! "Umu¡­" Staring at the juicy loot bags flying so far away from him, Lucifer became a bit sad. Thus, to cure this sadness, he focused on the heads of all the cultivators. Once he established a solid connection, his face brightened up, and he said, "You get a |Mind Fuck|!" POP! "And you get a |Mind Fuck|!" POP! "You want a |Mind Fuck| as well!? Sure thing, you will get your mind fucked to a different universe!" POP! "|Mind Fuck| for you, and |Mind Fuck| for you, too! |Mind Fuck| for everybody!! Everyone is getting mind fucked today!" POP! POP! POP! Using his hand like a long-range pistol, he Mind Fucked anyone down his line of sight! One by one, the Elemental Nation Cultivators were mind-fucked. And by the end of this brief |Mind Fuck| session, tens of thousands of bodies were now left without their heads¡­ "Well, in the end, I will assimte everything, so there will be no parting ways! You''re wee!" Doing as he said he would, Lucifer teleported all the corpses to him and activated |Demon Assimtion|. Thereafter, a number of system notifications and cultivation base increases arrived. [Ding! You have killed 21 Late Nascent Soul Realm Generals of the Elemental Nations. The reward is 85,800,000 CE2] [Ding! You have killed tens of thousands of Cultivators in and below the Middle Nascent Soul Realm. The reward is 125,000,000 CE2] [Ding! Because you used |Demon Assimtion|, your cultivation base has started to improve!] BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Early Core Formation Realm (Peak)] [Body Cultivation - Late Silver Rank (68.4%)] [Mind Cultivation - Peak Bronze Rank (93.1%)] [Battle Power - Late Nascent Soul Realm (Middle)] [Late Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 1,000,000 CE2] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 204,700,000 CE2] [Current Clone Essence - 204,700,000 CE2] ¡ª------- Looking at a brief overview of his system interface, Lucifer became a little annoyed over the fact that they interrupted his breakthrough into the Core Formation Realm. "Hmm¡­ I guess all this Clone Essence does make up for it¡­" ncing at the numerous zeros behind his Clone Essence indicator gave him the urge to hoard it all forever. But then again¡­ ...¡­.. Chapter 96: Nah, I Think Id Win ...¡­.. Click! Spending up half of the Clone Essence, Lucifer painfully watched as his total stash was split in half¡­ But from that excruciating experience, more than 100 Clones in the Late Nascent Soul Realm came into being! FWIP! FWIP! With their immensely powerful auras out in the open, they nearly overwhelmed the entirety of the walking birdhouse! "Ahh, so their strength is somewhere around the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, huh? Considering that there are discrepancies between what the system deems a realm and what is actually that realm in the Fire Nation, such an approximation will always stay roughly urate. After all, depending on the skill and techniques of my opponents, these ''Battle Power'' statistics could prove to be quite useless." This train of thought led to Lucifer wondering what would happen if he ever encountered someone who could be termed a ''genius''. How would their strength stack up against his? Would the system be correct in how it gauged Battle Power? So many questions and so few answers¡­ While contemting a number of abstract concepts, a short goth girl decided to make her appearance in the wide, expansive area that Big Bro was in. Pitter. Patter. Running over to her big brother, Li Yan started to wonder where all the loot bags went. Therefore, upon making it to Big Brother''s side, she asked, "Loot Bags¡­ Gone¡­?" "Hmm?" Turning his head down to ''short stuff'', Lucifer said, "Nah, they have been looted and assimted; I just did it from far away. You see over there?" Picking up the goth midget, he pointed toward a few slightly bloody mountains in the distance. "Their heads went pow! And then the loot rained down from above!" "Umu¡­" Li Yan didn''t quite understand what her brother was talking about, but as long as he got the loot, she was happy. Though, she had still yet to understand exactly what the ''Loot'' really was¡­ ''Loot is¡­ Big brother''s imaginary friend¡­?'' When Li Yan was 5 years old, she recalled having an imaginary friend. And figuring that big brother was going through the same phase, she nodded her head and went back to hugging his thigh. "Umu¡­?" Feeling that he was low-key being dissed, Lucifer narrowed his eyes at his little sister. ''Why do I feel like she has a really unusual opinion of me¡­?'' While thinking about the intricacies of the goth midget''s brain processing methods, he also made sure to shoot out a few slimy ck tendrils and absorb the cultivation of thest of the headless loot bags. After which, he watched as his Battle Power rocketed up to the absolute peak of the Late Nascent Soul Realm! On top of that, his cultivation also made a direct breakthrough into the Middle Core Formation Realm! With his Core growing a few feet in size and the color bing far clearer than before, Lucifer could officially be considered a Middle Core Formation Realm Cultivator! OOOM! Feeling the increase in aura evenly dispersed across his entire body, he figured it was just about time that he dealt with those ''other guests'' of his. "..." Focusing his soul-piercing gaze on a specific area in space outside his progressively moving home, there was no doubt about it. ''These ones are strong¡­ Far stronger than those whom I just mind-fucked¡­'' ''Peak Nascent Soul Realm¡­ and nearing the peak of that realm to boot¡­ Just about as strong as the 13 Strongest Cultivators in the Elemental Nations¡­'' ''It does appear that someone has finally decided to go all out.'' Prepping all 150+ of his Late Nascent Soul Realm Clones, Lucifer figured he would use them as meat shields and veer the enemies away from him for a second. With a solid n forming inside his mind, he patted his little sister on her head before taking her off his shoulders. "???" Confusion was apparent in the glossy blue eyes of the adorable midget, but Lucifer had no time to be teasing the girl. Therefore, it was with a stringent tone that he said, "You must abandon this ce and go deeper into the Water Nation. You will then cross a border to the east and make your way into the Nature Nation. They are rtively friendly with foreigners, so you should do alright. When I reap these Loot Bags outside, I will meet up with you in the Nature Nation. But until that point in time, you musty low and hone your mastery of Formations. Use said mastery to protect yourself until I find you, alrighty?" "..." Quickly realizing that her big brother was serious, Li Yan tightened her grip on his thigh even more than before. "Not leaving," she said. "Listen, Little Squirt. If you stay here, you will likely die, and I currently have no way of resurrecting you, so-" "Not leaving," Li Yan repeated, her grip on his thigh bing even tighter. "Am useful¡­ Will show you usefulness¡­" With an usually determined glint in her two big, round eyes, she stared into the two blood-red pools that swirled around in Big Brother''s face. "..." Looking at the stubborn expression the goth midget was making, Lucifer immediately realized that he would not be getting through to her anytime soon. Hence, the best decision he could make to ensure her safety was¡­ Bonk! Taking out his bonking stick at a speed far surpassing the speed of sound, he whacked Li Yan on the top of her head! Falling over in a state of unconsciousness, her body was about to hit the ground with a thud... But before that could happen, tworge hands grabbed hold of her small frame. Then, with a slight conjuration of Nature, Illusion, and Beast Magic, he summoned forth an illusory bear. Putting his sister on the 10-meterrge bear, he then told the bear to transport her to the Nature Nation. "Stay active until I arrive, and when she wakes up, I don''t know¡­ Give her some snacks and candy or something¡­" After shrugging his shoulders in confusion on the matter of how to calm a little girl, Lucifer spun his right pointer finger in a circle. Using the Fire and sma Elements, he sliced out a perfectly round hole in the northern side of his home. "Well? Get your fluffy ass a move on!" Lightly kicking the dumbfounded bear in the rump, Lucifer sent it flying through the hole in the wall. Thereafter, he watched as the giant bear hovered in the air before galloping through the sky like one of Santa''s lost reindeer. "Now that all of that is out of the way, I think we can begin a little game of ''Can you kill me before I be strong enough to kill you?''" pping his hands in excitement, Lucifer leapt up off the ground, smashing a hole right through the roof of his home! BOOM! After popping out the top of the birdhouse cave abode, his eyes brightened up and turned a dark red in color. Then, with an insane level of heat emanating from them, hesered what was once known as the Walking Birdhouse Phenomenon! It was only after the entire thing was razed to the ground that Lucifer said, "Can''t have anybody obtaining any clues on where the little squirt has gone off to. Therefore, destroying all evidence is best, umu!" Nodding his head like he aplished a great thing, he crossed his arms over one another and stared off into the distance. After which, he sped up toward the five extremely powerful energy signatures, each one stronger than thest. FWIP! Upon slipping out of the speed stream, Lucifer was greeted with the sight of three women and two men, all wearing robes with fire marks stered across them. Possessing auras in the Peak Nascent Soul Realm and carrying around attitudes akin to those of emotionless statues, they levitated in a triangle-shaped formation. Deeply ring at the raven-haired man that just appeared, the man at the forefront of this five man party said, "You will die. You know this, do you not?" Hands behind his head and whistling a faint tune, Lucifer said, "Sure, I am prepared to die at any given moment. But do I think that I''ll die to you losers in thatme ass Halloween getup? Nah, I think I''d win." WAAA! Gathering together an aura at the very peak of the Late Nascent Soul Realm, Lucifer''s grin widened to both his ears. Then, like a crimson ck blur, he broke the sound barrier! Blitzing through countless air donuts, his speed achieved levels hundreds of times that of sound. But from the looks of it, his speed was only exponentially increasing! "Tell me, I do wonder if any of you have ever been hit by a freight train??" With his face fading in and out of reality, he suddenly appeared behind the leading ''Fire Brigadier''. Dipping in for a downward spiral kick, he seemed to be going for the kill! However, as if the Head Fire Brigadier witnessed every move that their target had made thus far, his left eye shot in the direction of the insanely fast man. Then, with an iron-hard fist, he attempted to perform the same move that a baldy used on a speedy assassin''s testicles! ...¡­.. Chapter 97: The System Must Be Smoking It! ...¡­.. "Touche." As soon as the generationally devastating attack was going to touch base with the two dangling fruits, Lucifer''s body faded into nothing like he was never there to begin with¡­ "???" Darting his stern gaze around in bewilderment, the Head Brigadier quickly realized that it was all an illusion! "Spread out and find the Weasel! You all know very well what will happen if the Ancestors ever find that we were unable toplete this mission!" FWIP! FWIP! Heading in five different directions, the only five members of the Fire Brigadiers scoured thends with their absurdly long-ranged divine senses! They had to quickly kill the older brother and then move on to the little sister! Tap. Tap. Softlynding in the middle of a deep and wide cavern, Lucifer sat down on arge, cracked boulder. Swiftly activating ''Clone Sight'', he switched views with a few of his Late Nascent Soul Realm Clones. After making sure that the Fire Brigadiers were not on the trail of the goth midget, Lucifer put the next step of his n into action. FWIP! Disappearing from his spot, he flew in the direction of the weakest of the attackers. Being in the earlier stages of the Peak Nascent Soul Realm, Lucifer stealthily stalked behind Fire Brigadier #5. As her name implied, she was the 5th strongest among the Fire Brigadiers. Furthermore, she was also the 11th strongest person in the entire Fire Nation! But for Lucifer, she was merely the weakest of the lot¡­ ''Food is always best when it''s free or cheap, and the same principle can be applied to loot. For in the end, easy loot will always be the best loot!'' Evil thoughts swirled around inside Lucifer''s head as he summoned forth 30 of the clones he kept in storage for emergency situations. ''With my strength and the strength of my Clones put into the equation, we are individually about as strong as the weakest of Peak Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators in the Elemental Nation area. But altogether¡­ Heh¡­'' Noticing that his prey had stopped to better search her surroundings, Lucifer and his clones made their move! Barrelling through dozens of sonic booms, 12 clones phased right beside Fire Brigadier #5. Then, with sharpened des in the Late Sky Rank, they shed them from 12 different directions! "!!!" Making use of her quick reflexes, Fire Brigadier #5 blurred through all of the iing sword strikes. After which, she unleashed the full immensity of her aura and pressured the 12 hooded figures who missed their attacks- Or did they? Spurt! "What!?" ncing down at her arm with a pained expression, Fire Brigadier #5 saw arge, bloody gash that traveled from her fingertips all the way to her shoulder! Without her having fathomed the speed of one of the attacks, it slipped past her defenses and created the gash that now scarred her right arm! Normally, a woman or even a man would be enraged about such damage being inflicted on their skin. But for Fire Brigadier #5, she was born and bred to kill. Thus, all it took was a biting down on her tongue and a cast of minor healing magic for her lucidity to return in full rity, 4K Ultra HD. Ignoring the stinging paining from her arm, she lunged at the closest clone and used her other arm in order to rip out the clone''s throat! Spurt! Just like that, one of the clones had half his throat and half his life vanish without a trace! FWIP! Moving preemptively, Fire Brigadier #5 swiveled her head toward the next closest clone and bounced off the air like a springy leopard! SHING! The clone attempted to thwart the vicious attacks of the woman, but it took no more than three consecutive w shes for the clone to have his body ripped up into a hundred different pieces! Just as the woman was going to strike out and ultimately kill another clone, she looked down at her stomach and saw a massive gaping hole! "H-How!?" Shifting her face behind her, she saw an extraordinarily handsome, raven-haired man with an outstretched bloody arm. "Well, you did pretty well in killing two of my clones, beautifuldy. But in the end, you are just a walking Loot bag. And as loot, you should be more aware of where you are." Pointing down toward the ground, a mischievous smirk formed on his face. Following his finger, Fire Brigadier #5 saw¡­ "The surface¡­? But we were just in the sky¡­ How did th-" Suddenly, she remembered an odd pull-in force when she shed the second clone. "Illusion and Hypnosis Magic¡­ You convinced my brain that we were still battling it out in the sky, when in reality, we were already on the ground surface¡­ After getting me to the ground, you waited under the dirt and struck upward the moment you noticed any vibrations. So as to not alert me to your presence, you had to prohibit the use of your Divine Sense¡­ To have such precise control over the Elements, just what are you, Lucifer of the Devildukes¡­?" Falling from a few meters in the sky, Fire Brigadier #5 lost all her previous bravo and copsed to the ground with a face emting the extreme amount of exhaustion she felt. Thud! Landing on the area right next to the heavily breathing woman, Lucifer slowly pped his hands and said, "Good! You were indeed worthy of being the first Peak Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator I ever killed!" Visibly pleased with the astuteness of the woman, he decided to give her a quick and painless death. "..." With a flickering gaze and blurry eyesight, Fire Brigadier #5 watched as a sh of silver plummeted from what felt like the infinite heavens above¡­ ''Lucifer¡­ An existence possessed by the devil¡­ He might even have what it takes to¡­ kill the masters¡­'' With thest thoughts of the woman remaining inexplicable and filled with untold mysteries, her head was cleanly severed from the rest of her body. SHING! Sheathing his sword in a refined manner, Lucifer observed the iing system notifications. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul Realm Fire Brigadier member of the Fire Nation. The reward is 630,000,000 CE2] "Ho!? That is a shit-ton of Clone Essence!" Even though Lucifer had lost two clones before being able to take down that woman, the rewards far outweighed what he had to pay! Furthermore, the extent of the rewards didn''t end with just the Clone Essence Acquisition¡­ FWAZIP! Shooting out a ck, slimy tendril, Lucifer speedily absorbed the cultivation base of Fire Brigadier #5. After which, he watched as his cultivation took a huge leap! WAAA! "From the ''Middle Core Formation Realm (Initial)'' to the ''Middle Core Formation Realm (Middle)'', I would say these higher-level loot bags are where the true goodies hide!" Feeling the immense strength coursing through his veins, Lucifer felt that the Peak Nascent Soul Realm Battle Power level was right on his heel. Therefore, he opened up his simplified system interface and took a look at what was close to helping him make that final jump. BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Middle Core Formation Realm (Middle)] [Body Cultivation - Late Silver Rank (79.2%)] [Mind Cultivation - Peak Bronze Rank (98.6%)] [Battle Power - Late Nascent Soul Realm (Absolute Peak)] [Late Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 1,000,000 CE2] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 857,900,000 CE2] [Current Clone Essence - 857,900,000 CE2] ¡ª------- "Ah¡­ My Mind Cultivation is about to breakthrough into the Silver Rank, so I can just wait a couple seconds for that to finish going through." After waiting a couple seconds like a good puppy dog, the breakthrough finally came! OOOM! Feeling a wave of mystical energy wash over his mind, Lucifer could definitely tell that a major qualitative change just urred. Taking one more look at his system interface, he confirmed that he had indeed reached the ''Initial Silver Rank'' and he was approximately ''0.45%'' of the way through that stage. However, what was far more important for him was the fact that his Battle Power finally broke through into the Peak Nascent Soul Realm! Almost immediately after realizing this, Lucifer honed in on the price of each Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clone- "Holy Shit!!" If he had coffee in his mouth, he for sure would have spit that shit all over the ce, because what the fuck!? "1-1¡­ 1 Billion CE2¡­ You have to be on hard drugs, you fucking scammer!" [Ding! The system can confidently deny those usations; after all, the system is far too smart to go through with the act of intaking drugs! The host, on the other hand, well¡­ the entire Boundless Verse is abundantly aware of his addiction to drugs¡­] "System, like usual¡­ fuck you!" Flipping up a single middle finger, Lucifer walked away from the pop-up screen, making his way toward the second weakest of the Fire Brigadiers. After a few minutes of travel, he ultimately came into contact with Fire Brigadier #4. And with a few seconds of intense battle, Lucifer came out on top! ...¡­.. Chapter 98: Bear Witness To My Racially Superior Form! ...¡­.. "Though a few mountains were destroyed in the process of fighting this sneaky bastard, at least the loot is nice." SHING! Putting his sword back in its sheath, Lucifer watched both the falling masculine figure and the iing system notifications. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul Realm Fire Brigadier of the Fire Nation. The reward is 890,000,000 CE2] [Ding! Your total Clone Essence Bank storage has surpassed 2 Billion. Would you like to buy 2 Clones in the Peak Nascent Soul Realm?] "Hmm¡­ Exactly how much do I have?" [Ding! The host currently has 2,789,000,865 CE2] "Alrighty, you can go ahead and purchase 2 highest-level clones!" Figuring that he had enough to be a little thrifty, Lucifer confirmed the request made by the system. Then, with two bright shes of light, two clones just as strong as him formed on the top of the mountain he was on. "You two, please head on over to the Nature Nation and secure the safety of my cultivation speed-boosting midget. Oh, and make sure to go in disguise and kill anyone that could give some nice loot! Don''t worry about the consequences!" After giving out these extremely concise orders, Lucifer watched the two clones vanish from the airspace before focusing back on his own tasks. "Time to reap some more delicious loot bags! They came all this way from my dear parents ce, so I would be doing them a great injustice if I didn''t treat them with the utmost hospitality!" From the numerous memories of the two fallen Fire Brigadiers, Lucifer was able to learn many things about the curtains that hid behind the Fire Nation. And from what he had learned thus far, the Fire Nation was not actually ruled by the Fire Emperor. Instead, it waspletely controlled by the ''Ancestors'' or as Lucifer knew them¡ªhis parents! "Those bastards actually had the gall to set up their clones in the Devilduke Family, and they were even plotting to kill every single other member of their family¡­ All to practice a forbidden demonic technique!? I must say¡­ They have my respect, umu!" To go so far for power was something that Lucifer looked up to. But unfortunately for those like-minded parents of his, he didn''t like when someone else had him in their ns¡­ BOOM! BOOM! Flying through sonic booms that could barely keep up with his speed, Lucifer''s smirk widened to its usual length. "If those parents of mine want to make use of a demonic technique where they can''t directly kill their family members, then I will make use of that restriction! Breaking through to the Soul Transformation Realm!? Ha! The closest you will ever get to that goal is in your dreams!" zing through the sky like a fiery ball of fire, Lucifer located his next target. Then, with his maximum speed, he dipped from the high heavens and crashed toward Fire Brigadier #3! "!!!" Noticing the meteor of death just in the nick of time, Fire Brigadier #3 utilized her Qi in the best format for the limited time frame presented before her. Encasing her well-endowed body with the Qi, she formed a defensive Qi shield around herself. But not yet done with her moves, she stacked that same barrier hundreds of times on top of each other! OOOM! With a regal golden-green aura emanating off of the countless protective barriers, she nted her feet into the ground and prepared to take on the full force of the lethally dangerous meteor! She would be the mountain that prevents the heavens from falling from the sky! However, due to the sheer force that she was transmitting through her feet, the mountain beneath her started to crack, crumble, and eventually fall apart! "!!!" identally throwing herself off bnce, Fire Brigadier #3 attempted to re-stabilize herself in time. But by that point, the massive ball of mes was already right in front of her face¡­ Like the super serious punch of a caped baldy, the meteor instantly appeared in front of the woman. Then, with a plummeting effect, it smashed into the mountain like God''s great reckoning! CRACKA¡ªBOOOOOM! Tens of mountain ranges copsed in on themselves before being blown into smithereens, causing rock shards to fly off in all directions! With magma and molten material building up at the center of where the meteor hit the earth, a single red-robed woman was taking on the brunt force of the city-ending attack! "T-This can''t be possible!!! I refuse to believe that one of their youngest children can already be this strong!!!" Caving in under the pressure of the giant meteor, Fire Brigadier #3 sank further and further into the ground. Blood leaked from all her orifices, but even under such damage, she still had an unwilling glint in her light blue eyes. And from Lucifer''s perspective, that unwillingness was quite admirable. "But in the end¡­ You are just loot." RUMBLE! Having just broke through to the Peak Silver Rank in Body Cultivation, Lucifer put even more strength into his |Falling Heaven| Peak-Sky Rank Technique! The entire world seemed to violently tremble and quake underneath the might of this technique, and such effects were only bing increasingly terrifying! "Noooo!!!" CRACKA¡ªBOOOOM! In the end, Fire Brigadier #3 proved to be no match for the power put behind |Falling Heaven| as her skin ruptured and her arms exploded in on themselves! It wasn''t long after feeling this power-debilitating damage that the rest of her frail human body followed¡­ POP! Like the weakest of balloons filled to the brim with water, Fire Brigadier #3 exploded into a bloody firework! Dispersing the mes around his body andnding on the cracked ground, Lucifer observed the iing system notification. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul Realm Fire Brigadier of the Fire Nation. The reward is 1.5 Billion CE2] "Well, damn! That''s quite the sizable amount of Clone Essence!" Lucifer never would''ve expected the gaps between Clone Essence acquisition rates to be sorge within the same minor realm. But regardless of this information, there were still two more Loot Bags that needed to be reaped. FWIP! Vanishing from his position, he also made sure to buy another Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clone. He had this clone go find and ultimately kill Fire Brigadier #2. "While good ol clony boy is working on that with a few dozen Late Nascent Soul Realm Clones, I can go and catch up with Fire Brigadier #1!" With this objective as the driving force for his actions, Lucifer bounced away from a mountain peak and phased into the Speed Stream. Already abundantly aware of the location of the strongest aura signature among his hunters, his evanescent figure traveled in a beeline direction. By the time that he neared Fire Brigadier #1''s location, Lucifer realized that his opponent was actually¡­ "Waiting for me?" Looking directly in front of him, a confused look formed on his face as he stared at a man sitting on an illusory rocking chair. "What da hell are you doing?" Lucifer asked. "Hmm¡­" Turning around to look at his target, Fire Brigadier #1''s neutral expression didn''t change and he didn''t move a muscle. However, after a second of verifying that who he was looking at was the main body, he said, "It was only after a few minutes of searching that I realized you were likely splitting us up on purpose. And with so much time having passed, it was highly imusible that anything I could do would have a chance of changing the oue. Therefore, I figured it was best to just wait where I knew you''d find me." "..." nkly staring at the lounging man in the rocking chair, Lucifer asked, "Are you an idiot? I mean, you kinda just revealed everything to the person you''re supposed to kill¡­ If that''s not idiotic, then I don''t know what is¡­" Abruptly taking the rocking chair to a halt, a slightly embarrassed look emerged from Fire Brigadier #1''s face. "I guess you''re right¡­ But it''s not like that really matters," he said. "Ho? And what do you mean by that?" Even though Lucifer already knew the answer to his own question, he liked to y around with these little ys. Call it a hobby of his. Slowly turning his head around once more, Fire Brigadier #1''s face morphed into something evil and far more demonic. Transforming into something truly out of a children''s bedtime story, his body followed the trend and became something far from human¡­ Red spiked body,rge 8-foot frame, spiraling ck horns, and a menacing face¡ªhe had be the mirror image of a devil! Mildly surprised by thisplete change in race, Lucifer muttered, "A demon¡­? Or rather, you''re some form of hybrid? Hmm¡­ How interesting¡­" "That is all you have to say upon bearing witness to my racially superior form!?" "I mean, yeah¡­ Don''t get me wrong, it''s cool and stuff. But if I''m being honest with you, it''s a low-key tacky appearance. Maybe you should-" BOOM!!! ...¡­.. Chapter 99: Middle Core Formation Realm, System Alterations ...¡­.. BOOM!!! Erupting out with arge burst of power, Fire Brigadier #1 broke the ground beneath his feet and blurred in Lucifer''s direction! "Ahh¡­" That was all Lucifer had to say in response to this disy of strength; leaning his body to the left a little, he just barely evaded a straight spine shattering kick! "Yo, bro? You could really hurt someone by using something like that¡­" Watching the demon-like man fly by him, Lucifer returned back to his spear shaped posture. "Anyways¡­ What even are you? Clearly you are not human, but you are also not fully considered a demon," he said calmly. BZzZzztt¡­ Crackling and sparking, Fire Brigadier #1 stopped his attack midair andnded on the ground with refined steps. Exhibiting perfect control over his unkindled strength, he halted all of the Qi in and around his body. Then, withrge strides toward the far smaller Lucifer, he began by saying, "Unlike the rest of the Fire Brigadiers, I am not of the same creation. They were made from typical reproduction, whereas I was a byproduct of the insane experiments of an extremely powerful scientist. Taking the DNA of a demon from the demon realm and a human from this realm and coalescing them together, my existence was what came out. Or to be exact, I was what came out of a... test tube¡­" OOOM! Taking thunderous strides toward his target, Fire Brigadier #1 locked eyes with the fearless 6th Young Master of the Devilduke Family. In a demonic voice, he said, "Just as you are an Aberration among those of your family, I too am something far from ordinary¡­ And along with this atypicalness, I received innate strength far beyond what a mere human could hope to wield. Within the same realm, I am¡­ unrivaled." FWIP! shing into the speed stream, Fire Brigadier #1 vanished from sight before instantly reappearing in front of the tiny, foolish human! "Just go ahead and die to a superior being! There is no longer a need for your existence in this world!! On order of your father and mother, your death is all but guaranteed!!!" WAAA! Brilliantly dazzling and beyond overwhelming, Fire Brigadier #1shed out with a strength infinitely close to the Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm! Surpassing even the 13 Strongest Beings in the Elemental Nations, below the Ancestors, his power was second to none- SHING! "How-!?" |Serious Series: Unlimited Serious Sword Strikes| SHING! SHING! SHING! As if the insanely fast demon were moving in slow motion, a razor-sharp, ck longsword traveled around the entirety of his body before suddenly halting its movements and returning to its sheath. "Sorry, big guy. But for arge, red loot bag, you did quite well for yourself. Especially when considering that I had to speed up the process and make another breakthrough in my Body Cultivation to surpass your power level." Walking away from the scene with a debonair disposition, Lucifer took a few cursory nces at the faint golden sheen to his skin color. "So this is what Gold Rank Body Cultivation feels like¡­ How intriguing¡­" By this point in time, the damage had finally registered for Fire Brigadier #1. Thus, his body split up into chunks so small that even a grain of sand would be bigger than a piece of him. SPURT! Without ever having seen a single one of the sword shes, Fire Brigadier was sliced up like sashimi before his existence was transferred to Lucifer in the form of Clone Essence. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul Realm Fire Brigadier of the Fire Nation. The reward is 4.5 Billion CE2] [Ding! You have killed a Peak Nascent Soul Realm Fire Brigadier of the Fire Nation. The reward is 1.8 Billion CE2] [Ding! All Fire Brigadiers of the Fire Nation have been killed and disposed of. An extra amount of 10 Billion CE2 has been awarded!] "Umu? Not bad, not bad indeed." While nodding his head in a pleasant mood, Lucifer shot out his slimy ck tendrils and absorbed the cultivation and memories of Fire Brigadier #1. After sifting through those memories, a contemtive look formed on his face. "It does appear that Mr. Superior Demon over there was not originally created in the Fire Nation. It seems his existence as a ''Human/Demon experiment'' was not an isted incident, and there are likely more just like him. But in the Elemental Nations, he is probably the only one of his kind." Thinking about this topic got Lucifer wondering about what was actually happening behind the curtains of this loot-filled world. However, after a few seconds of getting nowhere with both his mind and the mind of Fire Brigadier #1, he put the matter to the back of his mind. After which, he nced at his Clone Essence and realized he had some spending to do¡­ "Actually, before I figure out what I want to purchase, I might as well check out my full system interface." BLING! ¡ª------------ {[Infinite Clone System]} [Host: Lucifer] [Race: Human] [Lifespan: 18/265,000] [Qi Cultivation: Middle Core Formation Realm (Late)] [Body Cultivation: Initial Gold Rank (1.5%)] [Mind Cultivation: Early Silver Rank (25.7%)] [Battle Power: Peak Nascent Soul Realm (Pinnacle)] {[Clones:]} [Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clones (Pinnacle): 3] [Late Nascent Soul Realm and below Clones: 12,000,000+] ¨C [Can still buy lower rank clones] ¨C [Various Clones] ¨C [Copse] [Clone Essence needed to summon the highest Realm Clone: 1 Billion CE2] [Clone Essence Bank: 18.5 Billion CE2] Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 18.5 Billion CE2 {[Physique(s) and various external power augmenters:]} [Cultivation Talent: Absolute Peak-Earth Rank (???)] - [Drugged to all-high hell on Pills (Using a relevant technique allows this to be possible)] [Spiritual Roots: ???] (Rank: ???) {[Mystic Confluence:]} [4th Order Mystic Physique] - [0/100,000 CE2] (culmination of all previous Elemental Body''s - affects bodily strength) {[Prime Technique:]} [Sword sh] [Peak-Sky Rank] ¨C [Upgradeable] ¡ª------------ "Hmm¡­ Did Ipletely forget about my Mystic Confluence Physique or what?" Looking over his system interface, Lucifer couldn''t help but think that he had been quite negligent when it came to keeping track of the many aspects of his existence. "Well, no time like the present!" As if he were a mentally re*aded chimpanzee, hepletely forgot about his negligence and focused on the ''present''. The monkey had an extremely tough time, you know, using his brain; hence, his mind always traveled to the ''now'', taking life as one big game. Luckily for him and unfortunately for his stunted intelligence, his life really was analogous to that of a game¡­ "Clikicty beep boop, I will click this and this and this. Ahh, I need some more clones, so let''s get a shit-ton of those as well!" Spending roughly 65% of his Clone Essence, Lucifer came out with 10 new Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clones and a 6th Order Mystic Confluence Physique! "With all of these clones, I have a way better ving force than I did before. And to maximize efficiency, I will send them to the fields right away! Farmers have no need for breaks or rest time; only farming!" Doing just as he said he would, the 10 or so clones were sent out into the world. As for what they would be doing¡­ Well, there were 12 Elemental Nations, were there not? And Lucifer had 13 Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clones, all of whom were stronger than the Elemental Emperors¡­ Where does one think this was going¡­? "Ya know, as they say in my hometown! Erm¡­ Wait, what did they say in my hometown¡­? Murderhobos for the win, maybe? Hmm¡­ Yeah, I think that''s it!" With death and Loot at the forefront of his mind, Lucifer faded from his position and blitzed in the direction of the Nature Nation. Aiming to quickly reim his short, ck-haired midget, he sped up his speed to 10,000%. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Sonic booms reverberated through the skies as a raven-haired, immortal-like man crossed over countless territories and fiefs. Making sure to alert absolutely everything of his presence, he had a whole line of cultivators and powerful Spiritual Beasts trailing behind him¡­ Of course, for Lucifer, this was just an easier way to bait the loot. And so far, it has worked like a charm! By the time that he did eventually make it to the Nature Nation, more than 1200 Rank 1 ¨C 4 Sects had sent out their Grand Elders, Supreme Elders, Ancestors, and yatayata¡­ From those that were sent out, none made it back alive¡­ Without even breaking a sweat, Lucifer amassed 30 Billion+ CE2 and he reduced the high-level cultivator poption by 5%! 5% might not seem like a lot, but when put in retrospect, 5% was enough to ount for over 3 million cultivators, all of whom were in and above the Foundation Establishment Realm! Even though the Elemental Nations were an utterly massive stretch ofnd and powerhouses, such losses were enough to deal a major blow to thebat forces of all Nations. Thus, yet another meeting was held by the representatives of the 12 Elemental Nations. However, contrary tost time, it wasn''t merely a handful of Emperors that decided to participate; it was all of them! After convening together, they had a very heated discussion about the disappearance of the Birdhouse Phenomenon, the 13 absurdly powerful existences causing mayhem in their nations, and the raven-haired Deity that brought death and destruction wherever he went¡­ While this was going down, a certain magic dash cam recording was being yed for Lord Xiao and Lady Mu in the underground area of the Fire Nation''s Royal Castle. ...¡­.. Chapter 100: Chasm Kings Sealing Keys **** In a dimly lit location with the only source of light being arge, illusory blue screen hanging on a wall. "This is¡­" "How can this be¡­?" Both the Devilduke and his wife looked at each other in bewilderment, utterly shell-shocked by what they were seeing! "Lucifer¡­ How could that boy already be so strong!? He''s not even 19 years old, and yet he can already take on the most powerful of Peak Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators!? What sort of talent is that!?" ck-jawed and confused as fuck, Lady Mu cracked the ground beneath her. Seething with both rage and frustration, she didn''t know any better way to release her pent-up emotions. "If Lucifer is this strong already, then soon he will¡­" A foreboding feeling welled up within Lord Xiao''s heart as he had an extremely bad inclination about what was toe. "We must not allow the boy to be any stronger than he is right now! We will go and take care of him ourselves! Furthermore, we will be bringing the Chasm Kings from the deepest trenches of God''s Chasm!" "!!!" Lady Mu''s eyes changed from astonished to bbergasted, as she never would''ve expected her husband to take such drastic measures! "If we go through with this and are unable to control the Chasm Kings by the end of the 2-hour mark, you do know what will happen, right¡­?" She asked. Staring into the two ck irises of his wife, Lord Xiao''s aura spiked up in ferocity, and he said, "I ampletely aware of what will happen. And that is why I have decided that it would be best if we left the Elemental Nations altogether. As we both know, the Elemental Nations are just a tiny ind off the shore of the Azure Archipgo. And with the unchaining of the Chasm Kings, the Elemental Nations will forever vanish from the face of the map. Which is why¡­" "We must run." Lady Mu finished her husband''s sentence, an intrigued glint forming in her gaze. "If this happens, and the Chasm Kings kill Lucifer and Li Yan, then the Forbidden Technique will go through without a hitch, and we will finally breakthrough!" Hugging her husband in excitement, Lady Mu couldn''t wait for the breakthrough that was toe! They would be breaking through to the Soul Transformation Realm! After so many hundreds of years stalling in the Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm, their breakthrough was right there in front of them! "Yes, this is our chance. And all we need to do in order to make it happen is¡­" "Kill our children." "Kill our children." Saying those three words in unison, there was not a hint of remorse or regret in their expressions. In their minds, it was only natural to make whatever sacrifice was necessary so as to progress further down the path of cultivation. Even if they had to sacrifice each other, they would do it without qualms. After all, this was the path they walked, and no matter what price needed to be paid, they would continue reaching for the peak of the world of cultivation! **** As his father and mother were plotting his and his sister''s deaths, Lucifer was currently in the midst of exining to a goth midget that abandoning her was not even part of the equation for him. "You promise¡­?" Tears at the corners of her big blue eyes and a strained expression, Li Yan looked to her brother for confirmation. ncing at the short girl sitting on his thigh while hugging his robes, Lucifer heaved a soft sigh before saying, "Yeah, yeah, I promise. Now, can we please leave this city? I can tell that I am not wee here¡­" Turning his piercing gaze up from the outside umbre table they were sitting at, Lucifer could see at least two dozen beast people scrutinizing every aspect of his existence. Getting just about sick and tired of the bugs who couldn''t mind their own business, he shouted, "What da hell are you big fat, fuzzy bastards looking at!? Trying to pick a fight or something!?" Appearing like a gangster with the crooked sneer and massive sword over his shoulder, Lucifer really felt like knocking some heads around today! Being in the middle of a shopping district, outside a small cafe, Lucifer with his blood-red eyes and the giant bear became the center of attention. Therefore, the stares they received were only natural. Most people actually thought that the tall, handsome man was some sort of demon king and the bear beside him was his demonic beast¡­ A lot of people had already called the patrolling officers on these clearly suspicious people. But by the time they arrived, the ''suspicious people'' were already gone¡­ FWIP! Materializing atop a mountaintop within the borders of the Nature Nation, Lucifer slowly took the small, girly hand away from his mouth. "You really don''t want me to hurt those people, huh?" he asked. "Yes, don''t hurt the big fuzzy people¡­ Can hurt the others¡­" Li Yan vehemently shook her head, making her stand on the matter abundantly clear. "They have fuzzys, others not fuzzy¡­ Can loot those." "Ahh¡­ You are a sucker for cute, fluffy things, huh?" Bing a tad bit embarrassed at this question, Li Yan hid her head within Big Bro''s long raven, ck hair¡­ "Kuk. Fine, I will leave the beast people alone, but as for the others¡­ heh¡­" "Loot." "Loot." Speaking in unison, both brother and sister had their eyes shine with greed- WAAA! "???" Suddenly feeling an immense presence erupt from somewhere to the east, Lucifer shot his head in that direction and saw somethingpletely out of this world¡­ Sprouting up and expanding like a ckened cloud of death, the area between the Fire and Water Nations was entirely covered up by an atomic explosion! "Well, shit¡­" Watching the aftereffects of the atomic explosion slowly spread toward their location, Lucifer''s expression became a bit awkward. "It does appear that I have elicited the anger of my parents¡­" Even though he wasn''t keen on what exactly was just released from its seal, he knew a sealing formation unchainment when he saw one. Lost in thought, Lucifer forgot about the residual effects of an absurdly powerful atomic explosion heading straight for him¡­ By the time he recalled the severity of the situation, Lucifer shifted his head toward a mountain range in the distance. FWIP! Teleporting there in an instant, he looked toward all edges of the mountains and activated his Mind Cultivation Technique. Of course, this technique was Mind Fuck. Being a multifarious technique, it had a wide array of applicable uses. And one of those uses just so happened to be an advanced version of telekinesis. FWAZIP! Mind Fucking the mountains, Lucifer forced them to bend and defy thews of physics, and with a slight pushdown of his hands, the mountains stretched out and touched tips above his head. Creating a massive dome of earth around him and Li Yan, Lucifer also made sure to stack the Metal, Crystal, and Earth Elements as an outeryer of the mountain dome. Making use of his 6th Order Mystic Confluence Physique and his natural affinity for the elements, this was done quite easily. WABAM!! Finishing up thest touches on the impermeable fortress, Lucifer also created a small thatch house. Taking Li Yan into this simple yet sophisticated house, he then sat down on a couch seat right beside her. "So, you like to watch TV or what?" "TV¡­?" "Ahh, yeah, my bad¡­ Hmm¡­ Do you like moving pictures¡­?" "Pictures¡­?" "..." ''Even though they have magic cameras and photos in this world, I forget that Li Yan lived a rather ''sheltered life''; thus, she doesn''t know about many things that kids her age typically know of¡­'' Pat. Pat. Patting the short, goth midget on the head, Lucifer looked straight ahead and said, "Look at this, short stuff." OOOM! Using the Elements of Illusion and Hypnosis, he conjured up a blue, illusory screen and utilized perfect memory replication in order to transmit pieces of his memories to the screen. ying a movie about a big green man that lives in a swamp, Lucifer and Li Yan lounged in their homemade bunker, waiting for the atomic explosion of death to pass overhead. The Chasm Kings. They were existences that had been around since the creation of the Elemental Nations, and they were said to have been discovered in thesends by the founding ancestors of the Elemental Nations. Devouring the very essence of the earth in order to progress their cultivation further into the Soul Transformation Realm, they were deemed to be invalid existences by the founding ancestors. Originally, the founding ancestors nned to kill them all and be done with it. But the strength of the Chasm Kings proved to be too great; therefore, the founding ancestors decided it was best to just seal them and leave the seal keys in the hands of their descendents. With time, those keys were scattered across the Elemental Nations, many not even seeing the Royal Capitals of the countries¡­ ...¡­.. Chapter 101: Fighting The Chasm Gods ...¡­.. Less than a few dozen years ago, Lord Xiao and Lady Mu found thest of the seven sealing keys. nning to make use of the Chasm Kings if things went wrong, they left the keys inside their personal storage rings. With the time having finally arrived for drastic measures to be taken, Lord Xiao and Lady Mu immediately used up the seven sealing keys in God''s Chasm. Opening up a whole can of shitstorm, the two apex powerhouses vacated the area and left for an area above the clouds. cing down a sky pce unable to be touched by those in the Elemental Nations, Lord Xiao and Lady Mu sat around and waited for the destruction of the Elemental Nations to unfold. ¡­ After a few hours of the atomic explosion of death spreading throughout thends, more than 15% of the Elemental Nation poption forever faded from existence¡­ The Fire Emperor, the Water Emperor, and everyone in their nations had¡­ died. They were at the very forefront of the unsealment of the Chasm Kings. Therefore, their deaths were only natural. The other Elemental Nations also incurred some losses, but they weren''t anywhere as bad as the Fire and Water Nations had it. However, that didn''t mean they weren''t still cowering in fear and trepidation for what this ill omen meant for them all¡­ As for a raven-haired man and a short, goth midget, well, they were just chilling in their bunker like they were on vacation¡­ "This movie¡­ It''s good¡­" "Yeah, I know, right?" One lounging against the backside of a leather couch and the other watching from right beside him, they seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. "So, Li Yan, what do you think about the big green man and his swamp? And also, how would you include the interference of those worms in his peaceful life?" Asking this question, Lucifer''srge handnded on the girl''s head. Curious as to what she would say, he gave her the time to contemte her answer. However, contrary to his expectations, Li Yan immediately answered, "The people who messed with the green man¡­ Bad people¡­ Green man should be able to live in a swamp without bothers¡­" "Ha! Yeah, I know what you mean-" BOOM!!! In the process of fervently agreeing with Li Yan, a sudden explosion urred very close to their location. In fact, it happened right above them! "Hmm¡­" Looking up at the source of the explosions before flipping his gaze toward the goth midget, Lucifer said, "Well¡­ How iconic is this¡­? I mean, some bothers havee to invade our swamp. Heh." Arge grin crept up his face, and with a short burst of wind, his body vanished from the couch. Spiraling toward where the first explosion sounded out, his figure blurred further and further, indicating his exponentially increasing speed! "I think the big green man should have some fun with his unwee guests!" Having his smile reach both ears, Lucifer''s expression turned devilish. Extending both his hands, he conjured up two ck des and pointed them directly above his head. SHING! SHING! At thousands of times the speed of sound, he and his swords spun around in circr motion before prating through the top of the mountain dome! WABOOOM!!! Blowing straight through his own creation, Lucifer emerged in the outside world! "Say, who is rude enough toe barging into another man''s swamp!?" Shouting out this question, he shot his head in every direction, attempting to find the intruders. Feeling and viewing the ck miasma that permeated the outside world air, Lucifer focused on the origin of this condensed miasma and saw five ckened silhouettes. One was around a tenth the size of a country, while the other four were around a third that size. Still, they were allpletely enormous, and from up close, they would appear as nothing more than giant ck walls. However, being over 4 nations away from the mountain dome, Lucifer knew exactly what he was looking at. "The Five Chasm Gods of God''s Domain¡­" Hisplexion dimmed, and his smile morphed into a frown. However, upon feeling the immense aura leaking from their existences, his expression returned to what it once was, and a maniacal look overwhelmed all other facial features! "Time to have some fun!" BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Blowing through numerous sonic booms, Lucifer blitzed toward the five half goat, half human Chasm Gods! - "..." Listening to the countless ear-deafening explosions reverberating in the distance, Li Yan continued to leisurely recline on a leather couch. Completely confident in the sess of her Big Bro, she put her full focus on watching theplicated dynamics present on the ''TV''. "Maybe Big Brother will be hungy when he gets back¡­" Suddenly remembering this important piece of information, Li Yan paused the movie and hopped off the couch. Then, with her arms stretched out behind her, she ninja-walked to the kitchen that was ced in their small thatch home. "If hungry¡­ will feed¡­" Dashing over to a wooden cab, Li Yan grabbed some metal bowls and whiskers as well as some kitchenware. After which, she grabbed a stool and ced it down wherever she needed it. A few secondster, and everything was perfectly prepared. "Time to make food¡­ for hungry big brother¡­" Getting up on the stool she ced next to the middle marble counter, Li Yan started snatching up instruments and got straight to work. Even though she wasn''t too sure what Big Bro liked to eat, from what she had read over thest few days, the way to a man''s heart was through his stomach. And from that same source, she learned that men liked to eat just about everything¡­ "Big Brother not picky¡­ He will love me¡­ Mhmms¡­" Putting on a cute bear apron and bear cap, Li Yan began to whisk, cut, and mix everything that was needed in order to make ''Miso Soup'' and ''Teriyaki Chicken''. After a few minutes of making a small mess of the shiny kitchen, Li Yan cutely wiped off the flour on her forehead before putting down her utensils. Getting off the stool and sprinting through the kitchen, she made it to a kitchen sink. Washing off all the nasty on her hands and face, Li Yan hopped her way back to the main kitchen area. After which, she put in the cookies and waited for the Miso Soup and Teriyaki Chicken to require her attention. Fifteen minutes¡ªthat was all it took for everything to finish cooking. And it also just happened to be how long was needed for Big Bro to return through the hole that he created in the Mountain Dome''s roof. Tap. Tap. Landing on the ground and leisurely walking through the interior of the Mountain Dome, a tall man covered in ck blood from head to toe made his way toward a moderately-sized thatch hut. Entering the hut, Lucifer immediately caught a whiff of a few heavenly smells. Therefore, the first ce he went was the kitchen. Upon opening the door to the kitchen and walking through to see whaty inside, Lucifer''s brows raised by a few degrees. Looking at the short, goth girl standing over a table while speedily cing all the yummers on the table, he couldn''t help but be left slightly in awe¡­ Noticing Big Bro standing in still motion in the doorway, Li Yan briefly stopped what she was doing. Staring into her brother''s dark red eyes, she said, "Food is almost ready¡­ But you''re too dirty¡­ Bath is in there." Pointing toward a door on the other side of the room, she said, "I already prepared it for you¡­" "Ahh¡­" Still taken aback by all the dishesid out on the table, Lucifer took a moment to follow through with his sister''s suggestion. Walking away from the kitchen like a braindead zombie, he pondered a great many things¡­ Even though I am supposed to be the unquestionably, unequivocally, unrivaled viin of the ages, I have a feeling that this girl is trying to corrupt my evil heart with her k-kin¡­ Kindness¡­ Just thinking that word was enough to cause heart palpitations, but after steadying his heart rate, Lucifer proceeded to walk into the bathroom and get undressed. That sister of mine¡­ Must be careful not to get too caught up in her kindness¡­ I may have killed the five Chasm Gods, but there is no telling just how many more powerful foes wille my way. And if I want all the benefits and loot, I will need to stay focused on the goal. No room for distractions! This may have been his thinking process, but upon taking a quick bath and walking out into the kitchen in fresh attire, Lucifer was nearly overwhelmed by the glorious sight before him¡­ Looking at all his favorite dishesid out on the kitchen table, he had no idea how she knew¡­ How could she have possibly known!? It just didn''t make any sense! ...¡­ Chapter 102: She Have The Farts Or Something?? ...¡­ How did she know I liked this shit!? This can''t possibly be¡­ Am I so easy to read that even a 6-year-old girl is able to understand my tastes¡­? This notion definitely left arge impact on Lucifer''s pride, but that didn''t stop him from chowing down while crying tears of blood¡­! Watching her Big Bro happily eat all of her food, an almost imperceptible smile formed on Li Yan''s round, adorable face. If Big Brother is happy¡­ I am happy. Spending a few seconds to revel in the moment, Li Yan failed to notice the two muscr arms that picked her up and ced her on a chair. "???" Looking to the left, Li Yan saw Big Bro get right back to eating the delicious food. Taking brief brakes in between the chomps, he said, "You made this food, and you aren''t going to eat any? If you don''t want to stay skin and bones forever, then it is definitely best that you get some actual nutrients in your stomach as well." Sticking a chicken drum in front of his little sister''s face, Lucifer said, "Here, have some of this. You did a superb job on the breading." Grabbing hold of the chicken drum, the nk-faced Li Yan was still trying to understand¡­ She was trying to understand why her Big Bro cared so much about her¡­ Nobody had ever cared about her¡­ Not at birth, not in the years that followed¡­ So why? Why does Big Brother care¡­? Without her knowing any better, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, and she clenched the chicken drum above her dress. Whack. "Wha¡­?" Feeling a painless sensation appear on top of her head, Li Yan turned her teary face upward, only to see an extraordinarily handsome, slightly smiling expression. "Don''t worry about stupid things, short stuff. Just take things as theye and stop overthinking things. The present is not the past, and what was in the past should stay in the past. Why don''t you look forward to the future instead?" Stopping the words that he said without thinking, Lucifer returned to munching away at the Teriyaki Chicken and Miso Soup. A future¡­ Li Yan didn''t know what to make of this ideal. What really was a future? What did it have to do with her? From birth, she was nothing. Even now, she thought of herself as nothing. Why would nothing need a future¡­? Frustrated with thinking about this impossible notion, Li Yan abruptly blurted out, "Future¡­ What does that mean??" "Hmm¡­?" With a noodle hanging out of his mouth, Lucifer turned to look at the girl who was trying to hold back her tears. "Well, isn''t that an easy question?" He asked. Pointing at her body and his body, he said, "Me and you¡ªwe are working together to bring me more loot, so that means I am your future, just as you are my future. At least, that is until you decide you want to do something else after escaping my ve farm-" "Me and Big Brother¡­ Our future¡­ together¡­" Halting the tears altogether, they were instead reced by a slightly creepy giggle. Keeping her face away from the sight of her Big Brother, she started to eat the food as well. "???" Uhmm¡­ Hmm¡­ What''s up with the midget? She have the farts or something¡­? Thinking about the matter for a moment and getting nowhere in his spections, Lucifer dispersed the subject and went back to eating the tantalizing food. For the mentally insane sibling pair, time passed like a cool, spring breeze. Taking with it the memories of the two, a number of unforeseen events were urring in the outside world¡­ Though the five Chasm Gods did officially die and Lucifer received over 10 Trillion CE2, the aftereffects of this ''scuffle'' were utterly disastrous for the world outside the Mountain Dome¡­ With the strength of the Chasm Gods being in the Early Soul Transformation Realm, the destructive power they were able to disy was immense. In order for Lucifer to catch up to them from his ''Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm (Initial)'' Battle Power, well, let''s just say that he got his ass beat¡­ repeatedly¡­ The Chasm Gods saw his existence as below themselves; hence, they toyed with Lucifer like a human ying around with an ant. This pummeling persisted for nearly 5 minutes, and just as it seemed like the intrepid protagonist would fall to the hands of the Chasm Gods, his Body Cultivation made a breakthrough! Reaching the Absolute Peak Gold Rank, Lucifer advanced to a sufficient degree to be capable of taking on the full force strikes of an Early Soul Transformation Realm Cultivator! Now, the Chasm Gods were no ordinary Soul Transformation Realm existences, so they could still dish out substantial levels of damage¡­ But with another 5 minutes having passed, Lucifer also made a breakthrough into the Early Gold Rank for Mind Cultivation! Encasing his body in a power-increasingyer of Mind Energy, he was not only better defended, but he was also able to improve his attack power! However, even though Lucifer had reached the limit of his current Body Cultivation and progressed quite a lot into his Mind Cultivation, he still wasn''t capable of oveing the five Chasm Gods¡­ Continuing to take all the nation-ending hits with a grin stered across his face, Lucifer focused all the momentous energy into refining his cultivation base! Using them to his advantage, his cultivation improved by leaps and bounds! Advancing from the Middle Core Formation Realm to the peak of the Late Core Formation Rm, Lucifer''s Battle Power was subsequently increased by multiple leagues! His simplified system interface looking something like: BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} Qi Cultivation - Late Core Formation Realm (Peak) Body Cultivation - Absolute Peak Gold Rank (99.9%) Mind Cultivation - Initial Gold Rank (12.4%) Battle Power - Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm (Peak) ¡ª---- Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm Clone cost - 100 Billion CE2 Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 55.7 Billion CE2 Current Clone Essence - 55.7 Billion CE2 ¡ª------- It was with a system interface like this one that Lucifer was finally able to ovee the first of the Chasm Gods. Shocking the other four Chasm Gods, they stopped underestimating the speck of dust and attacked him all at once! Destroying more than 80% of thend that made up the Elemental Nations, their battle was ceaseless and apocalyptic¡­ Evaporating half a nation with every move they made, countless lives were lost with their cmity dance through the skies. Dying the sky a crimson red and raining fire bolts from above, the world below was thrown intoplete pandemonium. The Lightning Bearer Organization, the Shadow ve Branch, Riversea City, and all the prefectures and provinces¡ªeverything was blown into oblivion. Of the people that remained with a pulse in the Elemental Nations, they eventually died due to the residual and all-epassing effects of the battle between the gods¡­ In the end, the only people still alive in the world were Lucifer and Li Yan¡ªtwo siblings who really only cared about each other and themselves. Well, there was one other person that survived the chaos. But she was lucky enough to meet an Early Soul Transformation Realm Female Master and get whisked away to some unknownnd¡­ Damn shoes still needed to be shined, so it was only natural that she made it out in one piece¡­ But regardless of what may or may not have happened to a certain shoe-shining, back-loving bitch, the twost people in the world were finishing up a damn good movie. Ignoring all the tumultuous chaos in the outside world, they sat together and discussed the events depicted in the top-tier swamp movie. When the movie finally came to an end, Lucifer and Li Yan looked at each other for a second. Lucifer was the first to break the silence and say, "Are you ready to journey to a world beyond and acquire some more loot for this awesome brother of yours?" Lightly bobbing her small head, Li Yan climbed up his left arm and sat herself on his shoulders. After which, she said, "Mhmm¡­ Time for loot." Sporting a determined look on her face, she hugged Big Bro''s head and got into Battle Loot Mode! "Ai, that is my Li Yan for ya. I wonder who you learned from to be this awesome, umu?" Nodding his head in a pleasant mood, Lucifer got up off the couch and took his little sister away from the Mountain Dome. Failing to notice Li Yan creepily murmuring, ''He said I was his¡­'', Lucifer made his way toward a certain spot beyond the clouds. There would definitely need to be some exining on Lucifer''s part when his parents learned of the brother-con that Li Yan had be, but they would for sure work things out. After all, they were one big happy family, and family gets through its issues¡­! **** Inside a pearl-white pce beyond the clouds. "Oh shit, oh shit! Oh fucking shit! What do we do!?" Pacing around in circles, Lady Mu was freaking the fuck out! ...¡­.. Chapter 103: A Ritual, The Nightmare Realm **** Inside a pearl-white pce beyond the clouds. "Oh shit, oh shit! Oh fucking shit! What do we do!?" Pacing around in circles, Lady Mu was freaking the fuck out! "How the fuck am I supposed to know!?" Sporting an expression way out of character, Lord Xiao paced right along with his wife. Except instead of a clockwise direction, he paced in the counterclockwise direction! The both of them had been in this state of mind and body ever since the Chasm Gods were butchered up into tiny little pieces. And even now, they still found it impossible to believe what they had just seen go down! In the beginning, their son''s strength had already been far out of their expectations, but they assumed he would die anyway. However, in the span of a quarter of an hour, Lucifer''s strength jumped from ''weaker than them'' to ''Overpowered as fuck!''. If the Chasm Gods could one shot both Lord Xiao and Lady Mu, then their son could most definitely¡­ "We''re so fucking screwed! How the hell did we produce such a monster!? He was supposed to be ordinary! Fucking ordinary!!!" BAM! BAM! Smashing through multipleyers of the sky pce in her rage, Lady Mu caused the structure to tilt off to the side! Lord Xiao was also taking his anger out on the sky pce. Therefore, it only made sense that the pce started to fall from the sky¡­ This event was all Lucifer needed in order to locate the sneaky little cloud weasels; thus, his overwhelimg presence appeared above the falling sky pce! WAAA! "!!!" "!!!" Erupting out with a level of power that Lord Xiao and Lady Mu had never witnessed before, they stopped pitching their fit and seriously contemted what they should do. "My love¡­" "Yes?" "There is onest option that we have in this situation, and it only works because we are his parents¡­" "You don''t mean!?" Lord Xiao knew exactly what his wife was insinuating, but if they really did what she was thinking, then it was highly likely that their breakthrough would be taken back by a few years¡­ "Is this really the only option we have!?" He asked for confirmation, mantaining thatst shred of hope within his ckened heart. Unfortunately for him, Lady Mu shook her head and said, "You know this new personality of our son just as well as I do, and there is absolutely no way that he will spare us solely because of our blood rtions¡­ Lucifer will mercilessly kill us¡­ which leaves but one choice that we have no choice but to make." FWIP! Taking out an ancient, jagged skull dagger from her storage ring, Lady Mu looked toward her husband and said, "When our families first married us off to each other, your dowry was this knife. And from the words of your grandmother, ''This is the key to another world¡ªa terrifying ce that no mortal should ever have to experience firsthand. Only use it if you have absolutely no other options.''" "..." Lord Xiao became quiet after hearing what his wife said. He too was aware of the mysteries involved in the usage of their ancient dagger. But what would happen after they used it? Well, even he had no inclination toward that¡­ However, upon realizing that they had no other choice, Lord Xiao grated his teeth. As anger sparked within his ck irises, he grabbed the dagger from his wife and plunged it into his hand! Spurt! Arge, crooked hole was made in Lord Xiao''s right hand! But it looked like that wasn''t the end of thispletely unexpected event¡­ SLASH! shing out with the blood-covered dagger, arge bloodied arc was left imprinted in the air. Then, with simr actions, Lady Mu grabbed the dagger and did the exact same thing! Creating an x-shaped stagnant blood oddity in the air, both Lord Xiao and Lady Mu started to chant. As for what they were chanting¡­ "Oh mighty Lord of Nightmares, let a nket of twilight consume the world and devour everything in sight! No more light, no more rays, no more mortal life!! Let the world bear witness to the glorious world that you have created!!! Take out Ancestral Blood as the offering!!!" OOOM! sting out with an unknown ck energy, the dagger shattered within Lord Xiao''s grasp. Then, with a staggering disy of energy, the ckness within the knife and the bloody x mark lit up in resplendence! Blinding both the pce and the very world itself, everything had unknowingly been sucked into the inescapable clutches of an entity beyond reason! However, as if the intent of Lord Xiao and Lady Mu had been known by the Lord of all that is Darkness, the eerily captivating phenomenon receded back into itself! Honing in on a singr location in space and time, a raven-haired man wasn''t even able to see what had happened before it¡­ happened¡­ Taking with it both Lucifer and Li Yan, the twilight phenomenon whisked them away to a world not like our own¡­ a world where time moves differently¡ªa world where horrors of unbelievable proportions reside¡­ The Nightmare Realm. Parallel to the world that we live in, the Nightmare Realm is a dimension that keeps within it all that is evil and corrupt. From demon beasts or witches to tree torrents¡­ There were even said to be unbelievably powerful Evil Gods thaty within the confines of this dimension¡­ The Witch Isles were a part of the Nightmare Realm, but they also had branches in the Mortal Realm, so their name was more widely known. However, for Lucifer, this new and unknown ce could either mean his death... Or it could mean he had just been transported to and filled to the brim with benefits and opportunities! As for which one it was¡­ well¡­ **** Within a dark nook located in the area called Raven''s End, a tall, raven-haired man and a young girl materialized in a bunker-like structure. When their figures fully emerged in their corporeal forms, the ck energy that transported them here was dispersed beneath their feet. Then, with confusion apparent in their eyes, both Big Bro and Little Sis looked at each other. "So¡­ I don''t think we are gonna be watching another movie anytime soon¡­ Har¡­" Awkwardlyughing off their current situation, Lucifer patted the girls head. While doing this, he heard her say, "I don''t mind¡­ As long as Big Bro is here¡­ All is fine¡­" Hugging her Big Brother''s head even tighter than before, Li Yan really didn''t seem to want to let go this time around¡­ "Ai¡­" Letting the girl hug him as much as she wanted to, Lucifer decided to appraise his surroundings. From what he could see with the ever-constant darkness that surrounded them, it was no surprise that not much was discovered¡­ "Other than this old, mud bunker we find ourselves in, there is only this slitted observatory crack." Taking a peek out of the crack in question, Lucifer''s eyes were opened up to an entirely different world. By that, it was implied quite literally¡­ "This ce¡­ Where are we¡­?" Scrutinizing the area outside the small bunker crack, Lucifer immediately realized that not only the air, but the elements andws that made up this ce werepletely different from the world they came from. As for the surface-level description of this ce, it was unnerving to say the least¡­ "It''s like we were thrown into a horror game, straight into the wildwest part of the map¡­" ncing at the rolling shrubbery and the deafeningly silent atmosphere of this ce, Lucifer didn''t know what else to say¡­ Abandoned buildings, empty houses, asional screeching, and the entire ominous ambience¡ªthere was no doubt about it; they had been thrown straight to the shitter! "Damnit! I knew I should''ve let Li Yan watch some of the horror story movies!" Grabbing his hair out for being so stupid, Lucifer eventually calmed himself, looked toward the rxed Li Yan, and said, "Listen¡­ I think it is time for loot. What say you, goth midget?" "Mhmm¡­" Lightly bobbing her head, Li Yan snuggled even deeper into his hair before entering a deep slumber. Seemingly not caring a single bit about their current predicament, she dreamt about a great many wonderful things (All involving her Big Bro). Li Yan really wanted to go cook Big Bro some more food and listen to his praises, and she also wanted to watch different kinds of movies with him. Then, she would also like to bring him to some fresh sweet shops¡­ Dreaming about all the fun things she wanted to do with the grouchy Big Bro, she conveniently left all the critical thinking to the man who hated to overwork his brain¡­ "Well, it''s obvious that those parents of mine had onest thing up their sleeves; probably some form of rite? Maybe a blood/kindred-rted transference ritual? Hard to say, really¡­" Thinking about this subject for a couple seconds, Lucifer ultimately gave it up and focused on the matter at hand. The bunker they were in was worn down, cracked, and infested with a plethora of unusual species of critters. It had a total of two entrances, one that had crumbled due to that part of the ceiling falling on it. Whereas the second entrance was sunken into the ground, covered with smashed nks and moldy debris. "Ahh¡­ Well, this is an easy solution, is it not?" Walking up to the first entrance with a confident glow, Lucifer was going to use his Mind Cultivation to move the rocks and solid mud away from the exit- Bzzzt¡­ "What¡­?" ...¡­ Chapter 104: The Nightmare Monsters ...¡­ Bzzzt¡­ A total of two times Lucifer tried to activate his powers. And both times, the mind energy formed before fizzling out due to insufficient power¡­ "Wait, no seriously¡­ What the fuck is happening here!?" Attempting to use his other aspects of existence, Lucifer threw punches and shot out devastating bursts of elemental energy! From an outside perspective, he looked like a little kid who thought he was a kung fu expert. Either that or some dweeb ying around with firecrackers and pop rocks¡­ "Okay, yeah¡­ Well, shit¡­" Realizing that none of this was part of the n, Lucifer''s expression became ashen, and his body slumped up against the robust walls of the bunker. "What about the damn ns¡­ How the fuck was I supposed to ount for this random ass bullshit in the ns!? What the hell do you mean!? Maybe you should''ve just been smarter, you moron!!" Talking to himself and the voices inside his head like a nutcase, Lucifer mumbled to himself for a good five minutes. And just as he thought he might actually go insane, a wild, bone-chilling howl broke the silence that apanied this new world! "Uhmm¡­ What the fuck was that¡­?" Getting up off the ground and taking slow steps toward the cracked hole in the bunker, Lucifer peeked at whaty outside- "Esceeetch!!" BANG! "!!!" Scaring the shit out of Lucifer, the crazy, feathered head of an eight-foot-tall creature popped up right in front of the bunker crack. Baring its long, numerous razor-sharp teeth, it banged its huge head against the bunker, trying to get at the two meat bags sitting inside it! "Okay¡­ Well, fucking hell!! What in the name of Dwayne the Rock Johnson are you!?" Backing a few feet away from the frightening appearance of this monstrous feather creature, Lucifer wondered what the hell he was looking at! Although he couldn''t get a clear view of its face with thatrge, stinky gaping mouth, he could still tell that this thing was strong. "Even though all my powers have been severely reduced, none of my cultivation bases have vanished or gone down. I am still in the Late Core Formation Realm, and I still have my Gold Rank Body and Mind. But with my stuff limited to such a degree, it should be the case for everything else as well. After all, this should be an ''Area A.O.E. Limiter'', not something specifically targeted against me." It was because of these deductions that Lucifer was able to immediately gauge the actual strength of this insanely rabid bird creature. "The Middle¡­ Maybe even Late Soul Transformation Realm¡­? It can slightly chip away at this bunker material, so it should be at least that strong." Closely analyzing the bipedal bird creature that was still trying to gobble him up in one bite, Lucifer figured there was no way the thing could get in there with them. But did that mean he would give up on therge loot bag presented in front of him? The answer was fuck no! Sitting down in a cross-legged position and pondering his options, Lucifer recalled that he had more than just his basic aspects of existence. "My Clones," he murmured. Bringing up his system interface and seeing that all his clones were still there, he used up six quadrillion of his Clone Essence and summoned 6 Clones in the Early Soul Transformation Realm. While he was at it, Lucifer also took out a few of his other clones. But when they spawned in, he instantly regretted his actions¡­ Bang! Bang! Smashing against the hard, mud ground, the Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm Clones were crushed by the gravity of this world! Turning into pancakes, their meat and blood seeped into the cracks of the bunker¡­ "That is fucking disturbing¡­" De-assimting the fifteen or so bloody pancakes, Lucifer returned his attention back to the extremely aggressive nightmare bird. BANG! BANG! BANG! Running into the bunker and banging its huge head against the outer shell before backing up and doing the same thing over and over, it was quite clear that the creature was a dumbass. Therefore, Lucifer figured it was best to take advantage of its mental handicaps. Piang. Piang. Picking up a few small rocks and sticks scattered across the room, Lucifer and his clones struggled to lift them up and carry them toward the creature. "Holy fuck!! These things feel like they weigh a trillion pounds!" Using both arms to carry around a palm-sized rock, Lucifer''s veins popped out of his arm, and his face turned purple and blue. Faring no better in this endeavor, his clones tagged right along behind him. It was only after they made it to the yawning mouth of the shark-like bird that Lucifer and his clones were able to set the rocks down. Thud¡­ Making a light, nging sound against the ground, the rocks rolled a few inches away like they were the lightest things in the world¡­ Thud! Copsing to the ground with a snoring midget on his back, Lucifer looked like he was on hisst fucking legs! "Wait¡­" Suddenly stopping his heavy breathing, he looked toward the goth girl. "How the hell is she still alive with her Body Refinement Realm cultivation base!?" Widening his eyes in shock and pure bewilderment, he went to check her pulse. Upon feeling that she was still breathing, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth- "I-It''s not like I was worried or anything¡­! I am the ultimate, secret, overpowered, unrivaled viin of the ages! Someone like me cares about no one! Yeah, I was just worried about my benefit grabber croaking over and leaving me to make the Formation Arrays myself¡­" Wiping the sweat off his forehead and erasing the worry from his heart, Lucifer refocused back on the task at hand. Leaving the peculiarities of his sister forter, he prepped himself before lifting up the heaviest thing in the world! Using all the strength in his present self and future self, he tightened his legs and lifted the rock up above his head, then he threw it into the mouth of the nightmare creature! "Here, eat rock, shithead!" "Esceeeetch!!!" Not caring a single bit about the rock that just went down its throat, the nightmare bird continued to bare its ten thousand fangs. Once again, it went back to running back and ramming its head into the bunker! "Ai¡­ This big fucker wasn''t satisfied with just one rock!? Does it want more!?" Without giving the creature a chance to respond, Lucifer''s Clones also threw their rocks and sticks into its mouth! However, even with that, the nightmare creature didn''t so much as choke! Nor did it give a fuck that random objects were now lodged into its stomach! "Seems we have a big glutton for today''s show! But don''t worry, we have more where that came from!" Working both himself and his clones to death, they gathered rocks and sticks before throwing them into the mouth of the bird creature. Such a routine persisted for over five minutes¡­ By the end of these 300 seconds, the bird creature was no longer ramming its head against the bunker like a diptard. In fact, ity against the side of the bunker with a listless glint in its gaze. "Hmm¡­ It''s beginning to look like a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey gone terribly wrong¡­" Staring at all the things protruding from the nightmare creature''s stomach, Lucifer waited for it to suffocate to death and die. Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long¡­ BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Nightmare Demonbird from the Nightmare Realm. The reward is sorge that normal numerical values cannot properly measure it.] [Ding! Converting to a higher-level form of Clone Essence right away! The exponent feature is no longer applicable!] [Ding! For killing the Nightmare Demonbird, you have obtained 0.1 Super Clone Essence!] [Ding! Each Early Soul Transformation Realm Clone costs far less than 0.1 Super Clone Essence. Therefore, with your current Super Clone Essence stock, you can purchase approximately 50,001 Clones in the Early Nascent Soul Realm!] "Oh¡­ Well, that''s quite a lot of pocket change, huh?" Still trying to wrap his head around the absurd amount of Clone Essence he just received, Lucifer walked toward the bunker crack and poked the head of the Demonbird. "Hmm¡­ yep, yep, definitely dead. Now, if I wish to get out of here, I will need to absorb the essence of this beast and see how far I advance." Putting his thoughts into action, Lucifer activated Demon Assimtion and transferred the cultivation of the Demonbird to himself. WAAA! By the end of this process, he could feel that his strength had improved by leaps and bounds! Late Core Formation Realm (Limit) Peak Core Formation Realm (Initial) Peak Core Formation Realm (Early) Peak Core Formation Realm (Middle) Peak Core Formation Realm (Late) Peak Core Formation Realm (Peak) Peak Core Formation Realm (Limit) It was only after achieving the limit of the Peak Core Formation Realm that Lucifer felt something obstructing his path forward. ...¡­.. Chapter 105: Super Clone Essence, Fending Off The Monsters ...¡­.. "You really think some imaginary wall is enough to stop me from reaching the next realm?? Ha! Well, that''s what the fuck you think!" Putting his whole existence into breaking down that wall, Lucifer smashed it down in half an instant. OOOM! Breaking through to the Half-Step Golden Core Realm, his Battle Power also increased ordingly! Early Soul Transformation Realm (Early) Early Soul Transformation Realm (Middle) Early Soul Transformation Realm (Late) Early Soul Transformation Realm (Peak) Early Soul Transformation Realm (Limit) Middle Soul Transformation Realm (Initial) With a major qualitative improvement urring inside of Lucifer, more and more screeches resounded in the ominous surroundings. Attracted by both the strong aura and the corpse of the Demonbird, Low-Level Nightmare Beasts dashed through the dead forests and swarmed the small bunker. "Ahh¡­" Looking out at all the monstrous creatures trying to get into his bunker, Lucifer knew exactly how he would acquire the necessary strength to break out of his mud container. With his current power, he could more effectively pick up rocks and sticks, but he still wasn''t strong enough to leave the bunker. And even if he was, it was highly unlikely that he and Li Yan would survive through the night with all those terrifying monsters outside¡­ Therefore, Lucifer decided to farm the Nightmare Creatures with a rather ''unorthodox'' approach. FWIP! FWIP! Spawning in the maximum number of clones he could manage in this tight space, Lucifer pointed to them and shouted, "Those rocks and debris! Stick that shit into the mouths of those ugly fuckers!" "Roger!" Even though both Lucifer and his clones already instinctively knew what they needed to do, it was more exciting to throw around orders like an Army Commander! "Hup!" "Hup!" "Hup!" Picking up therge rocks at the same intervals, Lucifer and his clones heaved them up into the air, letting them glide into the gaping holes of the dumbass Nightmare creatures! "Esceeetch!!!" "Roaarrrr!!!" "Hssssss~!!" Arge number of huge, scary Nightmare Creatures slowly but surely started to choke. With so many massive things in their throats, how could they not!? Before long, there were dozens of monster corpsesying right outside the bunker, stacked on top of the first Demonbird¡­ "Good job, boys. This is a win for the OG''s." Transforming his face to match that of a Jojo character, Lucifer stood with his hands behind his back, looking at all the system notifications bombarding his vision. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 7 Demonbirds, 4 Shadow Wraiths, 6 Void Stalkers, 12 Dreadfiends, 8 Dream Eaters, and 3 ck Maws. The reward is 3.5 Super Clone Essence!] [Ding! Each Middle Soul Transformation Realm Clone costs 1 Super Clone Essence in order to spawn!] "1 Super Clone Essence for a single clone¡­ You know it took killing more than a dozen Late Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Creatures to acquire that much, right?? Are you trying to tell me to fight stronger enemies or something!?" [Ding! Yes, the host is right for once! Stop being a pussy and fight something far stronger than yourself! The path to Infinity is a long and hard one! There is only the route that leads to immense pain for you, my dear host!] "..." "Not even worth the effort." Turning his head away from the system interface, Lucifer walked to the bunker crack once more. Sending out his slimy ck tendrils, he absorbed the essence of all the piled corpses. Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Early) Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Middle) The effects on cultivation were far less substantial this time around, but that was to be expected, especially when including diminishing returns in the equation. As for Battle Power¡­ Middle Soul Transformation Realm (Early) Middle Soul Transformation Realm (Middle) "Ahh¡­ Hmm¡­ I feel like I was already pretty close to achieving the ''Early'' state prior to this massacre, so really only one minor breakthrough in Battle Power¡­" Realizing that the system waspletely serious about actively working to find and defeat stronger opponents, Lucifer let out a heavy sigh and moved toward the two exits. Testing out his strength, he figured out that he could move the medium-sized boulders, but therge and massive boulders were still beyond his strength¡­ "Hmm¡­ It seems the grind must persist. Well, it is eternal, so this is only natural¡­" A cold smile crept up his handsome face as he looked out at all therge shadows inching ever closer to the bunker. At the very minimum, the Nightmare Creatures were of the Late Soul Transformation Realm. And then there were a few in the Peak Soul Transformation Realm¡­ "Well, for those ones, I doubt these medium-sized rocks will be enough to stuff them, so I will need to use some alternatives." Suddenly looking at the goth midget sleeping on his head, Lucifer lightly tapped her on the cheek before saying, "You awake, sleepy head?" "..." Abruptly opening up her crystal clear, blue eyes, Li Yan bobbed her head up and down. "Mhmm¡­ Not asleep¡­ Watching Big Brother beat up the monsters¡­" she muttered. "Ahh, I see. Well, would you like to beat up the monsters with Big Brother?" Sporting a toothy grin, Lucifer was like the incarnation of the slippery-tongueed devil. Luckily for him, the ''innocent'' little girl was far too much of a brother-con to deny his request. Thus, it was no surprise that she said, "Yes¡­ Would like to beat up the dumb monsters¡­" Not able to convey her feelings in her tone, Li Yan tightened her grip on Big Bro''s head, clearly trying to show how much she wanted to be of some help. Patting the soft ck hair of the midget, Lucifer said, "Well, then I have just the job for you, my dear! See those big 20-foot monsters over there?" Pointing toward a fewnky ck creatures walking beside the equally tall trees, Lucifer''s grin only widened. Then, with a hint of anticipation in his voice, he said, "I''m gonna need you to use an Early-Earth Rank Formation based on the Poison Element. Can you do that for Big Brother¡­?" Getting lost in the pretty dark red pools of blood on her brother''s face, Li Yan didn''t know what else to say besides, "Never made an Earth-Rank Formation¡­ but will try¡­ for Big Brother¡­" Ruffle! Ruffling his little sister''s hair, Lucifer disyed a dazzling smile and said, "Dat a girl! If you can help me with this, then we can go wherever you want after we''re done with this!" Tilting her head down in embarrassment, Li Yan nodded and mumbled, "Mhmm¡­" after which she got right to working on the Poison Formation Scripture that her Big Bro had handed her to study. "With her helping me with that, I will deal with these big fuckers in the meantime!" "Esceeetch!!!" With hundreds of terrifying creatures of the worst shapes and sizes, Lucifer had all the farming material he needed! And the best part of it all was that not even the Peak Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Creatures could reach him in the bunker! They were all fucking helpless!!! WHAM! WHAM! Taking a few Peak-Sky Rank metal bats from his storage ring, Lucifer and the clones started to put the rocks and sparse debris straight into the throats of the monsters! After roughly 7 minutes of slowly killing the Nightmare Beasts, a good half of the 400 had already died. But with their numbers only increasing over time, the original 400 became more than 1300¡­ "They really doe in droves! Holy hell!!" Swinging his bat around like a professional baseball yer, Lucifer was doing his utmost to suffocate everything that entered his sight! Although he had not managed to kill any Peak Soul Transformation Realm Monsters, the sheer amount of Late Soul Transformation Realm Monster deaths was staggering¡­ When the 500th Nightmare monster sumbed to Lucifer''s unparalleled batting technique, Li Yan finally made some progress in learning the Early-Earth Rank Formation. "Almost done, Big Brother¡­ Just need a couple more minutes¡­" Sweating bullets from all sides of her forehead, Li Yan put her all into mastering the Poison Formation. "Hai, very well, little squirt. Finish that up real quick so we can go out and explore this brand new, loot-filled world!" WAM! WAM! Stuffing the mouths of two more monsters, Lucifer watched them choke out and die! BLING! [Ding! You have killed two Bloodshades in the Late Soul Transformation Realm. The reward is 0.4 Super Clone Essence!] Briefly ncing at one of many system notifications, Lucifer got right back to whacking rocks into some more of the big fuckers! ¡­ When a total of 20 minutes had passed, more than 2500 Nightmare Monsters had died, and over 8000 Super Clone Essence had been acquired. However, even with such casualties, there were still a little over 40,000 Nightmare Monsters outside the bunker¡­ With such a massive force actively working to get into the bunker, its outeryer had already been severely cracked. And if Lucifer wasn''t wrong in his assumptions, it would likely only take 10 more minutes for the monsters to get in the bunker and devour them. Fortunately, the Low-Earth Rank ''Poison Harbinger'' Formation had just been perfected by the little formation genius, Li Yan! ...¡­.. Chapter 106: Shtupid Loot Bags! ...¡­.. RUMBLE!! With the foundations of the bunker caving in, Lucifer turned to the cross-legged Li Yan and said, "Activate the Formation and direct it toward those few hundred reallyrge ones!" Pointing at the huge,nky ones smashing against the top of the bunker, he forced the goth midget out of her reverie. Then, with a bright sh of green light, the bunker and the surrounding area were blinded! OOOM! As a green, toxic energy leaked out of a Formation that covered every inch of ground inside the bunker, Li Yan controlled it and condensed it in the form of long poison spears! "Good, now shoot them at the eye''s of the targets! I will deal with the rest!" Gathering together every aspect of his existence, Lucifer urately located the weakest spot in the bunker''s interior. nning something big, he leaned his body low to the ground and prepared to make his move. "Beat dumb monsters up¡­ Shtupid loot bags¡­" Speaking like a true loot hoarder, Li Yan smashed her hands against the ground, causing the few hundred poison spears to spiral and spin at insanely fast speeds. Then, with a lightning-quick sh of light, the poison spears were sent barreling toward the Peak Soul Transformation Realm Monsters! ZOOOOM!! The exact moment the poison spears were released from their shackles, Lucifer and hundreds of his clones jointly attacked the weakest point of the bunker. Then, with unstoppable motion, they smashed straight through the mud roof of the bunker! CRASH! Even though a few of them broke their hands in the process of emerging out the top of the bunker, the ones who survived immediately started attacking the Nightmare Monsters! Taking them by surprise and plowing their way through the ones in the way, tens of thousands of Middle Soul Transformation Realm Clones were promptly summoned in! FWIP! FWIP! Also summoning tens of millions of Early Soul Transformation Realm and below Clones, they dogpiled and overwhelmed the Nightmare Beasts with sheer numbers! Of course, they would soon fall underneath the gravity of the Nightmare World and be meat paste. But until that time came, they worked as the perfect meat shields to allow Lucifer and the Poison Spears to reach the strongest of the Nightmare Monsters! In half an instant, Lucifer and the strongest of the clones watched as numerous poison spears whizzed right by their heads. Swiftly moving out of the way, they personally witnessed the spears dig themselves right into the eyes of the Peak Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Monsters. However, even with direct hits, it still wasn''t enough to directly pierce the eyes of the howling monstrosities. But it was enough to create an entrance for the poison to seep in¡­ "Not deep enough." Seeing that the poison wasn''t going to have any effect at its current depth, Lucifer and his strongest clones vanished from their spots. Reappearing above the few hundred Peak Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Monsters, they simultaneously kicked down with everything in their legs! OOOM! Causing the air to ripple, the kicks cut through any flimsy Qi barriers and smashed right into therge, beady eyes of the terrifying creatures! "Askeechhh!!!" Making painfully eerie sounds, the Nightmare Monsters flung their hands toward their heads, trying to stop whatever was happening to them! However, the moment their long, creepy hands reached their faces, Lucifer and the clones had long since blink-stepped away. WAM! pping themselves in the face, the Nightmare Creatures only worked to speed up the injection and cirction of the Poison Harbinger Formation! In what should''ve originally taken more than 10 seconds, their self-harm caused them to lose control over their sense of sight in 2 seconds! FWIP! Appearing above the Nightmare Monsters once more, Lucifer and his strongest clones took out their des and looked toward the injuries that the creatures were attempting to cover up. Then, without hesitation, they bounced off ayer of sky and lunged toward the cut eyeballs. Causing the wind to whistle as they blitzed through the sky, their ckened des made crisp slicing sounds that spelled doom for the Nightmare Creatures! Within mere moments, the edge of Lucifer''s Peak-Sky Rank Sword made it to the poisoned slit located on the first Nightmare Creature. Pulling back the de and thinning his eyes, Lucifer sped up his advance in the speed stream, sting through all known speed barriers. With a breath of cold air, he reached the poison eyeball and plunged his sword into the absolute weakest point of the retina; it also just so happened to be where Li Yan''s poison spear had hit. Spurt! Spewing out dark green blood, the eyeball was sliced open, and the Nightmare Monster was sent into a frenzy! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! At the same time, the rest of the Peak Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Creatures had very simr damage dealt to them. Just as they were about to go berserk, something spiked within their interior organs¡­ Ba-dump! Ba-dump!! With what sounded like the beating of arge heart, the Nightmare Monsters froze in ce and clutched their massive chests. Scratching and wing away at their outeryer of skin, they attempted to dig into their own bodies and erase the pain! So much pain!! It hurt so much for them!!! BA-DUMP! BA-DUMP!! However, no matter what the Nightmare Monsters did in an attempt to alter the destined oue, it was already far toote¡­ BA-DUMP!!! SPURT! With one final joint heartbeat, their hearts exploded inside them, halting all motor functions in an instant! In less than four seconds since leaving the bunker, Lucifer and Li Yan managed to kill more than 350 Peak Soul Transformation Realm Nightmare Beasts¡­ "Now it''s time for the looting tomence." Wasting not even a smidgen of a millisecond, Lucifer ignored the weaker Nightmare Monsters and shot out hundreds of slimy ck tendrils. In two or three nanoseconds, thenky Nightmare Monsters lost the rest of the meat on their bodies. Thereafter, a plethora of cultivation boosts swarmed Lucifer''s existence. {[Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Late)]} {[Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Peak)]} {[Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Limit)]} Reaching the Pinnacle of the Half-Step Golden Core Realm, Lucifer felt something extremely tough and robust blocking his way. He tried to absorb the rest of the cultivation base and breakthrough this bottleneck; however, it looked like it wasn''t nearly enough. After realizing that he wouldn''t be having a breakthrough right now, Lucifer instead focused on his Battle Power improvements. He also decided to look at the most recent system notifications. {[Late Soul Transformation Realm (Early)]} {[Late Soul Transformation Realm (Middle)]} {[Late Soul Transformation Realm (Late)]} BLING! [Ding! You have killed 350+ Nightmare Monsters of the Peak Soul Transformation Realm. The reward is 3,650 Super Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed 1000+ Nightmare Monsters of the Late Soul Transformation Realm. The reward is 160 Super Clone Essence!] "Hmm¡­ So 100 of the small guys is worth around a single one of the big guys¡­ Wow, this is some crazy intion! And here I thought that eggs were inted to all high hell¡­ Truly opened my eyes to Mt. Tai today!" Amazed by the reward differences between a single minor realm, Lucifer opened up his system interface and looked at how much he needed to purchase a clone in his current strength bracket. [Highest-level Clone (Late Soul Transformation Realm) Cost: 1 Super Clone Essence] [Highest-level Clone Cost (Late Soul Transformation Realm): 1 Super Clone Essence] "Still 1 Super Clone Essence? Nice! At least intion has not extended to the bounds of the same minor realm just yet." Nodding his head in satisfaction, Lucifer then focused his attention on the stragglers. "Well, around 39,500 of them," he said. Figuring that this number was quite nice and very lucrative, he used up 2000 Super Clone Essence and spawned 2000 Clones with strength equal to his. Sending out these clones, he didn''t have to do a single damn thing but watch as the system notifications bombarded his vision. After a few seconds of painful howls and screams cutting through the skies, Lucifer took another second to look over the most recent system notifications. BLING! [Ding! You have killed 39,500+ low-level Nightmare Monsters in the Late Soul Transformation Realm. The reward is 4,200 Super Clone Essence!] "Ahh, another very solid amount of Super Clone Essence! Now, if I just click a few boopers and¡­" [Ding! You have used up 3000 Super Clone Essence to summon 3000 clones with strength well into the Late Soul Transformation Realm!] "Oh, wait¡­ Shit! I forgot to absorb the corpses first!" Feeling like a total dumbass, Lucifer leapt off the canopy of arge tree and suspended himself in mid-air. Then, with a slight release of ck energy, he simultaneously shot out tens of thousands of slimy ck tendrils! Appearing like the reaper god of death, he forcefully sucked away the essence of all the Nightmare Monster corpses! After sucking everything dry, a number of improvements were once again made to his existence. ...¡­.. Chapter 107: Meeting Xue Lan ...¡­.. {[Late Soul Transformation Realm (Peak)]} Although there was no breakthrough in cultivation and only one improvement to Battle Power, it was still far more than Lucifer thought he would receive from this little massacre. So, it was with a pleased grin on his face that he fell back toward the ground and leisurely walked in the direction of the bunker. Surrounded by tens of thousands of dried up monster husks, the bunker had a vastly different atmosphere than before. However, there was one thing that hadn''t changed a single bit¡­ "Li Yan?" Poking his head through the hole he made in the bunker''s roof, Lucifer curiously looked around for the girl of the hour. Upon finding her copsed on the ground and sweating buckets, Lucifer heaved a sigh before slithering in through the roof hole. After which, he gently lifted up his unconscious little sister and vanished from his spot, reappearing in the outside world. "It seems like I can move above the speed of sound again, but more importantly, I need to find somewhere safer. Can''t exactly have this silly girl recover out here in these spooky woods, now can I?" Looking out at the still creepy ambience, Lucifer lightly shook his head before journeying deeper into the dead forest. The ce they were dropped off at was quite literally a bunker that sat in the middle of a small, abandoned town. And outside this town, there was nothing but scary forest growth for as far as the eye could see. This was to say that there was no other option but to head deeper into the forest¡­ Guessing that north was likely the best direction he could go, Lucifer did exactly that. Aimlessly walking through the ominous forest, he traveled at around Mach 2. Making sure to kill any and all low-level Nightmare Beasts in his way, he obtained another solid 2000 Super Clone Essence. De-assimting all his past high-level clones and summoning new ones left Lucifer with roughly 6000 Clones, all with strength near the peak of the Late Soul Transformation Realm. And that number only exponentially grew the further they ventured toward the north. FWIP! Phasing above arge rock located in the middle of a swamp, Lucifer saw a building off to the western side of this swamp. Normally, this would not be a big deal, but this was the first building he had seen since leaving the abandoned town over ten minutes ago¡­ And the worst part of it all was that the swamp house had a brightened interior, which meant that there were¡­ "People?" Perplexed by this notion, Lucifer became far too curious to just ignore this phenomenon and continue his path toward the north. "I also need somewhere to properly work on helping Li Yan recover, so this house came just in the nick of time." ncing at the out-of-breath girl in his arms, Lucifer may or may not have been anxious over her health. He would tell you thetter was the truth, but the very universe itself already knew of his Tsundere syndrome, so¡­ "Hey, stop narrating a false personality trait for me, you bastard!" Shouting at the air like a lunatic, Lucifer then clicked his tongue and decided to approach the swamp house. "Nothing to lose anyway, so might as well go in blind!" FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! sh-stepping across the top of the swamp like a skipping tadpole, Lucifer reached the swamp house in little more than a quarter of a second. The house had arge overhanging balcony, so he did a few parkour moves and made it onto the wooden railings. Then, with a carefree attitude, he approached a window door and slid it open with ease. Looking at the inside of the house that he entered uninvited, Lucifer noticed a few rather peculiar things¡­ "Hmm¡­ This ce is a lot cleaner than I assumed it would be¡­ I mean, when you think of a swamp house in the middle of nowhere, you imagine something from a Resident Evil game. So what the hell is this??" Scrutinizing the interior of the home, Lucifer felt like he was in the presence of a true clean freak! From the floor to the roof and rustic furniture¡ªeverything was organized in a way that would make an OCD freak scream ''Onii-chan~!''. "Well, hmm, even though it is not scary in the slightest and seems more like an urban home, I can still use it to give Li Yan some resting time." Moving around the house, Lucifer wondered why it was so quiet. But feeling no other presence with his divine sense, he assumed the house owners were out on the town or something. So, without further contemtion, he set a closet pallet down on the ground andid his exhausted sister on it. After that, his footsteps rang out in the house as he gathered a few things from the kitchen and bathrooms. Namely, they were a wet, warm cloth and some nket warmers. "She gets oddly cold in her sleep, and I can''t exactly have my little helper dying to the cold, so this is the only natural thing to do." While convincing himself of his peak-tier evilness, he was also stacking a number of nket warmers on the goth midget. However, upon realizing that she could burn up from all this warmth, he took away most of them and left her with just two. "Perfect," he said. After the goth midget was covered nice and cozy-like with a warm towel on her forehead, Lucifer sat on the couch thaty directly in front of his sister. He didn''t want anything to happen to her while she was sleeping, so staying close by was the only real option he had. Lucifer couldn''t have anything happen to his benefit-grabber; now could he¡­? With Lucifer keeping a vignt watch and Li Yan peacefully sleeping, something shadowy and curvy kept its presencepletely hidden from the two ''visitors''. "Humans¡­?" Whispering in a crackly feminine voice, the shadowy figure hid behind a wall, watching the human man watch over the human girl. "Humans here¡­ not good¡­" The shadowy figure could already feel the unnerving presences of multiple powerful Evil Spirits, all of whom had caught onto the scents of the humans. In Raven''s End, there were a wide array of anomalies that would be impossible to exin in modern times. And with their power being just as hard to fathom, they lurked around every corner and under every pebble¡­ The ones that Lucifer and Li Yan killed were the lowest of the low in terms of the ''Evil Hierarchy''. For the truly powerful evil apparitions, they didn''t care a single bit about the deaths of a few low-level Nightmare Monsters. However, with the deaths of tens of thousands of them, evil apparitions in the Void Refining Realm left their domains and actively followed the trails left behind by the humans. As for the female ghost spirit that lived in this swamp house¡ªshe was what''s known as an ''Intelligent Spirit''. And for the rtively peaceful life that she made for herself in this swamp, the approach of numerous Void Refining Realm Evil Apparitions was a big no-no! Therefore, there was only one thing she could do to maintain her peaceful lifestyle¡­ WAAA! Activating a secret veiling formation, a thin fment of dark energy erupted from the center of the swamp house and created arge bubble that encapsted everything for a few hundred meters in all directions. "!!!" Alerted by this phenomenon, Lucifer suddenly opened his eyes; his piercing gaze immediately honed in on the source of this urrence. And upon heightening his sixth sense, he was able to see something that was not previously there. "What are you?" He asked, confusion shining through his blood-red gaze. Initially, he was just going to find and kill whatever had activated this secret formation. But upon seeing that the cause was something with intelligence, he immediately stopped in his tracks. Halting the flow of energy to his arm and sword, he simply stared at the jittery, human-sized spirit. Unlike the tiny elemental spirits from before, this one was not created from elemental energy. Rather, she had died in her past life and wound up in the Nightmare Realm through one coincidence or another. "Soo¡­ what¡­ or rather, who are you?" "???" Exceedingly surprised that the human could see her, the Spirit woman backed up in fright, identally knocking over a vase. "N-Nooo, Little White!" Attempting to catch the falling vase, but failing terribly, her already whiteplexion became even paler. Just as despair was going to overwhelm her mind, a muscr hand appeared under both her and the vase. It turned out that she was also falling but was too caught up in worrying about the vase to realize it. "Yo, you good,dy?" Hearing a voicecking in all etique, Xue Lan looked down and saw what sort of risque position the human man had her in. Knee lightly brushing against her crotch and holding her at an arched angle¡ªit was sufficient to say that steam nearly came out of her head. ...¡­.. Chapter 108: Sharing Stories ...¡­.. "!!!" Immediately escaping his arms and backing away with the vase held close to her chest, a crimson color crept up her face. Then, with a soft and meek voice, she mumbled, "...Thank you¡­". "Hmm? Ahh, yeah, don''t worry about it. After taking a moment to analyze the formation, I realized that you likely did it to hide someone''s presence. And seeing as you didn''t previously have it activated, you probs did it for us, right?" Embarrassed that she was found out so easily, Xue Lan''s blush became even more defined. Backing a few feet further from the human man, she lightly bobbed her head and kept silent. Not finding her behavior all that unusual, Lucifer walked back toward the couch and reclined into his spot. After which, he looked toward the nervous spirit and said, "If you don''t mind, could we keep things quiet¡­?" Sticking his long index finger to his soft lips, Xue Lan couldn''t help but get lost in the sight for a moment. However, upon realizing that he was expecting an answer, she turned her pretty face off to the side and murmured, "Mhmm¡­ I don''t speak loudly¡­". Secretly pleased with this response, Lucifer shed an almost imperceptible smile and patted the spot right beside him. "???" Confused on what he wanted, Xue Lan tilted her head in a confused manner. "Ai¡­ You don''t have to overthink absolutely everything. Why don''t you juste and sit down? I feel like we should have a good talk about something, no?" A little bit amused over her cute, flustered reactions, Lucifer decided to tease her a bit. And without even needing to overwork his extreme level of charm, Xue Lan looked at the ground and scuttled her way to the couch before sitting down on the opposite side of Lucifer. Clearly even more amused over this action of hers, Lucifer was about to mess with her a little more. But that was when he saw the vase still tucked in her slender, almost illusory arms. "That some sort of keepsake?" He asked. Following his eyes, Xue Lan knew what he was asking about; thus, she said, "...It''s the ashes of my only family member¡­" "Spirits can have family¡­?" "...No¡­ By family, I meant..-" "I know what you meant." Keeping the silence between them extra awkward, Lucifer broke the air by saying, "Well, thanks for the help with that formation, and err¡­ sorry about your loss¡­" He wasn''t one to exhibit many friendly emotions, but he at least knew when to be grateful. Being a side effect of having a simr mind to his main body, there was not much he could do to change that part of himself. But regardless of that information, he turned to look at the anxious Spirit woman. "What sort of family member was it?" "...A pet¡­ a white northern fox from the cier Rings¡­" "Died by¡­?" "An evil apparition in the Void Refining Realm caught her while she was traveling in the outeryers of the swamp¡­ She didn''te home for days, but I just a-assu-mmedd th-that she¡­" Bing cracked toward the end of her answer, her voice ultimately stopped functioning altogether. Sigh¡­ "Come here." Beckoning her with his hands, Lucifer patted his left thigh. "You can lie down and tell me whatever you''ve been keeping to yourself, or you can stay silent. Either way, we have a long night ahead of us, and I don''t really like sleeping these days." Listening to the terrifying howls originating from all directions, Xue Lan realized that his words were correct. The powerful Evil Apparitions would be searching around for a while, and there was no way to slip past them. Therefore, it was with great hesitation that she schooched over to the human without ever looking him in the eyes. Then, with extreme shame and a rosyplexion, sheid her head down on his thigh, letting her long ck hair spread out on hisp. "So, silence for now?" Lucifer asked. "Mhmm¡­" "Very well." Letting his benefactor do whatever she wanted, Lucifer focused on improving his various cultivation bases. Even though his Body Cultivation was capped, and it would still be another few hours before he could attempt a breakthrough into the Golden Core Formation Realm, his Mind Cultivation still had some room for improvement. Thus, with an industrious mindset, he circted |Mind Fuck| and further refined his mind energy. ¡­ After a few minutes of advancing his Mind Cultivation into the Late Gold Rank, Lucifer suddenly felt some rustling from Xue Lan''s position. Realizing that she wanted to talk now, he said, "First, let''s start off with your name." A little bit spooked by the out-of-the-blue raspy voice, Xue Lan jumped out of her skin. With flickering pupils and a nervous expression, she looked away from the face that she had been staring at for a while now. Then, with a low voice, she said, "My name is Xue Lan¡­" Pat, Pat, Pat. Patting her head like a puppy dog, an inexplicable gleam passed through Lucifer''s gaze. "That is a rather fitting name for a Spirit," he mused. "Mhmm¡­" Biting her red lips a little in embarrassment, Xue Lan wouldn''t lie and say that she wasn''t a fan of the soft head pats¡­ Although a foreign sensation to her, who had been alone since waking up in this world with her mind as a nk te, she quite liked whatever it was that she was feeling¡­ "So, what is it that you want to talk about?" Being put on the spot, Xue Lan snuggled her face even deeper into his thigh, then she softly murmured, "Actually¡­ I wanted to ask about your story¡­ M-My life, it wasn''t all that exciting¡­ Spirits start out with no recollection of their past lives, and I am no exception¡­ The only other living being I''ve ever known was Little White, a-and now she¡­-" "Ahh, so you wish to know of the great retelling of my mighty upbringing? Are you sure you are ready for that!?" Although spooked a little by his outgoing outlook on the subject, the saddened expression on Xue Lan''s face was reced with a look of anticipation. She really wanted to know someone else''s story. Lucifer wasn''t shy,, so without further ado, he got right down to the grand retelling of his story of ultimate proportions! From the very first moment he was cloned all the way to the day that he ultimately escaped his main body. Even going so far as to tell her what happened thereafter¡ªhe left virtually nothing out. He figured there was no harm in telling a harmless ghost girl of an unbelievably awesome backstory. Xue Lan''s response to everything he said was, "I like it¡­" "You like what?" Lucifer asked. "The story¡­ I like it a lot." With her eyes practically shining in happiness, Xue Lan beamed from her expression. She didn''t know why she liked his story so much, but she felt a lot closer to him after hearing all that mumbo jumbo. As for why she wanted to be closer to him¡­? Well, she didn''t even know that herself¡­ Lucifer noticed the weird behavior of Xue Lan as well, and he may or may not have gotten ahead of himself inside his mind. Well, knowing my impable, stupid OP charm, this chick has likely fallen head over heels in love after hearing of all the superb deeds Imitted before arriving in this swamp. Hoho! I''m simply too goated! Even though Lucifer thought this in jest, he might actually have been onto something¡­ But regardless of his narcissism and the flustered demeanor of Xue Lan, he suddenly got serious. His expression became as nk as an empty piece of paper. "Why do you like it?" He asked in a neutral tone. "...W-Why do I like it¡­?" Bing even more nervous after hearing this question, Xue Lan squirmed around on hisp. Then, out of nowhere, she slowly turned her reddened face up toward Lucifer''s overly handsome face and said, "I-I just like it because I like it¡­ okay¡­" After which, she dug her face back into his robes and pretended to go to sleep. ''Hmm¡­ this ghost chick is definitely an odd one¡­'' Treating her like a golden retriever, Lucifer continued toy down pat after pat, and they didn''t stoping for the rest of the night. For the Nightmare Realm, a nightsted roughly 36 hours, and then there was a period of 12 hours where it could be considered ''day''. Though, in reality, this ''day'' was just nighttime but less dark. Instead of pure darkness, the atmosphere was more along the lines of dawn. The semi-intelligent beings of this world also just so happened to call these 12 hours ''The Dawn''. For most, the Dawn was the time frame they had to make use of if they wanted to do stuff without the ever-looming presence of terrifying Nightmare Monsters. Although most of the intelligent organisms in this world could easily take on low-level and mid-level Nightmare Monsters, they weren''t the most powerful things lurking in the forests¡­ ...¡­.. Chapter 109: Two Weird Girls... ...¡­.. Creeping and crawling in Raven''s End, there were creatures far beyond the scope of mankind''s feeble imagination¡ªcreatures that were never meant to escape their bedtime stories¡­ These were the monsters that the denizens of the Nightmare Realm truly had to watch out for. But even with the scythe of death looming over them all, there were still some people, like the Witches, who made organizations and kingdoms in the Nightmare Realm. Though such organizations would only be around for as long as the powerful Nightmare Monsters stayed clear of the area, a lot of them still managed to stay strong for thousands of years. Of course, there were some rather ''unfortunate'' incidents over the years, but such incidents were few and far between¡­ Anyways, as night turned to light, a new dawn graced the Nightmare Realm. From that dawn, two girls, one beautiful and the other cute as a button, awoke from their slumbers. Watching over them was the man that always seemed to be at the forefront of their minds. But seeing as he appeared to be deep in his cultivation, they didn''t disturb him and simply waited for him to escape his stupor. While doing so, they also took asional nces at each other, seemingly curious about the other''s existence. "Hmm¡­" Dispersing the Qi around his mind after a sessful breakthrough into the Pinnacle of the Gold Mind Rank, Lucifer opened one of his shut-tight eyelids. Seeing the two girls staring at him like they wanted to eat him, his expression morphed into a confused one. "What the hell are you two looking at? Am I too handsome or something?" He asked subtly and humbly. Hearing the immortal-like man speak up for the first time in over 6 hours, both Xue Lan and Li Yan got lost in the sight of his facial features. But after a moment to regain their bearings, they immediately looked away from him and found something interesting to look at on the walls. "???" ''These girls are so damn weird¡­'' Ignoring the unusual behavior of those two weirdos, Lucifer lifted Xue Lan''s head off his thigh and let it fall on the couch cushion. Then, with a few satisfying cracks, he stretched and prepared himself for the grind that was toe. "Another day filled with loot awaits me," he said expectantly. "Uhmm¡­ Lucifer¡­" "Umu?" Taking him out of his self-indulgent reverie, Lucifer looked toward the timid ghost chick, asking, "What is it? If you need help going to the bathroom, I''m sorry, but I can''t assist. You see, I am a married man¡ªmarried to the grind, umu!" Closing his eyes and waving his hands left and right, Lucifer effectively and easily rejected his die-hard fan girl. It had to be done! He was not a disloyal man! Making a few rather brazen moves, Xue Lan moved her reddened face right in front of Lucifer, then she used her hands to sp his mouth in an x-shape. "N-Not that¡­ It''s something else¡­!" Completely overlooking how intimate she was acting with Lucifer, she also failed to notice that her well-endowed breasts were rubbing all up on his chest. ''Woah now! Using the temptations of two mountains of pudding in an attempt to seduce me?? This girl is a¡­ pervert!?'' Xue Lan would likely die right then and there if she ever knew what Lucifer''s opinion of her was. Though, luckily she didn''t, and fortunately, she was also a dense idiot just like him¡­ "Y-You see, I was trying to say that if we leave now, we can make it to the Nightmare Express before it leaves for the next region¡­" Still rubbing her mommy milkers all up and down on the innocent narcissistic man, Xue Lan spoke with flickering eyes and a face redder than a tomato. "..." ''They almost feel like¡­ Ahhh, water balloons? No¡­ It''s more like mochi¡­ Maybe water balloon mochi?'' Thinking some rather peculiar things with an expression that was far too serious-looking, Lucifer eventually shook his head and said, "Definitely like the perfect douse of jello and pudding. Yes, this is the form." "???" Not understanding what he was talking about, Xue Lan briefly looked down, only to see the extremely scandalous position she found herself in! Turning redder than a red moon, she identally looked to the left and saw a short goth girl staring right at her and Lucifer, seemingly ready to pounce. "I-I¡­ T-There was¡­ Th-The¡­" With her eyes erratic as sh*t and her breasts jiggling all over the ce, Xue Lan attempted to exin herself. But in the end, all that happened was a short fuse and a fall. Thud! Whack! Copsing to the ground and hitting her head right up against a table, the gentlemanly gentleman seemed to have forgotten his duties of catching the clutsy heroine. "Ahh¡­ Hmm?" Stopping his analysis of the sensation that was no longer there, Lucifer looked down, only to see a beautiful ghost girl knocked out cold with her tongue out of her mouth and one of her tits slipping out of her dress! "Holy! If I were a Japanese protagonist, this would most assuredly be the part where I have a few more ''idents'' that eventually lead to me ''identally'' undressing the rest of her. These idents would ultimately have me ''identally'' slipping it in on ''ident''. Welp, it''s too bad this isn''t a hentai or a generic isekai anime!" Bemoaning the sorrowful virgin fate of a Xianxia protagonist, Lucifer slipped the tit back into the dress and heaved the sleeping beauty over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "Time to go and find this ''Nightmare Express'' or whatever this chick was talking about before shing me." Using Xue Lan as a temporary guide, Lucifer scanned only the relevant memories pertaining to this ''Nightmare Express''. After which, he looked toward the grumbling midget in the corner. "What''s got you in such a sour mood? Don''t tell me¡­ Is it really the shits!? I don''t recall their being a Taco and a bell in this world, but who really knows what can happen these days!" Pat! Covering his mouth like all girls tend to do when around him, Li Yan vehemently shook her head and said, "Not the shits, not the shits¡­! I-I just¡­" In the end, she was unable to get out the proper words; thus, she turned her face to the side. "Humph! Dummy!" She grumbled. After which, she grabbed both his cheeks and made him look away from her. Then, with cute movements, she climbed up his shoulder and used Xue Lan''s bouncy butt to reach his head. "Stupid bimbo," she faintly murmured. "???" Like the genuine article protagonist, Lucifer once again showed that he was a dense motherf*cker! ''Girls, they''re like rare animals¡­ They look all exotic on the outside, but on the inside, you have no clue what the fuck is going on!'' Quoting someone who probably said that, Lucifer then put the matter to the back of his mind and brought both his ''guide'' and ''Santa''s little helper'' outside of the swamp house. Catching a good whiff of the fresh mountain air, he just knew that the faint rays of dawnlight would lead him into a new day filled to brim with¡­ loot! Setting out into the vast swampy world beyond, Lucifer was on a mission: find the Nightmare Express and kill anything that got in his way! ¡­ After a few minutes of ''killing anything that got in his way''. "Ahh, yes¡­ I see now¡­ This is very interesting indeed¡­" Looking both left and right as well as up and down, Lucifer realized something utterly mind-boggling andpletely unexpected! "Umu, yep, yep. I''m most definitely fucking lost!" He had no f*cking clue how it came to this, but with him aimlessly walking around like a dumbass, he somehow got lost in the process! "I assumed Xue Lan would have a brain with some useful directions in it, but this woman has rarely even left her house in thest 50 years! She might as well be a lvl 99 Neet, Otaku Lord, because this sh*t is crazy! I don''t even know how she knew about this ''Nightmare Express Bullet Train'' because she sure as hell hasn''t witnessed it in person! And with it being the only way to leave Raven''s End without meeting a fewrge fuckers beyond the Void Refining Realm, we need to find it A.S.A.P." If night once again came around for him and his gang of two, those Void Refining Realm Evil Apparitions would definitely find him, and he would most assuredly fucking die! So left with only one real option right now, he would either find the Nightmare Express or he would die trying! Either way, that fucking choo choo train would be his-! ROOOOAAARRR!!! "???" After hearing a hair-tingling roar reverberate nearby, Lucifer left his thoughts and focused on the direction behind him. Upon noticing something big and white rushing toward him, he was about to dodge and jump out of the way. But before that could happen, the white thing sped up to a level that made it look like a white blur in his eyes! ...¡­.. Chapter 110: Not That Bad of a Curse ...¡­.. ''Well, fuck me sideways¡­ This is a fucked-up way to send truck-kun after me.'' Those were thest thoughts to pass through Lucifer''s mind before he was rammed into by the white blur, subsequently causing his vision to dim. Though no real damage was done to him or the two girls, they were all somehow sent into thend of the unconscious. An unknown amount of time passed, and when Lucifer finally came around, he found himself leaning up against a red,vender seat on what was clearly a wooden bench. "Hmm¡­ Where the hell am I?" He asked. "Ahh, you''re finally awake!?" Sounding out from behind him, a girl wearing an adventurer''s getup leaned over the other side of a table. She had long red hair and a pretty face; she also had two weapons of mass destruction swaying right in front of Lucifer. ''What is up with these tits as ofte? Am I cursed to view them in every episode now?? Well, now that I think about¡­ not such a bad curse¡­'' While Lucifer wondered if those milky white mountains felt the same as thest pair, the owner of the pair in question was looking at him with a certain glow about her. Being a mixture of both happiness and apologetess, she was quite clearly confused as fuck. ''Umu? Now that I get a good look at her¡­ This woman isn''t human, is she?'' Staring at her long pointed ears and those slightly curved eyes, there was no doubt about it. ''She''s a Dark Elf,'' Lucifer thought. "Are you still with me!?" Hearing the mysterious woman''s tone change to one filled with more worry, Lucifer turned his neutral gaze up, only to be hit in the face by the mommy milkers! "What the fuck!?" Quickly backing away from those mind-dampening weapons, his eyes narrowed, and he raised his brows in suspicion. ''Is this elf chick trying to seduce me with mere bags of fat?? Fufufu~ she truly doesn''t know the immensity of heaven and earth!'' Getting lost in his own chuni thoughts that in no way corrted to what was actually happening, the dark elf started off by saying, "I-I''m sorry if I frightened you, but earlier, I idently hit you with my Soporific Demon Wolf and put you three to sleep! I-I didn''t mean to, and I was extremely surprised to see people so far out into Raven''s End! I hope you don''t mind, but I got you all tickets with me on the Nightmare Express¡­ It seemed like you three were headed in that direction to begin with, so I-I figured¡­ I''m sorry¡­" Clearly quite flustered and obviously not used to speaking to the opposite gender, the mysterious elf put her head down and fiddled with her dainty hands. Of everything that the pretty elf woman said, the only thing Lucifer got from it was, ''So I was going in the right direction¡­ Heh, I knew I was awesome.'' "Anyways, don''t worry about it, miss¡­-" "Shun Wen¡­ My name is Shun Wen." Nodding his head repeatedly, Lucifer said, "Of course, of course, miss Shun Wen. Now, since you have put us on this train that was in no way our destination, would you mind telling me a few things about this train and the ce we''re heading to?" "Ahh, yes, of course!" Flustered and at a loss for words, Shun Wen threw her hands up in the air like she was throwing gang signs. But, in the end, she found the voice to say, "B-But would you not like to wait for your friends to wake up first¡­?" Pointing to a short girl dressed in all ck and a spirit woman that not many could see, Shun Wen nervously stared at the immortal-like man with her big, watery, slightly curved eyes. Following her finger, Lucifer saw those twozy couch potatoes napping across multiple seats without a care in the world. Heughingly said, "Those two; I will just give them a brief recap when they wake up. I do most of the thinking around here, so don''t worry about it." Waving his hand in a joking manner, Lucifer then refocused his attention on the enamored elfdy in front of him. "You doing okay?" He asked. Realizing that she was caught staring a bit too much, Shun Wen immediately turned her face in a different direction. "Y-Yeah, I''ve just never seen anyone that looks like you¡­" She nervously stuttered. "Ho? It''s because I''m too gosh darn handsome, is it not??" "W-Well, yes¡­ But it''s also because not many humanse to the Nightmare Realm¡­ In fact, you''re the first one I''ve ever seen¡­" Blushing a little when reminded of his absurdly good looks, Shun Wen also made sure to exin the real reason why she said what she did. "Hmm¡­ this is quite unexpected¡­ quite unexpected, indeed." Realizing that he and his sister could be the only humans in a wide mile radius, Lucifer ced the matter of creating disguises to the forefront of his mind. If he got off this train in one piece, then the first thing he would do is cast a couple Heavenly Transfiguration spells. "Oh, and if you haven''t noticed already, this train is heading through the Northern Nethends. Just look outside the window and you will see it!" Suddenly bing a bit excited, Shun Wen got up off her seat and practically glued her eyes to therge window on their side of the train. Showing off that dastardly body of hers once more, Lucifer couldn''t help butment the fact that she yed dirty. However, in spite of his grievances, he, too, looked out the window, and quickly, he witnessed a sight beyond words, not knowing quite what to say¡­ With the willowy trees and dark ck hills that looked almost alive, they only served to work as the side details for the mesmerizing backdrop in the distance. Looming over the whole world, a bright, luminescent moon was on full disy. Adding an indescribable sense of woe, the moon was the perfect addition to the picturesque scenery that made up the Northern Nethends. As an illusory, skull-covered bullet train sped out of Raven''s End and into the Northern Nethends, Lucifer and Shun Wen saw numerous flying devils and unexinable creatures. Filling the sky with their perplexing existences, they swooped in and out of the skies, devouring both each other and those that were considered weaker. The sight was both terrifying and surreal, leaving Lucifer in a state of semi-enlightenment. He seemed to haveprehended something from events that were seen as the norm in the Nightmare Realm. It was from this semi-enlightenment that he was able toprehend something that normally only came around when one reached the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. Unleashing a thinyer of obscure energy from within his Dantian space, it then wrapped around Lucifer''s body and transmitted to him a way in which he could beginprehending the |Void Law|. The |Void Law|. It was very important for the future of a cultivator if they wished to reach the Void Refining Realm and anything beyond that realm. After all, it was the Law that one needed to bathe themselves in to make a breakthrough into the Void Refining Realm. If oneprehended theplexities of this unchartedw beforehand, then they would be able to have a smoother breakthrough into the Void Realm. Additionally, one''s power would improve far above the rest if they managed to aplish such a thing. For Lucifer, he had just touched upon the foundations of this extremelyplicatedw. And with him being in the Half-Step Golden Core Realm, this would make him a supreme genius of the highest degree¡­ It was very likely that within and outside the Elemental Nations, even going so far as to say that inside the bounds of the entire Tianwu Continent, Lucifer was the only one to beginprehending the Void Law before reaching the Golden Core Realm. The freak of nature in question was currently left in awe at the breathtaking scenery outside the ancient carved window seal in A Section, seats 11-20 of the Nightmare Express. This entire section of the extremely expensive train was currently being rented out by someone of high status, someone also known as the 7th Royal Elven Princess of the Nightsorrow Empire¡­ Princess Shun Wen! ¡ª--------- "Say, what is your name!? You haven''t told me your name, even though I''ve told you mine!" Chiding the nonchnt raven-haired man, Shun Wen jumped all around the cart she rented out. She was obviously trying to wear off all the excitement from looking out at the Northern Nethends. "Hmm¡­ Well, you have still yet to tell me of the information pertaining to both this train and the ce we''re headed, so I reserve the right to remain silent." Making thisment while trying toprehend more of the Void Law, Lucifer closed his eyes shut, conveniently ignoring the puffed-out cheeks of an elven girl with long blonde hair and light green eyes. Though she looked like a dime and was prettier than just about anyone out there, she still didn''t possess the necessary metal to shake Lucifer''s Dao heart. ...¡­.. Chapter 111: Hate and Love, A Thin Line ...¡­.. "I think you''re quite rude!" Crossing her arms underneath herrge breasts and turning her head away from the apathetic man, Shun Wen was beginning to look more and more like a chipmunk by the second. "Yeah, is that so? If that''s the case, then it does appear that I have conveyed my intentions quite well." Taking a few cursory nces at the still sleeping beauties, Lucifer made sure to rankle the irritated elf woman just a tad bit more. He had a hobby of annoying the hell out of people, and over thest half an hour that they''ve known each other, he personally designated her his target to pass the time. Of course, Lucifer needed no thanks; this was just what he felt should be done! "Humph! Humph! Humph!" So many huffs and puffs escaped Shun Wen''s mouth that any onlookers would begin to think that she wanted to rece the engine of the Nightmare Express with her lungs. "Humph!!" With the greatest puff yet, it looked like Shun Wen was going to blow the house down. But contrary to those fabled expectations, she simply crossed her arms even tighter around her breasts and sat down next to the cultivating man. "Umu? Are you not mad anymore?" Without opening his eyes, Lucifer asked this question. "Mad? No¡­ But you''re still a jerk. Humph!" Inching a little bit closer to his right arm, Shun Wen went on to exin what she knew about the Nightmare Express and their destination. For the train itself, it had been around for many millions of years, even said to be older than the strongest of Mahayana Realm Cultivators. It was also said that a great race of demonic dwarves once roamed the Nightmare Realm, and they were the ones who built the train and its cross-dimensional tracks. The Nightmare Express ran on a type of fuel that made use of the high levels of evil energy present in the Nightmare Realm; thus, it could effectively keep on running forever. Then, there were the ones who controlled the train and led it through the tracks that it ced down on demand. Though the tracks themselves had their locations set in stone, they only appear once they are needed. If not, then they will not show up, no matter what way one looks at where the tracks should be. In a way, the Nightmare Express was a ghost train. Back on the subject of the ones who led the train; it was not individual leading. Rather, it was what the ''Demonic Dwarves'' and their gods were said to have set up during their era. Specifically, the ''train leaders'' were more along the lines of ''household gods'', meaning that they were bound to the Nightmare Express. As for what exactly they were, no one really knew. But with the typical size of humanoids and the rough facial structure of elves, humans, and the like, people believed that they were either living beings that died and were then bound to the Nightmare Express by the dwarves. Or¡­ Life puppets. Faceless, expressionless, monotonous, and emotionless¡ªthe train leaders indeed fit the bill of puppets. But for the life of a life puppet, well, that was a death even more cruel than extracting souls and creating household gods¡­ Forever trapped in their own minds, reveling in the most miserable moments of their lives, and still forced into indenturtude¡ªlife puppets were the epitome of the art of torture. Then there was the destination of the Nightmare Express. Being to the north of Raven''s End and tens of thousands of miles in¡ªthe current destination of the Nightmare Express was the Nightsorrow Empire! It also just so happened to be Shun Wen''s return destination after her most recent excursion to her friend''s ce in one of the Beastkin Empire''s to the South¡­ Sneaking out of her empire without any guards and without anyone knowing¡ªone would either think her to be incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. The truth of the matter was that she was simply confident in her strength¡­ 26 years of age and considered the most talented female genius to ever be born among the dark elves¡ªShun Wen was the pride and joy of both her parents and her Empire! However, right now, such an existence was beingpletely ignored by a handsome yet insufferable man¡­ ''Snarky, conceited, cheeky, rude, and narcissistic¡ªhe''s everything I hate in a man!'' Even though Shun Wen was thinking these very things with a small pout dashed across her wless face, she couldn''t help but feel an inescapable attraction to the annoying man beside her. ''Umu?'' Noticing an oddly familiar glint in Shun Wen''s serenely green eyes, Lucifer knew exactly where this was going. ''Kaka, so cliche¡­ The beautiful jade beauty bimbo fell for the cold and distant protagonist. Well, well, well¡­ Looks like this was Gg''s, too easy¡­'' Inwardly shaking his head with a small, conceited grin on his face, Lucifer got lost in his own narcissism, unable to believe that he had done it once again. ''Women are such masochists¡­ As long as you are handsome and ignore them enough, they will alwayse back for more. But for me, the stupidity of the masses will only work in my favor.'' Already having a way to include the trendy mindset among women into his ns, Lucifer finished up his Mind Cultivation. Secretly breaking through to the absolute peak of the Peak Gold Rank, he treated it as nothing unusual and put all his attention back on the Void Law. He wanted to hurry up andprehend a trace intent of this Law before breaking through to the Golden Core Realm. So far, his simplified system interface looked something like: BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Golden Core Realm (Limit)] [Body Cultivation - Absolute Peak Gold Rank (99.99%)] [Mind Cultivation - Absolute Peak Gold Rank (99.99%)] [Battle Power - Late Soul Transformation Realm (Pinnacle)] ¡ª---- [Peak Nascent Soul Realm Clone cost - 1 Super Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 22,345 Super Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 22,345 Super Clone Essence] ¡ª------- As one could tell, Lucifer had already started his clone farm. In fact, from the very moment he woke up on the Nightmare Express, he sent out nearly 10,000 Clones in the Late Soul Realm, all of which were farming the hell out of the Northern Nethends! Although many of them were dying, the gains far outweighed the losses. So, even though Lucifer looked apathetic and detached, he was in fact quite overjoyed. It was because of his pleasant mood that he turned toward the grumbling elf woman and said, "You asked for my name?" Hearing this question from out-of-the-blue, Shun Wen''s eyes brightened up and she smilingly said, "Yes! I would very much like to know your name!" Throwing those milk cannons all over the ce, she practically offered them up to the raven-haired man with how close they were to his right hand. But regardless of temptations that a married man like himself would not have, Lucifer peered right into the soul of the bubbly woman and said, "Lucifer. My name; it''s Lucifer." "Lucifer¡­" Suddenly stopping all that risque movement, Shun Wen got lost in his blood red gaze. Then, out of nowhere, she started to giggle. "That''s too scary a name for such a big softie!" Sheughingly said. "..." While watching the voluptuous elf woman hold her stomach and poke fun at what she most definitely saw as her taste of revenge, Lucifer once again reaffirmed his marriage within his mind. ''Women¡­ way too much trouble¡­ As a chuunibyou Lord once said: ''Just stick to the sword; women only slow the speed at which you swing it.''¡ªtruly wise words¡­'' Once again going back to ignoring the troublesome princess, Lucifer focused on the Void Law, also making sure to asionally check up on the progress of his clones. After a few minutes of understanding the Void Law just a little bit more, he looked toward the elf woman, only to see her still finding amusement in his suffering. "..." Lucifer figured this would happen, but seeing her like this still managed to tick him off a bit. "Well, you now know my name, so we''re even," he said. Zoning out the giggles of the annoying girl, he put aside the Void Law and focused his all into breaking down the wall that would lead him into the Golden Core Realm. Through this experience, he was able to feel his Core begin to change from a shiny gray color to a dull shade of gold. ''The breakthrough is close,'' he thought. "Hey! Stop ignoring me, Mr. Big bad evil man!" Giggling off to the side with a hand to her mouth, Shun Wen made it her life''s mission to get under the skin of the raven-haired man. She didn''t know why she felt the urge to do this; she just wanted him to notice her more. ''Women really are something else¡­'' Sighing in exasperation, Lucifer lifted his chin off his bent knuckles and honed his cold, piercing gaze on Shun Wen. After causing her to stop herughter with a casual nce, he leaned in close and left her pretty face less than an inch away from his. Upon stealing her gaze with the entirety of his existence, he stretched out his two muscr hands. Thinking that something crazy was about to happen, Shun Wen''s thoughts started to spiral. ... Chapter 112: The Nightmare Express Comes To A Halt ... ''I-I''m a princess! I can''t go through with this!'' ''But he smells so good¡­'' ''No! I can''t allow myself to get caught up in the moment! Must push him away!'' ''Maybe it wouldn''t hurt to see what he''s trying to do¡­ I mean, he''s a big jerk, but maybe there is some sweetness buried within his evilness¡­'' In the midst of a tumultuous battle with herself, Shun Wen failed to notice the two muscr hands pass by her head and reach for the two munchkins off to the side. Grabbing both Li Yan and Xue Lan, Lucifer put them on the seats closest to him, and then without a care for the distressed elven princess, he went back to cultivating. Leaning his face against his hand while staring out at the rapidly shing scenery, Lucifer treated the elven girl as if she were invisible. ''T-This jerk!!'' Heaving the biggest harrumph yet, Shun Wen''s cheeks blew up like balloons. Turning away from the big evil man, she crossed her arms over her breasts and went back to pouting. For the rest of the train ride, she refused to say a single word. When the destination was less than a few minutes away, both Li Yan and Xue Lan started to drowsily open their eyes. "Mhmm¡­ Where are we¡­?" They asked in unison, showing off their lethargic cat faces. But as if immune to anything adorable, Lucifer looked at them with a neutral expression. Seeing their eyes immediately focus on him as well, he said, "We made it to the Nightmare Express and are currently on our way to a ce called the Nightsorrow Empire. Oh, and this craz- nicedy here is the one who funded this trip." "You jerk! What were you about to say!?" Suddenly stopping her silent grumbling, Shun Wen shot her head in his direction and hit him on the shoulder with her cotton fists. "..." Staring at this sight with a nk expression, Lucifer wondered what sort of gravity god this girl prayed to for her breasts to move in such hypnotizing ways. ''Godhood¡­ Hmm¡­ That is definitely something to look into,'' he thought. ...¡­ Already getting ahead of himself on the path of cultivation, Lucifer failed to notice the discontented looks on the faces of his two Pokemon. The Goth Pokemon looked like she was ready to violently rip off the breasts of the unknown elf Lady, whereas the Ghost Pokemon had a cloud of darkness shrouding her eyes. Afraid that these two would start their viin arcs and steal his limelight, Lucifer did¡­ ''Hmm¡­ What was I going to do again?'' Looking up in confusion, hepletely forgot what he was thinking about. In the end, he decided to let them erm¡­ be acquainted with one another? While that was happening, he returned back to cultivation- "Lucifer, who is she!?" "Lucifer, what are they to you!?" ''Ahh¡­ The buzzing of gnats this far into winter¡­ How interesting.'' Dodging the usual cliche like the goddamn gue, Lucifer stayed silent and worked in his cultivation as if it were the only thing that truly mattered in the world. ''Wait¡­ I was going to let the ghost chick return to her home as soon as I reached the Nightmare Express. But I guess it''s toote for that, huh¡­?'' Finding this a little disappointing, he put the matter aside for now, leaving his future self to deal with these problems. He was unquestionably responsible like that! Time continued to pass inside the Nightmare Express. As the three abusive girls wed, hit, and nibbled away at his body in an attempt to get his attention, the bullet train finally arrived at its destination. CHOOO¡ªCHOOO!!! Blowing an insanely loud whistle, the Nightmare Express came to aplete halt. Outside where it stopped, there were no buildings or train stations; it was just a normal mountain pass. There were a few animals and Nightmare Monsters here and there, but overall, it was nothing unusual for a low-level area of the Nightmare Realm. "Ho?" Opening his eyes for the first time in ten minutes, Lucifer grabbed the midget nibbling on his neck. Taking her and putting her on the seat beside him, he also did the same for the other two idiots. After which, he got up and walked toward the train''s exit. Without caring a single bit about the three equally puffed-out Gerbil faces on the train, Lucifer opened the ss screen doors, and¡­ he proceeded to walk away¡­ "Big Brother¡­!" "Lucifer¡­!" "Evil Jerk¡­!" Realizing that he would seriously leave them behind, Li Yan, Xue Lan, and Shun Wen practically teleported outside the train. Reaching Lucifer''s casual walking pace in half an instant, none of them took the time to look at the Nightmare Express vanish into the starry night sky. It came and went, almost as if it were never a part of this dimension to begin with¡­ As the three mentally impaired girls tagged along behind the only ''sane'' one, they ultimately made their way to a willowy, ckened mountain. On the other side of this mountain, therey the true territory of the Nightsorrow Empire¡­ In a wide expanse of brightly lit vine-covered structures that seemed to stretch out into the horizon, elves of all shapes and sizes went about their days on both the ground and the sky. Traveling by cart, horse, or by flight, they made use of everything that mother nature had given them. Sitting in the center of this prosperous city, there was a tree sorge that it was aplete mystery how Lucifer and the rest were unable to see it before reaching the top of a mountain! Extending to the heavens above, Lucifer, Xue Lan, and Li Yan simply stood there and marveled at its limitless magnificence for a good couple seconds. When Shun Wen observed the looks on their faces, she realized that this was her time to strut her stuff! "Ya know, as an adored citizen of this Empire, I could potentially show you around, Lucifer. But I don''t know if I should¡­ Maybe I shouldn''t?" Wearing a cheeky grin on her face, she was clearly trying to get revenge for being ignored. However, when she opened her eyes to gauge his reaction, he was already gone like the wind! "Lucifer¡­ Are we going into thisnd of the Dark Elves¡­?" Speaking in a low, soft voice, Xue Lan tugged on the back of Lucifer''s robes. Clearly not used to being outside of her swamp, she huddled close to him and tried her best to ignore all the looks she was (wasn''t) receiving. "Umu? I don''t remember inviting anyone to follow me. But since I sorta indirectly caused this, I guess you can tag along. As for the munchkin midget atop my head¡­" "Mine," growled Li Yan, her arms wrapping around his head like one of the monkey stuffed animals with the velcro straps. "Well, she is not doing so well in the head department¡­" Shaking his head in exasperation, Lucifer sped up his advance toward the lively city down below. Zoning out the furiously yelling crazydy from far behind, he ultimately reached the city gates of the Royal City of Nightsorrow. Guarding the extremely tall, grandiose gates of the city, there stood two guards. Both were around 6 feet in height and had rather ordinary appearances, but their cultivation¡­ ''Early Void Refining Realm¡­? Middle? Late? Peak??'' Lucifer honestly had no clue just how strong they were. But what he did know was that he would undoubtedly lose the moment he even so much as entertained the idea of taking them on¡­ Wearing ck armor lined with gold stripes, the two guards were square-faced and wore stern expressions. They stood with feathered spears in their hands, staring straight ahead like there was something extremely interesting in that direction. "Hmm¡­ If I talk to them, another cliche will surely unfold, won''t it?" Murmuring to himself in a low contemtive tone, Lucifer was unable to figure out what he wanted to do before the big tits elf woman came-a frolicking. "You big evil jerk! Why do you keep on leaving me behind!" "Because you''re loud." Lucifer''s instantaneous response caused Shun Wen''s shoulders to slump. Then, with tears bubbling in her emerald-like eyes, she mumbled, "You think I''m loud¡­ and annoying¡­?" Practically on the verge of tears, she clenched the hem of her dress and stared at her lonely shadow on the ground. "My love¡­" Stealing her gaze with softened eyes and a caring voice, Lucifer said, "Of course I think you''re loud. As for the annoying part, well, you said it, not me." Crushing all her hopes in one swift blow, Shun Wen returned to her regr abusive nature and started hitting him again. Although she didn''t put in enough strength to actually hurt him, she still wanted him to know that she was very, very¡­ angwy! ''Tsk tsk, a grown woman acting like a child¡­ Well, this is what happens when you think you''ve met someone who you think is ''ying hard to get''. When in reality, I am ying ''I don''t want you,dy''.'' Clicking his tongue a little, Lucifer refocused on the matter at hand. Approaching the guards, he was about to speak up and worm his way through their vignce. Butpletely out of his expectations, the moment he and his group came into view, the guards hit the dirt with their fists. Oozing reverence, they shouted, "We greet the 7th Royal Princess of the Nightsorrow Empire!" "...The 7th Princess¡­" ...¡­ Chapter 113: The 7th Princess ...¡­ "...The 7th Princess¡­" Slowly turning his head in the direction of the elf woman with a smug look on her face, Lucifer hoped this was all just a bad dream. But unfortunately for him¡­ "Fufufu! Do you finally realize my greatness, Lucifer!?" Standing with her hands to her hips and her nose pointing to the sky, Shun Wen''s slightly glum and frustrated mood did aplete 180! ''Fuck me sideways¡­ This is why I hate Xianxia¡­'' Realizing that he had a long night ahead of him, Lucifer bunkered in and let the cliches y out one after the other. Eventually, he found himself in a guest room of the Nightsorrow Empire''s Royal Castle, and he had somehow been scheduled to meet Shun Wen''s father when True Dawn came to an end¡­ He didn''t need anyone to tell him where this was headed, and he sure a hell wasn''t a fan! ''Kill me now¡­ Why couldn''t I have just found a Japanese host? Maybe then my fan base would be more lenient on the degeneracy of the human species¡­'' ''Not another shitty harem, Xianxia¡­ I just want to be the main viin¡­ killing things and looting all day¡­ Is that too much to ask¡­?'' Mumbling in woes and regrets, Lucifer bled himself to sleep, hoping that he would never wake up again. However, upon feeling a goth girl snuggled around his head and two cow fuckerstched onto both his arms, he knew that no one would ever answer his wishes¡­ ¡­ The True Dawn came to an end, and a 36-hour long period of utter darkness arrived for the Nightmare Realm. For one unfortunate viinous soul, he was forced to endure what it felt like to be surrounded by maidens and a¡­ daughter? Either fucking way, Lucifer just wanted to kill himself and escape the berating of his readers! However, he knew that such a luxury would never be given to someone like him. So, with bleeding lips, he leaned up on his bed and flung the hoes off his body! "Get the f*ck off of me, you sweaty bit*hes!!" BANG! BANG! Watching both Xue Lan and Li Yan fly into a wall and face-nt it, Lucifer scowled in their direction. But for some reason, his demeaning voice and that annoyed look on his face made electrical currents spread throughout their bodies when they saw it. "These crazy b*tches¡­" Not feeling like dealing with crazy today, Lucifer skedaddled straight outta there, leaving the goth midget as a hat essory on his head. He was about to breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm, and there was no way in hell he would get caught up in crazy when he was so close! "W-Wait, Lucifer¡­!" "Don''t run from me, you big evil jerk!" Leaving the wall imprints without a single scratch on their milky white bodies, both Xue Lan and Shun Wen ran after the fleeing viin. Like a certain cartoon about dogs and mysteries, Xue Lan and Shun Wen chased Lucifer and Li Yan around the massive castle. Garnering the attention of the castle servants, almost everyone was surprised to see the 7th Princess chasing after someone, and it was a boy no less! This was big news for the servants, and like wildfire, rumors spread throughout the castle. Eventually, it reached the ears of the high officials and even the Emperor himself¡­ "So that young man really was a wolf, and he wants to ensnare my beloved daughter in his vicious mind trap... Very well¡­ Alfred, when are they set to arrive?" Deep and gruff, the Emperor''s voice reached the ears of his Head Butler. Looking toward the neutral and expressionless face his liege was making, Alfred already knew sh*t was about to hit the fan. But being a loyal butler of the Royal Family, he respectfully replied, "They are set toe within 4 minutes, my liege." "I see¡­" Waiting for those four minutes to pass, the deadline was ultimately crossed out, and four minutes became five minutes, which then turned over into seven minutes¡­ "Say, Alfred." "Yes¡­ My liege¡­" While sweating bullets, Alfred observed the darkened expression on his Liege''s face, and he 100% knew that sh*t was about to hit the fan absolutely fu*king running! OOOM! Suddenly exploding out with an overwhelmingly powerful pitch ck aura, Emperor Nightsorrow''s voice became dangerously low as he asked, "Where are my daughter and that ''boy''...?" Causing the throne room to crack and break underneath his aura, he tapped his throne with progressively more finger strength. "Well¡­ My Liege¡­ Your 7th daughter''s male friend secretly left the castle. As he vacated the area, he started shouting, ''Leave me alone, you crazies!''¡­ As for your daughter, well, she has chased after him¡­" Alfred''s mind practically broke down right then and there. Falling to the hard marble surface with a thud, he looked up at his Emperor and saw a wide grin stered across his face. "He has left¡­ and so has my daughter¡­ I see¡­" Lightly waving hisrge armor-covered hands, three shadows suddenly appeared from behind his throne. "Go and bring them back," he said coldly. FWIP! FWIP! Both of the shadows vanished, and within an instant, they reappeared with four people in their hands. One was a raven-haired man with a short ck-clothed girl on his head, while the other two were a princess and a spirit, both of whom weretched to his thighs. It was quite obvious that Lucifer was trying to escape two crazies that couldn''t be killed¡­ and he failed¡­ Xue Lan was somehow able to keep up with him using some ghost power bulls*it, whereas Shun Wen was simply far stronger than he was¡­ In the end, Lucifer couldn''t escape the two bit*hes, and now he found himself face-to-face with the smiling Emperor of an Empire where even the peasants were stronger than he was¡­ ''Fuck my life¡­'' "So you are my daughter''s friend¡­?" Hearing a deep, gruff voicee from the darkened face of the terrifying man sitting atop his throne of gold, there was really only one response Lucifer could give¡­ "So you are my daughter''s friend¡­?" "Who? Her?" Pointing toward the busty, blonde elf on his right thigh, Lucifer blurted out, "Hell no! This chick is a damn rando! She appeared less than a few episodes ago, and now she expects me to immediately fall in lov-" SHING! Feeling the daunting intent of death looming over him, Lucifer suddenly stopped his words, changed his expression, and enthusiastically said, "Who? This pretty, young miss? Of course we are friends! Best buddies in fact!" The promise of death stopping its advance, instead being reced with a silent meandering that Lucifer didn''t like one single bit. "Lucifer¡­! You really think we''re best buddies!? But we just met¡­ Don''t you think that''s a tad bit forward of you¡­?" Blushing and cupping her cheeks, Shun Wen wiggled in ce, seemingly in her own little world. "..." Lucifer was bing just about sick and tired of all these damn crazy b*tches! But in the end, he had no other choice but to say, "O-Of course¡­ Even though we only met a few hours ago, I feel that our connection is quite deep-" SHING! Feeling that same promise of death, Lucifer changed his tune and said, "But not that deep! There is still plenty of room for the connection to grow and blossom-!" SHING! "Just f*cking kidding! There is no room for growth! We are good right where we are! Best buddies for life!" "Buddies for life¡­" Slightly depressed and clearly not happy over these words, Shun Wen''s pointy ears bent down at an angle. SHING! ''What the fuck do you want from me, old dude!? Like goddamn!! I tell her off, and you aren''t satisfied! I tell her we can be closer or are closer, and you still aren''t f*cking satisfied!! What in the hell do you want from me!?'' If the Emperor''s strength weren''t beyond the Void Refining Realm, then Lucifer swears that he would already be wringing the damn bastard by his neck! However, considering that he would most definitely get one shot in this situation, he restrained his urges and grated his teeth. Then, with a calcted cement of his hand on Shun Wen''s shoulder, he said, "Who truly knows what the future holds for us? So many unknowns, and no one truly knows what will happen next." Keeping his words as f*cking ambiguous as possible, Lucifer briefly looked at the Emperor and saw him at a clear interpass within his mind. He most definitely still wanted to kill him, but that would surely make his daughter quite unsatisfied with him, so that was off the table. And he couldn''t exactly allow the ''wolf'' to live either. After all, he had to keep his daughter away from all vicious men, no matter the cost. In the end, the Emperor couldn''t decide what to do, so he put his index finger and thumb up to his forehead and started to rub it. Then, with a t voice, he said, "If you are ''acquaintances'' with my daughter, then you are free to stay inside the side guest house of the castle, ''away'' from my daughter''s bedroom. I assume this is fine with you," he asked with a face scarier than the sevenyers of hell. "But fathe-" ... Chapter 114: Early Golden Core Realm ... "But fathe-" Before Shun Wen could speak up in disagreement, Lucifer interrupted, saying: "Of course it''s okay! In fact, I love being as far away from big groups of people as possible! A cabin next to the woods would be perfect!" "It will be done." The Emperor spoke without hesitation. Liking the attitude of this youngster more and more, his opinion of him started to change bit by bit. "Alfred, make the arrangements, and do bring my daughter to her daily training with the sword and magic instructors. She has been skipping out as ofte, and that is simply no good." "Wai-" Giving out his orders, the Emperor refused to give his daughter the chance to speak a single word. After all, he knew he would instantly fold the moment she said anything¡­ Even so, in no time at all, the teary-eyed princess was dragged away from the throne room, set to attend the lessons that she missed. Whereas Lucifer, Li Yan, and Xue Lan were already settling into their newrge cabin home by ake to the northern side of the castle. Keeping the cabin as far away from the princess''s room as possible, the location was obviously strategically ced. Though, for Lucifer, this ce was absolutely perfect! He just wanted a home to peacefully cultivate and grind to his heart''s content in, and now a home was presented to him for free! Plus, the Emperor said he could stay for ''as long as you want''. It was clearly just a form of being polite, but Lucifer didn''t give a sh*t about politeness! He would take this opportunity to stay as long as he wanted! With this in mind, he had a Golden Core that he needed to form and mold into shape. So, without further ado, he created a few TV''s and emted entertainment for the two Pokemon, then he walked up a flight of stairs and set up a cultivation room. After which, he got right down tomencing his breakthrough into the Golden Core Formation Realm! WAAA! Multi-colored Qi whirled around inside Lucifer''s temporary cultivation room, bombarding him from all sides. Though it tried to make a mess of his insides without consent, Lucifer ultimately showed it who was boss! As the dark gray Core located at the center of his Dantian Space slowly turned to gold, he circted the Qi in the air with even greater fervor. Bringing it all toward him like an active vacuum cleaner, he watched as it wrapped around his Core and tremendously sped up the transformation process. Within 5 minutes, the breakthrough was here, and all Lucifer had to do was force that b*tch to allow him in! Luckily, he was quite experienced with b*tches (he wasn''t), so it was with immense levels of ease that he had the Qi finish the refinement of his Core and fully transform it into a golden color! Though it was merely dull gold and quite a bit smaller inparison to the previous Gray Core, it was still leagues ahead in terms of quality. And for Lucifer, quality was all that really mattered. WAaa¡­ Letting the violent Qi in the atmosphere calm down a bit in intensity, Lucifer then decided to ignore his ragged clothes and bloodied body. Rather, he immediately activated his Divine Sense and inspected the inside of his Dantian Space. A dull golden Core spun in circles within the very center of his Dantian Space. Though not a bright shade of gold, its sheen still left quite a resplendent glow when stacked up next to the rest of his rather bleak Dantian Space. Therefore, it was no surprise that Lucifer was left quite pleased with this result. But did that mean he would be taking a break¡­? The answer was obviously no¡­! It was with an unparalleled will of mind that he overlooked the damage to his body and got right down to creating more Sources. In his eyes, his cultivation speed was rathercking, so this was obviously a ''necessity''. Getting right to work on this task, it took no more than 30 minutes for his total Source amount to multiply by 5. From 120,000 or so Sources to more than 600,000, his improvements were stupendously exceptional! "This is good and all, but... ehh¡­ Still not good enough." Lucifer was now one of the weakest beings in his area, and if he wished to truly begin the grind, then he needed to be far stronger than he was. Therefore, it was without respite that he continued to produce more and more Sourcebinations. Popping those things out like a chicken sh*ts out eggs, the total cumtive number skyrocketed! From 600,000 to 3 million Sources, Lucifer aplished this in a mere two hours! Figuring this was decent enough for now, he instead put his focus on his Body and Mind Cultivation, both of which were capped at the Absolute Peak Gold Rank. "If I wish to progress them further, then I will need to reverse engineer one of the other countless techniques I keep within this mind of mine." Following through with this train of thought, Lucifer skimmed his knowledge bank. Eventually, he came across a Technique called ''Astral Unity''. It was what he derived from an extremelyplicated technique that had a name that couldn''t even be spoken in the human tongue¡­ Regardless of that information, Astral Unity was a technique whose sole purpose was to assist the user in acquiring unity among all aspects of the user''s existence. Adding his own little touch into the main guidelines of the technique, Lucifer was able to create a Technique that cultivated both his Mind and Body Cultivation at the same time! Furthermore, it could also cultivate any additional cultivation paths, such as the Qi Path, the Spirit Path, the Arcane Path, the Divine Path, and any other paths! "Inyman''s terms, Astral Unity is the f*cking shizniz! Though there is one rather annoying downside¡­ With my currentprehension limit being somewhere around the Mahayana Realm, I will be unable to go past¡­ around the tinum Rank, I think¡­?" Lucifer didn''t know the exactparison rates, but he was sure that it was somewhere around there. "Even so, I will take it to the limit once more, and then see where I should go from there." Feeling the newfound power coursing through his veins, he was satisfied, but he was far from content. Therefore, the first thing he did was begin circting |Astral Unity|. nning to keep it running indefinitely, he had it condense itself and form a thin fment around his body. It was simr to his Godfiend Technique, but at the same time, it was vastly different. "Welp, time to grind once more¡­" Letting time pass him by, he cultivated while Li Yan and Xue Lan binge watched SpongeBob. On the other hand, Shun Wen was being brought through the wringer by her instructors. Though, during her entire training session, she couldn''t seem to get the raven-haired man off her mind. He would say it was because of his unparalleled charm and max-level sigma aura, but Shun Wen would beg to differ¡­ ¡­ 33 hourster, True Dawn arrived once more, and Lucifer''s gains were immense. Opening up his system interface, this was what he saw¡­ BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Early Golden Core Realm (Peak)] [Body Cultivation - Middle Diamond Rank (21.8%)] [Mind Cultivation - Middle Diamond Rank (27.95%)] [Battle Power - Half-Step Void Refinement Realm (Late)] [Half-Step Void Refinement Realm Clone cost - 10,000 Super Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 503,000 Super Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 503,000 Super Clone Essence] ¡ª------- Viewing the price of his clones, Lucifer saw nothing unusual; the system was still a scammer, and he was still being scammed; nothing new there. But with him having spawned in a number of powerful clones, his Clone Essence was constantly going up, so he didn''t really mind that much. At least he didn''t care enough to make a big fuss over it. Though what really caught his eye was the fact that his Body and Mind Cultivation were progressing at different speeds. This was quite odd, especially when considering that they were both cultivated the same amount of time with |Astral Unity|. And as if the Infinite Clone System read his mind, it brought up a pop-up that said: [Ding! The host may cultivate at the same rate for both his Mind and Body Cultivation, but because they are twopletely different aspects of existence, there will be some discrepancies. But all in all, everything besides your mind is working as it should!] "Yeah, whatever, a*shole." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Lucifer was suddenly pulled away from his thoughts by the opening of his cultivation room door. Bang! ''I thought I locked that thing up with my Qi¡­-'' Before he could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by a blonde rocket flying right at him! Thud! Hitting him right in the pit of the stomach, Lucifer was sent crashing into the wooden wall behind him. Then, with anotherrge bang, hended on the flowing greenish-ck grass outside what was once a cabin in mint condition; now, it just had a big gaping hole in the side of it. Ignoring the paining from his stomach, Lucifer looked at what caused this incident, and who woulda guessed¡­? ... Chapter 115: System, Do You Hate Me? ... "Damn royalty¡­" Lucifer muttered underneath his breath. "Are you okay, Lucifer!? I didn''t mean to hit you so hard! It''s just that I was finally done with training, a-and I wanted to see you, so I came as fast as I could¡­" Twiddling her thumbs and looking in every direction but where her victim was located, it was quite obvious that Shun Wen felt bad about what she had done. But with her straddled on top of him like she was ready to dominate the rodeo, Lucifer found it hard to believe that she was anything but a she-devil in disguise. Lifting his upper body off the ground with his arms, he found himself face-to-face with the flustered blonde elf princess. Instead of taking advantage of this situation like a Japanese protagonist, he simply asked, "You''re done¡­?" "Mhmm¡­ For at least 50 hours¡­" Nodding her head with a slight crimson brush over how close she was to his face, Shun Wen had no urge to move a single inch from her spot. "I see¡­" Slowly tracing his eyes up and down the curvaceous figure of the princess, he caused her to be a little self-conscious. Cupping her breasts and turning her face off to the side, she was about to say something. But before she could, Lucifer interrupted her, saying: "You ever gonna get off me or what?" "A-Ahh, yes!" Flustered and a little embarrassed over her risque positioning, Shun Wen leaped up off his groin and scuddled a few feet away. Taking a moment to muster up the courage, she said, "Lucifer, I was wondering if you would like to- Lucifer?" She looked up from her own little daydream, quickly realizing that Lucifer skedaddled and got the f*ck out of there! "Lucifer¡­!!" Immediately putting aside her thoughts, Shun Wen became rather anxious. Running around the riverside area like an obsessed yandere lunatic, she not once entertained the idea that maybe her victim didn''t want her here¡­ Hiding behind a few trees, Lucifer held his breath and brainstormed ways that he could permanently get the crazy chick off his back. "Should I kill her¡­?" He mumbled. In his mind, that was the easiest and most efficient way to get rid of a problem. But then again, he would most definitely die if he attempted something like that. Or it might end up even worse than that¡­ "Scratch that. Plus, she sort of, maybe, kinda, not really helped me in getting onto the Nightmare Express¡­ Not that I needed the help, but yeah¡­" Rubbing his chin and meandering around in his own thoughts, Lucifer failed to notice that the crazy blonde chick had already found him¡­ "..." Looking up from his thoughts, Lucifer saw that creepy smirk and just knew that he was truly and rurally f*cked this time around. Not able to catch a single break, he was forcefully dragged by the arm. Being sentenced to do whatever the insane elf wanted for a few hours, he only found his break when the other crazy chick and the weird midget left the cabin to look for him. Slipping out of the catfight that started between the insane girls he in no way wanted around him, Lucifer walked through the deeper areas of the forest. Hoping to find something strong to fight and drown his troubles in, he aimlessly strolled through ces where Half-Step Void Refinement Realm Nightmare Monsters were quitemon. After spending a few hours in the forest, Lucifer managed to triple his total Clone Essence amount. Furthermore, his Body Cultivation and Mind Cultivation maderge strides within the Middle Diamond Rank, sessfully passing over the 50% mark. In case it wasn''t mentioned previously, all Qi Paths had the Diamond rank after the Gold rank. After the Diamond rank was the Adamantine rank, and after that was the tinum rank. "Though the tinum Rank is way out of reach for the current me, I should definitely be able to reach the Adamantine Rank for my Body Cultivation and Mind Cultivation before long. Moreover, if I can breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm, I can unlock and advance my Spirit Cultivation Path as well." Taking a cursory nce at his simplified system interface, Lucifer focused on the Qi Cultivation part, curious to see how close he was to the Middle Golden Core Realm. [Qi Cultivation: Early Golden Core Realm (Limit)] "The limit, eh?" "Screetch!!!" SHING! Doing a quadruple spin flip, Lucifer spun around with his sword, sending out a few sword arcs in the direction of a twenty-meter-tall Nightmare Monster dinosaur. SPURT! SPURT! Slicing it up into dozens of neatly cut pieces, Lucifer ignored the system notifications, continuing to look over his system interface as if that were the only thing that mattered. [Ding! You have killed a Dark Raptor in the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm. The reward is 10,500 Super Clone Essence!] He had already obtained so many system notifications like this one in his hike through the forest that a few more didn''t really make that much of a difference. Still, something was always better than nothing, so he made sure to look at them at least once. "Hmm¡­ If my power keeps on progressing at this pace, then it shouldn''t be long before I''m able to obtain a foothold in this world. But before that can happen, I will need to go through with this breakthrough and achieve a Battle Power in the Void Refinement Realm." Actively circting his |Elusive Ascension|, Lucifer didn''t even feel the need to sit down and breakthrough the normal way. Thus, it wasn''t that surprising that he sessfully broke through while in the midst of a battle with a terrifying Python Nightmare Monster in the Early Void Refinement Realm¡­ "Ahh¡­ A breakthrough?" Inspecting the inside of his Dantian Space, Lucifer was pleased to see that his dull gold core had transformed into something multiple timesrger. Moreover, it also had its color be a few shades brighter. "ROOOAAARRR!!!!" Being taken out of his thoughts by a massive tail whipping around the forest like a divine cleaver, Lucifer had to dodge by leaping up into the air. Spinning like a cracked-up beyde, he turned into Mketh from Elden Ring, shing out with multiple crimson red sword arcs! SHING! SHING! Previously, these attacks were unable to so much as chip off the smallest of scales from the mighty Python Nightmare Monster. But now, with his breakthrough aplete sess, he was able to sh offrge chunks of the python''s slithery body! "HSsSsssSsss¡­!!!!" Switching from a deep, almost lion-like roar to a pained hiss, the Python Nightmare Monster stopped its tail swing. Moving from offense to defense, it did its utmost to thwart the seemingly endless amount of crimson Qi Arcsing from dozens of different directions! SHING! SHING! However, in the end, no matter what the snake did, the crimson arcs subtly increased in ferocity with each passing second, emting the pace at which Lucifer progressed in his strength. In mere moments, the Python went from overwhelmingly confident in its sess to being pushed through hundreds of trees. Destroying the terrain with every crimson arc that was shot out, the Python became bloodier and bloodier. With its dark yellow/ck scales king off and littering the surroundings with its greenish red blood, Lucifer pushed it onest time! KABOOOOM!!! sting into the back of arge mountain, the Python monster was nted into an enormous spiderwebbed crater! Unable to get itself unstuck, it was forced to stay there and watch as the crazy, flipping demon made onest flip. This one, unlike thest few flips, was one that was majorly dyed. It was unknown if he was gathering energy or truly ying the part of an Elden Ring boss, but when the attack fully went through, the dragon-like head of the Python was no longer there. In its ce, there was a high-reaching fountain of greenish-red blood, and standing under that blood was a raven-haired man who was starting to look more demon than human with every passing second¡­ [Ding! You have killed a Python Nightmare Monster in the Early Void Refinement Realm. The reward is 1.2 Million Super Clone Essence!] "..." Emotionlessly staring at this system notification, Lucifer''s apathy suddenly broke all at once and was instead reced with a wide, goofy grin. When fighting, he really locked in, so emotions became rather useless. But when there was loot to be had, well¡­ guhehehe~ "Yo, system-chan. How much does a clone in the Early Void Refinement Realm cost?" [Ding! In order to purchase an Early Void Refinement Realm Clone, the host will need to spend 10 Million Super Clone Essence!] "Hey, system-chan?" [Ding! Yes, dear host?] "Why do you hate me¡­?" [Ding! The system cannot feel; therefore, it is impossible for the system to hate the host. But if the host would like to talk about it, the system can leave you on the nearest system hotline and will have an associate on the other end as soon as possible!] "Such a thing is really possible?" [Ding! Of course not, you f*cking dumba*s!] ... Chapter 116: You Want Tummy Rubs...? ... "Such a thing is really possible?" [Ding! Of course not, you f*cking dumba*s!] "..." Silence was all that stood between Lucifer strangling the system to death or jumping off a very high ce. In the end, he ignored the system and walked over to the corpse of the giant Python Nightmare Monster. Extracting its ten-meterrge core and absorbing its cultivation essence, he watched as his cultivation advanced by quite a bit. {[Middle Golden Core (Early)]} {[Middle Golden Core (Middle)]} Though it was nothing too extraordinary, it was just enough to take his Battle Power into: {[Early Void Refinement Realm (Early)]}. For Lucifer, that was a pretty decent haul for killing an overgrown garden snake. "Well, now that the sneeak is dead, I figure it''s about time that I make my way even deeper into this totally safe, super dark forest..." Turning his head to the left and looking at the willowy trees whisking left to right, Lucifer found the eerie sounds they made not ominous at all... "This looks like an area change, and I may or may not be about to encounter a secret boss... But ehh, what''s the point of living if you aren''t actually living!" Strolling into the dark and scary forest without a care in the world, Lucifer walked past a wide array of Nightmare Monsters, all of whom had been waiting for a very long time for their snacks... Of course, every single Nightmare Monster that thought they found a free lunch ended up bing the lunch themselves... But while they were alive, they put up really good struggles! Well, not really, but yeah... Lucifer entered the darker depths of the forest with 5 million or so Super Clone Essence. By the time he encountered his first Middle Void Refinement Realm Nightmare Monster, he already had 40 Million Super Clone Essence. After using up half of it to summon 2 Void Refinement Realm Clones, Lucifer was left with a meager 20 Million Super Clone Essence... But with him and his clones making up a force of 3 Early Void Refinement Realm powerhouses, he was far more confident in his persistent advance through the spooky forests. In fact, Lucifer was so confident that he gave up humanity and returned to monke. By stripping down to his bare bottom in order to taunt the Nightmare Monsters, he was able to have even the scaredy cat monsters erase the idea of running away. After all, none of them were willing to back down when presented with a rge''petitor! Call it pride or foolishness, but when faced with a divine dragon, all of existence would begin to strut their stuff... This led to insanely high loot rates for Lucifer. Moreover, it also led to a rapidly increasing number of female monstersing after him... He wasn''t quite sure what the hell they wanted with him, but he wasn''t about toy around and find out. So, with utter mercilessness, he struck down all the horny bi*ches and continued to make his way toward the deeper depths of the forest filled to the brim with monsters. Lucifer had no clue what Li Yan, Xue Lan, and Shun Wen were doing at the moment. But if his intuitive spections were correct, they were probs bonding! Well, in a way, he was right. But the type of ''bonding'' they were doing was far more physical and violent. No, it wasn''t the pervy kind. Rather, Lucifer''s new home was being torn between the fierce cat ws of three extremely dangerous and extremely deranged ''cats''. There would definitely need to be some renovations when he returned- "Wait, why would I need to return?? I have abandoned my humanity and be monke. If I were to y the part to perfection, then I need to take a grand and noble quest to find the milk!" Throwing his fist into the air like a truly virtuous man, Lucifer was about to embark on the greatest quest of his entire life! It was one that many before him had embarked on, and it was one that he too had to tread-! "Umu?" Stopping his thoughts, Lucifer noticed something white out of the corner of his eye and immediately felt that something was amiss. Putting aside the matter of setting out for the greatest of causes, he approached the white spot in between a few bushes. Sticking out like a sore thumb, Lucifer really had ''no choice'' but to see what was popping. It was his moral obligation as a Loot Goblin! Without further nonsense, he walked up to the white spot, and the first thing he saw was... "A white floofers...? They really have a white floofer all alone in a forest of terrifying creatures!? Who could be so cruel!?" Lucifer was that cruel. "Anyway, I was looking for a mighty steed, and this... whatever it is fits the bill!" Observing the white floofers, he saw its two, small spiraling golden horns and instantly determined this floofer to be a high-breed steed. White as the whitest nkets of freshlyid snow, big round eyes, and around the size of arge puppy breed -- this was just the floofer that Lucifer had been searching for! But seeing as it was unconscious, he didn''t want to seem like an incorrigible fiend and just up and snatch it like a Japanese protagonist would. Instead, he walked to the floofer and tapped on its white, floppy ears. "Yo, floofer, eggs and bacy, it''s time for you to waky!" Even though Lucifer used the secret chant and everything, it didn''t seem like the sleepy floofer was ready to wake up. Still, he wasn''t yet ready to give up, so he tried all the ''special'' chants that he could think of. After a few minutes of getting nowhere in his unparalleled floofer whispering techniques, Lucifer realized that his clones would soon be unable to hold back all the Nightmare Monsters. Therefore, there was really only one thing that he could do to prevent the floofer and himself from bing the breakfast of some random monster... FWIP! Like amon hypocrite, Lucifer snatched up the floofer and ran in the opposite direction of the Nightmare Monster Wave that had built up in that part of the forest! "Esceeetch!!!" "Roaarrrrgghh!!!'' Hearing numerous hair-tingling monster sounds echo out from behind him, Lucifer sped up his retreat! Of course, he wasn''t one to miss out on any loot, so he let his clones fight the monsters to the death ande out with like a 50/50 chance of survival. "Well, more like 99/1 chance of survival, but do the specifics really matter...?" Leaping over tree canopies like a jumping monkey, Lucifer spawned in tens of thousands of clones with every step he took. Using them as meat shields and whatnot, he eventually obtained the leeway necessary to hide out in a secure tree hole. Dubbing this tree hole ''Lonely Virgin Mary'', Lucifer then rxed against one of the hole''s walls. After which, he ignored the ominous howls and screeching from outside, putting all his focus on the wolf-like floofer curled up in his arms. Now deciding to wake up, the bright, golden eyes of the floofer found themselves staring right into the swirling crimson pools in Lucifer''s eyesockets. "Sup, little floofer! Don''t worry, I am not here to eat you; I simply wish to know if it''s okay to floof you?" Lucifer''s gentlemanly spirit caused the white floofer to tilt its head in confusion. It wasn''t exactly shocked over the stranger''s presence, but it also wasn''tpletely clear on where it was or who he was. Looking at the confused floofer, Lucifer said, "My name is Lucifer, floofer. And I also just so happen to be one of the most noble beings in existence!" Bing even more puzzled, the white floofer tilted its head left and right, trying its best to analyze the existence of this weird bipedal creature. "Woof...?" "Yeah, woof, woof! Lucifer!" Seemingly misinterpreting the sound the floofer made, Lucifer threw up his thumbs and showed a wide, toothy grin. "Woof..." Giving up on pondering the unusual mannerisms of the weird monkey man, the floofer bent its ears down and stuck out its paw. "Oh? You wish to shake hands with me, now do ya?" Sticking out his hand, Lucifer sped onto the small paw of the floofer. However,pletely out of his expectations, this brief contact resulted in a bright sh of goldish white light within the tree hole! "What the hell!? Is this some sort of anime level floofer moment!? Are we about to bepanions of the highest degree and traverse the seas in order to be the pirate king-" "Woof..." Interrupting Lucifer''s main character moment with a low growl, the floofer stopped the bright sh of light. Taking its paw away from the hands of the human, it woofed once more. "???" Unlike the previous time that he heard the floofer woof, Lucifer could almost tell what the floofer was thinking. In fact, he could most definitely understand what it was trying to convey! "You want tummy rubs...?" ... Chapter 117: The Floofer, Middle Void Refinement Realm BP ... "You want tummy rubs...?" Lucifer wasn''t exactly opposed to doing such a thing, but it was still a tad bit sudden- "Woof, woof!" Jumping from hisp to his head, the white floofer stomped on his face, trying to tell him that he waspletely wrong! Once again activating a bright sh of light, the Floofer fixed the problem with the spell. Leaping off the human''s head, the floofernded on the hollow wooden surface. Finding its voice, it woofed. "Ahh... You''re trying to say that you don''t have a name?" Asked Lucifer, his brows raised to a point. "Woof!" Happy that its thoughts were sessfully conveyed this time around, the white floofer approached Lucifer once more and sat in hisp. Feeling that this spot was quitefortable, it curled up into a ball and left for thend of dreams. However, before such a thing could happen, a yfully raspy voice sounded out, saying: "If you don''t have a name, would you like me to give you one?" Wanting to finish up his main character moment, Lucifer''s eyes brightened up, and he leaned his head over the white floofer. Thankfully, he didn''t have to wait long before it stuck up a paw and woofed. Taking that as a confirmation to do what he wanted, Lucifer repeatedly nodded his head, seemingly pondering very deeply on a name for the white floofer. After a few seconds of extremely high-level brain processing, a sh of inspiration passed by his eyes. "I know what your name should be!" He eximed. Picking up the floofer by the areas beneath its armpits, Lucifer showed a smile and said, "Your name shall be Whitey! Your white and fluffy! You name just has to be Whitey!" "..." Whitey went utterly silent after hearing exactly what next-level name the human had for it. Looking defeated and beat down to rock bottom, it let out a low, almost inaudible woof... Even though it was obviously not a fan of the name that the human gave it, that didn''t stop an eruption of blue and gold light from leaving the small body of the floofer. Marking that name as something imprinted into its very soul, Whitey let out a howl that held an unknown number of mysteries. "Ayo! You can''t be so loud, little guy! Did you not see all those Nightmare Monsters that were looking to make both of us tinyte-night snacks!?" Whispering under his breath, Lucifer covered Whitey''s mouth. Briefly poking his head out of the tree hole, he only returned to his spot after verifying that the coast was clear. Luckily, that happened quite quickly, mostly because the majority of the Nightmare Monsters were still chasing after his clones. "Anyway, what kinda creature are you, Little Whitey?" Asking this question with a curious gleam in his gaze, Lucifer settled back into ce. "Woof..." "You don''t know, huh? Well, from what I can tell based on just appearances, you''re definitely one hell of a special existence. Though I am certainly quite curious about the extent of that specialness." Rxing his head against the back of the tree hole''s interior, Lucifer went on to depict a good chunk of his life experiences. Hoping to get along well with the floofer, he withheld nothing in his story telling. As this was happening, his clones worked on both luring away and killing any Nightmare Monsters that they could. Although a lot of them were in and above the Middle Void Refining Realm, there were still a good few in and below the Early Void Refining Realm. These were the ones his clones mowed down while in the process of fleeing the scene. Though it was also thanks to this sneaky tactic that an extremely solid amount of Clone Essence came Lucifer''s way. [Ding! You have killed a Howling Demon Monkey in the Early Void Refinement Realm. The reward is 2.4 million Super Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed a Mega Two-Legged Shark in the Early Void Refinement Realm. The reward is 1.9 million Super Clone Essence!] Receiving a wide array of system notifications just like this one, Lucifer''s Clone Essence Bank stored a staggering 440 million Super Clone Essence! With so much wealth at his disposal, the first thing Lucifer did was burn through 250 million of it. Purchasing 25 Clones with strength in the Early Void Refinement Realm was more than worth it in his opinion. Adding onto the clone force that Lucifer already possessed and his clone count exceeded the 30 count! Thanks to these additional clones, his Clone Essence acquisition rate was sped up by tenfold! ''With them hard at work and me hard at sleeping, I can confidently say that the workload has been evenly split. Yep, yep, Umu.'' Although Lucifer''s thoughts were extremely sarcastic, that didn''t mean he truly was doing nothing. After all, with Elusive Ascension and his cultivation Path techniques in full cirction, everything was going through many rounds of improvements. Taking a sleepy nce at his system interface, this was what he saw: BLING! --------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Middle Golden Core Realm (Late)] [Body Cultivation - Middle Diamond Rank (85.9%)] [Mind Cultivation - Middle Diamond Rank (92.1%)] [Battle Power - Early Void Refinement Realm (Late)] [Early Void Refinement Realm Clone cost - 10 million Super Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 440 million Super Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 210 million Super Clone Essence] --------- Realizing that he was very close to breaking through in multiple aspects of his existence, Lucifer napped with Whitey and waited a couple hours for the breakthroughs to ur. When the breakthrough finally arrived, it took him by surprise and gave him three different breakthroughs at once! "A three for one!? This must be my lucky day!" WAAA! All at once, the Qi from the surrounding atmosphere swarmed toward Lucifer and took his body through multiple extraordinary transformations! By the end of this very subtle congregation of Qi, Lucifer broke through the Late Diamond Rank for both his Body and Mind Cultivation. Not long after, his Qi Cultivation broke through to the Late Golden Core Formation Realm as well! Looking over his Battle Power once more, he was left mildly astonished by what he saw. [Battle Power: Middle Void Refinement Realm (Initial)] "Although I expected to have quite the increase in Battle Power, I didn''t expect it to reach the extent of taking it into the Middle Void Refinement Realm..." Although shocked by this oue, that didn''t mean Lucifer was in any way disappointed. After all, any gains were better than no gains! Taking his train of thought in a different direction, he realized that the Nightmare Monsters were catching onto the little wool pull that he yed on them not too long ago. Figuring that this was a better time than never, Lucifer picked up the floofer called Whitey. Jumping out of the tree hole, he dashed through the shadowy forest and made his way toward the deeper depths of the seemingly endless stretch of spooky forest. "Screech!!!" Hearing Soul-wrenching schreesceh echo out from all around him, Lucifer sped up his advance. Noticing arge, unusual shrine atop a mountain in the distance, he dashed to a trail path and followed its tracks until making it to a series of steps. Above those steps, there was arge hanging sign that read ''The Shrine of Sorrow''. Taking this ominous sign as nothing to fret about, Lucifer strolled through the shrine entrance. Looking around, he immediately saw what was an almost a Japanese-like interioryout. In the middle wall side of this shrine, there was a memorial shrine. With the candles on the shrine still burning brightly, Lucifer walked up to it with floofer in hand. "This ce is spooky as hell, but I have a strong feeling that it isn''t as evil as it seems..." The primary reason why he felt this way was because the moment he entered the shrine, he could no longer hear the ominous screeches of the Nightmare Monsters outside. Assuming that this was because of some form of holy or light type barrier of sorts, Lucifer naturally figured that this ce was more of a safe area in the forest. There was also a chance that the Shrine of Sorrow was home to an evil spirit so evil that the rest of the evil creatures of the night steered clear of the ce... But then again, Lucifer hadn''t sensed even the slightest smidgen of a malicious presence in the vicinity of the shrine. Normally one would find numerous smaller evil spirit type totems or unexinable creatures in areas surrounding a powerful, hidden evil spirit. But with the Shrine of the Sorrow, none of that was the case. Therefore, Lucifer deemed it fine to just up and stroll into the shrine without much caution. Of course, this and a chance of backfiring on him, but he believed himself to be someone who could bullsh*t themselves out of anything, so worrying about the unforeseen was the least of his concern. Rather, it was the photo on the miniature memorial shrine that truly attracted his attention. As he got a good look at the photo, Lucifer almost immediately felt a sense of familiarity with the beautiful young girl depicted in it. ... Chapter 118: An Entity Near The Peak ... "Hmm... What do you think, Whitey? Are you feeling the same thing that I''m feeling," Lucifer asked. While watching the floofer tilt his head up at him in a confused manner, he figured that the floofer was not feeling what he was feeling. Putting his attention back on the miniature shrine, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What... or rather, who are you?" For some reason, he couldn''t help but feel an odd sense of kinship with the gorgeousdy in the photo. Lost in his own thoughts, Lucifer failed to notice that one of the dozens of candles on the shrine suddenly blew out. From this urrence, the translucent ghost-like figure of a woman materialized into view. Appearing eerily simr to thedy in the photo, this ghost woman watched the ck-haired youngster with a keen glint in her hollowed gaze. "???" Feeling something staring at him from a corner of the shrine, Lucifer shot his head in that direction. But rather than seeing the ghost Lady, all he saw was a few specks of candle ashes billowing in the light air flow of the shrine. "How odd, indeed..." Understanding that this ce might be a tad bit too mysterious, Lucifer was prepared to vacate the ce with his floofer. But the moment he reached the shrine exit, he was restricted by some barrier fment. Preventing him from moving a single step further, there was also a rather strong breeze of air seeping into the shrine''s cracks. "Well, f*ck... This definitely isn''t any good..." Awkwardly chuckling to himself, Lucifer tried to use Clone Switch and phase away from his main body, but that was deemed a major no-go. "Ai, well it does appear that I have been trapped in here by some unknown force... F*cking great..." slowly turning his head in the direction that all the wind was flowing toward, he saw something attempting toe into the world of the living. Causing slight fluctuations in the air and shooting off bright blue sparks of energy, Lucifer was able to make a few guesses on what was about to happen. The one he ulty ended upnding on was, "I think we''re screwed, Whitey. Prepare your floofy butt, because I don''t think we''re making it out of this in one piece..." Tightly holding his floofer, Lucifer could do nothing but stand in still motion and watch as a humanoid-sized silhouette came into existence. When it did fullye into being, Lucifer was immediately able to tell that this mysterious existence looked exactly the same as the one in the memorial photo... "I know I have that Xue Lan ghost girl as an example, but I never would''ve thought I would meet another one so soon..." "Woof..." Lucifer was analyzing the mysterious ghost Lady, whereas Whitey was simply trying to understand why it could never seem to catch some z''s with a very, very long nap. Bzzzttt... Causing the blue energy surrounding her body to fluctuate and flicker, the ghost Lady finally obtained the ability to speak. The first thing she said was, "You may have felt a certain familiarity with the version of inside that picture, and I have brought my incorporeal form into the corporeal realm to tell you that we are family." "We are f*cking what now!?" ''If what this powerful ghost says is true, then I am... Oh shit, I am rurally f*cked, aren''t I...?'' Recalling everything that he had done to therge majority of his ''family'', Lucifer knew there was really only one way toe out of this encounter unscathed. Puckering his lips and bowing at an angle of reverence, he shouted, "This little one greets the old one! Please have pity on this small one''s existence! If I offended you in any way, then please instruct me of how I should change!" "Oh...?" Seeing how well her great, great grandson adapted to what she said, Zhi Chun, the Oldest Ancestor of the Devildukes slowly floated to the ground. Wearing an understanding and motherly smile on her wless face, she approached the bowing Lucifer andid one of her hands on his shoulder. Causing him to look up with this physical contact, she looked him straight through the soul and said, "You, Lucifer Devilduke, are my Great, Great Grandson. And as such, I will bestow upon you a way to utilize the power of this forest for your own devices. I see that you are already very exceptional when ites to your Qi Cultivation, but having an additional Cultivation Path with superb talent like yours will do nothing but help you." ''Hmm... So that Soul search just a second ago was unable to discover anything past my Qi Cultivation base...? If that''s the case, then she probably just thinks that I''m a genius for having reached the Late Golden Core Realm at 18 years of age.'' ''In some areas, such talent is nothing out of the norm, and as long as she doesn''t learn of my millions of Sources and the fact that my Battle Power is astronomical, I believe that I can take advantage of this ''Grandma'' of mine.'' Lucifer never would''ve expected to met one of the Founding Ancestors of the Devilduke Family in the Nightmare Realm, let alone this rather ordinary shrine in the middle of nowhere. But now that he had met her, he would make sure to take full advantage of this ''furtuipud encounter''! "This small one greets Great Great Grandma! Although this one is not worthy of receiving your estemeed favor, if you wish to bestow something to this lowly one, then ept I shall!" Thud! Getting on one knee, Lucifer extended out both his hands. Then, as if he had rehearsed this move a million times, he visibly oozed a devout aura! Slightly taken aback by the devoutness of this filial grandson of hers, Zhi Chun silently praised whoever had raised this descendant. As her mood was improved by a few degrees, she overlooked the inconspicuous floofer in Lucifer''s hands. Instead, she swiped her sleeves and conjured forth a thick ck book with arge menacing skull on the front of it. Levitating this book to the outstretched hands of her grandson, Zhi Chun said, "This here is a way for you to begin treading a path other than that of Qi Cultivation. The Evil Path. Though this path name might sound rather misleading, I guarantee you that you won''t need tomit any heinous acts to progress in this path." Looking down at the name of the Evil Path book, Lucifer read the words ''Evil Sovereignty''. It was a name that exuded dominance, and it was also something that he had been looking for. ''Due to theck of diversity among my high-ranking Evil Path Techniques, I was unable to derive something that could be used before the High-Mortal Realms. But with this magnamious Great, Great Grandma of mine, I now have a way to begin advancing in my fourth Qi Path ahead of schedule!'' Although Lucifer inwardly smirked an evil smirk, on the outside, he showed nothing other than immense gratitude and slight curiosity. Taking her grandson''s appreciation quite well, Zhi Chun said, "You need not worry about having the necessary talent for the Evil Path. Everything you needy within the confines of that book in your hands. Simply read it and the relevant knowledge wille flooding-" Bzzztt... Out of nowhere, Zhi Chun''s illusory figure started to vibrate and fluctuate out of existence. Causing her words to split up and break apart, what she said after ''flooding'' came out as intelligible gibberish. ''Umu? What the hell is she trying to say?'' Tilting his head in confusion, Lucifer attempted to piece together herggy speech. But in the end, all he managed to understand was, ''Not enough time'', ''Even though I was a Mahayana Realm'', and ''Take care. Until next we meet''. From these little bits and pieces, Lucifer entered a rather perplexing state. Thinking to himself in an intuitive manner, he failed to notice theplete disappearance of his ghost Grandma. From her illusory figure to the fire above the shrine candles, everything vanished without a trace. Leaving the spooky shrine with a dimly lit unnerving atmosphere, Lucifer was left to solemnly contemte thest words spoken by his grandma. He was also curious about she was able to materialize a book out of thin air as a ghost, but that was more of a secondary concern. "From what I can gather, great granny either meant she was out of time, or the holy barrier surrounding this shrine was out of time. And from the reappearance of the howls of truly terrifying monsters, I am inclined to believe that she was referring to both options..." While listening to the high-pitched screeches slowly but surely get louder and louder, it became abundantly clear that the barrier around the shrine was on the verge of crumbling away. "Thest message was simple enough, but as for the 2nd message... Ai, it does appear that Granny was in the Mahayana Realm, making her an entity nearing the very pinnacle of this world. Well, that does soothe my worries on the quality of this booky book here." .... Chapter 119: Middle Void Refinement Realm BP .... With Evil''s Sovereignty, Lucifer was all but assured of its ability to grant anyone the option of taking up the Evil Path. Wishing to waste none of the limited time he had, Lucifer picked up the floofer and put her on his shoulders. Letting the floofer lean up against both his head and the wall, he then got to opening up Evil''s Sovereignty. "Woof...?" Clearly quite confused over the actions of the human, Whitey repeatedly tilted its head. Though it quickly got tired of thinking too much and simply went back to napping. On the other hand, as Lucifer opened up the book, the words inscribed in the pages were enough to put him in a temporary state of enlightenment. Taking advantage of this rare and fortuitous state of being, he bothprehended the Evil Path and further progressed his other 3 cultivation paths. Aiming to reach the Peak Diamond Stage for his Mind and Body Path as well as the Peak Golden Core Realm for his Qi Path, Lucifer actively circted everything simultaneously. In no time t, he was already well on his way toward achieving his short term goal. But even before that could happen, the Evil Path was activated! OOOM! After reaching the Initial Copper Realm in half an instant, a dark ck energy evenly gathered around his body and dispersed all at once. "Umu! That is one breakthrough out of the way!" Nodding his head in satisfaction, Lucifer promptly put his attention onto continuing his breakthroughs in both the Evil Path and other Paths. With his new passive Evil Energy gathering technique on full st, this was made quite easy. Considering that this forest Lucifer was in was filled to the brim with evil energy, he had all the energy supply he needed to progress his Evil Path further down the line. Furthermore, there was a technique that he just created; it was capable of converting Evil Energy into the other Energy types using a form of hyper explosion and re-instation. It was hard to exin inyman''s terms, but essentially, it made for the good, good when it came to maximizing efficiency. Using this method of conversion, in less than 5 minutes, Lucifer sessfully broke through in his Evil Cultivation 9 times, reaching the Late Bronze Rank! And that wasn''t even the end of it, as he had also gotten his other three Paths past the 50% marks! With all of this in the equation, his body was beginning to look nothing short of a confused, in-bred Saiyan. But seeing as Lucifer didn''t seem to mind that, he continued to increase the visibility and quality of all his dazzling bodily colors. By the fifteen mark, he finally made his Body, Qi, and Mind Paths have breakthroughs! From the Late Diamond Rank to the Peak Diamond Rank, both his Mind and Body Cultivation changed the color of his skin. Slowly but surely, Lucifer was beginning to look like a certain sparkly vampire from a vampire show. However, for greater power, he was more than willing to look like a disco party ball costume gone wrong... "Well, there''s also my Golden Core... With my breakthrough into the Peak Golden Core Realm going off without a hitch, it has started to look more and more like a golden disco ball... Just me, perhaps?" Swiftly putting that matter to the back of his mind, Lucifer focused on his Battle Power. [Ding! Your Battle Power has reached the ''Middle Void Refinement Realm (Limit)] "Ai... Even after all that, I still can''t break past the Middle Void Refinement Realm into the Unity Form Synthesis Realm...? Figures as much..." Getting up off the wall with a mildly disappointed air about him, Lucifer made sure the floofer was locked in tight around his neck. After that was done, he vanished from his spot. Luckily, he did so in just the nick of time as multiple horrifying monsters crashed through the walls of the shrine! Over thirty meters in height, there were more than five of them, and they all looked like eerie mixtures between a bat and a dinosaur. However, the most terrifying part about them had to be how the immediately honed in on Lucifer''s fleeting figure after the demolition of the Devilduke Shrine. "Screeeeeech--!!!!" Releasing the most dreadful howls Lucifer had heard so far, they dashed from their spots like rabid dogs chasing their prey. In no time at all, they were right on Lucifer''s trail. Plowing through massive trees like they weren''t even there, they relentlessly leaped off the ground and snapped their razor-sharp teeth filled mouths at the raven-haired man bouncing off the tree canopies. "Damn, these things are freaky. And to make things worse, every single one of them is in the Late Void Refinement Realm." Speaking to himself in exasperation, Lucifer just narrowly dodged a harrowing mouth over ten times his body height. Making use of this dangerous situation, he leapt onto its jagged snout and rocketed into the sky. Like a zing firework, be progressively evaded the chomps of all the monstrous Nightmare Creatures. Climbing up them like a flight of stairs, Lucifer ultimately found himself freefalling from hundreds of meters above the tallest tree canopy. With just him and his Floofer, Whitey, he plummeted to the earth, seemingly about to fall into the giant parahana den. However, before such a thing could happen, Whitey suddenly opened her eyes and shed a bright golden light. Causing unknown yellow sigils to materialize above them, Lucifer was surprised to find out that brilliantly shimmering wings had grown from his back! Gliding through the skies like an angel on the move, he sped up into the horizon, temporarily escaping the keen tracking sense of the Nightmare Bats. "Wow, so I can fly this high now, huh?" Lucifer was rather surprised by this revtion, and rightfully so. After all, in the Nightmare Realm, it was normally not possible to fly too far off the ground. But with the help of his mysterious floofer, thetitude didn''t seem to be part of the equation anymore. Looking up fondly at the sleepy Whitey, Lucifer couldn''t help but confirm the theory that adopting (kidnapping) any and all floofers was always the right choice! In spite of his silly thoughts, he wasn''t too keen on just how long this angel transformation wouldst. Therefore, he worked the almost appendage-like wings to their utmost limits. Blitzing through the twilight scenery like a fiery bird of golden mes, Lucifer started to encroach upon the territory of the truly terrifying Nightmare Monsters. Ranging from the Peak Void Refinement Realm to the Limit Unity Form Synthesis Realm and beyond, the dangers thaty ahead were made abundantly obvious... Yet, this didn''t deter Lucifer in the slightest; It only made him yearn for greater and greater loot, not nning to stop until he was the absolute pinnacle of existence... ... In a matter of four hours, Lucifer managed to get himself to a level where he could confidently take on Nightmare Monsters in the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm. With such an extreme amount of power, he was only barely able to contend with the weakest of the terrifying Nightmare Monsters in the depths of the forest that he still didn''t know the name of... "Now that I think about it, I''m still one of the weakest in this limited area... But considering how many major realms there are, I doubt this will be thest time I feel this way. Ai..." Looking out the cracked windows of a ragged wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere, Lucifer kept his breath steady and undetectable. Making sure to have Whitey follow this example he set, they observed the spooky scenery outside the window. In mere moments, a giant foot interrupted their thoughts. Suddenly stopping what was a forward trot, the ligaments of the leg bent down at an angle, then like the worst of nightmares, a full mouth of shark-like teeth showed up outside the cabin. If Lucifer and Whitey didn''t duck just in the nick of time, well, it was highly likely that they would be dead by now... ''To have an Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm Nightmare Monster on our scent... Ai, I do wonder what exactly we did to warrant such opps...'' Thinking to himself in a discreet manner, Lucifer waited for the hair-tingling monster face to raise back in the air. Lifting up that massive foot, another foot soon took its ce, then another, and another... and another... Hundreds of huge bigfoot-like feet nted themselves into the soft, fertile soil of the forest. Seemingly traveling in a herd, these Bigfoots hissed and screeched. While baring the fangs that were attached to a mouth which was abination of a squid and a shark, the Nightmare Monsters quickly passed through the area. They were searching for a couple meat bags, and they wouldn''t stop until they found the dinner that got away... ''Welp, scratch what I said before. Instead of a single one of those things, there are hundreds of them... Normally, this would be seen as quite unfortunate, but considering that I have my own parade of loot bags following me around until I be stronger... Heh, I see this as nothing but a fortuitous encounter!'' ..... Chapter 120: Early Nascent Soul Realm ..... Following his thoughts, Lucifer was about to poke his head out to see if the coast was clear. However, before he made that grave mistake, he ducked even further to the crickety wooden floor. Luckily he did this, because the moment this thought so much as passed through his mind, another one of those monsters stuck its slitted tongue near the cabin''s window seal. Sensing around for a second, Lucifer could see a small eyeball open up on the end of the tongue. He thought about going in for the kill right then and there, but even he had a limit to his stupidity. Therefore, it was with great restraint that he held the white floofer close to his chest and kept himself as silent as possible. In a few seconds, the tongue slithered back up to the sky and the bigfoot monster was no longer there. Sending out subtle segments of his divine sense, Lucifer was able to verify that all the Bigfoot monsters had 100% left the area. Though he was 100% sure that they''d be back, and there was no way he wanted to stick around and wait for that to happen. It was with no hesitation that he took Whitey and phased through the cabin walls like an incorporeal ghost. This ability was acquired after reaching the Early Silver Rank in his Evil Path, and with it, Lucifer edged ever closer to understanding more and more of the Evil side of the world. His Evil Path was now at the Late Silver Rank, meaning that he had an even more diverse array of abilities than just passing through objects. Moreover, there was also his Body Cultivation and Mind Cultivation, both of which had reached the precipice of the Adamantine Rank! It would likely be no more than 5 minutes before he broke through- OOOM! "Oh? It looks like I broke through¡­ I guess the effects from all those pills finally kicked in¡­" Like a true Drug Lord, Lucifer always had the medicinal effects of drugs in his system. Though if he could have it his way, he would definitely intake enough pills to pass out and never again wake up. "Hmm¡­ Maybe I should look into self-induced cultivation improving drugas¡­" While incoherently mumbling to himself, Lucifer also took a few hard looks at the dark metallic shade his skin had taken. From a brilliant diamond-like sheen to a more full navy blue color, it might appear like a downgrade had urred. However, in reality, a major beneficial transformation had happened in the very atoms that made yo his body. Opening up his simplified system interface, this is what he saw. BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm (Limit)] [Body Cultivation - Initial Adamantine Rank (0.23%)] [Mind Cultivation - Initial Adamantine Rank (0.25%)] [Battle Power - Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm (Limit)] [Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clone cost - 1 Trillion Super Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 3.5 Trillion Super Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 3.5 Trillion Super Clone Essence] ¡ª------- "Well, with what I have right now, I can finally get a few Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clones." A satisfied smile emerged on Lucifer''s face as his hands moved toward the ''clone purchase'' button. Making quick work of his Super Clone Essence, he burned through that shit like it was going out of style! By the end of this spending spree, 3 Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clones and thousands of Peak Void Refinement Realm Clones materialized from thin air! "Time to grind!?" Lucifer asked in a booming voice, causing the eyes of both himself and the clones to shine like diamonds. Without saying any more nonsense, all of them vanished from their spots and spread out into the ominous forest. Some quickly died and others managed to rake in massive amounts of loot. Divided by distance, but United by cause, Lucifer and his clones scoured the dangerous forest and actively sought out any benefits. Within a couple minutes, the Super Clone Essence Acquisition Rate reached all-time highs! Amassing more than 1 Trillion Super Clone Essence with each passing second, it was fair to say that Lucifer was about to be absolutely loaded! Ten minutes and he already had 50 more Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clones. Another ten minutes and that number was in the thousands¡­ When an entire hour shed by, Lucifer''s total max lvl clone count achieved an all-time high of one million! SHING! SHING! Launching countless arcs of sword Qi, he and his clones overwhelmed the earlier bigfoot Nightmare Monsters with just pure numbers! No fancy movements and no detailed strategies; just a shit-ton of clones all working toward aplishing the tasks set out by their main body! Moving away from the active battlefield, Lucifer found himself a nice rock to sit on. Slowlybing through the fluffy white fur of Whitey, he decided to look at the iing system notifications. Utterly ignoring the horrifying monsters plummeting to the earth from all directions, he put all his focus on the gains. BOOOOOM!!! A mountain was ttened by a dead Unity Form Synthesis Realm Bigfoot, but Lucifer conveniently ignored that as well¡­ BLING! [Ding! You have killed 150+ Bigfoot Terrors in the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm. The reward is 10 Quintillion Super Clone Essence!] [Ding! The Clone Essence Indicator has once again reached a state where it can be converted into a higher form ''Legendary Clone Essence''. Conversion process has gone through with post-haste.] [Ding! 35 Quintillion Super Clone Essence has been converted to 0.35 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have your used your cultivation absorption techniques to absorb the cultivation of all the Bigfoot Terrors. This has caused your various Cultivation Paths to make major advancements!] [Ding! Your Body Cultivation has advanced to ''Middle Adamantine (78.5%)''] [Ding! Your Mind Cultivation has advanced to ''Middle Adamantine (82.6%''] [Ding! Your Evil Cultivation has advanced to ''Peak Diamond (55.9%)''] [Ding! Your Qi Cultivation is beginning to break through into the Nascent Soul Realm. Would you like to go through with the breakthrough?] "Damn straight I would like to go through with the breakthrough! Hit the breakthrough button and let me drug up real quick!" Jumping a little out of his skin in joy, Lucifer reached into his storage ring and popped the pills that his Alchemy ves had been hard at work in producing. All of the Peak-Earth Rank, there truly were no better pills for him at his current cultivation level! Without dawdling around a single second further, Lucifer gobbled up the pills and circted the medicinal effects contained within them. After his body started to glow and spark, he instantly knew that he was ready for the breakthrough! Well, to be honest, if he didn''t go through with the breakthrough right away, he would likely blow up like a balloon and explode. At this level of pills intake, his drug head encouragement techniques no longer had a substantial effect on his fatality rate¡­ OOOM! Going through with the breakthrough without a care in the world, Lucifer ignored the mountain-sized Nightmare Monsters plummeting to the ground from every direction imaginable. Rather, he was attempting to form a Nascent Soul right outside the area above his Golden Core, so nothing was permitted to distract him! Thankfully, Lucifer was too drugged up on pills to even notice the absolutely apocalyptic scene happening around his meditative figure¡­ "Time to break through!!!" Hollering this at the top of his lungs, the breakthrough came like a raging storm! Taking his entire existence by surprise, a rush of Qi washed over his Dantian Space like an unstoppable tsunami! All figurative walls preventing a breakthrough were broken down and reced with a state of being that could only be described as euphoria! The breakthrough was aplete sess! The Early Nascent Soul Realm! Inhaling and exhaling a few deep breaths of tired air, Lucifer tried to catch his breath. After a few moments of stabilizing himself, he looked inside his Dantian Space with his improved Divine Sense. The first thing he saw was a miniature version of himself sitting directly above his Core. Using the energy being constantly emitted from the Golden Core, his Nascent Soul started to embark on the Soul Path! "As soon as it reaches a sufficient point, I can use the cultivation of my Nascent Soul to get myself on the Path of Soul Cultivation as well. Of course, I will need to make a few alterations with my past life Soul Cultivation Technqueus, but I have a feeling that everything will work out just fine!" Thinking optimistically about the matter, Lucifer figured he should open up his system interface and see all the most recent changes. But before his eyes could reach the system interface pop-up, arge number of system notifications blocked his vision¡­ BLING! [Ding! You have killed 780 Bigfoot Terrors in the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm. The reward is 4.2 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed tens of thousands of Nightmare Monsters in and below the Unity Form Synthesis Realm. The reward is 7.8 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! Your Battle Power has passed into the Unity Form Synthesis Realm! Each Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clone will cost the host 1 Legendary Clone Essence.] BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Early Nascent Soul Realm (Initial)] [Body Cultivation - Middle Adamantine Rank (93.8%)] [Mind Cultivation - Middle Adamantine Rank (94.7%)] [Battle Power - Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm (Initial)] ¡ª---- [Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm Clone cost - 1 Legendary Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 15.3 Legendary Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 15.3 Legendary Clone Essence] ¡ª------- "Ahh, well, it does appear that I have reached a major turning point on my path to acquiring an infinite number of clones. Though, if I''m being honest, I''m still a tad bit¡­ broke¡­" Just up and blurting it out, Lucifer said the thing that every part of him was thinking. It was impossible to deny it any longer¡­ Now, how might he go about escaping this poverty striken drought that he found himself in? Well, that was something just about everyone would like to know¡­ Sigh¡­ Heaving a tired sigh that vividly showed the woes of a broke man, Lucifer then looked toward his system interface and gritted his teeth. "It''s time to make the sacrifice¡­" He mumbled. While acting as if he were going to cut off one of his arms, he tapped the clone purchase button and bought up 8 clones, all of whom possessed strength in the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm! "Hell yeah¡­" Lucifer tried his best to act excited, but the pain inflicted on him from loss of wealth was just too great a one to bear¡­ However, they say that time heals all wounds, and with the passing of a couple seconds, he was already right back to tip top shape! Right away, Lucifer moved from his position and darted through the spooky woods. Before long, his slimy ck tendrils had already had their ends touch upon every inch of the battlefield. As a result of this touch fest, Lucifer was able to absorb the corpses of every single fallen Nightmare Monster. In no time at all, his cultivation began to make major jumps! {[Early Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]} {[Early Nascent Soul Realm (Middle]} {[Early Nascent Soul Realm (Late)]} "Well, hot damn! Just a few of these big fuckers and I''m already nearing the Middle Nascent Soul Realm! Though, isn''t this just a wee bit convenient¡­? I mean¡­ Hmm¡­" For a second there, Lucifer began to believe that there were some mysterious forces at y. But before long, he passed that notion off as a silly thought and resumed his trod through the ominous forest, hoping to achieve more qualitative breakthroughs! Little did he know that there were indeed some organisms with nefarious intentions plotting in the background. In the great Raja Forest, there were evil beings that wished to get rid of the existence that ran around and caused havoc in their territory. For example, that herd of Bigfoot Terrors were one of the traps that these ''evil beings'' set up to get rid of the nuisance once and for all. But considering how hard this ''trap'' of theirs flopped, it was unknown just what sort of drastic measures they would take upon learning of what happened¡­ ¡ª--------- Chapter 121: Im Not The Idiot! ¡ª--------- As Lucifer ventured deeper and deeper into the Great Raja Forest, a few girls were very much on edge in a log cabin. Pitter. Patter. Pitter. Patter. Pacing around in circles, Xue Lan, the ghost woman, Shun Wen, the elven chick, and Li Yan, the bro-con goth girl, couldn''t seem to calm their nerves. With the sudden disappearance of the one always on their minds, they were originally going to wait it out until he came back. However, when more than 24 hours had gone by with no word back from him, they stopped their bickering and did the most useful thing they could. They freaked out and did absolutely nothing! "Wait!" Stopping in her tracks, Xue Lan looked toward the elven princess. "Aren''t you like¡­ able to send out a search party or something¡­?" "Uhmm¡­ No¡­ Well, normally I could. But when ites to the Great Raja Forest, that is just not possibl- well, hmm¡­" Shun Wen was going to shut down Xue Lan''s suggestion right away, but Xue Lan''s words got her to thinking. ''Maybe I can ask my dad and his Elite Guards for help¡­? Well, no, that won''t either¡­ They will likely kill him the first chance they get,'' she thought. While thinking deeply about this matter, the little bro-con also stopped moving around so much. She looked at both Xue Lan and Shun Wen a couple times, then with a small voice, she said, "If not recieve help¡­ Will be the help¡­" After getting out these rather bold words, Li Yan Naruto-ran outside the cabin and quickly vanished into the whisky tree branches of the ominous forest. "..." "..." Both Xue Lan and Shun Wen were mulling over a matter that had no light at the end of the tunnel. That was, when, both at once, they snapped out it and noticed the absence of the goth midget¡­ "Errm¡­ Looks like we''re going in?" Xue Lan murmured after a moment of thought. Still in a confused trance, Shun Wen lightly bobbed her head. "We have no choice now," she helplessly muttered. Less than two seconds after they came to this consensus, they were already right behind Li Yan, following her into the depths of the unknown. With Shun Wen''s cultivation base being exceptionally high, she believed that she possessed the necessary power to protect them up until reaching the heart of the Great Raja Forest. And there was simply no way Lucifer already made it to the heart of the Great Raja Forest with his low cultivation base! Right¡­? For a moment, Shun Wen actually was correct in her train of thought. But in the very next moment, Lucifer had already stepped into the darkest reaches of the Great Raja Forest, the Great Raja Heart! It was a location where Nightmare Monsters in and above the Middle Unity Form Synthesis Realm ran rampant. Larger than mountains and fiercer than berserker gods, these creatures dominated both thend and the sky! But no matter how strong they were, Lucifer and his gang of clones swarmed them like ants and shed at them until the elephants hit the earth as corpses¡­ In a matter of 4 hours, his Battle Power skyrocketed from the Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm to the Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm! And that wasn''t even the end of it as he also got his Evil Cultivation to match his Body and Mind Cultivation! With them all achieving the Peak Adamantine Rank, it was without debate that his improvements in Battle Power made perfect sense! SHING! While casting |Sword sh| over and over again like an extremely annoying long range caster, Lucifer sat on arge rock and looked over the most recent system notifications with a bored expression. BLING! [Ding! You have killed a Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm Ice Yeti. The reward is 1850 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed a Late Unity Form Synthesis Fire Phoenix Aberration. The reward is 1920 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have killed twenty Middle Unity Form Synthesis Mountain Heart Diggers. The reward is 1370 Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! You now have over 1.5 million Legendary Clone Essence! Would you like to use it all and buy lots of powerful clones?] Tick! As a vein formed on his forehead, Lucifer couldn''t restrain himself any further and shouted, "Why the hell do you always want me to burn through every piece of my clone essence!? How far do you want the hole in my pocket to burn!?" With an irritated look on his exquisitely handsome face, he tapped his feet up against the boulder, identally causing a few crack to spread here and there. Before long, the boulder shattered and crumbled, leaving Lucifer no ce toy his royal rump! Luckily for him, the ''clean up'' of this area of the Great Raja Forest was just about finished- RUMBLE!!! "!!!" Out of nowhere, a massive tremor caused thend to violently quake! Shooting his head toward the source of this distrubance, Lucifer realized that a new ck sky had reced the previous one- "Wait¡­ That isn''t the sky, is it¡­?" Slowly turning his head upward, he saw a kneecap sorge that even a mountain range was smaller than it was. "Well¡­ It''s fair to say that we''re rurally fucking screwed!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. No matter how far he extended his divine sense, he couldn''t even see past the upper part of this mysterious entity''s kneecap! And it only got worse from there, as the massive organism started to move! With just a slight bending of its knee joint, entire mountain ranges were shredded up and reduced to pebbles! From this small movement, more than ten thousand of Lucifer''s clones perished! Not wishing to stick around and find out, he lifted up the sleepy floofer and got himself right the fuck out of there! He had not a damn clue what exactly that thing was, but the one thing he did know was that his death was a certain event if he confronted that thing head on! ''It''s at the very minimum of the Tribtion Transcendance Realm, and if my guess isn''t too far off, it''s likely around the peak of that realm¡­ In other words, no matter how bravado I have, it''s all pointless in the face of true insurmountable power¡­!'' Lucifer was no coward, but running oneself right to the chopping board was what made a courageous person a fool! Still, he would''ve definitely died whether he ran or not. But luckily for him, it didn''t seem like the mighty entity even noticed his existence. In fact, it moved its two world-like legs in theplete opposite direction of him and started to make its advance deeper into the Great Raja Heart. It was unknown where it was going or what it nned to do, but the intentions of such an existence was way, way out of Lucifer''s pay grade. Therefore, he went on his merry way and left the Great Raja Forest without looking back! Of course, he left a veryrge portion of his Clone Force in the deeper areas of the rest, leaving them to farm their hearts away. Exactly 15 million clones were to scour the forest and hunt any Nightmare Monsters they could handle. Of those 15 million, only 80 of them had power in the Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm. There were around ten thousand or so in the Middle and Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm as well, but the vast majority of the clone force were in and below the Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm. Most of the Nightmare Monsters were in or around the Peak Soul Transformation Realm, like the ones Lucifer encountered when he first got here. Therefore, therger ''grunt'' side of the clone force still had their parts to y. But regardless of how deep Lucifer got himself into poverty, on his way out, he noticed a rather unusual urrence¡­ Stalking up like a wraith, he hid behind a tree with Whitey on his shoulders. The first thing he saw was a familiar face, and then two more familiar faces. As for what they were doing¡­? Well¡­ "I chopped this log, but the ax got stuck! H-How are we going to make the fire now¡­!?" Freaking out and biting at her nails, Xue Lan whacked arge log in frustration. However, seeing her hand pass right through the log, her frustration only grew! "S-Stupid log and stupid campfire!" She shouted. Whack! A bonk arrived on Xue Lan''s head, causing a grimace to spread across her face. "W-What was that for, Shun Wen¡­!?" She asked in an irkful tone. Holding her head with puffed lips, she stared up at the beautiful elf woman standing over her. "Xue Lan¡­ You know you''re an idiot, right?" "Whaa¡­ I''m not the idiot! I was just trying to make the campfire¡­!" Before Xue Lan could defend herself, she was interrupted by Shun Wen, saying: "Why did you suddenly decide to make a fire?? You said that you have been living in the Great Raja Forest for many years, so you should be well aware of how a light source can attract every Nightmare Monster in an extremelyrge radius!" Pausing for a second to catch her breath, Shun Wen continued by saying, "So why in the name of the God of Darkness did you decide to set up a campfire when we were just supposed to take a few moments to look over this map and assess our situation!?" ... Chapter 122: The Motherf*cking Mega Grind ... Thinking to herself with a finger to her chin, the conclusion that Xue Lan reached was, "Well¡­ ermm¡­ Because fire is good¡­?" "..." "..." Even the silent goth midget standing off to the side was baffled by the sheer stupidity of the ghost bimbo. "Y-You¡­ I just can''t¡­" Not even having the willpower to reprimand Xue Lan any further, Shun Wen slumped against arge dead tree and rubbed her forehead with her pointer finger and thumb. ''Umu¡­? Did I say something wrong¡­?'' Xue Lan thought to herself with question marks going off around her head. "..." Watching this scene unfold from the sidelines, the only thing Lucifer had to say was, "Do I know these people¡­? They seem oddly familiar, but I feel like I would''ve long since been affected by their stupidity if I did actually know them¡­ Umu, yep, yep, must just be my imagination! I have no clue who these people are!" He was about to turn around and forever leave for the milk, but before he could do so, Whitey jumped out of his arms and approached Li Yan. Without him being able to do a single damn thing, Whitey alerted all three girl''s of his sneaky presence! "Uhmm¡­ Long time no see¡­?" In the middle of a praying mantis-like pose, Lucifer awkwardly turned his head in the direction of the three pairs of eyes staring at him like they wanted to eat him. Silence. The silence was interrupted by Li Yan jumping toward her Big Bro with both arms stretched out. Latching onto his thigh, she mumbled, "Missed you¡­ Don''t leave again¡­" trying to hide her tearful expression, she dug her face into his crimson-colored robes. "Lucifer!" Following in her expeample, both Xue Lan and Shun Wen rose off the ground and jumped Lucifer like they wanted all his money! "You she-devils! You won''t get any of my money!" Using his hands, Lucifer pushed both of their heads away from him, letting them smooch and hug mid-air. However, after a fews seconds, they managed to slip past his defenses and get their hugs in. ''Damn, I let my guard down!'' Lucifer thought to himself. He totally forgot that one was a ghost who could pass through objects, and then there was the elven princess, who took advantage of the situation and stuck in unison with Xue Lan. Sigh¡­ Lucifer heaved an exasperated sigh, giving up on all riestsatnce and letting them do whatever they wished. After a few minutes of them rubbing their scents all over him (on purpose), they opened their big, bright eyes, only to see that they had somehow made it back to the cabin. Letting go of Lucifer''s warm, chiseled body, Xue Lan and Shun Wen then found themselves nice spots to sit right beside Lucifer. Each of them took an arm andy their heads against them as if they were dutiful wives. ''God¡­ I f*cking hate harem¡­'' At this moment, Lucifer''s expression emted the immense amount of frustration that he felt. It was to the point that Li Yan even felt the need toment, "Big Brother¡­ Cheating¡­?" Pouting her cheeks up from above his head, she was obviously quite peeved by this information. Silence. Lucifer didn''t even know what to do about that goth midget anymore. It was to the point that if their mental asylums in this world, it would most definitely be his obligatory duty to send her to one. Though unfortunately for both him and the world, the more insane a person was, the higher the chance of them being someone of great power. That was just the way of the world¡­ "So, Lucifer, did you have fun in the Great Raja Forest!? Did you be stronger?? Come on, tell us tell us!" Chiding him from the side, Shun Wen''s pointy ears moved up and down in a cute way. With shining eyes, she squished herrge breasts up against Lucifer''s right side. Although Xue Lan wasn''t one to explicitly say it, Lucifer could tell that she wanted the same thing as well¡­ ''One way or another, they helped me, so I guess¡­ I can tell them what they want to know¡­'' "Well¡­" Lucifer went on to depict what went down after they separated ways, and throughout this entire experience, not a single one of the girls'' could take their attention away from the man they were smothering. After all was over and said, Xue Lan was the first to speak up, saying, "So cool¡­" "Yeah¡­ Big Brother cool¡­" "I mean, I guess what you did with the revenge on the Bigfoot Terrors was pretty alright¡­ Humph!" ''The meek one, the Yandere, and the Tsundere¡­ Holy sh*t, what am I even building up here!? Some sort of circus!?'' Although disappointed in both himself and the weaver of words, Lucifer still found the voice to say, "Who wants to increase their value to society?" Of course, the trantion for what he said was ''value = usefulness'' and ''Society = himself''. But it wasn''t like the others needed to know that, so he kept it himself. As for their response to this ambiguous question, well, Li Yan was the first to bobb her head up and down. "Mhmm¡­ Anything¡­ Anything¡­ I mean, anything¡­" she creepily mumbled while ruffling her hands through his long raven ck hair. "Alrighty, we have chucke on board! Any other takers!?" Asking this question, Lucifer looked toward the two busty women, both of whom wanted to say yes. However, not knowing precisely what to say, they lightly bit their pink lips and muttered, "Yes¡­" "Just yes?" Lucifer asked. "Yes¡­" "I see¡­" After getting all the confirmation he needed, Lucifer then started to describe to them the ways in which they could assist the fam! Li Yan was put on Formation duty, which was where thee excelled the most in. Whereas Shun Wen had an undiscovered knack for Arrays, so she was sent to a ssroom, which was where a a few of his clones would teach her the basics of Arrays. From what he could tell, her talent in that department likely surpassed his own, likely because of some hidden dark level bloodline Physique. For Lucifer, this was just another benefit, but for the world itself, it was just another use of high-level plot armor. If he was going to temporarily keep around thesezy bums, then they had to have the smallest amount of uses. This was just basic profitisim! However, there was one among them who was rather¡­ Or more like,pletely useless¡­ "Hey, Xue Lan¡­ What exactly can you do besides unt those mountains atop your chest? Although that would be quite tempting to any ordinary protagonist, I am no ordinary protagonist. So tell me¡­ In what way can you possibly contribute to the fam¡­?" Practically interrogating the jittery ghost beauty, Lucifer sat face-to-face with her on the couch. Staring straight through her dark brown eyes and into her soul, he used every known method to find something that stopped him from dumping useless baggage into the Northern seas. "W-Well¡­ Uhmm¡­ Although I''m not that talented or refined with most things, as a special-type spirit, I have the ability to ward off Nightmare Monsters and other evil creatures with my presence-" "Great, she''s f*ckingpletely useless!" Lucifer blurted out. Why would he need something that kept the loot bags away from him!? He wanted them all toe right to him-! "Wait¡­" Suddenly shooting his head toward the teary-eyed ghost Lady, Lucifer grabbed both of her smooth, white shoulders. "Can you use that ability in reverse and lure the Nightmare Monsters toward us!?" Although taken aback by his bold and sudden movements, Xue Lan blushed a little before turning her head down. "Y-Yes, I should be able to do that," she softly murmured. "Hahaha!! Very good, very good! Who said that all big breasted horndogs were useless!? I must have obtained the cream of the crop with this bunch!" Laughing his ass off like a crazy person, Lucifer repeatedly patted Xue Lan on her shoulders, causing weak electric currents to spread throughout her sensual figure. She tried her best to stop small moans from escaping her mouth, and thankfully, Lucifer stopped touching her before she burst open like a flood. "This is some extremely good news indeed! Well, what is everyone waiting for!? Let''s all get to the grind!" Lucifer left the cabin living room in a cheerful mood, leaving both Li Yan and Xue Lan to look at each other in confusion. "Big Brother lost thest screw¡­?" Hearing this questione out the mouth of the adorable goth midget, Xue Lan lightly nodded her head and said, "I believe so¡­ but pats are good¡­" "Yes, pats are good¡­" Aftering to thismon consensus, the both of them worked on their set tasks, all hoping to get some more pats from Big Bro Lucifer. Time passed inside the riverside cabin like a fever dream, and everyone who resided within this residence was on the 24/7, motherf*cking mega grind! .... Chapter 123: Becoming A Freak .... When it came to formations, Li Yan already reached the Heaven Rank, and was even close to achieving the Middle Heaven Rank! On the other hand, Shun Wen progressed in Arrays just enough to achieve the Heaven Rank. She had amassed arge bank of knowledge over the years, so results like these weren''t actually all that surprising. With both her and Li Yan being of a simr profession rank, they worked quite well together, especially when it came to creating Qi Gathering Formation Arrays! And finally, there was Xue Lan, who definitely appeared very useless on the outside. However, on the inside, she was¡­ still pretty useless! But just her presence lured in Nightmare Monsters from even the deeper parts of the Great Raja Forest. As a result of having this passive bait around him, Lucifer was no longer required to venture out and potentially encounter that massive beast in the Raja Heart. This was about the only thing Xue Lan was good for, and it was just enough to permit her residinship in the holy cabin abode. ''Fufu! Just doing this for that ditsy girl could already be considered a great deed, deserving of high amounts of karma!'' WHIRL! As Lucifer''s thoughts stirred, the Qi in the surrounding mountain ranges swarmed toward his location in the cabin and provided him with more than enough energy. The effects from all the pills he had been taking also worked so as to help him progress his cultivation at insanely fast speeds! In the span of 48 hours, Lucifer had already broken through twice. From the Early Nascent Soul Realm to the Late Nascent Soul Realm, his progress was palpable! On top of that, his Body Cultivation, Mind Citliabtiok, and Evil Cultivation had all passed over the Adamantine Rank and achieved the tinum Rank! With all his aspects of existence put into the equation, it wasn''t too surprising that his Battle Power had progressed to the absolute limit of the Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm! "With my strength as it is, I think I am just about as strong as Shun Wen''s father¡­? I think his cultivation was somewhere in the 1st Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm, so yeah, somewhere around there¡­" Sitting in a lotus position within his private cultivation chambers, Lucifer figured it was about time that he started spending some of the Legendary Clone Essence that he had been storing up over thest period of time. Opening up his system interface, this was what he saw: BLING! ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Late Nascent Soul Realm (Middle)] [Body Cultivation - Early tinum Rank (22.6%)] [Mind Cultivation - Early tinum Rank (25.9%)] [Evil Cultivation - Early tinum Rank (11.3%)] [Battle Power - Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm (Limit)] [Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm Clone cost - 1 Sextillion Legendary Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 28 Sextillion Legendary Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 28 Sextillion Legendary Clone Essence] ¡ª------- "Oh¡­ I got quite a bit of Legendary Clone Essence, eh? With this substantial amount, I guess I will just spend 60% of it, like usual." Following through with this decision, Lucifer clicked on the clone purchase button and watched as the number of max-lvl clones increased from none to 17! FWIP! FWIP! 17 mirror-copy clones with strength equal to the Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm materialized from thin air. The first thing they did uponing into existence was leave the area and fend off the waves of Nigganre Monsters rushing toward the riverside cabin from all directions. Not long after, a few system notifications hit Lucifer in the side. [Ding! You have killed 1,350 Unity Form Synthesis Realm Nightmare Monsters, ranging from the Early Stage to the Peak Stage. The reward is 8.5 Sextillion Legendary Clone Essence!] [Ding! Your Legendary Clone Essence has recaed a point where it would be better to have it evolve! Would you like to go through with the evolution process?] "Yeah, sure, we can do the evolution." [Ding! All of your Legendary Clone Essence has been converted into a higher level Supreme Clone Essence. The exact conversion rate is 100 Sextillion Legendary Clone Essence = 1 Supreme Clone Essence. With your previous amount of Legendary Clone Essence, you have received 0.25 Supreme Clone Essence!] [Ding! You have automatically absorbed the cultivation of all the organisms you killed. As a result, your cultivation has broken through from the Late Nascent Soul Realm to the Peak Nascent Soul Realm!] [Ding! The size of your Nascent Soul has increased, and the quality of your existence has taken another major qualitative leap!] [Ding! Your Battle Power has broken past the major wall that once restricted it!] [Ding! Your Battle Power has sessfully nted itself in the 1st Stage of Tribtion Transcendence!] "The 1st Stage of Tribaultiokn Transcenadnace is definitely arge step forward¡­ And with the Mahayana Realm being the peak of the world, I don''t think it will be long before I need to ascend this ne of existence. After all, for more strength, a small pond could never hope to restric me." For but a moment, a sh of resolve passed through Lucifer''s expression. The look in his eyes fully emted the degree to which he would sacrifice everything in order to climb his way past his main body bastard. No matter how far he had to go, there would one daye a time where stood above his main body. At that moment, Lucifer had no Idea what he would feel, but he knew that it would have all been worth it. With useless thoughts swirling around inside the back of his mind, Lucifer went back to cultivating, nning to reach the Soul Transformation Realm before next time Shun Wen''s father came to bother him. ''Over thest two days, that old fart has repeatedlye to this cabin under the guise of checking up on his daughter. And during his stay, he might as well have been begging me to leave this ce and his Nightsorrow Empire. But unfortunately for him, I don''t have any f*cks left to give!'' ''He was the one who said it was fine if we stayed as long as we wanted, and who am I to not take him up on his generous offer!? That would simply be far too rude, even for me!'' "Kakaka!" As Lucifer''s maniacalughter resounded inside his sound-proof cultivation room, both him and the girls all worked on their individual tasks. With their end goals all being to make him stronger, the effort was all put into the same cause! ¡ª-------- Half a weekter. Sitting inside his personal cultivation room of the riverside cabin, this is what Lucifer saw when he opened up his system interface. ¡ª------- {[Lucifer]} [Qi Cultivation - Half-Step Soul Transformation Realm (Limit)] [Body Cultivation - Middle tinum Rank (35.8%)] [Mind Cultivation - Middle tinum Rank (37.2%)] [Evil Cultivation - Middle tinum Rank (31.3%)] [Soul Cultivation - Middle tinum Rank (2.44%)] [Battle Power - 4th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm (Early)] [4th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm Clone cost - 500 Supreme Clone Essence] [Maximum Amount of Clone Essence so far - 32,000 Supreme Clone Essence] [Current Clone Essence - 32,000 Supreme Clone Essence] ¡ª------- "It looks like my Soul Cultivation also had a breakthrough during thest few days. And from what I can see, it should get pretty close to the percentile rate of my Mind, Evil, and Qi Cultivation. It might take like another day or so¡­?" Over the most recent period of the grind, Lucifer managed to fully activate and start progressing his Soul Cultivation. From nilche to the Middle tinum Rank, it made insane advancements! Lucifer was also working on activating the Spirit and Arcane Paths, but for Spirit, he had to be in the Soul Transformation Realm. And for Arcane, he had to be in the Void Transformation Realm¡­ Sighing to himself, Lucifer erased depressing thoughts from his mind and focused on fulfilling one of the requirements for the Spirit Cultivation Path. A breakthrough into the Soul Transformation Realm! With his Nascent Soul already having reached its full maturity, it was now time to make the leap and jump into a realm that was considered no less than a myth in the Elemental Nations! If Lucifer''s breakthrough were to go off without a hitch, then he would surely be the first native citizen of the Elemental Nations to breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Realm within thest ten thousand years-! WHIRL! WHOOoosshhh¡­ "Hmm? Was that a breakthrough just now?" Scanning the inside of his Dantian Space with his Divine Sense, Lucifer saw something utterly mind-boggling¡­ His Nascent Soul now had a set of Essence Soul Armor atop it! In other words, his breakthrough went off without a hitch! And he did so without even knowing that he was attempting a breakthrough! {[Early Soul Transformation Realm]} - (Attained) "Well, well, well¡­ Have I actually be too OP¡­?" Lucifer hadn''t been in this world for more than a couple months and yet he had already achieved a Battle Power in the 6th Stage of Tribtion Transcendance! And his cultivation was in the Early Soul Transformation Realm! In simpler terms, he had be a freak! And not just any freak, but a stupidly overpowered freak! ... Chapter 124: Lets Take A Little Journey! ... "Hmm¡­ I am Overpowered, but am I overpowered enough? The answer is obviously no!" Right after consolidating his breakthrough, the first thing Lucifer did was skim through his knowledge bank and take out anything pertaining to the Spirit Cultivation Path! Creating mirror, physical copies of whatever he had stored within his mind, he ultimately picked the most suitable one out of the lot. Namely, it was an unparalleled technique called ''Spirit Dominance''. "Spirit Dominance should be all I need to embark on the Spirit Path. And with a few minor adjustments to the technique, I was able to get it to work in unison with my Unity Cultivation Technique." OOOM! As Lucifer actively circted a technique that passively cultivated all of his various cultivation paths, he also made sure to make use of both his crack stock and the Formation Arrays that the girls made for him. All of them were of the Middle Heaven Rank, which meant they more than enough to improve his cultivation speed by a few dozen times what it once was. And then there was his pill (crack) stock, which was almost entirelyprised of the Tribtion Transcendance Rank pills that he and his clones concocted on a daily basis. "Speaking of the Alchemy ve Force, they have been doing quite well as ofte, even going so far as to say that they have contributed tremendously to the grandest cause of all! One might say that they have only been feeding a problem, and they would be correct! I do have a problem, and with this problem, I overdose on medical ingredients! But so what!? Kakaka!" A peel of maniacalughter echoed out within the personal cultivation room of the mentally insane man known as Lucifer! With the name of the Fallen Angel Lucifer, how could he not be crazy!? Wouldn''t it be more crazy to see him not crazy!? The time was nigh and the moon was red-! Wham! mming open the door to his humble abode, a busty elf woman rushed in and looked around in a flurry. Upon locating the person she was looking for, Shun Wen hurried over to him and grabbed him by his shoulders! "What is it-?" Interrupting him, Shun Wen said: "My father! He''sing to kill you for real! I-I may or may not have identally told him about the sensual nights that we have shared since we met each other on that fateful encounter!" Smack! Whacking her across the nogging, Lucifer shouted, "What the hell ''sensual night'' are you talking about!? What bullsh*t fateful encounter!? Woman, are you fucking insane!?" Taking his focus off the pouting girl for a second, Lucifer sent out his Divine Sense and saw the Nightsorrow Emperor''s zing aura trail toward his location from miles away! Even though he was only in the 1st Stage of Tribtion Transcendance and Lucifer could take care of him quite easily, the stubborn Emperor also brought along the guardians of the Empire and his grandfather! The Nightsorrow Guardians had been around since the founding of the Empire and traveled with the current Nightsorrow Emperor''s father. They had all exceeded the Tribtion Transcendance Realm and they wereing straight for him with nothing but death on their minds! "Well, shit¡­ I''m so screwed¡­" Helplessly staring at the downtrodden busty elf, Lucifer couldn''t help but wonder if all the nutrients meant for her brain went right toward her milkers¡­ In the end, he heaved a sigh and said, "Guess it''s time to make an escape and return to the Mortal Realm." "???" Snapping out of her sorrowful reverie, Shun Wen looked up at the absurdly handsome raven-haired man. "You''re leaving¡­? Leaving me¡­?" She tearfully asked. "Why, my love¡­" cupping her cheeks and stealing her gaze, Lucifer''s evil smirk widened and he said, "Of course I''m leaving! But since you have proven your usefulness time and time again, I guess I wouldn''t mind bringing you along as say¡­ extra baggage?" Showing off his shark-like teeth, he dazzled the elf beauty with just his natural charm. Without thinking a single second further, Shun Wen fervently said, "Yes, yes, yes, I''ll do it! Anything you want and I''ll do it!" "Very well, then let''s ditch this ce and take a little journey!" shing the most dazzling smile that Shun Wen had ever seen, Lucifer grabbed her sensually. Curving her tender back with his finger tips, he pulled her to his chest and pressed her curvaceous body up against his own. With a blushing beauty attached to him, Lucifer then phased throughout the house and snatched up Li Yan and Xue Lan as well! "???" "???" They were shocked about what just happened to them, but when they saw who''s arms they were all in, they rxed their guards and decided to ask him about itter. Even though Shun Wen and Xue Lan ultimately ended up in the sack of potatoes position, that didn''t stop them from daydreaming of their prince picking them up and dashing away from all their troubles. While lost in their own delusional thoughts, Li Yan sat above Lucifer''s head and directed the horsey to go wherever he was already going. It seemed like she was having fun, so Lucifer let her be and continued to ceaselessly leap off the ground. Heading for a secret Inter dimensional portal that he had one of his clones set up a couple days ago with the help of Li Yan, Lucifer also spawned in trillions of clones. After which, he instructed them to go through with the farming grind, even while he was not present in the same realm. After all was said and done, Lucifer and the gang stood above a crackling purplish gate hidden behind a discreet mountain valley path. "You bastard!!! What are you doing with my daughter!?" "My granddaughter!! What have you done, you fiend!? Kowtow, cut off your arms, and cripple your cultivation base, then maybe you can get out of this with your life intact!!" In front of the interdimensional gate, Lucifer was interrupted by two furious voices, both of which came with their very own fuming owners. "Uhmm¡­ I think we need to get a move on right away." Hurriedly pushing the girls through the interdimensional gate with him, Lucifer not once looked back behind him; he simply kept moving forward. ''Just keep swimming¡­ Just keep swimming¡­'' Using this ssic chant to keep his path steady and constant, Lucifer sped through the portal. Upon making it out the other side, he moved without hesitation and shed the connection that stuck together two points in space. With the brightly fluctuating purple gate shattering behind him, Lucifer set down Xue Lan and Shun Wen. Speaking up, he said, "You girls¡­ you saw nothing, alright¡­?" "Uh uh uh uh!" They both nodded in unison. Quickly, they took their attention away from Lucifer and observed their surroundings. "Is this the Mortal Realm!? I''ve never been to the Mortal Realm! It''s so pretty and bright!" "The Mortal Realm¡­ Lucifer''s homeworld¡­ It''s nice¡­" One was more outgoing in both her speech and actions, while the other was more refined and restrained. Though no matter how they acted, they both found the Mortal Realm beautiful. With the rays of sunlight beating down on the earth from above, the world looked like a metaphor. On the edge of one''s tongue, and yet not there just yet, it was like emerging from the shadows, only to find yourself inside a mindboggling gorgeous painting. From their bleak and dreary worlds, Xue Lan and Shun Wen bore witness to a ce that could only be found in their wildest dreams. It was a surreal feeling, to say the least. But the question still remained¡­ "Where are we¡­?" Looking left then right, and then left and right again, Lucifer still couldn''t find any memorablendmarks. The location theynded on was a wide, pointy cliff looking over a world rife with spirited scenery and diverse terrain. Thend itself was split up into arge assortment of inds, all of which stayed just a few miles away from each other. From their vantage point, it looked nothing short of thousands of Indsing together as a funky-looking puzzle. As for what it was shaped to look like¡­ "A Dragon¡­? Considering that I''ve never heard of a dragon-shaped ind grouping in or near the Elemental Nations, this must be somewhere else in the Tianwu Continent. Based off the Qi Density of this ce, we should be somewhere far higher in level than the Elemental Nations¡­" Sensing the Qi around himself, Luciferpared it to the Qi density of the Elemental Nations. From thisparison, he learned that it was at least a thousand times greater. In the distance, he could also sense unknown existences with cultivation well beyond the Soul Transformation Realm, which was the peak for the Elemental Nations. "Void Refinement¡­? Unity Form Synthesis¡­ Tribtion Transcendance¡­? Some even higher than that??" Lucifer had no clue what sort of ce hended in, but what he did know was that this was not how things were supposed to go¡­ ''Am I not the protagonist?? I was supposed to enter a mid-level area after the Elemental Nations and still be considered pretty strong! But here I am as a weak piece of trash in a level that I was for sure not supposed to travel to this early¡­" ... Chapter 125: Are You H*rny!? ... With his luck, Lucifer wouldn''t be surprised if there were even beings beyond the Mahayana Realm within the dragon-shaped ind. "Wait¡­ A dragon-shaped assortment of inds, high Qi Density¡­ and presences that are all beyond powerful¡­ Uhmm, err, shit, I didn''t bring us to the Human Realm, did I¡­??" In a way, Lucifer was correct in this deduction. But at the same time, he was also wrong. After all, they were in one of the few powerful secret realms attached to the Mortal Realm in a spectrum-like spiderweb of realms. The Dragon Realm! It was a dimension that sat perpendicr to both the Mortal Realm and the Nightmare Realm. Created and hidden by dragonoids beyond the Mahayana Realm, it was supposed to be impossible to enter or exit! But somehow, rushing through the gate before it was perfected caused a temporal anomaly, sending Lucifer and the ve gang way off course! And with the gate demolished by the hands of its creator, there was no longer a way to get back home¡­ ''Building another interdimensional portal in this ce is an option, but with the level of space fortitude of this ce¡­ It''s like a fucking fortress! To get out of here through a space tunnel, at the very minimum, I would need to be at the Absolute Peak of my studies of space! And then Li Yan would also have to be at the peak of the Formation Profession!'' ''Might as well just tell me straight up that I''m trapped here, author¡­ You damn stingy bastard¡­'' Clicking his tongue at an existence that he had no proof actually existed, Lucifer ultimately resigned himself to his fate and sat down on arge bldudket. Looking out at the rising sun, he didn''t need anyone to tell him that sh*t was about to get real crazy, real fast¡­ And just as he expected, two powerful presences in the 6th Stage of Tribtion Transcendance zed through the open skies, heading right for them! ''It doesn''t even seem like these two have a very high status in this world, but they are still of the Tribtion Transcendance Realm. I do wonder exactly what sort of ce I found myself in¡­ Ai¡­'' Putting aside these thoughts for now, Lucifer realized that the main species in this mysterious ce was likely something to do with dragons. But without a proper reference, he had to take a second and properly analyze the appearances of the two people nearing his location. From his keen observations, Lucifer saw that they were a form of dragonoid. Taking their appearances and making near identical copies of them with Heavenly Transfiguration, he then used Heavenly Transfiguration to change the way all four of them looked. WHIRL! "???" "???" "???" Seeing their bodies suddenly change before their very eyes, the girl''s stopped their sightseeing and went on guard. But upon the source of this strange spell being Lucifer, they lowered their vignce levels and let him do whatever he was doing. They had faith that he would do nothing to harm them, at least not if it didn''t have to do with extreme benefits¡­ Luckily, Lucifer had nothing to gain from killing virtually defenseless woman. And before they knew it, Heavenly Transfiguration was done being cast and they emerged form a thinyer of energy, appearing as a species far from human! "A Dragonoid¡­?" Shun Wen muttered in confusion. "Hey, Lucifer. What are we cospaplying as dragonoids for¡­? Oh no¡­ Is this one of your kinks-!?" Whack! "No, it''s not, you idiot. We''re now in and popted by dragonoids, so you better learn how to fit in and adapt if you don''t want to end up on a spike!" Giving the idiotic elf a few good silly whacks on the head, Lucifer made sure that Xue Lan and Li Yan heard what he said. From their weird expressions, he could pretty much guess what they were thinking. "Now, if you all act the part and just stay silent, we should be able to make it out of this in one piece. But if you don''t¡­ Well, that''s all I have to say. Hope you bunch don''t drag me down¡­" With a defeated look on his face, Lucifer walked in front of the group and approached the edge of the cliff. He ignored their dangerously serious expressions and put his hands behind his back, looking out into the horizon. Before long, the two 6th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm Dragonoids materialized into view. Holding onto long, sharp tridents and wearing scaly armor, they appeared both imperious and menacing. "You four! Are you here as support in the Battle of the Northern Cove!?" One of the guards shouted. "Why yes; yes, we are," Azmodeus answered without hesitation. Looking at the way they were standing and carrying themselves, he copied everything about them, making it seem like he was one of them. Not long after, Li Yan, Lan Xue, and Shun Wen also did the same exact thing. Though they didn''t copy his posture as well as he did with the lizardmen, it was still eptable enough to fool them. "If you are here for the Battle at the Northern Cove, then you should have first reported to the 6th Commander! Why have you not done so already!?" The same guard loudly asked. ''Hmm¡­'' Further analyzing their mannerisms and speech, Lucifer decided it was time to make a stage "In case you haven''t noticed, soldier, we are in a time of war! And with war, there are many unforseen circumstances! On our way over to the Northern Cove, we were attacked by the opposing forces and had to fight for our lives just to grasp for a chance of escape! Now, if you will please move out of the way, we need to go and fight for our side! Death is but a natural cause, HOORAAHH!!!" Like an insane warrior maniac, Lucifer passed by the dragonoid guards and charged toward where they originated from! The three female dragonoids followed his lead and charged right behind him, and in a few seconds, they were already far off into the distance! "This¡­ Should we report this in?" Asking this question, the first guard looked toward the second guard. Upon gauging his reaction to this inexplicable situation, he couldn''t believe himself when he saw tears drizzling down the second guard''s slitted ears! "What is wrong with you¡­? Why are you crying?" Asked the first guard. "T-That is¡­ Those four are the Draconian Warriors!!! Right from the jaw of death, they don''t think of taking a break. No, they return to the fray and n to risk their lives once more!! For the Crimson Draconians!!! Let us, too, go and ughter those filthy Azure Draconians!!!" After hearing this speech, the first guard felt himself get pumped up as well, prompting him to shout, "Let''s go and make our kind proud!!!" FWIP! FWIP! Within an instant, their crimson-colored figures shed through the skies, and they too, joined the battle with the Azure Draconians! ¡ª--------- "Hmm¡­ I think the coast is clear. Now we just need to figure out what this ''Battle of the Northern Cove'' is. And of course, we need to take advantage of any benefits that could be obtained!" While floating under a low-hanging water mountain, Lucifer had some rather sinister thoughts whirl around inside of his mind. He had no idea what this Neogrthrjr Cove was, or even who was fighting in the battle of the Neothent Cove. But what he did know was that with battles came immense amounts of loot, and all he ever wanted in this life were loot and benefits! "Lucifer¡­ Do we really need to stay in these Darconian Forms for the rest of our time here¡­? They make me feel weird¡­" Shun Wen said. "Umu?" Looking over at the elf bimbo, Lucifer saw her sensually rubbing her thighs together. From this observation, he could swear that he saw a suspicious liquid leaking from her middle area. "Hey, Shun Wen?" He asked. "Y-Yes¡­?" "Are you horny?" "...Yes¡­" "I see¡­" Floating over to the flustered elf, it almost seemed like Lucifer was going tofort her and tell her that eveybting was going to be okay. But contrary to the fantasies of the delusional woman, he took a stick out of his storage ring¡­ and whacked it across her head! Bonk! Bonk! "Bad, horny elf! Horny bonk! Horny bonk! Got to get that horny out of you!!" "Owwyyy!!" After a few seconds of bonking the horny out of Shun Wen with the Bonking Stick, it was very surprising to see that it had actually worked¡­ The high levels of innate draconic lust was bonked out of the elf princesse''s system! "That actually¡­ I don''t feel the urge to violently ravish you anymore¡­ Only the slight urge that I used to have¡­" Shun Wen mumbled. Turning his pricing gaze back toward the elf, Lucifer said, "Maybe you need some more Bonks to get the rest of the horny out!?" "N-No! I am good, I promise! But I think Xue Lan is struggling over there¡­" Shifting the bonking stare toward the squirming busty ghost, Shun Wen had to make the sacrifice. ... Chapter 126: More Mahayana Realm Cultivators!? ... ''Sorry for this, new friend of mine¡­'' She thought. Bing teary-eyed, Xue Lan attempted to say, "W-Wait! I don''t have the same-" Bonk! Bonk! She wasn''t even able to finish what she was saying before being repeatedly bonked across the head! After a few seconds of getting the horny bonked out of her as well, Lucifer finally focused on the goth draconic midget above his head. However, upon seeing that she wasn''t affected in the slightest, he figured he should stop assuming that Li Yan would be the same as those two mature, horny b*tches. "Now, with all the bonking out of the way, let''s go and see what this Battle of the Northern Cove is all about!" shing a dazzling toothy, shark-like smile, Lucifer grabbed the two well-endowed women and vanished from the underhang. He headed straight for the constant ngings echoing out in the surroundings! Loot was ready for reaping, and he would be there to reap it! ¡ª--------- In one of Crimson Draconian Command Centers on the southern side of the Northern Cove. "Have we put any battalions on the Eastern Frontier!? Where are my reports!?" Standing at the front of themand center was a broad shouldered red dracion with a fierce glint in his gaze. He stared out the window, looking at all the ongoing destruction and chaos. With his hands behind his back, he had dozens of subordinates scurrying around behind him, trying to find organization in the chaos. Thud! Htiing the ground with a thud, a Draconian officer started to speak up, saying: "Sir! On the Western Frontier, we have received reports of a secret squadron of Azure Darconians! All of them are in the 9th Stage of Tribtion Transcendance, and there is even an Early Mahayana Realm Draconian leading them from behind! If they continue as they have, then it surely won''t be long before¡­ we lose the Western Frontier¡­" "Damn it!!!" The Commander bellowed at the top of his lungs. Looking at the spells and attacks being thrown in all directions outside the window, he realized that they were being pushed back, and they were being pushed back hard! Unless he could somehow find a divein miracle that could change the tides of the war, the Western Frontier was a goner, and the Eastern Frontier would follow not long after¡­ The Commander had already received dozens of reports of new Mahayana Realm contenders on the Azure Draconian''s side. And with their forces only amounting to ten or so Mahayana Realm Crimson Draconians, they were on the losing team¡­ "Fuck!! If only we had one of the Great Generals here instead of at the Draconian Interpass!! If only!! Damn it!!!" BAM! The Commander smashed hisrge hands against a holographic dashboard in frustration. Not knowing what move he should make from here, taking his anger out on an inanimate object was all he could do¡­ Even though he was in the Middle Mahayana Realm and had been alive for tens of thousands of years, no amount of experience or power could change the fact that they were outmatched. Anything they had, the other side had as well. Whether that be experience, wisdom, power, or devoutness¡­ No matter what it was, the Azure Draconian''s had just as much of it. In other words, only really one thing was capable of giving them an advantage in this evenly matched war. Pure Brute Force! "If we had a few more Middle Mahayana Realm Cultivators, or even a Late Mahayana Realm Cultivator, we could win this battle with ease! But with wars uring with the Azure bastards on every front of the Dragon Isles, our forces were spread thin and we were given a measly 10 Mahayana Realm Cultivators¡­!! Damn it all!!" As the Commander roared out in anger, his subordinates were all frantically running around the Command Center, attempting to locate a shining beacon of hope. With the Command Center in a state ofplete disarray, a certain group of Crimson Draconians appeared on the edge of a battlefield riddled with holes and armored corpses. Toward the center of this battlefield, one could see an incalcble number of metal sparks flying through the skies. With a deep stench of blood and iron pervading their senses, Lucifer and the gang of afk ves were standing over a small hill of rusty, damaged weapons. Cupping his hands above his eyes, Lucifer scanned the fights happening in the distance. With every Tribtion Transcendance Realm Soldier he spotted, his grin only grew wider and wider. His cultivation had already started to near the Middle Soul Transformation Realm since arriving in the Dragon Realm, and his other cultivation paths were close to the Late tinum Rank. In other words, he was approaching the absolute peak of the Mortal Realm, and it wasing fast. However, before that could happen, Lucifer had to advance his cultivation from the Soul Transformation Realm to the Void Refinement Realm. After which, he would also need to go through the Unity Form Synthesis Realm and Tribtion Transcendance Realm. At his current rate of progression and assuming that he finds some more juicy loot bags, he should be able to attain the Mahayana Realm within a few days. But for that toe to reality, therr had to be some farming¡­ "Well, with a few over there and some over there¡­ Hmm, I don''t have enough bodies to begin reaping all this scrumptious loot¡­ Ai, what a conundrum¡­" The evil smile on Lucifer''s face only grew exponentially. Lifting up his hands, he immediately smashed them down onto the ''Clone Purchase'' button, buying out everything with all the Clone Essence in his possession! FWIP! FWIP! Dozens of clones with strength in the 7th Stage of Tribtion Transcendance spawned in from thin-air! Their presences were menacing and their desires were clear as day for everyone to see! They wanted loot! They craved it! And who was Lucifer to deny something that he himself yearned for!? "Loot! Go out and obtain everything you can! Until the death, we fight for loot!!" As if that were the war-cry demanding only one singr thing, Lucifer''s clones bellowed out in unison, showing just how much they wished to sow chaos and benefit from death! Immediately after the shouts of loot reverberated through time and space, they split up into nearly a dozen different groups. With forty of them in total, each group was made up of 3 clones, meaning that their were around 13 groups. Thest straggler went with Lucifer as they set off to acquire all the loot this battlefield had to offer! "..." "..." "..." In the background, Shun Wen, Xue Lan, and Li Yan were just nkly watching dozens of the same man run up to Draconian Soldiers and fight without a care for their lives¡­ "Say, how does he even do that anyway? I mean, conjure up so many clones? Even Mahayana Realm Cultivators are only capable of bringing one or two of them into being, but Lucifer is able to summon thousands upon thousands of them¡­" After asking this question, Shun Wen looked toward Xue Lan and Li Yan, both of whom were staring at Lucifer''s main body as if in a daze. Watching him dance through fountains of blood and kill anything in his way was kind of rxing for some reason¡­ However, they quickly snapped out of their stupors upon feeling the gaze of curiosity boring into their backs. Lovking eyes with the elf bimbo, Li Yan mumbled, "Don''t know¡­ Big Brother is mysterious¡­ and cool¡­" Xue Lan also answered with something simr, saying, "Since meeting Lucifer in the Great Raja Forest, there wasn''t much that I could understand about him. But one day, I hope to know everything there is to know about him¡­" "..." Listening to the slight peels of creepyughtere from the two of them, Shun Wen knew that they would be no help in getting any closer to discovering the mysteries surrounding the raven-haired anomaly. ''What am I even doing here?'' she thought in exasperation. ''Not long ago, I was visiting a friend of a neighboring Empire, and now here I am¡­ In the middle of a war in a different dimension, following a man I met less than a few days ago¡­'' Even though Shun Wen thought this, for some reason, there was a small, warm and fuzzy smile stered on her noble facial features. For her entire life, everything was always ''Do this or that for the sake of the empire!'', now it was just her and a gang of three, flowing in the wind and discovering the vast, uncharted world beyond¡­ ''It''s fun¡­'' With all three of the girls in a rather perplexing state of mind, they eventually decided toprehend more of their professions and unique traits. While doing so, they took asional nces at the ongoing battles in the distance, waiting for the sun in their previously dreary lives toe back with a victorious smirk on his stupidly handsome face. ... Chapter 127: Leveling Spree (THE END) ... Having been 3 days since arriving in the Dragon Realm, Lucifer had not once stopped or paused the grind. Killing and killing, looting and assimting¡­ before long, his breakthrough into the Middle Soul Transformation Realm was there¡­ then the Late Soul Transformation Realm¡­ {[Peak Soul Transformation Realm]} {[Half-Step Void Refinement Realm]} {[Comprehending the Void Law and washing himself in the same Void Law put Lucifer through another qualitative alteration. With his Essence Soul and Nascent Soul both at full maturity, he prepared himself for another breakthrough.]} {[Early Void Refinement Realm]} {[Middle Void Refinement Realm]} {[Late Void Refinement Realm]} {[Peak Void Refinement Realm]} {[Half-Step Unity Form Synthesis Realm]} {[By this point, a total of 30 hours of death had flown by. And with Lucifer having achieved the Absolute Limit of the tinum Rank for all his previous Paths and his newest Spirit, Arcane, and Divine Paths, it was now time to make another leap in advancement.]} {[Early Unity Form Synthesis Realm]} - (Attained semi unity over all aspects of existence.) {[Middle Unity Form Synthesis Realm]} {[Late Unity Form Synthesis Realm]} {[Peak Unity From Synthesis Realm]} {[With his breakthrough into the Peak Unity Form Synthesis Realm having been aplete sess, Lucifer achieved a Battle Power in the Late Mahayana Realm. Changing the tides of the Draconian War on the Northern Coves with just his presence, his rate of loot acquisition only increased exponentially.]} {[Half-Step Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[The Battle of the Northern Cove had already been won by Lucifer, and the Crimson Draconians came out victorious! But when the loot goblin saw how much loot was on the side he was fighting for, well¡­ He ughtered every single one of them. As a result, he received the ire of both the Azure and Crimson Draconian Factions. But the good part was that a brleyagrough dide as a result of this equality¡­]{ {[1st Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[With the first round of Heavenly Lighting Tribtions out of the way, Lucifer worked ceaselessly and took on the next few rounds of Heavenly Tribtions¡­ using the loot obtained from both Draconian Factions, of course¡­]} {[2nd Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[3rd Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[4th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[5th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[6th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[The breakthrough into the 6th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm was aplete sess, and with this breakthrough came a Battle Power at the Absolute Peak of the Mahayana Realm.]} {[Going straight for the leaders of the Draconian Factions with this newfound power, Lucifer swiftly realized that their was onest great realm in the Lower Mortal Realms¡­ The Lunar Ascendancy Realm.]} {[From the 42 hour to 60 hour mark, Lucifer and the girls were forced to run around the massive Dragon Isles and escape the rageful sight of the Draconian Ancestors, all of whom were in the Lunar Ascendancy Realm¡­]} {[During this time, Lucifer killed everything he possibly could, leaving neither side a way of escaping the massacres he conducted¡­]} {[7th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[8th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[9th Stage Tribtion Transcendance Realm]} {[Half-Step Mahayana Realm]} {[Having gone through all ten rounds of Heavenly Tribtion Lightning, Lucifer had finally attained a Battle Power equal to a 1st Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm Expert!]} {[Early Mahayana Realm]} {[A 2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm Dragon Ancestor fell under Lucifer''s de¡­]} {[Middle Mahayana Realm]} {[The Dragon Ancestors were put on the defensive]} {[Late Mahayana Realm]} {[All Dragon Ancestors were dead, even the powerful 7th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm Dinosaurs¡­]} {[Peak Mahayana Realm]} {[It had been two weeks since Lucifer arrived in the Dragon Realm. Bing homesick, he figured he''d just kill every Draconian in the Dragon Realm and break out of the Dragon Realm by force.]} {[Half-Step Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[The only living beings left alive in the Dragon Realm were Lucifer, Xue Lan, Shun Wen, and Li Yan¡­ The rest of the world had been transformed into hell on earth. The once lush inds were reced by a never ending sea of fire andva¡­ the Dragon Realm had be a graveyard¡­]} {[After studying thews of the world for a couple days, Lucifer felt his cultivation verge upon something spectacr¡­]} {[1st Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[Having activated the first star inside his body, Lucifer now aimed to activate the rest of them. But before that could happen, he had a dimension to break out of¡­]} {[With one clean sword sh, the Dragon Realm imploded in on itself, effectively crippling thews that governed the world¡­ As a result of this catastrophe, the dimension was turned into Loot¡­]} {{2nd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[3rd Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[Lucifer left his enlightened seclusion in the Interpass between dimensions. Arriving in the Mortal Realm, the first thing he did was locate and snatch up his sneaky parents.]} {[After putting them in a torture device that would torture them with unimaginable pain for eternity, Lucifer then lifted up a finger and eradicated the Elemental Nations. After which, he proimed himself the Demon King and turned the world upside down¡­]} {[Countless powerful Lunar Ascendancy Realm Hegemonies came out of seclusion and ganged up on Lucifer, but everything they did was proven futile¡­ Even 9th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm Experts stood no chance against the Demon King¡­]} {[4th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[5th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[6th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[7th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[The Mortal World wound up with the same fate as the Dragon Realm¡­ The world was turned into a sea of fire, and above that sea of mes sat a grand, floating demonic castle. In this castle sat the Demon King and his Three Demonic Valkyries, all of whom assisted him in destroying the world¡­ and of course, they provided him with a faster cultivation speed¡­]} {[8th Star Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[9th Stage Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[Absolute Limit Lunar Ascendancy Realm]} {[Lucifer achieved the absolute limit of all aspects of existence. Xue Lan had reached a level in evil spirit luring that she could now attract countless powerful existences from beyond the Mortal Realm. Shun Wen and Li Yan had also advanced to the Absolute Peak of the Formation and Array Professions¡­]} {[Everything had reached the very limit of the Mortal Realm, and it was now time to move on to higher heights¡­]} Sitting atop a throne constructed from the bones of his enemies, in the Demon King''s Floating Castle of Babylon. "The end of the world is rapidly approaching¡­ But before it reaches the end of its lifespan, I will absorb the very Essence of the world and transcend the limits ced upon me by the world¡­ To prevent my ascension.. That marks the efforts of a fool¡­" Standing on both sides of his throne and one atop his head, the Valkyries watched as the demonic, slitted eyes of the Demon King peered through the very fabric of this ne of existence. From this moment onward, he would break past all limits! He would ascend this world, but that would not be the end of it! He would ascend the next world, transcend the one after that, and never stop his yearning for more! This was the Tale of the Clone God¡ªA Tale that never ends!!! The End. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!